Chapter 79: The Secret in the Map

　　Boom!

　　Sparks flew, and the flames suddenly rose several meters high before dying out.

　　The figure of the ghost bride completely dissipated.

　　"Rest in peace."

　　Lu Fei muttered softly.

　　Although the ghost bride's plight was pitiable, times had changed, and her enemies had long been obliterated in the course of history. It shouldn't lead to more innocent people being harmed because of it.

　　Lu Fei felt no guilt about dealing with malevolent entities. If the ghost bride hadn't taken her own life, he would have done it himself.

　　An evil thing is an evil thing.

　　Compared to his initial fluster when he first started collecting evil entities, he was now much calmer and more composed. Although the process this time was a bit troublesome, it was ultimately successful.

　　He opened the doors and windows to let the smoke dissipate.

　　The meeting room gradually cleared up.

　　"Mr. Wan, it's over." Lu Fei said to Wan Chunhui.

　　"Was it successful?" Wan Chunhui asked nervously.

　　"The sealing soul spell has been broken, the bride's resentment has been removed, this painting is now nothing more than an ordinary ancient painting." Lu Fei replied with a smile.

　　Not every evil object has a special effect.

　　"Great!" Wan Chunhui, with weak limbs, got up from the ground and hurriedly looked at the ancient painting hanging on the wall.

　　The scroll had been roasted by the smoke, yet it was not damaged at all; the pattern in the painting remained intact.

　　Truly amazing!

　　He took down the ancient painting and examined it thoroughly. Apart from the smell of smoke, there were no other issues, and he finally felt relieved.

　　He had been worried that the ancient painting would be damaged by the fire and smoke before.

　　"What about them?" He pointed again at the injured, unconscious on the chair.

　　"With their souls back in place, they will be fine. However, those two won't regain their eyesight," Lu Fei said.

　　Returning their souls can restore their consciousness, but it cannot create something out of nothing and make the gouged-out eyes grow back.

　　As for why the Ghost Bride wanted to gouge out their eyes, perhaps it was resentment over those people not coming to her aid when she was dying.

　　Receiving Lu Fei's confirmation, Wan Chunhui felt greatly relieved.

　　Although he had witnessed the process of the souls returning, the whole event was so fantastical that he couldn't help but confirm with Lu Fei.

　　"They are employees of Tianlong, and Tianlong will take full responsibility. All future medical expenses and compensation will be covered by Tianlong."

　　Then, he carefully put away the ancient painting, his face unable to conceal his joy.

　　"Boss, what do we do with him?" After standing up and stretching his body, Hu Zi noticed that the security captain still hadn't gotten up.

　　His eyes were vacant, as if he had slipped into a state of idiocy.

　　"It's nothing serious, just a bit of a shock. He'll be fine in a few days. He was lucky; by the time his body left the incense ashes, the ghost bride was already powerless, so his soul wasn't taken away," Lu Fei said in a calm tone.

　　When faced with unknown and terrifying things, it's natural for people to be afraid. We can't completely blame him for that.

　　"Good-for-nothing!" But Wan Chunhui was very unsatisfied with his performance and probably wouldn't use him again in the future.

　　However, he was already quite lucky; at least he didn't go blind or go insane.

　　Wan Chunhui had the people outside come in to clean up the mess.

　　He invited Lu Fei and Huzi to the VIP lounge and personally poured them water.

　　Everyone in the meeting room had gone through the smoke and flames, and they were all dusty and thirsty.

　　Lu Fei thanked him and started drinking eagerly.

　　Huzi drank like an ox, gulping down the water.

　　After resting and recovering, Wan Chunhui enthusiastically began to ask questions.

　　"Manager Xiao Lu's methods have truly broadened my horizons! However, although the problem is solved, I still have many questions that I hope you can clarify."

　　"Please go ahead." Lu Fei was very patient.

　　"You mentioned that to break the seal on the soul-binding painting, you need to use fire. Why not use dry wood but wet wood instead? The fire from wet wood isn't strong and it produces a lot of smoke."

　　"The fire is used to draw out the blood of the bride in the painting, and the small flame from wet wood is less likely to damage the ancient painting. As for why yew wood is used, have you heard of the legend of the yew divine tree, Mr. Wan?"

　　"Oh? What is the story behind that?" Wan Chunhui felt very intrigued.

　　"It is said that the yew is one of the trees that gave birth to fire, and it has the power to burn away all impurities in the world." Lu Fei took a sip of water and continued explaining.

　　"Some tribes even worship the yew as a sacred tree, considering it the guardian deity of their villages, believing that this sacred tree can protect them from illness and evil, and bring good weather and harvests."

　　"That's amazing!" Wan Chunhui was amazed, "I should ask my boss to plant a couple of yew trees in our auction house as well."

　　"A true sacred tree isn't so simple; it would take at least hundreds or thousands of years." Lu Fei smiled, "However, ordinary yew wood, when burned, still has some power to ward off evil, similar to how peach wood is used for protection."

　　"Actually, breaking the seal on the soul-binding painting is quite simple: use the yew wood fire to draw out the blood in the paint and remove the evil spirit. However, this time we needed to retrieve the souls of those three employees first, so it was more complicated, requiring the use of smoke to slowly roast the painting."

　　"High! Indeed, it's high!" Wan Chunhui was thoroughly convinced, "Sinisterium Pawnshop's methods truly live up to their reputation! It's really an eye-opener!"

　　"Mr. Wan, you are too kind."

　　Lu Fei put down his water glass and looked at Wan Chunhui seriously, "Mr. Wan, I have successfully resolved the evil spirit in the ancient painting. Can you tell me about the content of the sheepskin map now?"

　　He felt a bit nervous, but the other party should not increase the price or go back on their word, right?

　　"Of course, please wait a moment, Little Boss Lu. I will go report this good news to my boss!"

　　Fortunately, Wan Chunhui was very straightforward and immediately went to make a phone call.

　　After a while, he returned with a smile on his face.

　　"Little Boss Lu, my boss is very happy! He will send the information about the sheepskin map soon. Besides, he instructed me to follow Sinisterium Pawnshop's rules."

　　"Sinisterium Pawnshop's rules?" Lu Fei was a bit confused.

　　"Naturally, that means pawning this ancient painting to Sinisterium Pawnshop," Wan Chunhui laughed, "However, the boss still wants to keep it as a collection, so it's a live pawn."

　　"There's no need to be so polite. The information about the sheepskin map is enough; this was what we agreed upon beforehand."

　　"That won't do! The boss has repeatedly instructed us not to break Sinisterium Pawnshop's rules."

　　Under Wan Chunhui's strong insistence, Lu Fei had to take out the pawn ticket.

　　A live pawn, priced at 10,000, with a one-day period.

　　Wan Chunhui immediately transferred 300,000 as a handling fee on the spot.

　　Whether it's a dead or live pawn, Sinisterium Pawnshop never does a losing business.

　　Looking at the transaction information, Lu Fei couldn't help but feel that it was hard to lose money.

　　However, he didn't care about the money at all. This move was to get the information about the sheepskin map and find clues related to his grandfather.

　　Ten minutes later.

　　Wan Chunhui received the information and immediately sent a photo to Lu Fei's phone.

　　"Young Master Lu, please check this!"

　　"Thank you!"

　　Lu Fei couldn't wait to open it.

　　The photo was taken very clearly, and the material of the map could be seen as very ancient. The patterns on it were in black and white, somewhat blurry.

　　Lu Fei frowned.

　　The patterns on the map were very abstract, and he didn't recognize the words.

　　It seemed to be some kind of ancient script.

　　"Young Master Lu, don't rush. You can study it slowly when you get back. However, there is one thing I need to remind you!" Wan Chunhui smiled meaningfully.