September's brilliant sunlight shone onto Lu Ban's balcony as he looked at the air beside him and asked a question.
"Can you talk?"
There was no echo in the air, as if what Lu Ban had just felt was all an illusion.
He reached out to touch the spot where his air friend was supposed to be but felt nothing in return.
"I always thought you'd just listen to me without speaking yourself."
Lu Ban said, but there was no response from the other side.
"Or maybe, you became polluted while in the muck, and that's why you mutated?"
When Lu Ban went into the muck to retrieve the divine idol, he was engulfed by the muck, which reeked of a metallic stench and his air friend must have been in the muck too.
That muck not only contaminated the spirit but also caused humans to mutate into monsters.
Given that, it didn't seem like a problem for the air friend to mutate and start talking.
Lu Ban got no answer, but it didn't matter anymore.