Chapter 22: Snooping (I)
By the time we were evacuated from the Forbidden City, it was already dark, and before we knew it, a whole afternoon had passed.
Considering that I couldn't recover from the strangeness I had just experienced in a short period of time, Zuo Dao Chang pulled me to sit and rest on a stone bench.
But the cool breeze passed slowly, which made people even more uneasy.
"I waited until my emotions were a little more relaxed before I started to speak."...... I always thought that a lot of stories were made up by people, but today I realized that there is something to be done. β
"Which one are you talking about? There are so many strange facts about the Forbidden City. β
I took a deep breath. "I've heard the story too, and now I only remember a rough idea, as if to say that in the last century, there was a special night patrol in the Forbidden City, and there was also a special fire brigade stationed there. One summer, several firefighters slept on the spot after completing a drill in the West Sixth Palace. At about two o'clock in the morning, one of the team members was woken up by the cool breeze, only to find himself sleeping in the corridor, frightened, he rolled up the mat and went back to the temple to sleep, and woke up in the morning to find that he was carried under the corridor again. He warned his teammates not to spoof and toss himself again, but the team denied it, suspecting that he was sleepwalking, but this person did not sleepwalk when he slept in the team. β
Zuo Dao nodded at me with a blank face. "This incident is indeed true, and it happened in the Chuxiu Palace where we just visited, you know? These ghosts in the Forbidden City generally rest during the day and come out at night to carry out activities, and they often hold some ritual parades, just like us humans, those night patrols should be blocking the route of the ghosts' parades, and they were moved elsewhere. β
"Since...... Since the Forbidden City is so weird at night, then we ......"
"I know what you're trying to say." Zuo Dao Chang looked at me with disdain. "You coward, trying to find an excuse to shirk tonight."
It makes me very uncomfortable to be seen through my thoughts, but I can't refute it.
"I think the ghost gave us very sincere guidance, since she said that she saw a ghost in the Wuying Hall that does not belong to the Forbidden City, then we should go and explore." Zuo Daochang suddenly patted me on the shoulder and comforted me. "Boss Liu, you don't have to be afraid, ordinary ghosts by my side can't hurt you."
He's still the same clichΓ©, but it's a little more reassuring to listen to.
"If I really can't save you, then you are destined to do this." Zuo Dao Chang said coldly.
"Zuo Dao Chang...... Are you kidding, or are you serious. "I stared at him intently, hoping to find a smile on his face." If my life is really in danger, I'd better go back to my hometown and make my tea. β
"Of course it's a joke, boy." The corners of Zuo Daochang's mouth were slightly raised, and he wanted to squeeze out a smile to show us, but his face, which had been iron and blue for a long time, seemed to be difficult to create a smiling expression. "Think about it, how many people in this world have seen the Forbidden City late at night? Once you've seen it, you can brag about it with your friends. β
"Daoist Zuo, in fact, I'm not willing to accompany you, and I can't bear to let you visit the Forbidden City alone at night, I just think we shouldn't run into each other like headless flies anymore." I smiled awkwardly.
Daoist Zuo nodded silently. "Now it can be determined that this Jiao Yuqin is the evil in the Forbidden City, but the clues in the future are indeed interrupted, we can only grope a little bit, and we can't figure out a clue at all."
"I have a less complete inference that I would like to tell you." I tried to lay out all of these events in my mind and then sort out a clue.
"Huh? I've heard Yu Ge say that you have a strong reasoning ability and have completely inherited your father's qualities, so let's hear it. β
"I think since the leader of that ghost told us that the ghosts of the Forbidden City generally do not harm humans, we can indeed temporarily conclude that this matter must be a ghost made by an alien ghost." I said it word by word, trying to organize it as well as I could. "I don't think the wild ghosts outside will come to the Forbidden City at will, and the reason why ghosts from other places run in must be something that hasn't happened before in the Forbidden City recently."
"Hmm!" Zuo Dao Chang nodded in approval. "Okay, Boss Liu, I didn't expect your analytical skills to be really good, so go on."
"So we should first investigate some of the recent big events in the Forbidden City, rather than rushing to explore inside."
"But what big can it be? The Forbidden City is like this every year, with thousands of visitors every day. Zuo Daochang sighed and said weakly. The only major thing we know now is that the two famous paintings "Han Xizai's Night Banquet" and "Qingming Riverside Picture" were exhibited in the Wuying Hall of the Forbidden City, which was told to us by a high school student. Besides, it's not a big deal, and it has nothing to do with ghosts? β
"I think maybe it has something to do with it, maybe the ghost came in while the paintings were being transported."
Daoist Zuo shook his head with a calm face. "Liu Quan, I agree that you should have something happening when you start to say that the ghost ran in, but the exhibition of famous paintings cannot become a 'thing', the reason is that these paintings have been stored in the Forbidden City before, but they have not been exhibited, and in essence, there have been no new changes in the Forbidden City."
In fact, I was also clueless, but Zuo Daochang's words, intentionally or unintentionally, hit me like an electric current, which made me have a very inexplicable idea. I jumped up from the stone bench. "Captain Zuo! That's right, that's right! It's in the Wuying Palace. β
Daoist Zuo looked at me with a shocked look on his face and touched my forehead. "Are you kid also evil, what kind of nerves do you have?"
"Dao Chief, you see that female ghost told us that there are wild ghosts haunted in the Wuying Palace, and it just so happens that there are famous paintings on display in the Wuying Palace, this is no coincidence."
"So what else can you tell me about?"
"It's a painting!" I shouted. The sound was so loud that passers-by looked back.
"The realm in the painting?" Zuo Dao Chang was stunned for a moment, and then clapped his hands violently. "yes, why didn't I think of that? Both of these are famous paintings, and they must be attached to the painting. β
"If people can enter the realm of painting, then demons and monsters must be able to do it too." I answered.
"That's right! And these two paintings have been sealed in the warehouse of Wuying Hall before, and they have just been taken out for exhibition recently, and the ghosts inside have a chance to escape. β
"Then this is our breakthrough, let's start with those two famous paintings."
The two of us coincided and inadvertently obtained an important clue, but after a burst of excitement, I was a little inexplicably worried.
If you have read the previous story, you must also know that the world in the painting is really incredible, and often accompanied by some people's obsessions and obstacles, sometimes just hearing the story of the person in the painting will feel like a knife, and this time we are going to investigate the two famous paintings are more famous than the two I saw in the hands of the painter a few years ago, and the story must be more thrilling.