Chapter 72: The Thing Within the Painting

Splash!

Chu Tianshu dragged Su Ha onto the shore and found fine threads of blood oozing from his eyes and ears—he had stopped breathing.

He had been the last one left; Chu Tianshu had intended to take him alive.

But during that clash with the mental force, he couldn’t hold back—the man must have overtaxed his mental energy, causing his cerebral blood vessels to rupture.

Chu Tianshu tossed the corpse onto the ground and frowned at Su Ha’s mouth.

Just now, this man had bitten his own tongue, yet the bleeding from his mouth was not obvious; his cheeks were swollen, and a green hue deepened inside his oral cavity.

Dozens of tender green willow branches slithered out like living snakes, automatically forming the shape of a small doll.

It was a thoroughly disgusting sight.

Yet that fresh, vibrant color stirred a strange thrill, as if brimming with vital life.

The crude appearance of the doll somehow felt oddly endearing—its sprouting buds formed short, stubby eyebrows and eyes, giving it a plump, innocent, rustic charm.

It looked like something you’d toss by the roadside and draw a crowd eager to pick it up and play with it.

Hiss!

A silver needle pierced the willow doll’s head.

Chu Tianshu’s expression didn’t change; his left hand moved like a piano master playing a climactic passage, fingers flicking rapidly.

Dozens of silver needles pierced the willow doll in succession.

One needle each at the head and extremities; the needles along the torso were tightly linked, forming a grid of four vertical and five horizontal lines.

Chu Tianshu pointed his right hand downward.

“Lin Bing Dou Zhe Jie Zhen Lie Qian Xing!”

The willow doll exploded with a bang.

Evil spirits possessing human bodies are usually tightly bound to their hosts.

Even the Golden-Swallowing Beast Mask on Chen the Eunuch had fallen silent after his death.

But this willow doll had no loyalty—it had barely waited for its former host to die before rushing to lure a new one.

Chu Tianshu had read about such things in books, but this was his first real encounter.

【Willow Spirit Old Body: A Willow Spirit Child, after years of growth, breaks free from its shackles, leaves the body, becomes a spirit, enters the Spirit Realm, and fails to return.】

A new evil spirit born within the old body remains under the distant control of the Spirit Realm Child and is taken as a messenger.

Trait: Those possessed by this wood spirit share the messenger’s status; the difficulty of casting hexes drops by thirty percent.

Serving the Spirit Realm Child as master, through communication, sacrifice, and blessing, the old body filters impurities from the Spirit Realm, prolonging the possessed’s sanity.

The sound of a vehicle approaching came from nearby.

Fang Jun slammed on the brakes, flung open the door, and asked.

“What happened?”

The loud splash of Chu Tianshu’s car plunging into the pond, along with Li Kang’s roar, had drawn attention from many nearby residents.

Some households had already come out to peek.

Fang Jun glanced back, pulled a fist-sized warning light from inside the van, and placed it on the roof, flipping the switch.

The red and blue lights inside the warning light flared to life and began rotating.

“These three have no known background, but before we even laid eyes on them, they launched lethal attacks—first glass hex, then stone hex, each more vicious than the last.”

Chu Tianshu’s face twisted in disgust as he looked toward Aruo, who lay farther away.

“And that one—his hands had mother-child nails. From the aura, they were crafted by this hex master at my feet.”

Fang Jun also frowned, crouched down, and searched the body, pulling a phone from Su Ha’s inner chest pocket.

Chu Tianshu said: “It’s probably fried by mental force.”

Fang Jun replied: “Don’t underestimate our division’s technicians—they might be able to fix it.”

Chu Tianshu nodded: “Alright, there’s another corpse in the pond—might have a phone on him too.”

Fang Jun pondered: “Strange. In the city, other trades favor feng shui, but only the entertainment circle deals much with hex masters. Why would a hex master come here?”

“Could it be targeting me? Come to think of it, when I investigated cases before, I did cross paths with quite a few in the entertainment industry…”

Chu Tianshu’s ears twitched, and he turned his head.

There stood Yin Fengxin in Fang Jun’s courtyard, gaping in shock.

Chu Tianshu walked over: “Didn’t I tell you to stay in the basement? When did you come out?”

“I heard a huge noise…”

Yin Fengxin’s expression was strange, as if in a dream—he looked at the warning light, the sunken car, the corpses, and swallowed hard.

“So… I must’ve accidentally eaten some drug and become a bio-enhanced test subject?”

“Was it from some free drink at a shop? I’ve heard rumors—some places serve free drinks with dubious origins.”

“You’re not from the social investigation unit—you’re a special operations team, and you’ve been investigating me, right?”

The more Yin Fengxin thought, the more convinced he became; he clenched his fists, as if sensing a mission upon him.

“Has there already been many cases of modified humans lurking in the city’s dark corners?”

“I get it—I must be a rare living specimen, which is why someone came to silence me.”

“Brother Chu, don’t worry—I’ll cooperate fully with your research. Help you develop an antidote serum as soon as possible.”

Chu Tianshu stopped walking, pressed his lips together, and gave a faint, wry smile.

“Young Yin, you don’t actually like watching workplace dramas—you like sci-fi dramas, don’t you?”

Chu Tianshu couldn’t hold back, letting out two short laughs, then added, “Well then, your situation isn’t as dangerous anymore—I’ll tell you the truth.”

He brought Yin Fengxin back into the living room and explained everything in a few brief sentences.

Fang Jun was indeed from a special department, but Yin Fengxin hadn’t been modified—he’d been possessed by an evil spirit.

As Yin Fengxin listened, he instinctively touched his waist, his face filled with disbelief.

“Magic?”

Yin Fengxin paused, then suddenly remembered something else: “If that’s true, then are urban legends about every casino having a feng shui setup that drains money and traps people—do those effects actually exist?”

“They do exist, but those feng shui setups cover vast areas and compete with each other—they also require gamblers to already harbor those thoughts; only after prolonged exposure do they become strongly affected.”

Chu Tianshu explained a bit more, then pulled open a drawer and took out the painting.

“In fact, even this painting is tied to magic—likely left behind by the famed Li Shizhen of the Ming Dynasty, who hid medical formulas and poison recipes within it.”

“Too bad, I’ve been pouring mental force into it daily, and still…”

As Chu Tianshu spoke, he naturally released mental force.

After about ten seconds, he suddenly sensed the painting’s rate of absorbing mental force had noticeably slowed.

Chu Tianshu let out a soft “Huh?” and focused his gaze on the painting.

Two minutes later, the ancient painting suddenly trembled.

Chu Tianshu released his grip.

A layer of transparent flame rose from the painting’s surface, hovering midair, rapidly contracting into the shape of a rigid short rod.

Within the firelight, the fibers of the paper and scroll were visibly dissolving and reorganizing.

Chu Tianshu’s eyes, lit by the flame, felt a sudden insight—he reached out and caught it.

The fire vanished instantly; the transformed ancient painting landed in his hand.

“What?”

Chu Tianshu’s face showed surprise.

What he held was no longer a painting—it was a long, off-white sword.

The blade bore none of the original painting’s pigments; apart from its uniform off-white hue, it bore only patterns resembling cross-sections of tree roots.

The legendary physician Li Shizhen, famed for his mastery of herbal medicine and his journeys through perilous mountains and rivers to verify herbs!

The thing he had painstakingly hidden within the ancient painting was…

A sword?!

(End of Chapter)