"So this IS the site?" Josephine Wong kept staring at the "painting" whose frame was still speaking with two voices in unison: "That ash is the by-product of karmic flow alterations right?"
"Right, especially for cases of partial and incomplete alterations." Jianmen sighed then stood up: "But let's keep looking, this may not be conclusive yet."
"This monk senses something - the frame - it is not that old, and it has the same tattoo as the bodies earlier" Nameless pointed at the half a human on the right side of the frame: "This monk thinks we've found the last two from the coven you spoke of."
Josephine Wong walked closer to the "painting" with light steps and controlled breaths and looked at the naked half a human at which Nameless was pointing at, and she found the same triangle tattoo of demigod Hoztang on the inside of the elbow.
With a closer look, ignoring the materials with which the "painting" was constructed, Jianmen could tell that the painting was depicting a scene that looked like some kind of sacrificial ritual: there was an altar, depicted by several pieces of human bones, with a man, or a god sleeping on it, and with offerings of sacrifice laid out on the side. It was vague and abstract, but Jianmen could sense that it was made with a specific intent or mindset.
"It's blocking our way, let's back out and see if we can walk around it." after confirming that the two half humans on both sides of the frame were actually members of the Coven of Crows, Josephine Wong let out a long breath and said: "This … thing seems way too peculiar and I have a pretty bad feeling about it. Let's not engage unless we have to."
"I agree - it could be the remnant of the maintainer of the clustered malice of this place." Jianmen said: "If it is the case, I think the maintainer must have been driven mad before they got integrated or completely absorbed."
When Josephine Wong, Jianmen and Nameless started slowly backing out of the room, Tze Cha stayed behind and started observing the "painting" even more closely - if he got even closer, he would definitely be found, no matter how powerful his obscuration spells were.
"Dammit, One Eye, come back and don't touch anything!" Josephine Wong said to Tze Cha.
"Shut up!" Tze Cha sounded excited, with his finger pointing at the lower left corner of the "painting": "Shut up! I know what not to do, you insolent fools! Have you seen this?"
The other three from the group concentrated their eyes on what Tze Cha was pointing at - it was a small dark red dot, seemingly made of blood and some other kind of liquid, which would be barely noticeable without anyone pointing it out. And on it, there was a faint trace of energy whose signature was slightly different from the malice energy all around.
"What is that?" Nameless asked: "Feels like - some kind of mantra… or even True Words."
"It's a signature." Tze Cha and Josephine Wong answered at the same time.
"Sick bastard signed his own work." Josephine Wong continued, then she sneaked back to the side of the "painting" and took out a small pen-like artifact with a small crystal at the tip: "Let me see if I can record this one ..."
"Woah woah." Tze Cha put his hand before Josephine Wong's pen-like artifact and said: "I should do it - a clumsy artifact like that is no way as stealthy as you claim we ought to be."
"Alright. Show me what Dragon Tongue Magic could do." Josephine Wong looked Tze Cha in the eyes for a few seconds, then conceded: "Just remember our deal - if this place proved to be related to the information related to the relic, then we will have full access to the information."
"Too bad, we aren't sure yet, huh?" Tze Cha answered with a cunning smile, then turned to the corner of the "painting" an uttered a word.
The red dot lit up in a dim orange light for a very brief moment then went back to its normal state. And after a few seconds, a similar red dot appeared on Tze Cha's palm, with almost an exact inner pattern and even similar energy signatures.
Just when Tze Cha waved his palm with a red dot on it to Josephine Wong, Jianmen and Nameless to show off, the two half humans on the sides of the painting started crying, screaming and shaking. The next moment, foul smelling and obviously corrosive blood squirted out from the walls and ceiling and floor. All four members of the group instantly conjured up their energy shields to protect themselves from the sudden carpet attack.
The two half humans on both sides of the picture started crying and shaking more violently, and this time, their cries were enchanted, and for any lesser beings this would be enough to put them in comas. But for the group of four, they only needed a short moment to clear their mind.
"Fuck! Prepare to fight our way out!" Josephine Wong yelled.
"Boom!" "Boom!" Jianmen was wondering what might have happened to the other two halves of the unfortunate members of the Coven of Crows, and now this question was answered: they were each stitched up together with something, and became full fledged monster that just busted through the walls on the side into the room.
"Kill them! Feed on them!" the two half humans attached to the "painting" had their eyes fixated on the four that just exposed themselves.