Chapter 8

The halo of *The Great Wave off Kanagawa* was gradually fading away!

The dispersing halo was like mist, flying into his eyes along his line of sight.

This scene was clearly visible to Ye Tian, and it was very bizarre, but the others were completely unaware.

People were still focused on appreciating and discussing the painting, unaware that the famous artwork before them was undergoing a significant change.

The cool and refreshing sensation in his eyes continued and quickly spread throughout his body, the delightful feeling was almost intoxicating!

However, Ye Tian had no time to enjoy it, his heart was screaming in shock.

"Damn! What the hell is going on?"

Although he was extremely shocked and even a bit frightened, his expression did not change at all, remaining calm and composed.

After the series of shocks over the past two days, Ye Tian's nerves had become very resilient, and he could remain calm in the face of such a situation!

However, the shock and horror in his eyes, hidden behind his sunglasses, were surging wildly.

More bizarrely, he could not move his gaze away, not even close his eyes, and could only stare at the painting, continuing to absorb its halo!

The halo of the painting was dissipating faster and faster, and it was already halfway gone.

The people in the exhibition hall were still unaware, but in Ye Tian's eyes, the painting was already far inferior to before.

Through his vision, he could see the wooden board beneath the paint rapidly aging and decaying, with several cracks already appearing and spreading quickly, likely to reach the surface soon.

The paint was also becoming drier and was about to crack and fall off! This could happen at any moment.

All of this happened in an instant, but the painting seemed to have aged a thousand years, completely withered!

His eyes continued to absorb the halo of the painting, or rather, its spiritual energy and value, but the speed had slowed down significantly.

The halo of *The Great Wave off Kanagawa* had already dissipated by more than half, and although the rate of dissipation had slowed, it had not stopped.

"I can't stay here any longer, something big is about to happen! It's the museum's prized possession! If it suddenly turns to ashes or explodes, no one in the room will be spared. They will all be investigated. Better to leave early!"

Thinking of this, Ye Tian felt a chill in his heart. If he were to be caught by the police, not only would he be in trouble, but he might even be sent for dissection!

At this moment, his eyes suddenly felt a sense of satisfaction, as if he had just eaten a full meal, and the absorption stopped!

He looked at *The Great Wave off Kanagawa* again!

Its halo had stabilized, but it had already dissipated by more than half. The entire painting was in danger, at risk of falling apart at any moment, but there were no visible signs on the surface.

Ye Tian blinked, and control over his eyes returned!

"Get out!"

He temporarily put aside all other thoughts, leaving this place and clearing himself of any involvement was the most important thing!

In the next second, he turned and left the museum with a natural demeanor.

No one paid attention to him, and no one realized that he had just, with his own eyes, destroyed a national treasure of Japan.

"Phew—!"

Stepping out of the museum, Ye Tian immediately let out a long breath.

Immediately, countless questions flooded his mind.

"Why did my eyes undergo such a change? What is the halo of the painting? Is it really spiritual energy? Where did it go after entering my eyes? Why did my eyes lose control?

Why didn't this happen when I used my vision on the mummy and the sarcophagus? Although those artifacts had little halo, there should have been some reaction, right?"

These questions gave Ye Tian a headache, but he had no answers.

There was only one question that might have an answer now.

Thinking of this, Ye Tian immediately headed for the stairs, preparing to return to the Egyptian gallery.

He planned to test why he couldn't absorb the spiritual energy of the mummy, but could with *The Great Wave off Kanagawa*. What was the specific reason?

Ten minutes later, Ye Tian returned to the Egyptian gallery.

He then walked to the mummy he had previously used his vision on, and despite feeling nauseous, he began to use his vision again.

The result was the same as before; he only saw a disgusting image, with no other reaction, let alone absorbing spiritual energy.

This situation left Ye Tian dumbfounded, unable to understand!

"Could it be that my eyes are picky about the halos they absorb? Or is it because this is a mummy, something from a tomb, full of death energy, so they don't absorb it?"

Thinking of this, Ye Tian walked to the Dendera Temple, preparing to continue his tests.

This was a temple used by ancient Egyptian priests, gifted to the Metropolitan Museum of Art by the Egyptian government, and not a burial item, so it should not have death energy.

Moreover, the halo of the temple was very thick and intense, much more than *The Great Wave off Kanagawa*. There was no need to worry about it being absorbed completely, and it might help verify his thoughts.

Walking to the Dendera Temple, Ye Tian did not hesitate and immediately began to use his vision on the temple's stone walls.

Of course, his vision could not penetrate the stone walls, but it was enough to test his hypothesis.

Ye Tian focused on the purple halo of the temple, watching to see if it would change.

There was a reaction!

His eyes felt cool and refreshing, followed by a sense of satisfaction, but they did not absorb the temple's halo.

It seemed he was correct; his eyes' ability did not absorb halos with death energy, only fresh spiritual energy.

Thinking of this, Ye Tian let out a sigh of relief.

This was for the best; the thought of the insides of mummies made him feel nauseous, let alone absorbing their spiritual energy, which would make him feel sick for life!

After calming down, he immediately began to test and absorb spiritual energy from other artifacts, further verifying his hypothesis.

Sure enough, his eyes no longer absorbed spiritual energy, likely because they were "full," but the reactions clearly confirmed his thoughts were correct.

His eyes only absorbed fresh spiritual energy, not the spiritual energy of burial artifacts, whether mummies or other burial items.

Even weapons that had taken lives, like the Luger from yesterday, did not have their halos absorbed. That gun had definitely taken many lives, so it was not absorbed.

At the same time, he discovered another characteristic of his eyes' ability.

The distance at which he could see the halos of artifacts had increased! From five meters to six meters! His vision ability seemed to have improved, but not significantly, and it still could not penetrate walls.

This was clearly the result of absorbing the spiritual energy of *The Great Wave off Kanagawa*.

Realizing this, Ye Tian was overjoyed.

His eyes' ability could actually evolve! This meant that as long as there was enough spiritual energy, this ability had the potential for infinite growth!

At this moment, he felt like a superhero, like Superman or Batman!

But then he became troubled. The act of absorbing the spiritual energy of artifacts in a museum like that must never happen again, or he would be targeted by powerful authorities, leaving him nowhere to hide!

Unless he could control his ability to absorb spiritual energy, doing it gradually and subtly, so as not to be noticed.

Otherwise, he would have to collect antiques himself and absorb their spiritual energy at home, but antiques were not easy to find!

Half an hour passed in a flash.

Ye Tian was constantly conducting various tests to fully understand his eyes' ability.

At the same time, he was waiting for a major incident to occur in the Japanese gallery upstairs, so he could leave the museum and completely clear himself of any suspicion, leaving without a trace!

Suddenly, a commotion and some screams reached his ears.

Then Ye Tian saw several security personnel quickly rush out, heading straight for the second floor, each with a shocked expression.

Clearly, a significant event had occurred on the second floor of the museum, and they had received the news through their earpieces.

The remaining security personnel were vigilantly watching everyone, fearing any further issues in the exhibition hall.

This sudden change startled everyone, but Ye Tian remained calm.

Finally, it happened!

Some unlucky person must have been in front of *The Great Wave off Kanagawa* at that moment, likely a Japanese person.

The painting had been surrounded by Japanese people, like a seminar, with no signs of leaving.

Whoever it was, if they were in the Japanese gallery at that moment, they were in trouble. Fortunately, he had left early! Otherwise, he would have been in trouble too.

Ye Tian let out a long breath, then waited for the announcement of the temporary closure of the museum, so he could leave with a clear conscience.

As expected, the Japanese gallery was completely sealed off, and everyone inside was warned by security to stay in place and not move.

Security personnel then began to investigate everyone on the scene, as if facing a major threat.

In front of *The Great Wave off Kanagawa*, a group of Japanese people were sitting on the ground, wailing and crying, filled with sorrow and despair, as if they had lost a loved one!

The painting on the wall was already in a terrible state!

The surface of the painting had several large cracks, some so wide that fingers could fit through! If not for the frame and bulletproof glass, the woodblock print would have already fallen apart!

The surface paint was cracked like a long-dry pond, with some areas already peeling off, revealing the wooden board underneath!

The woodblock print was finished! Even if it were repaired, it would not be worthy of hanging here anymore!

Although he had successfully left the Japanese gallery and largely cleared himself of involvement, as long as he was still in the museum, Ye Tian could not fully relax.

He feared that at any moment, security personnel would come after him with force.

Good news came quickly!

Museum staff and the on-site announcements began to notify everyone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. Due to some temporary issues in the museum, we need to close early. Please understand and cooperate with our staff to leave in an orderly manner. Thank you!"

Hearing this announcement, Ye Tian immediately stepped out of the exhibition hall and followed the crowd out.

Only when he truly stepped out of the museum did his heart finally relax.

At that moment, the shrill sound of sirens suddenly rang out, and several police cars sped to the museum entrance.

A group of police officers quickly got out of the cars and rushed towards the museum entrance like a whirlwind.

"Move! Move! Police investigation!"

The lead officer was shouting wildly, followed by about twenty armed officers, each with a very serious expression.

Seeing this, Ye Tian immediately wiped the sweat from his forehead, moved to the side, and walked down the steps towards the opposite street.

Behind him, people coming out of the museum were discussing in shock.

"What's going on? Is there a museum thief?"

"Can't be! It's daytime, any theft would happen at night!"

"You're wrong; most museum thefts happen during the day!"

"Wow! This is going to be exciting!"

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