Rogue Instrument

The suona was pitch-black all over, its surface seemingly covered in intricate patterns. The markings formed some kind of writing, but Lu Ban could not recognize it.

Bandit's Suona

Excellent

A weathered suona. Once held in hand, its player would master the method of performing it.

The suona echoed only among certain craftsmen from the East in the Ruined City.

People believed this instrument had originated from the worship of certain deities, and that its sound could draw the attention of Great Beings.

Whether in sorrow or joy, its piercing notes always penetrated the human heart.

"Don't play it, we're on the same side!"

Price: 444 Silence Points

Over four hundred Silence Points was relatively cheap for an Excellent-quality item.

Lu Ban had taken a liking to the suona mainly because he thought it sounded festive. No matter what kind of music it was, adding the shrill tone of a suona could turn it into a cheerful song.

Besides, the suona was used at funerals and other occasions closely tied to the dead. It also had the effect of warding off evil.

Finally, the item's description seemed relatively safe. At the very least, ordinary people could use it. Moreover, the mission description said not to stop playing, so Lu Ban guessed that music might be the key to completing the mission.

He truly had no talent for music. The only instrument he knew was the recorder he had learned in elementary school, with the triangle barely counting as another.

So it would have been rather difficult for Lu Ban to learn how to perform in such a short time.

This suona seemed as though it had been tailor-made for Lu Ban.

With that thought, he got off the subway when it reached his stop, found an empty place, and immediately clicked purchase.

Lu Ban suddenly felt his backpack grow a little heavier.

He opened it and found a suona inside.

The patterns on its surface looked so complicated that they gave him a headache. Yet when he touched them, they felt exceptionally smooth. The suona's glaze differed from ceramic or wooden instruments; it resembled the bones of some living creature.

The moment he held it, Lu Ban felt certain knowledge flow into his mind. Unlike Last Words, however, that knowledge was like a sticky spiderweb spread across the grooves of his cerebral cortex, as though it could be pulled away at any moment.

Lu Ban could now grasp the suona's playing methods and techniques. He felt that he was roughly at the level of a skilled professional.

After thinking for a moment, Lu Ban raised the suona to his lips and blew.

The piercing sound immediately cut through the air and rang out beside the street.

Lu Ban's fingers moved on their own. His hands and mouth no longer seemed to belong to him, as though they existed solely to play this one piece.

The twisting, turning sound of the suona echoed through the street. This was the suburbs, and there were not many pedestrians, but Lu Ban's actions were still enough to draw attention.

Lu Ban felt his entire body tense up as he played. His joints became stiff and sluggish, like those of an old man on the verge of death. Only his fingers grew increasingly nimble, playing a brisk and fierce melody.

Lu Ban had never heard this piece before, but judging by its melody, it seemed to be music for some kind of ceremony or ritual, with a calming effect on the mind.

Before he knew it, more and more people had gathered around him.

Lu Ban caught sight of one of the listeners nearby. The person's soul seemed to have been hooked away by something; his expression was vacant, his eyes lifeless, and his body swayed slowly only with the rise and fall of the suona's notes.

He realized that every listener had fallen into a similar state.

Those people were dazed, confused, and blank-faced. They merely curled their bodies slightly toward Lu Ban as he played, as though worshipping some supreme being.

As for Lu Ban himself, he was like a puppet on strings. He looked ahead at the sky above the low suburban buildings. Beyond the once-blue vault of heaven lay the deep, boundless cosmos and its stars.

Among the stars, one shone brilliantly, echoing the melody of the suona from afar.

".!!!"

The instant Lu Ban saw that star, his scalp went numb. The spiderweb-like knowledge wrapped around his brain exploded with a buzz.

His vision pierced through the atmosphere and left the solar system behind, approaching that dark yellow star at an unbelievable speed.

At that moment, Lu Ban's body suddenly broke free of its restraints. He hurriedly pulled the suona away from his lips.

Everything vanished.

The people around Lu Ban came back to their senses. They were somewhat bewildered, but soon assumed they had simply been drawn in by his suona playing. Quite a few even took bills from their wallets and placed them on the ground before him.

Cold sweat seeped from Lu Ban's temples as he held the suona. Even the early summer sunlight could not dispel the gloom in his eyes.

".This suona has a pretty serious problem."

Lu Ban felt as though he had nearly been sent off just now.

Compared with the friend under his bed, that experience had felt even stranger.

"So that Great Being is actually an alien?"

For a moment, Lu Ban did not dare look up at the sky, afraid that he would see the moon smiling at him.

Just then, the portraits on the bills on the ground twisted and transformed into the system's cold text.

Name: Lu Ban
Profession: Director
Education: Bachelor's Degree
Will: 80
Education: 70
Luck: 20
Sanity: 71
Silence Points: 1666
Inherent Skill: All In
Inherent Skill: Last Words

"My Sanity dropped again."

Lu Ban quickly noticed the difference on his status panel.

That experience just now had cost him another five points of Sanity.

It seemed being frightened would lower his Sanity, but why? Although being scared really could make a person think incoherently, they should return to normal afterward.

"What would happen if my Sanity reached zero...?"

The more Lu Ban thought about it, the more serious the problem seemed.

He bent down to pick up the money and counted it. There was nearly a thousand in total. He had no idea whether everyone had truly been moved by the suona, or whether it was due to some mysterious and unknowable reason.

"If I ever can't afford to eat, I'll just play this suona to make money."

Lu Ban joked to himself.

"So these items are basically fighting poison with poison?"

He thought again.

If he encountered some vengeful spirit or ghost in the theater tonight and played the suona, he might summon something even stranger to suppress those little ghosts.

Thinking of that, Lu Ban did not know whether he should feel relieved or worried.

"Forget it, I've already exchanged for it."

He consoled himself.

Even if he did not play it, perhaps smashing those strange things with the suona would still work.

With more than a thousand Silence Points left, Lu Ban decided to exchange them for a handy weapon.

He could not use firearms and ammunition well. They could easily hurt him, and they might not be very effective against ghosts either.

As he boarded the bus heading toward the former site of the Grand Theater, he continued browsing the item catalog.

The scenery outside the window grew increasingly desolate. The low buildings rapidly gave way to the single-story homes at the edge of the city and countryside, and soon Lu Ban saw rice paddies and small streams used for irrigation.

By the time he arrived at his stop, Lu Ban had already chosen a suitable weapon.

It was the Physics Holy Sword, listed under Murder Weapons.

Thanks to "Monkey Face" for the 200-coin tip, and thanks to "Reader 20210723202100715" for the 100-coin tip~