Chapter 8 Insomnia

  It took more than half an hour in the car for my hands and feet to gradually stabilize, but a pair of palms still felt like they had been roasted over fire, and there was a scorching sensation inside my body.

  Su Jing solemnly warned me: "From now on, you must never use sword energy at will again. Otherwise, it will either leave you crippled or cost you your life."

  I jumped in fright and said: "Is it that serious?"

  Su Jingdao said, "You still have the body of an ordinary person now. With such a body, you can emit such a grand sword energy, it's like wrapping a seemingly extinguished ember in a paper box. You don't even need to move it and there's already a risk to your life, let alone blowing air at it with your mouth."

  "What should we do now?"

  Su Jingdao said: "The most urgent task is to retrieve the attributes on Liu Rili's body."

  I stuttered and said: "Let's go take a look at Liu Rili!"

  The car arrived at Lao Shu Street, I followed the same route as last time to Liu Rili's clothing stall, Liu Rili's wife was sitting there breastfeeding her child, she still remembered me and Su Jing, when she saw us coming, she smiled silently at us.

  I loudly greeted her: "Sister-in-law, is Liu Ge around?"

  Liu Rili's wife hastily raised a finger to her lips: "Shh, keep your voice down, he just fell asleep."

  "What's with sleeping in broad daylight?"

  At this time, the curtain behind was lifted, and Liu Rili sighed: "I didn't sleep at all - who is looking for me?"

  I was shocked as soon as I saw him come out, in just over a month, Liu Rili seemed to have completely changed into another person. First, he had lost weight, the first time I saw him on the bus he was still a sturdy man, but now he was thin and gaunt, his chin pointed sharply at his collar. Then, he seemed to be carrying an inexplicable excitement, Liu Rili's eyes were bloodshot, but his pupils were staring wildly, the veins on his temples were bulging out, when he looked at you it was as if he was fully focused, just like he was about to get into a fight with you.

  I was startled: "Liu Ge, how did you end up like this?"

  Liu Rili saw me and greeted me, then sighed and said: "I don't know either."

  "What's going on?"

  Liu Rili's wife looked gloomy and said, "Don't mention it, our family has been experiencing a lot of bad luck lately. Liu Ge just recovered from cancer and now he's got some strange illness." She spoke with tears in her eyes.

  I scratched my head and said: "Liu Ge, you won't have gotten into something outside..."

  Liu Rili waved his hand vigorously: "Don't talk nonsense, it's not like that!"

  "What's wrong?"

  "Look, insomnia! I haven't slept for several days," Liu Rili said, pointing to his crimson eyes.

  "What's wrong?"

  Liu Rili complained, "How would I know? I'm so tired that I'm about to die, but I just can't sleep. As soon as I close my eyes, I get excited, and sometimes my brain is so tired that I can't think straight. My arms and legs are all twitchy."

  "I muttered: 'Sleepwalking?'"

  "No, I'm not dreaming now, I just haven't slept, dead or alive, can't get along with each other, as soon as I lie down on the bed, I jump up again."

  I became more and more bewildered: "Didn't you go to the hospital for a check-up?"

  Liu Rili said: "I checked, the doctor had nothing to say, just said insomnia, and prescribed a bunch of sleeping pills. Others take half a pill each time, but I have to take one or two, barely able to close my eyes... as soon as there's any wind blowing or grass moving, I wake up again..."

  Liu Rili's wife said, "You don't know, now his ears are more sensitive than a dog's. One day he couldn't sleep and I asked him what was wrong, he said there were ants crawling under the bed. Isn't that neurosis?"

  Liu Rili hastily and solemnly told me: "Don't mention it, I went to see, there really are ants crawling, what a magnificent sight!"

  I said in shock: "Liu Ge, I'm going to say something and don't get upset, but you didn't even check this place..." As I carefully pointed to my own head.

  Liu Rili said displeased: "Do you think I'm a neurotic?"

  "Not like..."

  Liu Rili said: "You want to say that you can't sleep, but your spirit is still good, and nothing affects you. Your arms and legs are even more flexible than before."

  "But isn't this also not right? A person not sleeping is just like a car not turning off the engine, no matter how good the engine is, it can't take it."

  Liu Rili said: "Isn't it? My heart rate is now over 140."

  I stole a glance at Su Jing, saw her nodding to me, I made an excuse to leave and asked eagerly: "Do you know what's going on now?"

  Su Jingdao said: "It's simple, your current situation is that your body can't bear the heavy burden of sword energy, while he can't bear the heavy burden of his own body."

  "What did you say?"

  "Jian Shen's body originally carried a thick sword energy, and after years of growth, this body has become much stronger than ordinary people. After Liu Ri Li was remade, your body still requires the habits of the past to demand the current master, without the sword energy supporting it, it would be unbearable for the heart and blood, so Liu Ri Li is in this state."

  I concluded: "I get it, I'm a tricycle with an airplane engine installed on it, which falls apart as soon as it runs, Liu Rili is a sparrow's heart put into a bear's body, and may die of overwork at any time."

  Su Jingdao said: "It's almost like this now. If it continues like this, I don't know how long Liu Rili can hold on, but his current situation is more dangerous than yours."

  I sighed and said: "How come it's so twisted? I originally thought that saving this guy's life would be a good thing, but in the end, it backfired - I guess we'll have to rely on Xiaoying after all?"

  "I hope she succeeds this time!"

  Back at the hotel, Xiao Qian was whispering with Liu Laosix at a table, I unexpectedly said: "You're back?"

  Liu Lao Liu said calmly: "What would you do if I didn't come back?"

  I rushed up to him and rummaged through his body: "What if you don't come back, what good things can you bring me, you old cheat? Is it expired boxed rice or a poor-quality knife?"

  Xiao Qian covered her mouth and smiled: "Little Dragon Brother, Liu Senior really has a big gift for you this time."

  "What's that?"

  Xiao Qian picked up half a sheet of letter paper from the table and said: "Liu Shixiong brought back the second half of that incomplete mental method last time."

  I snatched a glance and exclaimed in surprise: "Really?"

  Liu Laosix said: "Xiao Qian's first failure, they've already told me about it. It seems that the cultivation method is not right. I specifically supplemented the second half of it. With this, the success rate will definitely be higher next time."

  "Who completed it?"

  Liu Lao Liu said: "Of course it's me."

  I took a look at that half sheet of paper, and it seemed to be Liu Laoliu's handwriting - those characters are even uglier than Zhang Xiaohua's signature!

  "I said half-believingly: 'Nothing will go wrong, right?'"

  Liu Laoliu hummed: "Don't forget who Liu Ye is!"

  "A swindler?" I said uncertainly.

  Liu Laosix's momentum weakened, and he immediately said: "Solving difficulties for the common people is just my hobby, I am Liu Laosix of Maoshan..."

  "I glared at him and said: 'I'll see how many generations you can talk about this time!'"

  Liu Laoliu hurriedly smiled: "The number of generations is unimportant, what's important is the orthodox transmission."

  "Color blindness is also inherited."

  "What is color blindness?"

  "Uh, this is hard to explain." I casually told him that his partner had made a move on us today, and Duan Tianya's heart was filled with a sense of unease: "This is the creed of our Three Color Stone, we will not rest until our goal is achieved."

  "Phooey, you guys are shameless. But I also have some good news to tell you, I've already recovered three-tenths of my Sword Qi. According to our agreement, I'll be able to beat you up soon."

  "How can I feel nothing?"

  Old Wu also said: "Yes, we didn't see any difference between you and before."

  "Don't mention it, wave after wave."

  Su Jing pulled Xiao Qian and asked: "Can you understand the mental method given by Liu Shixiong?"

  Xiao Qian said: "Just now I tried it out, and those difficult problems from before seem to have been solved effortlessly."

  "What's up, what's up?" Liu Laosix said with a pleased expression.

  Su Jing said nervously: "Xiao Qian, the people of the Federal Continent are all relying on you now. I represent them to thank you."

  Xiao Qian said in a low voice: "Sister Su, don't say that, you and Xiao Long are both my benefactors, and the trouble with the bad guys also started because of me..."

  "I said: 'Let's not talk about this anymore, how long will it take you to restart your cultivation?'"

  Xiao Qian said: "I'll try my best and strive for an early resolution."

  "Good job!"

  "It's not hard."

  Unexpectedly, Xiao Qian took it very seriously and the next day when we woke up, she was still sitting at the table with that piece of paper in front of her, having not slept all night.

  I stood at the stairs and said, "You're still an impatient one, I told you to hurry up, not to rush to death, what's the urgency in just a moment..." Before I could finish my sentence, Leng Ding suddenly felt his limbs twitching, and without warning, he fell headfirst downwards. Su Jing quickly grabbed my collar and pulled me back, anxiously asking, "What's wrong with you?"

  I plopped down on the stairs, feeling a burning pain all over my body, which seemed even worse than yesterday. Su Jing picked up my arm and felt it, her brow furrowing: "It's not good, your meridians are withering!"

  "How could this be?" I said weakly.

  Su Jingdao said: "You overexerted yourself yesterday, the sword energy has already injured your five internal organs and six meridians, it's just that I didn't think it was this severe."

  "What's to be done?"

  Su Jing looked at Xiao Qian deeply and said: "It seems that we have to be in a hurry now, Xiao Qian, how are you?"

  Xiao Qian picked up the papers on the table, her eyes red as she said: "I'm fine!"

  Su Jingdao said: "We can't delay, let's go find Liu Rili now."

  I weakly waved my hand and said: "I can't drive anymore, we need a driver."

  Jin Chengwu stood up from the small restaurant and said, "I will."

  Lao Wu said, "I'll go with you guys too." I looked at him gratefully, knowing they were worried that Su Jing and I would be ambushed by bad people again if we went out alone. Now I had no strength to fight back, and Su Jing was left to face it alone.

  Coming out, Jin Chengwu took the key from me and turned it around his fingers twice, saying: "I don't have a driver's license."

  "...just be careful not to take off your gloves!"

  Su Jiong put his arm around my shoulder and accompanied me onto the bus. After we got on, his expression became increasingly solemn. I asked him: "What's wrong?"

  "Your condition is getting worse and worse, I don't even know if your meridians will all wither away before you see Liu Rili."

  I stared at her steadily, and Su Jing dodged my gaze, saying: "I'm just telling the truth."

  I put one hand around her waist and the other on her shoulder, leaning my head against Su Jing's chest and weakly said: "If I become paralyzed, you'll have to take care of me - I don't even have a wife yet."

  Xiao Qian worriedly said: "Su sister, is Little Dragon brother okay?"

  Su Jing swept a glance at me and said expressionlessly: "Looking at his current strength, nothing will happen within two hours."

  I was caught, so I just lay on Su Jing's body and didn't get up. Maybe it was because she felt guilty, but she didn't move. However, I could see her neck turning red... Following my instructions, Jin Chengwu drove the car well, and it was still Su Jing who supported me to Liu Rili's clothing stall. His wife was sitting there, and I asked: "Is Brother Liu sleeping again?"

  Before his wife could respond, the curtain opened and Liu Rili's hair was disheveled as he said, "Still can't sleep!"

  I pointed at Xiaoxian and said: "I'll bring a doctor for you, specializing in insomnia."

  Liu Rili said unexpectedly: "So young?"

  His wife then asked: "Is it expensive? We've seen many traditional Chinese doctors before, but none of them were effective."

  I sighed and said: "Of course, seeing an old Chinese doctor is useless. Liu Ge can't sleep now, but it's not that he can't fall asleep..."

  Liu Rili and his wife: "......"

  Liu Rili saw me lying on Su Jing's body and asked: "What's wrong with you?"

  "You're overdoing it."

  Liu Rili looked at Su Jing and then at me, saying ambiguously: "It's understandable, you're still young after all. Brother, if you can't hold on, I'll introduce you to a few old Chinese doctors..."

  "Cut the nonsense and let's focus on your insomnia first!"

  I pulled Liu Rili to the back and let him lie on the steel wire bed. Liu Rili said: "How to treat?"

  Xiao Qian said: "Give me your hand." Xiao Qian pulled my hand and sat between me and him, calming down and saying: "Sister Su, Brother Long, I know this time it's only allowed to succeed and not fail, but in my heart, I really have no confidence..."

  I comforted her by saying: "It's not that serious, don't worry about it, at worst I'll just have your sister Su take care of me for the rest of my life."

  Liu Rili was even more skeptical than Xiao Qian, seeing a young girl claiming to diagnose his illness, he anxiously said: "Brother, you're not thinking of using psychological therapy, are you? My wife and I have tried it before, what's it called again? Ah yes, hypnosis, it's all just a scam to swindle people out of their money. They'll either wave a string in front of your eyes or recite poetry for you, and the fee is expensive too. After they're done, they'll charge you 200 yuan..."

  Old Wu smiled and said, "Young man, don't be in a hurry, listen to me recite a passage from the 'Tao Te Ching', it will also be beneficial for you in the future." He then clearly recited, "The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao, the name that can be named is not the eternal name..."

  "This is a riddle, isn't it?"

  However, as soon as Liu Rili started reading Lao Wu's "Tao Te Ching", he quickly became drowsy and closed his eyes slightly, although not falling asleep, his consciousness gradually blurred. Xiao Qian nodded at me and also began to work.

  It wasn't long before I felt a strange, tingling sensation spreading from Xiaoxian's hand to mine. It started in her left hand and traveled to my right hand, then spread throughout my arm and entire body. My body seemed to be rejoicing at its arrival, like a parched plant welcoming the rain. At first, it was like an anesthetic, numbing my pain, and then it nourished my lungs and meridians like a refreshing shower. I could even feel it gathering up all the torn and damaged blood vessels in my body and smoothing them out. I let out a comfortable sigh.

  Su Jing anxiously asked: "How do you feel?"

  I deliberately teased her saying: "Not good, no feeling at all."

  Su Jing's eyebrows were tightly furrowed as she looked at Liu Rili, seeing his eyelids becoming increasingly heavy, while Xiao Qian was slightly trembling all over, as if electrified.

  Also don't know how long it took, Xiao Qian's hand suddenly fell down, I stood up suddenly, Su Jing exclaimed: "Are you okay?"

  I stumbled and fell into her arms: "Oh no, oh no, my legs won't listen to me."

  Su Jing picked up my arm and felt it carefully for a long time, scowling: "Are you still pretending?"

  I burst out laughing and jumped aside.

  At this time, Liu Rili also slowly woke up. He grabbed hold of Old Wu and said: "Old brother, what did you just recite to me?"

  "Ah, 'Tao Te Ching'." Old Wu said gently: "How about it, are you thinking of learning?"

  "Not really." Liu Rili said, "You just recited two sentences and I'm already sleepy. Where can I buy a copy? Next time when I have insomnia, I'll read it instead of listening to those hypnotists' 'On the vast blue ocean, there are several seagulls flying.'"

  Old Wu: "......"

  Xiao Qian sat on the edge of the bed, reluctant to get up. Her face looked tired and exhausted. I quickly supported her and asked: "Qian, what's wrong?"

  Xiao Qian forced a smile at me: "I'm fine, it's just that after succeeding, it's really exhausting."

  I grasped Liu Rili's hand and shook it, warning him with a heavy heart: "Brother Liu, drink less from now on, your body is yours alone in the future."

  Liu Rili let out a long yawn: "I'll see you off." His face had added a few points of fatigue and lost a few points of excitement, but with time, it shouldn't be hard to recover.

  Outside the clothing stall, Liu Rili's wife was persuading Jin Chengwu to buy her gloves: "Young man, on such a hot day, won't you come and wear a pair of real silk gloves? You must be so hot!"

  Liu Rili interrupted: "What nonsense are you talking about? Give this brother a few more pairs."

  His wife turned around and saw Liu Rili's head nodding off bit by bit, happily saying: "Are you better?"

  Liu Rili leaned against the door frame and yawned: "I'm about to die of sleepiness."

  His wife took out a handful of money from her waist bag and stuffed it into my hand: "Thank goodness, this time it's really useful, big brother you are our family's lucky star."

  "I pushed hard outward: 'Don't be polite, sister-in-law, this really can't be taken.'"

  His wife saw that I was determined and pointed at the clothes spread out saying: "Which set of clothes will you wear?"

  "I smiled and said, 'Don't be polite.'"

  His wife insisted on not selling it, so I had to pick up a long wooden shoe horn from the stall and say, "Then I'll take this one back to play with."

  Unexpectedly, his wife came from behind and handed me a big bundle of more than ten together: "These are all for you."

  I cried and laughed at the same time: "What am I going to do with so many shoe horns?"

  "Take it, as a keepsake, knowing that you can't have valuable things, let them witness the friendship between us two brothers."

  "We two brothers together are just a pair of worn-out shoes."

  Liu Rili slowly slid down from the door frame, struggling to open his eyes and said: "Come often in the future, I'll cover all your clothes - I really need to go to sleep now."

  "Go ahead, sleep for three days and three nights."

  Then we saw Liu Rili take two steps back without looking back and fell straight onto the bed, soon snoring loudly.