Chapter 996: Following the Vine to Find the Melon

After listening, Qiu Xuantong gave Tang Qingshan two protective charms.

"Based on your description, you only glanced at it briefly; the photo studio owner's wife probably didn't have the mood to examine that photo closely," Qiu Xuantong said. "These two protective charms, each of you wear one close to your body; as for that photo, don't open it to look—dispose of it properly as soon as possible."

Tang Qingshan thanked him profusely.

He kept one protective charm close to his person and sent the other to the photo studio for the owner's wife.

The owner's wife, overwhelmed with grief, was somewhat dazed; she mechanically took the protective charm and slipped it into her pocket.

Tang Qingshan returned home and immediately took out the paper bag containing the photo from the drawer, then set it on fire.

Only after watching the paper bag and the photo turn to ash did Tang Qingshan let out a long sigh of relief.

That night, he couldn't stay awake any longer and went to bed early.

In his sleep, he seemed to smell a strange fragrance.

This strange fragrance felt familiar—it was exactly the same as the one he had smelled at the big boss's house.

Tang Qingshan snapped his eyes open; a chill washed over his face, and his eyes locked onto a pair of bloodshot, feral pupils. Instinctively, he pulled out the protective charm and thrust it toward the figure.

The protective charm ignited without fire, and Tang Qingshan heard only a shrill howl before he switched on the light.

The room was empty.

But the ash left where the protective charm had burned away, along with the faint lingering strange fragrance in the air, told him that what had just happened was neither a dream nor an illusion.

However, as Qiu Xuantong had said, he had not seen clearly the woman in the ancient painting, nor had he done anything to offend her; plus, the protective charm took effect in time, and Tang Qingshan survived this ordeal safely.

Over the next few days, two or three of his fellow tradespeople died one after another.

Whether it was because the employer handled things properly, or because those fellow workers found experts to help them avoid disaster, the matter was completely resolved half a month later.

Tang Qingshan spent the next few months in anxiety, gradually letting go of the incident.

Who could have imagined that, a few years later, with phones updating at breakneck speed and features popping up everywhere, he never would have thought that the photo he had taken years ago would appear again!

When the blurry image of the photo taken by his phone appeared in his MMS, Tang Qingshan felt as if the sky had collapsed.

He immediately deleted the image, but shortly afterward it reappeared in his MMS, impossible to erase.

It was from that time onward that Tang Qingshan began to have incessant nightmares, feeling pressed down by ghosts, his spirit constantly on the brink of collapse, up to the present……

Xiao Jiu eased up and let out a long breath.

Tang Tang hurriedly asked, "Xiao Jiu, how was it? Did you see anything?"

Xiao Jiu nodded and told Tang Tang everything she had learned.

Tang Tang sighed, "A single painting has led to all this, but the key is: where exactly did that ancient painting come from? Why does she want to harm so many people?"

Even though they had gathered so much information from recalling Tang Qingshan's memories, they still hadn't solved the problem at its root.

Xiao Jiu said, "It's not a total loss—at least we know where that Buddhist shrine came from; we can follow the vine to the melon, and perhaps we'll be able to uncover everything about the girl in the ancient painting."

In Tang Qingshan's memory, the big boss's words contained a lot of information.

He said that Buddhist shrine was found in the ancestral hall of an abandoned village.

And the only descendant he could contact from that village at the time was the offspring of a son-in-law who had moved out of the village.

It's not hard to guess why that small village was completely deserted.

It probably has to do with the Buddhist shrine in the ancestral hall and this ancient painting enshrined there.

Why did they invite that Buddhist shrine back then, and where did they get it from?

What was the true cause of death of the girl named Tang Yaocao depicted in the ancient painting?

Xiao Jiu turned to Tang Tang and asked, "Besides you and Uncle Tang, who else has seen this picture?"

Upon hearing that, Tang Tang shuddered: "Only the three of us have seen it."

"She might not come looking for me," Xiao Jiu said, "but you and Uncle Tang aren't so sure—Uncle Tang is old, so try to spare him from experiencing these things…"

How could Tang Tang not understand Xiao Jiu's meaning?

"I'll call my dad first; we have plenty of suppressing objects at home, so they won't let Tang Yaocao disturb my father," Tang Tang said. "If she really comes looking for me, I'll do my best to get her to answer my questions."

Xiao Jiu neither confirmed nor denied.

As for Tang Ao's side, she isn't worried; she's worried that, given Tang Yaocao's current mental state, Tang Tang might not be able to get any answers from her.

But for now, all she can do is treat a dead horse as if it were alive.

That night, Tang Tang lay down early.

Xiao Jiu set up a Soul‑Trapping Formation around Tang Tang's room; if Tang Yaocao merely entered the dream, the formation would have no effect, but if she manifested in person to kill Tang Tang, the formation would react.

The wait was long and grueling.

Time ticked by, and only at midnight did a sound come from the room.

Tang Tang's painful moan, together with the faint fluctuation of mana in the Soul‑Trapping Formation, signaled that Tang Yaocao had truly arrived!

Xiao Jiu burst through the door without hesitation, but all he smelled was a wisp of strange fragrance.

On the bed, Tang Tang had awakened, clutching her neck with both hands, sitting there gasping heavily.

Aside from a wisp of black qi, the Soul‑Trapping Formation contained nothing else.

Xiao Jiu walked to the bedside, examined Tang Tang's injury, and found that her neck indeed bore a faint strangulation mark, not very obvious.

Tang Tang finally recovered and said to Xiao Jiu, "What came wasn't her true form, but a manifestation of resentful qi; when the Soul‑Trapping Formation took effect, I saw with my own eyes that she first turned into a black Ghost King Butterfly, then dissipated into a wisp of black qi."

Xiao Jiu asked, "Did you two talk?"

Tang Tang shook her head: "I asked, but if it wasn't her true form, aside from the powerful resentful qi, there's no way to communicate."

Xiao Jiu patted Tang Tang's shoulder and said, "You've worked hard; you and Uncle Tang take good care of yourselves—I'll handle the rest."

After returning, Xiao Jiu teamed up with Liu Junyan to locate the ancestral hall where that Buddhist shrine had once been, and to contact the relatives of the big boss from back then, to learn how they had dealt with the shrine.

They have wide connections and many usable contacts, so news came quickly.

Two days later, Xiao Jiu met the daughter of that big boss from years ago; from her he learned that, at the time, her family had followed Qiu Xuantong's advice and indeed hired an expert to handle the Buddhist shrine and the ancient painting.

Unfortunately, the expert tried many methods but could not destroy the Buddhist shrine; in the end, they could only seal it and send it back to that ancestral hall……