What a Huge Misunderstanding!

"It's at least five hundred meters from the corner where the bus stopped to the arrest site! Are you sure it took less than a minute?"

"Deputy Chief Zhou, Brother Yun and I checked it over a dozen times. It really did take just fifty-eight seconds," the young auxiliary officer reported. The slightly older police officer beside him nodded too, confirming there was nothing wrong with the footage.

Watching Chen Jue sprint like the wind on screen and then seize the thief in one swift move, Zhou Qin was visibly impressed.

He had originally thought that "the fellow who knows kung fu" was just a joke and hadn't given it much thought. Even back at the station, he had only exchanged a few words with the young man. But after watching this video, Deputy Chief Zhou finally understood exactly what "knows kung fu" meant!

"Commissar Yao, what do you think..." Zhou Qin turned to look at the military officer invited to the station, who stood beside him with ramrod-straight posture and a composed bearing.

"This is the military and civilians working together to maintain public order. It's a good thing! Worth publicizing! And of course, thank you to our police comrades for your hard work, conducting such a thorough investigation out in this heat." Commissar Yao smiled. Though his words were impeccably measured, thoughts much like Zhou Qin's flashed through his mind.

He had assumed that three soldiers under his command had teamed up to catch a thief while on leave in town. He had made a special trip to learn the full story so he could give them a proper commendation when he returned.

He hadn't expected an outsider to have earned the lion's share of the credit for catching the thief.

Still, stepping up to help others was a good thing, and it wouldn't do to quibble over who deserved more credit.

But after seeing Chen Jue's fleet-footed performance on screen, Commissar Yao couldn't help marveling inwardly, There really are extraordinary people among the public!

He even used his phone to record the astonishing scene at the end of the video, where white vapor rose all over Chen Jue's body after he caught the thief, intending to ask a combat instructor he knew about it later.

After spending less than an hour at the South City Police Station, Commissar Yao left without even staying for lunch. He led the three soldiers, who had finished giving their statements, into a military jeep and drove out of the station compound.

Inside the jeep, the three soldiers sat stiffly upright, barely daring to breathe, as though they had done something wrong.

"You three have really outdone yourselves this time!"

"The top three sprinters in the whole regiment's competition, and you couldn't even catch a civilian martial artist. Each of you will write a reflection when we get back." Seeing the three squirm in their seats, Commissar Yao didn't know whether to be annoyed or amused, and teased them with a smile.

"Commissar! A reflection? Not a self-criticism?" The soldier in the middle immediately broke into a broad grin. The other two followed with goofy smiles.

"You stepped up to help a civilian and bravely caught a thief. What is there to criticize?"

"If you enjoy writing self-criticisms, I'll have your battalion commander assign you some more!" Commissar Yao laughed at that.

"No, no! We'll just write the reflections. Please go easy on us, Commissar. Spare the three of us!" the soldiers hurriedly pleaded.

"At least you three know what's good for you! Keep up the good work when we get back!"

"At next week's regimental training, you'll receive a verbal commendation! Remember to write a speech each when you get back. Don't get up on stage and let me down." Commissar Yao smiled as he handed them another task.

"Commissar, we'll do as you say! We'll make sure the speeches are good... But isn't a verbal commendation a little meager? Won't we get a merit citation or something?" one of the soldiers asked with a chuckle.

"You want a merit citation just for catching a thief?"

"Do you think earning merit is like going out to buy groceries? Those police comrades work so hard every day, and no matter how many thieves they catch, they still might not earn a single third-class merit citation. I think you three are getting a little greedy. Make those reflections two thousand characters!" Commissar Yao said with a smile.

"What! Two thousand characters!"

"We only just got two days off! Even if we spent all of it on that, it probably wouldn't be enough!"

"Have mercy, Commissar. Let us write eight hundred characters instead." The three hastily begged for leniency. He had them completely under his thumb.

"All right, all right! Since you did well, and you've earned our whole regiment some credit this time, I'll approve an extra day of leave. Just write five hundred characters for your reflections and hand them to your battalion commander. I'll read them myself." Commissar Yao waved a hand.

"An extra day off?"

"Thank you, Commissar! You're the best!" The three soldiers were delighted, their words suddenly sweet as honey.

"By the way, tell me about that civilian martial artist. This footage isn't all that clear. You were there yourselves, so you must have had a good look." Commissar Yao pulled up the chase video and began questioning them.

"Commissar! You have no idea! We really ran into a master this time!"

"Seriously! He overtook us in the blink of an eye. Over five hundred meters, he put almost fifty meters between us, and at the end he even had qi coming off his body. It was like something out of a movie..." The three chimed in one after another, and soon the jeep was filled with talk of Chen Jue.

Meanwhile, back with Chen Jue.

After giving his statement at the police station and receiving the middle-aged woman's thanks in person, Chen Jue took a taxi to a pharmacy called Ye Tong Ren Tang in the northern part of An County.

The pharmacy was quite large, housed in a standalone historic residence. Inside, the decor was antique and the lighting bright, making it feel like a grand apothecary from ancient times.

The shop was bustling too, with pharmacists dispensing prescriptions and elderly practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine seeing patients.

Chen Jue had passed the place during his school days, and the pharmacy in its old residence had left a deep impression on him.

"Sir, are you here to fill a prescription or see a doctor?" a young doctor in a white coat asked from behind the counter.

"To fill a prescription! Could you take a look at this formula and see if you can make it?" Chen Jue brought up the Shaolin Mighty Pill formula he had copied onto his phone and got straight to the point.

"Half a jin of premium tribulus, four liang of whole Chinese angelica root, four liang of achyranthes root, four liang of goji berries, four liang of fish gelatin..." The young doctor glanced over the formula and murmured a few ingredients, then abruptly looked up at Chen Jue with an odd, knowing expression.

"This is the Mighty Pill, isn't it? The ancient formula copied from the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic!"

"You recognize this formula?" Chen Jue's interest was piqued.

"Of course! When we study traditional Chinese medicine and dispensing herbs, these famous ancient formulas are the first ones we practice with. But this Mighty Pill is for treating problems in that department..." The young doctor lowered his voice and explained in very discreet terms.

Men, after all, sometimes had problems they found hard to discuss!

At those words, Chen Jue's mind reeled. He was so embarrassed he could have dug out a two-bedroom apartment with his toes.

Well, damn!

So it also had the miraculous effect of treating impotence!

Judging by that strange look, the doctor had definitely misunderstood. But Chen Jue had no way to explain that he wanted it for his martial arts training.

He could only grit his teeth and ask the doctor to prepare a few batches for him to try at home.

"You definitely won't be able to take them home today. You'll have to wait at least three days. These need to be made into pills, and the process takes quite a bit of time. Leave a delivery address, and we can send them to your door by SF Express when they're ready, or you can come pick them up yourself." The young doctor chuckled, apparently realizing that Chen Jue was a complete novice when it came to Chinese herbal medicine.