However, Zone Nine, the area designated by the Blood Well, even if other talismanic scriptures are absent, the final part of the Blood Well Enlightenment Scripture must be there.
After wandering around twice more, Zhou Xuan thought of a possibility—the book containing the talismanic scripture had been borrowed by someone.
The library had very little foot traffic, especially after the fifth area, where not a single soul was to be seen.
With such a sparse number of visitors, out of tens of thousands of books, the one book containing the Blood Well Enlightenment Scripture just happened to be borrowed.
How small must the probability be? Could it really happen?
Zhou Xuan asked Gu Ling: "Lingzi, help me check if anyone has borrowed any books recently?"
"Let me take a look."
Gu Ling went to the entrance of Zone Nine, took down the borrowing record book, flipped to the last page, and glanced at it. She then told Zhou Xuan, "Someone did borrow a book. The book is titled ’Curse Symbol Imprint’ and was borrowed less than two hours ago."
"Do you know who borrowed it?"
"Yongxiang Avenue Baiyu Tea House. The borrower is the Painter."
The Baiyu Tea House is the Painter’s property. Those who can access Zone Nine are already rare, so it’s not difficult to guess.
"The Painter is the First Divine Office of your Bone Elder Association, right?"
"Yes." Gu Ling nodded.
Zhou Xuan felt baffled. What would the First Divine Office want with my book?
What Zhou Xuan didn’t know was that the Painter was the avant-garde old guy he had tussled with the previous night.
During the Bone Elder Gathering, the Four Divine Offices all wore bronze masks.
Zhou Xuan’s first thought was—could the Painter be looking to cause trouble for me?
But he quickly dismissed that thought.
The Bone Elder Association had immense influence in Mingjiang Prefecture; if they truly wanted to make trouble for Zhou Xuan, there was no need for such veiled methods. They could openly go to Zhou’s Purification Shop to confront him.
Binding Yun Ziliang, Zhou Xuan, and Lv Mingkun together wouldn’t pose a challenge for the Painter.
"It’s probably for something else, but it shouldn’t be malicious."
With this in mind, Zhou Xuan said to Gu Ling, "The book I’m looking for has been borrowed by the Painter. Will you come with me to find him?"
Gu Ling agreed readily. It was still early before nightfall, with plenty of time before the Night Patrol God’s lantern-lighting moment.
Zhou Xuan’s Mei Ken car stopped at the entrance of the Baiyu Tea House. Zhou Xuan and Gu Ling stepped out of the car and entered the tea house.
The Painter, knowing Zhou Xuan was coming, had cleared the place in advance. The spacious tea house felt eerily deserted, with only one tea table at the far end radiating steam.
Three cups of tea were prepared,
and the Painter sat upright, waiting for Zhou Xuan and Gu Ling.
"Hua Sichen, you already knew we were coming?"
Gu Ling greeted the Painter.
"Ah, so you’re the doddering old man who’s the Painter?"
Zhou Xuan’s comment startled Gu Ling, making her shudder. She had heard the Painter mention that he and Zhou Xuan had crossed paths before.
But it was merely a brief encounter. As the First Divine Office of the Bone Elder Association, the Painter didn’t need you to grovel, but at the very least, your attitude should not be this provocative.
Unexpectedly, the Painter grinned, pointed to the puduan on the floor, and said, "I’m called the Painter. You’ve seen my paintings. Is my identity that hard to guess?"
After sitting down, Zhou Xuan nonchalantly extended his hand toward the Painter, demanding the book.
"How could that be your book? That’s our Bone Elder Association’s book."
The Painter wore a mischievous grin.
From the look on his face, Zhou Xuan suspected—the old crook must have used some shady method to predict which book I’d borrow and snatched it up first.
"Then hand over your Bone Elder Association’s book to me."
Zhou Xuan demanded again.
"The book, of course, will be yours. I’ve been waiting for you to come so we could chat about painting."
The Painter chuckled.
"Since you want to discuss painting, I’ll really have to raise the stakes." Zhou Xuan added, "But before raising the stakes, we have to negotiate terms."
"Why bring up terms for chatting about painting? So tacky." The Painter displayed the demeanor of an artist who does not talk about money.
"Tacky or not, I’m just a tacky person. If you don’t discuss terms, I won’t discuss painting."
Zhou Xuan was never one to lose out. He figured if the Painter was willing to go so far as to use "Evil Skills" to snatch up the book, it wasn’t for nothing but to rope him into a discussion about painting.
This indicated that the Painter must have gained some insight from the "Modern Painting School" ideas Zhou Xuan had casually mentioned the night before, and the insight was no small matter.
For a thought valuable enough to yield rewards for the First Divine Office of the Bone Elder Association, isn’t naming a price perfectly justified?
"What kind of terms do you have in mind?"
The Painter asked Zhou Xuan.
"Three interventions."
Zhou Xuan was already aware that in three incense sticks’ time, the Ancient Tattoo Clan would go to great lengths to kill him.
So, before the three incense sticks burned out, Zhou Xuan intended to secure the protection of individuals with an extremely high Incense Fire Level.
The Painter, as the First Divine Office of the Bone Elder Association, likely had a high Incense Fire Level, certainly higher than Old Li and Gu Ling.
Having such a formidable figure involved would increase his odds against the Ancient Tattoo Clan.
"There have to be restrictions on those interventions; otherwise, if you tell me to kill someone, I’ll just kill them? Wouldn’t I become your bloody blade?"
"What if someone tries to kill me—for no reason whatsoever? Would you step in?"
"Then that’s the restriction."
The Painter pondered for a moment, then nodded: "Alright."
With the "intervention" terms agreed upon,
Zhou Xuan asked the Painter, "What aspect of painting do you want to discuss?"
"About the spatial dimension of painting."
"Then hand me a sheet of paper."
The Painter handed Zhou Xuan a piece of rice paper.
Zhou Xuan laid the rice paper on the tea table, gently smoothed it out, and, guiding the Bone Teeth, made a slash across the paper.
A one-foot-long cut instantly appeared on the white paper.
Zhou Xuan pointed at the rice paper and said, "This is the painting."
"This counts as a painting?"
The Painter was dumbfounded. You just made a slash, and that’s worth three interventions from me? Isn’t that too half-hearted?
A single sheet of white paper with a slash had once sold for nearly thirty million U.S. dollars in his previous life.
"This painting embodies the spatial dimension you’re looking for."
Zhou Xuan pointed at the upward-curved slash on the rice paper and directed the Painter to observe closely—the mark existed on the paper, which was no longer a mere flat plane; the mark introduced a gap-like spatial dimension previously absent on the paper.
The Painter stared calmly at the gap created by the slash and sank into deep thought...
PS: Thanks to my good brothers "Wild Reader," "steam0826," and "Wuma Mozh" for the tips. Thanks for the support, brothers. This one’s a long Chapter. Mwah.