Lord of Mysterious Wizard
Chapter 295: 293: Oil Painting (Please Subscribe!)

Chapter 295: Chapter 293: Oil Painting (Please Subscribe!)

Golden Goat Antiques Store, Tang Qi easily persuaded Arthur Wilson to agree to take him along to convince the stubborn local residents.

Without even using “Red,” perhaps because of the Earl Exhibition idea and selling a set of antique furniture upon joining as an apprentice, Big Arthur saw great potential in this young man for further development.

As for Taylor, he was also happy to see Tang Qi leave.

That way, the entire antique store was under his control, yes, for the whole day.

Tang Qi followed the portly store manager out onto the main street, which was somewhat affected by last night’s fire, ordinarily bustling with activity.

Complaints from residents and travelers could be heard everywhere, including those from Manager Arthur.

However, his complaining expression automatically disappeared when he arrived in front of a villa.

It was a three-story villa by the river, with a dark red exterior. Judging by some details, the villa’s owner not only had great taste but was also very… wealthy.

It was easy to understand why Arthur Wilson had previously failed to persuade the owner to lend out antiques.

Ordinary residents might be tempted by a free appraisal voucher, but it seems unlikely in this case.

Soon after, Arthur knocked on the door, and a sturdy maid appeared.

Seeing the portly Arthur, she said directly, “Sir, my master has instructed that if your visit is still concerning borrowing antiques, he will not entertain you.”

“You…”

Arthur Wilson was about to become enraged, but Tang Qi suddenly stepped forward.

He stared straight at the maid and then said, “No, we’re here for business, not antiques. Trust me, you should let us in.”

Originally intending to refuse, the maid paused when her eyes met Tang Qi’s somewhat reddened pupils, and she immediately said, “Alright!”

“Follow me!”

The maid, leading a somewhat dazed Manager Arthur and Tang Qi, came to a study.

As soon as the door opened, a tall and thin middle-aged man inside, dressed in exquisite homewear, looked up and saw Arthur Wilson. Frowning with impatience, he looked as if he would send them away instantly, until Tang Qi stepped forward again.

“Sir, I’ve heard you have questions about some Earl Relics in your collection. I believe our manager can help you with that.”

“Oh, indeed.”

After making eye contact with those reddened pupils again, the gentleman named “Howard” took Tang Qi and the utterly baffled manager to his collection room without any qualms.

Upon entering, Tang Qi looked back at the manager who, without words, moved his portly body and excitedly began admiring the antiques now before his eyes.

Tang Qi turned around, and a shadow rose.

Inside, there were about a dozen items.

Each one had a similar texture and clearly came from the same era and place.

Tang Qi used his abilities unreservedly, partly due to urgency and also because the Night Beast had confirmed in advance.

There were no Transcendents inside the villa.

Three ordinary people caught in “Red” had no chance of escape.

Tang Qi’s gaze was seriously focused on those dozen antiques.

According to the portly store manager, Mr. Howard’s ancestor was a strong and greedy refugee who looted dozens of antiques from Earl Castle, far more than other refugees.

Most were sold to sustain life.

But some were kept and became part of the Howard family’s collection.

In Tang Qi’s eyes emerged antique candlesticks, several Gold Coins, a pistol, necklace, bronze statue… all small items, but none with ghost light floating around them.

Until the end, when a Bone Bowl appeared.

A faint ghost light flashed abruptly, and a special vision immediately formed.

[Curios: Chief’s Bowl.]

[State: Normal.]

[Information Fragment One: In the Old Calendar Era, in the Federation nearshore area, there was a native tribe called “the Hamowa Clan” living on an island, guarding secrets for generations, which eventually led to their genocide. At that time, Earl Winston, the great pirate, declared that the Hamowa Clan worshipped an Evil God, exterminated the tribe, and made a delicate bowl from the chieftain’s skull, as one of the spoils of war.]

[Information Fragment Two: The Hamowa Clan did not worship an Evil God; they venerated a Magic creature from the Good Camp. Earl Winston killed that creature and gained some powers from its body.]

[Information Fragment Three: It still possesses some Extraordinary Power; pouring clean water into the Bone Bowl and chanting the spell “Hamowa” can produce a natural Secret Medicine with the effect of healing external injuries.]

…

This time, no Secret emerged.

But the doubt in Tang Qi’s eyes had already vanished.

Once again, it contradicted the persona of Samuel Winston from the witch comics. From the information attached to the Bone Bowl, Earl Winston seemed more like a ruthless Executioner on a quest for power, having slaughtered an entire Good Camp of natives to seize the Magic creature’s ability.

“Next house!”

Tang Qi directly pushed the Chief’s Bowl into Gluttony’s mouth and then left with the manager.

Before departing, he slightly cleaned up the memories of the three.

Howard would believe that he sold the slightly disgusting Chief’s Bowl to the swindler Arthur Wilson for a high price.

And the manager, naturally without such memory, simply believed he had successfully convinced the miserly Howard to lend an antique.

Soon, the two successfully entered the next house.

Feeling somewhat urgent, Tang Qi let go of some of his reservations, allowing the Night Beast to scout. If there were no Transcendents, he would go up with a “Red”—after all, modifying Memory was incredibly convenient.

It was just bad luck that after several shops, although many antiques had been seen, not a single Curio carrying an Information Fragment had been found.

Luckily, since quite a number of refugees had pillaged the Earl Castle back in the day, most of their descendants hadn’t left Winston Town.

After visiting seven or eight local residents one after another, Tang Qi made several gains.

In total, three Curios containing Information Fragments related to Samuel Winston.

They were: a tattered diary, a damaged telescope, and two-thirds of a pirate flag.

In fact, their owners were not Earl Winston himself, but his subordinates.

A guard with a conscience intact, a navigator who had served on the Immortal, and a warehouse manager.

The Information attached to them wasn’t very different from what Tang Qi had seen on the “Tebat’s Sword,” “Blood Deer Ship Anchor,” or the “Chief’s Bowl.”

They all directly recorded some actions of Samuel Winston, depicting him as a brutal, bloodthirsty Executioner.

At this point, Tang Qi was completely certain of the “Immortal Count’s” persona.

A villainous overlord of the Evil Camp!

According to the judgment of Saint Confessor Martin Sims, he was definitely a man who deserved to die.

Moreover, he was a powerful Transcendent.

After finishing visits with the last local resident, Tang Qi and the dazed fat manager returned to the antiques store.

Doubts that had clouded his eyes were now gone, but new uncertainties kept emerging.

He now knew the true face of Samuel Winston, but still had no clue about what happened in the castle that night?

“An overlord Transcendent, brutal and bloodthirsty. Maybe he gathered a large number of Transcendents back then and purchased or looted Curios with healing powers, not to awaken Diana, but for himself. What did he need to heal? Or what did he want to obtain?”

“For… Divine Blood?”

Tang Qi speculated, but with missing information, he couldn’t confirm his theory.

Luckily, he still had other opportunities to verify his suspicions.

Since he had resorted to Extraordinary Power, Tang Qi did not plan to proceed slowly.

In Winston Town, there was one more place that would definitely have relics of the Earl.

“Hmm”

Tang Qi’s gaze suddenly fell on Arthur Wilson.

The manager of the Golden Goat Antiques Store, who also happened to be the owner of the town’s only museum.

Winston Noble Museum!

From the Blood Deer Ship Anchor alone, one could tell that maybe throughout Winston Town, this fat man possessed the most relics of the Earl.

“Mr. Arthur!”

“Huh?”

Just a casual mention, and poor Arthur Wilson fell into confusion once again.

In a daze, he led Tang Qi to his museum.

As expected, just like Tang Qi had anticipated, he owned nearly twenty relics of the Earl.

And he had already prepared an area specifically to display them, planning for an exhibition that was not yet open to the public.

Tang Qi stepped in without any hesitation, sweeping a glance through the place.

Inside the glass showcases, nearly twenty antiques were on display.

When Tang Qi looked over, two of them simultaneously emitted a ghostly light.

One was a painting.

The other was an ordinary-looking Small Knife.

Tang Qi first looked at the painting, which depicted the battle that made Samuel Winston a hero, a musical Tang Qi and Sally had already enjoyed.

The Mist Bay Sea Battle!

Even without the lively presentation of the musical, the battle scene in the painting was even more special.

The surging sea, the eerie Mist rising, the dense naval warships, and the circling pirate ships resembling sharks and hyenas with the Immortal leading them, and the figure standing on the Immortal, cloaked in a Red cape, wearing a Mysterious mask, cannons, pirates, corpses, wails, and the blood-stained waters…

Every detail in the painting was incredibly True.

Even, a bit too True.

Thus, it gave an impression that was different from the musical, more shocking.

But what surprised Tang Qi the most was the author of the painting.

The first Information Fragment One flowed through his eyes.

“Curio: The Immortal Earl, this is a painting that records the Mist Bay Sea Battle, its author is Immortal Count Samuel Winston… in person!”

“In person?”

Tang Qi’s eyes immediately showed surprise, clearly not expecting such a find in the museum he had saved for last.

A painting by Samuel Winston himself, how many Information Fragments could it contain?

His gaze, now exceedingly serious, settled on the painting.

Indeed, the Tide of Information Fragments surged forth.