Lord of Enigma

Who would have thought that a sloppy and cheap sketch would be this dangerous?

Those pitch-black tentacles had great speed and monstrous strength. Even a strong and muscular adult wouldn't be able to defend himself against the sneak attack.

Unfortunately, it ran into Tang Qi, who had been prepared since a long time ago.

The very moment the sketch surfaced and that faint glow entered his sight, Tang Qi pretty much subconsciously sprayed out all the saltwater in his mouth. At the same time, golden flames surged out of a pair of fair palms with a loud boom.

The power of the furnace was of no harm to normal pieces of paper. However, if it was part of the supernatural realm and even belonged to the side of evil, then it was simply too bad.

Hisssss!

The sound of something corroding could be heard. The moment the black tentacles came into contact with the cerulean blue saltwater, a fierce and intense reaction broke out. Gray corroded patches rapidly appeared on the tentacles, and they shrunk back into the sketch. However, it was futile because the whole sketch burst into flames the very next moment.

Much like paper that had gotten too close to flames. The sketch yellowed in the scorching heat, gradually curling up before turning black.

What would come next was probably the sketch completely burning into ashes.

"No~"

At the critical moment, the sketch actually emitted a scream.

A rich and husky voice was heard coming from the sketch. A pink light suffused with a strange aura surrounded the sketch, trying to resist the burning golden flames with great difficulty.

Tang Qi finally got a good look at the true form of the sketch.

It was a portrait. The subject was a middle-aged man wearing a well-cut but strange suit. He had a pale complexion, and his hair was pulled back into a ponytail. His chin was covered by a messy beard, and he had a pair of reddish eyes that were filled with extraordinary allure.

The one begging for mercy right now was precisely this man. With a deeply troubled look on his face, he spread his arms and cried out to Tang Qi, "Young wizard, please don't hurt me. I am willing to offer up all my knowledge and become part of your collection. Will you let me off?"

What a professional performance!

Tang Qi sighed mentally in admiration. However, not only did the light surging out from his hands not disappear, they intensified even further.

In his slightly lowered eyes, the special interface popped up within his vision.

[Mysterious Object: Gregory's Self-Portrait]

[Status: Being Destroyed]

[Information Fragment 1: A self-portrait of the legendary demonic monk of the state of Slav. Due to the influence by its main body's magic powers, it also possesses some supernatural abilities, such as bestowing upon its slave a reproductive organ beyond one's imagination or mind-control.]

[Information Fragment 2: To provide for it, the vengeful spirit of a virgin must be offered up to it in regular intervals.]

"Gregory?"

Tang Qi's brows drew together when he saw the name. Then, a legend that he had once read came to his mind.

During the time before the state of Slav became part of the Europa Union, there was once a legendary monk. Through his powerful magic and sexual prowess that made women fall head over heels for him, he threw the entire palace into depravity. He was killed by a prince who used his own wife's body as bait in the end.

According to Tang Qi's deduction, Gregory was most likely a "Monk" Class Specialist and possessed an extremely high supernatural grade.

This small self-portrait in front of him now was also proof of this.

In addition, like what the information fragment mentioned, it was very skilled in mind-control.

After it begged him for mercy, whispers filled Tang Qi's mind, as if innumerous people were whispering into his ears — some were threatening him, some seducing him, and some persuading him to make peace… An urge to let go of the sketch started to well up in Tang Qi.

Hmph!

Tang Qi let out a derisive snort mentally. A small golden stream started to flow inside his mind.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Flames — golden flames several times more intense than those from before — engulfed the sketch. Tang Qi indeed did let go of the sketch, just that it had already turned into a pile of black ashes during the moment he did so. They drifted onto the floor, disintegrating in mid-air and covering the floor in ashes.

A supernatural object had been destroyed by Tang Qi.

But he didn't find it a pity at all. If he hadn't taken the sketch out, perhaps it might have been worth keeping it as part of his collection.

Unfortunately, he did.

Should Tang Qi choose not to destroy this extremely dangerous object, he would need to continuously contend with it to avoid being controlled by it. This didn't fit within Tang Qi's expectations, so the best option was to just destroy it altogether.

Shaking his head, Tang Qi retrieved a broom and prepared to clean up the ashes.

Right at this moment, Tang Qi let out a soft "eh?". He reached out and picked up an unidentified mass from the ashes.

Hair?

That's right, that mass was a bunch of hair strands that were entangled together.

With a light shake, the ashes fell off, revealing the true form of this bunch of hair. Not every strand was black; rather, it was a mix of black, red, green, and purple strands of hair, which came together to form what looked like an extremely complicated string of knots.

The strange thing was that these strands of hair weren't disgusting like the messy bunches of hair usually seen in sewers. Instead, it gave Tang Qi a sense of purity.

A faint light flashed, and an interface appeared in Tang Qi's vision.

[Mysterious Object: Fascinating Hair Knot]

[Status: Intact]

[Information Fragment 1: Gregory's Self-Portrait had several generations of slaves in the past. Every slave of his had killed chaste virgins and offered up the vengeful spirits of these virgins for it to ravage. The souls of the virgins entangled around each other and formed this fascinating hair knot in the end.]

[Information Fragment 2: For every knot undone, you may receive the gratitude of a virgin's soul. You may also receive a random piece of special knowledge.]

[Information Fragment 3: Decryption Method — Use magic powers to patiently untangle it. If any strand of hair breaks, the entire hair knot will disappear.]

"How interesting!"

Tang Qi grasped the multi-colored hair knot in his hand, his interest instantly piqued.

He could vaguely guess the origin of the hair knot.

In the books he read, the sections describing that legendary monk had mentioned that he liked collecting the hair of virgins as his spoils. Obviously, Gregory's Self-Portrait also picked up its main body's habit which, in a bizarre turn of events, actually ended up forming another supernatural object.

Since he just so happened to be unable to cultivate at the moment and Tang Qi hadn't thought of the best way to deal with the rest of the supernatural objects yet, he placed all his spoils from the evening — 14 canine teeth, Scana's Manuscript, and Serand's Dual Knives — into the safe.

Then, he made himself a pot of rich and fragrant coffee and took out a small piece of cake from the fridge. After going back to his bedroom on the second story, he settled into a cross-legged position on the rug. Holding the lock of Fascinating Hair Knot in his hand, he started decrypting it according to the method mentioned in the information fragment.

Brute force was forbidden. One must use magic powers to undo it patiently.

Tang Qi went through the instructions in his mind. At the same time, his eyes focused on the first knot. It was made up of two strands of hair, one red and one black, intertwined around each other. The knot wasn't complex.

Tang Qi gradually transfused the power of the furnace into the knot. This was magic power that could burn Gregory's Self-Portrait into ashes, yet it didn't damage the hair at all. Instead, it made them look even softer and silkier, almost as if they would come to life. Tang Qi suddenly heard the sound of young girls frolicking and playing inside his mind.

The reflection of this in real life was that when Tang Qi attempted to undo the first knot, the other strands of hair that were entangled together would twist towards his hands to make mischief, much like a group of mischievous young girls.

Tang Qi was very patient. His fair, long, and slender fingers were very deft and nimble. Guiding magic power into the hair knot, they picked out each strand of hair and undid the first knot successfully.

Poof.

When the knot was undone, the two strands of hair burst into flames at the same time and vanished within the bunch of hair. The images of two girls manifested in front of Tang Qi.

One of them was dressed in a gown typical of a lady in a palace. She had ginger hair and a mole on her nose. She smiled gratefully at Tang Qi.

The other image was a girl from the countryside. She had black hair, a full figure, and fair skin. She was also smiling.

When they saw Tang Qi looking over, both of them curtsied to him at the same time. Then, they gradually faded away in the bedroom.

"Phew~" Tang Qi let out a long breath of air.

Getting onto his feet, a small smile appeared on his face as well, and he performed a gentleman's bow at those two figures who had already disappeared.

Obviously, Tang Qi didn't receive any knowledge from the first knot he undid. Rather, what he had received was the gratitude of those two girls' souls.

However, Tang Qi was very satisfied with what he received.

Settling back down on the rug, he picked up the coffee mug and took a sip. His hands picked up the hair knot again, and he got ready to undo the second knot.

Right at this point, he heard activity on the first story.

Ding dong!

The doorbell rang. Tang Qi took a look at the window subconsciously.

It was still late in the night. Who would come here and look for him at this hour?