Chapter 12: The Man in the Painting
Old man Zhao's eyes were still there, but he couldn't see them, and when Zhou Mo and Cui Minghan found him, he was staring at a pair of godless eyes, dancing and telling stories to a group of children around him. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info
"I could feel her coming back, and I was sitting at the gate last night when I heard that familiar footfoot, rustling...... Rustling...... She walked past me, seemingly dragging a dog behind her, whimpering lowly......"
"Is it Aunt Hua?" The children hugged each other, all scared but reluctant to go.
Old man Zhao was silent for a while, and suddenly stretched out his hands and rushed forward, "Aunt Hua is going to come out to eat people." ”
The group of children let out a scream and fled in all directions, and when they ran away, the old man Zhao leaned back against the wooden chair that had fallen off, and laughed so hard that he almost lost his breath.
"You didn't hear any footsteps, did you?" Cui Minghan stared at those dull eyes.
Old man Zhao put back his smile, "Tricking children to play, you also believe it as an adult?" "Ah," he tilted his head to listen, "who are you, you don't sound like a villager." ”
Cui Minghan skipped his question, "So Aunt Hua's matter was also made up by you?" ”
Old Man Zhao was silent, staring at the gap between him and Zhou Mo with a pair of eyes, and didn't speak for a long time.
"Forget it, let's go, it seems that he doesn't know anything about Mao San's death." Cui Minghan grabbed Zhou Mo's hand and prepared to leave.
"She lives in that temple......" the old man suddenly spoke, his hoarse voice trembling slightly, "I went up the mountain to play when I was a child, and I met her there, she was very beautiful, wearing a goose-yellow robe, standing among the flowers and waving to me, but I was very afraid, so I accidentally fell down the hill when I hurried down the mountain, and since then, my eyes have been out of sight." ”
"Why are you afraid of her?" Cui Minghan stared at the distorted face.
"She's not human, she's coming out of that painting in the temple......"
Cui Minghan's heart chuckled, and the words Chen Hao said suddenly appeared in his mind - that painting is a woman, a beautiful woman. Chen Hao, Chen Hao, it turns out that what has always made you unable to let go is the woman in the painting?
"What's wrong with you?" Zhou Mo couldn't help but ask when he looked at Cui Minghan's stunned appearance.
"I'm thinking......" he suddenly grabbed Zhou Mo's hand, "we have to go somewhere." ”
Listening to the footsteps of the two of them gradually moving away, Old Man Zhao stood up tremblingly with his chair and shouted in the direction they left, "She's back, isn't she?" There was no response to his words, only one or two petals drifting down in the wind and falling onto his gray hair.
"Where are you taking me?" Zhou Mo reluctantly followed Cui Minghan's footsteps and asked him breathlessly.
"Thundering Family."
"Why are you going there again?"
"I think the woman Chen Hao fell in love with was the person in the painting, the painting was stolen, and then Mao San and they were killed, coupled with Lei Ming's vigilant appearance just now, I suspect that the three of them stole the painting."
"But, but he's the village party secretary." Zhou Mo looked at Cui Minghan in disbelief.
"So what, if he wants to live in a good house and live a decent life, it is absolutely impossible for him to be a small village official in this poor country. He must have learned the value of these murals from Chen Hao, so he decided to take a risk. I guess after the second theft, because Chen Hao and Qiao Qiao sued the Municipal Cultural Relics Bureau, they didn't dare to commit the crime against the wind, so they had to temporarily hide the painting in their own home, so they were killed one by one. ”
"So what are we going to do now?"
"Go and tell Lei Ming that he is already her next target, and if she doesn't hand over the mural, he will only end up with Mao San and them."
Zhou Mo and Cui Minghan came to Lei Ming's house again, the courtyard door of his house was locked from the outside, and there were bursts of crying from inside.
Zhou Mo saw Lei Xiaoyu sitting in the yard crying through the gap in the gate, she patted the door, "Xiaoyu, where is your father?" ”
Xiaoyu wiped a handful of tears, "He went out, he said he was going to return something, so he locked me at home and left in a hurry." ”
The setting sun faded to the last of its colors, and the Qingyue Temple was slowly shrouded in darkness. Cui Minghan stood a few meters away from it, secretly praying in his heart that Zhou Mo would hurry up and bring Wu Xi over.
A figure flashed in front of the courtyard gate, looking like thunder, Cui Minghan took a deep breath and walked quickly into the inner courtyard. "Thunder," he called softly, "are you here?" ”
No one answered him, only the leaves above his head rustled, as if mocking his timidity. Cui Minghan stared at the hall opposite the stage, there was a black hole in it, and he couldn't see anything clearly. I don't know if Lei Ming returned the mural, but even if he returned the painting, would he be able to escape this catastrophe?
"Giggles." Suddenly there was a burst of laughter in the hall, and the sound was cold and empty, and no one could hear a trace of pleasure in it. The walls of the main hall became bright and white little by little, Cui Minghan's eyes widened, and he saw a painting appear on the wall facing him. It was a woman, she was wearing a goose-yellow flag suit, and the fan in her hand gently covered half of her pretty face. Her hair was black and shiny, neatly tied back of her head, and a jade hairpin was stuck in her bun.
Cui Minghan's palms were sweating slightly, he felt that his heart was bitter, his mouthpiece was dried up by fear, he couldn't make a sound, and he couldn't walk.
Suddenly, the woman's eyelids moved, and her originally cold face was replaced with a look of crying and smiling, she removed the fan from her face, revealing a small red cherry mouth, the corners of her mouth slowly curled, she slowly shook her body, and walked down the wall step by step. Her wide clothes swayed gently in the wind, and she stepped over the threshold and into the courtyard. Her toe toe is pointy, and her feet are as small as a schoolboy. Cui Minghan felt as if the tip of the shoe had pierced into his heart, forcibly suppressing the crazy beating heart. Seeing the woman's figure getting closer and closer, his legs went limp, and he staggered back to the ground.
The woman came to Cui Minghan's side, she stood still, and the cold skirt swept across his face, bringing a burst of rotten aura. Cui Minghan didn't dare to raise his head, but he couldn't help but look up, and finally, his eyes met the cold eyes, and he saw his shivering figure from her dark pupils.
"You...... Who is it? ”