Essence 《Forbidden Tome》 Chapter 2 - Manipulating States!

Late at night, Qitan Town was as quiet as ever, and people had long since turned off their lights and gone to sleep; the Long family was no exception.\ However, in the small room next to Long Yan and An'an's bedroom, two-year-old Long Qian was still wide awake. His gaze was calm, with no focal point in his pupils, giving him a somewhat strange and vacant appearance.\ Long Qian had not forgotten the reason why his body could survive in the first place. He had always been mindful of the peculiar meridians within him, because these meridians could stimulate his heart and make it beat, so he paid close attention to the energy within them.\ Every night, after Long Qian and An'an had fallen asleep, Long Qian would tentatively try to control the flow of energy within his meridians, slowly stimulating his internal organs.\ The reason he did this was that he discovered that after the heart was stimulated by the energy in the meridians, it seemed to beat stronger. Moreover, the energy could heal injured parts of the body, improve constitution when applied to bones and flesh, and clear fatigue when used on the brain.\ It was a very peculiar kind of energy.\ Long Qian did not know if others in the world had it, but he believed that very few, if any, could control this energy as easily as he could.\ This was because Long Qian found that he had an indescribably special relationship with his body. Whenever he completely calmed down and tried to control the energy within his meridians, his body seemed to become a puppet of his mind!\ In terms of his previous life experience, Long Qian felt as if he were inside the head of a humanoid robot. He was like a controller; if he wanted his body to perform some action, he just needed to issue a command to control it. However, these commands were very complex, so he couldn't make his body perform too many actions at once.\ Nevertheless, this still allowed Long Qian to easily locate any part of his body that showed abnormalities and manipulate the energy within the meridians to improve it. This was why he had never been ill, and even a mosquito bite wouldn't cause redness or swelling.\ To better distinguish the relationship between his brain and body, Long Qian called this state the 'Control State.' At other times, he was in a normal state.Although the state of control seems magical, in reality, it cannot perform too many actions. When fully immersed in the control state, at this stage, Long Qian is completely unable to walk or speak normally, so he has been constantly practicing himself, hoping that one day he can be more agile in the control state than in the normal state.

Of course, drawing circles with the left hand and squares with the right hand, this legendary technique of ambidexterity, seems like child's play to Long Qian.

Therefore, over the past two years, the thing Long Qian has done most is continuously switching back and forth between the normal state and the control state. He hopes to become proficient and accustomed to all of this, while also using that network to strike at his flesh, internal organs, and bones, continuously improving his physical constitution.

Everything Long Qian has done is, of course, not for fun. Planning ahead, he once vowed not to place his hopes on others, and thus he must try his hardest. He also does not think life will remain this calm forever; everyone encounters unforeseen events in their lifetime, just like the car accident in his previous life. To avoid dying easily again, Long Qian feels it is necessary to make his body stronger; this is the minimum requirement.

In the eyes of all the townspeople in Qitan Town who know Long Yan and An'an, Long Qian is recognized as a well-behaved child. Of course, he occasionally does some mischievous things, like chasing and hitting four-winged chickens in the vegetable market, squashing someone else's small watermelon in the fruit market, or dirtying someone's fabric in the tailor shop...

Even though Long Qian racks his brain to do these things to appear more like a child, he still stands out because he is too clean. When other children play happily in the mud, he never touches it. When other children have snot and saliva all over their faces, making them look like spotted cats, his little face remains as clean as jade.

As a result, whenever An'an takes Long Qian out, his body is inevitably subjected to the teasing of aunts and grandaunts, kisses here, pinches there. That thing like a little worm has suffered countless violations, making him feel as if he is living in deep water and scorching fire, a pain that is hard to express.Long Qian is not picky with food, does not fuss in bed, does not make a mess with defecation or urination, and has a very regular daily routine. He is literally the well-behaved child every parent dreams of. Long Yan and An An, of course, love him to the moon and back, cradling him in their hands as if he might break, putting him in their mouths as if he might melt. Even if they usually have verbal disagreements, the thought of Long Qian makes all conflicts instantly disappear.

Long Yan's income is the financial backbone of the entire family, and it is thanks to his somewhat mysterious earnings that the Long family owns a large house and several acres of fertile land in Qitan Town, making them a prominent family in this small town.

The Long family's residence is on a small hillside north of the Qitan Town market, with the bottom of the hill surrounded by a tall fence that encloses the entire slope. Twined around the fence is a plant called tattoo vine, which blooms small white flowers in spring and bears small, thumb-sized, scarlet fruits in autumn. These fruits are slightly sour and a bit spicy, and the local children love to pick and eat them.

Scattered on the hillside grow several apple trees. Such fruit trees are common in Xinling Town, so even if the trees are full of big red apples, few children are willing to climb over the thorny fence to steal them. Besides, the grass under the apple trees often hosts some scary insects and small animals. Other than a few brave children who dare to go in to catch a few to scare girls, the grass inside the fence is basically a forbidden area that keeps most children away.

Long Yan's income is mysterious, at least in the eyes of the townspeople of Xinling. When the Long family first moved here, many people tried to find out and probe into it, but in the end, it came to nothing.

Time passes quickly, and Long Qian is now two years old, but he still does not really understand what Long Yan does for work. He only knows how much Long Yan earns.

After all, An An manages the family's finances and has a habit of keeping accounts. Long Qian spends almost the entire day with An An, so it is difficult not to notice.

Because he has seen the amounts in the ledger, Long Qian discovered something: Long Yan's income is gradually decreasing. Of course, this is not a good sign, so he really wants to know what Long Yan is doing and what kind of difficulties he has encountered.\ Although he knew that Long Yan's workplace was in a basement at the back of the house, Long Qian was only two years old, so it was impossible for him to sneak over to check. Who knows whether there were any deadly traps inside Long Yan's secret workspace…?\Chapter Two—Control Mode! The End