A carefree soldier king in the city

Chapter 272 Ancient Paintings

Zhu Zhengde laughed and said, "I don't know either. This painting was left by Julian's grandfather. I remember when I was very young, my father collected this painting. At that time, my father said that this painting was left by his great-grandfather."

Upon hearing this, Su Haijun was slightly surprised and said, "So, this painting is over a hundred years old?"

Zhu Zhengde said, "It might be more than that. Anyway, I don't know anything about it. There's no date on it, and I don't know who painted it. After Julian's grandfather passed away, I hung this painting here. But one thing is certain: although this painting is so old, the paper is still the same as before, as if it were brand new. Moreover, the brushstrokes and handwriting on it also give the feeling that it was just painted."

Su Haijun naturally sensed this, but what surprised him was that the painting gave him a strange feeling, an indescribable and peculiar feeling, as if there was something else hidden in the painting.

“Uncle, I once saw an identical painting at a friend’s house, but it was already damaged when I saw it. Uncle, could you give me this painting? I’m willing to pay for it.”

Zhu Zhengde laughed and said, "It's just an ordinary painting. If you want it, just take it down and take it. There's no need to worry about money."

"You can't say that. After all, this painting is at least a hundred years old, and it might even be a priceless antique!"

“A few years ago, a friend of mine came to visit. He works in this field, and he saw this painting.”

"So how much did he say this painting was worth?"

Zhu Zhengde laughed and said, "What do you mean by how much it's worth? He said it's just a fake and not worth much money."

Upon hearing this, Su Haijun felt relieved and said, "Regardless of its value, Uncle, I'm willing to pay 100,000 yuan to buy this painting."

“If you’re going to buy it with money, then I won’t sell it to you. I’ll give you this painting for free, without asking for a single penny.”

"How embarrassing is this!"

"We're all family, there's nothing to be embarrassed about, take it!"

"...Thank you, Uncle."

The two chatted for a while longer. After receiving a phone call, Zhu Zhengde said, "Navy! You can stay here tonight, it's fine. I just got a call from my unit, I have some things to take care of, I need to go over there."

"Uncle, please go ahead and do what you need to do. Don't worry about me."

“Then I’ll call Julian and ask her and her daughter to come back.”

"No need, Uncle, I can manage on my own at home. Please go ahead and do what you need to do."

"Okay, I'll go back to my unit. It'll be quick. We'll have a good drink together tonight."

Just then, Wu's mother went out to buy groceries, and no one was home. Su Haijun waited until Zhu Zhengde left before getting up and approaching the painting. However, as soon as he got close to the painting, his blood boiled again. He vaguely felt that the painting was releasing a faint suction force, compelling him to get closer and closer.

He frowned deeply, stopping about a meter away from the scroll, his gaze never leaving it. The painting gave him an ethereal feeling, as if there were other worlds within it.

"Strange, why do I have this feeling? What's wrong with me?"

He examined the painting carefully from bottom to top, then from top to bottom, over and over again, but he couldn't discern anything. He grew increasingly confused; the feeling was so real, yet why was there no clue at all?

His brows were tightly furrowed, almost knotted together, as he repeatedly asked himself, "How could this be? What's wrong?"

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the old man in the painting stroking his beard with his right hand, his little finger pointing downwards, precisely into the mouth of the golden dragon beside him.

Logically speaking, the old man's hand stroking his beard shouldn't be pointing downwards. Such a strange gesture startled Su Haijun, who quickly looked down in the direction the old man was pointing, only to be astonished to discover that the golden dragon's mouth contained an invisible Tai Chi Bagua diagram, barely visible to the naked eye.

With the naked eye, ordinary people naturally cannot see it, or even see it at all.

However, before Su Haijun could react, the invisible Tai Chi Bagua image seemed to be stimulated by something. Suddenly, a white light flashed, and an extremely powerful force burst forth from the Tai Chi Bagua image, condensing into a seven-colored stream of light that shot out in the blink of an eye, forming a huge vortex. The vortex, like a giant maw, swallowed Su Haijun whole in the blink of an eye.

A strong sense of weightlessness made Su Haijun feel as if his whole body was a fallen leaf, with brute strength but nowhere to use it. In panic, he could only sink downwards helplessly, with only the eternal and bottomless abyss pulling him down.

Fortunately, this terrifying feeling did not last long. A sudden, powerful force appeared and pulled him, and Su Haijun felt his body suddenly lighten, as if he had been thrown out like a stone. The next moment, he felt a sudden bright light before his eyes, and a dazzling light swept over him. His body involuntarily fell from about five feet above the ground and crashed heavily to the ground.

"hiss……"

The violent impact made Su Haijun gasp, but after calming down, he found that he had fallen on a relatively soft patch of grass, with a scent of grass and earth filling the air around him.

He stood up, stretched his body, and made sure that apart from the initial fall and impact, he was not injured. Only then did he feel relieved. He looked around and saw an endless grassland in front of him.

The wild grasses were lush and verdant, spreading out from beneath his feet like a vast, emerald carpet. A gentle breeze blew from the distant fields, causing the grasses to sway and bow low, as if nodding and greeting him. The air was filled with an incomparably fresh scent, making him feel much more relaxed.

Above the horizon, under a clear blue sky, fluffy white clouds drifted leisurely, and the whole world seemed to unfold before the eyes of the Soviet Navy like a beautiful painting.

"Wasn't I at Julian's house? How did I suddenly end up here? Where am I?"

He looked bewildered, asking himself questions, but he was destined not to find the answer, because what lay before him was a primitive landscape, with a wild and ancient aura permeating the surrounding area.