Chapter 2020: The Treasure Lies Within the Mural
"The pigments used in the painting should all be made from rare ore."
"This..." Little Taotie furrowed its brows: "Can we chip it off and sell it?"
Hua Jinyan laughed: "Chipping it off won’t fetch money, but there is a secret hidden here."
"A secret?"
Hua Jinyan pointed at the last family portrait: "It’s hiding a Ghost."
"A Ghost?" Little Taotie’s eyes widened as it looked, finally noticing something was off.
The little boy in the family portrait looked grayish and somewhat transparent; all other parts were painted with pigments made from rare ore, except for this boy.
It wasn’t painted on at all!
This seemed like... the Ghost had stuck itself on, disguising as a part of the painting!
Little Taotie was frightened by this bold speculation.
It hadn’t expected a Ghost to be right under its nose without realizing it.
But wait!
Little Taotie looked at Hua Jinyan with confusion.
She glanced at Hua Jinyan’s wrist, seeing that there was no Shariputra on it at the moment.
The Rainbow Relic had been smashed by the traitorous instructor.
If it truly was a Ghost in the mural, why wouldn’t it be interested in Hua Jinyan?
If it were indeed a Ghost, it would have pounced to try and devour Hua Jinyan long ago.
Hua Jinyan noticed Little Taotie staring at his wrist and narrowed his eyes, quickly guessing what Little Taotie was thinking.
"Without the Rainbow Relic, I have other protections."
Little Taotie asked in confusion, "What?"
Hua Jinyan took out a small red sachet from his pocket, resembling a little brocade bag.
"This is..." Little Taotie recognized the handwriting as that of their master.
"It’s from my master. He must have foreseen that the Rainbow Relic would be destroyed."
Little Taotie let out a sigh of relief: "Luckily, Master had such foresight."
Hua Jinyan pressed his lips and nodded.
Little Taotie lamented: "If only Master were still here, how great that would be."
Hua Jinyan lowered his eyes, silent.
"So, is he really a Ghost?" Little Taotie stood before the little boy in the mural.
Hua Jinyan: "He seems to have self-sealed."
"Is that even possible?"
Little Taotie was puzzled that while they were talking, they had uncovered this Ghost, yet it remained calmly in the painting, seemingly hearing nothing.
"How can we call him out?" Little Taotie asked.
"Unseal him, and he should come out."
"Can you undo the seal?"
"No."
Little Taotie shrugged: "I can’t either."
"To get the treasure here, we must unseal him."
"Why?"
Hua Jinyan pointed at the sun and moon in the first painting: "Look closely."
Little Taotie leaned in, almost pressing her face against the mural.
She exclaimed: "Such tiny boxes!"
Within the sun and moon were tiny drawings, dense little boxes that looked like brushstrokes; only upon close inspection could one see they were boxes stacked together.
Hua Jinyan: "He placed the boxes originally hidden here into the mural. Only by undoing his seal and awakening him can we get those Treasure Boxes."
𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶
Little Taotie shook the Horse-Faced Bell: "Maybe Feng Qi can retrieve the boxes from the mural, so there’s no need to unseal him."
Feng Qi floated out from the Horse-Faced Bell, its fiery red fluffy tail swaying.
"Tell me, what problem did you encounter this time?"
Little Taotie pointed at the mural where the sun and moon shone together, "The treasure is hidden in the painting. Can you get the Treasure Boxes out one by one?"
Feng Qi looked in the direction Little Taotie pointed, attempting to dive its big tail into the mural to retrieve the boxes within, but the tail smacked firmly against the wall.