The wind and rain outside not only did not stop, but it seemed to be getting stronger and stronger, and the cool breeze of late autumn came in through the cracks in the doors and windows, making the candlelight flicker and flutter even more, as if it would be extinguished at any time. Mr. and Mrs. Chen hurriedly walked over and closed the curtains and door curtains, so that the wind outside the house was blocked.

But the cool breeze still made me shiver, and in the dim candlelight, I continued to listen to Professor Shan talk about his bizarre experience:

"I came to the book and smelled a faint musty smell, I knew that this book should be an ancient book, and I could tell by looking at the somewhat mottled cover, but when I looked at it, I couldn't help but be shocked - I thought that the book was like many ancient books, the paper inside was yellowed, and even the handwriting might be a little blurry, but when I saw the contents, I couldn't help but be stunned.

I didn't guess that it was a painting with realistic colors!

If there is a painting in an ancient book, it must be a black and white sketch, it must not be an oil painting, am I mistaking the time, maybe this is not an ancient book at all, but a modern book that is not very old?

I hurriedly looked at the back cover, and found a few lines of words "Xuande three years", I was even more surprised when I saw these words, Xuande is the name of the Ming Dynasty, more than 600 years ago, and the origin of Western oil painting, that is, more than 600 years, that is, at that time, there could be no oil painting in China at that time.

So, I couldn't help but ask the old man, 'Old man, the painting in this is added later, it can't be the painting in the original book, because at that time, China could not have this kind of colorful oil painting.' But what I didn't expect was that the old man shook his head and said with certainty: "No, Professor Shan, the paintings here are from the Xuande period, and if you look closely, that kind of painting is still different from Western oil paintings." I was really shocked and excited to hear the old man say this, and as you all know, I specialize in art history, and of course I am interested in this kind of thing, how could there be oil paintings in China during the Ming Dynasty? So I took the book and looked at it close to the oil lamp.

When I saw the picture clearly, my hands shook, and the book almost fell to the ground, because when I saw the paintings clearly, it was so shocking that I couldn't believe my eyes - in those pictures, there were all kinds of monsters, some human heads and animal bodies, some human body and animal heads, and some organs were like people, but the other part of the organs were like other animals, and these pictures were very different from the virtual monsters painted in modern times, which made people feel an incomparable sense of reality. It's as if these monsters are alive, and it's incredibly lifelike.

I calmed down a little, rubbed my eyes, and thought to myself, how could this be possible, in the Ming Dynasty, how could there be such a skilled realistic painting? So I shook my head again and again, and couldn't help but whisper 'impossible', because I specialize in the history of painting, so many institutions invite me to do appraisals when auctioning calligraphy and paintings, and according to my professional knowledge, this kind of painting will never appear in the Ming Dynasty. After listening to my words, the old man did not rush to refute, but stretched out his hand, took the book, rubbed his hand twice on the picture, and suddenly I asked about a peculiar smell, and that smell made me feel drowsy.

At this time, the old man handed me a bowl of water, let me drink a few sips, I was a little refreshed, when I looked at the painting again, I was extremely surprised to find that the painting was not color at all, but in old black and white, although the specific shape of the picture is still similar to just now, but there is no sense of three-dimensionality and realism at all, what is going on? Was it just a hallucination?

I couldn't help but look up at the old man in surprise, and I wanted to ask what was going on, but before I could speak, the old man suddenly got up and walked into the back room, and I sat there, looking at his back in a daze, not knowing what he was going to do.

After a while, the old man came out of the back room with a box in his arms, and when he put it in front of me, I could not help shivering, for the box, for some reason, I felt that it was in the shape of a coffin, and when I looked at it in the dim light, I thought it was so terrible.

The old man looked at me with a stern face, and then said slowly: "Professor Shan, I know that you are rich and rich, and my grandson is your student, because our family is poor and the situation is relatively special, I know that you have taken good care of him, and I am grateful and respectful to you in my heart." The old man's words made me a little confused, at this time, why did he suddenly talk about this?

But what he said is also the truth, I know that my student, that is, his grandson, is in a special situation, his parents are gone, and there is only one grandfather left in the family to depend on each other, so he is indeed more concerned about life than ordinary students, and often helps him apply for poor student subsidies, etc., and often invites him to my house for dinner.

Just when I was wondering, I heard the old man continue: 'So, I have always thought that I must thank you well for the opportunity, but I am so old and poor, and nothing else can help, since you want to know about it, and it happens that I also know, so I know everything, and I can't say anything, I wanted to bring this secret into the coffin, and no one told me, but it may also be providence, I didn't expect that you have also seen the skeletons of those strange things, and also drew a restoration picture, which is really a coincidence that I could never have dreamed of.

I've always felt that no one in this world should ever see that skeleton again except me, alas, it's really providential, in that case, then I'll tell you all the secrets, but when I'm done, I want the professor to promise a few points, otherwise you will have to worry about your life, because if you know this secret, it will cause danger to you, but it's too late for you to regret it now. I knew that the old man meant well, but the more it happened, the more I wanted to know what was going on, and I said firmly: 'Old man, I promise your terms, but I must listen to what it is, you can tell me.' The old man nodded when he saw that I was so resolute, and then took the key and opened the box, and when the box was fully opened, I smelled a strange smell, which seemed to be a fishy smell, but fortunately, the smell was not very strong.

Because of the dim lighting, I vaguely saw what seemed to be something lying inside, but I couldn't see what it was.

The old man brought the oil lamp, but when I saw the contents of the box, I couldn't help but exclaim, because inside the box, it turned out to be the skeleton of a child, which was really terrifying. What puzzles me even more is why the old man suddenly took out the skeleton of a child, and why did he put such a horrible thing in the house?

A series of question marks appeared in my mind.

My voice trembled and I asked, 'Old man, why do you want to keep the skeleton of such a child in your home?' The old man paused for a moment and asked me, "Professor Shan, look at it again, is this the skeleton of a child?" When the old man said this, I was even more surprised, could I have seen it wrong? Isn't this the skeleton of a child? I covered my nose, and then took a closer look, so closely looked, I couldn't help but be surprised, only to find that our human ribs are one by one, the ribs of the skeleton are indeed connected, what shocked me even more is that when the old man turned the skeleton over, I found that the attached back of the head, is another face, that is, when the child was alive, he was a two-faced person, with two faces in front and back, which should be a deformity.

When I said what I thought, the old man shook his head and said, "You say that this is the skeleton of a child, in fact, I can tell you that this is not a child, nor is it a deformity, to be precise, this skeleton is not a human being, but a special animal, or rather, a species that has disappeared, and this skeleton has actually lived for more than a hundred years." 'A new species? I couldn't believe my ears, the old man sat in his seat at this time, took a big sip of wine, as if trying to suppress his excitement, he gasped a few times, and then calmed down a little, and said softly: 'Well, actually, don't look at this thing as a skeleton, but it's not dead yet. I couldn't believe my ears, a skeleton wasn't dead, how could that be?

I suddenly found that for some reason, the old man was already in tears, he tried his best to control his feelings, wiped his tears with his rough hand and continued: "My whole life, and my son, have been harmed by this thing, if it weren't for this thing, my son and daughter-in-law would not have died so early.

Well, if you talk about it, it's a long story.

In fact, my family used to do business in the south, and it can be regarded as making a lot of money, bought houses in the provincial and county seats, and lived a fairly wealthy life, and I also sent my son to a prestigious university, but because of the Cultural Revolution, the house and the atom were taken away, and I was also criticized, not only me, but even my son, was also sent to work.

To tell the truth, I was born in old age, and it wasn't until I was almost fifty years old that I gave birth to my only son, so I was regarded as the pearl of my palm since I was a child.

Our family is not prosperous, it is already three generations of single transmission, my parents for me to be able to pass on the family as soon as possible, when I was sixteen years old, I married a wife, but maybe it's fate, the more I want a son, but the more I don't, let alone a son, even a daughter is not there.

Poor my parents, for this matter, they are almost crazy, take me everywhere to seek medical advice, I even went to Germany for treatment, but it is useless, it may also be because of this incident, my parents in their fifties, one after another depressed, this is the pain and regret of my life, I made up my mind at that time, no matter what, I have to give birth to a son, otherwise even under the nine springs, I will not have the shame to see my parents.

Speaking of which, my illness is strange enough, in order to have a son, I have married five wives, but still not a single child has been born, seeing that I am forty years old, I was really desperate and miserable to the point of madness, but not long after, an incident happened that made my life take an unexpected turn. ’