Chapter 450: The Power of Painting

The next morning.

Lu Mian changed his clothes and was just about to go out when he suddenly saw the "Doll" messenger drill out from the wall and drop a neatly folded letter.

*Ms. Magician found clues from Bouvard's polluted corpse? * Lu Mian was overjoyed. While thanking the busy messenger, he unfolded the letter:

"Regarding some evil gods outside the barrier, we don't know enough. We temporarily don't know what 'Hostel' refers to or where it is located, just having some guesses.

"From Bouvard Pompier's corpse, I discovered pollution with a certain similarity to the 'Apprentice' pathway. That is erosion from different-dimensional space and another dimension. If it weren't for me to handle it, unless it walked out of that state and launched an attack, you wouldn't be able to truly come into contact with it.

"Similar situations have had a small number of cases before, mainly coming from painters, novelists, and people with reading hobbies.

"We noticed that those painters have often already gone mad, just because of the characteristics of artists themselves, so no one noticed. Their near-unconscious babbling and convulsive fantasies in their paintings have reflected some kind of truth of the world, some have produced a certain influence on the surroundings, and some have turned false content into real existence, walking out from the canvas or paper and wandering within a certain range. And most of those have time limits.

"One example is that a certain painter painted an indescribable creature after taking mental drugs. Afterward, that creature came out of the canvas, killed its creator, and other living things in that apartment.

"I once came into contact with a dangerous painting-style sealed item, inside which the god painted came to life and didn't know where it went. Fortunately, it didn't bring a big disaster.

"Similarly, when we were dealing with a mad evil god believer, we saw Gehrman Sparrow, saw the 'Queen of Disease,' and saw various characters and different scenes that originally only existed in novels inside the building where he lived.

"Fortunately, these characters don't possess the strength of the prototypes, only simple interpretations of appearance, personality, and abilities.

"After confirmation, these were all created by that mad evil god gifted one. He was a novel enthusiast before, and after losing his reason, he instinctively created an illusory kingdom in his own home according to the content of the novels.

"From this aspect, this has a certain similarity to the 'Spectator' pathway, but essentially different. One mainly originates from the power of the heart, while the other is more like creating things by borrowing the characteristics and power of other dimensions or different time-spaces. That early stage might be a channel, a dangerous door, and the later stage might be a near-real different-dimensional space, or even a different-dimensional world."

Seeing this, Lu Mian's eyelids jumped, and many thoughts were produced.

His first reaction was:

*Is this content I can see? *

Part of it was fine, just objectively describing the powers of those evil god gifted ones, but the corresponding examples and analysis made Lu Mian's head swell, his heartbeat accelerate, and his skin tense.

*A god painted once came to life and walked into reality? *

*Is it that terrifying? *

*If such a painting weren't sealed, wouldn't it be able to destroy the entire Trier? *

*Given more time, the entire world might be finished! *

Amidst his racing thoughts, Lu Mian suddenly had an idea:

*If I catch a "Painter" who possesses similar power and whose rank isn't low, and let him paint a perfectly replicated oil painting of Aurora, wouldn't it be able to let the Aurora in the painting come to life and return to reality? *

*This is equivalent to a kind of resurrection. *

After more than ten seconds, Lu Mian exhaled a long breath.

His heart was filled with impulse, but his reason told him that the Aurora "resurrected" in that way was likely not the real Aurora, but a dangerous creature wearing Aurora's appearance.

If he only wanted Aurora in appearance, he could do it at any time with the "Liar" ear clip.

Immediately after, Lu Mian thought of a magical artifact he hadn't used for a long time:

"Eye of Mystery"!

This pair of tea-colored gold-rimmed glasses with a rubber texture came from a dead Beyonder, and that Beyonder had painted an oil painting full of crazy temperament, extremely bright colors, and strange and psychedelic patterns before dying!

In addition, after Lu Mian wore the "Eye of Mystery," he would see things he couldn't see originally, occasionally glimpse the truth of this world to a certain extent, and be filled with the desire and impulse to paint.

In that state, the pictures he painted would all carry a bit of supernatural power, producing different effects according to the content, such as bringing itching all over the body, bringing the warmth of sunlight, and the presentation of light. This coincided with the description of certain paintings by evil god gifted ones that could produce a certain influence on the surroundings by Ms. Magician.

Since he had the "Face of Neese" and "Liar" ear clip and no longer needed the "Eye of Mystery" to disguise himself, Lu Mian searched out the tea-colored gold-rimmed glasses, examined them carefully for a few seconds, and muttered silently:

*"Its original owner was a gifted one of the pathway related to 'Hostel,' or came into contact with corresponding things and suffered certain pollution? *

*Hmm, wait a while to find Mr. K to report, ask what details were found at the scene, er... The 'Aurora Order' is fanatical about hunting evil god believers, the evil god intelligence they master might be more than the 'Tarot Club.' Mr. K might know a little about 'Hostel'... *

Lu Mian was in four different hidden organizations and could obtain information from four intelligence systems that were exceptionally developed, so he didn't have an urgent need to participate in occult gatherings, only occasionally going to take a look, join in the fun, and listen to rumors and stories.

After stuffing the "Eye of Mystery" into his pocket, Lu Mian read the remaining content:

"Before this, the evil god gifted ones of this pathway weren't very active, didn't like to preach, and the number of bloody sacrifices they engaged in wasn't high either. Even if something happened, they only killed themselves and the people in the building where they were, so the danger wasn't relatively that big.

"Now it seems, they aren't that 'harmless' either, and the danger might even be very large.

"Regarding the 'Hostel' matter, you could try asking Termiboros. His understanding of those evil gods and their gifted ones is deeper than everyone I know combined. Of course, he might not answer you."

After Lu Mian used crimson flames to ignite the letter paper, he pressed his voice down and laughed in a low tone:

"Termiboros, do you know what the 'Hostel' represents and which evil god it belongs to?"

"It is not an evil god, but a great existence." Termiboros's grand, layered voice echoed out.

Only after refuting him did he answer Lu Mian's question:

"I know."

Then, there was no follow-up.

This left Lu Mian feeling somewhat provoked:

Am I trying to hear whether you know or don't know? I want to hear what it actually represents and which pathway it belongs to!

After he pressed for an answer, Termiboros asked back in a deep, thick voice:

"Do you really want to know?"

Lu Mian suddenly felt a strong sense of danger and answered with unusual vigilance:

"No need to specifically mention that evil god's honorific name or other such information; just talk about the situation and characteristics of the pathway corresponding to the 'Hostel'."

Termiboros immediately returned to silence and did not provide an introduction.

Lu Mian let out a "Heh," feeling that this guy had answered with the mindset of "Anyway, I won't lose anything, so why not try it? What if the host is being foolish?" and had never intended to sell out the intelligence on the "Hostel" at all!

He exhaled and turned to leave Room 207, preparing to go find Mr. K.

…………

While Lu Mian was heading toward the Boulevard District, Franca had already met Blanche Solon.

Both of them were wearing hunting outfits and carrying double-barreled shotguns, standing at the edge of the East Lonne Forest, exchanging words while aiming at the wild deer behind the trees.

"Blanche, when the hell are you going to let me end my assessment period?" Franca used this stereotypical way of swearing to emphasize her original gender.

Blanche, whose orange-red hair was mostly tucked into her deerstalker cap, looked ahead and said:

"Soon, soon."

Franca said indignantly:

"Is it the high-ranking Witch in charge of Trier who wants to assess me for a while longer, or are you the one causing trouble in the middle?"

Blanche's finger, which was preparing to pull the trigger, stopped, and her expression changed slightly.

"Don't tell me it's really you?" Franca blurted out, looking slightly stunned.

Blanche answered solemnly:

"I only made a suggestion, and the people above agreed."

"Why would she agree to such an absurd proposal? Is she your mother?" Franca began to curse.

Bang! Blanche pulled the trigger.

The bullet passed through the woods, failing to hit the wild deer.

Seeing this scene, Franca muttered to herself:

Could they really be related, or perhaps, intimate lovers?

The Witch Sect is also called the Witch Family; it's quite normal for many members to have some family ties...

The Solon family originally controlled the adjacent pathway to "Assassin," so it's not impossible that some branches have long been eroded by the Witch Sect...

Seeing Franca silent and not responding, Blanche cleared her throat and said:

"If you agree not to attend the joyful party at the Red House Cafe, you can end your assessment period this week."

"..." Franca wanted to curse, but it eventually turned into laughter. "Haha, if I say you're innocent, you have an entire female joyful party; if I say you're promiscuous, you're unwilling to let outsiders participate."

Without waiting for Blanche to respond, she "hmphed" and said:

"I can agree to that; I can manage on my own anyway."

Her real thought was that a disaster might break out in Trier in a week or two, so she had to quickly infiltrate the Witch Sect to see if she could snag some good things. Once the disaster passed, if she was still alive, she would then plot for Blanche's joyful party!

A real man can be unbridled and flamboyant, but can also temporarily humble himself!

Blanche couldn't help but turn her head and look Franca up and down.

Franca didn't feel guilty at all and let Blanche examine her.

After nearly ten seconds, Blanche said in a low voice:

"Remember what you just said."

Franca smiled, indicating it was no problem.

After reaching an agreement to end the assessment period, Franca held her shotgun and turned to say:

"Some time ago, Xia Er and I went to the catacombs once and walked to where the 'Kriesmana Night Pillar' is. I had a vague, strange feeling about that pillar. Could it have been left behind by some Witch from the Fourth Epoch?"

Ever since she learned from Jenna that she had heard a faint sigh, Franca had become interested in the "Kriesmana Night Pillar."

"Xia Er? That little lover of yours?" Blanche turned her head again and glanced at Franca.

"Yes," Franca answered "candidly."

Blanche was silent for a moment and said:

"Kriesmana was indeed a Witch of the Fourth Epoch.

"She, she is a child of God."

PS: Last day and a half, asking for monthly votes~

(End of Chapter)