At 8:45 in the morning, Qin Er and Xu Chen arrived together, carrying several large bags of breakfast.
They skirted past the entryway and were startled when they caught sight of the "unusual hanging object" dangling from the living room chandelier.
Assistant Li and his group arrived only two minutes later than the pair, and as soon as they stepped inside... Assistant Li instinctively took three steps back, then looked again: Lu Jiuxiao had silver needles stuck in his chin, and his intact right eye was blinking steadily.
In their eyes, the fact that the person was alive wasn’t even the focus—how could Uncle Cheng possibly let his son die? The key was that, just yesterday afternoon, Lu Jiuxiao’s face had looked so bad it was begging for a mosaic, all blood and gore. But now, it was almost completely scabbed over.
Qin Er blurted out, “No way! What sort of divine medicine did Uncle Cheng use here? I thought Uncle Cheng was just awesome, but turns out alchemy is his main gig?!”
Xu Chen patted Qin Er on the shoulder. “Dude, are you saying you think your illness was lighter than Lu Jiuxiao’s?”
Qin Er thought about it. “What’s the difference between cerebral cortex repair and tissue repair after severe burns? Both are just repairs.”
Assistant Li took a deep breath. He wanted to say: The difference is huge! If you don’t know, just don’t freaking talk nonsense! Even if I know you two are probably goofing off on purpose!
To talk about what’s on the surface: your rapid recovery was thanks to the boss’s exclusive true qi; but after applying the medicine, it took less than a day for Lu Jiuxiao’s wounds to scab over completely, revealing just how extraordinary the boss’s alchemical skills are!
There’s no doubt the boss activated the spiritual energy within the medicinal herbs, which is why that batch of medicinal solution works so incredibly.
You know, it’s been thousands of years since people discovered the existence of spiritual energy, but as for how to use it, how to keep it from dissipating quickly—even with today’s level of science and the officials pouring huge amounts of funds into related research—there hasn’t been much headway...
Now, they finally had some headway! And the only headway of its kind in the world!
Assistant Li was thrilled and had so much he wanted to say, but with the boss just sitting by the window, smiling without a word, all he could do was calm himself. “Congratulations, boss.”
Qin Jingzhou answered with a noncommittal “Mm,” not even lifting his eyelids. “Eat breakfast first.”
Qin Jingzhou, Qin Er, Xu Chen, Assistant Li, Driver Wang, plus six bodyguard guys—eleven people in total finished their breakfast. Qin Jingzhou lit a cigarette and said lightly, “I do owe you a lot, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to beat you up.” After this, he instructed the bodyguards, “Take him down, help him wash up, put on some clean clothes, then give him something to eat.”
In just one day, Qin Er and the others could feel out how he treated Lu Jiuxiao: he wouldn’t disregard his life, but he clearly didn’t much like his own son, either.
So they quickly came to a consensus. They wouldn’t be rude to the young boss, but they wouldn’t take him all that seriously, either.
The bodyguard crew took Lu Jiuxiao down from the chandelier and led him into the decently spacious bathroom.
Removing the silver needles from his chin himself, he looked at his reflection in the mirror, and for a moment was left speechless. He honestly loathed the way he looked right now... He also remembered why he’d covered for Gu Su—when Gu Su came to the hospital and saw that face even he couldn’t bear to confront, she’d ended up crying, all sad. That had touched something in him, and he’d just... let her go.
Sitting on the toilet, a sudden thought struck him: Could his dad really even control when he got to use the bathroom?! In the world of the Gu martial association, his dad would be considered a real big boss, wouldn’t he?!
Suddenly, pain shot through his mind, almost making him fall. Lucky for him, one of the bodyguards was quick enough to catch him in time.
The intense pain flashed through, then vanished, but he suddenly blacked out: Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing...
It took him a good while to gather himself, doubt filling his heart. “What’s wrong with me? What was I even doing before?”
At this moment, Qin Jingzhou had just finished assigning today’s tasks to Qin Er and the others, and glanced at the tightly shut bathroom door. “Some of the fog in his mind has lifted, so he’s regained a bit of clarity.”
The system asked curiously, “Gu Su is different from Su Huaizhen. She didn’t take the ‘fortune-stealing’ path. Brother Zhou, who do you think is more advanced?”
Qin Jingzhou explained with a smile, “Fate’s Son relies on opportunism, stealing the fortune of others for his own benefit—which can work, but unless he accomplishes something that truly aligns with the flow of the era before the backlash hits, it won’t end well. Making real contributions not only offsets the backlash, but also fuses the stolen fortune with his own. Last mission world, Su Huaizhen just wanted to oppose me for the sake of it, so he naturally self-destructed. Gu Su, on the other hand, collects negative emotions. Negative emotions held by those with fate—sometimes that’s actually worth more than fortune itself in certain unique inheritances.”
The system let out an “Ah! No wonder!”
“That gray mist lingering in Lu Jiuxiao’s mind is a negative emotion sensor Gu Su left behind, and also has a decent intelligence-reducing effect.”
The system got it. “If we’re not even talking about Fate’s Son and only looking at those who carry fortune themselves, most of them are prematurely mature, composed, and steady. Getting them to experience intense emotional swings is almost impossible without ramping up the IQ reduction!” It paused, then continued, “Gu Su looks like a weakling, drifting among several powerful men, but in truth...she’s a pua master!”
Qin Jingzhou stubbed out his cigarette. “Not wrong at all.”
The halo around the system flickered again and again. “Brother Zhou, I bet if Gu Su sees you, she’ll 100% target you.”
Qin Jingzhou was unconcerned. “Perfect, my cheap son can use an example.” After replying to the system, he finally looked at Assistant Li, who had been hesitant to speak for a while now. “If you have something to say, say it.”
Li Assistant forced a smile. “Boss, about the alchemy method...”
Qin Jingzhou cut him off. “I can't even guarantee the success rate myself.”
Li Assistant looked crestfallen, but quickly mustered a smile again. “Boss, I’m just impatient.”
Qin Jingzhou’s lips quirked up slightly. “If you can find some willing lab rats, that works for me—I'll get to practice and get a better feel for it.” Catching the look of delight in Assistant Li’s widened eyes, he added, “My fees aren’t cheap. You provide the herbs.”
Assistant Li thumped his chest in promise. “On behalf of the association, we can get as many lab rats as you need!” Then, testingly, he asked, “Should I have the vice president connect with you?”
Qin Jingzhou lit another cigarette. “That’s fine.” With that, he stood up and went back to his study to play video games.
Assistant Li made his call to his boss, the vice president, right in the living room in front of everyone else.
Upon answering the phone, the vice president decisively postponed a meeting and hurried to the Cheng house with his assistant.
By that time, Lu Jiuxiao, having changed out of his hospital gown and into home clothes, had just finished breakfast.
On the way over, the vice president had gone through a ton of photos and videos, all of Lu Jiuxiao’s gruesome face from a day—or several days—prior. Now, staring at the densely scabbed half of Lu Jiuxiao’s face, he couldn’t help but sigh inwardly: this kid sure had a good dad.
On account of the fact that this was the kid’s actual father, he exchanged a few pleasantries, only to be met with several impatient grunts of “Mm” and “Oh.” The vice president didn’t mind and walked to where Qin Jingzhou sat by the window. “I was prepared, but seeing is believing. The medicinal effect went beyond my expectations.”
Qin Jingzhou got straight to the point. “I hate trouble. If I could just lie at home and collect patent fees, that would be ideal.”
The vice president immediately focused, waiting for Qin Jingzhou’s “but.”
Qin Jingzhou gave a slight smile. “But before applying for any patents or formal partnership, I need to confirm the success rate.”
The vice president let out a long breath, not hiding the way he wiped his brow.
He’d planned to keep buttering him up, but when he saw that Qin Jingzhou was already leaning back in his chair, gaze drifting toward the study, the vice president made a snap decision. “Mr. Cheng, your generosity and sense of honor are unparalleled. Whatever you want—money, people—just name it! The association will fully cooperate!”
He stayed for less than five minutes, then left in high spirits with the newly agreed price list in hand—he needed to go get the “lab rats” ready.
At two in the afternoon, the first “lab rat” sent over by the vice president arrived at the Cheng house.
Lab rat number one was a Gu martial master. After coming in and greeting everyone, he handed a bag of medicinal herbs to Xu Chen and admitted honestly, “Just taking advantage of my connections.” As he finished, he unwound his scarf and revealed a neck swaddled tightly in gauze.
Qin Jingzhou took one look and knew what was going on, signaling Assistant Li to help.
Assistant Li swiftly snipped through the gauze, exposing the master’s injury completely: there was a large chunk of flesh missing from his neck, only two-thirds of it left to support his head, and at the deepest part of the wound, the pale gray vertebrae were visible.
Assistant Li, trained as a medical doctor by the association, had seen plenty of strange and unbelievable things—but even he looked momentarily shocked.
Qin Er and company were dumbstruck: with an injury like that, an ordinary person would be long dead, yet this guy was up and about—truly deserving of the title Gu martial master!
Qin Jingzhou stood up and walked over to the Gu martial master. “The abnormal true qi has been corroding your wound, and the day you run out of it is the day you die.”
The master managed a laugh. “You can discern the nature and flow of true qi—that alone convinces me you’re a Lingyi.”
He was filled with eager anticipation. Accurate diagnosis was already amazing; even if it couldn’t completely cure him, as long as there was improvement, he’d be content.
Qin Jingzhou put on a pair of medical gloves, took out sterilized silver needles from the sealed box on the table, and inserted three in a row. Thick, dark purple blood came surging from the wound, quickly soaking through the master’s clothes.
As he felt the foul true qi leaving his body with the purplish blood, the master tipped his head back and laughed loudly. “Marvelous! I haven’t felt this relieved since I was injured!”
Qin Jingzhou removed the needles calmly. “Enough laughing—laugh any harder and your head will fall off.” He turned to Li Assistant to fetch the rice cooker—there was still half a pot of medicinal decoction left.
A wad of jasmine-scented gauze was pressed to the wound. The master felt a maddening itch, then a fiery pain, the two sensations alternating. But after five minutes, the discomfort faded away.
Qin Jingzhou stripped off his gloves. “Wait an hour.” He pointed to Qin Er, who had just been needled. “When you take out the needle, remove the gauze too.”
With that, he headed back to the study to play games, not even bothering to close the door.
Assistant Li covered the rice cooker, then sidled over to Qin Er. “How about teaming up with the association to acquire Sanjiu Network?”
Qin Er glanced at Lu Jiuxiao, who was lying motionless on the couch, chin still pinned with needles and face bandaged, and nodded. “I think Uncle Cheng really loves gaming the most.”