Mental Illness Evolution Manual - Chapter 44

The sky in Lipe’a turned dark early. It was already pitch black outside, but there was a street lamp every few meters, illuminating the square, as if it were daytime.

A fierce wind whipped through the square, showcasing the city’s harsh and unforgiving landscape to the arriving travelers. The inhabitants, often with high noses, deep-set eyes, and varying degrees of freckles, huddled together for warmth as they waited, their raspy speech a stark counterpoint to the howling wind.

Yan Xianchuan heard their words, but she couldn’t understand what they meant. Fortunately, Lu Mingqiu had been foresighted and prepared a language assistance chip for her.

After a delay of one or two seconds, the chip faithfully translated what they were saying, it was just ordinary greetings. The waiting person asked the returning person if the journey was smooth, the latter replied, and then complained about the food on the airship, the former said that they had already prepared a big meal at home, with his favorite vodka.

The two of them laughed and walked into the cold wind, their laughter was filled with warm affection, it was something that even the north wind couldn’t chill.

There were also people who didn’t pay attention to the weather, they were wearing very thin clothes. Yan Xianchuan passed by and heard him sneezing, one after another, he didn’t forget to curse a few words.

Oh, that was also a curse word, it was faithfully converted by the translator. Throughout history, curse words have always been about reproductive organs and family trees, this one was even better, it didn’t even spare the dog they kept at home.

Yan Xianchuan listened for a moment, she felt like the door to a new world was opening for her.

After crossing the square, they came to the side of the road, Lu Mingqiu turned her head and asked, “Do you want to have a late-night snack? I’ve booked a hotel, we’ll stay here for a night, and we’ll leave early tomorrow morning.”

“If you want to have a late-night snack, you can go now, the hot pot in Lipe’a is very famous, and the wine is also good.”

She was using a new face, continuing the previous mass-produced features, the only difference was that her eyes hadn’t been modified too much, maybe to blend in with the local environment, her pupils were still her original color, like a pool of blue sea.

Yan Xianchuan had changed a lot, she originally had a very Chinese appearance, now her hair was dyed light blonde, her eyes were also changed to blue, her eye sockets were deeper, she looked more like a mixed race.

Mixed race and Western appearances were very common in Lipe’a, pure Chinese appearances were much rarer.

Because Lipe’a was an underdeveloped city, young people had run away, and few people from other areas came here, the city was like its age, it was full of a sense of twilight.

Yan Xianchuan was a little tempted.

Lu Mingqiu looked at her, she smiled in puzzlement, “What’s wrong with you, if you want to go, just say so.”

She raised her hand and hailed a car, while the car was parked on the side of the road, she said, “Why are you so strange recently?”

I’m strange…? Yan Xianchuan couldn’t help but repeat the sentence in her heart, it was like a question, and it was like she was asking herself. She stole a glance at the person beside her who was telling the driver the destination, she couldn’t help but think angrily and resentfully: It’s all because of you.

She was afraid of delaying the trip, so she hesitated to speak, but in the other party’s eyes, it seemed like it was her fault.

She realized that she had done something wrong, that she owed the other party something, according to the reasonable social logic, she should compensate Lu Mingqiu.

But this person didn’t need her compensation. She couldn’t follow the established procedures to complete the normal interpersonal interactions, and she often fell into unspeakable fantasies, she didn’t know which of these two things made Yan Xianchuan feel more helpless.

“Are you here for tourism?” the driver asked curiously in a common language with an accent.

“How did you know?” Lu Mingqiu chatted with him.

Hearing this, the driver burst into laughter, he was very proud, “I can tell at a glance, I’ve been a taxi driver for thirty years, my eyesight is not to be trifled with.”

“These days, few people come to Lipe’a for tourism, sigh, what can you do, it’s an old antique city.”

“I think it has a lot of history, those big cities, they look very developed, but they’re all like copy and paste, they don’t have any character.” Lu Mingqiu looked out the window at the buildings under the flickering lights, “This kind of building from before the Great Purge is rare.”

“History…” The driver shook his head, he laughed self-deprecatingly, but he didn’t say anything else.

“But if you’re here for tourism, there are a few places you must go, most of the tourist guides are used to cheat tourists from other places, one is Old John’s Tavern, they sell wine and grilled meat, the taste is really amazing, you also have to go to Detu Sa Wu Palace, it used to be the royal palace, I took my son there a few times, the little rascal was so excited, he said it was beautiful, he also said that when he grows up, he wants to live in a house like that, isn’t that a dream?”

The driver laughed and scolded a few words, but his words were full of affection.

Yan Xianchuan saw the small drawer on the driver’s seat was half open, a small robot toy’s foot was sticking out, it must have been left by his son.

The driver was very talkative and very enthusiastic, he was different from the drivers in Nanjin City.

Before getting out of the car, he said again that he wished them a good time, then he drove away.

The buildings here were much taller, they blocked the north wind. The street lamps were all in the shape of red lanterns, they must have been beautiful during the day, but at night, they shone a red light on the ground, making it look a little eerie.

The passersby were used to it, they didn’t think anything of it, but Yan Xianchuan was startled.

Lu Mingqiu looked at her and said softly, “What’s wrong with you? You have something to say, something on your mind, why don’t you say it?”

Yan Xianchuan opened her mouth, she instinctively swallowed the things that were bothering her, she said lightly, “I’m worried that eating a late-night snack will delay your plans.”

“You’re thinking too much.” Lu Mingqiu said seriously, “Since I brought it up, it means that doing this won’t have any negative impact, if I didn’t have time to do it, I wouldn’t have said it.”

“Besides, the purpose of this trip is just to take a look, to scout around, after all, we don’t know what they’re up to, I won’t take any risks.”

“Our abilities are a good match, even if something happens, we can retreat, if we wanted to do something, I wouldn’t have just brought you here.”

“So don’t think too much.” She chuckled lightly.

Yan Xianchuan could only nod, she added, “Okay.”

“Let’s go.” Lu Mingqiu took the lead, “I saw that you didn’t eat much on the airship, you must be hungry.”

She followed closely behind the other person, taking two steps, then catching up and walking side by side.

The hot pot here was very different from the one Yan Xianchuan had eaten in Nanjin City. The latter was spicier, while this one, although the chili oil looked bright red, wasn’t actually that spicy, it had a fried chili fragrance instead.

The meat in the store was very generous, beef, mutton, horse meat, venison… all kinds of meat were listed on the menu for several pages, and there were as many kinds of wine as there were meat.

White wine and wheat beer were the most common, there was less wine, and the flavors were varied. Few people who came here to eat didn’t drink, almost every table had a few empty wine bottles, people were talking loudly, it was noisy and lively.

Maybe it was because of the cold weather, people were more enthusiastic, and their voices were louder.

Yan Xianchuan had never drunk hard liquor, but she watched Lu Mingqiu drink, she was curious, so she poured herself a glass.

Logically speaking, she should have a good tolerance for alcohol, because she was in good health, she had drunk a lot of cocktails with a proof of 10 to 20 degrees, she had always treated them as drinks.

Before the alcohol even reached her stomach, the taste hit her nose, it was fragrant but pungent, one sniff and you could tell it was very strong. Yan Xianchuan glanced at the person sitting opposite her, she drank it down like water, she didn’t change her expression, it seemed like there was nothing to be afraid of.

She took a sip, her eyes widened slightly, the transparent liquid in her mouth wasn’t like alcohol, it was more like knives or needles, it was frantically stabbing her tongue.

Yan Xianchuan quickly swallowed it, it stabbed all the way down her esophagus, then it stabbed her stomach lining, from her throat to her stomach, it was burning hot, she couldn’t tell if it was spicy or hot, she just felt a heat spreading rapidly from her stomach outwards, finally reaching her crown chakra, even the air she breathed out of her nose was hot.

Her eyes were glazed over, Lu Mingqiu burst into laughter, she teased and joked, “How is it, is it good?”

Yan Xianchuan exhaled a puff of hot air, she didn’t make a hissing sound, “It’s a little spicy.”

Lu Mingqiu was amused, she poured a glass of water and pushed it over, “Have some water to moisten your throat, this wine is very strong, do you want to try the wheat beer?”

Yan Xianchuan glanced at the pull-tab cans standing on the corner of the table.

“It’s just beer, but it has a strong wheat flavor, it’s quite good.” Lu Mingqiu said.

“I didn’t know you had such a good tolerance for alcohol.” Yan Xianchuan took the pull-tab can with the wheat pattern on it, she pulled off the tab, this time she didn’t dare to drink a big gulp, she just sipped a little.

The clear brown liquid flowed over her tongue, it was slightly bitter first, then a wheat flavor spread in her mouth, it made her think of golden wheat waves under the sunlight, as if she was walking in a wheat field, she could clearly smell the light fragrance of the plant stems and leaves.

Her eyes lit up, she took another sip.

“Not bad, right?” Lu Mingqiu said with a smile, “I’ve always had a good tolerance for alcohol, I just don’t drink often.”

As if she saw the unspoken question in the person’s mouth, she raised her glass again, she drank the transparent, spicy white wine in one gulp, she said, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”

“Besides, a slightly tipsy state can relax your mood.” She propped her chin, “Do you feel better than before?”

Yan Xianchuan looked at her blue eyes, which were like stars, she nodded repeatedly in a daze, “Much better, the hot pot is also very delicious.”

“That’s good.” Lu Mingqiu picked up a piece of meat, dipped it in sauce, and put it in her mouth, she chewed it slowly, “After all, we’re friends, if you have any worries, you can tell me, although I can’t guarantee that I can solve your problems, but having someone to talk to, to talk about your worries, will also make you feel better.”

That’s probably not going to happen… Yan Xianchuan nodded on the surface, but she couldn’t help but retort in her heart.

After eating a warm meal, the two of them went to the hotel they had booked, they still had one room each. After a quiet night, they had a simple breakfast at the hotel, Lu Mingqiu stretched, she took two bottles of mineral water, “I’ve rented a car, we’ll drive there directly later.”

“Is it far from here?” Yan Xianchuan took both bottles of water and asked.

“It’s about a four-hour drive.” Lu Mingqiu said as she walked, “It’s very remote, and we can’t just go there openly.”

She patted her suitcase, “We’ll rely on this little thing.”