Chapter 59: Two Choices

Chapter 59: Two Choices

Inside the room, crimson radiance flowed like water, soaking every corner.

Dorian slowly lifted his head and looked toward the full moon outside the bay window. For a long time, he did not move his gaze away, as though this was the first time he had ever appreciated such beauty.

Whew… He exhaled, rose to his feet, and entered the washroom. Turning on the faucet, he scooped up a handful of icy-cold tap water and splashed it hard against his face.

After washing up, Dorian dried his face with a towel, returned to the living room, sat down on the sofa, lowered his head, and devoutly muttered to himself:

“Praise Mr. Fool!”

Once he completed the prayer, he walked into the study, took out paper and pen, and wrote to his student, Forsi:

“…

“Please tell Mr. Gehrman Sparrow that I have verified his promise and hope he can find a better method to resolve the curse…

“I will gather the other members of the family to discuss whether we should use one of the two Grade 0 sealed artifacts to exchange for the Box of the Great Old Ones…

“Here, I will first introduce those two Grade 0 sealed artifacts, so that Mr. Gehrman Sparrow has sufficient time to consider which he wishes to obtain.

“One is called God’s Painting. It looks like an ordinary oil painting set inside a brass frame, but the contents depicted upon it change at irregular intervals.

“When it depicts different locations, the holder can alter the region around a target, causing the corresponding scene to descend.

“When it depicts different people, the holder can make those people attack the target once each.

“When it depicts abstract, incomprehensible images, different effects will appear in reality. However, we have only understood a small portion of the corresponding relationships.

“When it depicts one door after another, opening different ‘doors’ will transfer one to different places. The destination cannot be predicted in advance, and this can be used to banish a target.

“When it depicts a gloomy underground region or the depths of the starry sky, it becomes extremely dangerous and must be sealed!

“If no one watches or appreciates this oil painting, the people inside will come alive. They will stretch their hands out of the painting and gradually enter the real world. This must be accounted for during sealing.

“Once, when one branch of my family was in charge of this God’s Painting, a mistake occurred. For an entire minute, no one appreciated it. At that time, what it depicted was angels surrounding a god. Then that god came alive and walked out of the oil painting.

“That branch of my family was destroyed just like that. Only a few mentally deranged members remained. As for that god, no one knows where He went, but He did not take the oil painting with Him.

“For a long time, we were deeply worried, afraid that god would destroy the world. Fortunately, He never appeared again. Perhaps He was noticed by the seven gods and dealt with.

“Of course, we cannot rule out the possibility that this was a story made up by those deranged survivors. But for most members to die overnight while a small number went mad already implies many things.

“The other Grade 0 sealed artifact is called the Staff of the Stars. It appears as a black cane inlaid with gemstones.

“When holding it, if the corresponding scene appears in one’s mind, and that place truly exists and still exists, the cane will bring you directly to the destination. But one must pay attention to a crucial point: the imagined scene must be absolutely correct. Not a single detail can be wrong, and there must be no difference from the original. Otherwise, you will never know where you are actually going to arrive.

“Similarly, when holding the Staff of the Stars, if one can imagine certain Beyonder powers or people, the cane will reproduce the corresponding power or person. In the latter case, the reproduced person can launch one attack. To achieve such an effect, sufficient understanding of…