The finger bone was obtained while lying in the Ghost House, along with a sheet of music from playing the piano at night school.
Both had been of unknown use until the public test of Abyssal Paradise when Su Qi discovered he could bring them into the game.
And the only thing displayed on the panel was their simple Name.
"Contaminated Finger Bone" and "Contaminated Sheet Music"
It was only after the Traveling Merchant mentioned interesting pollutants that he remembered to take them out casually.
The Traveling Merchant's gaze turned to the piece of finger bone in Su Qi's hand.
After barely a glance, he clicked his tongue lightly and shook his head, "Such a weak pollutant, with barely any breath, is absolutely not worth collecting or trading..."
The Traveling Merchant stopped mid-sentence, suddenly furrowing his brow, as if sensing something, his figure disappearing in place and reappearing beside Su Qi.
He didn't reach out directly but politely requested, "May I have a look?"
"Of course," Su Qi handed it over without any hesitation.
Although the Traveling Merchant dressed like a shifty dealer, he was indeed a gentleman, with strange principles when it came to trading.
The Traveling Merchant adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, colors flashing in his pupils:
"It seems somewhat interesting."
"This is not an ordinary pollutant, it appears to have been tainted with a trace of another power, nearly imperceptible, but clearly spiritual..."
He suddenly realized something and didn't continue.
Instead, he handed it back to Su Qi, calmly saying, "All right, this thing seems a little interesting, it has slightly piqued my interest, you give it to me and I will take the Ancient God's Heart off your hands."
Su Qi looked at the calm-faced Traveling Merchant who seemed utterly indifferent.
He shifted his gaze upward to the words hovering above the Traveling Merchant's head.
"He is very excited"
"He is determined to get that finger bone"
Su Qi narrowed his eyes.
Sly dealer, acting all coy.
But knowing the other party's thoughts, he now had an idea.
Su Qi first put it into his Item Slot, a move that made the Traveling Merchant's brow twitch almost imperceptibly.
"Don't you want to trade anymore?"
Su Qi sighed with a sorrowful tone, "That's the thing, I really want to trade, but... this finger bone is of great significance, it's something left by my grandfather when he was cremated. He took great care of me since I was little and we depended on each other for twenty years, it is the only thing left in this world from my relative."
"So, I can't give it to you."
For the first time, the Traveling Merchant was caught off-guard, opening his mouth without knowing what to say.
Fortunately, he wasn't an ordinary person, and after a moment's daze, he regained his composure, quickly saying, "You must understand the value of that Ancient God's Heart. Although it is a deceased object, very frail, it still possesses a trace of the Ancient God's lineage, and, if you own it, you might be able to reactivate it in the future, gradually grow, and obtain the might of the Ancient God."
"Don't you want it?" the Traveling Merchant urged.
Su Qi took all this in.
He shook his head still, "You misunderstand, that finger bone is the possession of my most important relative, I see it as an irreplaceable treasure."
Su Qi paused, then added, "You'll have to increase the price."
"..."
The Traveling Merchant looked lost, falling into a prolonged silence. He had to do this because, in that instant, he had nearly broken his countless times upheld trading principles.
That was to toss this guy into the Chaotic Sea.
He took a deep breath, "Don't go too far. I am the Traveling Merchant whom countless people beg to trade with."
Su Qi spread his hands, "Then there's nothing to discuss, goodbye."
With that, he was about to end the instance and leave.
Naturally, the Traveling Merchant couldn't see his instance, but clearly knew he was about to teleport away, and hastily said, "Wait!"
Su Qi, however, didn't stop as the other had hoped. Instead, he was already preparing to confirm whether to leave the instance and, while confirming, he said, "Bro, I've got other things to do, so I'll stop chatting. I still have to light incense for my grandpa."
"… I'll add!"
The Traveling Merchant almost spat out these words through gritted teeth. He actually got read and pinned down by this weak individual, and this guy wasn't giving him any chances; he had no choice but to comply.
Su Qi smiled, halted his actions, and quietly waited for him to continue.
The Traveling Merchant took a deep breath; he never thought his emotions would fluctuate so much.
"First off, I want to tell you that this finger bone isn't anything powerful. The pollution and strength on it are so weak they're almost negligible. I want it because it contains a trace of information that's very important to me."
Su Qi took note of this information and didn't interrupt.
"This Ancient God's Heart is even more important for you. However, it still has some residue of pollution and aura, which you naturally can't take with you. You need me to process and refine it. This job isn't as simple as it may seem."
Su Qi nodded in sudden realization, "I see, I see. That'll be a lot of work for you then, and…."
He paused for a moment, "What about the extra charge?"
Traveling Merchant: "…"
He wanted to say something, but instead sighed helplessly and then took off his top hat.
He pulled out an old-fashioned speaker from inside.
It looked quite old, all black, with only three buttons for play/pause and track selection.
"What's this?"
"I've unlocked the shielding; take a look for yourself." The Traveling Merchant seemed to have dealt with many players like Su Qi and knew they had their own ways of inspecting items.
Su Qi looked over.
[Name: Horror Nursery Rhyme]
[Quality: Perfect]
[Function: When it plays the Sound of the Past, Strength, movement technique, and Physical Strength will double, lasting for three minutes (cooldown time one hour).]
[Note: In my BGM, no one can beat me.]
His eyes instantly lit up.
"Nice item. Does it need batteries?"
"No need…."
The Traveling Merchant said expressionlessly, "Though I really don't want to remind you, as a matter of principle for a merchant, I need to tell you that this also has side effects; when the music plays, the Sound of the Past will also reduce your spiritual power…"
"Can it change discs?"
"Yes…" The Traveling Merchant gritted his teeth, "But that way, it'll just be an ordinary speaker."
Is that sound the key?
Su Qi suddenly thought of his piece of sheet music, which seemed to have a few tunes preserved on it.
The Traveling Merchant no longer cared about Su Qi; he went over to the Ancient God's Heart and began to clean the residual aura and pollutants.
Two minutes later.
The Traveling Merchant withdrew his hand:
"It's done."
Su Qi tried it out and, indeed, was able to store the heart in his Item Slot.
"The trade is now complete." The Traveling Merchant flicked away the residue he had collected from the Ancient God's Heart.
"Appreciate it." Su Qi passed over the finger bone readily, "I hope the next time we meet, you'll keep my grandpa's Finger Bone well preserved."
The Traveling Merchant's mood had returned to calm. He opened a void channel and turned around saying:
"There'll be no next time. I travel between various worlds, and the probability of us meeting again is virtually zero. Although this is our first meeting, it's also our last."
And it was the most unpleasant one at that.
With that said.
He disappeared from this place without any hesitation.