"Little brother, what are you thinking about?"
Lin Nianfo looked at Shen Lang with confusion. "If you really wanted to kill me, there would be no need to cure me. And if you cured me, why would you want to kill me again?"
"Curing me first, then killing me, isn't that redundant?"
Shen Lang nodded and admitted, "On the surface, it does seem redundant, but that's because, besides wanting to kill, I also want to destroy your spirit."
"You've been tormented by poisonous sores, unable to live, unable to die. To die now would feel like a release for you."
"However, if I cure you, make you feel healthy again, and then kill you, you will surely feel pain, unwillingness, anger, and despair before death. That would be very interesting."
"The most agonizing part for a death row inmate isn't the moment the bullet pierces their skull from behind, but the two hours leading up to the execution."
"Because, the feeling of waiting for death is the most terrifying and tormenting feeling in the world."
Shen Lang looked at Lin Nianfo and smiled, "I want you to personally experience the feeling of waiting for death."
"Little brother, aren't you afraid that once you cure me, I'll kill you immediately?"
Lin Nianfo was shocked that Shen Lang, with whom he had no prior enmity, was intent on killing him. Amidst his shock, he retorted.
"Since I dared to come here, it means I have sufficient strength to retreat safely."
"Furthermore, if you were to have someone kill me after I've healed you, I guarantee that the person who attempts it will die, and you won't have to wait three days; you'll perish on the spot."
Shen Lang put away his playful smile and spoke with confidence.
Seeing Shen Lang's assured and calm demeanor, and recalling Lin Tianxiong's blind right eye, Lin Nianfo's killing intent vanished. He sighed.
"Little brother, I don't understand, why must you kill me?"
"You could see my serious illness at a glance and were confident in curing me, which proves your medical skills are truly extraordinary."
"If you were not my enemy, I can guarantee that you would become the foremost physician in Nanling and the number one person in Nanling's medical system."
"You could open the first private hospital in Nanling, then the second, then the third, and eventually, Nanling's entire medical system would be under your control."
"On days you're in a good mood, you could lower the price of all medicine in Nanling by two yuan, and on days you're in a bad mood, prices could increase by tens of yuan."
"The fame, fortune, and even the pure, flawless goddesses in others' hearts that people pursue their entire lives, you could obtain them with ease."
Lin Nianfo, still unwilling to become Shen Lang's adversary, tried to persuade him by appealing to his ambitions. "To hold power over the world while awake, and to lie with beauties while drunk – isn't this what a man strives for in his life?"
"Over the years, many have knelt before me, begging me to help them achieve this ideal, even willing to send their beautiful wives and daughters to my bed. But I never agreed."
"And now, all you need to do is nod, become my friend, Lin Nianfo, and all these things that others dream of will be yours easily."
"Little brother, what do you say?"
Lin Nianfo looked at Shen Lang with anticipation.
"I believe you, I truly do."
Shen Lang yawned and casually said, "Outsiders only know that seventy percent of Nanling's real estate is related to the Lin family, but they don't know that eighty percent of Nanling's hospitals are also owned by the Lin family."
"With real estate in one hand, never lowering prices, and controlling Nanling's medical resources with the other, always increasing prices, basically all of Nanling's wealth has entered the Lin family's coffers."
"I believe that if I nod, everything you've promised will come true."
"Honestly, just now, for a split second, I was tempted, and almost couldn't resist nodding and agreeing."
Shen Lang looked at Lin Nianfo and smiled, "I must praise you. You are a heinous scumbag, but also a qualified overlord. You always know how to exploit others' weaknesses and manipulate them."
"Sigh..."
Lin Nianfo never expected Shen Lang to ultimately refuse his temptation. A sense of failure he had never experienced before surged within him. He sighed deeply and said to Shen Lang, "Little brother, a person like you, even if you don't kill me, I cannot allow you to live."
"However, before that, I have a doubt that I hope you can clarify for me, can you?"
Lin Nianfo looked at Shen Lang and spoke.
"Yes—"
Shen Lang nodded and said to Lin Nianfo, "Ask me anything you wish. I will tell you everything without reservation, so you can die with understanding."
"I don't understand, why do we not know each other, and why are you hostile towards me from the first time we meet?"
Lin Nianfo stared intently at Shen Lang, awaiting his answer.
Hearing this, Shen Lang chuckled, "More than a decade ago, there was a funeral company in Nanling that specialized in selling grave goods for the deceased, such as paper money and wreaths."
"And for customers who ordered more than five hundred thousand yuan worth of grave goods, the company would gift a pair of golden boy and jade girl figurines as burial offerings. Legend had it that these figurines were made of ceramic, so lifelike and realistic that they were greatly adored by every family of the deceased."
"Many families of the deceased would eventually spend five hundred thousand yuan at this company to obtain this pair of figurines. In just one year, the company's turnover reached five hundred million yuan."
"This means that within a year, the company gave away one thousand pairs of golden boy and jade girl figurines."
Lin Nianfo was shocked to hear Shen Lang's words but quickly concealed his surprise, smiling, "For artworks, amateurs look at the spectacle, while insiders see the craftsmanship. Perhaps it's not strange that the pair of figurines were so well-made that they caused a craze."
"Think about it, when a certain foreign mobile phone released a new model, it was so exquisite and perfect that many people even sold their kidneys to get it. The world is full of wonders, nothing is too strange."
"Is that so?"
Hearing this, Shen Lang smiled and said, "The people of Nanling are wealthy, but they are not fools. If these figurines were made of ceramic, no matter how exquisite or lifelike, no one would spend five hundred thousand yuan for them."
"What are you trying to say?"
Hearing Shen Lang's words, Lin Nianfo's expression darkened, and his tone clearly held a hint of hostility.
"What I am trying to say is very simple, and I believe you understand it very well."
Shen Lang spoke, "The only explanation is that these figurines were not made of ceramic at all, but were living people. Because only living beings would be worth so much money."
As these words were spoken, everyone on the second floor, except for Shen Lang, had their pupils dilated and looked panicked.