Chapter 266: Chapter 187: Deceitful Painting? What Nonsense—Why Not Call It Human Skin Paper? (Part 3)

"Then let’s talk about why you said you’ve seen that little girl’s smile before?"

Ning An directly and bluntly interrupted him, while Lin Yanke also had her hand on her waist, ready to use the Thunder Talisman at the slightest hint of trouble.

His state was clearly off; who would dare to let him continue speaking!

Xiaohu’s gaze instantly cleared after being interrupted. Looking at the vigilant crowd behind him, he trembled and said, "You’ve seen it, right? It’s that painting, it must be up to mischief!"

The crowd was noncommittal, saying nothing, just silently watching him.

He also understood that something wasn’t right with himself. Gritting his teeth in determination, he was the first to walk up the stairs to the second floor, quickly heading in one direction, suddenly exclaiming, "Where’s the studio? That room where we stored our ancestors’ portraits?!"

"Are you certain there was a room before?" Ning An countered.

"Yes, absolutely yes!"

Xiaohu pointed at the wall beside him, his voice filled with indescribable despair: "Right here, right here, there definitely was a room!"

While speaking, Zhang Xingmin directly notified logistics to pull up photos of Enjiang Town.

Within seconds, the logistics tech team directly locked onto all photos of the Enjiang Town ancestral hall.

Most of the photos were exactly as Xiaohu described, indeed showing a small room here!

"But, why are some of these photos missing the room?"

Lin Yanke suspiciously pointed out several photos that indeed matched the current layout of the ancestral hall.

"These few were taken by tourists in the last two years; the tech department has been in contact with them. Most have no impression of it, except one couple definitely remembers it."

Zhang Xingmin, while operating his tablet, quickly said, "The couple claimed they had an argument here, so it stood out to them, and there was no so-called room; they even uploaded other photos!"

Ning An also leaned in; the photos provided by the young couple indeed showed nothing but a bare wall.

"The technical team reported that starting three years ago, this room ceased to exist in any photos."

At this moment, Xiaohu had already picked up his phone and called the clan elder.

"Second Uncle, it’s me, Xiaohu... yes, yes..."

"No, how could I feed guests that stuff? They are our bread and butter!"

Xiaohu suddenly changed his tone and said:

"Second Uncle, do you remember the little studio on the second floor of our ancestral hall? You used to be very serious, saying it was where we stored the ancestors’ portraits."

He put the phone on speaker, and the group clearly heard an elderly voice, hoarse with a hint of confusion:

"What studio? Ancestors’ portraits? We don’t have such things on the second floor of the ancestral hall..."

"Second Uncle, please don’t be confused; the police are listening right next to us."

Xiaohu’s trembling voice nearly pressed his face against the phone.

"You little rascal, if we had the ancestors’ portraits, they would’ve been displayed for worship long ago."

"Impossible! Do you still remember that big key you have?"

"I remember; it’s the key to my dog’s kennel. You know, a large cage needs a big lock to barely keep him contained."

Xiaohu turned pale, his body swaying unsteadily.

"No... No, when I was a kid, Fifth Brother also said he saw a door on the second floor..."

"Yes, well, thanks to the state’s initiative, our tourism developed here. Our town has few attractions, so everyone came up with clever ideas; that fake door is one of them, with just a wall behind it."

However, before he could roll his eyes and faint, a hesitant voice came from the other end of the line: "You’re talking about the studio; there’s no such room on the second floor of our ancestral hall. But according to our ancestors’ tales, there indeed should be a room on the second floor."

Xiaohu was about to say more when the phone was snatched away by a large hand, and Zhang Xingmin solemnly said, "Old man, please continue. I am a police officer from Linjiang County Station!"

The voice on the other end recognized the police’s seriousness, speaking with a bit more clarity: "When I was little, the elders always said there was a room hidden on the second floor of the ancestral hall, containing a treasure inside. But unless a person with a Spirit Body was present, nobody could find this room."

"Officer, it’s just a story passed down, never encountered in years, probably distorted through retelling. That’s why from my generation, the younger ones don’t know of this legend."

Zhang Xingmin paused the recording and then smiled, saying, "These ghost stories are not to be believed. Thank you for your cooperation."

After hanging up the phone, everyone except Xiaohu, who was left empty-handed and shaking, had eyes filled with indecipherable emotions, instantly making the atmosphere tense.

"Do you remember how you stumbled into that room when you were little?"

Ning An tried to make his tone gentle, but Xiaohu was already scared to the point of trembling, sitting down with his head shaking like a rattle:

"I-I don’t know, I don’t know... I don’t know anything..."

Great, another dead end.

With a glance from Zhang Xingmin, two staff members quickly helped him out.

Everyone could see that staying here would soon drive him insane.

Watching Xiaohu being taken away, Zhang Xingmin lamented, "Too bad, just one step away, just one step from getting the answer."

"Where are we missing? We’re not missing anything."

Lin Yanke looked at him with some confusion: "We’ve gotten here, what’s missing?"

Zhang Xingmin punched the wall; the pain contorted his face.

But it also confirmed one thing: the wall here was indeed solid!

"Without the directions from that boss earlier, there’s no way to find the so-called studio."