316: Chapter 316 The Biggest Variable

At Zhou Changzhu's home.

In the clean and tidy small courtyard.

Zhou Changzhu was slumped on the ground with a dazed look in his eyes, covered in blood, clutching a sharp Bowie knife in his hand.

Lying in front of Zhou Changzhu was an elderly couple in their sixties, each with a deep wound on their neck that exposed the bone.

Blood had stained more than half of the courtyard red.

The air was filled with a thick, bloody stench.

Han Jingyang, who had rushed over, saw this scene, and his anger flared instantly, blood rushing to his eyes!

Shi Xiaoya rushed to the elderly couple's side immediately to check their breathing, then shook her head desperately at Han Jingyang.

Han Jingyang slowly closed his eyes, forcing himself to calm down. He locked the gate behind him and said to Shi Xiaoya, "Follow me."

As soon as he finished speaking, he drew his sword and rushed into the house.

Shi Xiaoya hurriedly followed with her blade, asking, "What do we do now?"

Han Jingyang took a deep breath: "It's not strange that he can control Zhou Changzhu, but the fact that he can control him frequently without leaving any clues suggests only one thing: either the culprit is hiding near Zhou Changzhu, or some medium is hidden near him. In any case, I don't believe the culprit has the ability to precisely control someone from dozens of kilometers away."

"A medium?"

"Yes, a medium." Han Jingyang stopped there, his gaze resting on a photo frame in the middle of an old-fashioned wardrobe.

An oil painting was embedded in the frame.

The figures in the oil painting were Zhou Changzhu's family of three.

In the painting, the elderly couple sat side by side on chairs, while Zhou Changzhu stood behind them, his hands resting on their shoulders. The family of three all faced the camera with slightly shy smiles.

The scene was simple and heartwarming.

The painting technique was also quite sophisticated; the brushstrokes were delicate and realistic, with a high degree of realism.

Even Shi Xiaoya could recognize the style. She was both shocked and angry: "This was painted by the culprit; it's the same as the one of Dou Dous Mother."

Han Jingyang nodded.

Not only was the painting style exactly the same as that one, but the black aura permeating the portrait also confirmed his guess.

This was the medium the culprit used to control Zhou Changzhu.

Thinking of this, he immediately took down the framed painting.

Shi Xiaoya was very worried: "Let me do it."

Han Jingyang shook his head and softly shouted, "Everlasting Sword Qi."

A flash of sword qi streaked by.

It hit the portrait inside the frame precisely.

The painting itself remained unchanged.

But the black aura within the painting instantly lost control, quickly annihilated by the sword qi until nothing was left.

At the same time, Zhou Changzhu, who had been acting like a soulless husk in the courtyard, let out a miserable scream, clutching his head and curling up on the ground, rolling around.

Shi Xiaoya turned to look at Han Jingyang.

Han Jingyang shook his head: "Don't worry about him. He's fine. Let's save the people first."

"Save them?"

"Yes, let's save them."

"That kind of skill is so precious, and their family doesn't have that much money..."

"Sometimes you can afford to be a saint. Go ahead, bring over that acupuncture figurine."

The acupuncture figurine.

It was a Hetian jade carving from the Republic of China era.

Grade Five.

Its skill was Healing and Curing.

It was just the right remedy.

Shi Xiaoya nodded and quickly retrieved the acupuncture figurine Han Jingyang mentioned from the trunk of the car at the entrance.

Han Jingyang held the figurine and activated it directly.

Healing and Curing.

A green aura emerged and condensed in the air into a middle-aged man wearing a white gown and a mask.

The middle-aged man bowed slightly to Han Jingyang, then opened the medical kit he was carrying and took out a series of medical instruments and a set of silver needles.

Disinfecting, needling, cleaning the wounds, suturing the wounds, and then acupuncture.

The movements seemed slow but were actually fast.

In less than a minute, the couple's wounds were treated.

The man in the white coat bowed again to Han Jingyang and slowly disappeared.

Han Jingyang also bowed slightly in return.

Looking at the couple lying on the ground, they had miraculously recovered; their wounds had healed as if they had never been injured at all.

Shi Xiaoya ran to the elderly couple and checked their breathing, nodding excitedly: "Husband, they're breathing."

Han Jingyang nodded, walked over to Zhou Changzhu, and patted his cheek: "Wake up."

Zhou Changzhu, who had been wailing while clutching his head, suddenly woke up. He looked up at Han Jingyang, then at his parents lying in a pool of blood, and his face turned deathly pale instantly.

Han Jingyang pointed at the elderly couple: "They are both still alive. If I were you, I would change them into new clothes before they wake up and clean up the blood in the courtyard, pretending as if nothing happened."

Zhou Changzhu blurted out a denial: "Impossible!"

Han Jingyang didn't explain: "I'll give you ten minutes. In ten minutes, come find me at Liu Zhiyuan's house. By the way, where did that oil painting in your living room come from?"

"A few years ago, a painter came to our village to sketch and painted it for us for free."

"Only yours?"

"No, many people in the village had their portraits painted, and they were painted very well."

"What did that painter look like?"

"Long hair, a big beard, and he wore a baseball cap and sunglasses every day. I couldn't see his exact features, but his skin was very good..."

Zhou Changzhu said this, his expression changing: "Could it be..."

Han Jingyang patted Zhou Changzhu's shoulder: "It's fine now. I've already taken care of the one in your house."

"What about the others..."

"I will handle it. You deal with your family matters first."

Han Jingyang went out and called the short, fat village chief directly: "Old Deng, come to me. I have something very important to talk to you about. Don't tell anyone, just come directly."

Five minutes later.

The short, fat village chief, Deng Changrong, arrived: "Mr. Han, what is it?"

Han Jingyang briefly explained the matter of the oil paintings.

Deng Changrong instantly collapsed to the ground: "You, are you saying that almost everyone in our village is under his control?"

"Yes."

"He, can he wipe out our entire village in an instant?"

"Yes."

Deng Changrong's face turned deathly pale, he was sweating profusely, and his eyes were dazed. He muttered to himself: "It's over, it's completely over..."

Han Jingyang frowned: "Are there many people with oil paintings in their homes?"

Deng Changrong seemed not to hear him, his eyes gradually filling with fear: "He's back, it's him, he's back, we're all going to die..."

Han Jingyang sighed helplessly and stepped forward to slap him twice.

At critical moments, a slap is the best way to wake someone up. If one slap doesn't work, use two; if two don't work, use two more.

Deng Changrong came to his senses and grabbed Han Jingyang's arm: "Mr. Han, save us."

"Otherwise, why do you think I came here?"

"Yes, yes, Mr. Han is kind-hearted and will surely not sit idly by. Um, let me think, let me think." After taking a few deep breaths, Deng Changrong gradually calmed down: "We can't search openly. We must find a way to get all the oil paintings out before he reacts."

Speaking of this, he stared intently at Han Jingyang: "Mr. Han, you can suppress or even destroy those oil paintings, right?"

Han Jingyang nodded: "As long as you have a way to gather all those oil paintings together, I have a way."

"Good, good, I'll go arrange it right away. Wait a moment. It just so happens that everyone is at Dou Dous house handling the funeral arrangements, which is convenient for us to act," Deng Changrong said, running out: "I'm going to make some calls."

Han Jingyang didn't stop him. These grassroots village cadres might not have great abilities, but they had plenty of petty tricks and clever ideas.

At this moment, Shi Xiaoya shook her phone: "Husband, Liu Jing and the Lin Sisters have all arrived, and also... Dou Dou."

Han Jingyang's heart tightened instantly.

The situation in Shen Village was already complex, and with a large number of oil paintings scattered throughout the households of Shen Village, it was already full of variables.

Now there was Dou Dou, the biggest variable of all.

Something big was going to happen!