Chapter 45: The Vessel

"Heh. Kill me? You mean mutually assured destruction?"

"You might have done it before you met this guy, but now... can you really bear to part with him?"

Faced with the provocation from the voice in her mind, Mantou stopped talking, silently exerting her strength to suppress it.

She refused to let the "bad guy" inside her body ruin her good mood today.

She had eaten ice cream and ridden the Ferris wheel, all with Yi Ji.

She felt like the happiest person in the whole world.

At that thought, she sneaked a peek at Yan Jing. Seeing him staring intently at something outside, she kept quiet, deliberately softening her breathing.

This was how she acted most of the time she spent with Yi Ji. She didn't want him to find her annoying.

Besides, Yi Ji was incredibly smart; she absolutely couldn't interrupt his train of thought.

Even though she knew she was clumsy and messed things up sometimes—like today at the Amusement Park, where she had almost caused trouble again.

Next time... next time, she would do better!

She quietly made up her mind.

Lost in thought, she unwittingly leaned against the glass and fell asleep.

[Favorability +5]

Hearing the system broadcast, Yan Jing noticed Mantou had fallen asleep. He reached out and gently adjusted her posture.

He had just been studying the view outside. Beyond the park's perimeter wall lay a vast Unstable Domain.

Adjacent to it was a place that looked like an estate. It was likely Dandelion Manor, the next stop listed on the station route.

He doubted the tunnel entrance led to the manor, though, because the perimeter wall was exceptionally thick.

Thick enough to house several rows of rooms inside it.

He would have to check it out when he got the chance.

He looked down, his gaze softening as he took in Mantou's peaceful sleeping face beneath her Electric Helmet. The evening sunlight filtered through the glass and scattered across her hair like a smattering of golden daisies.

Beside his ear, the narrator-like system broadcast echoed as usual.

He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but the system's voice seemed a bit slower today, as if it were reciting prose.

[You look at her, this girl who has been thoroughly deceived by you.]

[Even now, she still hasn't realized that the person inside this body has changed.]

[Thanks to your series of manipulations, her care for a friend has slowly evolved into a different kind of innocent, clumsy affection. Yet, despicable as you are, you have never offered any substantive response.]

My response? Yan Jing asked himself.

He let out a self-deprecating laugh.

What a stupid question.

He was nothing more than an emotional con artist who could lose his life at any moment.

Perhaps after some future Dungeon.

The person this girl cared about so deeply would suddenly vanish.

In her eyes, he would have just gone on a long trip like usual, only to never return.

She wouldn't know the reason, and she would never know the truth.

Just focus on how to survive first, Yan Jing.

Smiling, he leaned back against the glass and narrowed his eyes, enjoying the rare moment of tranquility.

The Ferris wheel continued its ascent, and various Domains came into view. In the distance, Yan Jing could see Rotten Vegetable Village, surrounded by a pitch-black Unstable Domain.

Enhanced by the high-definition lens, Cameraman's vision was exceptional; he could zoom his field of view in and out dozens of times at will.

However, after only a few glances, white clouds obscured everything.

A while later, the Ferris wheel neared its peak.

The setting sun draped a faint layer of reddish-gold over the sea of clouds.

At this altitude, aside from the clouds, only the roller coaster named the "Skyward Fright Train" was visible. It sat slightly lower than the Ferris wheel, its tracks spiraling and intertwining through the clouds like a giant dragon.

Then, the Ferris wheel slowly broke through the clouds and reached its absolute peak.

Looking toward the distant roller coaster, which had also crested its track, Yan Jing's pupils contracted as he slowly sat up straight.

Hidden within the clouds above the roller coaster's track was a glowing white sphere, slowly emitting a faint brilliance.

What is that...?

...

"Mantou. Mantou."

Yan Jing gently patted her awake.

"The Ferris wheel ride is over. Time to go home."

"Okay... okay!"

Mantou rubbed her sleepy eyes and nodded obediently.

The two of them got off the Ferris wheel. On their way to the old park area's exit, Yan Jing suddenly spoke up.

"Mantou, wait here for a second. I need to use the restroom."

"Mhm... mhm! Yi, Yi Ji... don't... don't worry... I... I won't wander off..."

Mantou promised earnestly.

"Alright."

Yan Jing walked toward the restrooms. Once he was sure Mantou couldn't see him, he logged out of the Inner World and called Shen Youran.

"Hello, Xiao Yanzi, what's up? Perfect timing, I had something to talk to you about too."

"Let me go first."

Not wanting to leave Mantou alone in the Amusement Park for too long, Yan Jing spoke quickly.

"Do you know about The Vessel?"

"Of course I do."

Shen Youran blanked for a moment, then remembered that Yan Jing was a complete rookie with no professional training.

"On the path of Rituals, aside from the rites present at every tier, there are also some special Transcendent rules."

"And The Vessel is a special component when advancing to the Calming Rite."

"The saying goes: calm the mind to carve The Vessel."

"During the Calming Rite, not only can you select an item to serve as your Ritual, but you can also choose an item to serve as your corresponding Vessel."

"Because of this, the Calming Rite is also known as the Instrument Selection Ritual."

"After this rite, The Vessel carries the Ritual, and the Ritual is completed through The Vessel."

Yan Jing tried to summarize it in his own words. "So it basically means something like a 'weapon,' right?"

"..."

"...Pretty much."

Shen Youran said, "But compared to ordinary items, The Vessel has a certain capacity for growth."

"Once you've chosen The Vessel, every subsequent Rite you undergo will permeate and sculpt it, until it eventually becomes a completely unique artifact."

"That's also why, even though The Vessel can be changed, most people never switch it. Like I just said, The Vessel needs to be sculpted. The longer you have it, the more compatible it becomes with you."

"There are many mighty figures whose own Rituals weren't of outstanding quality, but by relying on an incredibly strong Vessel, they still managed to step into the absolute peak."

Yan Jing nodded. "So what is the most important factor when choosing The Vessel? Its quality?"

"First off, the item has to possess the properties of a vessel."

Shen Youran answered patiently.

"For example, that head you're holding right now probably wouldn't work—unless you hollowed it out into a bowl or some other container."

"Next is compatibility. Compared to Rituals, what matters most for a Vessel isn't its quality, but its compatibility with you."

"There is a peak existence in the Fourth Ring Domain whose initial Vessel was only of white quality. But because it was highly compatible with him, its quality eventually reached an unprecedented silver as he advanced step by step."

"As for how to determine compatibility, it relies on a method of utilizing Weird Energy called Tidal Circulation."

Having said that, Shen Youran taught Yan Jing the method for Tidal Circulation.

"Why are you suddenly asking about The Vessel?"

"It's nothing."

Yan Jing asked, "You mentioned earlier that you had something to talk to me about. What is it?"

"To be precise, I'm not the one looking for you."

Shen Youran's tone turned serious.

"I don't know if you're aware, Xiao Yanzi, but you're already on the Hidden Moon Leaderboard."

"Even though it's only the Ling'an branch leaderboard, a lot of people have still publicly issued challenges to you on the forums."

"Most of them are just clout-chasing and don't actually intend to make a move, but some of them are a different story."

With that, she sent Yan Jing a batch of photos.

"These are the people I've filtered out who are likely to use extreme measures in the Surface World to get what they want from you."

"I know exactly how these guys operate. They'll do anything to make a name for themselves."

"For instance, bringing a cameraman to ambush you on the street, or even live-streaming the whole thing. As long as they don't kill you, even if they beat you half to death, they'll at most get fined by the Public Security Association, detained for a few days, and then bailed out by calling in some favors."

"To put it bluntly, they see that your relationship with your family is currently frozen and your true strength is still unclear, so they want to seize this chance to score big."

She paused for a moment before continuing.

"This is also something I'm quite curious about. Logically speaking, with the news of your Yellow Date-Selection Gift spreading, your family should be making a major move."

"Like publicly declaring you a scion of the Yan Family, warning outsiders not to touch you, trying to farm some Favorability with you, and then bringing you home to force you into handing over the other two Day Selection Rituals to contribute to the clan."

"But the only intel I've received so far is that your dad sent some people to look for you, and I've already stalled them for the time being."

"Which is very strange."

Yan Jing replied in a calm tone, "I have no idea. I'm not very close with my family."

His tone carried a distinct lack of concern for whatever was happening back home.

Instead, all his attention was focused on the batch of photos Shen Youran had sent.

A whisper, so soft it was barely audible, drifted over the phone from Shen Youran's end.

"Tsk, this won't do... this is a prime opportunity for us to make a killing..."

"..."

"Ahem."

Shen Youran coughed softly twice, pulling the conversation back on track.

"I sent you the photos of these people because I wanted to ask how you plan to handle them."

"Right now, there are three solutions."

"First, if you choose the route of martial deterrence, I'll build up the hype for you in advance. You'd just need to pick two people from these photos to make an example of."

"The benefit is that it settles things once and for all and dispels the public's doubts. The downside is that you'll make a name for yourself and officially step into the public eye."

"Second, you can handle it passively. Wait until someone jumps out to challenge you, and then beat them to a pulp."

"The problem with this is that you can't guarantee the strength of the challengers. It's very likely to turn into a 'beat the young ones and the older ones come, beat the older ones and the elders come' situation."

"The last option is to just pay to make it go away. I've done the math; going through the necessary channels will cost about 400,000 Surface World currency. Those two items haven't been completely fenced yet, but our contacts guaranteed us a minimum line of credit of four million. The final amount we receive should be around two or three times that number."

"This is all your money, so you need to be the one to decide."

Shen Youran finished in one breath. Before she even had time to take a sip of water, Yan Jing's voice came through the phone.

"Let's pay them off."

Money was meant to be spent. If 400,000 could solve a pile of troublesome issues, he felt it was entirely worth it.

The fact that Shen Youran could actually handle it with just 400,000 made Yan Jing even more confident that finding her had been the right choice.

"Alright."

Shen Youran nodded.

"Aside from this, there's one other minor thing."

"Regarding that document on the Mad Amusement Park I sent you yesterday, and whether anyone else has been asking questions about it—I've looked into it, and it seems to be connected to Evil Ghosts."

"I pulled an all-nighter putting together a more detailed document. You can take a look."

Shortly after, Yan Jing received the file from Shen Youran.

Compared to the previous one, this document was clearly much more thorough. It detailed exactly how players from Evil Ghosts had interrogated the batch of survivors from ten years ago about the specifics of the Mad Amusement Park.

In addition, the file contained photos of those survivors.

Yan Jing swept his gaze over them.

Eventually, he paused on a photo of one particular survivor.

He had seen that face many times before.

He had seen it here.

He had seen it in the photos Shen Youran had just sent of people who might make a move against him in the Surface World.

And he had seen it in the Inner World.

He remembered the scene where that woman had run her thumb across her throat, her eyes overflowing with killing intent, and he smiled faintly.

That young girl's face, painted in horrific makeup and framed by twin tails, was simply too distinct.