Zheng Yubai barely managed to stay calm and not vomit on Hannibal's table. After Hannibal finally ate up all the "delicacies" on the two plates, Zheng Yubai finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"If I had known you were going to kill him, I would have taken out some more fresh internal organs and preserved them." Hannibal cleaned up the table and licked his lips, looking unsatisfied.
"How do you know we killed him?" Zheng Yubai was becoming increasingly confused about the cannibal doctor in front of him.
"You smell like his death." Hannibal grinned. "I have a very good nose."
He washed his hands, ripped the napkin off his chest, crumpled it up and threw it on the unwiped table, then sat down on a chair and asked, "What do you want to talk to me about?"
"I would like to ask you to go to Jinghai to save someone." Zheng Yubai said.
Hannibal did not answer, but took out a box of cigars from the desk drawer.
"How about a smoke?" Hannibal asked.
"I don't smoke." Zheng Yubai shook his head.
"As a man, if you don't smoke, drink, or like beautiful women, then what's the point of living?" Hannibal laughed.
"I can drink some wine..." Zheng Yubai scratched his head, a little uncomfortable with Hannibal's highly rambling conversation.
"But you're still a virgin..." Hannibal grinned.
Zheng Yubai blushed, coughed and said, "Well... let's talk about saving people."
"Save people? I'm not short of money, I'm too lazy to run so far, and I'm not familiar with you, why should I save people?" Hannibal asked three questions in a row, and Zheng Yubai felt a little sweat on his back.
"Of course, I'm not a harsh person, nor am I stingy. I think you're a very interesting guy. If you're willing to do an experiment with me, I might consider saving that person." Hannibal said as he cut the cigar, lit it, and took a deep breath.
"What experiment?" Zheng Yubai immediately thought of Warner's experiment.
Hannibal showed a sinister smile on his face: "It's simple, I want to see how far you can expand your abilities." As he said that, he exhaled a puff of smoke.
As soon as the smoke came out of his mouth, it immediately dissipated. Zheng Yubai immediately felt his eyes blurry, and he said in surprise: "This smoke..."
"Don't worry, it's just a common anesthetic and it won't leave any sequelae." This was the last sentence Zheng Yubai heard Hannibal say before he fell into a coma.
Flowers were blooming in front of me, and there was a vast expanse of lush green grass. A breeze blew by, and suddenly countless purple lavenders appeared in the grass, swaying gently and emitting bursts of fragrance.
In the distance there was a huge tree, so tall that one could not see where the top of the tree was, and so thick that a hundred people could hug it. Zheng Yubai looked at the scene in confusion, not knowing where he was.
Suddenly, there were ripples in the originally blue sky, as if water waves were floating in the sky and suddenly a restless little fish disturbed this rare tranquility.
Zheng Yubai looked up and saw a scene he would never forget. A teenager, naked and covered in scars, was struggling to crawl out of the ice hole. His body was swaying in the cold wind of the coldest days of winter, and it seemed that he would be knocked to the ground by the cold north wind at any time. But suddenly four rays of determined light shot out from his eyes, and supported by the light, he walked step by step towards the small mountain village in the distance.
Zheng Yubai was very familiar with that village, it was his hometown, where he grew up. And the swaying boy was himself.
The entire sky seemed to have turned into a huge screen. From the moment he was chased by wild dogs and fell into an ice hole, his life became a movie. Every life-and-death moment was presented one by one in the sky. Zheng Yubai looked up at his adventure, not noticing the passage of time.
Unconsciously, the movie of life stopped. But the sky did not return to its azure blue color, but kept shaking, and slowly, two huge eyes appeared in the sky.
Zheng Yubai was also very familiar with these two eyes, because each eye had a pair of pupils. The four pupils were exactly his own eyes.
The two eyes stared at Zheng Yubai, making him feel uncomfortable. He wanted to figure out where he was, but the scenery around him suddenly changed. Suddenly, a gust of cold wind swept past, and the green grass changed its appearance. The green grass on the ground gradually turned yellow and withered and died. The sky also darkened, and around the two huge eyes, there appeared lingering lightning, thunder and lightning, and a heavy rain poured down.
The heavy rain poured down, soaking Zheng Yubailin. He wanted to take shelter under the big tree, but no matter how hard he ran, the tree was always out of reach, and it seemed that he would never be able to run under it in his lifetime.
Zheng Yubai stopped and blinked the two eyes on top of his head, staring at himself, as if he was watching a very interesting drama.
Zheng Yubai stood still, with heavy rain pouring down on his head. He suddenly raised his head, stared at the two eyes in the sky with a firm gaze, and shouted loudly: "Who am I!"
This kind of question is one that the wisest people throughout history often ask themselves. Zheng Yubai suddenly shouted loudly because he suddenly figured out a problem.
“The eyes in the sky are me, but who am I now? Am I the one getting wet in the rain, or am I the one watching the show? Who am I, where do I come from, and where am I going?”
These questions were like a mess, with no answer. After all, since the beginning of civilization, this question has puzzled countless top geniuses, not to mention Zheng Yubai. But after shouting it out, he felt a sense of relief in his chest. Feeling comfortable doing this, Zheng Yubai continued to shout loudly, his voice even louder than the lightning and thunder in the sky, shaking the world.
"Bang!" Zheng Yubai was hit on the head, and he suddenly woke up from the illusion. He sat up suddenly, sweating profusely, as if he had just been pulled out of the water.
Hannibal sat on a chair next to Zheng Yubai, retracted the palm that had just hit Zheng Yubai, and said angrily: "Why are you screaming? You scared me. If my hand shakes and I remove one of your organs, you will die."
"What happened?" Zheng Yubai asked in surprise. He only remembered Hannibal exhaling a puff of smoke, and then he lost his memory.
"Nothing, it just went around in your head." Hannibal said it as if he had just gone to the supermarket to buy a bunch of vegetables, but it scared Zheng Yubai. I don't know if what he meant by going around was his consciousness going around, or if he cut open his head.
After touching his head and finding no scars, Zheng Yubai was relieved. Given Hannibal's personality, if he opened his skull, there was no guarantee that he would not take away some parts.
"What did you see just now?" Hannibal asked, "When I was wandering around in your mind, I must have created a lot of hallucinations in your consciousness."
Zheng Yubai recalled the dreamlike illusion just now and told Hannibal everything. After hearing it, the old man laughed and said, "You look strong and manly on the outside, but you are so weak on the inside."
"Why do you think so?" Although Zheng Yubai had a good temper, he was a little dissatisfied when Hannibal criticized him like this.
"The blue sky, green grass and lavender fields represent that you yearn for a very peaceful and pastoral life. I guess your biggest wish is to marry a wife, find a stable job and live a peaceful life." Hannibal analyzed in an orderly manner.
Zheng Yubai scratched his head. When he just graduated, he did think so. He had no ambitions and only wanted to find a job to support himself, then fall in love, get married, have children, and live out his life. He was indeed such a loser before. But who would have thought that a job notice would change his life and put him on a completely different path.
"That big tree is your support. If I guess correctly, you are very afraid of your father." Hannibal continued to analyze.
"Well... sort of." Zheng Yubai admitted. He was indeed afraid of his father, not because he was beaten by his father since he was a child, but because of a character shaped by the environment.
"You have a gentle personality, but you can be very aggressive when you are angry. You are responsible, but you are afraid of responsibility. You are capable, but you lack a sense of security. You seem to be a mixture of contradictions, but in fact all your problems are..." Hannibal kept the suspense.
"What is it?" Zheng Yubai asked hurriedly. The person who knows himself the least is often himself. Now that he has a smart and wise guy like Hannibal to help him analyze his character flaws, Zheng Yubai has benefited a lot.
"It's because you've lost yourself." Hannibal revealed the answer. "Those memories are the side effects of me flipping through your memories. Let's ignore them for now. As for the heavy rain, it symbolizes your anxiety about your fate. When it rained heavily, you wanted to find someone to rely on, but you couldn't find one. Only when you had no other choice did you howl to the sky in protest."
Zheng Yubai couldn't help but want to scratch his head again, but Hannibal raised his hand to stop him: "You scratching your head actually shows that you are not confident in yourself. When you encounter problems, you always want to find someone to rely on. Only when you have no one to rely on can you explode. This is why you can't see your own heart and your own abilities clearly. Otherwise, with your superpower of four eyes and double pupils, it is impossible that you have only this little realm now."
Zheng Yubai put down his hand, a little stunned. Hannibal's words were like a roaring submachine gun, shooting wildly, and every bullet hit the bull's eye. This kind of impact directly on his soul made him feel like he was stripped naked and thrown into the square in broad daylight.
"You are weak again." Hannibal looked at Zheng Yubai's face meaningfully and saw through what was going on in his mind.
"What should I do?" Zheng Yubai shuddered, threw away all weak thoughts from his mind, and asked Hannibal sincerely.
"Your one click warms my entire writing life. Let's watch the fantasy channel of Wenxue.com together, more exciting content is waiting for you!"
"Find your true self." Hannibal said concisely.
"Am I not my true self now?" Zheng Yubai asked.
"What do you think?" Hannibal kicked the question back with an unfathomable smile on his face.
Zheng Yubai thought about this question blankly, feeling a little confused. He suddenly realized that the world was still the same, but his mood was completely different. Before listening to Hannibal's words, he thought that life was actually very simple, as long as he worked hard. But after listening to Hannibal's words, he realized that life was very complicated. He didn't even know who he was, so how could he talk about other things
"Are you feeling inferior?" Although Hannibal did not have the super vision like Zheng Yubai, his ability to read people's expressions was far better than Zheng Yubai's, and he immediately noticed the change in Zheng Yubai's mood.
"I'm just confused, I hope you can show me a way."
"The road is in your heart and under your feet. When I was your age, I didn't know who I was. I thought I was the smartest and most capable person in the world, so I did a lot of things that I regretted. Now when I think back, I was not only a fool when I was young, but also an unforgivable villain." Hannibal smiled. This time, he was much gentler and his tone was no longer aggressive.
Zheng Yubai listened quietly. Hannibal did not give Zheng Yubai any advice, but instead opened up and talked about his youth. Many of these stories were exactly the same as those in the Hollywood movies about him. It seemed that the screenwriters were really lazy and put them on the screen without making any changes.
After an unknown amount of time, Hannibal finally finished his absurd and bloody youth. After he finished, both the old and the young fell into silence. Hannibal was still reminiscing, but Zheng Yubai seemed to see another way to find himself in the story.
Life is actually a process of finding oneself. People know nothing when they are born. As they grow up, they gradually understand themselves, society, and others. Life is birth, growth, aging, and death. In this process, people's understanding of themselves is perception, identification, search, and integration. Zheng Yubai stayed in the process of identification, wanting to find but without direction, which is the reason why he lacks a sense of security in his heart.
Zheng Yubai scratched his head in distress, but still couldn't figure out this difficult philosophical question. In fact, why should ordinary people worry about these problems? There are countless people in this world who have lived and died in a hurry. How many of them really know their true self
Hannibal saw Zheng Yubai's distressed look and laughed, "I like to see young people frowning because of my words, haha."
Zheng Yubai said helplessly: "I can't figure it out..."
"Of course you can't figure it out. Countless wise people can't figure it out. If you can figure it out, you'll be a saint." Hannibal said disdainfully, "I just checked your brain cells, and they're not much better than an ordinary person. With your intelligence, even if you live to be 180 years old, you won't be able to figure this out."
"Then you still have to ask me."
"I just want to try whether someone who can see his own internal organs and meridians can also see his subconscious self. It seems impossible." Hannibal muttered.
"..." Zheng Yubai was silent. He realized that Hannibal had spent so much effort and given him a lot of brain-consuming problems just for this. Could this be the real purpose of his experiment
"Then is it possible to expand my superpowers?" Zheng Yubai asked again. Ever since he met Hannibal, he only knew how to ask questions. After all, facing Hannibal, who was both knowledgeable and cunning, Zheng Yubai was still just a young man.
"Your superpower is one in a million." Hannibal whispered, "There are many great figures in history who have quadruple pupils, but their endings were not very good. Do you know why?"
"Why?" Zheng Yubai once heard Zhang Daosheng talk about historical figures with four eyes and double pupils. When he thought about it carefully, they all ended up in a bad way.
"Because quadrilateral pupils are the most special superpower. Compared with other superpowers, it is the only one that can expand itself without external forces. Because of this, people with quadrilateral pupils are prone to greed, self-expansion, and ultimately self-destruction." Hannibal said, "This is human nature, which cannot be controlled or reversed. Therefore, humans are really bad creatures that are only suitable for being food."
Zheng Yubai scratched his head: "I don't have that much, I just want to live my life well."
"But you have already entered the world of martial arts. Don't think I don't know who Sylvester is. Since you are with the people from Yandaotang, how can you stay out of it?" Hannibal said.
Zheng Yubai was silent. Life was really a joke. It put him in this position without knowing it, which really made him distressed and confused.
"But your heart is still very pure. I think you might be an exception." Hannibal changed his tone and said, "Of course, if you want to self-destruct, I don't mind being a recorder of history. Because I actually want to see to what extent your superpowers can be expanded under the guidance of desire."
Looking at the smile on Hannibal's face, Zheng Yubai suddenly felt that this old man actually had a good heart, but he always acted cunningly. Was this a form of self-protection that excluded others
"Now, can you help me go to Jinghai to rescue someone?" Zheng Yubai asked.
"Well, if I get food and lodging and a lot of money, I wouldn't mind going on a trip to Jinghai." Hannibal raised his lips slightly, revealing a perfect smile. Zheng Yubai caught a glimpse of this smile and suddenly felt that the Hollywood director did not make the wrong choice of actor. If Hannibal dressed up and stopped looking so sloppy, he might really be a popular old handsome guy.
After agreeing with Hannibal on the time to go to Jinghai, Zheng Yubai hurried back to the inn. It was already late, but Xu Heixing and Wang Feng had not returned yet. It seemed that this mediation would be another difficult meeting.
When Xu Heixing and Wang Feng came back, it was already midnight. Xu Heixing seemed to have drunk some wine and his face was a little flushed.
"Boss, these elders are all hypocritical. I don't think any of them can be trusted." Wang Feng said angrily as soon as he came back.
"You've only seen a superficial view..." Xu Heixing closed his eyes and rested, seemingly not taking Wang Feng's words to heart.
Great men are often calm in the face of adversity and do not show their emotions. It is said that in ancient times, only those with a calm face and a calm mind could become generals. It seems that no matter what era, only shrewd people can achieve great things.
But do they really know their true hearts, what is the self hidden in the deepest part? Zheng Yubai seemed to be a little poisoned by Hannibal, and couldn't help thinking about this question.
Three days passed like this, and the aftermath of Master Yan's assassination finally died down. Although there were still many people in the underworld who were working hard to investigate this matter, the killer only showed up once and then disappeared without a trace.
Of course, only Xu Heixing and his friends knew that the killer had turned into a pile of minced meat and hid deep in a sewer. Even if the body was found, no one could piece the minced meat back to its original form. This clue was completely broken.
The elders' meeting was reconvened, and as Xu Heixing expected, the situation became quite favorable to the Black Star Group because of Elder Yan's suspicion of Li Zongwei. The elders who received Xu Heixing's gifts changed their minds and began to lean towards him. After two more days of lengthy meetings, the management rights of the Safe Apartment for the next five years finally remained in the hands of the Black Star Company.
After completing the important task, Xu Heixing finally fulfilled his wish. That night, he held a grand celebration banquet at the most luxurious Hilton Hotel in London. On the surface, it was a cocktail party for London's upper class, gathering politicians, aristocratic descendants, royal family members, sports stars, entertainment stars, entrepreneurs and other upper-class people. In fact, it was an announcement to the world through the banquet that the safe apartment still belonged to Black Star Company.
Zheng Yubai followed Xu Heixing closely throughout the banquet, watching familiar or unfamiliar people, but with well-known names, come to congratulate Xu Heixing with flattering smiles on their faces. Everyone who came to the banquet knew what kind of business Xu Heixing was doing behind his prominent identity, but both the prince of the British royal family and the ministers in the government maintained a close relationship with him. And those stars and entrepreneurs also flocked to Xu Heixing. Seeing these upper-class people who were so powerful in front of ordinary people chasing after Xu Heixing, Zheng Yubai realized how powerful Yandaotang was and how tenacious its ability to infiltrate was.
"Brother Xu, congratulations." As a member of Yan Dao Tang, Li Zongwei naturally received the invitation. With a smile on his face, he came over to congratulate Xu Heixing. However, Zheng Yubai guessed that he must be cursing Xu Heixing's eighteen generations of ancestors in his heart.
"Thanks to Taoist Wu Chen's help, I can continue to run the safe apartment business." Xu Heixing smiled "modestly" and shook hands with Lee Chong Wei.
"Do your job well and don't cause any trouble. Don't let the elders worry about you." Lee Chong Wei narrowed his eyes and said with hidden meaning in his words.
"Please rest assured, Taoist priest. I will take good care of the business. If anyone wants to make trouble, just come over. I will make him go back to where he came from." Xu Heixing said with a smile, and the tit-for-tat meaning in his words was very obvious.
Both of them hated each other so much that they wanted to peel off each other's skin and eat each other's flesh. Their words were full of thorns, always trying to stab each other. But on the surface, these two important generals of Yandaotang were still in harmony.
Zheng Yubai looked at them, scratched his head and thought: This is probably another thing that I can't see clearly besides my own face... (To be continued)