117. The Lucrative Black Evil

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“No problem, swipe your card!” Yang Tang didn’t even glance at Yu Yin. He pulled out a pocket money card and handed it to her, then lovingly caressed the Black King guitar. When he reached the end of the neck, he suddenly noticed a seal script character engraved there. Drawing on memories from his previous life, he recognized it as the character for “Evil.” “So this guitar isn’t called Black King after all!”

“If it’s not called Black King, then what is it called?” Yu Yin, who had just finished swiping the card and handed over the receipt for Yang Tang to sign, snapped irritably.

Yang Tang casually signed. After Yu Yin gave him back the card and the receipt, he raised the guitar worth over fifty thousand yuan and said, “This thing is called Black Evil!” With that, a sudden realization dawned on him.

Acquired Intermediate Skill Solidification Artifact, quantity one!

Yang Tang was stunned. Skill solidification artifact? And intermediate? What on earth was that?

Skill solidification artifacts are similar to item attribute transfer artifacts. They still consume replication skill slots when entering dreams, but unlike those that transfer only single item attributes, these can solidify multiple skills simultaneously!

Multiple skills at once? How should one understand that? Could you give an example?

Mingwu offered no response.

At that moment, Yu Yin muttered, “Black Evil? Weird name. Anyway, the thing’s sold to you. Call it whatever you want!” Saying this, she placed the complimentary guitar case by Yang Tang’s feet and turned to walk toward the piano corner.

Yang Tang remained still, his mind still pondering the meaning of “intermediate” skill solidification artifacts. Could there be “advanced” ones as well?

Of course, there are advanced skill solidification artifacts. Beginner skill solidification artifacts can solidify at most one skill or skill set; intermediate ones can solidify up to three; advanced ones can handle nine. Moreover, there exist ultimate skill solidification artifacts capable of solidifying at least ten skill sets, with the upper limit depending on circumstances.

There are truly supreme artifacts with no upper limit on skill solidification? Wow, that’s practically godlike!

Yang Tang thought this but felt something was off. There was no such thing as a free lunch from the heavens. Yet he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. So he put aside these wild thoughts and activated Eagle Eye to inspect Black Evil. Under normal Eagle Eye vision, it indeed appeared white. He couldn’t help but mutter, “Tsk tsk, this guitar was definitely worth buying!” No sooner had he spoken than a notification chimed.

Eagle Eye upgraded to Level 2.

Eagle Eye 2 is a mutated active skill, lasting three seconds with an effect duration of 1,800 seconds, instantly enhancing vision and sight tenfold with zero mana consumption.

“Oh my, Eagle Eye finally leveled up!” Yang Tang exclaimed inwardly. After such a long time, he had thought Eagle Eye would remain at Level 1 with no further upgrades. Unexpectedly, it evolved at just this moment, entirely by chance!

Excited yet mindful of quietly prospering, Yang Tang packed Black Evil into its case. Without further greetings to the Yu family, he quietly left the music store.

Not long after Yang Tang left, Old Yu appeared. Hearing intermittent piano sounds, he frowned and approached the piano corner, asking, “Yin’er, where’s Yang Tang?”

“He’s gone. He bought that Black King and then left,” Yu Yin replied, suppressing a grin. “Dad, that Yang Tang really likes to show off. He acted like a big spender in front of me. I said the Black King was fifty-eight thousand, and he just bought it without haggling!”

Old Yu’s eyes widened. “Didn’t I say fifty-five thousand for the Black King? How did it jump to fifty-eight?”

Yu Yin clearly had her own calculations. “Dad, if you sell it for fifty-five thousand, you won’t even cover the shipping costs. Besides, that Black King’s been sitting there for nearly two years now. If it really got stuck on our hands, our music store could collapse any time!”

“But—” Old Yu began.

“No buts. When we acquired that guitar, the purchase price was fifty-two thousand eight hundred, and the marked price was sixty-eight thousand. What happened? No one wanted it. Now selling it for fifty-eight thousand to Yang Tang, we’re not losing out!”

“Oh Yin’er, you’re short-sighted, losing the watermelon while picking up the sesame seeds,” Old Yu said, a bit dejected. “If I’d known you thought that way, I would’ve just given the Black King to Yang Tang!”

“Dad!”

“Yin’er, haven’t you always wanted to find a master as your third piano teacher? I wasn’t lying when I said Yang Tang’s piano skills are enough for that,” Old Yu said, frustrated by her stubbornness.

Yu Yin was speechless.

“Don’t stay silent. I know you’re not convinced. I’ll play you a disc, and you’ll understand,” Old Yu said, going over to the counter to find a somewhat dirty CD and putting it into the player.

The machine began with the brisk and melodious “Flight of the Bumblebee,” causing Yu Yin’s brows to lift slightly. Then a harsh series of intense strikes and dissonant chords soared—a devilish sound that might drive one mad, yet upon closer listening, it had a unique and exquisite charm.

Yu Yin prided herself on her keen ear and soon became absorbed. Only when the tune changed did she return to reality. “Dad, what piece is this?”

“Shh!” Old Yu gestured for silence. “Keep listening!”

The third piece sparked a faint sense of familiarity. After listening, Yu Yin frowned in surprise. “This… this sounds like Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni, right?”

“Yes, Don Giovanni—but not the opera version. It’s Yang Tang’s own piano arrangement, Don Giovanni’s Reminiscence by Liszt. What do you think?”

Yu Yin felt a chill and pursed her lips, unwilling to respond. The entire piece, whether rhythm or technique, was extremely challenging. Worse, the brief piano solo retained every note from the opera, without omission.

Seeing his daughter silent, Old Yu chuckled, “Heh, second year, second semester. You think passing Level 10 piano makes you great? After studying with Professor Zhang for three years, how much have your skills really improved?”

“Dad, I—I was wrong.”

“These days, I let Yang Tang listen to your piano discs. Guess what he said?” Old Yu said with a teasing smile.

“What could he say?” Yu Yin retorted. “I admit he plays well, but if he deliberately belittles me, I won’t accept it!”

Old Yu smirked. “He didn’t say you played badly, only that at your current level, during recess at the affiliated elementary school of the conservatory, you’d be paid seven cents per piece!”

Yu Yin was speechless.

“He also said, if you want to practice seriously, don’t try the Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2 or Don Giovanni’s Reminiscence until you can play Flight of the Bumblebee—the first piece on that disc—with at least half its flair. That’s advice from a beginner to an outsider.”

Yu Yin couldn’t hold back: “Who’s the outsider? He is! Their whole family are outsiders!”

Old Yu sighed. “Daughter, you can say that to vent, but do you really believe it?”

Yu Yin fell silent.

“Actually, you’ve already decided to take the Royal Academy of Music exam next year. If you get in and come to the capital to study, wouldn’t it be good to have a fellow townsman like Yang Tang to help you? After all, he’s already been admitted to Beijing University.”

“Who cares!” Yu Yin stubbornly replied.

After buying Black Evil, Yang Tang’s mind became lively again. For the next ten days or so, besides registering poetry and songs and occasionally practicing guitar, he roamed the major music stores and antique markets in the Misty City, hoping to find another skill solidification artifact.

Unfortunately, luck was not on his side. His deliberate search turned into the proverb “breaking iron shoes in vain.” With early August and the Qixi Festival approaching, he reluctantly stopped his aimless wandering and quietly rented an apartment near the Teacher’s College, room 017.

Having learned from his past mistake of oversleeping during the Dragon Boat Festival before the college entrance exam, Yang Tang dared not enter the dream state at home again. If a similar problem recurred and his parents cremated him in frustration, that would be the end of the story! So he decided to rent a place temporarily for dreaming—this way, he wouldn’t worry about disturbing anyone or oversleeping.

Several days passed. Thanks to perfect pitch and his exceptional memory, Yang Tang’s guitar playing improved remarkably. He could play ordinary pieces once or twice with flawless scales and tones. Unless one was fully versed in music, anyone who heard his “miraculous skill” would be impressed!

On the afternoon of August 5th, Yang Jixue called Qin Xuwu for the third time that summer to inquire about buying a house again.

Qin Xuwu sounded troubled. “Brother Jixue, I’ve looked into it. The rules for non-Beijing residents buying property are very complicated, with many clauses. It’s hard to explain over the phone.”

Yang Jixue pondered. “Brother Xuwu, what’s the simplest way to handle the paperwork? Oh, and don’t worry about the money—I can come up with ten or twenty million!”

“Ah?!” Qin Xuwu was startled, thinking, “Brother, please don’t do anything illegal!” Yet he dared not say it outright. “Ten or twenty million? Brother Jixue, that money…”

“Relax, it’s all clean!” Yang Jixue replied.

“Really?”

“Of course.”

“That makes things easier!” Qin Xuwu breathed a sigh of relief and felt more at ease. “Brother Jixue, to be honest, there are auctioned houses in Yujing that have no purchase restrictions. Outsiders can buy them and transfer ownership, though the down payment is at least half the price, and some require full payment upfront.”

“Is that so? Then you’ll have to help gather info on those auctioned houses. In a few days, when I come to the capital with Xiao Rong, Yang’s wife, and Xiao Hong, Yang Tang’s nickname, we’ll need to discuss it with you!”

“No problem. I’ll find someone to get the information right away. You’ll have something to look at when you arrive!” Qin Xuwu readily agreed to this small favor.

A new week begins. Please bookmark, please bookmark, please bookmark!