15: Strange props

Back in his apartment, Lin Luo took several deep breaths and performed two Minor Circulations to barely suppress the alluring images and the captivating cold fragrance in his mind. He steadied himself, sat cross-legged again, and focused his mind inward.

Since the last time the jade pendant showed its power and automatically performed those seven Major Circulations, he felt his cultivation had become much smoother. His Meridians had been widened considerably, and the sense of stagnation during the flow of spiritual energy was greatly reduced, as if a thin veil that had been covering his eyes was finally lifted. What he needed to do now was to continuously polish and accumulate spiritual energy. Once his cultivation reached Perfection and he could perform 365 circulations in one breath to form a perfect major cycle, he could attempt to compress and liquefy the gaseous spiritual energy.

Once the spiritual energy liquefied, both its storage and purity would undergo a qualitative change. By then, he would have much more confidence when dealing with troublesome anomalies.

But thinking about dealing with anomalies made Lin Luo's mind active again. He recalled carefully that over the past year, although he occasionally encountered some minor spirits and monsters that hadn't come into their own, the frequency and intensity were far less than this past week. From that eerie "cicada song collection" in the library to the cold presence in Teacher Kirisu's house that was originally too weak to be noticed but this time was strong enough to possess someone... this density was clearly abnormal.

(It's like... something is behind it, catalyzing them or attracting them to gather?)

Thinking further about what Mr. Long mentioned—the higher-ups suddenly starting a pilot program here in Japan, relaxing the regulation of non-human entities under the guise of "Regional Fusion" and "Blurred Boundaries"... (Could there be a connection between the two?)

Lin Luo rubbed the jade pendant on his chest, his brow slightly furrowed. He always felt that beneath this seemingly calm city, an undercurrent was quietly surging. And he himself seemed to have unknowingly been drawn into the edge of the vortex.

Lin Luo drafted a message to Mr. Long, briefly explaining the frequent occurrence of abnormal events and his own doubts, then clicked send.

However, after the phone screen went dark, it didn't light up again for a long time. It seemed Mr. Long was temporarily tied up with something, or perhaps this question itself was inconvenient to answer immediately.

"Forget it, it's better to rely on myself than others." Lin Luo put down his phone, not feeling too disappointed. In Japan, Mr. Long was his only reliable official intelligence channel. Since it was temporarily unavailable, being anxious wouldn't help.

For him, the most practical and controllable thing at the moment was to improve his own strength. Every bit of extra power meant more ability to deal with unknown risks.

He looked at the few Spirit Stones beside him that had turned greyish-white with their Spiritual Qi exhausted, and casually swept them aside. These stones, which were originally crystal clear, were now empty inside. Without any heartache, he took out a new batch of Spirit Stones from the Jade Pendant Space. They were warm in color, with spiritual light flowing inside, emitting pure and abundant Spiritual Qi.

Compared to directly absorbing the filthy spiritual energy from the outside world, which was mixed with various negative emotions and Impurities, using Spirit Stones to Cultivate was "expensive," but it was more efficient and provided a more stable Foundation, without the worry of contaminating his spiritual energy with impure Qi.

"Fortunately, my family background is quite substantial," Lin Luo muttered to himself with a hint of relief. If other Cultivators saw him consuming Spirit Stones so "luxuriously," they would probably be green with envy.

After arranging the Spirit Stones around him, he closed his eyes and immersed himself in cultivation again. The pure Spiritual Qi flowed into his Meridians like a steady stream, driving the circulations and moving steadily toward the goal of 365 circulations.

In the afternoon, after Kirisu Mafuyu had slept her fill, she stretched lazily. Sunlight spilled in through the gaps in the curtains, casting long, thin trails of light on the floor. She looked around—the room was so clean it was almost unfamiliar, and even the air felt refreshing and cool. It was this "clean as new" state that suddenly gave her an idea: while it was tidy, she might as well thoroughly clean out the long-forgotten clutter piled in the corners to free up space and limit her "range of movement" for throwing things around in the future.

No sooner said than done. She knelt on the floor and dragged out several old cardboard boxes from under the wardrobe one by one. Dust danced in the light beams as she sneezed and rummaged through them. In the very bottom box, where the dust was thickest, her fingers suddenly touched a hard object—a palm-sized, jet-black wooden box.

"This thing... is definitely not mine," she murmured to herself, her brow slightly furrowed. She always had a clear memory of her possessions, but she had no impression of this box. Even stranger, it was buried at the bottom of the box as if someone had deliberately hidden it.

She took the box out and gave it a gentle shake; her palm was immediately covered in a layer of black dust. "So dirty!" she complained, wrinkling her nose and wiping her hand on her trousers. The surface of the box was covered with yellowed paper strips with twisted runes drawn on them, like some kind of ancient Seal. But those strips had long since dried and cracked; with a light pick of her fingernail, the whole piece peeled off.

The wooden lid loosened surprisingly easily. She lifted it—inside lay a ring.

"A ring?"

The silver band glinted with a cold light, and in the center was set a blood-red gemstone. The color of the gemstone was so intense it was almost eerie, and its surface was as smooth as a mirror, looking exactly like a pupil filled with desire staring at her. What surprised her even more was that the ring looked excessively new; even the purple velvet padding at the bottom still had fresh creases, clearly having been placed there not long ago.

She flipped the lid over; several lines of tiny text were engraved on the inside. The handwriting was ancient and scrawled, and parts were covered by stains, making it hard to decipher. She had to lean in, squinting, and spell it out word by word:

"For living beings that enter the ring's field of vision... as long as one concentrates and controls... one can use Charm and Suggestion... to manipulate the other's consciousness and cognition..."

The remaining handwriting was completely swallowed by a dark brown stain and could not be identified. However, Mafuyu already understood most of it.

"Isn't this just Hypnosis!?" she blurted out, her tone a mix of surprise and a hint of undetectable excitement.

She subconsciously reached out to touch the ring. Just as her fingertip touched the cold metal, she suddenly pulled back—wait, how could something like this appear in her house? Who put it there? And what was the purpose?

The sunlight outside seemed to dim for a moment. She stared at the ruby, and for a split second, she thought the "pupil" blinked slightly.

Mafuyu stared at the ring, her heart racing for some reason.

Her cheeks suddenly flushed for no apparent reason.

"...How ridiculous, why am I thinking of him again," she muttered softly, as if arguing with an invisible voice, but her fingertip hovered in mid-air for a few seconds before she finally picked up the cold silver band.

The moment the ring slipped onto her ring finger, a slight numbness shot up through her skin, as if an invisible current had quietly seeped in.

Her breath hitched slightly. Instead of fading, the image of Lin Luo in her mind became even clearer: the way the corners of his eyes curved when he smiled, the way his Adam's apple bobbed when he spoke, even the small habit of unconsciously twirling his pen when his mind wandered... every detail was infinitely magnified and coated in a hazy, alluring glow, like a color-graded slideshow playing on loop in the depths of her consciousness.

"What if... I just try it?" she murmured to herself, her voice so soft it was almost inaudible, but her fingers unconsciously rubbed the surface of the ring. The ruby rested obediently against her skin, like a dormant beast quietly waiting for its master's command.

As soon as this thought arose, it grew wildly like a vine. But her remaining logic was still putting up a fight—what if it doesn't work? What if there are side effects? Using it directly on Lin Luo is too risky... (Wait!)

Her eyes suddenly lit up. The lid said "living beings," not specifically humans. If even small animals could be controlled, then using it on Lin Luo wouldn't it be... The thought made her heart beat even faster. She immediately stood up and looked around—the house was so clean she couldn't even find an ant. It looked like she had to go to the park.

Mafuyu carefully turned the ring toward her palm and clenched her fingers as if that could temporarily block its influence. She took a deep breath and picked up her keys and phone.

(I'll find a stray cat to try it on first. If it really works...)

This thought made her both nervous and secretly expectant. If she could even control animals, wouldn't it be easy to make a certain student who always made her feel flustered behave?

She looked down at her clenched right hand; the ring was faintly visible between her fingers. Deep within the ruby, there seemed to be an undercurrent surging.

The time spent cultivating slipped away quietly in the flow of spiritual energy. By the time Lin Luo opened his eyes again, the sun was shining brightly outside.

He stepped into the classroom right on time, just as the preparatory bell rang. A few girls in the front row were still chatting about weekend variety shows, and the boys in the back were gathered around a phone shouting about game scores. The whole classroom was noisy.

It wasn't until the official school bell rang that the excitement slowly subsided.

Lin Luo naturally looked at the seat next to him. Kato Megumi was sitting there as quietly as usual, looking down at her textbook, her finger lightly tracing the edge of the page.

At first glance, there was nothing special, but Lin Luo just felt something was a bit off.

He noticed that Kato Megumi's movements in turning the pages were a bit slower than usual, and her eyes would occasionally drift away from the book, staring out the window for a short while, although she would quickly pull her gaze back.

(Eh? She seems a bit distracted today?)

Lin Luo felt a bit surprised. In his impression, Kato Megumi was always so calm, as if nothing could affect her. This kind of slight distraction was truly rare.

(Did something happen over the weekend?)

He couldn't help but think of how she had declined his invitation to the arcade last week. Although she later took the initiative to invite him to the library, could something have happened after that?

Watching the sunlight fall on her profile, Lin Luo couldn't help but feel curious—what could it be that would cause even the always-unruffled Kato Megumi to show a bit of worry?

The bell for the break finally rang, and the atmosphere in the classroom relaxed. Lin Luo didn't move immediately; he waited until the surrounding students began to move around in small groups before acting as usual.

"Something seems a bit different today?" he asked casually, his voice low enough for only the two of them to hear.