Liu Laoliu glanced at me and said, "But I must remind you that you'd better not bring anything that goes against the times, or you'll be in trouble if something goes wrong."
I said with a stern face, "Also, that vehicle's cool-down period is too long. Three days here, three days there, if I go on 10 missions a year I won't have to do anything else."
Liu Laoliu rested his chin on his hand and thought for a long time before saying, "Well, since you mind, I can think of a way to add a Divine Wind Technique to cool the engine for you tomorrow."
Hehe, finally made a small profit! Divine Wind Technique, sounds pretty impressive...
Then, without saying a word, I said to He Tiandou, "Alright, give me the medicine."
At this moment, He Tiandou chuckled dryly twice and stammered, "The medicine... has a small problem."
My heart sank to the bottom: "What happened?"
This time, He Tiandou was quite straightforward, saying, "It's not done yet." Seeing that my hand was already on the ashtray, he shouted at the last minute, "But you can take the temptation grass!"
Chapter Eighty-Eight: Divine Wind Technique
Temptation grass, an annual herbaceous plant, is oval-shaped, dark green, and has an alluring fragrance. Common names... none.
We know that the main ingredient of the Blue Potion is actually the Temptation Herb, which allows people to remember their past lives after consuming it. The problem is, before it was made into a medicine, the Temptation Herb's effects were extremely unstable; I've seen examples of this before. Now, He Tiandou wants me to give this to Qin Shi Huang, which means this fat man might remember me one minute and not remember me the next. If Liu Xiazhi's side effects after taking it were merely a shift between being a bandit and a piece of trash, then he's lucky. Even if he reverts to being trash, the three thugs (Red, Yellow, and Green) wouldn't dare actually kill him or anything. But this time, I'm facing Qin Shi Huang! Don't let his usual "fat man" nickname fool you; he's a ruthless killer!
I didn't lower my grip on the ashtray, staring intently at He Tiandou. He Tiandou chuckled awkwardly, "Actually, the temptation herb is quite useful..."
I slowly put down what I was holding, and He Tiandou then said with relief, "That's right, I am your ex after all."
"I'm quitting! Come back to me when you've finished making the medicine. I need to hurry up and get intimate with Baozi; the doctor said she's still two months pregnant..."
He Tiandou grabbed me and pleaded, "You can't just abandon him. Jing Ke has probably already set off. Even if you don't care about anyone else, Jing Ke saved your life, so you can't just ignore him, can you? He's not like Qin Shi Huang. Whether he succeeds or not, he's going to die anyway. If he succeeds, you'll lose two friends at once."
I looked at Liu Laoliu to the side and said, "This is what you gods are like? What else can you do besides blackmail people?"
Liu Laoliu said, "Don't you understand? As long as you use this trick well, you can become an immortal too—haven't you already become an immortal? Besides, do you think it's easy for us immortals? You still call us 'old man' all the time in front of us. I've seen you not be so rude to us old ragpickers." As he spoke, Liu Laoliu suddenly felt wronged and took my cigarettes from my body.
I glared at him and said, "I'll watch my tone from now on!"
Speaking of scavengers, I really should call Liu Xiaozhi and ask him, since he's the only one who's ever eaten the temptation grass. I need to ask him about it.
After the call connected, a refined male voice politely asked, "Hello, who is this?"
I asked in surprise, "Who are you?"
The other person said, "I am Mr. Wang's secretary. May I ask who you are looking for?"
I chuckled and said, "You little rascal, you even got a male secretary. Pretty professional, huh? Tell your boss, Mr. Wang, I'm Xiao Qiang."
Then I overheard the secretary whispering to someone, "He said his name is Xiaoqiang, and this phone number is yours..."
I immediately shouted, "Old Wang, answer the phone! I can hear you!"
Liu Xiaozhi hurriedly took the phone and laughed, "Xiaoqiang, why don't you use your own phone to call? Unknown numbers are usually answered by the secretary."
I looked at the phone number for He Tiandou's family in my hand. Even the phone number for this "immortal's family" is so unpopular. But Liu Xiaozhi's status is definitely different now. After Lei Laosi fell from power, he became the boss of our area. He seems to be living a very comfortable life. Some time ago, he even bought himself the title of private entrepreneur. Recently, he's been trying to associate himself with pro-democracy figures. I wonder what he's up to.
I said, "How have you been lately? You seem to be doing quite well?"
Liu Xiazhi sighed, "Busy. I'm consolidating my business. The mess left by Lei Laosi is hard to clean up. Oh right, why didn't you tell me that the guy you brought me last time was Qin Hui? That guy was really ungrateful. I only found out later that he was working with others to frame you."
I laughed and said, "Don't act all innocent after getting such a good deal. If it weren't for that old traitor, would you be where you are today?"
Liu Xiazhi smacked his lips and said, "That's true."
I said in a low voice, "Is it a convenient time to talk now? I want to ask you something."
Liu Xiazhi also lowered his voice and said, "I haven't been a gang leader for many years. If it's about underworld matters, I can only say I'll do my best, but I can't guarantee anything..."
I laughed and said, "What are you thinking about? Let me ask you, how did you feel after eating the grass I gave you?"
Liu Xiazhi said, "Why are you asking this? After you finish eating, it's like being suddenly woken up from a dream. In the dream, you are one person, and after waking up, you are another person. You only remember half of what happened in the dream, and it's all blurry."
"So that means the medicine works very quickly?"
"Yes, it basically takes effect as soon as you swallow it."
I quickly asked, "Now, let me ask you the crucial question: how long after you finish eating will the symptoms recur?"
Liu Xiazhi pondered for a moment and said, "It should only take about 10 minutes. Last time, it took me about that long to finish dealing with those three kids."
"What will it feel like after all this? Will you not recognize me at all?"
Liu Xiazhi thought for a moment and said, "Let me use a dream as an analogy again. If you feel like you're being woken up after eating, then the repetition is like slowly falling asleep again. When you're asleep, you naturally don't know who the people around you are, just like you dream that you're a fish. At this time, I would become completely Wang Laju again, and only after slowly waking up can I remember that I am still Liu Xia."
I wiped my sweat and said, "This back-and-forth is like having a split personality!"
Liu Xiazhi said, "No, it's not that simple. You'll gradually get used to it and it will become unified. For example, if you dream a lot and then dream that you are a fish, you might subconsciously still know your name and where you live, and you can still call out the names of familiar people. That's not far from unification. And slowly you'll fully understand that this is a matter of two lifetimes. The past life is the past life and this life is this life. I'm no longer emphasizing that I used to be a bandit. Wang Laji is also myself. Two lifetimes combined into one lifetime, that's the real me."
I said, still a little dazed, "Then you should be called Liu Xia Garbage now—one last question, how long will it take for this 'me' and 'ego' to synthesize into a complete you?"
"It will take about a week to completely eliminate any cognitive barriers."
I hung up the phone, heartbroken, and said, "A whole week! Even if that fat guy killed me three times a day, I'd need 21 lives to repay him." That's what you call giving 21 lives for him—
He Tiandou forced a smile and said, "It's not that dangerous. I know how deep your feelings are."
I stood up and said, "Then I'll give you a day to prepare. I'll set off tomorrow."
Liu Laoliu said, "There's nothing to prepare. It would be best if you could leave today; time waits for no one. I'll get your car sealed right away."