"Boss!!!!"
Watching the old man push Lu Fei, Hu Zi was in a state of extreme anxiety.
But his upper body was held by Da Zhu, and his legs were entangled by Master Yuan.
Their eyes flickered with a strange light as they desperately blocked Hu Zi, making it impossible for him to break free at that moment.
"Boss, be careful!"
Lu Fei's hands were wrapped in a porcelain basin, preventing him from grabbing his magical instrument, seemingly leaving him defenseless.
"Go to hell! Only when you die can our family live in peace!"
The old man's face was hideous, like an evil spirit.
Suddenly, Lu Fei turned around, his eyes calm, and he shoved the porcelain basin into the old man's hands.
"Stop dreaming!"
Lu Fei channeled his magical power through his hands.
The entangled yin energy slipped away and instead wrapped around the old man.
Holding the porcelain basin, the old man, in his all-out rush, lost his balance and thrust both hands into the fire.
"Ah!!!"
A heart-rending scream echoed through the dim courtyard.
When the old man pulled his hands out of the raging fire, they were badly charred, looking like chicken claws, with a smell of burning flesh.
Inside the kiln, the flames scorched the white porcelain basin.
Countless vengeful spirits let out silent roars, turning into nothingness in the scorching fire.
The flames died down.
The old man collapsed to the ground, trembling all over, his heart as cold as ashes.
Meanwhile, Da Zhu and Master Yuan finally regained consciousness.
"What just happened?"
Master Yuan was completely bewildered.
"Boss." Huzi, paying no attention to him, came over to Lu Fei's side.
"It's nothing."
Lu Fei found a pair of tongs and took the white porcelain basin out of the furnace.
After the basin cooled down, he wiped off the black stains with Huzi's clothes. The body of the basin was still milky white, but it no longer had that eerie luster.
"It worked!"
With the grudge gone, the porcelain basin had become a simple container that could absorb Yin energy.
"Xiaosan, you have a job now!"
Satisfied, Lu Fei put the porcelain basin away and looked at Master Yuan.
"Immortal Master, now that the trouble is resolved, it's time to talk business! I'll take the lead and choose a dead pawn, how about that?"
Lu Fei said with a smile.
"Oh my, Manager Lu, please don't call me Immortal Master, it's too much for me! Just call me Old Yuan, that would be honoring me," Immortal Yuan hastily bowed and said.
"Do whatever you want with this porcelain basin; I'll leave it entirely to Manager Lu's discretion."
"If there are no further questions, sign and stamp here."
Seeing that the old swindler was sensible, Lu Fei quickly wrote out the pawn ticket and gave Immortal Yuan a coin.
The pawn ticket was made in duplicate, and the transaction was completed.
"Done!"
Lu Fei was very satisfied. He immediately had Hu Zi head back home without even glancing at the old man once.
As for what would happen to him in the future or to his two sons, Lu Fei didn't care. What he cared about was that he had acquired another satisfactory malevolent object.
Because he was in a good mood, he also gave Master Yuan and Dazhu a ride.
The two naturally expressed their gratitude profusely.
"Manager Lu, after this ordeal, I, Old Yuan, will definitely turn over a new leaf and become a better person! I'll never deceive anyone again!" Before leaving, Master Yuan made a solemn vow.
Lu Fei just smiled faintly. How much could one believe from an old swindler?
He returned to Sinisterium Pawnshop.
The first thing he did was to keep the accounts.
Gathering Yin Basin.
Evil Object +1, total evil objects collected: 33.
After recording the accounts, he didn't rest but specially took the Gathering Yin Basin to the Ruby Building to absorb enough yin energy before returning.
With this evil object in hand, he could absorb yin energy at any time, making it much easier to nourish the black umbrella.
After returning, Lu Fei placed the black umbrella on the basin.
After the black umbrella devoured the ghost eye, the eye inside the umbrella never opened, which made him very concerned.
Perhaps the time for nourishment was not sufficient.
"I wonder how long the yin energy absorbed by this basin in one go can sustain the little umbrella. I'll just have to test it out."
The moment the black umbrella was placed over the porcelain basin, it began to absorb the yin energy.
Lu Fei initially planned to wait by its side and calculate the time, but he gradually grew sleepy and fell asleep unaware.
When he woke up, the black umbrella was still enveloped in yin energy.
"It truly lives up to the name of a yin-gathering basin!"
Lu Fei was overjoyed.
After absorbing yin energy all night, there was still yin energy left in the basin, continuously nurturing the black umbrella, which should help open the ghost eye faster.
"Xiao San, you should stay in seclusion for a while during this period,"
Lu Fei put these two evil objects into his wardrobe.
Then, he opened the door.
"Hu Zi, it's time to get your salary!"
Lu Fei not only gave Hu Zi his salary but also gave him a few days off.
Hu Zi has been working hard and making significant contributions recently; it's time for him to take a break.
"Since there's no business for the next few days, go have some fun in the city. You've been in Jiang City for so many years, but it seems you haven't explored much of it, right?"
"Boss..."
The salary plus the bonus made Hu Zi's eyes well up with tears.
"If I were a woman, I would definitely marry you in this lifetime!"
"I pay you, and you actually want to retaliate against me! Get out and play! Don't come back until you're happy!" Lu Fei waved his hand dismissively.
"Yes! Boss, I guarantee I'll finish the task!"
Huzi got himself ready and went out cheerfully.
Xiaohei seemed to have recently made the acquaintance of a little female dog, always sneaking out to play, and nowhere to be seen.
"It's just right for me to have some leisure time."
Lu Fei made himself some tea and enjoyed the rare leisure time.
But before he could get too comfortable, an old friend came to visit.
"Well, Brother Jing, what wind brings you here today?" Lu Fei poured him a cup of his own tea, with a mischievous smile on his face.
"You didn't come here for that Yin-Yang Heart-Lock, did you?"
"What Heart-Lock?" Jing Jian was puzzled.
"It's that evil object that can help you complete the ghost marriage, which Little Brother Molin and I collected a while ago..."
Jing Jian almost spat out his tea.
"Get lost! I knew there'd be no good words from your mouth, you swindler! I was even thinking of bringing you news about an evil object!"
"When did you become so concerned about evil objects?"
"You introduced a business deal to me, and I owe you a favor. If I don't pay it back soon, I'm afraid I'll owe you even more!" Jing Jian rolled his eyes.
"You remind me, you still owe me five or six evil objects, right?" Lu Fei counted seriously on his fingers.
"Are you even human? You swindler!" Jing Jian was utterly speechless.
Lu Fei laughed heartily.
After a few jokes, they got back to the topic at hand.
"By the way, Brother Jing, what evil object were you talking about?" Lu Fei asked.
"Red Moon Kindergarten, have you heard of it?" Jing Jian resumed with a serious expression.
"No."
"That kindergarten is not simple! It's said that many children have seen two non-existent children inside, one is a little girl in a red dress, and the other is a little boy in red shorts."
"Non-existent?" Lu Fei became interested.
"Yes, kids often tell their teachers and parents that two children in red clothes are looking for them to play, but there are no such children in the kindergarten! Over time, the parents got scared."
"Later, something particularly terrifying happened at the kindergarten, so it had to be shut down urgently."