The Elixir of Immortality

Sure enough, Cui Wenzi thought for a moment, then said excitedly, "My friend said that the two people connected to resolving this predicament would be born two thousand years in the future. That was why he specially arranged for Yi Xiaochuan and Gao Yao to come to the Qin dynasty. But although this stabilized space for the time being, it also meant that in the future, Yi Xiaochuan and Gao Yao would be missing from the world. So we have to make sure they can return to the future alive. The treasure my old friend had can only be used once, though. After that, it becomes an ordinary box and can no longer send anyone back."

Wang Yue understood. It really was an unbreakable cycle. He didn't much care whether this world collapsed, but with his wife and children here, he had no choice but to take the matter seriously. He could only put aside, for now, the idea of getting a few more elixirs of immortality.

Besides, Wang Yue was quite interested in that box, but he didn't let it show. He simply asked one last question out of curiosity. "So you're saying your friend, the Northern Rock Hermit, calculated all of this in advance? How could he be sure the three of them would end up taking the elixir?"

Cui Wenzi looked wistful, as though he'd remembered something. He praised his friend repeatedly. "I studied medicine under my master and traveled all over for many years. One day, I happened to meet that old codger from Northern Rock, only to find that he studied the I Ching and Bagua. He'd researched them deeply, and his understanding of King Wen's Sixty-Four Hexagrams had reached an extraordinary level. This is beyond your understanding, so just give the elixir to Yi