Peninsula: I'm being supported by a top idol.

"I actually have a knife in my hand... can't you see it?"

"A knife?" Hera floated closer, reaching out to press her hand above his palm, her fingertips glowing slightly—as if she were probing him in some way.

A moment later, she withdrew her hand, her brows furrowing even more deeply. "No physical fluctuations, no conventional spiritual resonance...it seems to be entirely composed of energy...how is this possible?"

She looked up at Cui Shi'an, her cat-like eyes filled with confusion: "Could this also be a high-causal artifact?"

"A high-causal artifact?" Cui Shi'an asked in surprise.

She crossed her arms and tried hard to recall what she had learned in the training course:

"Objects with high causal laws... such as ritual artifacts worshipped for generations, or weapons stained with the blood of great figures, can indeed give birth to 'artifact spirits'. But such spirits are usually bound to physical entities, like your arrowhead."

She stared at Cui Shi'an's empty hand, her tone growing increasingly uncertain: "But this... a blade without a body, wielded only by will... I've never heard of such a thing before, it's almost like..."

She paused, not uttering the second half of the sentence, "like the embodiment of a certain 'concept' or 'power'," because that was too advanced for her.

She shook her head, finally giving up: "I don't know..."

Just as Cui Shi'an was about to say that it appeared after he had a dream, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a piece of smooth-cut ebony scrap on the ground—this thing might be able to be studied, or... made into a souvenir?

He subtly moved half a step to the left, trying to block Hera's view with his body, and quietly shuffled his feet toward the wood.

Before the toe of the shoe even touched it—

"What do you want to do?"

Hera's soft voice came from above.

She had somehow floated to the front of him, hands on her hips, eyes narrowed, with an expression that said, "I saw right through you."

Then she slowly lowered her head and looked at the conspicuous slash mark on the coffin lid and the debris on the ground.

The air froze for two seconds.

"Aaaaaaahh ...

A wail loud enough to shatter glass suddenly erupted!

She rushed forward like a cannonball, shoving aside the obstructing Cui Shi'an, and threw herself in front of the coffin lid, her fingers trembling as she touched the notch:

"You...you...how could you cut that?! We're doomed! This is utterly ruined!"

Cui Shi'an was a little speechless at her exaggerated reaction, muttering, "It's just a small opening... it doesn't affect its use, and it won't let in any drafts when you lie down..."

Before he could finish speaking, he saw Hera suddenly turn her head—

Two dark red, viscous tears of blood were slowly sliding down her pale cheeks.

Cui Shi'an was startled and instinctively took a half step back:

"Um...were you crying or...?"

The scene of blood and tears is far more horrifying than cutting open a coffin lid.

"Shut up!" Hera slapped her face hard with her sleeve, leaving half her face covered in blood. Combined with her angry expression, she looked even more scathing.

"What do you know?! This is public property!! You'll have to pay for it if you break it!!"

Cui Shi'an frowned. "Can't we just use glue to fix it?"

"What do you mean by 'make up for it'?! Of course, we'll lose money!" Hera practically roared.

Cui Shi'an's eyes immediately turned suspicious as he looked her up and down: "You wouldn't... still be eyeing my twenty million, would you?"

"Twenty million? You're trying to fob me off like a beggar!" She held the tiny scrap, no bigger than a fingernail, her voice trembling.

"This is the core of a river-grown agarwood that's over ten thousand years old! How much yin energy and water essence has it absorbed underground? Not only can it strengthen the body and bones, but even if you crush it and soak it in water, it can nourish the soul. Otherwise, do you think it's because of my superior medical skills that you come here half-dead every time, lie down on this, and take a nap?"

Upon hearing this, Cui Shi'an's heart stirred.

Strengthening the body and bones? Nourishing the soul?

He glanced at the piece of debris again, almost instinctively.

"Really...that effective?"

"Of course!" Hara said firmly.

As Cui Shi'an watched her earnest and tearful expression, an alarm bell rang in his heart once again.

Trying to extort money again?

Do you think the knife in my hand is not sharp enough?

His gaze darkened slightly, and he was about to speak when he saw Hera float to the row of towering medicine cabinets like a gust of wind.

Then, with practiced ease, he pulled out a thick booklet with an unknown leather cover from a hidden drawer and slammed it heavily onto the low table in front of him.

Dust rose up.

The booklet's cover bears the inscription in simple, archaic Chinese characters: 【Reception Room Asset Details and Price List (Internal Version)】

"See for yourself!" Hara said, arms crossed, her tears still wet with blood, her tone harsh. "So you won't accuse me of trying to scam you again!"

Cui Shi'an opened the booklet with some skepticism.

Inside were neatly handwritten forms, categorized and with entries so clear it was almost unbelievable.

From those towering, ancient sandalwood spirit cabinets to the unassuming celadon spirit lamps in the corner, and the nearly worn-out soul-guiding brush on the table…

Each item is followed by a long string of numbers, the unit being "Korean Won".

He quickly flipped through the pages and finally found his target in the "Large Fixed Facilities" category:

【Item Name】: Ancient Submerged Wood Soul-Nourishing Board (Standard Version)

【Specifications】: 2000mm x 1200mm x 150mm

[Material]: Deposits from the lower reaches of the Sanzu River, tree age approximately 12,000 years, heartwood.

[Purchase Price]: Following this was a long string of numbers that made one's eyes dizzy. Cui Shi'an counted the zeros and silently closed the booklet.

"Did you see that clearly?" Hera's voice drifted over. "Your twenty million won't even buy a scrap."

"How about... we glue it on? Or maybe we can use some black ink..."

"Do you want to die?"

"Then what do you want me to do... I don't have much money..." Cui Shi'an subconsciously touched his pocket, secretly calculating his own assets.

"If you don't have money, write an IOU!" she grumbled fiercely.

"How many?"

"2 million!"

Cui Shi'an stared in disbelief: "Why don't you just rob it?"

Such a large sum of money, even if you work odd jobs every day, it would take decades to pay it back, right?

"No need for that." Hera's tears of blood had stopped at some point, and then she turned around and took out two long, dark purple wooden boxes from the depths of the drawer that was marked "Sealed in the Year of Jia Chen".

She placed the wooden box flat on the low table and pushed it toward Cui Shi'an with a rare sense of ritual.

"The takeover I mentioned before has been approved by the higher-ups." She lowered her voice slightly. "This is your...proof."

Then the wooden box was opened, and a very faint wisp of smoke escaped, carrying the scent of sandalwood and old ink. The scroll inside was not made of ordinary paper, but of a material that was neither silk nor paper and had a slightly cool touch.

Cui Shi'an unfurled the scroll. The painting was in the style of ink wash painting, depicting distant, misty mountains with a winding path leading to the foot of the mountain, where cranes, tigers, and other animals could be faintly seen.

At the foot of the mountain, a very faint, dark figure was looking up at the mountain, as if about to climb it.

For some reason, the moment Cui Shi'an saw that figure from behind, he felt a sudden pang of fear, as if the person in the painting would turn around at any moment—and that face might not be unfamiliar to him.

"This is..." he asked instinctively.

"Let's work hard even when we're old and gray!"