No wonder Huang Si stole this painting!

Xiaopang must have gone to that exhibition back then and discovered that standing in front of the painting made his Hidden Moth abilities ineffective, thus realizing it was not only a treasure but also a major threat to Hidden Moth.

Xiaopang was Hidden Moth at the time, so stealing it was entirely justified.

Huang Xiaopang even used the legendary method to create a fake to replace it, but his craftsmanship was so far off that it reminded people of Wu Yanjun's junior sister.

Huang Xiaopang can paint; he used to work in game design at the company's headquarters and studied art, using AI assistance to draw all kinds of anime girls, which was his specialty.

But when it comes to replicating works like "Tan Xian's Walking Stick Painting," his skills are pretty much on par with street murals.

Given Xiaopang's Hidden Moth temperament, he'd hang the most abstract piece without a care, anyway, he switched it, but it was Zhang Yanfei who ended up with the bad luck...

But this painting shouldn't be hung here; if Magic Sect disciples, especially Alchemy Sect sorcerers, discover it, it would expose too much information and cause endless trouble.

If this painting falls into someone else's possession, they could design more targeted traps to ambush Hidden Moth.

"Xiaopang, don't sleep yet! What's going on with this painting? Hasn't anyone told you not to hang portraits directly facing the bed? It's this kind of large full-body portrait they're talking about!"

Huang Xiaopang opened his eyes drowsily: "Ah, is there such a particular thing? I saw a story a couple of days ago, saying that Emperor Napoleon of Lansi Country especially loved that famous painting 'Mona Lisa,' and even hung it in his bedroom while sleeping."

He Kao: "I know this story; Napoleon even said Mona Lisa was his dream lover! But is that the same as your situation? That's a static half-body portrait, yours is a dynamic full-body image.

Besides, when Napoleon wakes up, he sees his dream lover, what are you looking at?"

Huang Xiaopang scratched his head: "Oh, that's true, no wonder I've been feeling uncomfortable sleeping these past few days, I should put the painting away."

He Kao: "This painting looks pretty good; where did it come from?"

Huang Xiaopang: "A few years ago, there was an art exhibition in Qi Yuan. I usually don't like going to such places, but my mom set me up with a date there; the other person was showing off by meeting at an art exhibition.

It had many ancient art treasures on display, they were all quite nice, and there were souvenirs for sale at the entrance, including replicas of famous ancient works, so I bought this one.

I thought this was the best among them and planned to give it to the girl, since we were meeting there, the gift had to be classy... but she wouldn't accept it, and it ended up with me.

A few days ago, I came across that Napoleon story and remembered having a famous painting myself, so I pulled it out and hung it by the bed."

After losing his memory regarding Hidden Moth, every time Huang Xiaopang speaks so earnestly, He Kao finds it fascinating. Meeting at an art exhibition for a date is likely true, and that's probably how Huang Xiaopang discovered the painting, but as for the rest...

He Kao: "Do you remember how much it cost?"

Huang Xiaopang waved his hand: "Didn't cost much, I don't remember exactly. If you like it, take it, I don't want it hanging!"

He Kao promptly took the painting down and rolled it up. As the image was put away, he found that his Hidden Moth ability returned. He wanted to ask Xiaopang more questions but heard Xiaopang already snoring, so he left with the painting.

He Kao had been to Xiaopang's apartment many times but rarely went into his bedroom and never discovered this painting, probably recently hung, and he didn't know where it came from.

Actually, He Kao hadn't noticed anything unusual in the bedroom while in the living room. Perhaps because the divine artifact conceals itself, once the scroll was rolled back up, he didn't sense anything special, just an ordinary ancient painting, possibly valuable.

If someone knowledgeable saw it, they might tell He Kao that its wooden axis, backing silk, and paper are difficult to date because the materials have undergone special refinement.

Huang Xiaopang, an ordinary person, hung it in his bedroom, merely limiting Hidden Moth's abilities in that space. If it falls into the hands of a true expert, using artifact techniques, it can expose any Hidden Moth within its reach.

By taking this painting today, He Kao effectively eliminated a significant risk and should thank Huang Xiaopang.

Bringing the scroll back to his apartment, He Kao started to feel troubled; where should he put this thing? Sesame Apartment definitely isn't suitable; his hometown had a secret room on the third floor, but now he feels uneasy about it too.

The small building's design was left by his father, who probably intended it to be a Hidden Moth secret vault, but recently, that three-story building was secretly searched by many sorcerers, and many people know there's a secret room there.

As for the house in Guanliu District, that doesn't seem suitable either, as many know about that too... He Kao tends to overthink.

Aside from this painting, He Kao has other things he can't reveal, like a handgun and two magazines. The gun was taken from kidnappers that night, and the magazines were given by Huang Xiaopang.

Later, Huang Xiaopang disposed of his own rifle and shotgun but hurriedly forgot He Kao still had a gun, maybe purposely leaving it with He Kao for self-defense.

During this period, He Kao has been driving his new car to many places, often in the name of fieldwork, just to find some secret locations, and also collecting information from adventure enthusiasts online.

These people love running around everywhere; wherever signs prohibit tourists from passing, that's exactly where they like to go.

One day, under the guise of searching for a restaurant, He Kao actually drove to a faraway place for "study," traveling all the way to the mountainous area of the neighboring province, and even walked into the depths of the wilderness, finding a very hidden cave.

Previously, some outdoor adventure enthusiasts had been here, discovered this cave, and posted a video online. It goes very deep with many branches inside, so they didn't go further.

This is a karst cave that stopped developing millions of years ago. There are many such caves across the country, not all of which have tourism development value, needing to consider transportation, scenery, visitor flow, and other factors.

Like this cave, with no historical records, very inconvenient traffic, and relatively plain internal scenery, people typically wouldn't visit, and even if someone discovered it, they wouldn't go deep.

Without professional equipment and protective measures, entering such caves is very dangerous. Fortunately, He Kao is a Tier Two Assassin, able to perceive space even in darkness using the Sensory Communication Technique, and he has a batch of outdoor equipment.

That time, he found a very hidden cave hall at a certain position behind a rock crevice deep within the branches, where the terrain was very flat, the environment very dry, and the air surprisingly still flowing.

At that time, he thought of turning it into a secret storage area, specifically for storing some sensitive items. Entering and exiting that cave hall is troublesome, but for the Hidden Moth, it's not a problem, able to traverse space directly.

Returning to his apartment, he sent Gao Xue'e a message, then carried a pile of stuff, holding that painting, and arrived at an unknown mountain belly two hundred kilometers away.

In the middle of the night, deep in the pitch-black cave, various strange sounds echo; it's He Kao doing handyman work... After a while, suddenly a light pierced the darkness.

He Kao turned on the emergency outdoor power supply; although he can sense objects in the dark, having lighting is still more convenient. The pile of things he brought is a shelf bought online that needs self assembly.

He quickly assembled the shelf, feeling the design too simple and not classy. He planned to find some materials later to showcase his woodworking skills and personally make some beautifully crafted shelves and cabinets.

Such a place definitely won't have visitors, but He Kao still has such a thought—perhaps it's a spiritual need, also fully proving that material and spirit are inseparable.

After finishing his work, he took another look at the empty shelf, now holding only a painting, a gun, two magazines, a handheld crossbow, thirty crossbow arrows, and two small medicine bottles containing the Essence Nourishing Pill and Qi Replenishing Pill respectively.

Such a big shelf, such a spacious cave hall, the spiritual life still seems far from rich!

He Kao has always been meticulous; he took out the detector bought online, checked the temperature, humidity, and air quality here, finding it quite suitable for storing things, almost reaching museum standards.

Next, he transformed into a diligent little moth, shuttling between multiple places to move things back and forth.

He furnished the cave hall with tables and chairs, a woodworking and various craft workbench, along with a large bundle of candles and an old-style kerosene lamp, plus a big bottle of kerosene.

Then he brought in a simple outdoor field stove, a large box of dry food including instant noodles and dehydrated vegetable packets, and some possibly fake military rations and cans.

A couple of years ago, due to special circumstances, He Kao had been trapped inside the house for quite a long time, idly doing a strategy for what materials to stock up on if locked in one place for an extended period...

At that time, it was just a whimsical thought during boredom; today, it actually got a chance to come true, although it looks even more boring, but also satisfies endless curiosity.

Busy He Kao suddenly thought, what he's doing at this moment is very much like many novels describing the protagonist building an end-of-the-world base!

If aliens really came, would he be considered the safest?

No, no, that's not right! As the Hidden Moth, if such an event occurred, he should step forward and be on the frontline of humanity's resistance! And given his abilities, he's most suited for probing deep behind enemy lines.

He worked happily through the middle of the night without sleep.

Some people might never guess what kind of ideas homebodies with their nine-to-five routines will come up with once they let themselves go?

Amidst the round-trip moving, He Kao didn't realize one thing; he has exceeded eighteen consecutive space traversals. According to his self-defined quantification standard, if a Tier Two Assassin cultivation has nine levels, he unconsciously broke through to the third level.

Then he felt that outdoor field stove was too simple and wanted to build a large stove here, then stockpile a pile of firewood, just needing to pick the right ventilation spot... even completed some mason work!

Unfortunately, dawn was approaching; not only were the materials unprepared, but there wasn't enough time... It felt like enjoying a vivid dream, tidying up, still have to go to work!

**

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