Chapter 352 Why the Ring
Without waiting for his reply, Lin Xi took the initiative to pull one of his arms onto her shoulders and dragged him off the bed.
Karasuma Renye staggered and barely managed to stand.
He still maintained a considerable degree of decency at this time and did not forget to grab his cane leaning against the bedside table.
Lin Xi watched him coldly as he put on his shoes and straightened himself. Lin Xi reeked strongly of turpentine, but Karasuma Renya seemed oblivious, still appearing gentle and polite. This made Lin Xi seem irritable and immature.
She helped Karasuma Renya into the car and drove to the art museum herself.
There were only a few students on campus in the early morning, and she and Karasuma Renya looked no different from the other students, so they didn't attract any attention.
The wisteria flowers are almost gone, their petals scattered to the ground, trampled by passersby. In a few months, the branches, once tinged with green, will become bare, withered branches, surviving the cold of winter in this form, only to bloom green again when spring arrives, bringing warmth and breezes.
They didn't walk fast, but fortunately they got up early enough to arrive at the art museum before the opening.
The door of the museum was closed, so they entered the exhibition hall through the side door.
Lin Xi had been here once before, five days earlier, while the exhibition hall was being set up. The hall looked much the same as it had five days earlier, except for a few more panels on the wall introducing "X" and the main content of the exhibition.
The word "rebirth" is written in English at the top of the display board, with translations in different languages below.
The exhibition's title was chosen by Karasuma Renya himself. Lin Xi felt a pang of irony at the pedantic explanation on the display board. Anyone else might have assumed this "rebirth" referred to the artist's own realization, but Lin Xi knew it was Karasuma Renya's "rebirth" within the body of another, at the expense of others.
According to Lin Xi's opinion, it would be more sincere for him to change it to "murderer" with the same initials.
After Lin Xi brought Uramaru Renye here, he let go of his hand and let him support himself with his cane.
Karasuma Renye simply walked to the soft chair in the middle of the exhibition hall and sat down, clasping his hands and holding his cane, admiring the painting in front of him.
Each painting was created by Lin Xi herself, and through his touch, it transformed from a calm abstraction into an eye-catching madness. Regardless of whether Lin Xi was happy to be called that, Karasuma Renya felt that this was a joint work between him and her. To be more precise, whether it was Lin Xi's work or hers, it was all his work.
Over four thousand resets, and never once had he gone further than this. He was about to transcend the shackles of this world's rules, about to gain freedom.
He was now certain in his heart. The matter was done, and no matter what Lin Xi did now, he couldn't stop him.
He knew that Lin Xi suddenly pulled him over, definitely not to really invite him to the exhibition. He was probably going to use his death to vent his anger like last time.
Karasuma Renya looked up at the painting, his posture was admiring, but in his heart he thought condescendingly: You are still too young, playing tricks and not being proper.
Over there, Lin Xi walked through the entire exhibition hall and saw every one of his paintings.
The paintings that had previously been exhibited in other halls were now all here. For the past nine years, every work she had managed to produce was now here. Lin Xi felt a little relieved and returned to her seat near the entrance, looking at the painting that Karasuma Renya was facing away from.
The painting was framed, but due to the material, it wasn't covered with glass or acrylic. Some of the raised textures wouldn't be visible with those, and there would be reflections, so it was simply framed and hung on the wall, with a red barrier in front of the painting to discourage visitors.
Lin Xi didn't care about all this. Her painting didn't matter to her. She stepped over the isolation tape and stood in front of the painting. She reached out and used her thumb to leave a crescent-shaped mark on the painting.
The red paint peeled off, revealing the underlying white. This is typical of Lin Xi's style, favoring thick application, piling the paint high on the canvas, often with multiple layers beneath each. Since switching to a special paint that doesn't dry out and harden easily, the paintings no longer have those ugly cracks, but there's still a problem—the adhesion isn't good enough. Now, for example, the top layer of paint falls off with a single scratch of a fingernail.
"You know I want to kill you." Lin Xi stared at the white background exposed under the bright red color, and his tone was like an old friend chatting.
Karasuma Renya disagreed: "You like this? I can let you kill a few more times."
It's just a matter of changing my body, my identity, and standing in front of her again.
Lin Xi frowned: "The exhibition hasn't started yet, and you only have Ando Hui as a backup body. If I kill you now, I will kill Ando Hui later-"
"--Then I will be reborn in the body of your best friend." Karasuma Renya said with a smile, "Just kidding. I'm an open-minded parent, how could I lay hands on your friend."
Lin Xi remembered what the little ghost told her.
Kim Bonnar will be fine.
This sentence was the reason why Lin Xi was so carefree, allowing her to ignore the threat posed by Uramaru Renya hanging over her head.
"But I'm afraid you've made a mistake," Karasuma Renya continued. "The exhibition has been open for two days. Everything is over, Xiaoxi."
Lin Xi paused. She turned around, her eyes filled with confusion, not knowing whether she couldn't understand or didn't want to understand.
Karasuma Renya stood up with his cane. At this moment, was there any sign of injury on him?
"I knew you would ruin the exhibition, Xiaoxi—that's for sure, isn't it? You hate me so much. But you would definitely wait until your good friends leave here before you do anything to me. So I opened the exhibition two days in advance. Of course, only those who are invited can come in."
He looked at Lin Xi, sighed, and reached out to her.
"Come home with me, Xiaoxi. You want freedom, and I will give it to you. Everything in this world is just a plaything to you. The shackles of ordinary people are not for you. Only we are of the same kind who can understand each other. We have similar genes and personalities, and share the same destiny."
"Why would you hurt yourself for me?"
He seemed to know that he had won completely, and he couldn't help but carry the superiority of a winner, and the hand he stretched out was like alms.
Karasuma Renya hadn't considered that Lin Xi might not accept him. Kim Bonnar was still in his hands, and as he said, the matter was done, so what could Lin Xi do?
Even if I hate him, I can only suppress the hatred deep in my heart.
Lin Xi didn't move.
She stood alone in front of the oversized painting, her shadow cast by the spotlight swaying against the vast ocean of bright red.
The red background is covered with sharp shapes, which almost pierce the frame with a force that conveys the artist's surging emotions.
However, the free white sails are covered with black shackles, making those bright white spots like flying birds born from chains, dormant on the canvas no matter what.
She raised her eyes, and those eyes that used to be like flowing honey from heaven seemed to have been drained of their color and turned into two dried-up lakes.
Karasuma Renye glanced at her and suddenly felt her paleness and fatigue.
The entire gallery is filled with her paintings, half of which depict freedom, the other half hate. No matter how much Lin Xi dislikes art, she continues to paint, and each of her soaring brushstrokes expresses her inner feelings. She is like a stranded fish, staring at the clear sky with her eyes, struggling with all her might, fighting fate for water and oxygen.
Karasuma Renya thought she would always be like this, showing this unyielding expression, locking herself on him with crazy hatred, and being conquered by him after repeated setbacks.
However, a stranded fish can't survive for long. Even if it stares upwards, the sunlight will gradually rob it of its life.
Without a free sky and sea, birds and fish will die.
But Lin Xi was just tired.
Her distant hometown had become a midnight fantasy, and the shackles that held her back were shackles, wearing her feet to the bone over the years. And her hatred for Karasuma Renya, like a festering wound, had slowly grown beneath the skin, not fatal but excruciatingly painful.
Others might be able to have a good cry in some private place, but Lin Xi couldn't let out all the tiredness in her heart.
She silently rejected Karasuma Renya and stood there without moving.
The bright red isolation tape stretched between them, like the final line of a musical score.
In the eerie silence, Karasuma Renye heard a slight friction sound, a little like the sound of a match being struck. Then, flames began to leap up to the painting behind Lin Xi, engulfing the entire ocean with incredible speed.
Even if all the paintings were burned, it wouldn't matter—that's what Karasuma Renya thought. He had already achieved his goal. Those who had seen the paintings would soon become his backup bodies, and he could use their power to control the entire world.
But Lin Xi was clearly not satisfied with this. Her body also began to catch fire, and the speed at which the fire spread across the painting was abnormally fast.
Uramaru Renya immediately understood that Lin Xi must have tampered with the clothes and paintings.
The underlying white paint was extremely flammable, while the top layer of bright red was less prone to burning. As a result, the white sails on the sea were ignited into the shape of a phoenix, its sharp wings finally burning through the frame. The fire spread with raging force across the display boards, which were also made of flammable felt and foam board, fueling the flames.
Karasuma Renye no longer hesitated, dropped his cane, and reached out to grab her arm.
Lin Xi did not hesitate and stabbed his heart with the dagger hidden in his sleeve.
"Why bother..." Uramaru Renya really didn't understand.
He stared at Lin Xi for a few breaths, and then he fell to the ground as if he had lost his life.
At the same time, Kim Bonnar felt a piercing pain in his head.
He let out an "Ah" and loosened his grip, causing the old suitcase to fall to the ground with a dull thud.
The airport was bustling with people, and no one cared about this strange young man. Jin felt extremely uncomfortable, not only with a headache, but also with palpitations in his heart.
In this situation, he became worried about Lin Xi: Could something have happened to her?
But before he could think about it, the sudden voice in his mind scared him.
"Something's happened at the exhibition," the voice said. "Go back and check it out, Jin!"
The voice was exactly the same as Jin's own voice.
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