Phonograph [Please Follow]

Lu Jing'an had only intended to bring the matter over.

But seeing Kui Shan's expression now—

There was clearly a story behind it.

Lu Jing'an happened to want to learn more about these Western evil gods as well.

"Senior Kui Shan, I am rather curious about these evil gods too. I wonder if Senior Kui Shan could enlighten me a little?"

Kui Shan came back to his senses.

His first instinct was to snap at Lu Jing'an, this rich young master.

But when the words reached his lips, Kui Shan swallowed them back down.

This kid had reached the First Blood Transformation at such a young age.

That willingness to endure hardship alone set him apart from those spoiled young masters who did nothing but walk birds and pit crickets against each other.

"So-called evil gods are merely a pack of rats hiding in the gutters, unfit to see the light of day."

Kui Shan held these evil gods in utter contempt.

Lu Jing'an said, "But Senior, these evil gods—

Can let believers contact and control them through prayer.

Such methods are surely beyond ordinary people."

Hearing Lu Jing'an's words, Kui Shan gave a scornful laugh. "That is merely the dregs Great Xia has long since discarded."

Lu Jing'an was taken aback. Western evil gods were playing with what Great Xia had already discarded?

Was that not a little too arrogant?

Kui Shan could tell that Lu Jing'an did not quite believe him.

He immediately said, "Have you ever heard of the Incense Divinity Path?"

Hearing Kui Shan's words,

Lu Jing'an immediately understood.

This method of praying to and beseeching evil gods—

Was it not precisely the same thing as the Incense Divinity Path?

If that was the case,

Then these Western evil gods truly were playing with what Great Xia had left behind.

"Then is there any fundamental difference between these evil gods and our Incense Divinity Path?"

A fierce light appeared in Kui Shan's eyes as he said, "They are worse. More vicious."

"They are all condensed from negative emotions."

"Those controlled and influenced by them—

Will become evil to the bone."

Seeing Kui Shan like this, Lu Jing'an could tell that the story behind it was no small matter.

"Senior, may I ask what exactly happened between you and that evil god?" Lu Jing'an asked tentatively.

"No." Kui Shan's attitude was exceedingly firm.

Seeing this, Lu Jing'an had no intention of pressing further.

Though he would not ask about that matter,

He could still tell Kui Shan every detail concerning Nine-Fingered Yama.

With this information,

Kui Shan should be able to uncover quite a few things.

Lu Jing'an explained everything in great detail.

It left Kui Shan feeling somewhat embarrassed.

"Wen Ling, bring tea," Kui Shan called toward the outside of the room.

A moment later, Wen Ling entered carrying tea, dressed in washed-out Indanthrene cloth.

It had to be said that Wen Ling's figure was a perfect match for a qipao.

This sort of clothing simply did not do Wen Ling justice.

Lu Jing'an's gaze lingered on her for a moment before he smiled and asked,

"Sister Wen Ling, why aren't you wearing that pretty qipao today?"

Wen Ling smiled. "Such an expensive qipao can only be worn when going out, of course."

The Peacekeeping Bureau's days were indeed a little hard.

With a thought, Lu Jing'an asked, "Sister Wen, has the compensation from that Lamp Cultivator been delivered to the Peacekeeping Bureau?"

Kui Shan immediately said, "It has already been delivered."

Lu Jing'an did not respond. Instead, he looked at Wen Ling and asked again, "Sister Wen, has it really been delivered?"

Wen Ling immediately caught on. "Not yet."

Upon hearing that, Lu Jing'an angrily declared, "How can those people work like that? Sister Wen, don't worry. When I get back, I'll have someone send the compensation over."

Wen Ling beamed. "Then this sister thanks you very much."

Kui Shan spoilsported from the side, "Don't think you can win us over like this."

Lu Jing'an still chose to ignore Kui Shan. He said directly to Wen Ling, "Sister Wen, that Lamp Cultivator seemed rather high-grade."

"Ten thousand silver dollars in compensation should be enough, right?"

The number Lu Jing'an named directly shoved Kui Shan's words back down his throat.

Wen Ling, meanwhile, smiled like a flower and repeatedly said,

"Enough, more than enough! Little brother, you are so thoughtful!"

Lu Jing'an picked up his teacup, just about to drink.

Wen Ling lifted her delicate hand and pressed down on the cup.

"This tea is no good. Your sister will go find you something better."

A moment later,

When Wen Ling returned,

She had changed into the qipao from that day and put on silver-rimmed glasses.

The tea set in her hands had also been replaced with a set of delicate white porcelain, its fragrance already apparent before a sip was taken.

Seeing this, Lu Jing'an truly wanted Wen Ling to give him a proper lesson in cultural knowledge.

Kui Shan really could not bear to look.

Lu Jing'an took a sip of tea, then said, "It truly is fine tea."

"Of course. These are leaves from a Plant Cultivator's natal tea tree. They can neutralize a hundred poisons," Wen Ling introduced.

Hearing that, Lu Jing'an immediately raised the cup and took two more sips.

The tea was good tea.

But no prompt appeared.

Presumably, there were no tea leaves in it.

And the quantity was too small as well.

But Lu Jing'an quickly thought of another method.

"Sister Wen Ling, I am very curious about all kinds of cultivators."

"So I would like to buy some things cultivators use."

Hearing Lu Jing'an's words, Wen Ling frowned. "It is not that your sister does not want to help."

"First, natal spiritual treasures cannot be sold."

"Second, even if they were being sold, it would not be easy to sell them to you."

Lu Jing'an understood what Wen Ling meant.

But he did not need anything natal, nor did he even need it to be whole.

Lu Jing'an had the Striving Furnace.

"Sister Wen Ling, I do not want natal spiritual treasures. They do not even need to be intact spiritual treasures."

"I am mainly just curious and want to take them home to study."

Upon hearing Lu Jing'an's words,

Wen Ling immediately understood something.

"If that is the case, then I can sell you a few things."

Wen Ling thought for a moment, then suddenly recalled something. "Wait here. I'll go get it for you."

"Ahem."

Kui Shan felt that Wen Ling's behavior was simply too embarrassing and immediately coughed twice as a reminder.

Lu Jing'an directly cleared the way with silver dollars.

"Sister Wen Ling, regardless of the size of the object, the price starts at five thousand silver dollars."

The words on Kui Shan's lips took another turn. "Be careful. Don't break anything."

Wen Ling agreed and left on her long legs.

When Wen Ling returned,

She had an exquisitely shaped red phonograph in her arms.

Lu Jing'an hurried forward to help her set it down.

The moment he touched it,

Lu Jing'an received a reaction.

[Detected an item that can be Refined/repaired. Please choose.]

Seeing this prompt, Lu Jing'an knew this trip had not been in vain.

Working together, the two placed the phonograph on the table.

After taking two breaths, Wen Ling began introducing it to Lu Jing'an.

"This is a spiritual treasure Yin the Ax made some time ago, but his skills were not good enough, so it was unsuccessful."

Lu Jing'an asked, "Sister Wen Ling, does this thing have any special use?"

Patting the phonograph, Wen Ling explained, "It was originally commissioned by a wealthy old man in his seventies."

"He intended to use it to listen in on whether his concubines were doing anything behind his back."

"But Yin the Ax's craftsmanship was lacking."

"The finished item produced extremely muffled sounds."

"You could not make out anything at all."

"In the end, the customer returned it."

After hearing Wen Ling's introduction, Lu Jing'an felt that this was truly a fine little item.

It would naturally be best if it could be repaired.

If it could not be repaired, Lu Jing'an figured the Affix extracted from it should still be good.

Lu Jing'an patted the machine and said, "Sister Wen Ling, I'll take this."

After a pause, Lu Jing'an said, "But five thousand silver dollars is a little too little for something this large. Make it ten thousand."

"Together with the compensation, that makes twenty thousand silver dollars."

As he spoke, Lu Jing'an took out his checkbook.

With a few swift strokes, Lu Jing'an wrote out a check for twenty thousand silver dollars.

"Sister Wen Ling, here."

Lu Jing'an directly bypassed Kui Shan.

He had roughly figured out Kui Shan's personality.

Even if he gave the check to Kui Shan, he would not get a kind word in return.

Better to give it to someone beautiful who also spoke pleasantly.

Sure enough, Wen Ling took the check, her eyes gleaming as she stared at it for a long while before saying sweetly,

"Thank you, little brother."

"Sister Wen Ling, if you come across things like this again, you can send them directly to me."

Wen Ling readily agreed.

They were only semi-finished products.

It did not count as breaking any rules.

In the end, Wen Ling personally saw Lu Jing'an off to his car.

Chen Xuan helped load the phonograph into the car.

Watching the car drive away into the distance,

Wen Ling took out the check again and examined it carefully.