Chapter 28 I am the prey, this time they're after me.

The physical examination is complete.

Bai Heng invited Sang Li to try the staff canteen.

Sang Li loves the chocolate strawberry donuts from the cafeteria. She used to have Bai Heng secretly bring them out for her to try every time she had a physical exam.

This time I can finally eat and drink to my heart's content openly and without restraint.

“Your employees are treated so well. When I think about how we eat scraps in the shelter, I feel like a little lapdog, always picking at your leftovers,” Sang Li protested.

“It won’t happen again. There are plenty of delicious foods. You can always ask me to swipe my card whenever you come,” Bai Heng said.

Sang Li was very beautiful, and with a completely unfamiliar face, she attracted a lot of attention as soon as she appeared in the cafeteria.

The intense gaze made her uncomfortable: "Didn't you say that the anklet protecting me would work?"

“Then you can’t stop an eye that appreciates beauty.” Bai Heng smiled.

"That's so cheesy."

Bai Heng took a bowl of beef noodles, while Sang Li's plate was filled with all sorts of desserts and pizzas. She liked these high-calorie foods, which made her feel young.

The two sat facing each other.

Bai Heng slowly stirred the noodles with his chopsticks, his gaze lingering gently on her face: "There's a recent art exhibition that opened, curated by a friend of mine. It focuses on visual illusions and stream of consciousness. You might like it. Some of the inspiration comes from European aristocratic art during the Renaissance."

Sang Li, biting into a strawberry donut, shook her head: "I don't really like medieval Europe, especially the European nobles. Europe was plagued by the Black Death, and there were cockroaches, rats, and other pests everywhere. I've read that back then, there were no toilets in London homes, and everyone dumped their excrement on the streets."

Bai Heng smiled: "So what do you like?"

Sang Li thought for a moment and said, "That doesn't matter. The most important thing is to be emotionally rich. Painting is an expression of emotion; without emotion, there will be flaws. That's why I don't like any kind of imitation. Writing and painting are both expressions of emotion. Imitation can only teach you techniques, which is the difference between AI and humans. Because emotions are born, these arts become more beautiful, don't they?"

“You’re right. By the way, didn’t you ask me last time if I could bring you a Black Death nurse figurine when I went abroad? I couldn’t find it last time, but a friend saw it this time, and it’s being shipped by sea,” Bai Heng said.

Sang Li clapped her hands: "You're amazing! I really love this kind of thing, but I don't dare to reveal that I like watching zombies and horror movies. I'm worried that they'll arrest me again."

Bai Heng smiled.

Sang Li appears quiet and reserved, but she actually enjoys urban legends, ghost stories, and reading about dark history.

He also has his own unique logic of violent aesthetics.

However, she hid it very well.

You can only talk endlessly when you meet someone with the same interests.

After all, it's not good to be found out by others.

Sang Li said enthusiastically, "There's a movie called 'The Lady and the Zombie' coming out soon, about a zombie apocalypse in 17th-century London. I'd like to see it. If you weren't free, I could invite you since I'm currently single!"

Before Bai Heng could speak, suddenly...

The chair next to Sang Li was pulled out.

Lu Jin appeared beside her without her noticing, and decisively pulled out the chair next to her and sat down.

His face was gloomy.

It's like someone owing eight million.

It's like discovering that your wife is cheating on you.

Sang Li asked in surprise, "Why are you here?"

Lu Jin casually placed a cup of milk tea in front of her: "You've finished your physical exam, I'm worried your blood sugar might be low."

"Hey, isn't this the milk tea from the Management Bureau?" Sang Li asked in surprise. "When did you go out to buy it?"

“I ordered it when you had your physical exam.” Lu Jin glanced at her, his tone calm. “Eating something sweet when you’re not feeling well will improve your mood. His movements are too rough.”

Bai Heng: ?

"Wow, you're quite thoughtful." Sang Li was about to take a big gulp of her milk tea when she suddenly remembered something, looked up and smiled, "But Bai Heng is also very gentle. We're quite familiar with each other."

Lu Jin paused for a moment.

I'm not entirely satisfied with this answer.

No, I'm very dissatisfied.

He glanced at Bai Heng across from him, his expression unchanged, but his tone was chilling: "Yeah, he's from the medical department, so he's supposed to be gentle."

Bai Heng smiled silently, stirring the noodles in the bowl.

Sang Li looked left and right, sensing that something was off, and lowered her head without saying a word.

***

In the past few days, Lu Jin has begun to investigate the truth behind the "person in the painting" incident with all his might.

His whereabouts became unpredictable; he would often rush out the door after receiving just one phone call.

Sang Li was also dragged along by him, going up mountains and down to the sea, and running to every corner of the Ecological Management Bureau.

The house gradually became like a temporary command center. A large LCD blackboard was placed in the living room, which was densely covered with timelines, clue nodes, and a route map of the "person in the picture" marked with red lines. It was updated almost every night.

He stared at the blackboard longer than he stared at her.

Every day after get off work, I cook dinner and then start my research.

Sang Li nestled in the corner of the sofa, hugging a cushion, munching on her newly bought popcorn while staring at the blue-glowing electronic screen. This was the first time she had ever seen Lu Jin so engrossed in his work that he seemed to forget to eat and sleep. She didn't dare ask him when he would fix her window, so she obediently slept next to him every night.

Sang Li didn't want to go back to her room to lie down either. After finishing her meal, she sat on the sofa with her iPad and started drawing. She was also curious about Lu Jin's thought process: "It's been two weeks, and you still haven't caught him?"

Lu Jin handed her the documents: "What are your thoughts?"

【BEAM-0248】

[BEAM-0248, also known as "The Person in the Painting," appearance unknown. Eyewitness accounts vary.]

BEAM-0248 possesses several paintings, which serve as its tools.

The abnormal characteristics of BEAM-0248 are manifested in the following aspects:

[1. Visual Seduction: Any observer who stares at a painting for more than 3 seconds will feel "stared" by the figures in the painting and experience a strong emotional response (such as familiarity, attachment, or unease). If the staring lasts more than 10 seconds, the observer will inevitably fall into an anomalous state, being drawn into the painting and becoming a part of it.]

2. Character Manipulation: The characters within the artwork are transformed from those who have been absorbed, and their words and actions are entirely controlled by BEAM-0248.

Lu Jin sat opposite him on the sofa with a folder in his hand, his eyes still fixed on a certain mark on the blackboard: "BEAM-0248 will create a lot of paintings; if you stare at them, you will be sucked into them."

“Three days ago, there was a witnessing incident at the old exhibition hall in the South Ring Road. An art dealer entered the hall late at night, stood in front of an old painting and mysteriously disappeared for fifteen minutes. Later, he suddenly reappeared, but when he was found, he was unconscious, with dilated pupils and unable to communicate.” He paused and handed the photo to Sang Li. “The surveillance footage showed him standing in front of the painting for a full ten seconds before disappearing.”

Sang Li took the photo and glanced at it. It was of a middle-aged man lying on a dusty floor, with a dark background and a blurry portrait in the background.

She stared at the painting, then suddenly remembered something, tilting her head as she thought for a moment.

Suddenly, I felt as if, for a fleeting moment, something was staring at me through the photograph.

“This feeling,” she said softly, “is like the day we went to see that painting of peach blossom lovers.”

Lu Jin's eyes darkened, and he slowly raised his head: "You feel that way too?"

“It’s like, in the painting, it’s like someone is watching me. Not watching, but staring.” Sang Li said, unconsciously curling up. “Maybe we’ve been watched all along, or rather, if…”

Sang Li suddenly opened her eyes wide and stood up: "Shrink the icon, I need to see the map!"

Lu Jin was taken aback, but he did as instructed.

He picked up the remote control and zoomed out the view on the LCD blackboard, instantly shrinking the entire city area map into a more complete street map.

The dense red dots gradually spread out on the map.

That's where every "person in the painting" sighting occurred.

Sang Li quickly walked around to the front of the blackboard, her fingers flying across the circle of red dots, drawing lines one after another, her eyes growing increasingly serious.

She kept comparing the distance between the landmark and the red dot, as if she had obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Finally, I put pen to paper.

Lu Jin narrowed his eyes.

Sang Li: "Lu Jin, have you noticed that these crime scenes are not random?"

Lu Jin took a step closer, his brows furrowed.

Sang Li tapped her fingertips on the blackboard, one by one: "Look here, starting with the first incident, it was in the antique museum in Dongcheng. Then it was the exhibition hall in Nanhuan, the warehouse at the old dock, and then last week's No. 2 Art Street... They seem scattered, but if you connect these red dots, you will find that they form an encirclement."

Lu Jin's gaze darkened completely, and his lips tightened.

He stared at the picture, remaining silent for a long time.

Those red dots are like living eyes, approaching and hunting them one by one, encircling their living space inch by inch.

It's as if the next place where the "person in the painting" will appear will be behind one of their windows.

Sang Li held her breath.

Really?

"You came for me?" She looked at Lu Jin incredulously.

Sang Li: "If those people hadn't 'spit' out of the painting, where would they have appeared?"

Lu Jin: "According to intelligence, it will appear in the world within the painting 0248, forming a complete world, and the victims will be its inhabitants."

Sang Li's lips twitched: "This isn't good."

Lu Jin's expression changed completely.

He said sternly, "Don't move, stay here."

The next second, he had already rushed into every corner of the room like the wind.

Every picture book, newspaper, magazine, and even the old publications piled up in the corner of the living room were examined for abnormalities.

"Don't look at any pictures that I haven't verified," Lu Jin warned.

Sang Li was also startled by his reaction. She hugged her cushion and sat on the sofa without daring to move, just silently following his gaze as he searched.

A few minutes later, he went to the window and carefully inspected each pane of glass.

Finally, he checked the alarm in the corner again, recalibrated the parameters, and adjusted the safety sensing range.

The whole house seemed to instantly transform into an invisible prison, with a tense atmosphere permeating the very air.

Lu Jin walked back to her, squatted down, looked into her eyes, and said with an unprecedented seriousness: "From now on, you are not allowed to leave my sight."

Sang Li was slightly taken aback, not yet reacting.

Lu Jin continued, his tone low and firm: "Even if it's just going to the toilet..."

When he gritted his teeth and uttered the word "disappear," his chest sank.

He knew he was afraid too.

Sang Li paused for a moment, pursed her lips, and nodded gently in a soft voice:

"……good."

She neither laughed nor made any jokes.

She simply reached out and grabbed his sleeve.

"That's a major breakthrough, right? Maybe we should go to bed early tonight?"

Lu Jin looked extremely nervous.

It's understandable to be nervous.

quite a while.

"good."

The night was deep, and all was quiet outside the window; even the wind had stopped blowing.

Lu Jin, however, couldn't fall asleep no matter what he did.

He lay flat on his back with his eyes open, watching the light and shadows streaming through the gaps in the curtains on the ceiling, his mind replaying the map that was gradually approaching their home over and over again.

Like a spider web, it is tightening silently.

He closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down, but his nerves remained on edge.

Beside him, Sang Li was already asleep.

He was also wearing headphones.

I slept quite comfortably, though.

Is it because you feel safe sleeping next to someone that you feel at ease?

Sometimes she likes to listen to music or stories before bed.

It feels like a very artistic hobby.

However, doing this all the time isn't good for your eardrums.

Lu Jin took off his headphones.

Sang Li's phone was still playing audio.

"I time-traveled, back to the day I learned I'd been framed by my cousin and forced to marry the villain..."

"..."

Lu Jin glanced at Sang Li's phone.

This is.

Why are the beginning and the end different?

never mind.

Kids like to hear these kinds of things.

Lu Jin turned off his phone.

He lay down next to me.

He didn't know how much time had passed before he finally drifted off to sleep.

But the dream quickly swept over him, engulfing him like a tidal wave.

In her dream, Sang Li stood before a huge painting, depicting peach blossoms covering the mountains and fields. A blurry figure stood beneath a peach tree in the painting, gently beckoning to her.

"Come here." The person called her softly, but the voice was exactly the same as Lu Jin's, as gentle as a spring breeze.

Sang Li seemed bewitched, her eyes glazed as she approached the painting. One step, two steps... her body began to become transparent, her edges slowly blurring, as if she were being sucked into the painting and becoming a part of it.

Lu Jin tried to rush over, but found himself firmly locked in place by some invisible force, unable to even shout out.

"Sang Li, don't go over there!" He struggled desperately, but his voice seemed to be suppressed underwater.

The peach blossoms in the painting are in full bloom, so enchanting that they are almost blinding.

Until Sang Li's figure gradually disappeared into the painting.

Lu Jin's heart tightened suddenly!

My breathing was rapid, my heart was pounding as if it would burst out of my chest, and a thin layer of sweat covered my forehead.

He turned his head sharply to look, and what he saw was a soft, warm figure.

Sang Li was still beside him, sleeping peacefully and soundly. She was lying on her side, her head resting on his bent arm, her hair slightly disheveled, her breathing even, and her eyelashes fluttering gently. His hand was still around her waist, like an intimate couple.

Thankfully, it was just a dream.

He lowered his head and gently kissed her hair.

"Don't go...don't go anywhere."

Sang Li stirred in her dream, but only made a soft "hmm" before falling into a deeper sleep.

***

the next day.

work.

Sang Li was originally considering whether she could stay at home to draw her drafts, but Lu Jin insisted that she stay with him and never leave his side.

After Lu Jin guessed last night that the person in the "BEAM-0248 painting" was approaching her, he wouldn't allow her to leave his sight.

Not even one step.

Lu Jin's team was having a meeting, and Sang Li was sitting in the conference room.

To be honest, I couldn't get a word in edgewise.

Although it sounds like I'm slacking off by getting paid for doing this kind of work, I always feel like I'm incredibly lucky and a little guilty.

The information about the person in the painting was incomplete, and Yu Qi and Zhou Fangyang argued for a long time, but could not come up with a satisfactory solution.

All victims disturbed by the figures in the paintings suffer from either amnesia or, in severe cases, brain damage after leaving the world within the paintings.

Tang Lan suggested that Yu Qi wear a mental stimulation device to become bait and enter the painting of the "person in the painting." They estimated that the "person in the painting's" abilities were either hallucination interference or brain interference; if they confronted it head-on, it wouldn't be a match for any of their team members. However, as long as they remained clear-headed, they could resolve the battle quickly.

However, Zhou Fangyang said that forcibly arresting the "person in the painting" or closing the "painting" could cause irreversible brain damage to other victims. Moreover, none of them currently know what the world in the painting actually looks like.

Sang Li curled up in the chair, drinking milk tea, eating cake, and drawing.

No comments were expressed.

She always had a feeling that soon, that thing would catch up with her.

They will then know the answer.

The team held a meeting that lasted all morning, and it finally ended at noon.

Lu Jin rubbed his temples and stood up, looking somewhat tired.

"Come on, everyone's worked hard today, let's have some hot pot and relax."

Tang Lan grinned: "Boss, you treat us to meals every other day."

Zhou Fangyang: "People who talk too much don't get to eat."

Sang Li had already packed her things and stood up, waiting for Lu Jin to open the door first.

Lu Jin: "..."

It seems that Sang Li is indeed hungry.

He was just about to get up when he received a phone call. It was an order from his superior; there was an urgent matter that needed to be addressed.

Lu Jin hung up the phone: "You guys go and reserve a spot first, I'll be there soon."

Seeing this, Tang Lan smiled and said, "The boss is just very busy."

Lu Jin's gaze, however, fell on Sang Li.

Sang Li immediately understood and said plaintively, "I'm hungry, let me go eat first."

"Okay." Lu Jin responded simply, "You go with them, don't wander off."

Tang Lan let out a soft cry, put his arm around Sang Li's shoulder, and teased her in a subtle way: "Sang Li, do you think the boss is so close to you that he doesn't even want to give you a break?"

Lu Jin stared silently at Tang Lan.

Tang Lan shuddered: "I guarantee to complete the mission and protect Miss Sang Li's safety!"

Sang Li was so hungry she was dizzy: "Hurry up, I want to eat fish maw hot pot."

"Let's order Wagyu this time!" Tang Lan said happily.

The hot pot restaurant smelled delicious; it was a high-end Hong Kong-style hot pot restaurant.

It's not far from the management bureau, about a 15-minute drive.

The private room had exactly five seats, and there was a painting depicting Chaoshan scenery in the corner.

The weather was exceptionally nice; sunlight streamed through the glass, and the air was so fresh it felt like I had inhaled the entire transition from spring to summer in one breath.

"Sit down, sit down, I'm starving." Tang Lan eagerly opened the menu. "Today I'm going to make the boss pay. He's been working too much overtime lately. I've written several versions of my equipment management upgrade report. Today I'm going to make him bleed dry."

Zhou Fangyang laughed and said, "You're settling a personal score on official business."

Yu Qi: "Isn't that inappropriate?"

Sang Li rested her chin on her hand: "He earns a lot of money and doesn't have a girlfriend, so what's the point of keeping it?"

Yu Qi: ...That makes sense.

Sang Li: "I want to eat Wenchang chicken."

Tang Lan: "Then I'll have a lobster!"

Sang Li: "Impressive, I'll expose you in a moment."

Tang Lan: "Hehe, you have no idea how generous our boss is. Once, after we completed a mission, he treated us to an all-you-can-eat buffet that cost 800 yuan per person. While other people's team building activities involve eating skewers, we didn't even look at the bill; our boss paid for everything."

Sang Li paused for two seconds: "Then I'll have another sashimi platter, a sea urchin, and two lobsters."

Tang Lan: ?

Girl, you're even more ruthless than me?

While waiting for the food to be served, the three of them still couldn't stop talking about work.

"The people in the painting are such a pain," Tang Lan rolled her eyes. "I was working overtime until my legs cramped up, it almost drove me crazy."

Yu Qi sighed helplessly: "How can I not be nervous about something like this?"

Just as Sang Li was about to ask about the specific details of the person in the painting, her phone suddenly rang.

A new email has been received in your inbox.

She was taken aback, not expecting to receive an email at this time.

Another commissioned article?

Money's flowing in! Looks like we have a new sugar daddy!

Sang Li opened the email with great interest.

wait.

His expression suddenly changed.

What's this?

The smile froze on his face.

I was expecting a business collaboration, but the email contained no text; instead, a picture appeared on the screen.

There is only one.

Alone.

This is what she looked like when she went to see the "Peach Blossom Lovers" art exhibition that day!

Is someone following me?

Are you spying on yourself?

The lines in this painting, from the figure and the ends of her hair to her shoulders, are eerily accurate, as if someone stood behind her and meticulously traced them with their gaze.

She suddenly shivered.

The people around were still chatting and laughing, the hot pot was bubbling and steaming, and the aroma of the broth filled the air.

But Sang Li could no longer hear anything.

Her gaze seemed fixed, glued to the iPad screen, the image before her a door that was silently opening towards her.

At that very moment.

She heard it.

Someone whispered something in her ear.

"Yes, look at yourself in the painting...aren't you pretty?"

A very unfamiliar voice.

Low-pitched.

Strange.

It felt like a rag had been dragged across a cement floor, exuding a creepy, damp texture and a sticky, mushy smell.

Sang Li's fingertips froze, and her breathing began to become irregular.

She was "stared" at by the painting.

The feeling was as if someone was looking at her through the void of the painting.

Little by little, they tugged at her mind, they tugged at her soul.

It's completely immobile!

Help! Help!

Sang Li felt herself sweating profusely and getting colder and colder.

Something's wrong with this painting!

Could it be a gift from the person in the painting?

Sure enough, I was targeted when I was at the art exhibition that day.

Will it suck itself into the painting?

What a despicable tactic.

However, Yu Qi, Tang Lan, and Zhou Fangyang did not even notice anything unusual about themselves.

Time seemed to stand still.

Look at me!

She doesn't want to become a soulless walking corpse!

save……

Help!

Lu Jin, that deadbeat, is never there when it matters!

always!

Sudden.

A dark shadow suddenly smashed through the window glass!

The glass is broken.

A sharp, piercing sound rushed in.

The steam from the hot pot was torn apart.

In the blink of an eye, the dark figure had already pounced on Sang Li!

Sang Li's eyes lit up.

It's a raven!

Its feathers were so black and shiny, like ink with water.

When her orange-yellow eyes met Sang Li's, she felt a surge of warmth in her chest.

There's hope.

These three words were all I could think of.

The next second.

The raven's sharp beak suddenly pierced through the iPad screen in front of her!

"Smack!"

The screen shattered, and the screen went black instantly.

At the same time, as if cut by invisible chains, the stiff body suddenly regained its freedom.

She almost bounced up, leaning back sharply.

She was panting heavily, as if she had just escaped from the water.

The raven folded its wings and stood before her, its jewel-like eyes gazing at her intently.

Sang Li was stunned.

She recognized her.

Yes.

It was the one standing by the window on the first night I moved into Lu Jin's apartment!

“You…” Sang Li murmured, her voice hoarse.

The raven tilted its head slightly, as if confirming something.

The next second, it folded its wings, leaped up with a powerful gust of air, and pressed a mark on her chest with its sharp claws!

The icy, bone-chilling touch felt like needles piercing the skin.

Sang Li gasped, instinctively clutching her chest, feeling her heart leap into her throat.

"Holy crap!" Zhou Fangyang yelled.

Yu Qi jumped up, almost flipping the whole table: "BEAM-107, grab it!"

Sang Li trembled violently.

What?

Yu Qi lunged at the raven, but the raven nimbly dodged, flapped its wings, and flew out of the broken window, disappearing from sight.

A faint scent of feathers lingered in the air.

Yu Qi's reaction speed has always been among the top three in the bureau, but even she couldn't touch its feathers.

Sang Li lowered her head, her hand pressed against her chest.

What's going on?

The raven's claws were cool, but now its chest was burning hot.

Yu Qi looked around and saw that apart from the drafty glass, there was no other danger.

"Let me see," she said softly.

Sang Li moved her hand away.

The claw print, like a plum blossom, was imprinted below the collarbone.

at this time.

The door opened.

Lu Jin has arrived.