According to Director Hu Tao, this state was just an "out-of-body experience."
"Phew..."
Old Meng let out a long sigh of relief. As long as he wasn't dead, it was fine.
He hadn't lived enough yet.
"Wait."
Suddenly, Old Meng thought of something and looked at Hu Tao anxiously. "Director Hu, how do I return to my body?"
He was still floating as a soul. How was he supposed to get back into his physical form?
Because his soul had left his body, his physical shell had collapsed right onto the floor.
"Even in an out-of-body state, you should still have control over yourself."
Hearing Old Meng's question, Hu Tao glanced at his body lying on the ground. "If you can control yourself, why not just fly back?"
"Uh."
Floating in midair, the soul-form Old Meng paused, then instinctively drifted downward.
As a soul, he was as light as a breeze. He merged effortlessly back into his body.
The moment his soul returned, sensation flooded back.
Lifting his heavy eyelids, Old Meng felt a sharp pain.
It was the pain of slamming onto the hard ground—something he hadn't felt in a long time.
"Director."
Struggling to climb up, Old Meng looked at Hu Tao with a mournful face. "Next time you do something like this, can you give me a heads-up? My old bones can't take this kind of abuse."
Hu Tao's sudden strike had knocked his soul right out of his body. It had nearly scared him to death.
He had genuinely thought Director Hu had killed him with that staff.
Even though Hu Tao explained it and his soul was now back in his body, his heart was still pounding—thump, thump, thump.
He felt that if his old bones were tormented like this any longer, he would be heading to the border of life and death for real.
"Didn't I already tell you to cooperate with me for an experiment?"
Seeing the lingering fear on Old Meng's face, Hu Tao giggled. "How was the out-of-body experience? I rarely see living people leave their bodies. Usually, only those who practice special arts or the dead can do it. For an ordinary person like you to experience it... it's quite a rare treat."
Hearing this, black lines appeared on Old Meng's forehead. "I'd rather not have such a treat."
It was not an experience he ever wanted to repeat.
With his old bones, another scare like that might actually kill him.
Nearby, the other two Wangsheng employees, seeing Old Meng's soul return, gathered around with looks of amazement.
Old Meng hadn't been killed by the Director. He had just experienced an out-of-body trip.
"Now do you believe me?"
Seeing Old Meng's fear, Hu Tao grinned. "This Soul Staff in my hand came from that magical Jar Shop. It can knock a person's soul out of their body. Each jar costs 100,000 Mora, and I pulled this from the very first one."
"You've experienced the strike of the Soul Staff yourself. Do you still think I was scammed?"
Speaking of this, Hu Tao's tone filled with wonder. "With this Soul Staff, Wangsheng Funeral Parlor's business will be so much easier."
"You know, many people pass away without having the chance to say goodbye to their families. If I use the Soul Staff to knock their souls out, we could expand our services completely!"
As she spoke, Hu Tao's eyebrows danced with excitement. Her beautiful plum-blossom eyes blinked and sparkled like the moon in the sky.
"That's incredible."
Hearing Hu Tao's plan, one of the female employees looked at Old Meng with awe. "Uncle Meng, what did it feel like to have your soul leave your body? Was it nice?"
"Nice, my foot!"
Hearing this, Old Meng, who was slowly calming down, looked exasperated.
It was a terrible feeling. He never wanted to experience it again.
But the next second, Old Meng looked at the Soul Staff in Hu Tao's hand. "Director, while this item is rare, similar things might exist. But that fire dragon egg... I still feel it's unreliable."
Old Meng frowned. "After all, no one has ever seen a fire dragon. If it really were a fire dragon egg, it makes no sense that no one has heard of it."
"Director, look at Mondstadt's Stormterror. Even people in Liyue who haven't been to Mondstadt have heard of it because of the destruction it causes. But this fire dragon... there's been zero news."
Although the Soul Staff—capable of knocking souls out of bodies—was practical and strange, the fire dragon egg still sounded like nonsense.
"You'd never heard of this staff either, but I pulled it, and you just experienced it. Why would the shopkeeper lie to me?"
Seeing Old Meng still doubting, Hu Tao pouted. "Also, you might not know this, but while I was away, someone pulled a Vision from that Jar Shop two days ago. He got arrested by the Millelith for damaging public property because he didn't know how to use it properly. I found that out from a patrolling Millelith guard on my way back. That guy is still in jail."
"If even Visions can be pulled, is getting a fire dragon egg that surprising?"
"Besides, each jar only cost me 100,000 Mora. Even the cheapest pet egg costs hundreds of thousands. No matter what hatches, I've made a huge profit."
"And that shopkeeper is so mysterious. He sells things like this openly. I believe he wouldn't lie to me. There's no need. What could he scam me out of? Just a little Mora!"
Hu Tao fully trusted that the mysterious shopkeeper and his magical shop had no reason to deceive her.
She was very curious about Felix now—where he came from, why he was selling jars in Liyue, and what his goal was.
Setting the price at 100,000 Mora yet limiting purchases... these conflicting rules confused her.
She wanted to know his intent.
She resolved to visit the shop more often. Once she got familiar with him, she would find out.
Hearing Hu Tao's words, Old Meng was dumbfounded.
Did Liyue really have such a magical shop?
It made no sense that he hadn't heard of it.
Not just Old Meng—the other two employees were shocked too.
Even Visions could be traded?
"Hehe, I have one more thing to test."
Seeing their shock, Hu Tao grinned and pulled a needle from her sleeve.
The needle glowed with a crystalline purple light, sparkling as if dipped in poison.
Seeing this needle, Old Meng and the others were confused again. What was there to test about a needle?
It looked way too dangerous.
"Hehe, come, come! This is the 'De-thickening Needle.' Old Meng, let me poke you!"
Holding the needle, Hu Tao moved toward Old Meng.
"Don't, Director!"
Hu Tao's action made Old Meng's face turn pale with terror.
That glowing purple needle looked poisonous. If he got poked, wouldn't he be done for?
But before Old Meng could turn and run, Hu Tao's needle pricked him.
"Ah!"
Old Meng let out a scream as the needle poked him.
Then, under the gaze of Hu Tao and the others, he deflated like a leaking balloon. He became flat and thin, as if all his blood had been drained. He turned into something resembling a paper cutout.
This sudden scene terrified the other two employees.
Director Hu had turned Old Meng into a human skin sheet!
They looked at Hu Tao with horror in their eyes.
Where did Director Hu get such terrifying things?!
"Help..."
At that moment, the flattened Old Meng cried out for help. "Director, save me!"
When Hu Tao poked him, he felt a sharp pain, followed by a strange transformation.
Even though he had become thin and flat, he could still feel his limbs and move them.
This bizarre state made him panic, and he hurriedly begged Director Hu for help.
In this form, he was terrified.
He felt like the wind could blow him away at any moment.
"So magical."
Holding the De-thickening Needle, Hu Tao looked at Old Meng in amazement. He was in a special state, completely unharmed.
A solid, full-bodied person had become flat and thin, like a layer of skin, yet no blood had been spilled.
His flesh and bones seemed to have vanished into thin air.
The current Old Meng was clearly a human skin without flesh or bone, yet he wasn't missing any limbs.
He really was like a deflated balloon.
After observing for a while, Hu Tao picked up a basin of water nearby and splashed it over Old Meng.
"Splash!"
The water hit the air, and the moment it touched the flat, thin Old Meng, his body rapidly inflated before their eyes.
Like a dry sponge soaking up water, or a balloon being refilled.
In the blink of an eye, Old Meng returned to his original form.
"Incredible."
Having tested and witnessed it herself, Hu Tao marveled at the restored Old Meng.
This De-thickening Needle was amazing.
It could turn a person flat and thin, putting them in a special state, and water instantly restored them.
And the person poked had no wounds at all.
It was truly magical.
"I'm back."
Feeling his solid body return, Old Meng waved his arms, his face filled with excitement.
He was back!
But the next second, Old Meng scrambled backward, putting a safe distance between himself and Hu Tao.
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