After discussion with Father Zhang, Xero became deeply aware of the Willow Estate. Such a massive group had unexpectedly took interest in the Zhang family — regardless of whether or not this deal was legit, things weren't going to end well.
The information Xero had at the moment was very limited. Although he knew about the side business about the antiques and museums, that was only scratching the tip.
Judging from all this, there was something most definitely wrong with that mask… but Xero hadn't noticed anything at all!
At dinner, Xero ate his rice somewhat listlessly as he repeated Father Zhang's words in his mind. I don't think I have to tell you how serious this could really be… Are you sure there's nothing wrong with the mask? Don't tell me that everything's fine. Have you considered that you might not be able to detect the special traits of the mask by ordinary means?
These questions were like a wake up call for Xero — although he felt in a sense, he was an unrivalled invincible existence in the world that could even be said to be greater than omnipotence itself, in the end, he is partially human, so he could still make mistakes.
He was perhaps invincible realm wise, but compared with old cultivators who relied on their hard work to advanced through realms, he was worse in temperament and cultivation experience.
One should learn to be humble.
This was what Father and Mother Zhang taught him since childhood.
This whole time while he was eating, Xero was thinking about the spirit mask and Willow Estate, to the point where he appeared absent minded. He took a lump of rice from his bowl and accidentally dropped it on the table.
Mother Zhang looked at him and was worried a little. "Why is Xiaoluo so distracted today?"
The old man gazed at his grandson with a pained heart. "Is this not to your liking? Do you… want to open a pack of custard bun snack?"
Father Zhang sighed and adjusted his monocle, "Both of you eat up, leave him. I had a little chat with him earlier, he's likely thinking about it. Given Xiaoluo's realm, it's fine if he doesn't eat."
As Father Zhang said this, Xero suddenly thought of something and with a " pa , " he straightaway slapped his bowl and chopsticks, then hurried upstairs.
When Drowsy Void saw Xero head upstairs, he followed shortly.
The old man looked at Drowsy Void. "This dog's face isn't so bad; its face is a little fat, but there's no flab on its body. Just don't know whether it's useful or not — can it scare villains when it's watching the house?" The old man remembered that there was a popular dog that died a few years back named doge. The old man thought it was just cheap, and it would scare people away.
"Well. This dog used to a void God. Xiaoluo has tamed it, and now it's reformed."
"Ah ha! Void God? That's good! Enough for a deterrent… this dog… somehow looks familiar… it reminds me of a few things."
"Dad, have you seen Drowsy Void before?" Mother and Father Zhang were startled.
"No that's not it." The old man took a sip of wine and shook his head. "When I was starting out as a chef, I took interest in a girl who was studying as a teacher at the time. In the end, before I could confess how I felt, she got a boyfriend. Later, I heard that her supposed boyfriend was having an affair with twenty five women at the same time."
Father and Mother Zhang took in deep breaths. "…"
How… being able to handle all that at the same time?!
The elderly man sighed. "That man was real garbage. If that girl hadn't been so anxious, our paths would have crossed. I actually wanted to marry her at the time, but fortunately, I met your mother, and she was very ethical. Otherwise, I might've continued chasing the girl. If it were that case, I would've used a condom."
Hearing this, Father Zhang wanted to cry, but had no tears left. "… Dad, why are you suddenly saying this…"
Whenever the old man visited, Mother and Father Zhang were especially careful not to mention Xero's grandmother in front of the old man in fear of his dementia being triggered. Who would've thought that he would bring her up himself at dinner? Which Father Zhang felt was a little weird.
The old man pondered for a few seconds before replying. "Hm.. actually nothing, just that when I looked at that dog's broken halo, I suddenly felt that the girl I liked was an undercover angel."
Father and Mother Zhang: "…"
…
Xero returned to his bedroom, and picked up the spirit mask on his desk and analysed it carefully. Unlike the simple test he had done previously, this time, he opened his Divine Buddha Eye. If there was something wrong with this mask, he believed that Divine Buddha Eye's effects would dismantle and reveal to him the truth and origin of this mask.
But most unfortunately, despite Xero gazing at the mask for a long time, it remained immobile as before.
However, through his inspection with Divine Buddha Eye, he obtained two bits of information.
The first piece of information was that, despite judging from material alone, this mask was indeed made of primeval black crystal. The Divine Buddha Eye was able to separate the truth from the false as well as break down information to an atomic level in order for the brain to absorb it and understand the real nature of the world. If this mask had been tampered with, there was no way that he wouldn't be able to detect it. The problem was that, this spirit mask wasn't as simple as he originally thought.
This was the conclusion Xero came to after repeatedly confirming it with Divine Buddha Eye.
Then, there was one idea that crossed his mind…
This spirit mask was a twin; there was two of them, one had been out as a cover while the spirit mask that had been cursed had been buried away.
Simply put, one was in the midst while the other was in the dark.
If there were twin spirit masks, as long as one had been tampered with, then the other would show the same effects. But if this was the case, the Divine Buddha Eye wouldn't be able to detect anything wrong with the other mask.
So then the question was, where was the other spirit mask? The one with the curse?
Under normal circumstances, Xero would be able to trace the whereabouts of the cursed mask with Divine Buddha Eye almost instantly. Nowadays, twin magic weapons weren't that rare. Xinyan's parent and child sword, for example, were also kind of a twin magic weapon. As long as he had one sword, in theory, Xero could use Divine Buddha Eye to trace where the other sword was.
But his Divine Buddha Eye wasn't reacting at all!
This was very unusual…
But it was this that gave Xero his second piece of information.
And that the second spirit mask, the real, cursed one, simply didn't exist in the world that he lived in! It was very likely it had been hidden and buried in an alternate universe!