Volume One, Chapter 24: A Masterful Scheme

Su Tong’s tone was brash. Having learned from previous experience, Ye Mo dared not doubt her too easily and asked, “What solution do you have?”

Su Tong looked at Ye Mo. “You’d better take me to see the painting first. Only then can I decide what to do.”

Ye Mo glanced at his watch, his tone grave. “We may not have time. Let’s just try. We’ll head to the room where the auction items are stored.”

Ye Mo opened the door, and Su Tong and Xiao Shiwei followed him out.

The three doctors were still waiting at the door, not daring to leave. They were still pondering how to persuade the family to send the patient to the hospital quickly. Yet, to their surprise, after only a few minutes, the person who had seemed on the brink of death was now walking like a normal person. It was as if his agony and suicidal urges earlier had been their hallucination.

They were so shocked their jaws nearly dropped.

How had she done it?

They wanted to step forward and ask, but Su Tong had no time for them, following Ye Mo quickly away.

Xiao Shiwei didn’t go with them, but returned to her own room for some rest.

When they arrived, a group of security guards and managers from Xi Bo Auction were moving the auction items out. Ye Mo said to the manager, “There’s something wrong with the Divine Maiden painting. I need to take another look.”

The manager didn’t dare make decisions on his own and called the boss, Wang Chenyang. Though Wang Chenyang found Ye Mo troublesome, he knew Ye Mo was famous for his meticulousness in the industry, so he didn’t stop him and agreed to let him inspect it again.

Ye Mo entered the room.

Su Tong wanted to follow, but was stopped by a security guard.

Ye Mo pushed up his glasses, his tone serious. “She’s my assistant. I need her help. If anything happens to the auction item, I’m willing to pay ten times its price in compensation.”

The manager knew Ye Mo was not only a university professor and antique appraiser, but also the third son of the Ye family—one of the four major families in Haishi. He could afford ten times the price.

So, Su Tong was allowed in.

With just one glance, Su Tong saw the problem with the Divine Maiden painting.

The woman in the painting was no divine maiden, but an evil god worshipped by dark practitioners.

Ordinary people would see her as compassionate, bestowing blessings upon those kneeling before her. In truth, she was forcibly binding them there, absorbing their luck and faith to nourish herself and become stronger.

Of course, in the beginning, to fool people into worshipping her, she would grant them some benefits.

But as her power grew, her demands for offerings increased, eventually requiring live sacrifices.

If anyone knew the Huo family, they would recognize that among the kneeling figures in the painting was the patriarch of the Huo family from thirty years ago.

Ye Mo noticed Su Tong’s expression suddenly turn cold and tentatively asked, “Miss Su, did you see something wrong?”

Su Tong nodded. “This is no divine maiden, but an evil god. She’s weakened now, so she needs a large amount of offerings. Whoever buys her will suffer misfortune, perhaps even lose their life.”

Ye Mo was startled, and furious at the same time.

“Su Mingzhe is truly vile! To think he’d put such a harmful thing up for auction!”

Su Tong raised an eyebrow. “So it’s Su Mingzhe.”

Now she could guess why he’d done this.

Since she left the Su family, their fortunes had declined, and the Su Group was affected—likely suffering heavy losses recently.

The occultist behind Su Mingzhe had used secret arts to borrow luck from the evil god in advance.

Unable to repay it, Su Mingzhe planned to auction the painting, letting the buyer pay the price for him.

A cunning plan indeed.

But now that she’d discovered it, she couldn’t let him succeed.

She moved beside Ye Mo and whispered, “Stop the guards and managers for a moment. I’ll cast a spell on the painting.”

“All right.”

Ye Mo agreed, calling the guards and managers to the doorway, instructing them carefully on how to move the auction items without damaging them.

Seeing that no one was paying attention to her, Su Tong formed a hand seal and chanted an incantation under her breath.

“Heaven and earth, heed my command—reveal your true form.”

She pointed at the painting, and the compassionate face of the divine maiden twisted into a ferocious visage, while the kneeling figures became visibly anguished.

Once finished, Su Tong rolled up the painting, packed it carefully, and walked over to Ye Mo.

Ye Mo saw this and understood she was done. He addressed the people in the room, “Just move the items as I instructed. I’ve finished examining the painting—there’s no problem.”

“Thank you, Professor Ye, for your guidance.” The manager respectfully escorted Ye Mo out.

After they’d walked some distance, Ye Mo sincerely thanked Su Tong.

“Thank you, Miss Su, for your help. What should I do next?”

Su Tong sized him up. Gold-rimmed glasses, white short-sleeve shirt, deep blue trousers—refined and scholarly. He looked like a genuinely kind person.

She sighed helplessly. “Mr. Ye, this harmful painting isn’t yours, nor are you selling it. You’re a victim yourself. There's no need to thank them, and you don’t need to do anything.”

Ye Mo paused, confused. “Miss Su, you were worried the painting would harm people, and you even cast a spell on it.”

“It’s different,” Su Tong explained. “When I do these things, either Heaven grants me merit or it benefits my cultivation—not without reward.”

Moreover, since Su Mingzhe brought the painting, even if she gained nothing, she had to stop it.

She continued, “As for you, you’re just putting in effort and getting nothing in return.”

Ye Mo smiled openly. “Preventing evil from harming others brings peace to my conscience.”

Su Tong: “…”

That was the kind of thing only a truly righteous person could say.

She glanced at Ye Mo’s dark circles. “You spent all last night exhausted and were invaded by dark energy. You should go rest now. Leave the painting to me.”

Reminded by Su Tong, Ye Mo suddenly realized how tired he felt.

After confirming once more that the painting was truly safe, he bid farewell to Su Tong and returned to his room to rest.

The auction was scheduled to begin at nine.

Guests started arriving from eight o’clock onward.

Xiao Shiwei excitedly dragged Su Tong outside. “I can’t believe my brother’s here at today’s auction! Let’s go find him and have him buy us something.”

Today, Xiao Shiyu wore a blue shirt paired with khaki trousers, understated yet elegant.

When Xiao Shiwei saw him, she rushed up and threw herself at him. “Brother, I’ve set my heart on an emerald necklace. You have to buy it for me!”

Xiao Shiyu gently pulled her off, smiling warmly. “Of course—I’ll buy it for you.”

Then he looked at Su Tong.

She wore a pale blue dress, appearing more mature than before, her aura even more refined, brightening the room.

He smiled gently at her and spoke softly, “Is there anything you want? I’ll buy it for you.”

Su Tong had already looked through the catalogue of auction items and found nothing she wanted, so she was about to refuse. But then she remembered the Divine Maiden painting.