Chapter 78: Chaos

A pack of cigarettes, a bag of peanuts, and a few cans of beer. With these things, an afternoon can pass so quickly. Listening to the sound of the river, my time seems to have come to a standstill.

I took a big sip of beer, held a cigarette in my mouth, raised my hand, and looked through the gaps in my fingers at the somewhat dark sky. It seemed as if I heard an old, mischievous voice say in my ear, “Sanwa, get up and copy the Tao Te Ching. Son of a bitch, are you unconscious?”

Oh, Master! I lowered my hand and a self-deprecating smile crossed my face. I knew I had only heard it, not really heard it!

Yes, it is said that Sun Wukong can make a somersault of 108,000 miles. How many somersaults are there between me and my master? Or, if I become Sun Wukong, I can make many somersaults, but I can’t see him looking at me again, laughing at me like a thief, and I can’t hear his old, mischievous voice.

Feeling a little bitter, I took another big sip of beer, and then the bottle was empty. I crushed the bottle with my hand and wanted to throw it into the river, but I seemed to hear Ruoxue say to me, “You look so ugly when you throw things around.”

Yes, I know where you are. I love you, but I can’t bear to see you, to be with you, or even to be bold enough to love you.

Ruoxue… At that time, we were in our prime. Are we a little old now?

The bitter taste of longing is not like black coffee to me, but rather a bowl of sour medicine. Because in my heart there is not the slightest hint of the mellow aftertaste, but only endless bitterness. I know that I am being a bit too indulgent now, but I can’t let my emotions pile up in my heart without venting.

After a few beers, it was already nightfall, the time when the lights of the city were on. Many years ago, when I was going home, I used to admire the warm lights of the city. But now, after almost ten years, that warm light is still far away from me. I can only stand on this street where people come and go, like a static origin, looking up to admire it.

Fate is really ironic.

I feel a little drunk. Alcohol is a strange thing. When you’re happy, it’s hard to get drunk. But when you’re drinking alone, it’s easy to get drunk.

So, it can relieve worries, because getting drunk can relieve a thousand worries!

Walking down the road with a slightly unsteady gait, I received a call from Master Liu. He told me that he had already negotiated with Guan Laidi’s family and that he had no time to waste. If possible, he hoped to complete the forbidden magic within three days, and he needed my help.

I agreed in a surprisingly sober tone, or in my heart, I didn’t want people to see my embarrassment.

I hate myself for being in this state. Even though I am clearly a man who is vulnerable at this moment, I can still clearly calculate that after the completion of Master Liu’s business, I will go to gather the remaining soul for Irene, and then the old lady’s terms of trade…

After having a fixation in my heart, I couldn’t indulge myself emotionally even once.

I don’t know how long I’ve been walking on this road, but when I arrived at the hotel where I was staying, it was already dark and I had sobered up a lot. I had put the sadness deep down in my heart and regained my composure.

As I was about to enter the hotel, I couldn’t help but think, I wonder if Chengxin has returned yet, and if he and Shen Xing are still getting along well? I hope it goes well, if so, I can give myself a reason to be happy.

But I didn’t expect that while I was still thinking about this, my phone rang. I took out my phone and subconsciously glanced at the time. It was 9:17 p.m. The caller ID showed the name Su Chengxin.

I smiled and thought to myself, “Is it really that coincidental that he called me while I was still thinking about him?”

But this is clearly a happy thing, and I don’t know why, when I picked up the phone, I was a little nervous.

The phone was connected, and apart from the sound of electricity, it was quiet on the other end. I was a little surprised. Would this polite Chengxin brother not say hello first? Nevertheless, I said to the other end of the phone in as relaxed a tone as possible: “Hey, Chengxin brother, did you have a good date? Did you call to show off?”

However, I did not hear the expected unfriendly response from Chengxin. I only heard a loud breathing sound, which sounded like panic or even crying. Then, Chengxin’s hoarse, tired and even panicked voice came into my ears: “Chengyi? Hurry up and come to XX Hospital. I’m about to collapse in one minute.”

I had already walked into the hotel lobby, but when I heard Chengxin’s words, I suddenly stopped. Then my expression was calm, but I quickly turned in a different direction and ran quickly down the street. I needed a taxi.

As I ran, I asked Chengxin in a calm voice, “Did something happen to you?”

The sound of his breathing was even more panicked. I swear I had never heard Cheng Xin Ge sound so panicked. He was always the gentle, calm, and composed Cheng Xin Ge. If I wasn’t so familiar with his voice, I would have thought it was someone else.

He said to me, almost shouting, “Come on, you come quickly! It’s not me, it’s Shen Xing!”

My heart sank, and I inexplicably thought of the day we returned from the ghost market, and Shen Xing’s sudden smile when she turned around. I also inexplicably thought of the calmness of despair when Shen Xing and Master Liu were talking that day!

No! I thought of this word in my heart, but I couldn’t show it in front of Brother Chengxin. I didn’t ask too much, I didn’t evaluate, I just asked, “Be more specific about the location.”

“X Building, XX floor, emergency room. I’m there!” Chengxin’s mood stabilized a little.

“Okay, I’ll be there in a minute.” After saying this, I hung up the phone. Almost as soon as I hung up the phone, I slammed my fist against the wall to vent my inner anxiety, speculation, and various negative emotions.

This behavior scared the two passers-by around me, but I didn’t care about that. I almost rushed to the middle of the street, stopped a taxi, and then almost shouted to the driver, “Go to XX Hospital.”

The driver was no fool. Seeing my expression, he probably guessed that I had a relative in the hospital, so he drove the car very fast.

I sat in the car, praying that Shen Xing would be fine. I liked this girl very much, like a brother or a friend, not to mention that she had saved my life!

If that wasn’t enough, then the weight of Chengxin’s feelings for her was also a very heavy weight. I couldn’t bear the gap between the two scenarios. In the first scenario, they were happy together, and Shen Xing became my sister-in-law and my family. In the second scenario, I was a little painful and scratched my hair, not daring to think…

In my panic, the car drove to the XX floor of XX Hospital. I threw down a hundred yuan, not even bothering to get change, and rushed to the XX floor.

But when I reached the stairs, I took a deep breath. I couldn’t be like this. I had to keep my composure in front of Chengxin. So I slowed down and walked as gently as I could towards the emergency room.

In the corridor, I saw Cheng Xin Ge leaning against the wall, legs stretched out, staring at the ceiling with an expressionless face. My heart sank again. Judging from this, Shen Xing…

But I resisted. I walked over and sat down next to him. Without saying a word, I just patted him on the shoulder.

Cheng Xin Ge turned and looked at me. At the moment, his hair was a bit messy. I guess he was in pain and scratched himself a few times. The buttons on his usually neat and clean shirt were also untied and a few of them were wrinkled.

His eyes were almost unfocused as he stared at me, and he said one sentence: “Shen Xing took sleeping pills, it seems like a lot of sleeping pills.”

I was suddenly angry, and I bit my lower lip. It hurt, but the words I said were very calm: “It’s okay, you can wash your stomach. How did she take sleeping pills when you were together?”

“I don’t know!” Cheng Xin wiped his face tiredly, then his fingers sank into his hair. He said, “I’m also a doctor, a doctor who can still save lives very well, but I don’t have any tools. I’m afraid to use forbidden things. Chengyi, am I too weak?”

Chengxin didn’t answer my question at all, but asked me something inexplicable.

What is the forbidden thing? Transferring the technique, it is useless to use it, because it only reduces the pain, but it cannot prolong life! Maybe if he had a golden needle in his hand, he would be better, but the golden needle is also useless, because it can instantly stimulate a person’s life potential, but it is not life-saving.

I took a deep breath. I couldn’t explain the truth to Brother Chengxin at this time, so I just said, “You’re not weak. It was the right thing to go to the hospital.”