"Who is Christie?" Lex looked at Meredith in surprise.
Meredith didn't answer, instead staring at Kaven: "Aren't you a neurosurgeon? How do you know about 'Christie'?"
Kaven immediately looked at Lex, who could only say: "Ms. Meredith, now is not the time to focus on this issue. The key is Josh."
Meredith nodded in agreement, not dwelling on the matter, and answered Lex's previous question: "'Christie' is an oil painting, one collected by my grandfather. It's said that he bought it from Intis when he was a sailor."
"My father knows the specific details better."
"I can only say that it's a terrifying painting, and my father has told me all sorts of strange stories about it."
"In those stories, Christie would appear in various oil paintings and photographs. She would become an inconspicuous figure in them."
"She would observe her targets from within the paintings and photographs, and then, when the time was right, she would snatch them away."
After hearing her account, Lex immediately decided: "Let's go, we'll talk to Hardy."
When they returned to the ward, Lex saw that Rowley and his wife had also arrived.
So he had Meredith call the old man out. In the corridor, Lex asked directly: "Mr. Hardy, please tell us about the painting 'Christie'."
Hardy was visibly stunned, looking at his daughter in surprise, then at Lex: "How do you know about this painting?"
"I told him," Meredith said, holding her father's hand. "Dad, what exactly happened with that painting?"
"Were the ghost stories you told me just ghost stories?"
"Josh is currently unconscious. It might be related to that painting, so if you know anything, please tell us quickly."
Hardy looked at his daughter in surprise: "You're saying Josh is like this because of that painting? Impossible, it was hidden by Rowley, unless—"
"Go call Rowley out!"
Meredith nodded and walked into the ward. Only then did Hardy hold his forehead and say: "'Christie' is a painting my father bought from Intis when he was a sailor."
"The painting looks ordinary, but it has a rather terrifying story. Christie in the painting lives in an ancient castle. Every so often, she would go to a nearby village and take a child."
"Those children were hidden by her in the ancient castle, often suffering torment until they died. Eventually, Christie's crimes were exposed, and the angry villagers burned her to death at the stake."
"But ever since then, Christie's ghost would always appear in people's oil paintings and photographs, and then at some point, she would take away a child from that household."
Footsteps sounded, and Rowley walked out with his sister, looking at his father: "Dad, you called me?"
Hardy stood up: "I ask you, did you hide that painting well? The one called 'Christie'."
Rowley was startled, then nodded vigorously: "When we were sorting through Grandpa's belongings, you told me to hide this painting well. I followed your instructions and hid it in the attic wall."
"Why bring it up?"
Meredith said in a deep voice: "We suspect that Josh's unconsciousness is related to that painting. Such a dangerous item should have been donated to the Church back then."
Hardy smiled bitterly: "But it was one of the few items your grandfather left behind."
Rowley looked at them in surprise: "Are you crazy? That's just a ghost story to scare children. How could a painting make Josh like this, especially since I hid it so well."
After speaking, his eyes flickered, as if he was hiding something.
"Sometimes, stories are not just stories," Lex said, glancing at the man.
At this moment, a guilty voice came over: "The oil painting you're talking about, is it a woman standing on a castle platform, wearing a court dress?"
Everyone turned in unison, looking at Maggie, Rowley's wife, who had just walked out of the ward.
She stammered: "Last month, when I was tidying up in the attic, I saw a hole in the wall. I asked an Artisan to repair it, and he found an iron box inside the wall."
Rowley gasped: "You opened the box?"
"Yes, I was curious about what was inside. When I opened the box, it turned out to be mercury."
Maggie gestured: "I thought it was too dangerous to keep mercury at home, so I asked the Artisan to take it away. He later came back to me, saying he found an oil painting in that box, kept in a metal case and soaked in the mercury."
"Oh my god…"
"That painting can't be taken out, it once…"
Rowley asked in annoyance: "Where is it? We must hide it!"
Maggie seemed startled, taking two steps back and saying: "I originally wanted to hang it up, but I really couldn't find a suitable place, so I temporarily put it in Josh's room, on top of his wardrobe…"
"Rowley, what's wrong with that painting?"
Apparently, Rowley was not in the mood to discuss this right now.
Through their conversation, Lex guessed that something must have happened with that oil painting before, which is why the Hardy family hid it.
Moreover, he had never heard of collecting an oil painting by soaking it in mercury. This method was more like handling some kind of sealed artifact.
If this 'Christie' truly possessed the strange abilities Hardy mentioned, then this oil painting could definitely be considered a sealed artifact.
This, in turn, raised a difficult question: how did Hardy's father, a sailor, come into contact with and collect a sealed artifact?
However, there was no time to discuss these things now.
Maggie and Meredith stayed to take care of Josh, while Lex and the others took a carriage to Fania Street.
Arriving at Rowley's house, they went straight to the second floor, rushing into Josh's room.
Rowley moved a chair and, sure enough, found the oil painting, simply wrapped in newspaper, on top of his son's wardrobe.
When Rowley unwrapped the newspaper, Lex noticed that the colors of this oil painting were still so vibrant.
In the painting, the main subject was clearly a black ancient castle, with large fields of wheat in front of it.
Beyond the wheat fields, a winding, clear stream could be seen, with lush trees growing along its banks.
And in the distance, some houses with red sloped roofs could be seen, looking like a village.
"It's gone!"
Hardy and Rowley exclaimed at the same time.
Lex looked at them: "What's gone?"
Rowley pointed to a terrace on the castle: "There should be a woman in a court dress here. That's Christie, right, Dad?"
Hardy nodded, whispering: "That's right. It's just like back then; she ran out of the painting again."
At this moment, Kaven let out a soft cry, pointing to a window in the castle: "Look at this!"
Lex followed the direction of his finger and saw a boy standing in that window.
His features, surprisingly, bore a seven-tenths resemblance to Josh!