Sunlight?

daytime?

What was that just now?

Bai Chi suddenly turned around, and an ancient painting was hanging in front of him. The painting depicted mountains, water, and a bright moon, with an ancient temple in the corner.

It was the temple he had just seen!

Bai Chi was surprised, but his gaze did not linger on the temple. Instead, he quickly scanned the entire painting and then fixed his eyes on a peach grove.

The peach grove occupies two-thirds of the entire painting, and in the dense peach grove, a corner of a garment is so inconspicuous that it almost blends into the peach grove and is extremely difficult to spot.

However, Bai Chi's gaze remained fixed on that corner of the garment.

Even though he hadn't yet received the original owner's memories, he had already guessed the general idea.

The ancient temple he was in just now was the same ancient temple in the painting. The vines that attacked him were on the walls of the ancient temple, and they were vines covered with thorns.

He was in the painting just now!

While he was in the painting, he sensed the spirit of the clouds.

He thought Yunxiao was somewhere outside the ancient temple, which is why he came out. Little did he know, he came out directly from the painting.

The moment he left the ancient painting, he also lost his connection with the spirit body in the clouds.

It's possible to isolate even the spiritual entities that have signed the contract?

What is the origin of this ancient painting?

Xiao Hei had already returned to the system space, and it still looked shaken.

'Master, I don't know what happened just now, but I was suddenly thrown out of this space by a strange force.'

Apart from the master, no one can discover oneself in the system space.

This is the first time that it, as the second most advanced intelligent system, has been forcibly thrown out of the system space!

'Don't worry, it's probably because of this painting. It's a very powerful mental defense weapon.'

Bai Chi had calmed down and used both his mental energy and eyesight to examine the painting. He then reached out and took it down.

'This painting doesn't belong to the small world.'

Various thoughts flashed through Bai Chi's mind, as if he had some inspiration, but they quickly disappeared.

'Give me the original owner's memories first.'

'Oh, yes, master.'

Xiao Hei calmed down and quickly reviewed the original owner's memories while transferring them to its master.

At the same time, a middle-aged man in a Tang suit behind him was also asking anxiously.

"Mr. Bai, have you found anything? The Liu family has been experiencing a series of strange events lately. Could it be related to this painting?"

Bai Chi gently raised his hand, and the man immediately shut up, though his brows remained furrowed, his mind preoccupied.

Bai Chi quickly scanned the original owner's memories, and when he looked at the middle-aged man again, his gaze was more indifferent.

The original owner's death was inextricably linked to this Liu family head.

However, Bai Chi did not speak directly, but thought about it for a moment and nodded seriously.

“Patriarch Liu, this painting is indeed strange. If I’m not mistaken, it must have only recently awakened. If it stays here, the entire Liu family will probably become its sacrifice.”

The head of the Liu family suddenly felt his legs go weak and he almost knelt on the ground, his face turning pale in an instant.

"What?! How could this happen? Why did it awaken? The Liu family has been devoted to its worship for thousands of years, how could this be!"

It seems that this Liu family head knows what Bai Chi meant.

He then suddenly knelt down before Bai Chi, kowtowing repeatedly without any regard for his image.

"Please, Mr. Bai, save my family of over a hundred people! I, Liu, will surely repay your great kindness!"

Bai Chi gently curled his lips, and only nodded slightly after the Liu family head had kowtowed more than a dozen times and his forehead was bleeding.

"Master Liu, please don't worry. Now that I have found the reason, I can naturally resolve the current predicament of the Liu family."

The head of the Liu family was overjoyed: "Thank you, Mr. Bai! Thank you, Mr. Bai!"

Bai Chi, however, turned around and directly took down the ancient painting on the wall.

The head of the Liu family looked puzzled, and Bai Chi, unusually 'kind,' offered an explanation.

"Master Liu, you may not know this, but for thousands of years you have been worshipping the immortal in the painting. However, recently some people have become insincere, which is why the immortal in the painting is angry."

“Now I need to perform a ritual and offer sacrifices in order to appease the immortal in the painting again.”

The head of the Liu family immediately believed him without a doubt. He hurriedly asked Bai Chi about the offerings and the ritual, and personally escorted Bai Chi to the courtyard next to the ancestral hall.

The place they were just standing in was the Liu Family Ancestral Hall, and the ancestors of the Liu family were enshrined behind the ancient paintings.

For the Liu family, this ancient painting is even more important than their ancestors.

Without this ancient painting, the Liu family might have disappeared into the torrent of history long ago, let alone have been passed down for thousands of years.

The head of the Liu family instructed the servants to take good care of Mr. Bai, and then hurriedly went to prepare the sacrificial offerings and the things needed for the next ritual.

Bai Chi dismissed everyone and returned to his room alone, carefully opening the ancient painting.

For a moment, Bai Chi's breath caught in his throat.

The immortal in the painting, who had originally only shown a corner of his robe, now had most of his body in the painting, especially his face, which was as handsome as an immortal, and was now looking out of the painting.

Bai Chi had a feeling that he was looking at him.

"Master, this painting is amazing! The people in it are actually alive!"

Xiao Hei forgot about being rejected by the ancient painting before and excitedly ran out, still in the form of a cat-eared elf, pointing excitedly at the portrait in the peach blossom forest.

Bai Chi's lips curled up slightly, and he simply nodded upon hearing this.

But he didn't say much. Instead, he hung the painting above his bed, sat up on the bed, and stared intently at the ancient painting. In front of the immortal in the painting, there was also white light.

This is not an ordinary landscape painting. This painting contains a malevolent spirit related to the Liu family, which is the vine in the dry well.

The Peach Blossom Immortal is the key figure in the formation that suppresses evil spirits.

A thousand years ago, the Liu family committed numerous evils, harmed the people, and killed many.

The resentment of the dead gathered and eventually transformed into an evil spirit, which took revenge on the Liu family in an extremely bloody manner.

How can mortals possibly defeat evil spirits filled with resentment?

However, the Liu family is rich, extremely rich.

As the saying goes, money can make the devil turn the millstone, so the Liu family found a highly skilled and extraordinary person and offered him a large sum of money to come out of seclusion.

So the master created this painting. He sealed the evil spirit in the dry well in the painting, and extracted the spiritual energy from dozens of acres of peach trees, refining it into a peach blossom fairy, which he also put into the painting to suppress the evil spirit.

However, although Peach Blossom Fairy is called a fairy, she is actually just a peach blossom spirit and has no independent consciousness.

Furthermore, as time goes by, the spiritual energy of the Peach Blossom Fairy will gradually weaken. In order to permanently suppress evil spirits, sacrifices are needed every ten years to replenish the spiritual energy of the Peach Blossom Fairy.

For thousands of years, the Liu family has been diligently offering sacrifices, and the last decade, just half a month ago, has seen a change.

As usual, the Liu family sent offerings, but this time, it seemed to be of no use.

The peach blossom fairy in the painting did not absorb the offerings. Instead, the evil spirit gradually crawled out of the dry well and onto the wall of the ancient temple.

Oh right, the evil spirit was originally sealed in a dry well, so it can't be seen in the painting at all.