The Antique Octagonal Music Box
Zhong Jia'nian prepared to push the door open but found it wouldn’t budge.
He tried turning the doorknob again, but still couldn’t open it.
“What’s going on?” Xue Yang nervously clasped his hands tightly in front of his chest, watching the door that wouldn’t open, his face turning pale with fear.
“It won’t open,” Zhong Jia'nian glanced at Xue Yang, shaking his head to indicate there was no way.
Wanwan stared at the door, leaning on Xia Zhihuai’s shoulder, and muttered softly, “The bad things inside are afraid of Wanwan, they dare not open the door.”
Xia Zhihuai poked her chubby face, “Don’t flatter yourself, okay?”
“Let’s step back a bit, Brother Jia'nian can try again,” Wanwan commanded Xia Zhihuai to move backward.
Xia Zhihuai thought it was pure nonsense but still complied, taking a few steps back.
“Click”, the door to the music room opened. Xia Zhihuai glanced at the little Wanwan in his arms, “Coincidence, right?”
“Brother, why do you always refuse to believe the facts?”
Wanwan sighed.
After Brother Azure Dragon became mortal, why does he always seem so foolish?
Zhong Jia'nian turned to look at Xia Zhihuai and Wanwan, hesitating at the doorway, “Should we just go in?”
“Yes,” Wanwan slipped down from Xia Zhihuai’s arms, her short legs swinging as she pressed against the door that was about to close again, smirking, “Hmph, they actually wanted to keep me outside!”
Xia Zhihuai helped her push the door open, finding it a bit difficult. He was secretly surprised, raising his gaze to the dimly lit music room.
It was even colder than the living room. The curtains were drawn, making the music room feel enclosed.
…
Zhong Jia'nian turned on the lights and walked to the window, pulling open the curtains of the bay window.
The bright sunlight outside pierced through the glass, illuminating the spacious music room, and dispelling the darkness and coldness.
Wanwan widened her eyes, marveling at the various musical instruments in the room, exclaiming, “Wow!” “So many instruments,” Wanwan turned her head to admire Zhong Jia'nian with reverence, “Brother Jia'nian, can you play all these instruments?”
Zhong Jia'nian pursed his lips and smiled, “Yes, if you like, I can teach you in the future.”
Xia Zhihuai looked at the affectionate interaction between them and felt a pang of jealousy.
What was so great about playing instruments? He could play the violin too.
Little Wanwan, she’s just a country bumpkin.
Naturally, Wanwan didn’t pay attention to Xia Zhihuai’s expression. She excitedly wiggled her body, holding her cheeks and asked, “Really?”
“Can I learn too?”
Zhong Jia'nian looked at Wanwan, her eyes sparkling with stars, and felt that she truly resembled a three-and-a-half-year-old child.
“Yes, I live downstairs in your building. If you have time, you can come find me.” Zhong Jia'nian promised.
Wanwan immediately nodded vigorously.
Xia Zhihuai watched as the little one was about to be lured away and urged, “Didn’t you say you wanted to help find something? Hurry up, we ordered takeout, we should go home for dinner soon.”
“Right away, right away.”
Wanwan immediately put away her playful demeanor, turned her head, and looked towards the corner where several boxes were piled up.
Zhong Jia'nian looked at the unopened international express packages and a few items that had been shipped back, took a paper-knife, and opened the cardboard boxes.
“The items are all here.”
Wanwan bypassed several large classical instruments without looking at Zhong Jia'nian unpacking.
Instead, she targeted the ornaments on the niche.
On the second level, there was a black box.
The box was adorned with exquisite gemstones, and the gemstone on the lock heart was red as if shedding tears, while the brass lock buckle still had traces of verdigris.
Wanwan pointed at the box, turning her head to ask, “Brother Jia'nian, can you take that box down for me to see?”
Zhong Jia'nian sat on the box, glanced at the box on the niche, and suddenly came to his senses, “Sure.”
He got up and took down the black box, placed it on a small table, and introduced, “This is an octagonal music box. I bought it from a friend half a year ago. Is there something wrong with it?”
Wanwan didn’t speak, but when she held the large music box, her fingers were burned, and a white smoke rose from between her fingertips.
Xia Zhihuai quickly took the music box from her hand and placed it on the table, “Did you get hurt?”
“No,” Wanwan extended her fair little hand in front of Xia Zhihuai, smiling, “It can’t hurt me.”
“Then why did it emit smoke?” Xia Zhihuai stared at the music box on the table, feeling that he was getting farther and farther away from the world of science.
Wanwan pointed to the corner of the box, “It got hurt.”
With her spiritual energy protecting her, evil spirits were afraid and would be burned upon contact. “The box is made of locust wood, which is the leader of the five yin woods. If it has turned into ebony (dark yin wood), it becomes the best vessel for nurturing yin and gathering evil.”
Wanwan looked at the beautiful ebony box, sighing like an old soul, “This music box is made of dark yin wood.”
Zhong Jia'nian felt a chill down his spine, staring at the music box, his mind going blank for a moment.
When he first got it, he thought this music box was very beautiful, and the sound it produced was also very pleasant. So, when he lacked inspiration while composing, he would place this music box on the piano and listen to the melodies it played, which would calm his mood and gradually bring him new inspiration.
Therefore, he cherished the antique music box very much.
Xue Yang stared at the music box, then turned to the pale-faced Zhong Jia'nian and asked, “From whom did you buy this music box?”
Zhong Jia'nian looked puzzled and replied, “It was Deng Songming. He claimed it was an antique he stumbled upon. At that time, I was facing financial difficulties, so he sold it to me. He probably didn’t know there was an issue with this music box, right?”
Unable to hold back, Xue Yang scolded him, “Are you foolish, Zhong Jia'nian?”
“How can you trust someone like Deng Songming? I’ve told you countless times that he is untrustworthy. You should avoid associating with him. This item was previously in his possession; how could he not have noticed anything?”
…
Wandering in confusion, Wanwan and Xia Zhihuai sat at the table, exchanging bewildered glances.
Zhong Jia'nian didn’t argue with Xue Yang’s words. Xia Zhihuai noticed that both of them seemed uneasy and spoke up, “Let’s focus on resolving the issue with this music box for now.”
Xue Yang, regretting her outburst, apologized, “I’m sorry, I lost my temper and couldn’t control myself.”
Waving it off, Xia Zhihuai thought that Zhong Jia'nian’s manager had quite a temper, but it didn’t concern him much.
He turned to Wanwan and asked, “This thing is affecting Zhong Jia'nian, right?”
Wanwan nodded affirmatively and eloquently stating, “The box harbors a malevolent entity.”
Reaching out to open the box, a piercing scream echoed from within.
A dark aura burst out through the cracks, causing the room temperature to plummet, making Xia Zhihuai shudder.
Rubbing his right eye, he looked towards the direction where the dark aura escaped. “Wanwan, did that thing just… enter Zhong Jia'nian’s body?”
Wanwan gazed at the suddenly gloomy-faced Zhong Jia'nian. Intricate black patterns swiftly crawled up his cheeks from the back of his neck.
His sclera also underwent a transformation, with his pupils shrinking into tiny black dots, staring fixedly at Wanwan standing on the ground.
Startled, Xue Yang locked eyes with him, fell to the ground in fright, and let out a sharp scream. “Help—”
“Monster!”
Xue Yang tried to crawl away from the ground, but Zhong Jia'nian stepped on her ankle, causing her white high-heeled shoe to slip off.
She winced in pain, her face turning pale as she fell into a state of terror.
Witnessing this, Xia Zhihuai quickly stood up to intervene and stop Zhong Jia'nian.
Wanwan puffed up her chubby cheeks, and flames flickered in her eyes.
Indeed, it was a malevolent staff!