Chapter 54 What is That You Have Brought Out?

Shopkeeper Xu gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, follow me. If you still can't pick one out this time, there is truly nothing more I can do!"

"This way, please!"

Shopkeeper Xu led us down three flights of stairs before opening a half-foot-thick iron door.

The moment that secret chamber opened, what met my eyes was layers of mist drifting in mid-air. Stepping into that chamber felt like entering an entirely different realm.

Though the mist was completely silent, it gave me an unprecedented sense of danger.

Shopkeeper Xu said, "There are paintings in this secret chamber, passed down from my ancestors. As for what exactly is inside, even I do not know."

"When you walk in, it might be a matter of person choosing painting, or painting choosing person."

"Regardless of whether you choose the painting or the painting chooses you, you can only choose to bear that inscribed image. Such is fate."

"Before you step inside, you must think carefully."

Ye Huan started to move forward, but I reached out and stopped him. "Wait. Think it over a bit more before deciding."

Ye Huan shook his head and said, "There's no need to think. I sense something calling out to me, and I have to go bring it out."

I pinned Ye Huan down again. "I'm going in with you!"

Since Ye Huan said something was calling to him, I had even more reason not to let him go in alone.

Human intuition is a wondrous thing, but it is also easily exploited by ghosts and spirits.

When a person walks into a place they have never been to before and suddenly feels a sense of déjà vu, or senses an invisible summons guiding them toward a certain spot,

you must not assume it is a memory from a past life, let alone naively believe it is the favor of the gods.

In such situations, there is an eighty percent chance that a malicious ghost, which has been eyeing you for a long time, is calling your soul. By the time you walk over, you might lose your life.

Old Thief Yuan, seeing my insistence on accompanying Ye Huan, gave a half-smile as he looked at Shopkeeper Xu and asked, "Both of my grandsons are going in. That doesn't break any rules, does it?"

Shopkeeper Xu replied, "This is a matter of predestined affinity. It's fine for them to go in."

"However, I must repeat: once someone is chosen or makes a choice, they must have the image tattooed onto themselves. Otherwise, they must bear the consequences."

Old Thief Yuan nodded and said, "Very well, whatever massive karmic entanglement there may be, we grandfather and grandsons will shoulder it. You two, go on in!"

I nodded at Ye Huan and walked side by side with him through the door.

I had only taken a few steps before my vision was completely blocked by the mist.

The "Scout's Decisive Art" places the utmost importance on training one's eyesight. Ordinary fog and even miasma were incapable of obstructing my sight, yet now I couldn't see even a single meter ahead.

"The Yellow Springs Netherworld opens in a single glance—" With a furious shout, I abruptly activated my Yellow Springs Fiend Eyes. My piercing gaze stabbed straight through the mist, only to discover that Ye Huan, who had been standing right beside me, had vanished without a trace.

Cold sweat instantly broke out all over me!

Where did Ye Huan go?

If he wanted to leave, why didn't he say anything to me?

And if he had been snatched away by someone, how could I not have felt a thing?

Overcome with anxiety, I drove my Yellow Springs Fiend Eyes to their absolute limit. The fierce light flashing in my eyes slashed through the mist like sharp blades. Though it parted the fog slightly, the white mist a little further away grew even denser.

Just as I was preparing to push my fiend eyes to a higher level to contend with that white mist, I heard Ye Huan's voice say, "What are you doing? I've already picked out my painting."

I carefully scrutinized Ye Huan. "Who are you?"

After all, Ye Huan had disappeared for a short while, and I couldn't be certain whether the person who walked back was actually Ye Huan or some ghost or spirit.

This was not me being overly cautious, but rather the normal reaction of a practitioner of the arcane arts.

Once a practitioner enters a mystic realm, what they fear most is not encountering ghosts or monsters, but a companion who mysteriously disappears and then suddenly returns.

No one can ever be sure whether the person who came back is a corpse or a living human being.

And if that person were to point at someone beside you and say, "He's already dead; I just saw his corpse a moment ago,"

it would make your scalp crawl even more. Because you would have no idea which of the two might suddenly sneer and draw a blade behind your back. Should you misplace your trust, the next corpse you saw would be your own.

Ye Huan looked at me and said, "I want to buy clothes!"

Only then did I let out a sigh of relief. No matter what, Ye Huan was a practitioner; it was impossible for ghosts to hollow out all his secrets in such a short span of time.

I still maintained my caution. "Walk straight out facing forward, and I'll watch your back."

Ye Huan faced the door and walked slowly forward, while I faced Ye Huan and retreated step by step.

Fortunately, we weren't far from the door. After just a few steps, we stepped back out through the entrance.

The very first thing I asked, once I was completely at ease, was: "What item did you pick?"

Before Ye Huan could answer, I heard Old Thief Yuan say, "Er Gouzi, how come you've got a painting strapped to your back!"

I instinctively reached behind my back and actually touched a scroll.

I had been exceptionally careful the entire time I was in the secret chamber, yet somehow a painting had attached itself to my back without me noticing. If someone had wanted to kill me just then, wouldn't I have...

A bead of cold sweat immediately dripped down my forehead.

Shopkeeper Xu said with a solemn expression, "The painting has chosen you. Open it up and take a look!"

Filled with curiosity, I unrolled the scroll and saw a monster with four wings, six limbs, a body like fire, and its head lowered: "What on earth is this?"

"The Ancestral Sorcerer Dijiang!" Old Thief Yuan also furrowed his brows.

"Are you kidding me?" I held up the painting and retorted, "Stop talking nonsense if you don't recognize it. The Dijiang in the *Classic of Mountains and Seas* looks like a yellow sack, red as fire, with four wings and six legs, faceless yet able to sing and dance."

"Take another look at this painting. The creature on it has four wings, sure, but its body is like a human's. It only has two legs, and those four front limbs look more like arms. How is this a Dijiang?"

Old Thief Yuan shook his head and said, "Look closely. Follow the arms you mentioned forward—its four claws, though much shorter than its hind legs, are shaped like tiger paws."

"If you think of it as a tiger, as long as it has claws, they can be described as legs. Furthermore, it is lowering its head, so you can't see its face. Isn't that remarkably similar to being faceless?"

"What's written in ancient books can be believed, but not entirely. The *Classic of Mountains and Seas* that we see today was not written by a single person in a single era; it has undergone numerous revisions. What did its original appearance actually look like? No one can say for sure."

"I have a feeling the painting in your hands is definitely the Dijiang."

I lifted the painting and examined it carefully for a moment. "Why would the Dijiang choose me?"

While I was speaking, the colors on the head of the Dijiang in the painting faded slightly on their own without anyone touching it. At first glance, it looked as if the previously head-lowered Dijiang was slowly raising its head.

The Dijiang's mouth, nose, and right eye remained difficult to discern, but its left eye had become exceptionally clear—it was unmistakably an eye identical to my own Yellow Springs Fiend Eyes.

Shopkeeper Xu stepped forward a few steps. "Young friend, are your eyes the same as well?"

As I slowly opened my Yellow Springs Fiend Eyes, Shopkeeper Xu was so startled that he stumbled back two steps before regaining his footing, muttering continuously to himself, "Divine will, it is truly divine will."

"And you, young friend, what did you bring out?"