Paintings of Terror

Su Benxin's voice continued: "...Etsuko killed Saburo with a hoe, and she said: He tortured me. This kind of fate is the inevitable retribution for torturing me. No one is allowed to torture me. No one can torture me .”

With the end of Su Benxin's words, the lights in the restaurant went out two more, and it even had the effect of candlelight.

It's an uncomfortable story.

Wei Dong: "After talking for a long time, we didn't discuss the painting. Is there any relationship between this novel and that painting?"

"What exactly does the scarlet beast in the book refer to? If it is a portrayal of Etsuko's heart, then there seems to be an explanation for the huge red mass that looks like internal organs." It was Zhao Yanbao who spoke.

"But where do we find such a heart? A heart of 13000 grams." Zhichun looked at Qin Ci, "The heart of a normal person is only 250 grams."

Everyone was silent, but Luo Wei got up slowly: "It's ten o'clock, it's time to go back to bed."

The matter has been discussed to this stage, and there will be no results if we only rely on imagination and guesswork.

Everyone stood up reluctantly, as if the dark dining table in front of them was the safest place in the whole city.

"If there is a real danger, how should we deal with it?" Painter Yu Ji asked a little humbly.

"Move the camera and follow the plan." Qin Ci returned eight words to him.

These eight effective words seem to be used in any dangerous juncture, but in the city that is slowly being swallowed by night at this moment, any advice seems to be written empty words.

Everyone reluctantly walked out of the restaurant one after another and went to their own residences.

The street in the middle of the night was filled with a faint fragrance of flowers. Ke Xun looked at a tree of snow-white flowers beside the street: "The temperature here is about the same as outside the painting. I always thought it was still autumn, but I didn't expect it to be spring in the painting."

The snow-white flowers come from a magnolia tree, and the blossoming white flowers are extraordinarily brilliant in the dark night.

The blooming tree has become an extra surprise in the painting.

Ke Xun stood still under the tree flowers, but Mu Yiran didn't insist on walking forward, it seemed that he wanted to stay and enjoy the flowers together.

After all, the hospital and the detective agency were a little far away, and the two groups of people walked back along the street, and the staggered street lamps made people's shadows messy.

Weidong Luo Wei and Lion were not in the mood to enjoy the flowers, so they went back to the police dormitory first, but Xiao Qinxian was not in a hurry to go back, but lit a cigarette in front of the police station.

It is said that women who smoke often have stories, but compared to the story of Etsuko that I heard just now, the stories of other women have become warm and ordinary.

Mu Yiran and Ke Xun stood under the magnolia tree, not minding what they said being heard by this woman.

"This time is different from the past." Mu Yiran opened his palm, and a large snow-white petal fell on his palm, "Before, whether it was a village, a farm, or a tube building, there was a clearer range. No focus this time."

Thirteen people were dispersed to three residences, which had never happened before.

"The characters in the whole city are very real, whether it is the policeman in the police station or the waiter in the restaurant just now," Ke Xun thought carefully about the paintings he had experienced before, "if you look deeper, only those people in Chunsun Apartment have similar truth."

"In this way, there are probably only two possibilities. One is that the rank of the painting is improving, gradually increasing the complexity and difficulty; the other is similar to the one in Chunsun Apartment-this special experience may be related to the painting. Something about a curse."

Ke Xun listened to Mu Yiran's words, and thought about it: "At Chunsun Apartment, the Rhinoceros Art Museum was built directly on the ruins of the Tongzilou. Under the influence of the painting, a certain kind of 'field' may have been created. overlap... But this time, the city in front of me is obviously different from the third-tier old city where the Benxin Art Museum is located."

Ke Xun looked at Xiao Qinxian who was not far away, his thin figure was a little lonely, and the cigarettes on his fingertips were lingering in the backlight of the street lamp.

"The difficulty of painting is increasing." Ke Xun said.

"As soon as you enter the Benxin Art Museum, it makes people feel something is wrong," Mu Yiran tried to say something that he was not sure about, which was absolutely impossible before meeting Ke Xun, "We were in any art museum before. The museums are almost all drawn in batches, with a strong randomness."

Indeed, Ke Xun and Wei Dong were selected by this unlucky randomness at the beginning, and there were still two people missing in the painting, so they had to be filled by two people who walked into the exhibition hall.

"Of course, what do you mean, 'Hua' is selecting candidates this time?" Ke Xun asked.

"Except for Su Benxin and Lion who came in last, the remaining 11 people have all lingered in front of the painting "The Scarlet Beast" for a long time."

"Could it be that the painting is looking for people who are interested in it?" Ke Xun felt that the night breeze was getting colder—the ability and level of 'painting' were improving, and this time it was undoubtedly an act of actively looking for prey.

"Or, a certain type of people it is more interested in." Mu Yiran looked at the lonely Xiao Qinxian, stepped out the cigarette butt, and walked back to the police station alone.

Although illuminated by street lights, the street still reveals the boundless darkness of the cosmic void.

The detective agency and the Central Hospital are not far from here, and can be reached within a 10-minute walk.

"Let's go back too. After eleven o'clock, some things are difficult to grasp." Ke Xun brushed off a few large petals that fell on his head, tilted his head to look at Mu Yiran, "Our dormitory is not Hot water is available 24 hours.”

Mu Yiran narrowed his eyes, and walked back side by side with Ke Xun.

"What did you observe from Luo Wei?" Ke Xun asked suddenly.

Mu Yiran paused for a moment, and then slowly said: "Luo Wei has done some things that are not in line with the norm."

Ke Xun recalled it carefully: "You mean, you took the initiative to borrow paper and pens at the restaurant service counter? You also took the initiative to turn on many lights for everyone to illuminate? Are you too proactive and thoughtful?"

Thinking about it this way, it is true.

Before Li Yaqing's death, Luo Wei was not a person who knew everything. Although he had the meticulous logic unique to science students, he was not good at doing these things. After Li Yaqing's death, this person talked less , bored all day long, it is even more impossible for Luo Wei to serve everyone comprehensively in this state.

Mu Yiran affirmed Ke Xun's statement: "In addition, he also carefully observed everyone's expressions, which is really uncharacteristic."

Ke Xun felt very bad, but he didn't know where to start to understand the whole thing: "You said, is Luo Wei's abnormality passive or active?"

Although life is equal, Ke Xun doesn't want the old members to have accidents - Luo Wei and everyone have experienced life and death once, and they are already brothers.

Mu Yiran still had a calm expression, but he patted Ke Xun's shoulder lightly with his palm: "Doctor Qin said that if you move the camera, you will use the plan."

"Ah."

Back in the dormitory, there was still the smell of women's cigarettes in the corridor.

The bathroom is currently unused, so Ke Xun asked Mu Yiran to wash first, while he went into Weidong's room next door.

Luo Wei was sitting on the edge of the bed wiping his hair with a towel, while Lion was being dragged by Wei Dong to chat—"...don't do art work, really... I searched for so many pigeon heads on Baidu, the raptor's Eyes, sucker, I was biting the corner of the towel and endured it for three hours... Finally, the client chose a ruin painted by Hitler as the signboard of the pigeon house... Don't be an artist, listen buddy Yes, use a scalpel to open a gym and stay at home and don't do art work!"

Ke Xun stepped forward, passed over the broad body of his international friend, and directly touched Wei Dong's forehead: "It's all right, it looks like you've been drunk."

Lion smiled kindly: "Dongzi is really tall this time, he sipped half a glass of cocktail in the restaurant."

"It's not possible. Although Dong Zi's weight is not large, it's no problem to be white at 52 degrees in four taels." Ke Xun saw his Tie Zi rambling over and fell asleep.

"Just now the hospital apartment called. The painter named Yu Ji drank a glass of beer and passed out now." Luo Wei stood up shirtless and closed the window, because there was no change of clothes such as work clothes, so he could only wrap a white bath towel under it.

"When you're all done packing, I'll go and have a rest." Luo Wei said to Ke Xun.

"Sure, you have to wear pants." Ke Xun said.

"to make."

……

Although the dormitory is simple, it is clean and tidy.

After taking a bath, there was no pajamas to change, so Ke Xun and Mu Yiran temporarily put on police uniform shirts and trousers, while Luo Wei changed back to the daytime clothes pitifully.

"Everyone is asleep?" Ke Xun asked.

"The two of us are asleep, and the girl next door's room is still lit." Luo Wei said this, his eyes fixed, and he looked at the two partners in front of him: "You can see the mole in the corner of her eye ?"

"Who?" Ke Xun asked back.

"The girl next door, Xiao Qinxian." Luo Wei emphasized his tone.

"Tear mole? I didn't notice it, did you?" Ke Xun looked at Mu Yiran who was sitting on the opposite side of the bed, and saw that the other party also expressed his negation.

Luo Wei gestured on his face with his hand: "It's just under the corner of the right eye, about the size of a soybean, red."

Mu Yiran said affirmatively: "I didn't see it."—a tear mole the size of a soybean, it should be obvious.

"Will that tear mole help us in our subsequent analysis?" Ke Xun said bluntly - Luo Wei's current expression is really a little nervous.

Luo Wei sat on the edge of Ke Xun's bed, put his elbows on his knees, and gently touched his forehead with his hand: "Not only Xiao Qinxian, but many people have it."

Saying this sentence in the middle of the night made people feel a little creepy, and Ke Xun's heart tightened: "You mean tear mole? Who has it? Have you seen it?"

"Not just moles of tears, but also some other red marks that appear on the face like birthmarks, mostly on the forehead." Luo Wei still rested his hand on the forehead above his right eyebrow, "For example, this position, A red birthmark the size of a broad bean appeared."

"What did you see?" Mu Yiran asked.

"Yes, it's in the restaurant just now."

"You turn on all the lights for an excuse, just to see these clearly?"

"Yes," Luo Wei was not surprised that Mu Yiran saw through him, "Turn on the light to see more clearly, all kinds of red marks on those people's faces."

At this time, Ke Xun was the closest to Luo Wei, and couldn't help asking, "Do I have it on my face too?"