Billy Street, located in the east of Bushen City, is a collection of apartment buildings, arranged in an orderly manner.

The Nanmu windows on the windowsill of the building are quite exquisite, the relief carvings on the top of the balcony stone balustrade are lifelike, and the patterns on the walls are also very beautiful.

The masonry pavement was covered with a layer of asphalt, and in the Fifth period, it was so expensive to reinforce the pavement with asphalt, so much so that only roads reserved for the wealthy could use asphalt to reinforce the surface course.

However, since the rise of the Steam Alliance, various technologies have developed vigorously, and in the year 292 of the sixth century of the natural calendar, a scholar named Malvin Andrews published a paper in the journal of Natural Sciences entitled "On the Improvement of Asphalt Process".

Just 20 years later, almost all of the main roads in the city of Faroland were completely asphalted, as were the other cities, and this situation has spread to almost all countries in Saigon.

The city has a longer history of using asphalt, about 120 years ago, a natural asphalt lake was discovered in the east of the city, and to this day, people still use this asphalt to build roads that emerge from the ground.

Now, it is also used in coatings, plastics, rubber industries, etc.

There are some chasing and struggling children on the streets of Billy Street, they are lively and active, and the laughter of children can be heard from time to time.

Some housewives are wearing long cloth dresses and carrying vegetable baskets in their hands, while some elderly people are practicing aerobics in the small square.

The popularity here is not bad, after all, they are all middle-income families, and John Harkes of the Murcott Chamber of Commerce lives here, and the other party has been working for Joseph for more than ten years.

There is still a faint stench coming from the gutters on both sides of the road, and even some vegetable leaves and waste paper can be seen on the ground.

Many women and children like to throw garbage directly into the streets, and there is currently a poor awareness of public health.

If it weren't for the fact that the street was cleaned every day, it would have been as foul and filthy as many slums, and he slept with the windows closed, as in the area of the hut Rennes rented.

Wren and Catherine walked side by side on the street, Catherine was tall, 172 cm tall, with shoulder-length blond hair, and the whole person looked heroic.

And Wren has also grown a little taller, now he is 1.76 meters tall, with a slender figure and well-proportioned muscles, and there is only one rich difference between the tall and handsome.

The two walked together, the rate of turning heads was quite high, and the faint fragrance wafted into the tip of his nose, and he couldn't help but get closer to her.

It felt strange, like being in a garden after a light breeze and drizzle, and Wren found that Catherine's body fragrance was a little special.

One is the smell of perfume, with the strongest smell of geranium mint, mixed with notes of rose, iris, jasmine, etc.

The other is fresh and natural, refreshing, like flowers blooming in the forest, and it doesn't seem to be the smell of perfume.

"Little boy, why are you so close to me? Want to take advantage of me? Catherine raised an eyebrow and pouted mischievously.

After a moment's hesitation, Wren said uncertainly, "You seem to be able to purify the air." ”

"What?" Catherine was confused.

"I mean, you have a fresh, natural scent on you." Wren explained.

Catherine's expression changed slightly, and her crimson eyes stared at him: "Can you feel it?" ”

Spreading his hands, Wren was a little puzzled: "I don't think you need to use perfume, it's not as good as your body fragrance." ”

With a soft snort, Catherine said jokingly: "Little boy, what do you know, my sister uses 'prosperous', high-end perfumes, and a young hairy child like you probably hasn't slept with a woman yet, and doesn't understand a woman's heart." ”

Rolling his eyes, Wren shrugged: "When I didn't say it!" ”

Catherine smiled: "Angry? ”

"No, but I don't really understand women."

"Really? One day, if my sister can't get married, it's better for you to be cheaper. ”

Wren shook his head, and he realized that the other party was actually far from being as open-mouthed.

"Remember, don't talk nonsense." Catherine told him.

Wren nodded, he was not stupid, he naturally felt that Catherine's identity was not simple, and it seemed that her origin was not small.

Soon, the two entered Building B, followed the wooden staircase in the building to the sixth floor, and knocked on the door.

"Please come in!"

A middle-aged woman's voice rang out, and Wren and Catherine pushed the door in, and looked at the housewife in front of them, who was wearing a floral dress, with a slightly fat figure, a sad face, and a black hemorrhoid on her chin, and she looked worried.

"Hello, Mrs. Harke, we are looking for your husband, and it was Mr. Joseph who asked us to visit him." Catherine politely said that she was always polite in front of ordinary people, and bad in front of transcendent people.

With a little surprise on her face, Mrs. Harkes perked up and smiled: "Thank you, Honorable Lord Joseph, for your concern for John, who has been in a bad state of mind lately. ”

She told them to wait and went to the bedroom to call her husband out.

The two met John Harks, who had messy black hair, thick eyebrows, big eyes, a high nose, and thick lips.

His face was extremely pale, his eyes were slightly bloodshot, the dark circles were obvious, and his spirit was very weak, like a person who had stayed up for several days and nights or had insomnia for a long time.

"What's the matter?" John said weakly.

Wren was the first to speak: "Yes, three months ago, you bought a self-portrait from a lady, and we want to know the details of that day. ”

John's expression changed, and he glanced at his wife, who immediately understood, closed the door, and went into a bedroom to avoid it.

"She was veiled black and dressed in mourning clothes, and I don't know her name and looks." John said in a deep voice.

"Really? That painting is not a masterpiece, why did you buy it? And from the hands of a widow who had just been widowed, you don't look like a healthy person now. Wren asked.

John stopped talking, and Catherine's voice was soft: "Mr. John, we are here on the commission of your boss, and I hope you will explain the situation, you should know that several people who have visited the gallery have been killed, and it is related to that self-portrait." ”

"Click......

The sound of the pendulum echoed in the living room, and after a moment of unspeakable silence, John's expression changed several times, his fingers rubbed a few times on his knee pants, and finally he sighed and told the story of the incident.

On that day, he originally just went to the street in the name of Joseph to buy a few works of young painters with high skills, and at the same time won the favor of some down-and-out painters, he could also promote the gallery and accumulate some reputation for the boss.

Maybe many years later, when the painter dies and is praised a few times, these works will become "famous paintings" and make a fortune.

When the masked woman handed over the painting, John didn't actually want to buy it, although the painting was of a good level, but the other party was wearing a black dress and was mourning, which was too unlucky.

The widow then handed him five gold coins and said that her husband was a down-and-out painter and dreamed that one day his work would be appreciated and recognized.

Now that he has unfortunately passed away, she hopes to hang this self-portrait of her husband's favorite in the museum, and she can fulfill his wish.

Seeing this, John accepted it, not out of sympathy, greed for money, and he could save a sum of money to buy a painting, so why not do it.

"So, you don't really know the other person's name and appearance." Wren said lightly.

John covered his face with his hands and regretted it very much: "I shouldn't have been greedy for those five gold coins, since that day, I have been dreaming, at first it was just a little strange.

After that, the dream became more and more terrifying, and I thought that there was something wrong with the painting, but I wasn't sure, after all, I had bought a lot of paintings during that time. ”

"What dream? Please elaborate, we are the one your boss asked to solve this matter. Catherine took out the key to Dale's Portrait Gallery and shook it, and John obviously let down his guard when he saw this, he had seen this key.

Catherine suspects that the other party is the first person to be possessed by that strange ghost, and that he is not dead, but only mentally wounded.

As if recalling something terrible, John's body tensed and his lips trembled: "It was nothing at first, it seems that it was just a young artist who saved a woman who passed out on the side of the road......"