Chapter 54 Unexpected Changes
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[Psychic Painter: (Green Rare)]
Ability 1 - Psychic Drawing:
When you activate your spiritual power and draw at the same time, the paintings you create will reveal more secretive information.
Ability 2 - Exorcism Portrait:
When you focus intently on painting, there is a certain chance (30%~80%) of creating a portrait with exorcistic powers.
Ability 3 - Judgment: (This ability is used in conjunction with Ability 1.)
Prayer: "Thy soul is sealed within this painting, I, the ruler of the canvas... now bestow upon thee the judgment."
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Xu Yi's eyes lit up when he saw the description for "Ability 2 - Exorcism Portrait."
Operating an Exorcism Studio, if one were to only accept exorcism commissions, the business would be too monotonous.
Now with the ability to create Exorcism Portraits, he could continuously produce exorcism artifacts for sale, adding a steady and long-term income stream for the studio.
If large portraits could exorcise spirits, what about those palm-sized ones? Could they also perform exorcisms?
This could be America's version of the "Talisman."
What if he painted it on those Peace Talismans... Xu Yi had many ideas popping up in his head, but alas, he lacked the materials to verify them.
Xu Yi flipped to the last page of his sketchbook, which had one blank page left.
He was now urgently eager to test the ability of "Psychic Drawing."
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As he activated his spiritual power, the brush began to move across the blank paper.
Xu Yi entered a strange state. Although his attention was not on the act of painting, his hand continued unabated, as if his mind and hand had their own agendas.
He didn't know how long it had been when he emerged from that strange state; the blank paper now bore a lifelike painting.
"Truly amazing," Xu Yi whispered in wonder, but he suddenly widened his eyes, fixating on the picture in his hand.
The painting was of Laura!
Unlike the silent and reserved Laura he remembered, the Laura in the painting wore a sinister smile... Xu Yi felt that smile looked familiar, as though he had seen it somewhere before.
"It's just like... Mary Shaw!" Xu Yi startled himself with the thought.
Impossible! Mary Shaw was dead, and the system had already initiated Entry Swallowing! Xu Yi tried to reassure himself.
But instead of feeling relieved, the sense of foreboding in his heart grew stronger.
He suddenly thought of something, sprang up from the ground, and dashed to the end of the Dissolving Cave.
At the end of the cave was a stone table, caked with a thick layer of dried blood. Below the table were heaps of bizarre tools, some still smeared with fresh blood stains.
Beside the stone table, he found an iron bucket containing a burned book.
Perhaps because it was burned in haste, the book wasn't entirely consumed, and some pages remained. Xu Yi hastily took it out and flipped through the remaining pages.
There was little content left. However, as Xu Yi looked back and forth, he discovered a few key entries.
"Evil God," "sacrifice," "perfect doll"!
Xu Yi's gaze fixed on the words "perfect doll," and he was truly alarmed.
Although he didn't fully understand the meaning of the term, a terrifying conjecture surfaced in his mind.
"This is bad! Hunter!"
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Xu Yi paid no mind to the puppet on the ground and dashed straight for the outside.
The car that had been parked outside the old theater was gone, and Xu Yi didn't find it strange, since Hunter had to take Laura to the hospital, he naturally needed to drive the car away.
Hunter's plan, presumably, was to first get Laura settled at the hospital and then come back for him.
Xu Yi was inwardly anxious, well aware that in this remote wilderness, it was impossible to find a vehicle; to think of catching up with a car on foot was sheer fantasy.
If only he had known to bring an extra car with him earlier!
Just then, two bright lights shone from the distance, and Xu Yi could scarcely believe his eyes.
Could it be that heaven had heard his plea and sent a car to pick him up?
The car stopped in front of him, and seeing the familiar Ford, Xu Yi felt a surge of emotion swell to the point of tears.
"Ailent, how come you're here?"
Xu Yi looked at Ailent in the driver's seat, feeling as if the man was shining.
"Actually, I never went far, just living on the outskirts of this development zone. In the evening, I happened to encounter the evacuating hotel staff and thought, if the boss needed a car, what would he do? So I drove over here!" Ailent replied.
"You couldn't have come at a better time!" Xu Yi exclaimed, plopping down into the passenger seat.
"Glad I could help the boss! I actually went to the hotel first, didn't dare enter, just watched from a distance, and after seeing no sign of activity at the hotel, I drove here," Ailent explained.
"Did you see a car when you arrived?" Xu Yi asked urgently.
Ailent shook his head.
Xu Yi's heart sank, knowing that Hunter had been gone for a significant amount of time and if his suspicion was true, then perhaps...
"See those tire tracks on the ground? We follow them! We need to be fast!" Xu Yi knew now he could only do his best and leave the rest to fate.
"Right on! Hold tight, boss!"
Ailent slammed down on the accelerator, the engine roared, and the Ford car shot out like a fierce beast, kicking up a cloud of sand half a person high.
The road was very bumpy, and they were going fast; Xu Yi felt like his guts were going to shake out of him, but right now he couldn't worry about that.
After chasing the tire tracks for over ten minutes, Ailent suddenly slammed on the brakes and swerved the steering wheel hard. Thankfully, Xu Yi was wearing a seatbelt, otherwise, he would have definitely been thrown out.
"What happened?" Xu Yi asked.
"There's someone! There's someone up ahead!" Ailent wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, still startled.
He never expected to come across someone lying on the ground in such a desolate area; he had almost run them over with the car.
Upon hearing there was someone, Xu Yi felt a bad premonition and pushed open the car door, rushing over.
"Hunter!" Xu Yi recognized the person lying on the road ahead and cried out in alarm.
Hunter lay on the sandy ground with his shirt already stained red with blood. Initially unconscious, Hunter seemed to be roused by the noise of the car and slowly opened his eyes.
"Xu... Xu Yi? I didn't expect to see you again!" A smile curled on Hunter's lips as he saw Xu Yi.
"What the hell happened? Weren't you taking Laura to the hospital?" Xu Yi crouched before Hunter, checking his wounds.
There weren't many wounds on Hunter's body, but one was over the heart, most likely pierced by a blade.
Xu Yi was taken aback; a wound through the heart would have chilled an ordinary person long ago, yet Hunter could still speak.
"Don't bother, I'm beyond saving," Hunter said, loosening his grip on a bottle whose contents he had already drained.
"I drank unicorn blood, barely managing to live a few more minutes..." Hunter grabbed Xu Yi's hand tightly, staring earnestly into his eyes, "Help me! Find Laura for me!"
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