Chapter 1687: Love and Desire

"Hmm? How could there exist a woman more beautiful than the Great Witch?"

Alertness suddenly arose in his heart, and then the feeling of being charmed vanished instantly. Xia De stood up at once, unable to believe that with such high mental resistance and so many anti-charm blessings, he had actually been charmed by an oil painting with no elemental reaction.

Even though he knew he absolutely must not look at the painting again, his eyes still swept over it subconsciously. Then he felt that although the face shape, hair color, and eye color were very different, the temperament of extreme beauty of the woman underwater in the painting, and the unique charm that made people more fascinated the more they looked, even making them want to kill the current owner to possess it, all suddenly made Xia De think of something he was familiar with.

"This wouldn't be..."

He stepped back two steps subconsciously, and while widening his eyes, he felt that the painting had not changed at all, yet it had an increasingly irresistible attraction. Xia De swallowed subconsciously, and immediately after, the woman in the painting who was narrowing her eyes also moved as he had thought, turned her head to look at him outside the painting, and then blinked and smiled at him.

At that moment, Xia De felt as if his heart had stopped beating. Part of this was because he was shocked by that charm, and on the other hand, it was because he had already confirmed what this oil painting depicted:

"Desire!"

More accurately, this was the desire in the eyes of an ordinary painter, what he thought was desire.

Cold sweat had already broken out on Xia De's back, but Mr. Updun seemed not to see the woman in the painting moving at all, and was still talking endlessly about the inspiration he had obtained from the painting.

Only at this moment did Xia De realize that from just now until now, he had actually put all his thoughts on that painting and hadn't heard what Mr. Updun was saying at all.

And the woman in the painting had now returned to a static state again. It was just that her expression remained in the state of turning her head to look at Xia De, but Mr. Updun still didn't notice this point.

He had almost finished talking excitedly about the inspiration he had obtained from this painting and also sighed to Xia De:

"Getting this painting, I really had great luck. I think the painter back then must have seen a mermaid, right? I really hope I can see..."

"Mr. Updun!"

Xia De interrupted his words at once, his mouth twitched, and after making up his mind, he asked:

"Do you sell this painting?"

But the unkempt man shook his head immediately:

"Absolutely not for sale, not for any amount of money. This is the love of my life; I want to keep it by my side until I take it into my grave."

After saying this, he looked at Xia De vigilantly:

"I won't tell you where I will be buried in the future."

Xia De pursed his lips and swept a vigilant glance at the painting again. In fact, just now when he heard words like "Pink Book" and "charm," "flesh," and "pleasure," he should have understood what he had encountered.

A Zero-Level relic, even if it was just a portrait painted by an ordinary person, possessed extraordinary power. He could now feel the suffocating whisper elements, but he absolutely must not say the name and information of "Desire."

"Alright, alright, this visit is over, you should leave quickly."

Mr. Updun seemed to realize that Xia De, who was frowning and thinking, was "plotting," and forcibly drove Xia De into the hotel corridor, and closed the door in front of Xia De. Xia De raised his hand and wanted to knock on the door again, but finally put his hand down:

"This is really troublesome now."

Although "Desire's" attitude toward him had always been quite good, he would not forget that it was a top-tier Zero-Level relic. Theoretically speaking, except for the descent of an Evil God, it was difficult for anything more dangerous than her to appear in the material world.

If "Desire" really appeared in the Green Lake region because of that painting, Xia De couldn't imagine what would happen next. This was definitely not his groundless worry; that painting had already shown signs of activation just now, and a water area like Green Lake was exactly where "Desire" liked to descend the most:

"This is really..."

He was now a friend of the Fu De brothers in name, and for the sake of the brothers' reputation, he couldn't steal or rob. Finally, Xia De decided it would be better to report it to the Church anonymously. Now the Green Lake diocese already had three Thirteen-Ring Shushi of the Church, so this was the safest method at present.

But he didn't do so in the end, because when he went to Ms. Hope's room to pay the gold pounds for the miracle, and went upstairs to find old Mr. Richard to ask for the copy, he received very unexpected news.

Xia De did not take the initiative to expose what he knew in front of Ms. Hope or Mr. Richard, but when Ms. Hope and Xia De came to the fourth floor and the three sat down on the sofa, old Mr. Richard asked curiously:

"Mr. Watson, you don't look very well."

"Mr. Updun's room gives me a very bad feeling."

Mr. Richard frowned at once, looked at Ms. Hope cautiously, and the latter asked carefully:

"He didn't let you see that painting, did he?"

Xia De was startled in his heart, and immediately realized that the time that painting had been in Mr. Updun's hands was definitely not short. Since he could show it to Xia De, a person he had just met, it was impossible that he hadn't shown it to others. And the two believers of the God of Love in front of him clearly knew something.

"Yes."

Xia De nodded and said tentatively:

"That painting is very strange..."

While the other two observed his expression, he was also observing theirs:

"There is a very beautiful woman on it, like a mermaid."

Mr. Richard's hand gripping the sofa armrest exerted force suddenly, and Ms. Hope's brows tightened even more:

"Did you see anything else?"

The two of them looked like this, as if they were worried that Xia De would suddenly start moving.

Xia De shook his head:

"No."

The believers of the God of Love breathed a sigh of relief, and then heard Xia De's next sentence:

"I moved my gaze away in time. Because that thing reminded me of the data of a relic I had seen before. I couldn't believe my judgment was correct; after all, the danger level of that relic is very high."

Three pairs of eyes looked at each other, everyone was very nervous and vigilant.

"May I ask what relic it is?"

Mr. Richard asked, and even didn't dare to exhale after taking a deep breath.

"Don't say the name!"

Seeing Xia De about to open his mouth, Ms. Hope reminded him again suddenly. Her voice became quite sharp, but she didn't care about her loss of composure at all.

Xia De nodded, raised his hand, and gestured the shape of the number "0."

Mr. Richard raised his hand to cover his eyes, and only then exhaled the breath he had been holding, while Ms. Hope shivered and closed her eyes to pray to God.

"So, you also know it?"

Xia De asked, and then found his palms were sweating. After a long time, the other two gave the answer:

"Yes, of course we know. That thing was the greatest enemy before our sect disappeared."

"What?"

"Before my Lord left, she once instructed that we must guard its seal well... Yes, my Lord, the Old God - 【God of Love】, or revered as 【Lock of the Red Heart】, once sealed it in the Fifth Era. But in the late Fifth Era, after the sect gradually collapsed, it still escaped. How could we not know who that painting depicted?"

Xia De leaned his body back against the sofa back, his eyes had also widened, and his heart rate became very fast.

But this was definitely not because of nervousness or fear, but because of excitement. Information about 【Desire】 had always been difficult to find, and even the ancient 【Spirit Cultivation Sect】 only recorded a few words.

And now, the opportunity to understand more deeply that Zero-Level relic that always appeared by his side had finally appeared.

Mr. Richard and Ms. Hope were also encountering someone who knew the information about that relic for the first time, so seeing that it was noon, they invited Xia De to have lunch together.

However, they didn't dare to eat at the hotel, but specifically went to a restaurant two blocks away. Because they were wary of that painting, after eating, they took a carriage for a long time away from the city center and away from the water area, and finally arrived at the tavern in Little Litton Village, which existed attached to the city on the northern outskirts of Mikaela Blast Furnace.

Spring was the busiest season for farmers, and it was the afternoon after lunch, so there were few people in the village tavern. The three sat down in the corner, the believers of the God of Love sat opposite Xia De, and only after the bartender brought the drinks and placed them on the table did they start talking.

"Since you know that thing, then Mr. Updun has no reason not to know. Why did he still hold that painting instead of destroying it immediately?"

This was the question Xia De cared about most. Old Mr. Richard shook his head:

"Updun of course knows that thing, but he was fascinated. You should understand what I mean; he has already fallen into it. This is not because his will is not firm, but that thing... We cannot separate him from that painting, and we cannot even tell others about this matter. The information of that thing itself is a source of pollution; all we can do is constantly try to let Updun wake up. Fortunately, that painting is the desire seen by an unknown painter..."

He almost said that word, immediately closed his mouth, and looked around nervously.

Ms. Hope helped him continue this sentence:

"That painting is the reflection of that thing in someone else's heart, and Updun has always been very devout, so there is still salvation. You see him as basically normal now, just a bit eccentric in personality, but in fact, a year ago, he spent all day in his room looking at that painting, and he himself was on the verge of losing control, and even had the act of actively holding the painting and throwing himself into the lake. His situation is much better now; we believe that in another half a year, we can try to 'borrow' that painting from him."

Xia De nodded to show he understood:

"But this is still dangerous. The longer it is delayed, the more likely it is that problems will occur. That painting may summon it; this is almost certain."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 1688 =====