I can rewind time to prevent death

Wan Shouguang nodded and asked, "Then do you know roughly how much it costs to make a magnetic knife?"

At that question, Yan Junze felt a sudden jolt in his heart, thinking that since the other party was asking this way, the price of the magnetic knife must certainly not be cheap.

As for his own Black Spirit Umbrella, whether it was the craftsmanship, the standard of technique required, or the materials used, it probably wouldn't be any cheaper than making a magnetic knife, and he feared the cost of one umbrella could well be equivalent to that of three magnetic knives.

Sweating nervously, Yan Junze forced a smile, "I don't know."

Knowing he might not be aware, Wan Shouguang said, "The price of one high-end sedan is roughly equal to that of one magnetic knife."

Yan Junze didn't speak, knowing he would continue, so he just lifted his teacup and took a gentle sip.

Wan Shouguang paused, and seeing that Yan Junze did not ask further, continued, "And according to my estimation, the price of the umbrella you want to make should be enough to buy half of my mansion."

"Pfft!"

Yan Junze almost sprayed the tea out of his mouth, quickly closed his lips, and swallowed with a gulp, managing only after some effort to speak, "That expensive?"

Wan Shouguang, though he had been expressionless, now managed a strained smile, "Furthermore, your umbrella has very strict craft requirements. Looking at your hand-drawn sketches, some parts of the design and concept were only added in the last two days. If you want to realize your idea of trapping strangeness within the umbrella using moonlight, it requires a high-polymer material for the mesh membrane, which is extremely expensive!"

"Huh..." Yan Junze let out a breath, said nothing, but felt a chill going right through him.

Wan Shouguang continued, "I've got important matters to attend to this month and can't make this item for you, so let's say next month. I can supply the raw materials, but you will need to prepare the production funds. In consideration of Old Zhang, I can help you, including providing the venue and production equipment, besides personally making it for you, I'll also solve the supply issues for the raw materials."

Hearing this, Yan Junze felt utterly cool inside.

It wasn't that Wan Shouguang was being unkind. On the contrary, he was being decent to offer such help, and that too out of regard for Zhang Chengjing's face, otherwise, he wouldn't lift a finger.

Yan Junze felt cold-hearted but only because of the issue of money.

To be honest, even though he was not worried about food and clothing, coming up with so much cash all at once was still impossible for him.

This place was the Huaying District, where land was the most expensive in the entire Great Capital. Given that Wan Shouguang's mansion was here, his contributions to the Exorcist Brigade were clearly significant.

This was the most generous offer, and Yan Junze currently was far from reaching that height. The money he carried wasn't enough to afford even half a mansion, let alone the land price in this area.

And Wan Shouguang's previous remark also included the cost of the land and construction, not just the building of the mansion itself.

Difficulty was written all over his face, and seeing this, Wan Shouguang glanced at his wife, who was also looking at him at that moment.

The couple understood each other without saying a word and guessed the likely reason.

Just as Jialan was about to speak, a faint sound of a door latch echoed from upstairs – the click of a door being locked. The noise wasn't loud, but with no one speaking in the room, everyone heard it.

Yan Junze was startled and turned his head to look at the second floor, where the doors of the rooms along the corridor were all closed. It seemed that one of those doors had just been locked, hence the noise.

This meant that a moment ago, one of the doors on the second floor had been open or ajar, and someone had just closed it.

"Is there someone upstairs?" Yan Junze casually asked, "Is it grandparents or someone?"

"No," Jialan said with an internal alarm, hurriedly shaking her head, "There's no one upstairs, it must have been the wind that closed the door."

"How come I haven't seen a single housekeeper?" Yan Junze turned his head with a smile as he queried.

It would be normal to have two housekeepers in a mansion like this, and since Wan Shouguang was often not home, it would be difficult for Jialan to clean such a large place by herself and her son.

"There are housekeepers," Wan Shouguang answered, glancing at Jialan, and explained, "They were cleaning upstairs just now and might have accidentally touched the door."

After speaking, he signaled to Jialan, "Go see what they're doing, tell them to move slower when they clean, so they don't damage anything."

Jialan got the hint and immediately walked toward the staircase, thinking to herself that she and her husband had already reminded their son to hide in the bedroom, to absolutely not show himself, and to ensure no outsiders saw him. Yet, she had no idea what Wan Cong was doing to still make noise.

Although the couple coordinated their responses well, inconsistencies in their answers and the subtle panic in their eyes still aroused a hint of suspicion in Yan Junze.

He looked up again towards the direction from which the sound had come, thought for a moment, and directly initiated a Rewind.

Time returned to the moment when Wan Shouguang was speaking.

At this time, Wan Shouguang was forcing a smile on his face, "And the craftsmanship requirements for your umbrella are very strict. I see that some parts of the design on your hand-drawn blueprints were added just in the past couple of days..."

Yan Junze wasn't listening to what he was saying. Instead, he pretended to take a sip of tea, shifted his sitting posture slightly, and subtly turned his body towards the direction of the staircase. With his head gently tilted, he adopted the appearance of someone who was listening and contemplating simultaneously.

His peripheral vision locked onto the direction on the second floor from where he had heard the door closing before the Rewind.

Suddenly, his pupils contracted slightly as he noticed that one of the doors was indeed ajar, revealing just a sliver.

Within the gap in the door, a pair of eyes could barely be seen, staring down at the floor below, staring at him.

In that moment, Yan Junze felt uneasy, a sense of chilling dread and a palpable wrongness enveloped him.

"Is this... strangeness?" he pondered internally, "If it were a person, who would silently peer through a crack in the door and watch me?"

Yan Junze had already sensed that the Wan couple seemed to know what was going on and were probably deliberately concealing something from him.

Wan Shouguang, unaware of Yan Junze's peculiarity, continued speaking, "I have important matters to attend to this month and can't produce this item for you. Let's aim for next month. I can provide the raw materials..."

Yan Junze was still pondering at this moment. If there was someone upstairs, why would they hide and spy on him? And if it were a ghostly presence, why didn't any mission prompts pop up in his mind?

Could it be that this entity, even if it was a supernatural being, was one devoid of any Obsession?

No, that couldn't be right. Not everyone was like Aunt Mei, without desires or demands, especially not for a fully formed ghostly presence.

Such a likelihood should be quite small, so who exactly could it be?

With his curiosity piqued, Yan Junze chose to activate the "Perception of Strange Events."

He knew well that some ghostly presences can only be accurately detected when the event perception is activated, as mission information may not always pop up even at close range.

The next second, a mission prompt indeed emerged in his mind.

[Coordinates determined: Wan Family Villa, second floor, Wan Cong's bedroom.]

[Mission Name: Resurrection;

Mission Level: Trembling with Fear (Medium) ~ Hair-raising (High);

Mission Background: He didn't know when he died, only that he had always been unable to leave, trapped in a realm with no way to break free. The magnetic field there was very strange, and he was not the only strangeness trapped there. During that time, he made several good friends, but this time, he was the lucky one to escape.

Mission Details: He seems to know how to free the other strangenesses and intends to release them alongside him;

Mission Reward: 700 to 1500 Different Dimension Energy points;

Mission Penalty: None, because his target is not you;

Mission Tips: 1. The Evil Spirit cannot be Locked down, in fact, they have never been free; 2. If you harm his body, Wan Shouguang will fight you to the death;

Note: Please note, the mission level may continue to escalate as the event unfolds.]