The trainer took a curtain call with his old buddy Lion partner to a round of applause.

"Thank you all for your enjoyment, my partner and I are here to perform for you, first of all, to the brave guest who saved the circus animals, without whom we would not be here today."

The beast tamer bowed deeply again in the direction of Qi Jiu.

This wonderful performance actually carried private goods, Qi Yan smiled and nodded at the animal tamer on the stage, indicating that he accepted the other party's wishes.

[NPC Hiring Time Remaining: 5 minutes]

The show has ended, but since that guy has spent money, the remaining time can't be wasted, Qi Zhen plans to find a chance to catch up with the animal trainer, after all, his old friends Ji Xiaoye and Gu Zhenzhen are now "working" in the road circus.

Qi Zhen asked Mrs. Xu, "Can I talk to Mr. Beast Tamer?" I was very interested in his acting experience. ”

Mrs. Xu nodded: "Go ahead, remember to be polite, don't be too annoying." ”

It is rare for a circus to come to perform, knowing that children like these, Mrs. Xu, who is very fond of her "granddaughter", will naturally not hinder Qi Jiu.

With permission, Qi Yan walked towards the animal trainer and his lion companion.

"It's hard work, the performance is wonderful." Qi Ji has never been stingy with praise for "employees".

Mr. Beast Trainer took off his top hat and bowed: "It is my pleasure. ”

The lion standing beside him also wagged its tail happily.

Seeing that time was running out, Qi Ji got straight to the point: "Can I ask you about the current situation of the magician of the road circus?" ”

Mr. Beast Tamer: "Our magician and her partner are living well in the road circus, and they know that I have been hired by you, and they regret that they could not come in person, and they have made a point to tell me that they are all right, don't worry, if they have the chance, they are looking forward to eating with you again and petting the cat." ”

Qi Yan smiled with relief: "Thank you." ”

After the animal trainer and his partner left, Mrs. Xu led Qi Yan and Qi Xiaonian back to the room to rest: "How happy and happy, although you have been away from home for a long time, I have been cleaning your room, keeping it clean and ventilated, when it is tidal in winter, the daylight finally showed up some time ago, and I have re-washed and dried the bedding and bedspreads, but unfortunately the daylight is short in winter, and the sun is not thorough enough..."

Mrs. Xu chattered while ordering Qi Yan and Qi Xiaonian to walk towards room 203.

Xu Minxin and his wife lived in room 202, and it seems that the two sisters, Duoxi and Duole, lived next door to their parents before their deaths.

The two quickly noticed that the character "Fu" on the door 203 still maintained an upside-down posture.

In this way, only the paper figure returning home will cause the character "Fu" to be inverted, and if the player uses the family ID card to check in, it will not cause the character "Fu" to change.

"Remember, you will rest in the room later, although it is the first day of the Lunar New Year, but the old yellow calendar said, today is very unsuitable for visiting the door, there will be guests coming to call you during the meal, you are tired of traveling, and you should have a good rest." Mrs. Xu admonished again.

As she spoke, she stuffed the two red envelopes into Qi Yan and Qi Xiaonian's hands respectively, and her originally chaotic eyes were full of love at the moment, "Be happy in the new year and grow up quickly." ”

"Thank you, grandma, and happy new year." Qi Jiu reacted very quickly, he smiled and took the red envelope handed by the old man, after all, it was mentioned in the old yellow calendar, and today is suitable for saying auspicious words.

Talk about what the old man likes to hear, and it will do no harm to him.

Qi Xiaonian saw Qi Yan's actions, and also accepted the red envelope and said, "Happy New Year." ”

"Happy New Year, good boy."

After Mrs. Xu closed the door of 203 for the two of them, she left by herself.

Qi Yan and Qi Xiaonian immediately opened the red envelope handed over by Mrs. Xu and found that the red envelope was stuffed with a thick stack of yellow paper coins, and strange symbols were drawn on the banknotes with suspicious red liquid.

At the same time, the system sent a prompt sound -

[Congratulations to travelers for obtaining the item: "New Year's pocket money given by Mrs. Xu"*several]

["New Year's pocket money given by Mrs. Xu" Instructions: Real banknotes with certain circulation attributes in a specific background and use object, the use effect is unknown]

"Real banknotes?" Qi Xiaonian noticed the wording of the system.

Qi Yan shrugged: "The system is probably reminding me that the red envelope I handed out through the crack in the door last night was wrapped in □□." ”

But in an emergency, it doesn't seem to matter whether it's true or not, but fortunately, Duoxiduole outside the door last night was very polite and didn't open the red envelope on the spot to check.

When Mrs. Xu's footsteps were heard, Room 203, which closed the door, fell into dead silence again.

Through the dim light outside the window, the two observed the layout of this room.

It was a very "girly" room, the walls were painted soft pink, but because the house was so old and uninhabited for a long time, the original bright pink had peeled off and faded, revealing cold concrete walls and rough red bricks.

As Mrs. Xu said, she has been cleaning and ventilating the rooms of Duoxi and Duole, and the room is clean and clean, without any peculiar smell.

The two single beds were covered with neat sheets, but because they had been washed and dried so many times, the sheets had turned old pink, and the threads were unevenly exposed.

The sisters have plush dolls with pink and white tones at the head of the bed, but for some reason, the dolls' facial features and limbs are missing, the doll cat with the ears bitten off, and the ragdoll with one eye gouged out are placed at the head of the bed, staring directly at the "master" who enters the room, and the curvature of the corners of their lips presents an indescribable sense of penetration at this moment.

The whole room is filled with cute and soft elements of girlish style, but these cuteness floating on the surface is disordered and distorted, whether it is peeling pink patent leather or a doll with missing eyeballs, an indescribable eerie sense permeates the room.

It seems that the daily life has collapsed, and chaos and disorder are the most "cute" themes in the room.

What worries Qi Ji the most is a crayon drawing with rough brushstrokes but full of strange beauty hanging between the two beds.

In the background of the picture is the stadium outside the old apartment, and gray clouds are low and low over the old building, as if a torrential rain is brewing.

Two young girls in colorful dresses stood in front of the gloomy old apartment building, their oversaturated skirts like a ball of melted marshmallows, incompatible with the cold and depressing background of the picture, as if they were misplaced in what should have been a gray dream, and even the unreserved smile on their faces was bright and dazzling.

There is no doubt that these two girls with bright smiles are the owners of the room, Duoxi and Duole.

And between the two girls, there stood a figure that was deliberately blackened.

The figure had no details of clothing, let alone facial features, only a blurry and distorted black.

Qi Yan squinted slightly and approached the painting, and for some reason, he remembered the name of the song sung by Duoxiduole on the stage:

- "Friends Who Don't Exist"

Chapter 203: Year (22)

Who is this figure with no facial features in the picture? Is it also Mrs. Xu's family?

Such speculations flashed away, but Qi Jiu's hunch was not so simple.

Because he had seen a color photo of Mrs. Xu and her family in room 405 before, Qi Yan noticed that in the photo, except for Mrs. Xu, the faces of the other five people were all torn off, and the vacant parts were pitted, as if five holes had been scrawled with a finger.

The "man" standing in the middle of the crayon painting in front of him is different, its face is blurred by a thick black mass, but the whole painting is intact and has no signs of being deliberately torn.

Qi Ji stared intently at this black figure, falling into thought, these seemingly trivial differences often hide the most critical information points.

At the same time, Qi Jiu, who is staring at the painting, also has the illusion of being stared at.

It was as if a pair of eyes were hidden behind black ink, looking at him in front of the painting with a condescending look.

He is in the light, and the other party is in the dark, but no matter the light or the dark, each can perceive the existence of the other.

Very familiar feeling.

He can even detect the other person's playful and expectant gaze through his sixth sense.

What kind of friends are "non-existent friends"?

Qi Yan became more and more interested in the repertoire of Duoxi Duole.

Qi Xiaonian also noticed this uncomfortable painting, with the gray and oppressive background of the picture, the crooked and rough crayon lines, and the close-up of the faces of the characters treated with bright tones... Many contrasting elements are forcibly superimposed and presented in the form of flat lines and color blocks, which can easily make people feel confused at the intersection of dreams and reality, and their mental values are also easily polluted.

In fact, not only this painting, but also the entire "girlish" style of Room 203 is out of order, daily life is distorted, the boundaries of time and space are blurred, and the indescribable sense of dislocation is infiltrating the people in it little by little.

"Brother, what are we going to do next?" Qi Xiaonian subconsciously looked away and asked Qi Zhen, who seemed to be completely unaffected by the painting.

Perhaps it was a psychological effect, when he moved his gaze to Qi Jiu, his uneasy mood was slightly relieved.

Qi Jiu: "Try to find the score and lyrics of "Non-existent Friends" in the room, maybe this song with a strange name can surprise us. ”

Ever since he learned about the repertoire of the competition, Qi Ju has always been very concerned.

"No problem, "Non-existent Friends" is a performance track of Duoxi Duole, they must have practiced a lot, there should be a word sheet in the room, and this room is not big, I think it shouldn't be difficult..." Why are the desk drawers locked? ”

Qi Xiaonian, who was about to rummage through the lyrics of "Non-Existent Friends", was disappointed to find that almost all the drawers in the room, including the bedside table and desk, were locked.

Qi Ji touched the spotless desktop with his fingertips, and sighed: "Mrs. Xu is indeed not lying, Duoxi and Duole's room was cleaned by her, and nothing was left for us, including the keys to the drawers." ”

"In addition to the lyrics, there may be other ways to find the relevant content of the song..."Qi Xiaonian analyzed in a low voice.

Qi Yan once again set his eyes on this room full of nostalgia.

On their desks are two lamps, pen holders filled with colorful pencils, and a photo of their family of four.

Unlike the absurd crayon drawings hanging on the bedside, this photo of a family of four is very realistic.

In the photo, Duoxi and Duole are holding pink ice cream in their hands, maybe the weather is too hot when the photo is taken, or the ice cream is really not delicious, the slightly melted ice cream mucus drips down the crispy skin and seeps into the girl's fingers, but the girls in the photo don't care at all, they face the camera with bright smiles, the background is an out-of-focus amusement park, a blurry roller coaster passes through the distance, Xu Minxin and his wife stand behind the two girls, compared with the children, the smiles of the two parents are much darker and tired, and even a little far-fetched.

Qi Yan noticed that Xu Minxin and his wife in this photo were no longer young, they looked like they were in their forties, but Duoxi Duole was only seven or eight years old at this time.

In the era of the dungeon, Doxiduole was so young, and under normal circumstances, their parents should have been younger.

Of course, this level of doubt does not serve as a clue, but only divergent speculation.

There is a piano on the east side of the room against the wall, in those days, buying a piano for a child was a very luxurious thing, which shows that Xu Minxin and his wife pay great attention to the cultivation of Duoxiduole.

The piano is covered with a white floral hood, and on the cover is a row of strange dolls with the same missing facial features.

Qi Yan removed the dolls one by one, and the moment he lifted the piano cover, a sheet of music fell.

There are six words written on the score: "Non-existent Friends"

But because it's a piano sheet music, there are no lyrics on it.

Qi Xiaonian immediately bowed down and picked up the piano score: "Brother, do we need to find the words of the song?" ”

Qi Yan didn't answer this question immediately, and Qi Xiaonian, who was looking through the piano score, suddenly let out a "huh".

He flipped the sheet music over, and on the back of it was an abstract and eerie graffiti, "What does this mean?" ”

The graffiti lines are very casual, like someone who deserted during class, picked up a pen and sketched a few times on the textbook, but the content expressed in the picture makes people shudder-

In the picture, an old washing machine is anthropomorphized, and the lid used to hold clothes is transformed into a mouth ready to move in the graffiti, which cracks its lips to reveal its sharp teeth, and is enthusiastically devouring the upside-down villain.

The villain who was fed only had a pair of legs left upside down at the moment, with a thing like a fishing line wrapped around his ankles, and the villain's entire upper body had been dissolved in the inner barrel of the washing machine's high-speed rotation, and the decomposed facial features, fingers, arms and dirty clothes were rotated and rolled together, and the strange picture formed a strong contrast with the immature brushstrokes, and the indescribable cult sense penetrated the paper and hit people's hearts.

Two words were vaguely written next to the cult graffiti: "501" and "Forbidden...".

501？ Is it referring to room 501 of this old apartment?

If so, it happens to be next door to the paper man's thoughts......

Just as Qi was thinking, Qi Xiaonian lay on the ground and took out a box of audio and video tapes from under the bed: "Brother, look at this, I think that since Xu Minxin and his wife pay so much attention to the cultivation of Duoxiduo, they should have videos of so many Xiduole competition experiences, and we want to get the lyrics of "Non-existent Friends", it seems that it is also possible to find them from the videotape. ”

"You're right," Qi found that the videotapes in the cardboard box were neatly arranged according to the time and number of games, "These videotapes must have video materials from the performance of "Friends Who Don't Exist", but unfortunately there is no DV player in this room..."