The yin energy in the basin was boiling.
The bones creaked and cracked.
Master Yuan, in an extremely eerie posture, slowly lowered his head into the porcelain basin.
The porcelain basin, like a gaping mouth ready to devour, seemed about to swallow his entire head. Lu Fei stood up.
"Huzi, what are you still standing there for? Save him!"
As he spoke, he had already rushed over and grabbed the porcelain basin with both hands.
"That old swindler got off easy!"
Huzi quickly followed, grabbing Master Yuan's shoulder and attempting to pull his head out of the basin.
He thought it would be a breeze.
Unexpectedly, the head seemed to be stuck with strong adhesive and couldn't be pulled out at all.
Even using all his might, Huzi couldn't manage it.
The boiling yin energy tightly enveloped Master Yuan's head, causing a pained expression on his face, as if his scalp was being gnawed and torn.
"Boss, this won't work!"
Huzi was drenched in sweat.
Lu Fei also noticed that the yin energy, like tentacles, clung firmly to Master Yuan's head, and something seemed to be faintly visible within the yin energy.
He took out a ghost-repelling talisman and placed it in the basin, then turned around and squinted, examining the yin energy closely.
Those things in the yin energy seemed like countless human figures.
They were holding onto Master Yuan's scalp and crazily gnawing on it.
"There are actually so many resentful spirits?"
Lu Fei was startled and took out his thunder-struck jujube wood stick, reaching into the basin.
The power of lightning erupted.
Dazzling electric light flashed in the thick yin energy, and the ghostly shadows instantly dissipated.
Master Yuan's head came out of the basin, and his entire body collapsed onto the bed. A few seconds later, he painfully opened his eyes.
"My head, it hurts so much..."
He reached out and felt that his head was covered in blood, which instantly terrified him to the point of losing his soul.
"My head!"
"Manager Lu, what's wrong with my head?"
He looked at Lu Fei in horror.
Lu Fei ignored him because he noticed something unusual about the porcelain basin.
The air around it had slight ripples, and wisps of negative energy were slowly being drawn into the basin.
Lu Fei's eyes widened.
The basin could actually absorb the negative energy around it!
Seeing that he didn't speak for a long time, Master Yuan stumbled out of bed, rushed to the bathroom, and upon looking in the mirror, let out a terrified scream.
His head was a bloody mess, with pieces missing here and there, as if gnawed by a dog, a truly horrific sight.
"Manager Lu, didn't you promise to save me? My head is like this, you... you... you..."
"What's all the fuss about? What's all the fuss about?"
Hu Zi glared at him fiercely.
"If it weren't for my boss, your damn head would have been gnawed to the bone long ago!"
"But I…",
Master Yuan, his head covered in blood, looked at his mangled hands and feet, on the verge of tears but unable to cry.
"What good can come from making a deal with the devil?" Lu Fei snorted coldly.
"No wonder the yin energy of this porcelain basin is so strong; it's not just one person's ashes mixed in, but many people's!"
"I think this basin shouldn't be called a Treasure Basin, but a Yin Collection Basin!"
"Yin Collection Basin?" Master Yuan was stunned.
"Think about it. If a person cannot rest in peace after death and their ashes are instead turned into a porcelain basin, trapped inside without release, how much resentment would they have? And there are many such people in this basin!"
Lu Fei looked at the milky white porcelain basin on the bed, his expression solemn.
The ghostly figures that Hu Zi saw in his dream were the resentments trapped in the basin.
Originally, their sole obsession was to break free from the porcelain basin and achieve liberation.
"I didn't know there were human ashes in it..." Master Yuan, with a long face, looked at Lu Fei for help, "Manager Lu, you sound very knowledgeable. Do you have a way to solve this?"
"It should have been easy to solve." Lu Fei picked up the cold porcelain basin and smashed it against the ground with force.
The simplest solution for a haunted porcelain made from human bones is to shatter it and then perform a ritual for its proper burial.
But when the thin, light-transmitting basin hit the ground, it only wobbled twice and remained completely intact.
"Congratulations. You successfully used your own flesh and blood to nurture this porcelain basin into a man-eating evil artifact," Lu Fei laughed dryly.
Having tasted human blood, the porcelain basin could no longer be broken and had grown larger, capable of absorbing the surrounding yin energy.
It's like a small yin-gathering array, continuously drawing in the yin energy from its surroundings.
It's nighttime now, when the yin energy is at its peak and the yang energy is weak.
So, the yin energy in the basin quickly re-gathered and started to swirl again.
It was like an invincible black hole.
"Then, then is there still hope for me?" Master Yuan's body trembled violently, unable to control his panic, "I don't want this porcelain basin anymore, I'll give it to Manager Lu…"
After saying that, he scrambled out in a frantic rush.
"Damn, this old swindler really never changes! He actually tried to dump this evil basin on us and run away! Boss, I'll go catch him!" Huzi raged, cursing loudly.
The little black dog also barked incessantly.
A man and a dog, about to give chase.
"No need to chase, he won't get far," Lu Fei waved his hand indifferently.
Sure enough.
In less than two minutes, Master Yuan limped back.
When he saw Lu Fei and the other, he was momentarily stunned, then turned and ran, but soon came back.
This repeated three or four times, leaving him panting for breath, collapsing to the ground in despair, unable to run anymore.
"Haha, isn't this like being trapped by a ghost?" Hu Zi laughed loudly.
"This bowl's appetite has been spoiled by him. If it didn't consume him completely, how could it bear to let him go?" Lu Fei gave Master Yuan a cold look, "We don't want your worthless bowl, you keep it and take care of it yourself."
After saying that, he waved at Hu Zi, preparing to leave.
"Manager Lu, don't go! I'm sorry! I was just scared, I swear I won't run anymore! I'll do whatever you say..."
Master Yuan hastily clung to Lu Fei's leg, crying his heart out.
Lu Fei wasn't really going to leave; he was just trying to scare him.
The bowl had the ability to gather yin energy, making it a useful but evil object.
"Alright, enough with your nonsense!" Lu Fei pushed him away disdainfully, "If you really want to live, you need to find out the origin of this porcelain bowl, and preferably the kiln where it was first fired."
"It's been a hundred years, where could we possibly find it now?" Master Yuan said with a bitter expression.
"That depends on whether you want to live or not."
Lu Fei used a black cloth to wrap the porcelain basin again and pasted three ghost-repelling characters on the outside.
"I can keep the porcelain basin for now. When you get any information, come to Sinisterium Pawnshop to find me."
With that, Lu Fei left, carrying the white porcelain basin.
He returned to Sinisterium Pawnshop and caught up on his sleep.
The next afternoon, Master Yuan called, saying he had found a lead.
He went back to the village at the foot of the cemetery mountain and found the villager who sold him the porcelain basin, which was a young man named Dazhu.
Unexpectedly, there had just been a funeral at Dazhu's home.
It turned out.
Dazhu had originally planned to use the money from selling the porcelain basin to treat his father's illness, but he never expected that when he happily brought the money to the hospital, his father had already passed away.
He didn't even get to see his father one last time.
The money from selling the porcelain basin was just enough to cover the funeral expenses.