Tang Baona called a car and took the half-finished wood carving that Xiang Kun had packed in a cardboard box. She was originally planning to go home, but her mother sent a message saying that she and her sister were at their maternal grandfather's house, so she asked the driver to change directions.
When Tang Baona arrived, she learned that her older sister Bao Ting had brought her boyfriend, and it seemed they were getting engaged. Her grandfather said he wanted to meet him first.
My sister's boyfriend is a rather introverted and shy man, but he is tall and handsome. She had met him a few times before and knew that he was a low-level civil servant and a local. They had been dating for over a year, and given their age, they were now at the point of discussing marriage, which was a natural progression.
After Tang Baona arrived, she found a corner to sit and play on her phone, not participating in the conversation. When they had almost finished talking, her grandfather Mr. Feng, noticed the box at her feet and asked, "Nana, what did you bring to give to Grandpa?"
Tang Baona was taken aback for a moment, then quickly said, "Oh dear, Grandpa, this is a wood carving my friend made. It's still unfinished, how could I possibly give it to you!"
"Oh? Your friend made this? These days, young people like wood carving too? Are you a professional art student?" Mr. Feng, ever the talkative one, became increasingly interested in the wood carvings Tang Baona brought.
So Tang Baona carried the box to her grandfather's side, took out the unfinished wooden carving, and placed it on the table.
Upon seeing the wood carving, Tang Baoting couldn't help but burst out laughing; the wood carving was indeed quite "humorous."
Tang's parents and Bao Ting's boyfriend also understood that when Tang Baona Na said "half-finished product," it really was half-finished product.
But Mr. Feng was quite interested in the wood carving, which had not been polished, had obvious carving marks, many flaws, and a slightly distorted overall shape.
Mr. Feng had a close friend in his early years who was a master woodcarver from the south, so he also had some knowledge of woodcarving and had a lot of collections at home. He had a very discerning eye.
"Your friend's technique is indeed still a bit rusty, but his knife skills are quite good. His hand is steady, and he controls his strength very well. He has a lot of talent," said Mr. Feng, observing the half-finished product. "Nowadays, most wood carving is done with electric drills and carving machines, which are more efficient, less strenuous, and more stable. Purely handmade craftsmanship like this is becoming increasingly rare."
Tang Baona then proudly took out her phone and showed her grandfather a picture of the Saber wood carving that she had taken, which was currently displayed in a transparent box at home.
"This is a semi-finished product; I got it from him today. The one on the phone is the finished product."
Mr. Feng put on his reading glasses, looked at the photos taken from multiple angles on his phone, and slowly nodded. "This is quite interesting, a big improvement! Yes, interesting, indeed interesting."
Tang Baoting also came over, looking at the photo on her sister's phone, and exclaimed in surprise, "Saber? Your profile picture? It's really well sculpted! Which friend of yours..." She suddenly realized something, looked at her sister, nodded thoughtfully, and then shrank back into her seat.
Mr. Feng didn't find anything strange about what his other granddaughter said. After looking at his phone for a while, he said to Tang Baona, "Nana, next time you ask your friend if they have any artwork they want to sell, and see if they can get one for your grandfather."
"Okay, I'll ask later." Tang Baona nodded happily. The fact that her friend's wood carving had been approved by her discerning grandfather made her feel quite proud. Moreover, her grandfather said he "wanted one," but it was obvious that he wanted to buy it. Of course, she would not let her grandfather pay for it; she would first discuss a price with Xiang Kun and buy it for her grandfather.
She knew that although Xiang Kun had recently received a "reward" of 200,000 yuan, he hadn't gone to work and it seemed he hadn't finished paying off his mortgage. Having another way to make money would definitely be good. Given her grandfather's social circle, if he just mentioned it to his friends, other business opportunities would surely come knocking, and Xiang Kun's wood carvings would soon become popular.
Tang Baona suddenly realized that she didn't actually need her grandfather; she could do it herself. She could post pictures of the wooden Saber carving from her home on WeChat Moments and Weibo, and it would quickly attract many inquiries from people wanting to order custom pieces. After all, wooden carvings of anime characters like this, especially those so lifelike and detailed, are indeed very rare.
Strangely, neither Tang Baona, who also enjoys posting on WeChat Moments, nor Yang Zhen'er, who also took photos at the time, posted the wooden Saber carving on WeChat Moments or other social media platforms.
She quickly figured out her own feelings; it seemed she subconsciously didn't want Xiang Kun to customize wood carvings for too many people, so she didn't post it on her WeChat Moments. As for Yang Zhen'er, it was even easier to understand; she definitely had to wait until the wood carving Xiang Kun customized for her was finished before posting it to show off.
After seeing Tang Baona off, Xiang Kun didn't go home immediately. Instead, he inexplicably ran up to the rooftop, stood on the railing, and gazed at the distant lights of countless homes.
He had previously discovered that standing at night in a high, open area with a good view made his senses more acute and his overall state more "light."
He can often hear and smell information carried by the wind that should be far beyond the range of his senses.
Before the mutation, he was actually afraid of heights and would hold tightly to the railings when looking down from high places.
But now, standing on this rooftop at least sixty or seventy meters above the ground, directly above the railing, he felt no fear or worry.
Of course, it wasn't because he was now so powerful that he could fall from such a height and be fine. He was certain that if he fell, the consequences would be just as dire. Of course, whether he could heal was another matter entirely, and he had no desire to even try.
But now, thanks to his superb control over his body, he is very confident that he will not slip and fall. Whether a strong wind suddenly blows or someone is lying in ambush and suddenly pushes him, he can anticipate it and prepare accordingly.
"If only I could fly..." Xiang Kun sighed, imagining himself flying freely in the air like those superheroes in movies and TV shows, and then he couldn't help but let his imagination run wild.
If you stand at a moderate height, say one meter, and jump down, then continuously increase your height, could your body become aware of the need to evolve the ability to fly?
Hmm, probably not. At most, it will improve the cushioning ability of the joints, or further strengthen the bones and muscles, and enhance the cushioning protection of internal organs. If there is a fall, it will also speed up the healing process.
If you stand at a normal height and try to enter a certain emotional state, making yourself believe you're standing on the edge of a cliff, jumping off would mean certain death, and you try this repeatedly...
However, he realized that this unrealistic idea was impossible after only a brief moment of contemplation. If he were to actually fly, he would most likely have to grow a pair of enormous wings first; otherwise, based on basic physics, it would be impossible for him to take flight.
Surely it can't evolve into a rocket-like propulsion system? Like being able to unleash a super fart to propel itself up from the ground?
Xiang Kun chuckled at his own wild imagination, then jumped off the rooftop railing, preparing to go home. He didn't dare linger there too long; if someone saw him and thought he was going to jump, and kindly called the police, he'd be in trouble.
After returning home, Xiang Kun first sent WeChat to ask if Tang Baona had arrived home safely, and received a reply a while later.
Tang Baona asked him if he still had any of his previous wood carvings, as someone wanted to buy them, and asked him to name a price. She specifically stated that he should not name a "friendship price," but rather that he could name a higher price.
Xiang Kun was somewhat stunned: someone actually wanted to buy his hastily made wooden carving?
However, he quickly realized that someone might have seen Tang Baona's Saber wooden sculpture and become interested in it.
Many anime and manga fans have strong purchasing power, especially when it comes to "customized," "limited edition," or "special" items; they are very willing to spend money on these.
Xiang Kun was a little confused. He knew very well that a very important reason why he was able to carve the wooden sculpture for Tang Baona was that he had made prior arrangements with the boxwood used as the material. He might not have been able to carve it so finely with other normal materials. In the end, he had not been involved in wood carving for long enough.
Frankly, sculpting a large number of pieces to sell would be too much work, and he has no motivation for it. Unless each piece fetches a very high price, but given his reputation and the actual quality of his work, that's almost impossible.
So Xiang Kun replied, "I don't have any in stock, and even if I were to carve another one, I probably wouldn't be able to reach the same level as the one I gave you."
Tang Baona quickly replied, "It's okay! Just carve one whenever you have free time, and I'll let whoever wants to buy it name their price!"
"Okay, sure." Xiang Kun knew that Tang Baona was helping him find a way to open up new avenues, and he also wanted to try to see what level of quality and what price he could achieve by creating something using only the tool that had established Super-Sensory Link, without any related materials.
Without hesitation, Xiang Kun found a piece of boxwood scrap that had been previously discarded and had no connection with the wood, picked up his tools, and prepared to carve it.
But he was having trouble deciding what to carve. Should he ask Tang Baona? But if he was given a reference, he worried that his work wouldn't look right, making him seem too inept and embarrassing to present to Tang Baona.
Let's just create an original design. If the sculpture is ugly, we can just say it was originally ugly...
Xiang Kun thought about it, his hands began to move unconsciously, while his mind was simultaneously pondering some unanswered questions from Guo Tianxiang.
The first question is naturally about the frequently appearing man and woman. What is their relationship with Guo Tianxiang, and how is it related to his mutation and later characteristics?
Secondly, there was the white porcelain knife Guo Tianxiang had used earlier. It was clearly handcrafted, with a hollow hilt and a mechanism for injecting liquid. Pressing the top of the hilt would cause the liquid to flow along a groove near the blade, soaking the blade completely. However, after killing Guo Tianxiang, Xiang Kun checked it and found no trace of the liquid. He wondered if Guo Tianxiang hadn't injected it beforehand, or if the liquid, like vampire tissue, had its own ability to "destroy evidence." Searching Guo Tianxiang's memories with the knife yielded vague results, only showing a single instance of him injecting some kind of green liquid, but no memory fragments could be found on how he obtained that information.
Thirdly, the reasons for the Yang City police's investigation into Guo Tianxiang and the progress of the case, as well as whether they have discovered his special vampire identity.
However, Xiang Kun is now afraid of coming under police investigation, so he doesn't dare to approach the possible investigation areas and can only conduct a rough search online.
However, online searches only yielded some inquiries about Guo Tianxiang's clinic, with no substantial information. Similarly, no matching description could be found for the other name, "Li Ting'an."
The white porcelain knife also lacked a similar design or style. Perhaps Guo Tianxiang him in some way, but unfortunately, he couldn't recall it.
As for the investigation by the Yang City police, they also found no information.
When Xiang Kun realized that the rough draft of the wooden carving in his hand was finished, he pulled himself out of his thoughts, looked over, and was somewhat satisfied with it. It was a palm-sized eight-armed human-shaped wooden carving.
Thanks to the new helmsman "Master Fable" and the new helmsman "Ye Wu's Murderer", thanks to book friends toy5545 and Cai Xiaoqia, Qidian Reading iOS, Don't speed, Sanzhi Xiaozhu, Book Friends 20190621134040637, Follow the Wind and Rain, The Eternal Seven-Day Capital, Emperor's Road Without Borders, Emperor's Road Without Borders, Pei Daoren, Yi Zhaike, Book Friends 20170816091445363, Qidian Reading iOS, Dawn·,, It's impossible to get something for nothing, Hemoptysis, Wipe and Reward