Carving Technique Enhancement

As for the intensity of this trait, if there is an opportunity to encounter it again in the future, it will not be too late to supplement this information once a rough conceptual scale for this intensity has been formed.

Regarding whether he would encounter these ghosts again in the future, Shen Xing had a gut feeling that it was highly probable. Between the disappearance of his fiancée, Ye Ting, and the events of these past few days, he vaguely sensed that things would not be so simple.

He immediately input the data for the second ghost, "Blood Pupil."

[Name: Blood Pupil

Number: 02

Trait Description: This is a blood-red pupil capable of independent movement, seemingly possessing its own consciousness. It originally belonged to Lin Wanru, but for unknown reasons, it transformed into a Blood Pupil after its owner's death. It can detach from the original body and exist independently, using ocular nerves to propel its movement. Currently, it appears to be able to seize control of a body by occupying the eye socket of a human or animal. It is unclear if this process is what is known as "possession." Other traits are under further investigation...

Solution: ■■■■■.

Trait Intensity: ?]

Just as he finished describing his understanding of the Blood Pupil, that familiar line of silver text flashed in Shen Xing's mind. He immediately performed an internal inspection and was momentarily stunned.

[Blood Pupil, current trait understanding: 70%.]

His understanding of the Blood Pupil's traits had actually increased!

Looking at the text within his mind, Shen Xing was somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected that simply providing a more detailed description of his speculations would boost his understanding of the Blood Pupil's traits by another 20%.

In other words, he now possessed a significant degree of understanding regarding the Blood Pupil.

After saving the notepad document on his phone, Shen Xing turned his attention back to the Blood Pupil wood carving.

He did not know how much time had passed when, bleary-eyed with sleep, he turned around, climbed into bed, and quickly drifted off.

He slept until the sun was high in the sky; the weather today seemed quite pleasant.

The wound on his shoulder would occasionally throb with a dull ache, but as long as he didn't make any large movements, he could barely feel where the injury was.

Shen Xing stretched gently to avoid tearing the wound, climbed out of bed, and finished washing up. Just as he was about to head out for a walk and grab some breakfast, Officer Xiong Wei called.

The young officer sounded full of energy, laughing on the other end of the line: "Not up yet?"

Shen Xing replied: "I'm up, just about to head out for breakfast."

"Did you notice anything unusual after getting home?" Xiong Wei asked with concern.

Shen Xing shook his head: "No, I slept quite well last night."

"That's good." Xiong Wei seemed to be jogging on his end. "I have some good news for you: the ten-thousand-yuan bonus has just been deposited into your account. You might get a text notification shortly."

Hearing that money was coming in, Shen Xing felt an immediate boost in spirits: "Thank you!"

"We should be the ones thanking you," Xiong Wei chuckled. "Our team leader originally wanted to hold a case briefing and have you come up to receive a commendation and your bonus, but considering this case involves the Investigation Team, we decided to keep everything simple."

"Actually, I just stumbled into it by accident; I was just lucky," Shen Xing said, feeling embarrassed.

After a pause, he asked: "By the way, Officer Xiong, do you remember Lin Wanru's daughter, Feifei?"

"Of course I remember. The little girl is quite pitiful," Xiong Wei said with a hint of regret. "Lin Feifei has already been sent to the Qiguang Orphanage by our Public Security Bureau. We verified that the mother and daughter had no other relatives, as Lin Wanru was an orphan herself."

Shen Xing had heard this from Feifei herself in the past; she had said she didn't even know who her father was because her mother never mentioned him.

However, he hadn't seen the precocious and sensible little girl since the incident, and he found himself missing her a bit at that moment.

Xiong Wei's train of thought aligned perfectly with Shen Xing's, and he added: "We originally thought we might be able to find Feifei's father, but after investigating, we learned that even Lin Wanru herself didn't know who he was."

"Damn!" Shen Xing was stunned for a few seconds.

An image of Lin Wanru surfaced in his mind—her tall stature, her curvaceous figure, and the way she would always dress up whenever she went out. It seemed her romantic life really hadn't been simple.

Thinking about it carefully, if that weren't the case, she wouldn't have been drawn into a crime of passion. The tragic outcome she met was, in a sense, a consequence of her own actions.

"Um..." Shen Xing hesitated for a moment before asking: "Would it be possible for me to visit Feifei at the orphanage?"

"Sure, why not?" Xiong Wei, who seemed to have stopped jogging, continued: "After her mother's accident, the little girl has been waking up from nightmares for the past few nights. We were hoping to find someone she was familiar with to comfort her and talk to her; it would help her complete her psychological recovery sooner."

After a brief pause, Xiong Wei added: "Plus, the murderer who killed her mother was only exposed and brought to justice because of you. You could say you and Lin Feifei's family have a bit of fate."

"Alright, I'll go visit her at the Qiguang Orphanage in the next couple of days," Shen Xing nodded.

After hanging up, he went to a nearby breakfast shop downstairs to eat.

After walking around for a while, Shen Xing returned to his rental apartment and began preparing to craft a new bust of Hong Bin.

There was no helping it; he had to keep the finished piece for himself, so he had to make a new one to fulfill the commission once Hong Anjie and his father returned.

The wood used for such busts was slightly larger; he had some in his shop and had brought one back in advance.

For the facial features, he enjoyed using the arc blade and flat chisel to carve and polish step by step, savoring the process, while he used the electric dental drill for large-scale trimming.

Although the electric dental drill was a bit more expensive, it had a high rotation speed, was relatively quiet, and was flexible and convenient to operate.

In truth, a hanging grinder would be better for larger carvings, but its drawbacks were obvious: it required overhead operation in the room, which was cumbersome, and the noise was too loud.

Operating a hanging grinder at his home workbench would disturb the neighbors' rest. It was slightly better during the day, but at night, Shen Xing would even minimize his use of the dental drill because it still produced a small amount of noise; he avoided it whenever possible.

When polishing his wood carvings, Shen Xing was at his most focused. He cast aside all the bizarre encounters of the past few days and concentrated entirely on the work at hand.

Time ticked by, second by second.

By eight o'clock in the evening, he cooked some white rice porridge at home, ate two bowls with the pickled vegetables and salted egg he had bought that morning, and then continued his work.

After midnight, he set down his tools, stretched his limbs around the room, and began to gaze at the Hong Bin Wood Carving.

He discovered that while his rate of Mental Antibody recovery was slower when staring at the Hong Bin Wood Carving, it was more stable, and he felt a greater sense of inner peace during the process.

Conversely, while gazing at the Blood Pupil Wood Carving recovered his Mental Antibody more quickly, it caused significant emotional fluctuations and an irrepressible sense of agitation—much like the frantic, restless state of the blood pupil as it rolled and crawled across the floor, desperate to press against his cheek.

Therefore, whenever he needed to steady his mind, he chose to gaze at Hong Bin, not minding the slower pace in the slightest.

The next day, Shen Xing noticed that his wood-carving speed had improved considerably; his fingers had become remarkably dexterous, allowing him to guide his blade across the wood's surface with extreme precision, requiring almost no additional touch-ups or sanding.

This was undoubtedly linked to the absorption of the Fake Hong Bin's traits, which had enhanced the strength of his fingers.

In truth, while crafting the bust of Hong Bin, Shen Xing was essentially performing a manual copy of the first carving he had used as a reference; combined with the newfound dexterity of his fingers, his carving technique and speed had advanced by leaps and bounds.