Oh, this guy's actually pretty nice.
Shen Le had listened to the wife nagging at her husband all the way there. Now, to be suddenly shown such concern surprised him a little. He narrowed his eyes slightly, gave the other man a once-over, and answered with a smile:
"I'm fine. My home's quiet and peaceful. Nothing's happened at all."
If anything was going to happen, it would be to the Ink Marker. So far, it had been very well-behaved, with no sign of causing trouble...
He smiled and waved to the couple, then turned and headed toward Old Street. He planned to grab something to eat at the Heavenly Fragrance Restaurant and pick up Little Puppet after her shift while he was at it.
He had just crossed a small bridge when hurried footsteps came up behind him, mixed with breathless shouts:
"Mr. Shen, wait! Wait—Shen Le!!!"
Who was that?
Shen Le stopped and turned around. The instant he saw them, he wanted to turn back and pretend he hadn't. You two again?
You two weirdos who'd tricked me with fake identities and accused my Little Puppet of being a bad guy?
Now that Little Puppet had been cleared, what did you want this time?
But it was too late to pretend he hadn't seen them.
The Maoshan Taoist Duo came sprinting over, each carrying a large backpack that bounced against their backs with every step.
They stopped in front of Shen Le. The older one paused to wipe away sweat, while the younger one panted, barely able to get the words out:
"Mr. Shen... did you... buy a box of carpentry tools yesterday?"
Huh?
Were they keeping tabs on me?
Shen Le raised an eyebrow and gave him a sidelong glance.
The Special Affairs Duo's knees went a little weak under his gaze. But that was the hard part about being a civil servant: it was their duty, so they still had to come and ask.
Seeing the disbelief in Shen Le's eyes, Gu Yulin hurriedly jumped in, steeling himself:
"Here's the situation. Yesterday, we received a report from a household saying that for five days straight, Ink Lines had been appearing all over their home.
"After investigating, we found the Ink Line incident might be connected to their old Carpentry Toolbox. There was a strong lingering Yin aura around both the Ink Lines and the toolbox. For your safety..."
You want me to hand over the toolbox, right?
And the Ink Marker too, right?
"Can I ask what you'd do if it turns out the toolbox is the problem?"
Shen Le cut in with a question. Gu Yulin answered immediately, without a moment's thought:
"We have specialized methods to purify these Yin auras..."
And then they wouldn't be able to come back to life, right?
Just like my Little Puppet. After you purified her, she'd die and never become an Artifact Spirit again, right?
"Oh, I've had that toolbox at home for a whole day, and nothing strange has happened. I don't think there's any need to hand it over to you."
"Mr. Shen!!!"
Shen Le ignored him.
The energy in the Ink Marker—or Yin aura, as the Special Affairs Department called it—wasn't especially strong. It was about the same as Little Puppet's.
In Shen Le's hands, Little Puppet had been quiet and obedient. From the moment he took her apart to the moment he fixed her, she hadn't caused a bit of trouble.
He'd already taken the Ink Marker apart, too, and sanded off half the paint on its outer casing. It still hadn't shown any unusual signs.
So he could conclude that the Ink Marker probably wouldn't be able to make trouble in his hands either.
Besides, he had the Copper Fragment, which had given him inner power and the Spirit Eye, and there was a big shot keeping watch over his home—
Camphor Tree Ah Lu might not say much or move from where it stood, but it had the strongest presence in the whole house!
If anything tried to cause trouble, he'd just take it to the Camphor Tree. He refused to believe the big shot couldn't keep it in line!
"Mr. Shen, for your safety, you should give it some serious thought..."
"I've thought it over. There's no problem."
Shen Le answered firmly. At the same time, he secretly circulated the technique the Copper Fragment had given him, gathering energy in his eyes in case the other man tried anything underhanded. Gu Yulin gave a bitter smile and stepped back twice before unlocking his phone and holding it out to him.
"Then please be careful. By the way, could I add you on WeChat? If you run into any trouble, you can contact us. Or if the family who sold you the tools runs into any trouble..."
Shen Le glared at him without saying a word. But Gu Yulin bowed slightly, smiling apologetically, and held out his phone, refusing to leave. They stood at a stalemate for a while before Shen Le frowned and finally asked:
"By the way, could I ask you to buy some things for me? Like concentrated nitric acid or something..."
"Sure! As long as you tell us what it's for and it's a legitimate use, that's fine!"
Gu Yulin answered at once. What was a little chemical reagent when he could get on the big shot's good side?
Well... fine. It wasn't like he was completely useless. Shen Le lowered his eyes, added him on WeChat, waved, then turned and hurried off toward the Heavenly Fragrance Restaurant.
The railings, window frames, tables, and chairs at the Heavenly Fragrance Restaurant all looked pretty old, too. He could ask the proprietress later if she wanted anything repaired or refurbished. He might even make a little money on the side...
After eating, Shen Le carried Little Puppet home at a leisurely pace and set her down on the Zither Table.
"Be good and play by yourself. I've got work to do. Don't play with fire, don't jump into water, and don't go crawling into random places! You've got a performance tomorrow, and there won't be time for your clothes to dry if you wash them!"
"I want to see what you're doing!" Xiao Ling raised a hand. A Silk Thread shot out and wrapped around the Fluorescent Lamp, pulling her up into the air and onto Shen Le's workbench.
"When you fixed me, I didn't know how you did it. Now I can watch you repair something else! I want to see!"
The Fluorescent Lamp creaked. Shen Le looked up, breaking into a cold sweat.
"Take it easy! Don't pull the lamp apart! It can't hold your weight!—And don't jump into the basin! That stuff's corrosive!"
"What does corrosive mean?"
"If it gets on your face, it'll eat away at your skin! If it gets on your clothes, it'll eat through them!" Shen Le warned her. "If you don't want to be disfigured or get black holes in your pretty clothes, stay away!"
"Oh..."
The little puppet went click-clack and moved two steps away. She sat on top of the plastic toolbox, resting her chin in her hands as she watched.
She watched the big porcelain bowl gurgle and bubble nonstop. Shen Le bustled around beside it, and she flicked out a Silk Thread, wrapped it around the hem of his clothes, and tugged.
"What's that? Why is it bubbling?"
"Oh, this is rust remover. I'm using it to remove rust from the metal Scroll Rod." Shen Le answered without looking up. Xiao Ling leaned forward to take a look, glanced around, then went back to watching the bubbling liquid.
"What's rust remover? Why does the Scroll Rod need to soak in it? Did you soak me in it before?"
"Usually, it's a diluted acid, like diluted acetic acid or diluted oxalic acid. Since it's a metal rod, this is a convenient way to remove the rust." Shen Le kept working as he patiently answered the little puppet.
"You weren't soaked in it. You're made of wood, and wood doesn't rust, so you don't need to soak in this. Look, back then, I just had to wash you clean, like this..."
He held the Ink Marker steady with one hand and took a damp, soft cloth in the other, wiping, wiping, wiping it all over. After cleaning it inside and out, he wiped it down once with dish soap, then turned to check the Ink Marker's Scroll Rod.
He'd dropped the metal Scroll Rod into the rust remover. It had started working after just five minutes, and within half an hour, the rust had mostly loosened. One wipe was enough to reveal the shiny metal underneath.