"Don't tell me you actually want to eat flower poison ginseng?"
When He Bing heard Lu Heng mention flower poison ginseng, the first thing that came to his mind was that Lu Heng wanted to eat flower poison ginseng.
The reason he thought that was primarily because many people died from eating flower poison ginseng every year, which in turn was because flower poison ginseng did indeed have powerful medicinal properties.
In the pharmaceutical industry, flower poison ginseng was a very important raw material. After its active ingredients were purified, it could be used to produce a variety of medicines with differing effects.
However, the purification process was very complicated and difficult. The purification of a thousand kilograms of the flower poison ginseng would only yield about ten grams of the active ingredients.
However, if it was taken directly, there was a certain chance of one's body perfectly absorbing the medicinal effects and improving one's physique.
As such, it was common for people who desired to become stronger to take the risk to consume it directly.
Of course, those people who took it all had different misconceptions. Some did not know how poisonous flower poison ginseng was, while others chose to simply believe in their own luck.
In short, those who would usually inquire about flower poison ginseng were most likely harboring misguided thoughts.
He Bing guessed that Lu Heng was the same.
"No, I still have a young sister at home. How could I eat this poisonous thing?" Lu Heng vehemently denied it.
Hearing this, He Bing thought that Lu Heng's words made sense, so he dispelled his doubts.
However, what he did not know was that Lu Heng was lying to him.
Lu Heng not only wanted to eat flower poison ginseng but, in fact, he had already eaten it once before.
"If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave first," He Bing said goodbye.
When Lu Heng saw this, he gritted his teeth and asked again, "Senior Brother He, if one doesn't die from eating flower poison ginseng, how would their body react and change?"
As soon as he said this, He Bing, who was about to leave, immediately stopped in his tracks.
He looked at Lu Heng with suspicion and asked, "You're really not thinking about eating flower poison ginseng, right?"
"No, I'm really not!" Lu Heng quickly rebuffed him.
However, although he said so, He Bing still had a disbelieving look on his face.
He Bing secretly thought, 'This kid is so concerned about the effects of flower poison ginseng. It's likely that he's made up his mind to eat flower poison ginseng. I have to stop him.'
However, on second thought, if the other party really wanted to eat it, how could he stop him?
After all, he had just told Lu Heng about the dangerous consequences of taking flower poison ginseng but, in the end, the latter still seemed fixated on the medicinal effects of flower poison ginseng.
After thinking for a while, He Bing decided to tell Lu Heng what he knew about flower poison ginseng.
Perhaps Lu Heng would give up on eating flower poison ginseng after that.
Thinking this, He Bing said, "There are indeed some lucky people who were not poisoned after consuming flower poison ginseng. Such people would see an improvement in their physique, but the probability of such a thing happening is very low, less than 5% in fact."
"In other words, after eating flower poison ginseng, there is a 95% chance that you will either die or become disabled."
"Let's talk about the body's reaction after being poisoned. The poison of the flower poison ginseng will corrode all the muscles and fascia in one's body. Therefore, once you are poisoned, you will first feel that there are countless ants gnawing on your flesh. It won't take long after that sensation for the muscles and tendons in the whole body to contract."
"In the end, you will die from the violent twitching of your muscles. Even if you are lucky enough not to die, the only thing that awaits you is the atrophying of all the muscles in your body."
He Bing felt that Lu Heng would probably stay away from flower poison ginseng after hearing such a terrifying description.
"Senior Brother He, what about those who are not poisoned?" Lu Heng did not get the answer he was looking for, so he asked again.
"It's impossible not to be poisoned. Everyone will be poisoned. It's just a matter of how severe the poisoning is."
He Bing explained, "Those who experience mild symptoms have a higher chance of surviving. If they do survive, all of the muscles in their body will be strengthened."
Hearing this answer, Lu Heng wanted to say something further, but he hesitated. After all, this was still not the answer he was looking for.
However, he had no idea as to how to continue this line of questions.
He Bing patted Lu Heng's shoulder and said earnestly, "I understand that you're anxious to prove yourself, but there's really no need to take such a risk."
"That's all I have to say. Think about it again."
With that, He Bing turned around and left.
After watching He Bing leave, Lu Heng touched his chin and turned around to watch the holographic projection.
Noon.
Lu Heng had returned home on time and was starting to make lunch.
Lunch was the same as before. He was cooking two bowls of paste with the synthetic food chunks, as well as a small plate of pickled vegetables.
"Second brother, did you go to the dojo this morning?"
Lu Xiaoxiao sat on the chair and asked as she watched Lu Heng from behind.
"Yes, I had a breakthrough in my martial arts practice, so I went over to see my instructor. But guess what? The instructor said that my martial arts talent is outstanding and that my physique is very suitable for martial arts practice."
Lu Heng was trying his best to convey his happiness to Xiaoxiao, so he deliberately exaggerated the story a little.
Unfortunately, his exaggeration had the opposite effect.
Lu Xiaoxiao asked, "Second brother, weren't you assigned to the civil class in school?"
"The instructor said that the school misjudged my martial arts talent," Lu Heng replied.
"Really?" Lu Xiaoxiao still did not believe it.
To her, this family was her whole world, so she knew Lu Heng's situation very well.
Not too long ago, her brother had still been worried about being able to practice martial arts, so how was it possible for his martial arts talent to suddenly become outstanding?
Noticing this, Lu Heng had no choice but to change the topic. "Xiaoxiao, did anyone knock on the door this morning?"
"No." Lu Xiaoxiao shook her head and replied.
"That's good."
Lu Heng heaved a sigh of relief and turned around to stir the cooked synthetic food chunks.
The thing he was most worried about now was that Xiaoxiao's lower limb paralysis would be discovered.
It had been fine for the past two years. At that time, their parents were still around, and she was still young, so it was easy to conceal this matter.
However, as Xiaoxiao grew older, the people in the community came over more and more frequently. Every month or so, they would come over to ask her why she did not go to school.
It was precisely because of this that Lu Heng chose to work the night shift.
This way, he could stay at home during the day and deal with any unexpected situations.
Fortunately, the people in the community were usually busy with work and had a lot of things to deal with. As such, they did not focus too much on his sister's unusual situation, which made it rather easy to deal with.
Of course, Lu Heng could not hide the truth forever. This kind of thing would be discovered sooner or later.
Lu Heng would have to enter military service when he turned 18. At that time, there would be no way of hiding it anymore.
'I'll study about the flower poison ginseng before I go to bed later,' Lu Heng thought to himself as he placed the dishes on the table.
The siblings still enjoyed the meal very much. Such good days were numbered, so they especially cherished these moments.
After the meal, Lu Heng settled Xiaoxiao down. He then went into the room where his parents used to live and closed the door.
He would never allow Xiaoxiao to find out about his research on flower poison ginseng. He had to keep it a secret.
Fortunately, Xiaoxiao was very sensible. She knew that he had to catch up on his sleep and work the night shift, so she would never take the initiative to disturb him. As long as he closed the door, he could study the flower poison ginseng at ease.
Kacha!
Lu Heng carefully opened an iron box.
Inside the iron box, there were two flowers of the flower poison ginseng plant laying quietly.