Time's Trade

Christine was fairly easy to talk to and directly gave Li Congxin her phone number.

After entering the number, Li Congxin took a deep breath. He composed himself for a moment before pressing the call button.

In truth, he had practically no confidence that he could persuade the other party.

After all, he had gotten into an argument with the other man at the Masquerade Ball a few days ago, leaving him with an extremely bad impression. Now that he was asking him for a favor, there was little chance of success.

But the matter was urgent. Even knowing the odds were poor, Li Congxin could only steel himself and give it a try.

A moment later, the call connected, and Strange's slightly arrogant voice came from the other end. "Hello, who is this?"

"Hello, Doctor Strange. This is Clark Li." After introducing himself, Li Congxin continued without waiting for the other man to speak. "Would you be interested in making a trade with me—a trade concerning time?"

Li Congxin's relationship with Strange had basically reached the level of "hostile," one step below "indifferent." If he used a normal conversational approach, Strange would probably hang up without hesitation after just a few words. To prevent that, Li Congxin could only take a different approach and immediately bring up a topic that interested him. That was the only way the conversation might continue.

Before becoming a superhero, Strange had indeed been an extremely unpleasant person, but he also possessed a virtue that others lacked: he treasured time exceptionally highly.

This was evident from his fondness for collecting famous watches from all over the world.

Perhaps in his eyes, those things were not watches at all, but time itself!

Sure enough, upon hearing the words "time," Strange's finger, which had been resting on the hang-up button, slowly moved away. His tone, however, remained cold. "Let's hear it."

"I've already bought the restaurant above Martha's Gym. I plan to turn it into Martha's Gym's VIP area, specially for entertaining my good friends."

Stephen Strange let out a cold laugh. "We don't seem to count as friends, do we? So tell me, what are your terms?"

Having successfully piqued that man's interest, Li Congxin finally wore a relieved smile. "I told you, this is a trade involving time. The requirements for becoming a VIP member are very simple. I just want you to work an extra shift and perform a surgery for me."

Strange was taken aback. "Are you injured?"

"Yes, but..."

Before Li Congxin could finish, Strange began laughing gleefully. "I refuse. Wait to die!"

Although Strange said that, he did not immediately hang up. The smile on Li Congxin's face finally became confident.

"The VIP area has a much better environment than the regular area. Not only will you not have to wait for the equipment, but the workouts there will also be much more effective. One hour of exercise there should be roughly equivalent to an hour and a half of exercising outside."

Strange hesitated for a moment, but ultimately failed to resist the temptation of saving half an hour of precious time every day. He asked again, "How can you guarantee that it enhances the workout results?"

"Commercial secret! But you can use the results in the regular area as a reference."

"When will the VIP area open?"

Done!

With Strange personally handling the operations, both Nalan Qing's and Li Congxin's surgeries went extremely smoothly.

Nalan Qing in particular had been shot through the kidney. Even if he had survived without treatment, his reproductive ability would have been affected. But after Strange's nearly perfect surgery, he had finally preserved his dignity as a man. Once he recuperated for a while, having children would pose no problem at all.

Although the matter had ultimately begun because of Li Congxin, Old Pi was a highly reasonable man. Not only did he have no intention of blaming Li Congxin, he was also sincerely grateful to him for inviting Strange to save Nalan Qing.

Li Congxin naturally did not dare accept the old man's thanks. However, when Old Pi offered to teach him a genuine secret technique that he had kept hidden to the very end, Li Congxin found himself unable to refuse.

After Li Congxin was discharged from the hospital, Old Pi not only imparted every killing move and secret of Twelve-Road Shaolin Tan Tui to him, he even taught him a weapon technique—Four Gates Staff Technique!

Four Gates Staff Technique was a staff technique widely practiced in military camps. It emphasized hardness and ferocity, with practical, concise moves. It was easy to learn but difficult to master. When fighting Crossbones, Nalan Qing had used this very technique.

Li Congxin seemed naturally suited to this aggressive staff technique and learned it at astonishing speed. In just over ten days, he had practiced it until every movement flowed with ease. The BGM had certainly played a part, but even when practicing under the same BGM, the speed at which he cultivated Tan Tui was nowhere near comparable.

The weather grew colder, and the autumn air deepened.

The mornings and evenings of late autumn in New York were equally frigid, and hardly any pedestrians could be seen on the streets at dawn. Yet inside an abandoned factory in Manhattan, a young man in thin clothing was diligently practicing his secret technique to the accompaniment of background music.

"I lie like a bow, stand like a pine, sit like a bell, unmoving and steady, and walk like the wind. Southern fists and northern legs, Shaolin and Wudang arts, Taiji and Bagua linked palms—Chinese Kung Fu has divine arts!..."

The young man was none other than Li Congxin. With the BGM of Chinese Kung Fu playing, he focused on practicing the Four Gates Staff Technique he had only recently learned.

A large staff flashing with metallic light was being whirled through his hands, stirring up a howling wind. From the sound of it cutting through the air alone, one could imagine how terrifying its power was.

After completing the staff routine, Li Congxin turned toward the entrance of the abandoned factory. Old Pi and his daughter were standing there in thick autumn clothing, watching him with interest.

Li Congxin put away the large staff and leaned it against the corner of the wall. Then he asked casually, "How did things turn out?"

Li Congxin was referring to the matter of shooting Crossbones. Murder was a serious crime under the laws of any country, but fortunately, Li Congxin had the justification of self-defense on his side. With Old Pi supporting him from behind the scenes, he was not afraid of the other side turning the tables on him.

However, Old Pi had taken full responsibility from the beginning and said he would leave the matter to his personal lawyer. Li Congxin had not even had to go through the routine questioning process, so he had never known what to expect. That was why he could not help asking.

"Forget about self-defense." Old Pi's words made Li Congxin frown. But judging from the man's confident smile, the outcome seemed to be fairly good?

Old Pi continued, "This is what happened."

After clearing his throat, Old Pi slowly recounted the "facts" as he saw them. "You were attacked by a criminal in an alley. Nalan Qing happened to arrive with your portable music player, and the two of you were both shot and wounded by the attacker. The culprit is still at large, and the police have issued a wanted notice for him."

Li Congxin was dumbfounded when he heard this. Had he just gone from being a murderer to a completely innocent victim?

Old Pi waved his hand and continued, "The force behind the people who targeted you this time is no ordinary one. In fact, you could say they were really coming after me."

"But clearly, they didn't want to make the matter too serious. By the time the police arrived, let alone the killer's body and weapon, even the bloodstains on the ground had been washed away."