Yang Xiao was just daydreaming, lanting wasn’t sothing new to him, he was used to it.
However, one must have dreams. One day when he finds a way to completely restrict the Opera Robe Ghost, ha ha, soone will suffer.
"Stop daydreaming, give a hand," Sheng Yanlin interrupted Yang Xiao’s fantasies, and the two of them together lifted a box from the middle level of a wooden rack.
The box was very heavy, almost a standard cube, weighing over a hundred pounds. Upon opening it, Yang Xiao was dumbfounded to find a large, irregularly shaped black stone inside.
The feedback from touching it was very strange, it didn’t feel like a stone, more like wood that had been carbonized, and there was a feeling of burning pain at his fingertips.
Yang Xiao couldn’t make sense of what this thing was and could only look at Sheng Yanlin, who also appeared unusually hesitant.
"Should we call Elder Pumi to ask?" Yang Xiao whispered.
Sheng Yanlin seed as if he hadn’t heard Yang Xiao’s suggestion, his eyes fixed on the black wood, and after a few seconds he spoke, "Take this thing out—no, don’t take it out, turn it upside down."
"You do it, don’t touch it directly, use a cloth to wrap your hands."
Since there were outsiders nearby, Sheng Yanlin subtly hinted at Yang Xiao, avoiding any ntion of terms related to the Hundred Demons Coffin Clothes.
Yang Xiao realized sothing was off about this object, but since they were on Esoteric Sect’s ground, and Sheng Yanlin needed his help to reclaim the Academy, he was certain Sheng Yanlin wouldn’t harm him.
Following Sheng Yanlin’s instructions, after turning this insanely heavy object upside down in the box, the scene before him startled Yang Xiao so much that he almost dropped the wood on the ground.
A burned skull face was embedded in the bottom of the wood, sothing Yang Xiao never expected to find a human head encased within.
Sheng Yanlin seed to have anticipated this and silently nodded, "So, it’s like this."
"What is this thing?" Yang Xiao prided himself on having seen many wicked things, yet this was definitely an anomaly.
Staring at the skull face with its mouth wide open as if in agonizing wails, Sheng Yanlin sighed, "It’s the elder in charge of crafting in the Esoteric Sect. I think the reason he turned into this is due to an accident while recasting a high-level magical artifact. Now he has beco one with that artifact."
"Does this thing count as a magic artifact?" Although aware of the outco, Yang Xiao still couldn’t conceal the shock in his heart. "How... how do you use this thing?"
"Use it as you would. Recasting only changes the artifact’s appearance, it doesn’t alter its abilities, just..." Sheng Yanlin paused, leaving the rest unsaid.
Yang Xiao knew what he was implying; the appearance of this thing was really lacking, and it was inconvenient to carry. However, with esoteric sect elders not far away, they couldn’t comnt.
Gazing at the burned skull face, a chill ran through Yang Xiao’s heart. If he were this Esoteric Sect elder, he wouldn’t want to be treated like this after death.
At that mont, Yang Xiao gained a direct understanding of the danger involved in recasting magical artifacts.
Never did he expect that his respected uncle risked such a great peril when recasting the Ghost Duster for him, a kindness that couldn’t be overstated.
Sheng Yanlin, being the Dean of Yiling Academy, was a prominent leader in the renowned sects renowned among the world of martial arts. Naturally, he wouldn’t use such evil magic tools, and even Sheng Yanlin couldn’t determine the depths of this object, ultimately choosing to abandon it.
Once the box was covered again and put back in its place, Yang Xiao couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Sheng Yanlin stood on a low stool, arms outstretched, retrieving a wooden box from the top of the shelf.
This box was half a ter long, rectangular, with precious gems like rubies embedded on it, and remnants of a torn seal bearing a ghost talisman painted in blood.
"This is..." Yang Xiao stared at the ghost talisman, its familiarity tickling his mory, he seed to have seen sothing similar before.
"It’s the Secret Treasure Box of those Black Lamas from Tibet," Sheng Yanlin said with a frown, blurting it out.
At these words, Yang Xiao imdiately recalled seeing a similar wooden box at an auction at the Peace Hotel, though that box was clearly not as high-level as this one.
At that ti, he first heard from Tong Han about these Black Lamas, nomadic practitioners who endure long treks in the remote Tibetan regions, seeking spiritual children for artifact cultivation, with a reputed expertise in magical artifact crafting, and supposedly having so connection with the Black Buddha Mother.
The leader of this lineage of Black Lamas is soone called Spirit Treasure Master, a man bearing many evil magic tools, rumored to have as many as ten, the only person Yang Xiao knows of who has more artifacts than himself.
This person’s strength is formidable; a Northwest Province’s Provincial Bureau Chief from the Patrol Defense Office once died at his hands.
"This is Spirit Treasure Master’s Secret Treasure Box." Sheng Yanlin, seeing and hearing much, quickly deciphered the clues from the seal on the box.
anwhile, Yang Xiao also noticed Elder Pumi behind them casting a concerned gaze, clearly indicating that this treasure had more value than the previous ones.
Sheng Yanlin carefully opened the box, revealing a bone flute inside.
The flute was made from a length of human thighbone, weathered with age, its surface stained and yellowed.
Openings were drilled along its length, and silver threads were embedded in the fissured areas of the bone, its construction crude and brute, exactly matching Yang Xiao’s stereotypical expectations of the Black Lama lineage.
Sheng Yanlin lifted the bone flute, a faintly widened gaze signifying recognition, "How did Xuanyin Old Ghost’s Bone Flute end up here?"
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