By now, Chad and Father Augustus had a general understanding of the basic characteristics of relic paintings.
The house model in the oil painting will be consistent with the real house, and when the people in the house directly touch the oil painting, a puppet corresponding to the person will appear in the painting.
The puppet has its own instinctive wisdom and will actively escape from the murderer in the model house. The movement of the puppet depends on the location of the real person. If the real person is in the house, the puppet can only move in the corresponding house in the building; if the real person is not in the house, the puppet is likely to move randomly.
The bandaged puppet will continue to chase other puppets in the painting, and the injuries of the puppets will directly affect the real people, eventually leading to the death of the real people in reality. I am afraid that the truth behind Mr. Freeman's fall to death is that the puppet corresponding to him in the painting was finally killed by the bandaged puppet after a half-month pursuit.
Ordinary people will forget everything about the oil paintings after coming into contact with them, and will occasionally see the phantom of the bandaged puppet in reality, and will suffer mental torture in dreams, causing mental problems.
The only known possible way to contain it is to remove the painting itself from the house, which is what Mrs. Freeman, an ordinary person, has done.
After Mr. Freeman's death, the painting can be taken out of the real building without any corresponding puppets in the house model. Once taken out of the real building, it is no longer possible to touch the painting inside the building, thus making the puppets appear in the house model inside the painting.
However, it was impossible for Shad and the Freeman boy to commit suicide now, so this method could not be tried.
In fact, Shade has another idea, which is to demolish the house in reality so that the corresponding building will disappear in the painting. But Shade is not sure whether this will cause other strange changes to the relics, such as the bandaged puppet directly breaking through the limitations of the house model. Therefore, this idea is only considered as a last resort.
The five of them had hurried down the street together, attracting the attention of passersby. After Shade, Mrs. Freeman, and Little Freeman returned to the house and confirmed that the bandaged puppet in the painting was still some distance from the first floor, Shade said to the priest outside the door:
"Father Augustus, take the girl to Dr. Schneider's clinic and let the doctor take care of her first. If Dr. Schneider has time, ask him to come over as well. Although I have some ideas, safety comes first. No matter how cautious you are, it will not be enough when dealing with this kind of thing."
Mrs. Freeman also agreed to let her daughter go to a safe place temporarily. While the priest was away, Shade asked the two ordinary people to stand farther away. He turned his back to them and tried many ways to destroy the painting in the hallway. But since it was a relic, it would not be destroyed so easily. Whether it was a gunshot, Silver Moon's slash or even the Moonlight Greatsword, nothing could leave a mark on the painting.
In fact, Shade's attack made the bandaged puppet in the painting move much faster. It seemed that the painting knew someone was trying to destroy it, so it accelerated the progress of attacking Shade.
But this thing is only rated as a clerk at best, or even a poet at most, and is like an urban legend that can be told everywhere. Its killing efficiency is really slow, and even when facing ordinary people, it tries to only face one person at a time.
For a ring sorcerer, although it would be quite troublesome to deal with it if unfortunately involved, there are other ways.
Father Augustus returned soon, but without Dr. Schneider following him. Fortunately, the doctor was out on a consultation and was not in the clinic for the time being, so he would not be involved in this matter.
Father Augustus seemed a little worried. After learning that Shade had failed to destroy the painting, the wrinkles on his brow deepened. He lowered his old voice and asked Shade in the hallway:
"Before I left, you said you had other options."
"Yes, Mr. Freeman was obsessed with wood carving before his death. This should not be a change of interest. Although he forgot about oil painting and didn't know what happened to him, he definitely had an idea. At least a week before his death, he vaguely realized what he wanted to do. This painter's inspiration is really amazing. He must have come up with a solution when he came into contact with oil painting in his dream."
Shad asked Father Augustus for Mr. Freeman's relic, the crudely made wood carving, and then carefully placed it on the painting.
The boy was pulled by Mrs. Freeman to stand behind the stairs. Only two ring magicians looked directly at the painting. Under their gaze, the small wooden sculpture of a man actually melted into the surface of the painting like butter.
Then, a new puppet appeared inside the model house in the painting. It appeared at the door of the model, and as a gray light sank into the puppet from the depths of the painting, the new puppet merged with the two puppets, one large and one small, representing the detective and the boy.
The puppets have no expression, but the three clearly saw Mr. Freeman's puppet and approached the smaller puppet. It "came alive". Mr. Freeman's soul was actually in the painting.
Then, George, the boy who was being pulled by his mother, suddenly widened his eyes and looked around:
"Father, oh, is that you? Father!"
Although the middle-aged woman could not see what the detective and the priest did, she seemed to understand what was going on. She sobbed softly, squatted down and hugged her son.
Xia De whispered to the priest:
"It seems that this idea is correct. The sculptor of the puppet was killed by the painting, so it can enter the painting to help you. But what's the use of a puppet carved by a living person? Can we get more puppets, such as a priest puppet, a soldier puppet, or even a god..."
"Only puppets made by the person affected by this relic can be useful. Detective, remember? Mr. Freeman went to the church before his death and got a puppet commemorating the Holy Prayer Day, but he still died. So, I think only puppets made by people themselves can be useful. Otherwise, wouldn't it be too easy to crack this relic? How can it be so simple?"
Father Augustus deduced, and then looked at Shade:
"I don't know what use the puppet I carved would have if I put it in there, but detective, can you carve a puppet?"
"Of course not, but I have another solution."
Shad said, pulling out his MI6-issued revolver from his waist, then his handkerchief.
He covered the gun with a handkerchief, and when he took it off, a small pistol toy puppet appeared in his palm:
"The puppet pistol I made myself."
Shad said with a smile.
"You really have a way."
Father Augustus also smiled.