Chapter 16

"Mm!" Lan Luo nodded, then said, "Good night."

"Good night."

Hearing Qi Chao's reply, Lan Luo was satisfied.

Today had once again been a night like that of a human child.

Qi Chao was equally satisfied.

Today had once again been a day healed by his good little one.

Holding the design drawings, he went down to the basement. It was filled with the materials he had bought over the past few days. Some materials were temporarily out of stock and would not arrive until tomorrow, but tonight's work would not require them.

Making dolls was hands-on work. Handling clay and spraying primer were not clean tasks, and one step even required a gas mask. The basement was the best place to work. Qi Chao was rather glad that the original owner's villa came with one; otherwise, he would have had to rent a studio specifically for making dolls.

Qi Chao put on his work clothes and special gloves, released his Mental Power once more, and began kneading clay beneath the warm yellow lights.

Meanwhile, Lan Luo, who was playing beside the fish tank, suddenly sensed a familiar fluctuation in the air. He paused, jumped down from his chair, and the angelic smile on his face was replaced by cold indifference.

When the blond doll smiled, he looked like a little sweetheart, making people want to offer him everything in the world. But when he shed that angelic disguise and revealed a gloomy expression, even his exquisite appearance could only make one's scalp tingle with discomfort.

The space at the study door seemed to twist into a vortex, with gusts of wind occasionally whistling out from within.

Lan Luo was not surprised by the scene before him. He walked up to the vortex and said coldly, "Big Brother."

Upon hearing Lan Luo's voice, the distorted vortex slowly rotated and expanded. A few minutes later, a foot stepped out from it.

Chapter 16

No one who saw these two dolls would believe they had been made by the same dollmaker.

Lan Luo, standing one point two meters tall, had exquisite features, clear and limpid blue eyes, and soft, fluffy blond curls. When he smiled, he was sweeter and softer than cotton candy, making people call him an angel.

But the other doll in the study was eerily terrifying. He wore a black suit and stood nearly one point six meters tall, yet his entire body was wrapped in bandages. Even his hair was covered, leaving only one strange right eye, dark and lifeless, exposed.

"Big Brother." Lan Luo called again.

"Mm." The doll's voice was somewhat hoarse.

Though the brothers had met, neither was warm toward the other. Rather than brothers reuniting, they seemed more like superiors and subordinates conversing.

Lan Luo raised his blue eyes and quietly looked up at his big brother, obediently waiting for his orders.

To Lan Luo, every visit from his big brother meant a new task. The task might have been assigned by Father, or it might have been given by his big brother himself.

Lan Luo would certainly complete Father's orders.

As for his big brother's orders, Lan Luo would complete them depending on his mood.

The empty study was frighteningly silent.

A few seconds later, Moss's lips beneath the bandages moved slightly, and his dry, raspy voice, like a broken bellows, sounded. "Things are getting restless over there. Father told me to tell you to control yourself. Before he arrives, you are not allowed to kill anyone."

"Okay."

Hearing that it was Father's order, Lan Luo obediently nodded.

His master had been good to him lately, so for the time being, he had no plans to kill him.

The study fell silent again.

Lan Luo continued to watch his big brother.

With his sole eye, Moss coldly scrutinized the seemingly obedient Lan Luo, as though weighing how much of his words could be trusted. In Moss's eyes, Lan Luo was untrustworthy. Or rather, among all the dolls Father had made, anyone could be trusted except Lan Luo.

Although Lan Luo had always liked to pretend to be obedient and harmless, he was the most volatile of all the dolls. One second, he might be acting cute toward someone; the next, he could smile as he dug out that person's heart over some trivial matter. His temperament was extremely uncontrollable.

Because of Lan Luo's bad temper, quite a few missions had been forced to fail.

This matter was Father's order. No accidents were allowed.

Moss slowly walked over to Lan Luo, crouched halfway down, and grabbed Lan Luo by the hair. His strange black eye stared fixedly into Lan Luo's as he emphasized each word. "Before Father arrives, you are not allowed to cause trouble."

He spoke slowly and did not use overly harsh words, but Lan Luo's gaze instantly darkened.

Moss kept stressing it, as if implying that he was a bad child.

Lan Luo's lashes trembled slightly. He pressed his lips together, suppressing the darkness in his eyes and the barely perceptible grievance. He was a good child, and he would obediently listen to Father. "When will Father come?"

"Soon." Moss stood up. "I will meet your master in the capacity of Father's assistant."

Lan Luo nodded with a grim face. Moss gave him one long, deep look but said nothing more. He turned and retreated into the spatial vortex. The next second, the vortex twisted and spun again. A breeze swept through, and the study returned to its usual silence.

At that moment, Qi Chao was happily focusing on making a doll in the basement. He had no idea that a bandaged, one-eyed doll had come and gone, and naturally did not know that his little one was in a terrible mood.

Making dolls was Qi Chao's old profession. He knew what to do even with his eyes closed. This time, however, there was the additional step of releasing Mental Power.

Whether kneading the clay model, carving and refining it, or making the mold, every step required the dollmaker's Mental Power.

A faint green light lit up in the circle on the palm side of his transparent special gloves. This was the gloves' Mental Power sensing device. As long as the circle was lit, it meant his Mental Power was functioning normally.

At first, Qi Chao was not used to releasing Mental Power while making dolls, but perhaps he had talent; within a few minutes, he had become proficient.

He focused on the head that was about to take shape, his distinct-knuckled fingers kneading the special clay. Under the carving knife's careful refinement, the contours of the head gradually became clear.

Making a doll could not be finished in a day or two. As an experienced dollmaker, Qi Chao knew just how agonizing the long process could be.

After finishing today's work, Qi Chao packed everything away, got up, and returned to his room to sleep. Early the next morning, he buried himself in work in the basement again.