Chapter 69: Digging Out Eyes

　　Wan Chunhui quickly closed the painting and covered it with a black cloth.

　　"Tiger, are you okay?" Lu Fei turned around, looking at Tiger with concern.

　　"My eyes hurt so much!" Tiger clutched his eyes, and after a while, the pain subsided enough for him to lower his hands.

　　His eyes were bloodshot.

　　"Can you still see?" Lu Fei asked, alarmed.

　　"I can still see. Just now, when I looked at that painting, it felt like needles were stabbing my eyes. It's better now, but they're sore and dry, worse than staying up for several nights."

　　Tiger kept blinking and pulled out the ghost-repelling charm he carried, only to find it had turned to ash.

　　A shiver ran down his spine.

　　If not for the charm protecting him, he might have gone blind on the spot.

　　Seeing that Tiger was fine, Lu Fei finally relaxed.

　　"Shopkeeper Lu, I warned you not to look at that painting for too long," Wan Chunhui said, his expression dark.

　　Tiger rubbed his reddened eyes and muttered, "I didn't mean to look. I was just curious and couldn't take my eyes off it."

　　"This painting has a strange allure, making people involuntarily stare at it," Lu Fei said, feeling a slight ache in his own eyes.

　　He realized that he too had been drawn into the painting without noticing. But thanks to his protective powers, he didn't experience the same pain as Tiger.

　　"Exactly. Several of our staff have had incidents after looking at this painting," Wan Chunhui said, glancing at Lu Fei. "Shopkeeper Lu, do you know what this painting is?"

　　Lu Fei had stared at the painting the longest without incident, confirming that the descendants of Evil Pawnshop truly had some extraordinary abilities.

　　"Just from this, I can't be sure. Please tell me more about the strange occurrences related to this painting," Lu Fei said honestly.

　　"Shall we discuss this outside?" Wan Chunhui suggested, clearly not wanting to stay near the painting.

　　The three left the storeroom and returned to the office.

　　Wan Chunhui sipped his tea, furrowing his brow as he spoke in a grave tone, "On the first night after we stored the painting in the storeroom, the night watchman heard strange noises coming from inside."

　　"At first, the sounds were faint, as if coming from far away. The guard followed the sound and found himself standing outside the storeroom."

　　"He discovered that the noise was indeed coming from inside and sounded like drumming, as if from a funeral procession on TV."

　　"He didn't have the keys to the storeroom, so he couldn't check. The next day, he reported it to me."

　　"I thought he might have misheard. Since nothing was missing, I didn't pay it much attention."

　　"But over the next few nights, other guards also reported hearing the drumming sounds at midnight, and the sounds grew clearer."

　　Wan Chunhui's frown deepened as he spoke.

　　"Since multiple guards mentioned the same thing, I started to take it seriously, worried that something unclean might be affecting the auction house."

　　"So, I assembled a team to stand watch outside the storeroom at night."

　　"At midnight, we indeed heard the drumming, getting closer, just as they described. It felt like a procession playing funeral music was approaching."

　　"The sound was chilling, and I broke out in a cold sweat."

　　"But as the auction house manager, I had to figure out what was going on; otherwise, I might as well quit."

　　"So, I mustered the courage to lead the team towards the noise. We found it coming from the storeroom, so close it felt like only a door separated us."

　　"I've been in this business for years and had never encountered anything like it. I was scared."

　　"The storeroom held several valuable items. If anything went wrong, I wouldn't be able to pay for the damage, even if I sold everything I owned."

　　"I handed the key to one of the guards and had him unlock the door."

　　"Can you guess what we saw?"

　　Tiger, engrossed, asked, "What did you see?"

　　Lu Fei also looked at Wan Chunhui.

　　"As soon as we opened the door, the drumming stopped. But the painting was somehow unrolled!"

　　"I immediately thought the painting might be the problem. But before I could check, one of the guards rushed in and grabbed the painting!"

　　"I was shocked. This was the boss's painting; if it was damaged, no one could afford to pay for it. I shouted at him to put it down, but he seemed not to hear, staring blankly at the scroll."

　　"His expression was terrifying. His eyes grew wider and wider, as if they might pop out. Sensing something was wrong, I glanced at the painting."

　　Wan Chunhui's face showed a hint of lingering fear.

　　"Just one glance, and my eyes hurt so much I couldn't bear it."

　　"But the guard kept staring, unblinking, as if in a trance."

　　"Then, to our horror, he reached out and began digging into his own eyes. He gouged them out, blood streaming down his face and dripping onto the painting!"

　　"Everyone was terrified! No one had ever seen anything like it. We were all at a loss."

　　"I felt my scalp prickle, but I managed to grab a piece of black cloth and threw it over the painting."

　　"At that moment, the guard seemed to snap out of it, let go of the painting, and screamed, clutching his eyes."

　　"I had others restrain him as we hurried out of the storeroom and called an ambulance."

　　"He's still in the hospital now. The doctors say he's permanently blind. He's gone mad, clawing at his eyes and smearing his blood around, drawing frantically."

　　As Wan Chunhui spoke, Lu Fei felt a chill run down his spine.

　　Tiger's heart pounded with fear, and his eyes seemed to ache again, making him rub them instinctively.

　　This painting was no ordinary object.

　　One look could inflict such severe harm.

　　Lu Fei asked, "What does he draw?"

　　Wan Chunhui shook his head. "Just a mess of lines. No one can tell what he's drawing. If you need, I can have someone take some photos for you."

　　"That would be best," Lu Fei nodded.

　　The guard's drawings might be connected to the painting. It was clear that this painting was an evil object, and the more they understood it, the better they could handle it.

　　There was one detail from Wan Chunhui's account that caught Lu Fei's attention. "Manager Wan, you mentioned that his blood dripped onto the painting."