Chapter 215 The message in the painting
While everyone was discussing the painting, the butler appeared.
It was almost dark, so he went downstairs to prepare dinner.
Because many people were standing near the restaurant, the butler couldn't help but ask out of concern.
"Well, we found something wrong with this painting." Todd said, pointing at the painting and slightly turning sideways, motioning the butler to take a look.
Hearing this, the butler stepped forward and squinted his eyes to look at it.
After only two or three seconds, he retracted his gaze and said, "If I remember correctly, this painting should have come with the castle."
The housekeeper explained that the other paintings were hung when the Smiths moved in, but this one was the only one that had been hanging there before they came to the castle.
After Mr. and Mrs. Smith moved in, they always wanted to move the painting, but for some reason, the painting just hung there and they couldn't take it away, so it just stayed there.
At this point, the butler showed a strange look on his face.
"That's strange. I remember this painting was originally a family portrait."
In the housekeeper's memory, the painting was a family portrait, not a group of people having dinner together.
Hearing this, Todd frowned slightly.
He asked the butler, "Are you sure?"
The butler nodded without hesitation.
Todd's frown deepened.
Lin Jiu on the side said: "But, on the day we came, this painting was about a group of people having dinner together."
When the butler heard this, he was stunned at first, and then his face turned strange.
A creepy atmosphere quickly spread.
No one spoke. Lin Jiu turned around, took a step forward and tried to take the painting down.
As expected, just as the housekeeper said, it was as if something was stuck and the picture frame could not be removed.
Lin Jiu tried to use more force, but the picture frame remained motionless.
The housekeeper said, "We have tried many times before, but we have not succeeded."
Lin Jiu ignored him. He kept pushing harder, to the point where the frame would be damaged, but the frame didn't move at all.
It was also at this time that Lin Jiu felt something different.
"It seems like something is pulling it." Lin Jiu frowned slightly and let go of his hand.
Just now, he clearly felt that something was pulling the picture frame with the same force as he was.
"Are you sure?" Todd also walked forward at this time. Although he was asking, he went straight to work.
At this moment, a black shadow suddenly emerged from under the picture frame, turned into a hand, and grabbed Todd's wrist.
Todd reacted quickly and pulled his hand back the moment the shadow appeared.
Lin Jiu also quickly pulled out the silver dagger and slashed at the black hand, but the black shadow was also very fast and disappeared almost instantly.
The sudden change made everyone step back subconsciously, and the housekeeper's face suddenly showed uneasiness.
The polluted smell disappeared in a flash, and Lin Jiu almost didn't react. Fortunately, his body's instinctive reaction to danger was quick enough.
"Are you okay?"
Although he knew that Todd was not injured, Lin Jiu still asked.
Todd shook his head.
"It seems that this painting really has something special." After thinking about it, Todd directly selected two people from his team members to be responsible for guarding the painting.
The personnel arrangement is as expected, Reginald and a new player.
Although this part could be completed by a group of people, Lin Jiu silently turned off the microphone after Todd gave him a look.
Okay, you are the leader, you are the biggest.
Others had no objection to this distribution. After all, it was an arrangement within an acceptable range and there was nothing unreasonable about it.
For safety reasons, Todd asked the butler to go and take care of his own things first, and also asked someone to go over and stay with him just in case.
"First, patrol your respective areas, and then we can discuss this painting."
The unexpected discovery made Todd more alert.
Lin Jiu had a brief chat with Charles and Ivan while they were on patrol together.
Lin Jiu and Ivan were not interested in analyzing paintings, so most of the guesses were made by Charles, and Ivan just nodded throughout, mainly to accompany them.
Lin Jiuze would express his thoughts from time to time.
It is obvious that he has no interest in this aspect, but he has to participate out of curiosity about the story behind the castle.
"Didn't you find the basement?"
A few people passed by the utility room and took a look inside. Lin Jiu had no intention of looking for the basement.
Charles asked casually as he left.
Lin Jiu shook his head, "No, but the location has been confirmed."
Charles and Ivan were convinced of this, so they left the utility room without asking any further questions.
Back in the living room, Reginald was standing side by side with another newcomer, looking at a painting.
But they kept a distance.
After asking, they found out that it was Todd who asked them to stay away, so they simply retreated four or five meters away.
"Come to think of it, with this arrangement, you don't have to go shopping?" Ivan asked, thinking of something.
Reginald nodded: "Senior Todd said, there is no need to go."
Although it was not safe anywhere, Reginald was still glad that he didn't have to go to the small town to purchase.
At least there's no extra risk.
Charles nodded. "That's fine."
While they were chatting, Lin Jiu and Ivan came in front of the painting.
Ivan was trying to take the painting. He tried so hard that his face turned red, but the frame remained motionless. Soon, he gave up.
This time there was no shadow attack.
Lin Jiu stood aside and smiled: "How is it?"
Ivan shook his hands and shook his head: "No, I can't pull it."
He also felt something pulling at the frame, as if there was a space behind the painting.
So Lin Jiu and Ivan put their faces against the wall, trying to stare out something.
This is what Todd and the others saw when they came down from upstairs.
"What are you doing?"
Todd's mouth twitched, and he didn't even want to mention that they were so close to the painting.
Hearing the sound, Lin Jiu and Ivan stepped back simultaneously.
When he turned around, Lin Jiu had already put on an innocent look: "I didn't do anything."
Ivan silently gave a thumbs up in the dark.
Todd: ...
Just then, the butler came out to remind everyone that dinner was ready.
Todd was too lazy to talk about Lin Jiu and Ivan, so he gave up the lecture.
At the dinner table, everyone discussed the painting.
The housekeeper said that the painting was originally a family portrait, so from this information, we can infer that the people in the painting are all from the same family.
Considering the historical context, the man sitting in the middle of the dining table is most likely the head of the family.
Even if it's not, the status is definitely not low.
"The castle's original owners were a group of vampires. Does that mean the person in the painting is the castle's original owner?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
