Chapter 115: The Harmon Family

The Harmon family was a family of moderate standing, residing in one of the affluent districts of the Sunset Kingdom. There were seven members in the household.

One day, the youngest daughter found a doll and brought it home.

"Prima, where did you get that doll?" Redes, the head of the family, asked with suspicion as he watched his daughter return from playing with an extra item in her hands.

"I found it while I was playing on the street. It can sing a wonderful song," Prima replied calmly.

It was true; while playing by the roadside, she had been captivated by a classic folk melody, which had immediately drawn her to the object.

"The Harmon family does not allow people to pick up things from the street! Besides, this thing looks like nothing but trouble. Throw it away at once!" Redes commanded sternly.

"No!" Prima was stubborn. She found the doll beautiful and was unwilling to discard it.

"Throw it away immediately!" Redes shouted again.

Startled by his roar, Prima trembled and looked up at her father with tears in her eyes. Seeing her reaction, he realized he had been too harsh. He knelt down, patted her back, and said more gently, "The dignity of the Harmon family does not allow us to keep trash. Once you throw this wretched doll away, I will buy you a much better one, how about that?"

Having just been yelled at, Prima knew her father was truly angry, so she nodded. "Okay, Dad."

The two of them got into their car and set off. During the drive, Redes grabbed the doll, took one look at it, and disdainfully tossed it out the window. "What a piece of junk."

Once the car had driven away, the doll slowly stood up, twisted its neck, and brushed the dust off its suit. Watching the direction in which the car had disappeared, it revealed a terrifying grin.

"Good. Very good."

To call it junk and throw it out of a car—the people of this family were truly testing how miserable a death one could suffer.

Redes took Prima to the most luxurious toy store in the wealthy district to pick out a new doll. But once a child reaches such a place, their instincts take over; she immediately forgot about the doll and began wandering around, looking at everything else.

Redes shook his head helplessly. Children were like that—their interests lasted only three minutes. Besides, there was nothing special about that old doll anyway.

Even as he thought this, his eyes wandered involuntarily toward the doll display. Several rows of identical dolls were arranged there, but one stood out from the rest. While all the others faced forward, this one was staring directly at him.

He was so startled by the sudden realization that he took two steps back.

***

Once he regained his composure, he realized it was just an ordinary doll. What was he afraid of?

Driven by curiosity, he approached the peculiar doll. Upon getting closer, he realized it looked exactly like the one he had thrown away earlier. He couldn't possibly imagine it was the same one, but remembering his daughter's fondness for it, he called over a clerk.

"How much is this doll?"

The clerk followed his gesture, smiled, and said, "Fifteen Newts (the currency of the Sunset Kingdom)."

Redes nodded and reached out to pick up the doll, but when he looked back, it was gone. He looked at the clerk, puzzled. "Where did that unique doll that was just here go?"

"A unique doll?" The clerk glanced at the uniform, identical dolls on the shelf and smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, sir, but this store only sells this one type of doll."

Hearing this, Redes frowned. "Are you sure there wasn't a doll here just a moment ago that looked different from the others?"

The clerk was bewildered by his words but explained, "No, sir. Our dolls are mass-produced; how could there be one that looks different?"

Now it was Redes's turn to be stunned. He had clearly seen the doll there. What on earth was going on?

At that moment, Prima had finished selecting her toys and was waiting for him to pay. After settling the bill, he still felt uneasy. He glanced back at the doll display, only to find the unique doll had reappeared, staring at him once more.

Realizing that something was truly wrong, he hurried Prima out to the car.

As soon as he opened the car door, he saw that familiar figure again—the exact same doll he had discarded.

"Wow! It's that doll from before!" Prima exclaimed, reaching out for it.

Terrified, Redes stopped his daughter, carefully reached over, grabbed the doll, and flung it away. He then pulled Prima into the car and sped off.

His instincts told him something was deeply wrong. It couldn't possibly be someone playing a prank on him, could it? His first thought turned to supernatural entities. His family employed a Spirit Controller, and he needed to return home immediately; that was the only place he would be safe.

The car sped down the road until he finally reached his estate. Bursting through the door, he shouted, "Vic! Vic!"

A man with a somewhat long nose ran out. "Mr. Harmon, did you call for me?"

After instructing his daughter not to wander off, Redes led Vic into his study.

"Vic, listen to me. I think I’ve been targeted by a supernatural entity."

"A supernatural entity?" Vic hesitated, squinting at him. "But sir, I don't sense any supernatural aura on you."

"That's impossible! It must be!" Redes shouted, then recounted the entire story of the doll from the moment Prima found it.

Vic rubbed his chin after hearing the account. "If that's the case, it doesn't seem like the style of a supernatural entity. They usually try to trick you into signing strange contracts, drain your vitality, or kill you outright. If what you say is true, then the speed of this entity is terrifying, and there would be no point in such meaningless intimidation."

"Then what do you think it is!" Redes slammed his hand on the desk, roaring in anger.

"I suspect it might be a prank, or perhaps your eyes were playing tricks on you," Vic said timidly. A supernatural entity that didn't attack humans when thrown away and moved faster than a car? How could that be possible?

Hearing this, Redes grew even more furious. He pointed to the door. "Get out! What use are you to me!"

Vic didn't dare say anything more. At the end of the day, he was just a slightly higher-level servant and couldn't afford to overstep. If his employer was unhappy, he risked losing his job. After all, no family wanted to hire a Spirit Controller who had been fired by another.

After Vic left, Redes collapsed into his chair, shaking his head. "Could my eyes really have been playing tricks on me?"

But that didn't make sense either; his daughter had seen it too. It was impossible for both of them to be hallucinating at the same time. If it wasn't a supernatural entity, how could it be explained?

Just then, a text message popped up on his phone about a free medical consultation from a famous doctor he had never heard of. To be safe, he decided to consult the doctor. What if he really was having mental issues? What if his daughter seeing the doll was also just a hallucination?

Thinking there was no harm in a free consultation, he clicked the link.

An hour later, he slumped further into his chair and lit a cigar. "Is my condition really that severe?"

However, what he didn't know was that this consultation platform was a notorious scam site that could diagnose a common cold as terminal cancer.