A sloppy, cheap draft of a painting, who could have imagined it would be so dangerous.
Those pitch-black tentacles had swift speed and inhuman strength, even a healthy adult couldn't resist this sudden assault.
Unfortunately for them, they encountered the well-prepared Tang Qi.
The moment the draft appeared and the faint light could be seen in the depths of his eyes, Tang Qi almost subconsciously spat out all the Salt Water in his mouth, while his pale hands fired a "boom," with golden Light Flames surging forth.
The Melting Furnace Power, harmless to normal paper, but if it's of the Extraordinary Sequence and belongs to the Evil Camp, then apologies are in order.
Hiss, hiss, hiss!
The sound of corrosion, the black tentacles immediately started reacting violently upon touching the azure Salt Water, quickly corroding into gray spots and retreating into the draft, but this did not allow them to escape because the next moment, the entire draft began to burn.
Just like paper nearing Flames, the scorching heat turned it yellow, slowly curling it, and then it started to blacken.
The next step might be burning to complete ashes.
"No~"
At the critical moment, a scream actually came from within the draft.
A magnetic voice came out, pink and filled with a strange aura, the light rose around the painting, struggling to fend off the burning of the golden flames.
At this moment, Tang Qi finally saw the painting's true face.
It was a portrait, the main character a middle-aged man in a properly tailored but oddly styled black robe, his complexion pale, long hair tied behind his head, his chin covered in disheveled beard, eyes with a hint of red possessing an extraordinary attraction.
It was this man pleading, with a pained face, his hands open, shouting towards Tang Qi: "Young wizard, please don't hurt me. I am willing to offer all of my Knowledge, and become one of your collectibles, can you let me go?"
What a professional performance!
Tang Qi mentally praised, but the flames flowing from his palms not only didn't disappear but became even more intense.
Eyes slightly lowered, a special interface popped up.
[Curios: Gregory's Self-portrait.]
[State: In the process of destruction.]
[Information Fragment One: A self-portrait of the legendary demon monk Gregory from the Slavic countries, which gained some Transcendent abilities due to being tainted with its master's Magic Power, such as bestowing slaves with unimaginably reproductive organs or controlling people's minds.]
[Information Fragment Two: To sustain it, a virgin Resentful Soul must be presented every so often.]
"Gregory?"
Seeing that name, Tang Qi's brow furrowed for a moment, then he recalled a legend he had once read.
Before the Slavic countries joined the Europe Alliance, there had been a legendary Monk, who with his powerful witchcraft and the ability to disrupt women's souls with his sexual performance, corrupted the entire court, and was eventually killed by a Prince using his wife's body as bait.
According to Tang Qi's speculation, this Gregory was a "Monk" Professional and possessed a very high Transcendent Level.
The small self-portrait in front of him also proved this point.
And like what was mentioned in Information Fragment, it was very good at controlling people's hearts.
After pleading to him, many murmurs appeared in Tang Qi's mind, as if countless people whispering in his ear, some threatening him, some tempting, others advising... In the depths of Tang Qi's heart, the urge to release the painting began to grow.
Hmph!
A cold snort came from the bottom of Tang Qi's heart, a golden stream flowed out from inside his head.
Whoo! Whoo!
Flames, the golden flames more intense than before completely swept over the painting, Tang Qi indeed let go of the draft, but at that moment, it had already turned into a clump of pitch-black ashes, drifting towards the ground, midway it was declared disintegrated, leaving a pile of black ash.
An Extraordinary Item was destroyed by Tang Qi.
But he didn't feel the slightest pity; if he hadn't opened the painting, it might have been worthy of collection.
Unfortunately, he did open it.
Very dangerous stuff, if he didn't destroy it, Tang Qi would have to contend with it, preventing himself from being controlled, this did not match Tang Qi's psychological expectations, best to completely destroy it.
Tang Qi shook his head, picked up a broom, and prepared to clean up the ashes.
Just then, Tang Qi let out a light exclamation and reached into the pile of black ash to pull out a clump of something.
Hair?
Indeed, it was a tangled mass of dozens of strands of hair.
With a gentle shake, the black ash fell away, revealing the true nature of these hairs - they were not all black but a complicated mix of black, red, green, purple, looking like a complex rope knot.
Oddly enough, this hair did not disgust Tang Qi as those hair clumps commonly found in sewers; instead, it gave him a sense of purity.
A faint ghost light flickered, and an interface appeared before Tang Qi's eyes.
[Curios: Mysterious Hair Tie.]
[State: Intact.]
[Information Fragment One: Gregory's Self-portrait had had many slaves, each of whom had killed a pure virgin girl, offering the virgin souls to the self-portrait for ravage; their souls entwined together, ultimately forming this mysterious hair knot.]
[Information Fragment Two: Each time you unravel a hair knot, you may receive the gratitude of a virgin soul or acquire some special knowledge.]
[Information Fragment Three: Unraveling method: Use Magic Power to patiently guide and break one strand, causing the entire hair knot to vanish.]
"Interesting!"
Holding the colorful hair knot in his hand, Tang Qi became intrigued.
He could vaguely guess the origin of the hair knot.
In the books he had read, which described the legendary monk, it was mentioned that he liked to collect virgin hair as spoils of war. Obviously, Gregory's Self-portrait also picked up its subject's habits, and by some mix-up, it had turned into another extraordinary item.
Since he could not practice cultivation at the moment, and he had not yet thought of the best way to handle other extraordinary items, Tang Qi placed all of tonight's loot – the fourteen dog teeth, Skana's Manuscript, and Serland's Dual Blades – into the safe.
Then, Tang Qi brewed a pot of strong coffee for himself, took out a small piece of cake from the fridge, returned to the bedroom upstairs, and sat cross-legged on the carpet. Holding the mysterious hair knot in his hand, he started to unravel it according to the instructions in the fragment.
He could not use violence; he had to use Magic Power and patiently guide it.
Recalling those instructions, Tang Qi focused on the first hair knot—a simple entanglement of one black and one red strand.
He slowly fed the Melting Furnace Power into it, the Magic Power capable of burning Gregory's painting, yet it did not harm the hairs. Instead, it made them appear softer, even seemingly coming to life. In Tang Qi's mind, suddenly he heard some giggling and frolicking sounds of young girls.
Reflected in reality, as Tang Qi attempted to unravel the first hair knot, the other tangled hairs would twist and turn to mess with him, just like a group of mischievous girls.
Tang Qi was very patient, his fair and slender fingers were dexterous, guiding the Magic Power and separating the hairs one by one, then smoothly unraveling the first hair knot.
"Hum"
As the hair knot came undone, the two hairs burned at once, disappearing within the hair ball, but in front of Tang Qi, two young girl apparitions appeared.
One wore a Court Lady Dress with red hair and a black mole on her nose, smiling gratefully at Tang Qi.
The other looked like a country girl with black hair, plump figure, and fair skin, also smiling.
Seeing Tang Qi look over, they both curtsied, then gradually faded away in the bedroom.
"Sigh~"
A long breath was exhaled from Tang Qi's mouth.
He stood up with a faint smile on his face, giving a gentlemanly bow to the vanishing figures.
Clearly, by unraveling the first hair knot, Tang Qi did not receive knowledge but instead the gratitude of two virgin souls.
However, Tang Qi was quite satisfied with this gain.
He sat back down, took a sip of the coffee he had next to him, and picked up the hair ball again, preparing to start unraveling the second hair knot.
At this moment, there was some noise from downstairs.
Ding-ding-ding!
The doorbell rang, and Tang Qi instinctively glanced outside the window.
It was still deep into the night; at this hour, who would come looking for him?