Xia Beiluo sighed.
So, a "guitar" was just a musical instrunt, a needless excitent.
Music, painting, literature—these were fields strictly controlled by The Church.
What ordinary people had access to were either gospel poems spread by The Church and flattering articles praising its glory, or synthetic electronic music composed by machines—cheap and repetitive, existing rely to numb people’s dull souls.
Only the inford, or rather, the offspring of the upper class and nobility, would learn and appreciate the refined traditional music and the extravagant, romantic orchestras.
Looking at it, the "guitar," which seed unsuitable for singing praises or performing in elegant halls for officials and nobles, certainly wouldn’t fetch a good price.
"However, even so..."
Xia Beiluo picked up the guitar, examining its blade-like streamlined contours. It felt not like a musical instrunt, but more like a weapon.
The silver chro-plated body looked incredibly cool, with a roaring giant dragon painted heavily on it, as if venting its fury on the world.
Xia Beiluo glanced at the Exorcism Circle, noting that there was no reaction, indicating no malevolent spirits were entangled with it.
Though her grades were average, she was quite familiar with the basic knowledge of Spiritualism.
The education on Ziluo Star believed that all things had spirits, and if an object had been accompanied by humans for a long ti, it would also be imbued with the owner’s influence and spiritual energy. It wouldn’t be strange for it to develop a consciousness.
"...On second thought, you’re really quite pitiful."
Xia Beiluo tenderly stroked the body of the instrunt, comforting its spirit:
"How long have you been all alone under the water? Perhaps your owner died in a car accident, leaving you, a solitary guitar, in the world."
"You must be lonely, right? It’s okay, I am too. Let tell you, I don’t have any friends or family either, just like you, living alone in this world. So please forgive , I might have to rely on selling you to afford my als. Sorry!"
As she spoke, Xia Beiluo checked the condition of the guitar body.
Surprisingly, the guitar showed almost no signs of wear and tear, not even marks of usage.
How pitiful, it might have been intended as a gift for soone, but due to an accident, it had been silent under the water for a long ti.
"You surely want to perform on stage, don’t you? You still want to share your sounds with the audience, to have people shout praises for you, right?"
Xia Beiluo comforted her as she spoke:
"Co to think of it, this is my first encounter with an instrunt like you—I guess many people wouldn’t recognize what a guitar is. It might not sell for a good price... But it doesn’t matter, I’ll keep you with for now. Maybe one day, soone who takes a fancy to you will co along, and you’ll have the chance to be played, and I might get so money."
Xia Beiluo was filled with curiosity about this novel instrunt.
"Speaking of which, when I introduce you to soone later, I should figure out how you’re supposed to be used—like this, playing with hands?"
As she said this, her fingertips touched the strings, and she plucked downwards.
Thud—
Glasses clinked together, and Li Aozi took a sip, the tartness causing him to frown slightly. This fine detail did not escape the waiter, who had watched, entranced, before quickly coming forward to apologize:
"I’m sorry! The quality of our wine is not up to par, it’s caused you discomfort. Please forgive us, it was never our intention to serve inferior drinks; it’s just that our place is too small to source anything better..."
"Hmm, it’s not your fault, it’s this body that’s too delicate," Li Aozi said as he put down his glass and then casually began cutting his steak with the silverware, eating his al nonchalantly while inquiring:
"Is Tranquility City here under the jurisdiction of the Master of Souls’ district?"
Feeling apologetic for the lackluster hospitality, the waiter eagerly explained:
"Yes, it is only because of the protection afforded by the Bishop’s District that Tranquility City is shielded from the Erosion of the ’Desolate Sea.’"
"What is the Desolate Sea?"
The Caral Snail nibbled on a lobster egg roll and took a sip of the warm corn juice, asking curiously.
"Eh, this guest, you couldn’t possibly be from the core area of the Bishop’s District, could you?" The server was slightly surprised.
"Ah, that..."
"Where we co from is not important. It’s not good for soone of your status to know too much."
Li Aozi wiped his mouth and explained:
"It’s normal that you haven’t heard of the Desolate Sea. After all, it’s an anomaly that only occurs once every ten years, and it’s not sothing you can always witness. If you’re too well protected, you may even doubt the existence of the Desolate Sea."
"You make a good point! So many people who have never suffered start to believe that there is no such thing as suffering in the world."
The server said with a smile:
"Then let explain it to this gentleman here."
"The so-called Desolate Sea is not that complicated in origin. Since ancient tis, due to their participation in the War Beyond the Abyss, demon gods who died in battle or were sealed were pressed deep within the core of Ziluo Star, and over ti, their decaying and rotting bodies gave birth to an evil Erosion force."
"As everyone knows, the areas between the cities of Ziluo Star are often vast, uninhabited, and yet there are abandoned cities without a soul in sight—those are the consequences of being scoured by the evil miasma of the Desolate Sea."
"Regardless of strength, even the legendary Zeta Rank False Gods descending upon the world would perish and vanish under the onslaught of the evil miasma."
"Thankfully, our great ’Master of Souls’, ’Void Emperor’, and ’Prival Heavenly Sovereign’—three Supre Deities—have saved us from being destroyed by the demon gods from Beyond the Abyss."
"Demon God?"
The Caral Snail muttered to himself.
It was the first ti he had heard this term.
"Yes, just think about it. The Church forbids us from looking up at the Starry Sky, bans people from exploring the Cosmic, there must be a reason for it. The Church is obviously doing this to protect us."
The server said as if it were a matter of course:
"The Church has protected us, guided us in transforming our living environnt, and taught us to beco the servants of the Chief God. In that case, those Spiritual Warriors that intended to harm us in ancient tis, aren’t they just demon gods?"
Forbidden... exploration of space?
The Caral Snail was taken aback, this ti managing his expression and mouth well.
"When did the Bishop’s District take over from ’Master of Souls’ Church?"
Li Aozi asked.
"Forty years ago," the server said cheerfully. "Before that, Tranquility City was always under the jurisdiction of ’Prival Heavenly Sovereign’ Church."
Forty years...
Li Aozi guessed the ti fra.
"Just right."
The Caral Snail asked curiously:
"Co to think of it, it seems like you all don’t really mind ’Master of Souls’ taking over?"
"Well, how do I put this?" The server pondered, troubled, and then said: "When the Spirit dium and Shaman of ’Prival Heavenly Sovereign’ were still here, we didn’t have the freedom to love and marry. Everyone’s marriage partner had to be strictly calculated by the Priest for compatibility. But ’Master of Souls’ doesn’t care about these things, just imposes so strange taboos..."
"Strange taboos?"
"Like no gambling, no consumption of blood products, no listening to rock music..."
Rock music!
Caral Snail imdiately latched onto the term.
"Since we’re at it, what do you know about rock music?"
"I’m sorry, I’ve only heard about this taboo."
The waitress said regretfully.
"Ah, that’s too bad."
Caral Snail sighed.
"However,"
Li Aozi stood up:
"Since it’s the district of the Master of Souls, that makes things much easier."
"Dear guests, are you looking for sothing related to rock music?"
The waitress asked curiously, and seeing their gaze fall on her, she quickly assured them:
"I won’t divulge your information, according to the Asule Agreent, people of different religious beliefs aren’t allowed to attack each other during peaceti."
"No, it’s nothing. I’m a believer of the Heavenly Venerate, and the Heavenly Venerate teaches us to treat people with enthusiasm."
Li Aozi barely cracked a smile and sincerely lied:
"We are indeed searching for information related to rock music, but not to listen to it, rather to find a friend."
"A friend?"
"Igor Cui," Li Aozi said, "I’m looking for him and his guitar."
Thump——————
Xia Beiluo slowly raised her head.
The lightbulbs flickered, and from the nearby transforr ca the high-pitched screams of a terrified Spiritual Body, as if so dangerous spirit creature had appeared close by.
The air in the garage seed to grow colder, and she subconsciously shrank her shoulders, shivering.
"This guitar needs to be plugged in to show its effects."
A slightly hoarse voice spoke.
"Oh, is that so, I’ll try it out later—"
Xia Beiluo stood up, about to look for a socket.
"Let see, the charging socket... huh?"
She imdiately paused and, realizing sothing, began to search for the source of the voice.
"Hey? Where are you?"
The man sighed in exasperation:
"Ah, damn! I’m really fed up—your Spiritual Energy perception is even worse than a snail’s."
"Who’s there? Who’s cursing at ?! I’m almost a high school level Spirit dium, you don’t want to ss with !"
Xia Beiluo faintly heard the voice transmitting, but with her dismal Talent, she couldn’t pinpoint the exact location of the Spiritual Body.
"Lift your head, look forward, young girl."
Xia Beiluo raised her head and looked forward, but she could only see the spare rearview mirror in the warehouse.
Is he in here?
No, that’s not it.
Xia Beiluo walked forward, gazing into the mirror.
In the mirror appeared a face, gaunt, with sunglasses on and black hair casually tossed over his shoulders, looking unruly and unrestrained.
"...Hello?"
Xia Beiluo raised her hand politely, greeting him.
"My na is Xia Beiluo, I’m 17 and on a break from high school, may I ask who you are—"
The next mont, the Spiritual Body in the mirror raised a fist, crossing the dinsions of the Spirit Realm, and struck Xia Beiluo in the face.
Clang!
Xia Beiluo stumbled back a few steps, nearly toppling over.
"Ugh... damn, I’ll just have to make do with this! There’s no other choice."
She rubbed her head and picked up the guitar from the ground. Like a warrior retrieving a gun, she opened the garage door and walked out confidently toward the city center.
’Wait a minute! My dough, I need to knead the dough!’
"Why are you obsessing over that pound of dough?"
’Xia Beiluo’ muttered to herself as she passed by the shelves; her gaze caught sunglasses and a half-box of ’Long Live My Lord’ brand cigarettes resting on them.
Luckily, there was also a lighter.
’Ah, don’t touch other people’s stuff, that’s the boss’s.’
"The hell with the boss, I’m the one who calls the shots here now."
She swore carelessly, put on the sunglasses, lit a cigarette, and with an Arcane Glow flickering in the streets, strutted towards downtown with an electric guitar in her arms, stubbornly set on her destination.
’Hey, what are you trying to do, it’s almost curfew. The people from the Church won’t be happy.’
"What I want is for them to be unhappy."
’Don’t ruin my reputation...’
"Don’t worry, they didn’t know you before, and they won’t know you after."
Xia Beiluo took a drag on her cigarette, grinning coldly.
’Hey... who are you exactly? Taking over soone’s body without so much as a word.’
"? Just a broke-ass kid, a boiler technician, soone who ssed around with rock music."
The guitarist climbed nimbly to the top of an apartnt building, overlooking the entire Tranquility City from high above, then took off the cigarette under the clear light of the Purple Moon and exhaled a smoke ring:
"Ziluo Star, Igor Cui is back!"
The next mont, a blood-pumping, fiery tune resonated across the city skyline, sending shockwaves through the air.
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