"What is your relationship with that girl?"
"Friends, or rather, former neighbors."
"Well, I thought it was your sister or something. You like her?"
"I……"
"Answer honestly. Given the current situation, you'd better not lie."
"Well, I like her."
"She looks a few years older than you. So you like this type. That's pretty cool, young man. One last question. Have you ever done it?"
"This! I refuse to answer this!"
"No! You must answer."
In Mike's room, Lao Jiang sat on the worn sofa in the living room, puffing out a cigarette while looking at Mike who was lowering his head. He said calmly:
"Let me be clear, young man, I am not trying to pry into your privacy, but I am doing a reliability check and I have to confirm your relationship with that girl.
This is very important for what I'm going to ask you to do, do you understand?"
"But I feel like you're just trying to pry into my privacy."
Mike gritted his teeth. He looked at Jiang Xia, then looked at the sleeping girl who had been taken out of the hospital and was now lying in the inner room.
Ruyue and Gu Miao were cleaning her body, while the wolf demon, wearing hip-hop clothes, a baseball cap, and loose pockets, stood behind Lao Jiang like a guard.
The tail swaying back and forth represented her boredom at the moment.
Lao Jiang did not answer, but just looked at Mike in front of him calmly.
The latter obviously had little experience, and he had no idea what to do when faced with Jiang's attitude of controlling everything.
After a stalemate of more than ten seconds, Mike's back slumped, and with a hint of shyness, he said, as softly as a mosquito:
"Did...did."
“Before or after the onset of the disease?”
Lao Jiang blew out a smoke ring, drew a line on the paper in front of him, suppressed his laughter, and asked again seriously.
Mike seemed to have given up on himself. Since even such private matters had been revealed, it didn't matter if more was said.
He whispered:
"Denise's parents left after she became ill. She was very helpless at that time, but I was the one who stayed with her the whole time. We grew up together.
My parents divorced a long time ago and didn't take much care of me since I was a child. Without Denise's guidance, I probably wouldn't be pursuing to be a street artist like I am now.
It is very likely that he has already joined a gang or has gone astray.
She’s the best friend anyway…”
"And you took advantage of the girl's loneliness and came after her? You are such a bad boy."
Old Jiang said quietly.
“That’s not the case!”
Mike countered:
"It was Denise. She said she didn't want to die alone and wanted to keep the best of herself in my heart. That night, I was forced!
If she can get rid of her illness, I will definitely marry her!
I swear!
I will take responsibility.”
“These words cannot be spoken alone.”
Jiang Xia picked up the scribbled paper in front of him, pretended to take a look at it, then drew a first-level ink symbol in the air with his left hand, and a fire snake rushed out, burning the paper in his hand to ashes.
He stood up and said to Mike, who was waiting for judgment:
"Your credibility check is complete, Mike. I think you and that poor girl deserve help. Now sign a contract.
You still forgot.
As I said last night, I believe in fair trade.
If you want something, you have to pay for it.”
Jiang Xia took out a piece of printed paper from the ring.
He always carries this temporary contract with him, and the terms on it have been drafted long ago.
Mike took it and read the terms carefully. To his surprise, the content was not harsh. It only required him to work for Jiang Xia for ten years .
And there are no penalty clauses for violations.
He raised his head in confusion and looked at Jiang Xia, who had a . There was a small drill on the top of the thing that made people feel cold.
"Come here and lie down here."
Jiang Xia rolled up his sleeves, like a doctor about to start a surgical operation, and said to Mike:
"I'm not going to hide it from you. I'm going to implant something in your brain. You noticed that, didn't you? There's no penalty clause in the contract because there's no need for it.
You probably won't have the chance to experience the punishment taking effect."
"How are you going to treat Denise?"
Mike asked.
Jiang Xia threw two bags of ashes onto the table and said:
“Use this first, and if that doesn’t work, I have other treatments, as you can see.
I am a mysterious person who uses mysterious powers. When you wake up, you will probably see a lively girlfriend.
Then, you have to start working.
Now lie down.
Don’t worry, this operation is not very painful.”
Lao Jiang showed a gentle smile, but combined with the buzzing electric drill in his hand, this smile looked terrifying to Mike.
But now that things have come to this, the young man has no way out.
He took out his pen and tremblingly wrote his name on the contract. At that moment, he felt like an ignorant mortal who was deceived by the devil and signed a contract to sell himself.
Especially after writing his name, a flame-like spark pattern rose up, which strengthened his thought.
But that's just a trick.
It was added temporarily by Jiang Xia using ink symbols.
It's just to take advantage of the fact that the young hero in front of him is not experienced enough. This kind of thing that looks very mystical at first glance is really easy to use to deceive young people.
——
"Buzz"
In Mike's basement, a fire was lit in a copper basin. Ruyue grabbed the ashes and poured them on the basin, causing the dancing flame to suddenly emit a dark red light.
The whole basement looked ominous and furtive.
In front of Lao Jiang, the naked Denise maintained the sleeping posture that a patient with late-stage ALS should have. The girl's atrophied limbs were shocking to see.
At this stage of her life.
The disease had caused respiratory failure, and without a ventilator, she would have soon suffocated to death.
But there was not much pain on that not-so-pretty face.
Perhaps it was because she had lost her feeling and was wandering helplessly between life and death, or perhaps it was because the girl had already accepted her fate and dying in her sleep was a relief for her.
"I picked this ash specifically. The three possible magical powers above are all body strengthening. If this still can't wake her up, I'll have to trouble Rogge again."
Jiang Xia blew out a smoke ring and said to Ruyue next to him:
“I hope Mike can accept a robot girlfriend whose organs are mostly replaced with artificial ones… but seeing how infatuated he is, he probably won’t refuse.
Maybe even more excited.
After all, I found some really weird comics in his house.”
“It shouldn’t be ineffective.”
Ruyue picked up Denise's shrunken arm and put it towards the brazier. She said:
"We haven't seen it fail since we got the ashes, but I'm afraid this girl won't be able to survive the nightmare. If she is defeated in the nightmare..."
“So she needs guidance.”
Jiang Xia glanced to the side, and Liu Hui's expression immediately fell. He sighed and said:
“Okay, okay, I know, I know, it’s me again… Only my spirit is strong enough to penetrate a mortal soul without destroying it.
But this time you have to pay extra! Boss!
Forgive me for another year."
The wolf demon was cunningly taking advantage of the situation.
But Lao Jiang gave her a strange look.
The silly monster actually still remembers this?
Jiang Xia himself almost forgot that the silly monster still owed him money. After all, they were now trustworthy partners, and talking about money would hurt feelings.
"Okay, I'll exempt you for one year."
Lao Jiang pretended to think about it, and finally agreed with a painful look on his face. The silly monster immediately laughed triumphantly, feeling very proud that he had finally taken advantage of his boss.
It shook its claws, sat cross-legged on the ground, spread out its demon soul and divine consciousness, covering the temple of Denise's head, and made an OK gesture to Ruyue.
Now that it has five fingers, the wolf demon's movements have finally returned to normal.
The next moment, Ruyue put Denise's hand into the brazier. The strange flames from the ashes immediately "bite" Denise's arm like a living thing.
It quickly extended along her arms and covered her torso.
At this moment, the numb body of ALS, which should have lost all feeling, seemed to tremble violently because of the pain that penetrated deep into the soul.
The girl's cheeks turned red at that moment, and her nasal cavity, which was originally unable to breathe on its own, began to dilate.
“It worked, boss!”
Kisaragi said in a surprised tone:
"The Ashes Elixir is taking effect. It's still as unreasonable as ever."
"Very good, it looks like we don't need to bother Roger anymore."
Jiang Xia also nodded with satisfaction and said:
"No need to owe him a favor. Tsk tsk, it's not easy to repay Black Fox's favor. Let's go. Liu Hui is here to watch over her. Let me know if there's any news."
After saying that, Lao Jiang turned and left, Ruyue followed behind him. The two returned to the living room, where Mike was still lying on the floor with milky white treatment fluid residue on his forehead.
There was a pool of blood on the carpet next to the head.
If he didn't know the situation, Lao Jiang would definitely think it was a homicide.
"Come and look at this."
Jiang Xia lifted his leg and stepped over the deeply anesthetized Mike, took out a few things from the ring and placed them on the table. Ruyue and Gu Miao were sitting on the other side of the table.
They looked at the three things the boss took out with curiosity.
An obsidian ring.
It looks like the work of primitive people, incredibly crude.
An oriental porcelain bowl.
It has beautiful patterns and a delicate texture like a boiled egg, with a pearl inlaid at the bottom of the bowl.
A silver pocket watch.
This thing is the most common.
If you only look at the surface, you can't see any collection value at all.
But these three things, without exception, all exuded fluctuations of spiritual energy, and the fluctuation on the most inconspicuous pocket watch was the most intense.
"What is certain is that these three things are not magical instruments."
Jiang Xia stroked his chin, leaned back on the sofa, and said to Ruyue and Gu Miao :
"They don't have too many signs of carving. They must be some kind of natural spiritual objects that were made into this shape later. They are the 'strange objects' unique to this world.
I tried on the ring last night..."
Having said that, Jiang Xia glanced at Ruyue, whose cheeks were slightly red and she lowered her head.
Lao Jiang retracted his gaze and continued:
“This ring can bring abundant physical strength and energy to a person. When you wear it, a constant flow of power will flow into your body, and your flesh and blood defense will be strengthened.
The limit can double the strength, and the defense can be strengthened to the level of resisting ordinary swords.
As for strengthening energy...
About sixteen times."
"Um, what sixteen times?"
Gu Miao asked in confusion, only to be hit hard on the head by Ruyue.
"Anyway, I call it the 'Ring of Power'."
Jiang Xia ignored Gu Miao's ignorant and simple question, and pointed at the porcelain bowl and said:
"I don't know the effect of this thing, but it should be related to the liquid it contains. Gu Miao, try it with your little cloud and rain magic."
"oh."
The girl immediately pursed her lips and waved her fingers. The small dark cloud that had appeared before appeared again, covering the porcelain bowl. Amidst the lightning and thunder, the bowl was soon filled with water.
The three people leaned over and looked at the porcelain bowl. The pearl embedded in the bottom of the bowl was glowing faintly under the water.
Lao Jiang carefully injected a trace of spiritual energy.
The next moment, a picture appeared on the porcelain bowl, as if it was viewed from a high altitude, with a very familiar house reflected in it.
"Huh? Interesting."
Jiang Xia became interested and injected more spiritual power into it. He then controlled it with his spiritual thoughts. The picture on the bowl moved rapidly, turning left and right according to Lao Jiang's thoughts.
It ended up in a building three blocks away.
It seems to be a financial company. A meeting is going on , but in the manager's office separated by a wall, the pot-bellied manager is enjoying the "service" of the blonde secretary.
"Don't look!"
Gu Miao screamed and hit the bowl of water, splashing the water, and the scene disappeared.
"What's wrong with the people in this world!"
The girl blushed and shouted:
"The king is cheating people in broad daylight, and the common people have no shame. Such a dirty world should be destroyed!"