"How was it, Wolf King? Old Man Zhongli specifically sent a communication. What important matter did he mention?"
Everyone immediately surrounded the Wolf King, who had just finished the communication, their faces filled with curiosity.
After all, the consultant of the Wang Sheng Funeral Parlor generally wouldn't initiate contact unless something was wrong.
The Wolf King's deep blue electronic eyes flickered calmly, and it replied in a flat, mechanical voice: "It is not an urgent matter. Mr. Zhongli merely reminded us that according to the Liyue Calendar, the Lantern Rite Festival will arrive in approximately thirty natural days."
"Lantern Rite Festival?"
Hearing this, Jesse immediately deflated like a punctured balloon.
"Doesn't that mean it's still a month away? Isn't reminding us now a bit too early?"
Elliot complained directly: "We aren't suffering from dementia! Why remind us a whole month in advance like it's a death warrant? Is he afraid we'll forget to go mooch free food and drinks?"
(Although we might actually forget, you can't say it out loud!)
Just then, the sliding door of the Washitsu was pulled open, and Lumine and Paimon walked in.
Paimon held a string of crystal-clear three-color dango in her little hands, eating it with a look of pure happiness, while Lumine held a rectangular box of unknown material that looked quite antique.
"Yo, you're back? Did you find anything while shopping?"
Jesse casually greeted them.
Paimon flew in the air, proudly swinging the dango in her hand: "Inazuma's desserts truly live up to their reputation! They are much more reliable than a certain bard's!"
Lumine placed the box she was holding on the low table in the center of the room, her expression strange: "We found this box in a corner of the Town Street. There was a note attached to it that read... hmm, it's writing you recognize, like Hanzi? It said, 'To the four troublemakers from another world.'"
"What?!"
Lumine's words were like a bomb dropped into a calm lake!
the quartet instantly shot up from their various slouching positions, swirling like four cyclones around the low table, their eyes wider than the dango in Paimon's hand.
"A gift for us? And it's damn Hanzi?!"
Zane's voice was distorted; he carefully picked up the box and checked it repeatedly.
"Quick! Open it and see what it is!"
Matt's massive head also leaned over, full of curiosity.
Jesse took a deep breath, as if disarming a bomb, and carefully opened the box's clasp.
Inside, there was soft padding, holding two items: a retro-looking device that resembled an old cassette recorder, and a... Sunsettia of exceptionally bright color, faintly emitting an alluring luster?
"Is this... a recorder?"
Zane confusedly took out the brick-sized recorder. It felt heavy in his hand, and it had some incomprehensible buttons and a small speaker.
"Why does this Sunsettia look so good? It smells especially fragrant too!"
Elliot was attracted by the Sunsettia, picked it up, and took a deep sniff in front of his nose. The rich fruity scent almost made him drool, but he immediately sensed something was wrong—
The fragrance was too aggressive, as if it could drill directly into his brain!
Frightened, he quickly threw the Sunsettia back into the box, as if it were a hot potato.
"Forget the fruit! Let's listen to what's recorded on this machine first!"
Jesse's curiosity overcame his caution. He took the recorder, found the largest play button, took a deep breath, and pressed it hard!
"Sizzle... Hello? Testing, testing... Hmm, the sound quality is good!"
A familiar voice, carrying a trace of laziness, a hint of mockery, and a whole lot of smugness, clearly emanated from the recorder's small speaker.
"Hello, friends! Long time no see, I've missed you all dearly! I am your handsome, charming, universally adored, flower-blooming, tire-bursting—Bai Luo! I extend my most sincere greetings to everyone here!"
"Bai Luo!"
the quartet exclaimed in unison, their faces filled with disbelief.
"No way! How did he send the gift over?!" Elliot clutched his head, feeling his worldview being refreshed once again.
"We aren't even in the same setting as him! How did he manage this cross-world express delivery?! What logistics company did he use? SF Express or YTO Express? Was it insured?!"
The voice from the recorder continued, as if it could hear their complaints: "Are you surprised I managed to deliver the gift? Hehe, trade secret, I cannot disclose! In any case, please accept this small token of cross-dimensional goodwill!"
"And my gift is this!"
Bai Luo's voice suddenly rose, carrying the excitement of someone about to pull off a successful prank.
"Please enjoy—A Song That Breaks the Heart!"
The moment the five characters "A Song That Breaks the Heart" came out of the speaker, the quartet's faces instantly turned a ghastly green! It was as if they had heard the most terrifying curse in the world!
"Holy crap!! It's that thing! Smash it quickly!!!"
Zane reacted the fastest, letting out a desperate howl, instantly summoning his thunder hammer and smashing it toward the recorder with the force of ten thousand jun!
However, it was too late.
From the recorder, Bai Luo, using his signature smiling voice, calmly recited the final incantation:
"Where in the world can I find a kindred spirit~"
The moment the last syllable fell—"Screech—!!!!!!!! Buzz—!!!!! Rattle—!!!!!!" An ultimate noise, indescribable by any language, extremely harsh and distorted, like a thousand cats scratching glass, ten thousand rusty saws cutting wood simultaneously, mixed with fingernails scraping a blackboard and the sound of Styrofoam rubbing, suddenly erupted from the small speaker like a physical sonic tsunami!
This was no longer just ordinary sound! This was a conceptual attack! It was pollution aimed directly at the soul! It was rule-level psychic contamination capable of warping auditory nerves, destroying the cerebral cortex, and even causing inorganic objects to develop suicidal urges!
The terrifying erhu demonic sound, like an invisible plague, spread wildly in a spherical shape in all directions, centered on the recorder!
It instantly covered the entire Washitsu, then penetrated the walls, swept through the entire Tenshukaku, and subsequently submerged Inazuma City like a tsunami, spreading relentlessly across the entirety of Inazuma!
Inside the Washitsu, which bore the brunt of the attack: "Ugh ah—!" "My ears!!" "My brain... it's going to explode...!" "Thud!" "Thud!" "Thud!" "Thud!"
the quartet couldn't even last a second. Like trees chopped down simultaneously, their eyes rolled back, foam appeared at their mouths, and they crashed straight to the ground, unconscious.
Even the Wolf King's cold electronic eyes flickered violently a few times, its chassis emitted a humming sound of overload, and then it froze in place, entering a forced protective shutdown state.
Lumine and Paimon? The three-color dango in Paimon's hand had long since dropped. She covered her ears, tumbled painfully twice in the air, and then fell to the ground with a "splat," losing consciousness.
Lumine tried to resist, but ultimately failed to withstand this dimensional sonic attack. Her vision went black, and she softly collapsed.
The terrifying sound wave continued to spread:
Inside the Grand Narukami Shrine, Yae Miko and Kitsune Saiguu, who were leisurely sipping tea, had their smiles instantly freeze. Their teacups slipped from their hands, and they both slumped onto the tatami mat.
Hanachirusato, who was nearby, fainted instantly without even a groan.
At a forge on a street corner, the Balladeer, who was hammering iron, shook his hand, the hammer missed its mark, sparks flew everywhere, and he staggered, plunging headfirst into the cooling pool, where he stopped moving after a few bubbles surfaced.
Raiden Ei, who was meditating, suddenly opened her eyes, her purple pupils filled with shock and pain. She tried to resist with sheer will, but the sound seemed to resonate directly in her mind... A few seconds later, she reluctantly closed her eyes, her consciousness sinking into darkness.
As for the ordinary citizens of Inazuma, the samurai, and the shrine maidens... they fell down in swathes, like harvested wheat.
The bustling Town Street instantly became deathly silent, leaving only the merciless echoing of the ear-piercing erhu demonic sound.
The entirety of Inazuma, from the Electro Archon down to the cats and dogs, was spared none, collectively "elbowed" into unconsciousness by this "grand gift" sent across worlds by Bai Luo!
A few minutes later, the terrifying erhu sound slowly receded like a tide, eventually disappearing completely.
Inazuma plunged into an unprecedented state of absolute, silent unconsciousness.
No one knows how much time passed, perhaps an hour, perhaps a whole day.
The first to wake up was the Wolf King. Its system restart was complete, and its electronic eyes regained their light.
It scanned the scattered "bodies" of various shapes and sizes around it, and its core processor reached a conclusion: Subjected to an unknown rule-level sonic attack, all personnel are temporarily unconscious.
It silently walked over to the culprit—the recorder—extended a mechanical claw, carefully picked it up, and then activated its internal high-temperature furnace...
Wolf King: "Threat Level: Extremely High."
Disposal method: physical destruction.
A while later, the quartet gradually woke up with groans, feeling as if their heads had been stepped on by ten Geo Lawachurls.
"Bai Luo... I'm not done with you!!!"
Elliot, clutching his seemingly splitting head, let out a weak roar.
As for the rest of Inazuma, no one knew how long it would take them to recover from this undeserved calamity.
Bai Luo's "greeting" truly was... instantaneous.