25: Chapter 25 The Mysterious Black Painting

Seeing nothing of value in the room, Nie Ning walked into another door.

The room was empty at a glance, and just as Nie Ning was about to leave, he noticed a painting hanging on the left wall.

The painting had no image and was pitch black like ink.

But strangely, there was a small bowl on the floor, and black water droplets were constantly dripping from the painting, having already gathered into a small bowl of black water.

Seeing this, Nie Ning instantly perked up.

He looked left and right but could not find the source of the black water, as if it were produced out of thin air.

"Interesting, this must be the so-called black water potion."

Since he confirmed it was what he was looking for, Nie Ning took out a small medicine bottle from his pocket.

After pouring out and storing the pills from the bottle, Nie Ning picked up the small bowl, preparing to collect some black water potion, hoping he might find a way to extract the self-healing properties from the black water in the future.

Just as Nie Ning was halfway through pouring, the black painting seemed to turn into a vortex, and Nie Ning's expression suddenly became dazed.

It felt as if a voice in his heart was telling him that as long as he drank the black water, he would obtain incomparable, powerful strength.

Nie Ning looked at the black water in the bowl with unfocused eyes and then slowly brought it to his lips.

Malice Perception triggered!

An unprecedented warning sounded from the depths of his heart, and Nie Ning was instantly jolted awake.

Looking at the small bowl in his hand, Nie Ning felt a chill run down his spine, and goosebumps rose all over his body.

"How eerie!"

Nie Ning looked up at the black painting in front of him with a solemn expression.

The black painting was still dripping black water, as if everything that had just happened was merely his own imagination.

But Nie Ning knew that something had definitely happened just now.

Otherwise, Malice Perception wouldn't have reacted so strongly; he hadn't even encountered such immense malice since he traveled to this world!

After hesitating for a moment, Nie Ning continued pouring the black water into the bottle, then immediately got up and left the room.

As for the black painting...

Nie Ning knew his limits.

Anything related to deities is not simple stuff.

He had almost drunk the black water just now, which was enough to prove that the black painting had the ability to bewitch people.

That he managed to discover it this time by relying on Malice Perception could only be attributed to his good luck.

But don't forget, the black water knight he encountered the first time and the old man he met on the street had both deceived Malice Perception.

Even if it couldn't affect him, it wouldn't be good to bring it back and affect others.

Nie Ning didn't want to encounter people with black sores and black pus on the street; just thinking about that scene made him feel nauseated.

Having witnessed the danger of the black painting, Nie Ning prepared to leave after collecting the black water, intending to call Raimond to handle the matter.

But just as Nie Ning was about to call the guard, in the time it took him to turn around, the black painting on the wall had vanished.

Seeing this, Nie Ning's hair stood on end, and cold sweat broke out all over his body.

He returned to the room to carefully confirm.

It was empty inside, with only the small porcelain bowl used to hold the black water left on the floor; there were no other items.

"How can this be!"

Nie Ning nervously tapped on the wall tiles, trying to find some kind of tunnel.

"Thump, thump..." A dull sound echoed.

There really was a tunnel!

Nie Ning couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.

He wasn't afraid of a tunnel; he was afraid that the black painting had disappeared into thin air.

After all, the abilities of deities were unpredictable, and who knew if it had some kind of possession ability? He didn't want to live in fear of this every day.

Immediately, Nie Ning found Raimond, informed him of his discovery, and specifically warned him about the black painting.

With that, Nie Ning's mission was considered over, and he did not continue to participate in subsequent operations.

...

Three days later, evening.

Ska City.

"Whew~"

"Finally back."

Nie Ning stood at the city gate, a trace of fatigue inevitably appearing on his face.

Because Leighton had his own ulterior motives, he didn't return to the city with Nie Ning, but stayed in Poyi Town to help clean up the cultists in the town.

However, he did give the darsya grass from the mission reward to Nie Ning.

Seeing that there were no more benefits to be gained, Nie Ning naturally couldn't stay there forever, so he set off to return the very next day.

Since he had previously asked Lilith for a week's leave, Nie Ning was in no rush to return to Hervais Manor and instead headed straight to the small tavern where Borton was.

...

Tavern.

Still that same small room.

"Yo, back so soon?"

Seeing Nie Ning enter, Borton immediately greeted him with a face full of smiles.

Nie Ning sat on the sofa and looked at Borton with interest: "You lied to me. Didn't you tell me the reward this time was only one stalk of darsya grass?"

It was only when he left Poyi Town that he learned the Barton Family had actually given two stalks of darsya grass as a reward.

Which meant this old guy hadn't done anything, just by flapping his lips he had taken half of his reward!

Borton was immediately displeased upon hearing this.

"That's not the right way to put it."

"Without me, you wouldn't get the mission; without the mission, you wouldn't get the promotion potion; without the promotion potion, you wouldn't be able to breakthrough; without breaking through..."

"Stop, stop, stop, you win!"

Nie Ning hurriedly waved his hand to interrupt the nagging Borton.

He knew what Borton said was true, he was just a bit annoyed.

But the situation was stronger than the person; he had no channel to obtain potions himself, and this old guy could indeed save him a lot of trouble.

"We're all acquaintances now, as if I would cheat you."

Borton smiled slightly at this.

"Besides, it takes connections to refine potions for you, and I also paid extra for the refining materials."

As he spoke, Borton placed a bottle of potion glowing with an azure light on the table.

He knew this guy Nie Ning would come back to pick a fight, so he had long since turned the 'deposit' into a promotion potion.

Of course, if Nie Ning hadn't completed the mission or hadn't mentioned it, he would have just made Nie Ning wait a bit longer and enjoyed the potion himself first.

As for the Barton Family, he had plenty more reasons to handle this matter.

"Sorry."

Seeing that the potion was already made, Nie Ning, being very sensible, sincerely apologized.

One could only say that an old fox is an old fox; there was nothing to say about his way of doing things. This one action alone saved him at least a week's worth of time.

"Haha..."

Hearing Nie Ning's apology, Borton couldn't help but laugh heartily.

Ever since Nie Ning's strength improved last time, it had been hard for him to take advantage of Nie Ning.

So, even if it was just taking advantage verbally, it made him feel great, giving him an inexplicable sense of satisfaction as if he were stepping on a genius knight.

Nie Ning couldn't be bothered with Borton; his attention was now entirely focused on the promotion potion.

Now everything was ready, the only missing promotion potion had arrived, and soon he would become an Intermediate Knight!