Paintings of Terror

When people are blind, other senses become extremely sensitive. Ke Xun gradually smelled an unusual smell in the dark, some faint smell of rust, and some smell like candles, which seemed to be mixed with Mixed with an inexplicable fishy smell, not very fresh fishy smell.

Ke Xun remained silent, his eyes drooped slightly, but his movements were a gesture of protecting himself.

After a while, there seemed to be more and more people around, and gradually there was a momentum of buzzing.

People seem to be excitedly looking forward to something. Men and women chat happily and loudly. In addition to the conversation of adults, there are also the laughter or crying of children, and even the sound of them eating, which is very loud. Even louder than talking.

Ke Xun responded to all changes without change, standing in place like a mountain, his eyes slightly lowered, and he remained calm.

After a while, there seemed to be a different voice, the voice was not loud, but the sound of 'gululu' was familiar. Ke Xun was suspicious when he suddenly felt that someone touched him.

Immediately afterwards, a voice rang out in a low voice: "Ke Xun."

It's Yue Cen.

His own people suddenly came over, but Ke Xun's cold sweat that was about to break out broke out happily, and soon wet his back: "Sister Cen?"

Ke Xun felt his cuff being groped and grabbed by Yue Cen, and heard the other party say, "I'm in the same situation as you. I can only guess the surrounding situation with other senses."

It turned out that not only was he blind, but also Yue Cen's eyes could not see at this time.

Ke Xun squatted down and quickly touched Yue Cen's wheelchair: "How did you find me?"

"People tend to lose a certain sense of balance in the dark. Fortunately, I am sitting in a wheelchair, and my sense of balance will not affect me too much." Yue Cen's voice was low but clear, "Because I used to be I have been blind for two months, so I am very sensitive to some smells and sounds, I found it by following your smell, fortunately, we are not far away, only a dozen meters away."

The voices of those "people" talking, laughing and eating were extremely loud, so the conversation between the two did not arouse the suspicion of "these people".

"It's weird here." Ke Xun supported Yue Cen's wheelchair and said in a low voice, "Whether it's the smell or the voice of these people."

"Obviously, this is the territory of these people, or their world. They can easily see things and are familiar with this environment." Yue Cen analyzed.

"From their conversation just now, it seems that this is a big gathering, and it seems that some important event will be held here." Ke Xun rubbed his eyes, hoping to see a little light.

"I have two guesses. First, these people don't seem to be able to see us or hear us; second, these people should not be human beings." Yue Cen said in a low voice.

Ke Xun has almost guessed the second point. He didn't say it just now because he was afraid of scaring Yue Cen, but he didn't expect that the other party had already analyzed it: "Yes, their voices are very weird, and the ending is too sharp. Besides, I can only say what they said. Understand [-] to [-]%, it is not so much a dialect, it is better to say it is the language of another species."

Yue Cen said: "My wheelchair may have accidentally run over something just now. I heard the scream of a child, who seemed to be crying and talking to an adult. I couldn't quite understand it. It seemed that my tail was very pain……"

"Tail?"

"Yes, I should have heard it right, it's the tail." Yue Cen still had lingering fears when he recalled the scene just now. The child was crying, and the adults around him only coaxed him with delicious food, and did not rush forward to pursue his responsibility. "So I guess, they probably can't see us. Also, they must be aliens."

Tail, then it does not belong to humans.

The surroundings suddenly erupted in jubilation, besides the cheers, there were also extremely sharp screams, which seemed a bit carried away.

With the sound of music, the lights in front suddenly turned on, and there was actually a brightly lit stage.

On the antique stage, there are no actors at this time, only the sound of folk musical instruments.

Although the ancient stage in the dark night has indescribable weirdness, Ke Xun found that he could finally see things, which made his heart calm down a lot.

A gust of wind blew over, and the surroundings were filled with the sound of "crashing".

"We can only see the stage at the moment, and it's still dark around." Yue Cen felt that Ke Xun beside him seemed to be sitting on the ground, and he could only judge by hearing, Yue Cen couldn't see Ke Xun at all.

Ke Xun did sit down cross-legged, and his legs were always numb from squatting: "This reminds me of a painting I experienced before, called "Shadow". Once it gets dark, some things can't be seen, only silhouettes The window frame pattern exists, somewhat like the stage in front of me.”

"Shadow? It's a niche work, right?" Yue Cen said.

Ke Xun felt a little admiration for Yue Cen, who was painting for the first time. Under such a weird scene, she can still discuss other paintings with him calmly, which is really rare.

Soon, Yue Cen said again: "I once saw an art exhibition. There was a Fauvist painting called "Shadow". The artist was called Rong Rang. From the analysis of his works, he should be a person with extremely conflicted inner feelings."

Ke Xun was very surprised: "That's right, what I want to talk about is this work, how could it be such a coincidence that you have seen it before?!"

"That happened two years ago, and that painting left a deep impression on me." Yue Cen was a little silent when he said this, and then said after a while, "Ke Xun, this coincidence is really... I feel more and more , this matter is not simple, I seem to be the candidate selected by Huatui."

"I'm also going to say this: You were selected by the painting selection, but due to various objective reasons, you failed to enter the painting smoothly."

Yue Cen chuckled lightly in the dark: "This time, my wish has come true."

Infected by her ease, Ke Xun couldn't help but smile.

A burst of gongs and drums sounded like raindrops, and suddenly there was a singing on the stage. It was unclear whether it belonged to Peking Opera, Qin Opera, or silk strings. , but the ending sound is extremely high and sharp, not like a human voice.

Soon a person appeared on the stage, a writhing matchmaker with flowers on her hair and moles on her face, her body was twisting mechanically.

This matchmaker is completely flat, like a piece of paper.

It turned out that this is a shadow play.

The audience in the audience applauded one after another, and there were bursts of ear-piercing "crash" sounds one after another, which made Ke Xun more and more confirmed his certain idea just now.

Yue Cen didn't make a sound, but with the opponent's IQ, Ke Xun thought she should have guessed it too.

The two didn't have a conversation, and they couldn't make eye contact in the dark, but there was a common voice in their hearts: concentrate on watching the show and wait and see what happens.

The stage was already bustling, besides the matchmaker, there was another team sending off the relatives, carrying the sedan chair along the way, playing and playing, it was very lively.

Ke Xun squinted his eyes and saw the shadow puppets on the stage clearly with his excellent eyesight. As the drumbeat accelerated, the shadow puppets also danced exaggeratedly, and soon the appearance of these figures changed. .

As if because of the crazy dance, they showed their original shape. The faces of these people became more and more pointed, and gradually thinned into a dove-shaped swan face and a mouse mouth. At some point, a long and thin tail appeared behind them. .

Mice, this is a group of shadow puppet mice in costumes!

The mouse's send-off team reminds people of a very famous folk story - a mouse marrying a daughter.

The joy on the stage also drove the audience off the stage. Everyone sang and danced together, and the sound of "swiping la la" came and went.

Ke Xun felt that Yue Cen's hand came to his wrist along his sleeve, and he patted it lightly before leaving.

It seems that the other party is judging whether Ke Xun is still a human body, whether he has been assimilated by other people, and has also become a shadow puppet.

Indeed, the ear-piercing sounds of "swipe la la" around make people feel very uneasy, and even have an illusion, as if they have merged into it, turning into a shadow puppet carved out of donkey skin. In a transparent state, it smells like tung oil when you smell it carefully, and it is painted with colorful colors.

"How many versions of "A Mouse Married a Daughter" have you seen?" Yue Cen asked in a low voice.

"I've only seen one, the cartoon version." Ke Xun replied seriously in a low voice.

"I've seen several versions of folk tales, some of which have been interpreted as puppet shows and shadow puppetry."

Ke Xun didn't have time to ask Yue Cen why he had seen so many plays, so he just asked, "What are you talking about in the shadow play?"

"I've seen two versions of the shadow puppet show. In one version, the groom is a mouse, and in the other version, the groom is a cat."

It's just a normal "A Mouse Married a Daughter", but on this occasion, it's creepy to hear that the mouse's groom is a cat.

The sedan chair on the stage is still being swayed by the bearers in different ways, the gongs and drummers are playing festive music to send off the bride, and the matchmaker is writhing exaggeratedly beside the sedan chair...

The enthusiasm of the audience in the audience remained undiminished. They cheered and applauded, accompanied by bursts of terrifying "cracking" sounds.

Ke Xun didn't know what he should do now, but the play on the stage was obviously the key. If he could know what was about to be performed, he might be able to avoid danger in advance.

"Tell me about the cartoon version first, the mouse bride's groom is..." Yue Cen asked first.

Ke Xun found that the bosses with a relatively rich reserve of knowledge don't seem to watch cartoons much... Ke Xun said concisely: "It's also a cat. The mouse father chooses a groom for his daughter. The mouse hole is very dark, so they choose the sun as the groom. As a result, The sun is afraid of dark clouds, dark clouds are afraid of wind, wind is afraid of walls, walls are afraid of mice, mice are afraid of cats, and finally the mice marry their daughters to the cats. As a result, the cats eat up the bride and the wedding party... But I think the shadow puppet story should be more relevant Well, after all, what is being staged is a shadow puppet show."

Yue Cen was silent for a while, and just when Ke Xun was about to reach out his hand to make sure the other party was still there, he heard Yue Cen whisper: "I seem to have overlooked a problem just now, maybe we were led astray by the shadow puppetry. Actually, "Mouse The most classic expression of the story of "Married Girl" should be New Year pictures."

"New Year's picture?" Isn't the painting you are in right now a New Year's picture?

"Yes, including the different versions I just mentioned, such as the Wuqiang New Year paintings in Hebei, where the groom is a mouse in human form, dressed in red and green, and uses a green toad as a horse, walking at the end of the wedding procession. Front……"

Before Yue Cen finished speaking, there was an uproar in the audience.