He drew to an abrupt halt before looking around, upon which he discovered that there was no one else present.
In the current state that Philadelphia was in, no one would be in the mood to visit a place like this.
He silently drew closer to the portrait before taking a close look.
In the portrait, Richardman’s hands were placed on his desk, and he looked exactly the same as he did in Xu Fu’s memories except he had aged significantly.
He was a very refined-looking man, wearing a pair of black-rim glasses, and his white hair was arranged into an elegant ponytail that hung down behind his head, the top of which was already bald. He was wearing an immaculate suit, and the desk in front of him was littered with books, while more books could be seen on the many bookshelves behind him.
There was nothing abnormal about this portrait, but right as he cast his gaze toward Richardman’s right hand, his soul almost flew out of Edward’s body!
Beside his right hand was a wooden box, within which was a stack of notes written in dark red ink. His fingers were splayed very casually over the notes, and he would’ve most likely never anticipated that this portrait would be made available for public viewing someday.
As a result, he made no effort to conceal the writing on the notes, leaving some corners exposed, and Cathayan characters were written on those corners!
A sense of scorching excitement welled up in Qin Ye’s soul, and his heartbeat began to rapidly accelerate while sweat started to accumulate on his palms. This was a very detailed portrait, so much so that it had even accurately captured the Cathayan characters on the exposed corners of the notes.
There was a character for “cloud” and a character for “wanderer”.
If he weren’t mistaken, those were Xu Fu’s notes! He was making this assumption because Xu Fu’s Taoist title was “wanderer among the clouds”! The character for “among” between the characters for “cloud” and “wanderer” had been concealed under one of Richardman’s fingers.
This discovery was far too abrupt, and Qin Ye’s mind had gone completely blank in the face of it. His fingers were trembling slightly, and only after several seconds did he take a deep breath to force himself to calm down. Immediately thereafter, countless questions emerged in his mind.
This portrait indicated that the accursed Richardman had brought out the notes on at least one occasion!
However, he most likely hadn’t opened the notes. After all, if he had done that, then a new energy resource in the underworld would’ve already come into existence long ago. There was no way that anyone knew what type of earth-shattering secret was hidden within these notes.
In that case, why had he brought them out?
According to the rules of the deposit service, no one could touch the deposited items. However, this was something left behind by a Yama-King level being, and having been with Xu Fu for so long, it would’ve already absorbed an immense amount of Yin energy from him. As a result, it wouldn’t even be an exaggeration to say that these notes were an artifact. What was even more important was the person who had deposited it. Could it be that Richardman was showing the notes off? Was he showing off the influence of the First Usonian Bank by making it clear that even a Yama-King had used their deposit service?
Qin Ye shook his head to rid himself of that train of thought. There was no point in pondering something like this, and instead, he began to stare intently at the notes in the portrait.
He wanted to know if it was possible that the notes had been opened.
After a full minute of careful inspection, he finally heaved a faint sigh of relief.
There was no way that it would’ve been opened.
This was an important item belonging to an advanced Yama-King, so it had some occult properties, and as a result, it was particularly clear even on the portrait. Taking a close look at it, Qin Ye could clearly see countless complex hidden patterns on its surface.
Those weren’t normal hidden patterns, even Qin Ye was struck by a rush of dizziness after looking at them for only a minute.
This was an extremely complex array!
He couldn’t identify the entire array, but from the parts he could understand, he had read the Yin rune passages for “seal”, “permission”, “destroy”, and “restriction”.
There was no way that this had been painted by the artist, no artist could paint something in such ridiculous detail. Instead, this was a projection. Due to the subtle link between the underworld and the mortal realm, the notes had unintentionally projected itself onto this portrait, and this was most likely the only portrait in existence that harbored a lead to the notes.
He cast his gaze toward what was behind Richardman, and he was greeted by the sight of an opened door, upon which was inscribed the words “Manager of the First Usonian Bank” in English.
His breathing began to accelerate as another flurry of thoughts flashed through his mind.
The good news is that the notes are still very likely hidden in the secret storage vault of the First Usonian Bank, but the bad news is that the notes already possess some occult properties. The Freemasonry will have definitely already discovered that it’s no ordinary item. What would they have done with it then?
Matthew’s father had participated in the moving of the First Usonian Bank’s secret vault, which was situated in the underground church and had never been moved. There had to be some massive secret hidden in there, meaning that it couldn’t be moved.
However, were the notes still there?
It wasn’t exactly a bulky item, someone could easily tuck it in their pocket and take it away, and this was certainly not unlikely given the special properties that the notes had already displayed.
Only after a long while did he withdraw this gaze.
There was only one way to find out the answers to these questions.
If he couldn’t find any leads on the underground church’s whereabouts, then even if pursuing Matthew could land him in a very inconvenient situation, that would be his only option.
Just as he was about to look away, his peripheral vision suddenly caught onto something, and he immediately turned back to look at the portrait with a stunned expression.
His attention had been entirely drawn to Richardman’s right hand just now, and only at this moment did he discover that there was also something in Richardman’s left hand.
It was the lid of the box.
It was a very ordinary wooden lid without any embellishments, but a line of text had been carved onto its surface using a knife.
Matthew Conn.
In that instant, Qin Ye felt as if he had been struck by a bolt of lightning, and his brows immediately furrowed deeply.
Matthew Conn?!
There was no way that Richardman was still alive. Xu Fu had said that Richardman had perished during a car crash, but even at the time of his death, there was no way that Matthew’s father, no, there was no way that even Matthew’s grandfather would’ve been alive back then!
How could these two people who were separated by over a century have been connected together?
Qin Ye felt as if he had stumbled upon a giant beast, and he had come into contact with its head, wings, and claws, but was unable to touch its truck no matter how much he tried, so he had no idea what this beast was.
He needed a backbone to which he could connect all of these scattered leads and transform them into a coherent package. He couldn’t help but gnash his teeth in frustration. The most worrying thing to him now was that Richardman had used this box to house Xu Fu’s notes and he was preparing to give them to Matthew Conn!
In that case, had the notes already fallen into Matthew’s hands?
“What a fucking mess!” he cursed to himself, then immediately turned to depart from the exhibition hall.
However, as he turned toward the corridor, he discovered that it had become seemingly infinitely long!
The main hall at its conclusion was completely out of sight, and it was as if it had become an endless path into the abyss!
Immediately thereafter, a voice rang out beside him. “You know, it’s physically impossible for a normal person to look at this portrait for so long. Its name is Richardman’s Portrait, and it was painted to mark the occasion of Rrichardman’s promotion to the rank of treasurer. However, his portrait is renowned as one that possesses certain special properties. Anyone below the Count level would feel as if their soul had been set alight at the mere sight of it, yet you looked at it for 20 minutes and 13 seconds straight.”
The portrait was hanging at a corner, and right next to it was another hall. At this moment, a figure wearing a suit was casually walking out of the other hall.
It was a thin Caucasian male with a mustache and a head of brown hair, both of which were immaculately groomed. In the eyes of a normal person, he would be nothing more than a man that was giving a sense of regal grace, yet in the eyes of Edward, he was a twisted ball of Yin energy that had no end in sight!
This was the Duke in the Masonic Temple that Qin Ye had detected earlier! When did he come here? How long had he had his eyes set on him?
Behind him were two reverends, but they weren’t wearing black reverend robes. Instead, they were wearing pristine white robes with golden borders, and even then crucifixes hanging in front of their chests were platinum with diamonds embedded into them.
They were a pair of bishops!
The fact that this man was being accompanied by a pair of bishops meant that he was definitely no ordinary figure, particularly when he was situated in one of the Freemasonry’s strongholds. An overwhelming sense of foreboding immediately welled up in Edward’s heart. “Who’re you?”
“My name is Brando DuPont,” he replied with an elegant bow, then made a reassuring hand gesture as he continued, “There’s no need to be apprehensive, I’m merely curious about you, Edward Ross.”
Has he already figured out my identity during the 20 minutes I’ve been looking at this portrait? In that case, he must also know why I’m here. After all, there’s most likely a mole in the Los Angeles Police Station. Is he here to give me a “friendly warning” or is he here to make blatant threats?
Edward remained unfazed as he looked directly into Brando’s eyes. “I’m not apprehensive.”
“Oh? But I can sense the apprehension in your heart,” Brando said with a smile. “According to past records, you have a very ordinary past and you don’t possess any aptitude for cultivation, so can you tell me…”
He appeared right behind Edward in the blink of an eye, resting his hands on Edward’s shoulders before whispering into Edward’s ear, “How you managed to do this?”
The two bishops had already split up to either side of the hall, and they were surrounding Edward in a triangular formation. Infernal Judge level true energy was surging incessantly within the bodies of the two bishops, and Edward had no doubt that any false move from him would immediately lead to an attack!
Edward’s body instantly tensed up before relaxing again, and Brando clearly sensed this as he chuckled and drummed his fingers gently on Edward’s shoulders in an extremely intimate gesture.
“You’re looking at the restricted book,” he said in a confident voice. “Perhaps I know more about this book than you do. It comes from a faraway and mysterious yet powerful nation. No one is able to open it as the array used to seal it is of an extremely high level. If you tell me what you know about it, I can grant you a favor as the leader of the DuPont Consortium.”
Even though Edward had already guessed that DuPont was an extremely important figure, he still couldn’t help but be stunned upon hearing the words “leader of the DuPont Consortium”.
This man was a Master Mason, one of the Freemasonry’s 12 Master Masons!
Furthermore, he was the leader of the DuPont Consortium and a non-human!
Damn it, Lee Jung-sook! Didn’t you say all of the Master Masons in Usonia have already left?! Where did you get this shoddy information from?
He had no idea what type of being DuPont was, and his mind was racing as he said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
DuPont remained silent as he continued to stand behind him.
After a long while, DuPont said in an indifferent voice, “I heard you’re investigating the case regarding Matthew Conn’s family.”
Before Edward had a chance to reply, he continued in a bone-chilling voice, “Here’s my advice to you: there are some things that you shouldn’t touch. I don’t know who’s standing behind you, but please pass on my regards to them. At a time like this, the Freemasonry has no intention of making powerful enemies, but if anyone dares to encroach on our secrets, then they’re going to face a war.”
“Is that a threat?” Edward asked in a calm voice.
“No, it’s just a friendly warning,” Brando replied as he gave him a gentle pat on the shoulders. “I wish you luck in making it out of Philadelphia alive.”
