(Pottery Shop Owner: Zhou Yanze)
(A-rank Mental Infected Entity.)
(Eerie Power: 1700)
(He opened this figurine store with a girl who had nothing but him in her eyes. He made pottery, and she played the violin. Simple, yet happy.)
(One day, the two had a conflict over their business ideas due to poor sales, and since then, the girl never challenged his business philosophy.)
(After that day, the store’s business picked up, and many came to buy a figurine called “Dancing Heaven’s Silk” that became the store’s signature piece.)
(He was extraordinarily obsessed with art, but he could never find the direction to create the perfect piece.)
(Notice: If he asks you to pick the perfect piece from his work and you smash it while calling it trash, his cognitive perception will be shaken.)
Li Ran stared at the pottery shop owner, Zhou Yanze, and the prompt from the golden finger had already thoroughly analyzed him.
Zhou Yanze paused for a moment, staring at Li Ran, who was sitting with his legs crossed like a rogue, and asked in confusion, “I don’t understand what you mean. Why would I exchange something for something?”
At this moment, Zhao Yingzhi stepped forward and said, “He picked up your item and came all the way here to return it to you. Shouldn’t he ask for a reward? Otherwise, who would do something for nothing?”
Li Ran gave Zhao Yingzhi a thumbs-up. He indeed had this idea, just like when he used Yang Baobao’s ID to demand a reward before.
However, this time, the golden finger didn’t provide such a prompt. Li Ran simply wanted to try it and maybe even get a reward.
Zhao Yingzhi couldn’t wait for Li Ran to finish the task and leave, as she didn’t want him getting in the way.
Zhou Yanze had seen through the situation. The so-called returning the lost item was just an excuse to extort him.
At this moment, the three of them each had their own thoughts.
Zhou Yanze smiled faintly and said, “I can give you two small figurines as a token of appreciation.”
“Who wants your crappy figurines? Can’t you show some sincerity?” Zhao Yingzhi shouted.
Li Ran raised an eyebrow, suddenly finding Zhao Yingzhi’s vampire soul inside her body quite interesting. How did she manage to say exactly what he was thinking?
Zhou Yanze seemed to understand. These two weren’t here to return anything; their intentions were obvious.
His face darkened, and he snorted coldly, “Hmph, you two are looking to extort the wrong person!”
When Li Ran heard this, his rogue-like smile disappeared.
What the hell? Why isn’t he playing along with the usual script?
Looking at the crystal violin figurine in his hand, Li Ran muttered, “Isn’t this the owner’s lost precious item? Not even equipment can be exchanged for it?”
(Crystal Violin Figurine: You can ask the figurine store owner, this may be his lost precious item. If you can play it, it might have an unexpected effect.)
This was the first prompt regarding the crystal violin figurine.
“Can a small item like this be played?”
Li Ran looked at it again. There were real strings on the crystal, so it could be played, but it lacked a mini bow.
Li Ran searched the surrounding display cabinets and quickly found a unique crystal bow, which perfectly matched the size of the crystal violin in his hand.
“Is this a complete set?”
Carrying his confusion, Li Ran walked up to the display and took down the crystal bow.
As soon as the bow touched the crystal violin, a brilliant white light suddenly appeared.
Both Zhou Yanze and Zhao Yingzhi turned to look at Li Ran.
Li Ran was now holding a full-sized crystal violin, and without even playing it, it emitted an indescribable, unparalleled aura that could not be described in words.
“Wow, how magical,” Li Ran exclaimed.
He never imagined that combining two crystal figurines would result in a complete object, almost like magic.
(Musical Instrument [Lost Dream]: The will of the lost souls remains. If played, it can command the lingering souls’ obsessions!)
“Wow!”
Li Ran was shocked once again, his mind in complete astonishment.
“Do I need to play it to control the lost souls, or is there a specific tune?”
The moment the bow touched the strings, a wonderful, ethereal sound echoed throughout the figurine shop.
Li Ran didn’t know how to play, but the beautiful sound still moved his heart.
“Ah!”
Suddenly, Zhao Yingzhi cried out in pain, clutching her head.
This scene confused both Li Ran and Zhou Yanze.
Li Ran squinted his eyes and moved the bow again. Another ethereal sound filled the air, but this time, it sounded like the violin’s wailing cry, sorrowful and heart-wrenching.
“Ah!!”
Zhao Yingzhi covered her face, collapsing to the ground uncontrollably in pain.
“???”
What’s going on?
Li Ran was puzzled, so he decided to continue pulling the bow a few more times.
With each frantic pull, the violin produced a loud, powerful wail. Li Ran didn’t understand why, but his random playing somehow gave him the feeling of a grand epic, like the beginning of a ghostly symphony.
“Stop, stop, please don’t play anymore!” Zhao Yingzhi begged in agony, lying on the ground.
Li Ran felt like a monk reciting the “tightening curse,” with the monkey rolling on the ground, begging for mercy. He thought, “The vampire soul inside Zhao Yingzhi is being affected by the violin sound?”
“So, is Zhao Yingzhi possessed by a lost soul?”
Li Ran didn’t have any intention of stopping; instead, he became more excited, and the frequency of his bow strokes increased.
He wasn’t tormenting Zhao Yingzhi, he simply wanted to use this method to drive the vampire’s soul out of her body.
“Stop, stop, she will die if you keep playing!” Zhao Yingzhi screamed in agony, her face twisted with pain.
Li Ran’s face changed slightly, and only then did he stop playing the violin.
The music stopped, and Zhao Yingzhi collapsed on the ground, her face pale, her expression extremely unpleasant.
(She is the real Zhao Yingzhi.)
A prompt appeared, confirming that Zhao Yingzhi’s soul had regained control of her body.
Zhao Yingzhi slowly stood up. Her eyes and demeanor changed once again, and every word and action returned to the original girl’s appearance.
“Are you alright?” Li Ran asked.
Zhao Yingzhi’s face was as pale as a ghost, “I almost got in trouble. I was freaking out inside.”
When the vampire soul controlled her body, her own soul was visible to her. It felt like being locked in a small dark room, watching a documentary from the first-person perspective. She couldn’t do anything, just watch.
That feeling wasn’t pleasant. She knew Li Ran was doing his task, working hard to help everyone leave the world.
But the vampire soul inside her kept causing trouble.
Inside the “small dark room,” she was about to panic. She feared Li Ran would notice her abnormal behavior and feared that her own task progress would be sabotaged by “herself.”
Fortunately, Li Ran was clever enough to see through it without saying anything and used that unique violin to deal with the soul inside her.
“You’re back.”
Li Ran smiled faintly, and with just one simple sentence, Zhao Yingzhi’s eyes turned misty with tears.
During this period, she was terrified. No matter how strong or calm she was, she was still a girl, after all, and her heart was fragile.
When it came to the battle for control of her body, she was always at a disadvantage, with only the day when they gathered at the base point giving her a moment of control.
But she still couldn’t reveal the secret inside her body, or it could result in mutual destruction.
No one understood, and no one could help her. She didn’t even have anyone to confide in!
Frustration, helplessness, pain, struggle, and collapse—she spent every night in darkness, and no one knew how desperate she was.
But Li Ran’s simple sentence, “You’re back,” as she looked at him, suddenly made her feel cared for.
Turns out, she wasn’t fighting alone!
At this moment, all the helplessness she had been carrying turned into tears of confession.
“What happened to you?” Li Ran asked.
(End of chapter)