《The Eternal Club》 Chapter 1 The time was already past 10 pm and Lu Li had just gotten off work and walked out of his office. He looked up at the tiny bit of sky he could see in between the tall skyscrapers around him and as he saw that sight, he felt a lot more depressed than before. Shanghai was a city that could make an ordinary person feel terribly small and insignificant, as if one was just merely an ant struggling to survive in a cosmopolitan city. This city made one feel helpless and threw one into depths of despair. When Lu Li first graduated from university, he had been full of hopes and dreams and because of that, he decided to remain in this huge international financial centre without thinking twice about it. He wanted to fulfill his grand dreams of becoming a trendsetter of his generation! But¡­it was too bad¡­ After he started work however, he realized that he had to come to terms with the truth. That he had to accept the fact that he wasn¡¯t the main character of this universe! That he was nothing but an ordinary human! This city had attracted too many talented and brilliant people. Some were geniuses in their own right, while some hailed from rich and powerful families, making them winners in life from birth. To such people, this city was like their playground. But for the ordinary person on the street like him, this city could swallow them whole! Lu Li was feeling rather frustrated today, so he didn¡¯t run like usual towards the nearest train station to catch the last train back to the rented apartment he lived in, on the outskirts of the city like he normally did. If one looked at his face, they would see that he had no expression on it at all. Or rather, he looked like someone who was completely numb to life as he walked along the pavement absentmindedly. The thoughts in his mind were many and were too complicated¡­ He had graduated when he was 23 years old and had started work after that. Four years had already passed since then. Over the last four years, he had seen one colleague after another start work with great excitement and anticipation, only to leave their companies in disappointment and depression before making their way home to their hometowns in regret. It was painfully obvious that this was a city that swallowed up people¡¯s dreams! Lu Li himself was beginning to think about leaving too. Should he leave this city where his dreams had been born and subsequently killed? Just earlier today, his parents had called him. As usual, his mother, Yu Qin, was hurrying him to find a girlfriend so that he could settle down and start a family. She also informed him that he didn¡¯t need to worry about being able to afford a house. The two of them had withdrawn their pension, so together with their life savings, they had about $700,000 for Lu Li to use so that he could buy a house. Lu Li himself had saved about $300,000 over the years he had been slogging away in this city, so he had about a million in total. This amount was enough to pay the deposit for an apartment in Shanghai. Of course, this was under the condition that the location of this apartment had to be pretty far from the city center. Right now, the districts in the heart of the city like Huangpu, Luwan and Jin¡¯an would cost him almost $130,000 per square meter. Even outside of this area, the properties in Dongxin cost at least $70,000 per square meter. You had to go way outside the city center to get land that averaged between $20,000 to $30,000 per square meter. If you were happy with buying something smaller, a million was enough for the deposit. When he thought about these things, his eyes glinted, and he clenched his fists subconsciously. His parents were like everyone else ¨C both of them had to work in order to support the family. Being able to cough up $700,000, meant that they had nothing else to their name. That money didn¡¯t just include their pension. It probably included their retirement savings too. ¡°Do I really want to live like that?¡± ¡°Do I really want to squeeze my family dry just so that I can become a citizen of this city and buy a house in this god-forsaken place?¡± Lu Li began to ask himself such questions. It was true that most residents who moved to Shanghai started off like this. In fact, it often took the accumulated wealth of at least two generations to exchange for an apartment in this city. ¡°After deducting my taxes, I¡¯m left with about $16,000. If I throw in a housing loan on top of my current expenses¡­¡± Lu Li made a quick mental calculation. The final result of that calculation flung him into despair. This world was a very cruel place. Nobody could promise you good returns just because you worked hard. ¡°I don¡¯t want to live like this,¡± said Lu Li resolutely after he spat angrily on the ground. KABOOM! KABOOM! All of a sudden, a flash of lightning cut through the sky, followed by the ominous sounds of repeating thunder. A heavy rain came pouring down after that. And raindrops as large as beans pelted down on Lu Li, drenching him almost immediately. He quickly sought shelter next to the entrance of a shop by the side and from there, he watched the rain along with the frantic pedestrians running for cover. The rain continued to pour down. Just then, something strange happened to Lu Li without anyone noticing and without any prior warning. A round clock face vaguely appeared in each of Lu Li¡¯s eyes. And the clock faces were moving at different speeds. Tick¡­tock¡­tick¡­ Several incomprehensible pieces of information started to appear in his mind. Several minutes later, Lu Li¡¯s brain had downloaded and understood all the information he received and snapped out of his daze. Those clock faces that reflected in his eyes earlier had also disappeared. Lu Li was rather shocked by what just happened. He lifted his head to look at the person next to him. It was a middle-aged man with a briefcase who had also chosen this spot to seek shelter from the rain. Lu Li saw a few simple lines of information above this man¡¯s head: Lu Li gulped and turned to look at a young lady beside him, who seemed to be around his age. In other words, did this mean that this fairly pleasant looking young lady was only going to live till she was 35? Lu Li didn¡¯t know what to think anymore. He continued to look towards another person. And he saw an honest looking and slightly pudgy middle-aged man who stood some distance away from him. As he saw that, Lu Li¡¯s eyes instantly widened. Chapter 2 - Buying and Selling Time ¡°What on earth¡­¡± ¡°This man¡­is only left with 3 minutes and 23 seconds to live?!¡± ¡°That can¡¯t be true!¡± The time on top of the man¡¯s head continued to count down. Lu Li felt his heart thumping wildly and his breathing begin to quicken. His adam¡¯s apple quivered, as he swallowed a big gulp of saliva. He kept his eyes wide open as he stared intensely at the man named Fan Changjiang and watched as the number in his ¡®remaining lifespan¡¯ field continued to countdown to zero. Time was so cold! So cruel! So ruthless! Lu Li felt his entire body go numb as he watched Fan Changjiang. But he still wasn¡¯t sure if this new superpower of his truly reflected a person¡¯s remaining lifespan accurately or not. That was because he could see that the man looked like he was in the peak of his health. Apart from how he kept checking his watch anxiously again and again, he looked perfectly fine. Or at least, he didn¡¯t look like someone who was going to die in just a little over two minutes. Time slowly ticked by as Lu Li kept his gaze on Fan Changjiang. The rain was still falling heavily. The pitter patter of the raindrops falling continuously from the night sky, hit the ground loudly, making them sound more like firecrackers going off. Shortly before the countdown timer above Fan Changjiang¡¯s head hit zero, he started moving. He glanced at his watch, and then glanced at the rain, and then, he clenched his teeth, held his bag over his head, and dashed into the rain. He was clearly trying to cross the road to get to the bus stop on the opposite side. The constant rain washed the asphalt road continuously and made the road seem especially clean. Fan Changjiang was already wet all over by the time he ran to the edge of the road. He didn¡¯t hesitate as he proceeded to step onto the road. Lu Li¡¯s eyes widened. He could see that the remaining lifespan above Fan Changjiang¡¯s head was left with only four seconds. Time suddenly seemed to slow down. BEEEEEEP!! A red sports car appeared from around the corner, out of the blue like a flash of lightning. Its headlights instantly lit up the rain and the ear-piercing sound of its horn resounded loudly! Everyone seeking shelter from the rain immediately turned to look in the direction of the loud sound. So did Fan Changjiang. But the red sports car was driving too quickly, and he couldn¡¯t react in time. There was a loud bang followed by a terrible screech. Fan Changjiang flew into the air and his briefcase fell from his hands as his body crashed back down to the asphalt heavily. A bright red liquid flowed from his body and dyed the surface of the road in its colour. The red sports car left tyre marks on the road as it finally screeched to a halt. Lu Li could see that the number above Fan Changjiang¡¯s head had hit zero and the font colour had turned red as well. Someone got out of the red sports car. Several helpful pedestrians ran over to offer assistance. Some others took their phones out to call for an ambulance. But only Lu Li knew that there was no point in doing any of these things. The man had died the moment his body had landed back on the road. After witnessing how someone had just died in front of him, he looked around at every helpful person who had gathered around the scene of the accident. He looked at all the countdown timers above their heads¡­ He felt his throat go dry and started to feel rather cold as well. Lu Li remained rooted to the spot where he was standing. He was still very disturbed by what had happened. He saw that the police and ambulance had arrived, and also saw how the emergency doctors shook their heads helplessly after looking at the lifeless body of the man. He glanced at the heavy downpour, and then walked out into the rain to hail a cab and spent more than a hundred dollars to return to his shared apartment. Once he got back, he headed straight for his own room and sat down at his desk. He couldn¡¯t help but shiver when he thought about what had happened earlier. But he slowly began to calm down again. A growing excitement and ambitious look slowly filled his eyes that once seemed dull and depressed. The corners of his lips curled upwards, and his mouth opened slightly. Then, he clenched his fists so tightly that his veins popped, and his breathing quickened. ¡°This is a chance to break out of this cage I¡¯m stuck in and change my fate forever,¡± murmured Lu Li to himself. He started to explore this new superpower of his. From the mysterious pieces of information in his head, he derived that he could use this newfound ability in four ways: to buy time, to sell time, to speed up time and finally, to slow down time. Buying time meant that Lu Li could purchase time from another person like a merchant. Selling time meant that he could sell the time he had to another person like a merchant. Speeding up time meant that he could apply a multiplier to any amount of time so as to make it go faster. For example, if he chose to multiply time by two, an environment of his choosing would be separated from the rest of the world and would make it so that even though two minutes in his world had passed, only one minute would have passed in the world outside that specific environment. Slowing down time meant that he could slow his own time down by double, triple or even more times. For example, one minute to Lu Li in this mode would be equivalent to two minutes in the outside world. And ¡°time¡± here referred to the time every human being had in existence in this world. In short, it was their life! Chapter 3 The Eternal Club 3: The Eternal Club As the night wore on, the rain only got heavier. The sound of raindrops falling noisily onto the ground outside the window could be heard clearly from within the room. Inside the room, Lu Li sat at his desk as he continued to try and understand this new superpower he had He took a notebook out, to write down all the bits of information that were floating about inside his head. ¡°Regarding buying and selling time. This power apparently stems from the supernatural forces that govern the universe and allows me to conduct a transaction which is sealed by an agreement. In this transaction process, I act as the merchant.¡± Lu Li scribbled these words onto the paper with his pen. From the information he had, he discovered that regardless of whether he was buying or selling time, he needed an agreement for each transaction in order to validate it. In other words, he had to draw up a contract. And this contract was called a Time Contract. The details of the Time Contract were decided by Lu Li. Once both parties signed this contract, it would be recognized by the supernatural forces governing the universe. Neither party was allowed to violate the terms of the agreement, even though Lu Li would be the one offering the deal. He turned to a new page. In the middle of the top of the page, he wrote: Time Purchasing Contract Template. He paused for a moment to think, and then he started down writing several lines one after the other. Lu Li stopped there. He studied the extremely simple Time Purchasing Contract Template that he had written in his notebook. According to the information in his head, even though the one who drew up the contract wasn¡¯t allowed to violate its terms and conditions, he was allowed to decide on the details. That was why he naturally set down terms and conditions that protected himself, turning this mutual agreement into an extremely unfair contract.1 But he didn¡¯t think such an unfair contract was going to affect his business in the future at all. After all, he was the only one who was in control of the commodity they were trading here. He then turned to a new page in the book. In the middle of the first line of the page, he wrote: Time Selling Contract Template. The details of this contract were essentially the same as the Time Purchasing Contract. Once he was satisfied with this first draft of the contracts, he turned on his laptop to type out everything and printed a huge pile of copies. He filed everything into two separate files and kept them in his drawer. Then he turned to a new page in his notebook again. After pondering for a moment, he wrote down the following thoughts he had earlier: ¡°Defining the value of time (for purchase)¡± Even though some people believed that time was fair since everyone had the same amount of time, the value that each person created with that same amount of time was entirely different. Some spent every day and year of their life doing meaningful things whereas some spent every day and year of their life doing boring and dull things. Could he still assign the same value to each person¡¯s time when he was buying or selling their time? Lu Li didn¡¯t want to upset the social order, so he couldn¡¯t set values that were too high or too low. He put his pen down to think carefully about this matter. After a long period of time, he started writing again. He started writing down the prices he had decided for buying time. Ordinary people (scientists, educators, army personnel, doctors with excellent track records and the like are in a different category): For sellers with an annual income of $100,000 or less, each year of their life is worth $300,000. Price is not negotiable. For sellers with an annual income above $100,000, each year of their life is worth three times their annual income. Price is not negotiable. Note: If the seller has other ways of increasing the value of his time, the price can be increased as well. Lu Li turned to a new page. In the first line of the page, he wrote: ¡°Defining the value of time (for selling)¡± ¡°I need strict controls over the selling of time¡­I also need to restrict how much time each person can buy.¡± After he thought for a while, he started writing: For wealthy businessmen (scientists, educators, army personnel, doctors with excellent track records and the like are in a different category): Buyers worth $10 million and above shall use 20% of their entire annual income as the price of one year of time. When he got to this part, he suddenly stopped writing. A brand-new idea popped up in his mind. The thoughts in his mind were the beginning framework of the making of an organization! ¡°The Eternal Club!¡± That was what he wrote on the first line of a fresh page. ¡°The Club offers a plethora of benefits, including the gathering of the most brilliant, the most talented and the wealthiest of the world¡­¡± ¡°Club members shall be split into nine levels and will be classified according to how much money they spend.¡± ¡°Level 1 members must reach the $10 million level; Level 2 members must reach the $100 million level; Level 3 members must reach the $1 billion level; Level 4 members must reach the $10 billion level; Level 5 members must reach the $100 billion level; Level 6 members must reach the $1 trillion level¡­¡± ¡°Level 1 members can only exchange their money for 1 year of life; Level 2 members can only exchange for up to 3 years; Level 3 members can get up to 5 years; Level 4 members get up to 10 years; Level 5 members get up to 18 years; Level 6 members get up to 26 years¡­¡± It only took a few moments and one of the most terrifying and mysterious organizations of the world to ever exist was slowly taking shape with every word that Lu Li wrote. Chapter 4 The Eternal Club 4: Speed Up Time It was very late at night now. But Lu Li¡¯s eyes were glowing with excitement. The more he thought about the future and potential of what this club of his would look like, the more fired up he felt inside. His ambitious heart grew at a rapid pace like wild grass on a field. Such premium clubs did exist in this world. These clubs brought together the most famous, and elite members of society and sometimes even included royalty. It was the epitome of power and status, an assembly of the rich and famous¡­ and membership alone was a status of their wealth and their position in society! There were private sailing clubs like the one started by the Latsis family, one of the richest families in Greece. That club only provided 100 total memberships and was known as a club for the super-rich. And there were also clubs like the Skull and Bones Order in Yale University. Admission into the order was shrouded in secrecy and they are said to have held scheduled religious rituals. Famous alumni of the Order included three US presidents and two Supreme Court Justices, so it was known as one of the most mysterious yet powerful undergraduate societies in the US.1 There was also the Augusta National Golf Club and the Hong Kong Jockey Club. These were also clubs for the super-rich and the elites of the world. Every luxury club possessed tremendous power and potential. But once the club that Lu Li had conceptualized became reality, then all these premium clubs were going to be as good as trash! The Eternal Club was going to rise above everything else. ¡°The only President of the Eternal Club shall be its founder, Lu Li. He shall be revered and given utmost authority¡­¡± Lu Li smiled as he continued scribbling in his notebook. ¡°Lu Li shall be the sole decision maker in every aspect of the club. He has the right to lead and instruct all members according to his own will.¡± Any instructions given in Lu Li¡¯s name would be as good as an instruction from God himself, so objections or resistance to any instructions would not be permitted. In short, Lu Li was this club¡¯s king and God. He had the final say in everything. ¡°There shall be a board of directors that reports to the President. The board will have a total of 12 members, including one Chairman, one Vice-Chairman and 10 members¡­I will also need one Secretary¡­¡± Lu Li wrote down the entire organizational chart of the club in one shot. A red glow was already on the horizon outside. The heavy rains had stopped without Lu Li realizing it. Lu Li, who had finally finished writing, looked through his notebook, then closed it. Making this huge club a reality was going to become the bulk of Lu Li¡¯s work for a while to come. He kept the notebook away in his drawer. For now, Lu Li was going to try out the remaining two modes of his power, which were speeding up and slowing down time. Since he hadn¡¯t started buying time from others, using these two modes was going to consume his own life. But then again, time which concerned his life wasn¡¯t something Lu Li would have to worry about ever again. The first thing he did was to check his own stats. He did a quick calculation and realized that even without this superpower, he would have lived until he was 95 years old. This number did surprise him, because Lu Li worked as a programmer. Pulling all-nighters was a norm and there were many people who literally died from overwork in his field. ¡°Not bad! Even without this superpower, I would still outlast all the other programmers, huh,¡± muttered Lu Li. After that, he turned his attention back to testing one of the modes out. ¡°Let¡¯s try speeding up time first,¡± murmured Lu Li as he relaxed in his chair. Once he had that thought in mind, a notification appeared in his mind: [Please choose a multiplier.] ¡°Two times,¡± replied Lu Li. A magical feeling began to flow through his body, and then things began to change. Lu Li looked up at the time and suddenly felt like all the sounds he was hearing and the scenery around him seemed to be moving at half their usual speed. He looked towards his laptop screen and kept his eye on the time that was shown on the bottom right hand corner of the screen as he started counting mentally. A few moments later, he discovered that even after he had counted to 120, the time on his screen had only moved by one minute. He heard some noise downstairs, so he stood up to look out of the window. Some middle-aged folks had gotten up early to walk their dogs. The strange part was that both the dog and their owners were walking at only half their normal speed. ¡°If that¡¯s the case¡­does that mean my time flows at a different rate compared to the rest of the world? That time for me flows at twice their rate?¡± thought Lu Li to himself. Another thought struck him. He switched the multiplier to ten times instead, causing his time to flow ten times faster than the rest of the world. He watched as the falling leaves beyond his window fell at an extremely slow speed. The pedestrians seemed to be moving at a snail¡¯s pace too. Everything in the world around him had slowed down considerably. Even the sounds he heard had become incredibly slow. ¡°My time is moving ten times faster, so everything around me seems to be moving ten times slower.¡± ¡°In other words¡­anything I do will seem ten times faster to the rest of the world!¡± ¡°And what if I do this for a longer period of time?¡± He broke into a bright smile. He felt that there were many other good uses for this increase in speed, except that it would cost him double or more of his own time. This ability was amazing. It had provided him with an excellent method of self-preservation. Once he could move at ten times, 100 times or at even higher speeds than that, he would become nearly invincible! Lu Li got out of this mode and took a look at his own stats again. Only two minutes had passed in the outside world, but Lu Li had applied a two times multiplier to one of the minutes and a 10 times multiplier to the other minute. As a result, his total lifespan had been reduced by 12 minutes. ¡°That¡¯s awesome!¡± remarked Lu Li with a grin as he clenched his fists tightly. A moment later, he decided to try slowing down time. This ability enabled him to stretch time out by at least two times or more. This time, when Lu Li looked out of the window, he felt as though everything was moving much faster than usual. ¡°That¡¯s probably how the world saw me just now.¡± Lu Li started comparing the two modes. He felt that slowing down time was nowhere as useful to him as speeding up time. Perhaps these modes could be useful in other areas in the future. Nobody knew what the future held, after all. Chapter 5 The Eternal Club 5: Fellow Tenant Lu Li applied an 8 times multiplier to one hour and slept for this one hour. So even though only one hour had passed in the outside world, Lu Li had gotten a full eight hours of sleep. The morning sun after a night of rain shone through the window and onto his bed, making him open his eyes. He had never felt better before in his life. The exhaustion that came with insufficient sleep from staying up all night everyday was now, nowhere to be found. Others often grumbled about how they never had enough time to do the things they wanted, but for Lu Li, that wasn¡¯t going to be a problem for him anymore. Immediately after he got changed, he heard some noise coming from outside his room. He opened his door and walked out. The first person he saw was his fellow tenant, Yang Zhen¡¯er. She was 28 years old, a year older than himself, and worked as a property agent. She was putting her shoes on at the door when Lu Li emerged from his room. As she bent over slightly while wearing her formal jacket and skirt, her tight pencil skirt displayed her curves beautifully. Her legs were long and slim, and were covered by her thin black stockings. The one foot she had raised was so small and delicate, that he felt as though it could fit in his palm. This was a woman who was ripe for the picking. Just one glance at her made Lu Li¡¯s throat feel parched as he felt a fire burn within his heart and an arousal in his pants. Before today, Lu Li would never have allowed his thoughts to run wild because he knew that pretty women were a rarity that ordinary people like him could never have. But now¡­ The desire and ambition buried deep within Lu Li were released! ¡°Lu Li, you¡¯re up! Oh, was I too noisy that I woke you up?¡± said Yang Zhen¡¯er with a sweet smile as she looked up at Lu Li. Lu Li¡¯s heart skipped a beat, then started pounding wildly. Her long and silky black hair cascaded past her shoulders, and her eyes seemed to speak volumes. Her small oval face was covered with a thin layer of makeup, just the right amount of eyeshadow and her luscious red lips were slightly parted. ¡°N-no, you didn¡¯t,¡± Lu Li quickly responded. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s good to hear! Oh no! I¡¯m running late! Lu Li, I¡¯m off, see you later!¡± She glanced at her watch before hurriedly putting her other high heel shoe on, and ran out of the door while bidding Lu Li goodbye. Lu Li looked at the shut front door for a while and licked his lips. He looked like he was ready to swallow her whole. Both of them had rented this place together ever since they had started working. He knew what sort of person Yang Zhen¡¯er was, very well. Yang Zhen¡¯er was a woman who loved money. Her ultimate goal was to marry into a wealthy family. Her future husband had to have a house within the city center, a car and at least $10 million in the bank. But at the same time, she was someone who had boundaries. Or rather, she was an intelligent woman. She knew very well that her looks, and her body were her greatest assets. That was why she kept herself pure, even though she had to sell properties to make a living, even though many had offered her to be a friend with benefits and even though she had a long line of suitors hoping to woo her. Lu Li¡¯s expression slowly calmed back down again, but his lips curled into a faint smile. He pulled his phone out and sat down on the couch in the living room. The first thing he did was to give his team leader in the office a call. ¡°Mr. Li, I¡¯ve got some urgent matters to handle, so I need to take a few days off,¡± said Lu Li into the phone. ¡°Yeah, three days is enough!¡± said Lu Li with a smile after his team leader responded. He was on very good terms with the team leader, and he wasn¡¯t the type who took leave on a whim either, so his leave application was approved almost immediately. One might wonder why he didn¡¯t just quit his job. Lu Li felt that there was no hurry to do so. When he didn¡¯t have a superpower, his mind was constantly filled with thoughts of leaving that horrible place, and yet he had no choice but to grit his teeth and hang in there. But now that he had a superpower and had control over his own fate, he was no longer in a hurry to get out of his current situation. His attitude towards life had changed completely. Lu Li propped his feet up on the coffee table and lay down on the couch, quietly enjoying this rare morning of idleness. Before today, Lu Li would have dashed out of the house by this time, bought a hot bun from the shop just outside the apartment they were renting and would¡¯ve chomped it down in three mouthfuls. After that, he would start running so that he could reach the subway on time. The morning peak hour traffic on the trains in Shanghai was a nightmare. You had to be fast, accurate and vicious, otherwise you¡¯d never get into the train you needed to get to work on time. And even if you did manage to squeeze yourself into the train, you would be squashed against the door and would be completely unable to move. This was a scenario that workers with no assets to their name had to go through every single day. That was how Lu Li had lived ever since he started work. ¡°This feels great!¡± After some time, Lu Li stretched lazily and exhaled deeply. He stood up, returned to his room, then took a few copies of the Time Purchasing Contract and the Time Selling Contract out from his drawer and placed them into one file folder. After that, he strolled out of the house leisurely with just this one folder in hand. After leaving the house, Lu Li¡¯s first stop was the nearest branch of the bank he had an account with. The branch had just opened its doors for the day, so he didn¡¯t need to spend too much time lining up. ¡°I would like to withdraw $300,000, please,¡± said Lu Li calmly as he sat down at the teller¡¯s desk and handed his bank card to the assistant. That was almost all of his savings over the past four years. The assistant scanned his card and he entered his PIN. A few minutes later, the assistant brought a large stack of bills to the counter, ran them through the counting machine twice, and then passed everything to Lu Li. Lu Li put the money into a black bag and walked out of the bank. His aim today was to purchase one year of someone else¡¯s life. After all, he couldn¡¯t keep spending his own time, right? Chapter 6 The Eternal Club 6: Lu Li, the Time Merchant Lu Li bought a SIM card from a small shop that didn¡¯t require him to show any ID and inserted it into his phone. He walked through a small alley within the Huangpu district and headed towards the famous Jinling Street of Shanghai. Unlike yesterday, the weather was excellent today. The skies were bright and clear similar to Lu Li¡¯s mood. He had spent the last four years of his working life rushing from place to place. It was rare for him to feel so relaxed and unhurried like he did now. His gaze casually scanned the people around him. The stats of each person appeared on top of their heads. The feeling of being able to see another person¡¯s remaining lifespan made him feel like a grim reaper or a deity of sorts, as if he held these people¡¯s fates in his hand. He stopped walking to think of a good word to describe the way he felt right now. ¡°I feel¡­blessed, emotional, and a sense of superiority along with my ambitiousness¡­¡± The countdown timer above everyone¡¯s head represented the time they had left until their deaths. That was such a cold and cruel truth of life to face. Lu Li continued on his way. He had arrived at Jinling Street in hope of finding a client. Even though the seller had to be willing and personally responsible for any transaction that he made, Lu Li still hoped that his first seller would be someone with a longer remaining lifespan. A young man standing outside the entrance to Yong¡¯an Department Store caught Lu Li¡¯s eye. To be more specific, a person wearing a Kumamon mascot costume had attracted Lu Li¡¯s attention. Lu Li looked at the young man¡¯s stats. Lu Li felt that he was now facing his very first client. Firstly, Zheng Bowen was young, and he was going to live until he turned 86. Secondly, since he was only 21 years old, he was probably still a student. If he was a college student on a part time job, it meant that his family¡¯s financial situation was only average, and he would probably be responsible with paying for school fees and other living expenses for a while longer. If he wasn¡¯t a student but still took up such a part time gig, then it meant that either this boy had poor education qualifications, or that he came from a fairly poor family. Either way, the young man definitely fell within Lu Li¡¯s target group. Lu Li stood in an inconspicuous corner and observed this large Kumamon in front of him. Over the course of the entire morning, this young man in the Kumamon costume never stopped giving out flyers or making cutesy actions. At 1.30 pm, the young man was finally done with work. Zheng Bowen removed the top of the costume to reveal his young and clean-shaven face. His hair and cheeks were drenched in perspiration. A middle-aged man who looked like a manager walked out from inside the department store and handed out $200 to Zheng Bowen. That was the young man¡¯s salary for his work. Zheng Bowen took the money from the manager with a bright smile on his face as he thanked the manager profusely. After that, he removed the rest of his costume and walked away from the Yong¡¯an Department Store. He was going to grab a quick lunch, and then head to another restaurant where he was also working part time. Zheng Bowen eventually walked into a cheap noodle shop. Immediately after he sat down, another young man sat down across from him. Zheng Bowen looked up and smiled faintly. The young man who had just taken a seat at his table was Lu Li. ¡°Hello there,¡± said Lu Li as he looked straight at Zheng Bowen. At the same time, he activated his superpower with a thought. ¡°A hundred times,¡± Lu Li instructed silently. He had asked to speed up time by 100X because he realized that this was his current limit. He wasn¡¯t able go beyond this multiplier yet. Besides, Lu Li wasn¡¯t just speeding up his own time this time. He had extended his time boundaries to also include Zheng Bowen. An aura of mystery instantly filled the air. As the flow of time changed drastically for Lu Li and Zheng Bowen, their table instantly looked as though it had been separated from the rest of the world. The sounds and actions of everything around them were now a hundred times slower to Lu Li and Zheng Bowen. Everything seemed to have suddenly come to a standstill! Zheng Bowen noticed this oddity almost immediately. His eyes widened as he looked around him. He turned with a start and stared wide eyed at Lu Li, who was smiling faintly back at him. ¡°Hello there,¡± Lu Li repeated himself slowly. ¡°What¡¯s going on?! Did you do this? WHO ARE YOU?!¡± Lu Li was actually rather surprised by Zheng Bowen¡¯s reaction. Even though Zheng Bowen was clearly startled by what just happened and his body was extremely tensed up right now, the young man had managed to stay fairly rational. In fact, he had guessed very quickly that the cause of this supernatural occurrence was very likely to be the calm looking young man seated at his table. Lu Li was rather pleased with Zheng Bowen¡¯s reaction. After all, he had purposely sacrificed so much of his time and appeared in such a dramatic fashion precisely to create this effect. Otherwise, he was pretty sure that if a random person came up to you and said that he was here to buy a year of your life, the other person would probably think you were a nutcase. ¡°Please allow me to introduce myself.¡± Lu Li paused for a moment to give Zheng Bowen a warm smile before saying in a leisurely manner, ¡°You can call me The Time Merchant!¡± Chapter 7 The Eternal Club 7: Walking Through the Long River of Time ¡°The Time Merchant?¡± repeated Zheng Bowen after hearing what Lu Li said. After combining that information with what he was seeing around him, he could sort of guess what was going on and he looked back at Lu Li in shock. ¡°I¡¯ve been wandering the earth for countless years¡­buying years of the life of numerous humans and selling them to others who needs these years and can afford to pay for them.¡± Lu Li¡¯s expression was calm as he slowly introduced himself. ¡°So¡­Mr. Zheng, I¡¯m wondering if you have any extra time, you¡¯d like to sell to me,¡± asked Lu Li after a short pause. Zheng Bowen immediately realized something very crucial ¨C this mysterious merchant had been able to accurately address him by his surname even though he hadn¡¯t introduced himself at all. However, Zheng Bowen also did not turn Lu Li down immediately because it was true that he was in need of money right now. The girl he had a crush on in school was celebrating her birthday soon. He was working part-time because he wanted to buy her the latest iPhone model. But Zheng Bowen wasn¡¯t the type to lose all rationality so easily. The next thing he thought about, was how much time he even had left to live and started to look hesitant. ¡°Your name is Zheng Bowen, you¡¯re 21 years old this year and you¡¯re left with 65 years, 126 days, 8 hours, 23 minutes and 31 seconds to live.¡± Lu Li noticed Zheng Bowen¡¯s hesitation and rattled off the stats he could see floating above Zheng Bowen¡¯s head. Zheng Bowen did not doubt the numbers Lu Li said at all. After he heard how much more time he had left, he brightened up and instantly decided to sell at least one or two years of his life. ¡°Er¡­about the price¡­¡± asked Zheng Bowen cautiously. ¡°The price is based on how much value you can churn out within one year of your life.¡± ¡°If the total amount of tangible and intangible assets you amass in a year add up to less than $100,000, then I will pay you $300,000 for one year of your time.¡± ¡°If your total assets add up to more than $100,000, I will pay you three times that amount in exchange for one year,¡± replied Lu Li simply. ¡°I¡¯m just a student, so I haven¡¯t¡­¡± started Zheng Bowen as he tried to increase his own value and get more money out of this transaction. ¡°Then I will pay you $300,000 for one year of your life. This price is not negotiable. That¡¯s how it has been since time immemorial,¡± Lu Li cut Zheng Bowen off immediately and didn¡¯t give him the chance to continue speaking. He proceeded to take his file out and took out a copy of the Time Purchasing Contract, filled the fields out and passed it to Zheng Bowen. ¡°If you are agreeable to this purchase, please sign here.¡± ¡°This is our first transaction, so according to the rules, I am only allowed to buy one year of your life from you.¡± Lu Li didn¡¯t say anymore after that. Zheng Bowen looked carefully at the contract in front of him. ¡°$300,000?¡± thought Zheng Bowen as he started making some simple calculations. ¡°This is no small sum to an ordinary person like me, because most people wouldn¡¯t be able to earn this much in a year.¡± ¡°So, exchanging one year of my life for $300,000 is probably really worth it.¡± ¡°Besides¡­with this $300,000, I can buy even more things for Qingqing. She really liked that bag we saw the last time.¡± ¡°Working is the same as exchanging time for money anyway¡­¡± Zheng Bowen kept trying to convince himself that this was a good deal. His expression changed as he weighed the pros and cons in his head. A short while later, he grit his teeth and grabbed hold of the pen Lu Li had placed in front of him, and then signed his name in the field left blank for Party A. Lu Li¡¯s smile widened. Time was still passing very slowly for the world around the two of them, as if they were still on pause. Lu Li took the folder back from Zheng Bowen, scanned it once again to make sure everything was good to go, and then signed his own name in the field for Party B. The moment he signed the contract, the contract took effect. It was now acknowledged by the forces that governed the universe! ¡°So¡­all of this is yours now.¡± Lu Li took the black bag containing $300,000 that was next to him and threw it at Zheng Bowen. Zheng Bowen¡¯s breathing began to quicken as he caught the bag and opened it immediately. Stacks and stacks of bills appeared before his eyes. Lu Li suddenly reached out as if to grab something from in front of Zheng Bowen¡¯s face. It was as if he had caught something. But the only thing anyone could possibly see was how Zheng Bowen suddenly shivered and how a single strand of hair from his fringe instantly turned from black to white. Lu Li himself now had an increase of one year to his lifespan, or 365 days. ¡°You can contact me at this number. If you want to make another transaction with me, you can give me a call.¡± Lu Li left Zheng Bowen with the number of the new SIM card he had bought earlier. Once the entire transaction was complete, Lu Li raised his hand and as if nothing had happened, both their table, and the rest of the world was back in sync with each other. While 30 odd minutes of their time in the 100X speed had passed, only 18 seconds had passed in the real world. ¡°I¡¯m off, bye.¡± Lu Li got up and nodded slightly at Zheng Bowen, who was still in a daze. Then he sauntered out of the noodle shop. Zheng Bowen looked at Lu Li¡¯s back as he walked away and felt that Lu Li was truly a mysterious character. It was as if Lu Li was walking through the river of time and going further and further away from him. Chapter 8 The Eternal Club 8: The Rong Family Lu Li walked down the crowded streets. He simply couldn¡¯t stop smiling. The first transaction had gone way better than he had expected. Now, he had purchased one year¡¯s worth of time. He then walked into a fairly hipster looking caf¨¦ in his white shirt, black dress pants, a pair of gold rimmed glasses on his nose and that document folder in his hands. ¡°Hello, could I get a cup of cappuccino as well as a lemon cheese tart to go along with it? Thank you,¡± the tall and slim Lu Li said warmly to the young lady behind the cash register with a confident smile on his face. After he had paid for his coffee, he sat down at a table near a window. He opened the folder to look at the contract that had just been signed. The reference number started from 1,000,001 because he didn¡¯t want anybody to be able to guess that he had only just started out. He was also hoping to make himself seem more mysterious. The contract was only one page long, so it didn¡¯t take him long to finish looking through it. He shut the folder again and started thinking about what he should do next. ¡°My first step was to purchase time from someone. So, my next step would naturally be to sell time to someone else¡­But who should I sell to? What sort of person would be a good choice?¡± Lu Li began to rub his thumb and index finger together subconsciously. Time was the most precious commodity in this world, so a merchant with time as his prime goods definitely had the upper hand in this economy. But he also had to select a buyer carefully so that this transaction could pave the way for the future to come. ¡°Sir, here¡¯s your cappuccino and lemon cheese tart,¡± said a waitress gently in a maid uniform as she put Lu Li¡¯s order onto his table. Lu Li nodded slightly and watched as the waitress then walked away. He fixed his gaze on her fair ankles, then slowly shifted his gaze upwards before calmly looking away again. Lu Li tore open a sachet of fine white sugar and poured two thirds of it into his cappuccino. Then he picked up the stirrer and gently stirred his coffee. After that, he took his phone out and began to search online for the wealthiest and most powerful families living in Shanghai. Countless results instantly appeared before him after he hit the search button. ¡°These are the 7 richest districts in Shanghai! This is where the top tycoons live!¡± ¡°How many millionaires and billionaires does Shanghai have? Who are they?¡± ¡°The top 4 super-rich families of Shanghai today!¡± ¡°This year¡¯s Shanghai tycoon ranking!¡± Lu Li scanned through the search results and clicked some of the links to check out its contents. Every tycoon listed was someone famous and they were big shots whom Lu Li could only dream of becoming or even meeting for the matter, in the past. These people seemed to be seated on a throne in the sky above the city, wielding their power over the people as some of the wealthiest tycoons of the country. Before today, Lu Li would have been filled with envy and admiration when he looked at these tycoons. At the same time, his heart would have also been filled with much indignation, because he knew that no matter how hard he worked, there was no way he could become as rich and powerful as these people. But now, everything had changed. A handsome smile spread across his face as he continued to look through the search results he had gotten. Just then, he noticed the mention of a particular family which made him take a closer look. His expression grew serious as he started looking into this family in greater detail. This family was the Rong family of Shanghai. There wasn¡¯t a single person in Shanghai who hadn¡¯t heard of this family before. The Rong family was no nouveau riche family. Their clan had existed for hundreds of years now. One article described the family this way: The Rong family is one of the richest families of the country. They started off as commoners, but they have used their businesses to enrich the country, defend the country and bring honor to the country, leaving a glorious legacy both locally and internationally. According to economics professor, Gao Bude, ¡°The Rong family has contributed tremendously to our economy over three generations. The business that was first started by the Rong brothers became a forerunner for all local enterprises thereafter. After the War of Liberation, Rong Yiren supported the new government¡¯s three major reforms, which positively impacted the development of the economy. After the country¡¯s economic reform and process of opening up, the third generation of the Rong family, led by Rong Hejian, contributed greatly to both the economy as well as the development of local businesses.¡± At their peak of power, the head of the Rong family even became a political leader of the country. While the Rong family is no longer as prestigious as it used to be, it is still a force to be reckoned with. Few of its members are still living in China. Most have chosen to live in other places, namely the United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Germany, Hong Kong and so on. Lu Li felt a little sad that a family with such a legacy had turned out the way the article had described. He continued scrolling down and saw a list of the family members from the first generation all the way to its current fifth generation. When he looked through the members of the second generation, which was also the generation where the head of the family had once been part of the government, he froze for a second. One member of the family from this generation was actually still alive! Chapter 9 The Eternal Club 9: The Rong Family Manor The Rong family manor on 186 Xibei Road of Jin¡¯an District was fully lighted on this very night. The descendants and key family members of the Rong family had returned to China from where they were based and had rushed back to the manor. Expensive but unassuming cars were parked at the entrance to the estate. The architecture of the main building within the estate was modelled after 17th century European designs. Rong Yiyou, the only surviving member of the second generation of the Rong family, was now lying on his Baroque style bed inside a similarly furnished bedroom of this main building. He was extremely old, frail and skinny. His skin was dry and pale, so it was obvious that he was on the brink of dying. His breathing had to be assisted by an oxygen mask and he was hooked up to several medical devices that reported his vitals at all times. Standing by his bedside were several leading members of the Rong family, as well as some younger ones, who were all standing quietly with a saddened look on their faces. Rong Yiyou was the younger brother of the one who had become a political leader back then. He had experienced and was an active part of that glorious time in the family¡¯s history. Every additional day he stayed alive was a reassurance to the rest of the family. It didn¡¯t matter whether they were old or young members of the family. Rong Yiyou¡¯s existence alone gave them confidence. If Rong Yiyou died, then the Rong family would end up moving into greater obscurity in the next generation. ¡°Mr. Rong¡­¡± a middle-aged man in a white doctor¡¯s coat called out to the current head of the family, Rong Zhijian. Rong Zhijian¡¯s gaze shifted from the old man to the doctor. He motioned to the doctor to keep his voice down, and then exchanged glances with his relatives in the room. Every member of the family turned to follow Rong Zhijian and the doctor out of the bedroom quietly. ¡°Mr. Rong, everyone¡­I don¡¯t think¡­I don¡¯t think Old Mr. Rong is going to get through tonight,¡± said the doctor in a grim voice after swallowing his saliva. The doctor seemed a little nervous since he was surrounded by so many important people. The atmosphere grew even more solemn after he said those words. Meanwhile, a tall young man in a gray windbreaker looked towards the manor from across the road. ¡°So, that¡¯s the Rong family manor?¡± the young man murmured to himself. That young man was Lu Li. His target was the Old Mr. Rong residing in this estate. ¡°Did something happen?¡± He scanned the estate and could sense something was amiss. The security around the estate was higher than usual and cars kept stopping at the entrance. Lu Li shook his head and decided not to think so much about this. With just a thought in his mind, a notification appeared. ¡°A hundred times,¡± replied Lu Li. His ability took immediate effect and it affected everything around him. The cars that were speeding down the road, seemed to have slowed down drastically and were barely moving. Now that his flow of time was going at 100 times that of the rest of the world, he started calculating his walking speed and distance covered. In one second in the outside world, he was able to cover 65 meters. He could walk 65 meters in one second! Even if a car travelled at 70 kilometers per hour, it would still only cover about 20 meters per second. Even a car was three times slower than his walking speed. Converting 65 meters per second to kilometers per hour meant that he was travelling at 234 kilometers per hour. He was as fast as a bullet train now! Besides, this was merely his walking speed. If he started running instead¡­then the numbers would become even more terrifying! Lu Li stuffed his hands into his windbreaker¡¯s pockets and strolled past all the security guards as he walked right into the Rong family estate. The patrolling guards couldn¡¯t detect him at all. Lu Li stood with his back against the light and looked up to observe the main building in front of him more closely. He knew a thing or two about architecture and he could see that a lot of detail went into this particular building. The front of the building was a wide corridor flanked by two rows of columns. Judging from the way the top part of the columns were carved, they were probably modelled after the three styles of Ancient Greece ¨C the Doric, Ionic and Corinthian orders. Lu Li turned away from staring at the building¡¯s architectural traits and smiled as he continued walking into the building itself. Not a single person within the building could see him. He looked around casually at the interior of this ancient building. The wooden border of the fireplace was intricately carved with motifs that carried the elements of the neoclassicism style as well as elements from Ancient China. The complex carvings on the teakwood wainscoting¡­the 15 square meter-stained glass skylight window¡­ Colorful hexagonal mosaic tiles lined the floor. These tiles had been repaired by Italian craftsmen who knew how to do it the traditional way. Apparently, the way to make these multi-colored tiles was to first make a mould out of old tiles, dye separate batches of clay, and then fill the mould with the various colors one by one by hand before finally heating them in a furnace. ¡°This is truly a luxurious manor,¡± Lu Li gasped. He walked towards the bedroom that was located in the innermost part of the house. After he went past the staircase, he saw all the key family members of the Rong family standing outside the bedroom door. He raised his eyebrow slightly and smiled faintly. Then he reduced his time multiplier down to just ten times. The sound of footsteps suddenly coming from afar instantly drew the attention of Rong Zhijian and his family. Chapter 10 The Eternal Club 10: What Ability Is This A warm yellow glow illuminated the long corridor. Several pairs of eyes followed the sound of the footsteps and turned to look at the staircase. A man in a gray windbreaker, who had both of his hands in his jacket pockets, walked in a leisurely fashion towards them. The next thing they saw made all their hair stand on end. Everyone watched in shock as the man took just one step out and covered several meters at once. It was as if he could travel forward in time, or perhaps the corridor had suddenly shrunk in length. The entire corridor was nearly 30 meters long, but the man covered it in seconds. Once he got close, they could see him much more clearly. This man was fairly young and had a scholarly air about him. He was clean shaven, wore a pair of gold rimmed glasses and smiled warmly as he looked at the Rong family members. The atmosphere outside the bedroom became tense. The bodyguards in black suits finally realized what was happening and quickly stood in front of the Rong family members with grave looks on their faces. They placed their hands on their belts, ready to brandish their weapons anytime as they looked warily at Lu Li. The Rong family was now led by the generation that had the word ¡®Zhi¡¯ in their names. Rong Zhijian was the head of the family and was the CEO of Fidele Inc.; Rong Zhikuan was the current CEO of Brazil Global; Rong Zhixin was the reputable head of Square Digital Inc.; Rong Zhiquan was the general manager at Namyoung Cotton Mills as well as the head of the Textile Council of Hong Kong. All four key members of the Rong family were staring straight at Lu Li with a glint in their eyes. What they had just witnessed was indeed rather shocking. ¡°Who are you?¡± asked Rong Zhijian in a deep voice. Lu Li chuckled when he heard Rong Zhijian¡¯s question. He looked at all the people standing in front of him, then turned to look into the bedroom and saw the old man lying on the bed. Lu Li turned away from the old man and looked back at the crowd that was looking at him as if he were a threat to their lives. He laughed and waved his hand. The usual notification appeared in his mind. ¡°A hundred times.¡± Lu Li immediately caused the time in the area surrounding himself, and the four key members of the family, to increase by 100 times. In that instant, the five of them seemed like they were in a separate zone from the rest of the people around them. Rong Zhijian, Rong Zhikuan, Rong Zhixin and Rong Zhiquan immediately noticed that something strange had happened. All the sounds around them had instantly disappeared. The security guards, servants as well as their fellow family members looked as though someone had pressed the pause button on them. It seemed like the four of them and the young man facing them were the only ones who could still move about freely. These four men had risen to the top of such a powerful and elite family, so there was nothing they hadn¡¯t seen before. Yet, all of them had eyes as wide as saucers now as they looked around frantically, helpless as to what they could do in such a situation. Rong Zhiquan walked towards the window and looked outside to find that the entire world outside the building were also on pause! Further out, the usually bustling roads were an even stranger sight to behold. All the cars seemed to have come to a stop! He stared at the cars for some time and found that the cars hadn¡¯t actually stopped. They were just moving at a ridiculously slow speed. He could even walk faster than that. When the other three joined him at the window, they too, realized that the world outside had not stopped but rather, had just become much slower. ¡°Who on earth are you? What do you want?¡± demanded Rong Zhijian with a grim but slightly nervous and terrified look on his face as he turned to look at Lu Li. What sort of supernatural ability was this? Regardless of whether this young man¡¯s ability was to stop time or slow it down, this was an ability that not even the powerful Rong family could fight against. In fact, if this young man in front of them had ill intentions when coming here, then none of them would be able to defeat him since he had a superpower like this! The four men standing in front of Lu Li were influential figures in Shanghai. It wasn¡¯t an exaggeration to say that if these four men stomped their feet, then the entire financial world of Shanghai would shake violently! But these highly influential big shots were now staring in fear at Lu Li. Lu Li felt really pleased by this tip in the balance of power. ¡°Oh dearie me. I seem to have frightened all of you,¡± said Lu Li with a laugh. He paused for a moment, and then stood up straight to slowly straighten out his uncrumpled shirt before looking back at the four men again. His expression was serious as he introduced himself, ¡°Please allow me to introduce myself.¡± ¡°My surname is Lu, so you may call me Mr. Lu. I am a merchant who wanders the earth with just one thing to sell, and that is¡­¡± Lu Li spoke in a calm and composed manner and paused when it came to this point. As he looked at the four powerful men before him, the twinkle in his eye intensified and he finally uttered the last word of his sentence. ¡°¡­time!¡± His last word resounded like a blast of thunder in the ears of the four key members of the Rong family. All four of them looked at each other with shocked faces. ¡°And what sort of merchant could possibly buy and sell time as a commodity?¡± ¡°Is that an elder of the family? He only has 13 more minutes left to live¡­¡± said Lu Li suddenly as he turned to look at the old man lying on the bed. After hearing what Lu Li said, the four men slowly calmed down. Their faces brightened up as they began to realize what Lu Li was trying to say. Chapter 11 The Eternal Club 11: Remaining Lifespan: 365 Days ¡°Mr. Lu, how much does this time you speak of cost? How can we buy some from you?¡± Rong Zhijian asked Lu Li very politely after exchanging a few glances with the other three. ¡°The value that an individual creates with any given amount of time varies from person to person, so I usually use money as a yardstick. The price is fixed at 20% of one¡¯s total assets generated in a year,¡± said Lu Li in an unflustered voice as he looked at Rong Zhijian. He didn¡¯t answer the older man¡¯s question directly. Lu Li paused, then added, ¡°And I only transact one year at a time.¡± Rong Zhijian and the other three had heard Lu Li¡¯s explanation very clearly. If they used their own annual income to calculate their worth, then the cost of one year of time for them would be in the hundreds of millions. This would certainly make it one of the most expensive commodities in the world. At the same time, time was an intangible and ephemeral thing, so a high price only seemed logical. As the old saying goes, all the money in the world can¡¯t buy time. But this idiom didn¡¯t seem to apply to Lu Li. ¡°Mr. Lu, we would like to buy a year of life for our uncle,¡± said Rong Zhijian respectfully as he bowed slightly at Lu Li. ¡°Sure.¡± Lu Li nodded. ¡­¡­ The five men within the 100X time boundary confirmed the price and exchanged a few more words. Shortly after that, Lu Li waved his hand and ended the speed up mode. Time for the five of them now went by at the same rate as the rest of the world. All the members of the Rong family as well as all their bodyguards in black suits, the servants and medical staff stared in astonishment at how the four key members of the Rong family had suddenly appeared at the window. ¡°I will need everyone here to make sure your lips are sealed about everything that has happened today. If word gets out, that person shall be considered a traitor of the Rong family and an enemy of ours forever!¡± said Rong Zhiquan sternly as he scoured the room with an authoritative look on his face. The threat in his words and expression was crystal clear. The other three stared at the crowd with equally solemn faces. Everyone was silent for a moment, but they quickly snapped out of their daze and began promising to keep their mouths shut. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that, Mr. Rong!¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t see anything today!¡± ¡°You can be rest assured that our lips are sealed!¡± Rong Zhijian turned to the butler next to him and said in a deep voice, ¡°Uncle Li, lead everyone downstairs immediately.¡± ¡°And I mean everyone! Including the doctors!¡± Rong Zhijian repeated himself. All the members of the Rong family had puzzled looks on their faces, but nobody dared to ask any questions since the ones heading the family looked so serious. They had no choice but to suppress all their burning questions and go downstairs obediently. ¡°Yes, Mr. Rong,¡± replied the old butler quietly as he bowed slightly. In no time, every single person on the second story went downstairs except for the four key members of the Rong family, the old man lying on the bed in the bedroom and Lu Li. Lu Li glanced at the old man on the bed, then suddenly instructed Rong Zhijian, ¡°Get someone to bring a fingerprint pad up here.¡± Rong Zhijian immediately nodded and ran to the staircase to tell the butler to get a fingerprint pad as quickly as possible. A few minutes later, Lu Li walked into Rong Yiyou¡¯s bedroom. Rong Zhijian and the other three followed behind him. Lu Li approached the bed and sat down lightly next to the old man. He took the folder out and took out a copy of the Time Selling Contract. Then he pulled out a pen and filled out the necessary fields. ¡°One of you can sign on behalf of Old Mr. Rong, then he can sign off with his thumbprint,¡± said Lu Li to Rong Zhijian. ¡°Got it, Mr. Lu!¡± replied Rong Zhijian respectfully. Rong Zhijian took the folder from Lu Li and glanced through the contract quickly. The contract seemed somewhat simple, but he didn¡¯t dare to take it lightly at all. He noted down all the terms and conditions stated in the contract, uncapped his own pen and signed the field for Party A on behalf of Rong Yiyou. Another person quickly brought the fingerprint pad to Rong Yiyou, pressed Rong Yiyou¡¯s thumb onto the pad, then pressed it again onto the Time Selling Contract. Lu Li was very pleased with the whole process. Once that was done, he took the contract back, gave it a quick glance, then signed his own name in the field for Party B. At this point in time, Rong Yiyou¡¯s stats were as follows: The old man¡¯s life was on its final countdown. ¡°With regard to payment, please transfer the agreed amount to my account within the next three working days or face the consequences,¡± Lu Li warned the four men after glancing at the countdown above Rong Yiyou¡¯s head. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Mr. Lu!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right! We wouldn¡¯t dare to delay payment to you!¡± ¡°We¡¯ll transfer it in a moment!¡± Lu Li¡¯s warning made the four men rather nervous, and they quickly assured Lu Li that they would pay up. After they did that, Lu Li nodded and finally looked straight at Rong Yiyou. The line displayed on the heartrate machine hooked up to Rong Yiyou was almost flat now. Lu Li suddenly reached his hand out as if he was throwing something at Rong Yiyou. But the moment he did that, something incredible happened. Rong Yiyou¡¯s heart pounded several times, and then a burst of energy seemed to flow through the old man as blood filled every major artery of his body. His arms, skin and cheeks began to flush pink again. The line displayed on the heartrate machine went back to normal as well. Rong Yiyou¡¯s arm suddenly moved, and his eyes slowly fluttered open. Chapter 12 The Eternal Club 12: Defying the Laws of Nature ¡°Since we¡¯ve already completed the transaction, I shall take my leave,¡± said Lu Li as he smiled brightly at the four key members of the Rong family. Before any of them could respond, he activated his speed up time mode again. ¡°One hundred times.¡± Lu Li turned to walk towards the bedroom door. The mode was activated just as he took the first step, separating him from the rest of the world instantly. Even though Lu Li seemed to be walking within the same dimension as everyone else, he also seemed to be part of a different space-time. This obvious contradiction was so disorienting that everyone watching Lu Li walk away felt all their hair standing on end. To the four men, Lu Li had merely lifted one foot after bidding them farewell and disappeared from the room before that foot had landed back on the floor. By the time they saw him again, he was already nearly a hundred meters away from them. After Lu Li disappeared from their sight, the four men stared in a mix of shock and amazement at the empty doorway of the room without saying anything for a long time. After a long while, they exchanged glances. Rong Zhixin, the head of Square Digital Inc., shuddered. He reached into his sleeves to rub his arms and realized that his arms were completely covered in goosebumps. The other three men also felt goosebumps all over. ¡°I never thought that such an enigmatic person could possibly exist in this world,¡± said Rong Zhijian in a shaken voice after exhaling deeply. ¡°He¡¯s not like those martial artists who have better physical training than the average person. This is a supernatural sort of power,¡± said Rong Zhiquan, the same man who was both the general manager at Namyeung Cotton Mills as well as the head of the Textile Council of Hong Kong. As men of high social standing, they knew of great martial artists, including those who only fought to kill and not merely to perform. But no matter how strong and powerful those people were, they were still made from ordinary flesh and blood. They could even be shot dead with just one bullet. Lu Li¡¯s ability made him practically godlike. ¡°We must remain friendly with him and must not become his enemy for any reason,¡± said Rong Zhikuan. ¡°Mr. Lu¡¯s existence might be a good thing to us,¡± said Rong Zhijian after giving it some thought. From time immemorial, whether you held absolute power over the rest of the world or you were a wealthy person with more money than you knew what to do with, they all had one thing in common ¨C they all wished that they could live forever. To the Rong family, Lu Li¡¯s very own existence was showing the way to attaining that. Just when the four men were about to discuss this matter further, they heard a hoarse voice call out from behind them. ¡°Zhixin¡­Zhixin¡­Zhixin¡­¡± All of them froze for a second before turning around in joy to look at the old man lying on the bed. The old man who was on his last breath just moments ago had regained some color in his cheeks. He opened his eyes and looked at the four men standing around his bed. ¡°Second Uncle!¡± ¡°Second Uncle, how are you feeling?¡± ¡°Dad!¡± ¡°Second Uncle!¡± The four men called out to Rong Yiyou one after another excitedly. ¡°Doctor! DOCTOR!¡± Rong Yiyou¡¯s son, Rong Zhixin, ran out of the room to yell for the doctors to come upstairs. His face was red with excitement, and he moved so quickly, he didn¡¯t look like one in his late sixties at all. The rest of the family, the doctors and the bodyguards had been waiting at the bottom of the staircase all this time. When Rong Zhixin suddenly started yelling, everyone felt their hearts pound fearfully. Everyone looked at each other as they wondered if Rong Zhixin was yelling for the doctor because the old man had passed away. Several doctors ran up the staircase and into the bedroom. The rest of the family began to grieve as they followed the doctors upstairs. The bodyguards remained on guard, as if a powerful enemy were on their way to attack them. But after everyone had rushed into the bedroom, they found Rong Yiyou sitting upright against the headboard of his bed. The doctors were alarmed and thought that the old man was experiencing terminal lucidity, so they quickly began to check all the machines hooked up to his body.1 Report after report was generated from the various machines. Yan Fuqing, the dean of Fudan University¡¯s Medical College, stared at the reports on Rong Yiyou¡¯s vitals with his eyes and mouth wide open in shock. ¡°How can this be?!¡± Yan Fuqing wondered if he was just dreaming. Was this really possible? Could a dead tree come back to life? Could one go against the course of nature? What kind of sorcery was this?! A thousand and one questions popped up in his mind. Not too long ago, he had been very sure that Rong Yiyou wasn¡¯t going to make it. But now¡­ Life was actually coursing through the old man¡¯s veins feverously. ¡°How is it?¡± Rong Zhijian looked at Yan Fuqing. ¡°Perhaps¡­there was an error in our data reporting before this¡­according to these latest reports, Old Mr. Rong¡¯s health seems to have returned to what it was a year ago.¡± Yan Fuqing didn¡¯t dare to question the data, so after some thought, he decided to blame his previous conclusion on a machine error. Of course, he knew that the machines were fine, but he had to explain it away this way. Yan Fuqing was an intelligent man who knew the right things to say at the right time. ¡°That¡¯s great, thank you so much,¡± replied Rong Zhijian after hearing Yan Fuqing¡¯s response. He gave a pleased nod, patted Yan Fuqing on the shoulder, then walked back to the old man¡¯s bed. Yan Fuqing opened his mouth to speak as he watched Rong Zhijian walk away, but eventually decided against clarifying his doubts. He knew how powerful a family like the Rong family was. He knew what questions he could ask, and what questions he must never ask. ¡®Was it that young man?¡¯ thought Yan Fuqing as he recalled the mysterious young man who appeared earlier. Actually, Yan Fuqing wasn¡¯t alone in thinking about this. Nobody said anything, but every single person in the house that night had etched the young man¡¯s face in their memories forever. Traffic was pretty heavy on Danxibei Road, the road just outside of the Rong family manor. Lu Li was no longer in his speed up mode. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and walked against the wind, which made his windbreaker flap loudly. A faint smile spread across his lips as he used a finger to push up the glasses sitting on his nose.