Chapter 114: The Cave of Sorrow (23) Chinese Painting
It was pouring rain. Butcher Li Xing, who lived by the water, was knocking on the glass outside, leaving layer after layer of bloody handprints on the glass.
Rain sound white noise, plus percussion ASMR. Gao Mengtang slept more soundly.
When they woke up the next day, the rain had subsided and the butcher had stopped. They made an appointment with Xiuhong and Xingzhe to go see Xu Le's paintings. When the time came, they used the teleportation scroll to come to Changming Village.
As soon as I entered Wu Xiang's house, I heard a soothing tune. It was Qin Xishuang singing an opera.
The people in Wu Xiang's house liked Qin Xishuang's singing very much. When he opened his voice, dozens of people gathered around to listen. But today, the house was far less lively than before. Xiuhong sat alone in the yard, with her chin resting on her knees, tugging at a flower blankly.
"Miss Xiuhong, what happened?" Wei Wei asked softly.
Xiuhong raised her face. She looked like she had been crying, with red and swollen eyes. "Awei, Ameng. You and Brother Shuang are classmates. You must save him. He can't marry the Ghost Doctor. My sister and I are children with limited abilities. It's fine if we can't save others, but this kind of thing can't happen to Brother Shuang."
Gao Mengtang understood that Xiuhong had fallen in love with Qin Xishuang. To marry the Ghost Doctor was to become a piglet. She couldn't bear to see this happen to Qin Xishuang.
Just as I was thinking about how to respond, I heard Wei Wei say, "Of course we will save him."
"Really?" Xiuhong's eyes lit up, "How are you going to save him? My sister and I will also help!"
Wei Wei: "I haven't decided yet, maybe I should call the police. But before that, we need to get more information and evidence. Otherwise, the police won't care. Miss Xiuhong, take us to see the painting first, okay?"
Xiuhong had some concerns. She was the right protector, the next great witch minister, but she never succeeded to the throne, so some things were kept from her. Xu Le's painting was one of the secrets of the witch minister. Considering that they were more capable of saving "Brother Shuang", Xiuhong was determined to help them, hiding from people along the way and taking them to the back room.
The Wu Xiang's house was built right next to the mountain, and the north wall of the back house was embedded in the mountain. Xiu Hong opened a dark room and left the door ajar: "I stole the key. The Wu Xiang is very sensitive about the matter of music. You must not say anything more."
The three of them agreed immediately and followed him into the secret room.
The Wu Xiang's house was often renovated. The decoration of the secret room was simple, and the walls were mottled, but very solid. Fine Chinese paintings were hung one after another, like wallpaper, covering the walls. There was a plaque in the room, and the altar was spotless. The incense had burned out, and the fruits were still fresh. It was obvious that the great Wu Xiang often came here to worship.
Above the plaque hangs the most exquisite and largest painting, which is of a woman, with a standard upper body at a 45-degree angle, a common treatment in portraits.
"This is a self-portrait of Xi Le," Xiuhong said, "She is quite pretty."
The woman in the painting cannot be described as extremely beautiful, but she has delicate features, a cold temperament and an arrogant look. In one hand she holds a white jade pendant from the Yin-Yang Pisces pendant.
Other paintings are mostly of men, with yin-yang and double fish pendants appearing from time to time, either hanging around the waist or placed on the table.
Wei Wei: "The black jade pendant is hidden in Wu Xiang's old house. Have you never heard of its origin?"
Xiuhong shook her head. "There are a lot of good things hidden in Wu Xiang's house, such as gold and silver. They were all offered by the villagers to the bride, but Wu Xiang embezzled them all. This black jade pendant seems very important, but I can't tell what it is made of."
She also opened the door of another darkroom. As soon as she pushed the door open, she heard Wei Wei take a breath.
The glittering jewels and precious stones were overflowing from the cracks in the door. This was simply a giant dragon's underground treasure cave, with gold and jade piled up into small hills and pearls as dense as stars. The money-loving Wei Wei calculated with his fingers that this gold, which seemed to weigh a ton, was worth as much as his mountain-view flat.
"Where do all these treasures come from?" Wei Wei asked.
Xiuhong: "It has been accumulated for more than 200 years. Villagers gave it to the ladies, and sellers gave it to the witches and ministers... a small part of it was exchanged for money, and most of it was piled up here."
This is really strange. Could it be that Wu Xiang is the reincarnation of Yan Jingsheng? With so many treasures, enough to provide three generations with food and clothing, why are they stored in the warehouse? Why don't they leave this remote village?
Moreover, the lame witch prime minister is not an isolated case. For more than 200 years, all the witch prime ministers have not spent much money. There must be some hidden story behind this.
They are already so wealthy, why would they take the risk and attack Qin Xishuang?
Gao Mengtang suddenly asked: "Does the current Wu Xiang have any children?"
"No, what's wrong?" Xiuhong said, "It's strange. All the previous witch ministers were succeeded by their fathers or by their elder brothers. But the rule changed with me. Maybe my father really helped him a lot."
With the weak candlelight, Wei Wei carefully examined the jade pendant again. He was considered a semi-expert in jewelry and jade, but he couldn't tell what material the jade pendant was made of. It was not jadeite, nor Hetian jade, and it was far from other colored gems.
After putting away the jade pendant, he took a closer look at the portrait paintings.
"Is it Fuling Limo?" Gao Mengtang asked.
Wei Wei studied it for a while and said, "It doesn't seem to be."
First of all, Li Mo has no human form, he is a flesh worm with a human face. Secondly, Li Mo's appearance is so beautiful that it makes people lose their minds. The man in the painting is handsome and elegant, with outstanding temperament, but compared with Li Mo, his facial features are much worse.
However, on every portrait of the man, there was a name written: Li Mo.
Judging from his facial features, it is obviously not Li Mo, so why write this name? Who is Li Mo?
Could it be that Xu Le’s painting skills were not good enough to draw the handsome facial features of the god Fu Ling?
Wei Wei denied this conjecture again. Just looking at the paintings in the secret room, the techniques of the sutras were amazing, and it could be said that Cao's clothes emerged from the water and Wu's belts were in the wind. The characters were lifelike, and the eyebrows and eyelashes were painted in great detail.
After looking at the man’s portrait, Wei Wei looked at Xu Le’s self-portrait again. As he approached, he thought to himself that something was wrong.
Xu Le's self-portrait can cause spiritual pollution.
Xiuhong was afraid that Wu Xiang would come in, so she stood guard at the door. Xiao Canglan ran around the room, and Gao Mengtang was blind. Only Wei Wei was alone, staring at his self-portrait.
The flickering candlelight reflected into the eyes of the person in the painting, and she seemed to come alive, with her eyes flickering. I don't know if it was because I looked at it for too long, creating an illusion, but the music in the painting seemed to move.
She was originally sitting at a 45-degree angle, looking straight ahead, but now, her face turned a little towards Wei Wei, her eyes fixed on him!
Wei Wei pinched Qingmingxue, then opened his eyes and looked again.
It wasn't an illusion, the person in the painting was really moving.
His eyes darkened, and he said in his heart, "Sir Blind, please pretend to be unwell."
Gao Mengtang: “Eh?”
"Please cooperate." Wei Wei said, "Let Xiuhong help you out."
Gao Mengtang didn't ask any more questions, and immediately cried out "ouch", saying that the air in the secret room was bad and it gave him a headache. Xiuhong hurriedly helped him out, while Wei Wei stayed in the secret room for a while longer, using the excuse of taking photos to preserve evidence.
Back in the back room, Wei Wei came over quickly. He found an excuse to send Xiuhong away, and Gao Mengtang, who was lying on the bed groaning, immediately stopped feeling the pain.
"Why do you want me to pretend to be sick?" Gao Mengtang asked as he sat up.
Wei Wei pulled out a scroll from the sleeve of his turquoise gown, and when he unfolded it, he saw that it was a self-portrait of Xu Le.
"I used a copy scroll to make a fake and hung it on the wall, stealing the real painting."
Gao Mengtang: "If the Great Witch Minister finds out about this, won't Xiuhong be in great trouble?"
Wei Wei's face was filled with speechlessness: "She is just a fictional character, please be more compassionate."
During the conversation, the person in the painting moved again, facing the observer, and a strange, cold smile appeared on his originally cold face.
The meticulous Chinese painting is framed in many layers, but it is just a slightly thick stack of paper, there is no room for setting up a mechanism. Wei Wei took the painting and turned it over and over again: "I am not playing tricks, there is really something wrong with this painting."
Gao Mengtang poked his head out: "Tear it open and see."
Wei Wei: "...Aren't you afraid of getting Xiuhong into trouble?"
Gao Mengtang: "Didn't you ask me to put away my compassionate heart?"
Wei Wei: “…”
Faced with a painting that can cause mental pollution, or a GIF version of it, who would dare to act rashly?
Gao Mengtang didn't think so. He had faced the curse of the Deadborn, robbed the Black Owl's vault, and opened a portal to forcibly log out of the dungeon. He was still alive and well. What was there to be afraid of tearing up a painting?
The first one to do it was Wei Wei. He tried to tear it gently, but it didn't work. He tried harder and harder, and He Luo even stretched out his claws to help him tear it, but it didn't work.
The second person to take action was Freesia. The little girl, who was born with supernatural powers, was so anxious that her face turned blue and blue veins popped out of her forehead. However, the scroll was intact.
Pegana also joined in, pulling hard with his mouth and digging hard with his paws.
The scroll was still intact, but the reaction was a bit too strong. The whole painting was shaking, trying to break free from Pegana's harm, finding a corner and curling up into a ball of waste paper.
"Something's wrong! Something's wrong!" Pegana screamed, "I, the source of fear, can't hurt it. This painting must be of great importance!"
"I'll try." Just as Gao Mengtang was about to start, a chuckle came from outside the door. Wei Wei grabbed the paper ball with lightning speed and stuffed it into Gao Mengtang's sleeve. When he turned around, he saw Qin Xishuang standing at the door.
Wei Wei breathed a sigh of relief: "Why did this idiot come here? He came quietly, and I didn't even notice it."
"Fool? Me?" Qin Xishuang giggled, and walked in gracefully in a red wedding dress as gorgeous as a spring flower. Usually, his demeanor would be charming and captivating.
But now, he has put on a big painted face with green eye shadow and blue lipstick all over his face, which just makes people feel funny.
The paper figurine is harmful to people. Qin Xishuang is crazy. He tilts his head and fiddles with the hairpin. The gold and jade collide and jingle. The sound is as pleasant as jumping beads. "I am going to get true love. I am going to marry the Ghost Doctor Fairy."
As soon as he stepped over the threshold, he opened his arms and rushed towards Gao Mengtang. Wei Wei was quick to pull Gao Mengtang aside.
Qin Xishuang's pounce was in vain, so she turned around and hugged Xiao Canglan: "Don't you wish me a happy wedding? May you stay together forever. Oh, by the way, Wei Wei, don't be sad."
"You loved me, but now I am getting married. I also hope that you will be together forever."
Wei Wei: ...
"In my opinion, now is a good time to kill this butterfly." He Luo knocked the pipe in his hand on the table and leaned half of his body out menacingly.
Before he could take any action, there was another commotion outside the door.
Today, Bo Yao and Wo Lanbei came to Wu Xiang's old house together to take care of Qin Xishuang. While they were eating, Qin Xishuang disappeared, so they came over in a panic.
As soon as I entered the door, I saw the ferocious He Luo and the murderous Wei Wei.
"What are you going to do!" Wo Lanbei rushed forward and blocked Qin Xishuang in a "big" shape. "I will never allow you to harm anyone again!"
He Luo's tentacles flew towards Qin Xishuang like soul-snatching chains. Hearing this, Wei Wei stared at him in a daze for a few seconds.
The tentacles were retracted, and a wisp of tobacco aroma emanated from the pipe.
"The time is not right yet," Wei Wei said through the mental link, "Volanbei's attack is flexible, with various methods and extremely fast attack speed. If we attack them rashly, we will not be in trouble."
In fact, Gao Mengtang didn't want to take action. He always valued peace. If he could pry the other party over and make him his own, why should he kill him?
Both sides had finished showing their dog tags and were preparing to retract their weapons and act as if nothing had happened when something unexpected happened.
A whip came towards Xiao Canglan with such force that the sound of breaking through the air was like tearing silk. Wei Wei raised his pipe to block it, but the end of the whip got tangled around the pipe.
"Are you crazy?!" Wolanbei yelled.
“Don’t stop me!” Bo Yao screamed, “I have to get her ID card back, or my father will abandon me!”
Before he finished his words, Bo Yao had pulled back the whip and swung it at Xiao Canglan again.
The scene suddenly became chaotic. Gao Mengtang retreated to the edge. Before he could stand firm, he heard Qin Xishuang gently ask, "Paper ball? Who do you want to throw it to?"
When he was dodging, he accidentally dropped the self-portrait of Xu Le, which was picked up by Qin Xishuang.
The self-portrait must not be taken away by the other party, so Gao Mengtang reached out to grab it immediately. As soon as he exerted force, the scroll that was invulnerable to swords and guns was torn into two pieces with a swish!
The sound of the scroll being torn into pieces was very small, but it calmed the people who were in chaos, and several pairs of eyes looked at Gao Mengtang.
"I, I was careless..." Gao Mengtang's intuition told him that something bad was going to happen.
A girl's scream was heard first in the scroll, and then a crystal silver light shone from the torn place.
A thin, porcelain-white arm stretched out from the light, and the palm of the hand seemed to be pressing on a plane in the air, slowly exerting force to support the body.
The scroll floated in the air, and there was no trace of Yu Le on the scroll. A handsome man with a naked upper body, silver hair and gray eyes appeared in front of everyone, and the remaining half of his body was still buried in the scroll.
Wei Wei's heart sank, this person was none other than Li Mo whom he met in the secret realm!
His light grey eyes were like a dim gem, empty and filled with endless regrets. He first glanced at Gao Mengtang, then his gaze drifted towards Wei Wei.
"Yes, you."
In the secret realm, Wei Wei's appearance is Li Xing, which is very different from his own body, but Li Mo can recognize him at a glance. What's more, the secret realm space is independent of the copy space, but Li Mo can have the memories of the secret realm.
He is definitely not an ordinary NPC, he should be... a moon creature.
"I will avenge my kindness." Li Mo was not very fluent in the Zhongzhou dialect. "It really makes me sad." He looked around without interest, his body dissolved into ink and disappeared in the scroll.
The ethereal, reverberant voice seemed to come from far away: "Play a game with me. Maybe I will feel better."
Another cold, somewhat crazy female voice sounded at the same time as Li Mo's voice: "Play a game with me, maybe I will let you go."
The scroll was crumpled into a ball of paper and fell to the ground. Everyone in the room was still in shock. Before they could come to their senses, they heard screams coming from the foot of the mountain.
The player walked out and almost suspected that he also had vision problems. The Wu Xiang residence was high up, and looking out, he could overlook the entire village. They looked around and saw that the entire Changming Village had turned into a cemetery.
Looking more closely, it was not a cemetery, but a huge stone tablet in the courtyard of every village house and temple. The small raised houses looked like a grave mound leaning against the stone tablet.
A rainstorm came suddenly, dark clouds covered the sky, and the morning was as dark as dusk.
Purple lightning was like a spider web, covering half the sky. At the same moment when the lightning struck, the Wu Xiang's old house collapsed and turned into ruins.
Gao Mengtang was soaked like a drowned rat. Thinking that the butcher Li Xing would appear in the water, the rain became particularly dangerous, so he quickly wiped the rain off his face.
"Ahhhh! It's unbearable!!!" Wu Xiang ran out, beating his chest and wailing. Xiuhong and Xingzhe, on the other hand, looked confused and at a loss as to what to do.
Wu Xiang did not doubt the suspicious players. Instead, he knelt in the ruined yard and kowtowed three times to the sky: "My queen, please let me go! My queen, please let me go! My queen..."
"Old man, what are you doing?" Wei Wei wanted to help him up, but Wu Xiang kicked his legs and cried. He broke free from his arms, knelt in the yard and kowtowed in the heavy rain.
A group of people looked at him in surprise. Wu Xiang raised his smashed head, blood mixed with rainwater. He shouted to the players, "You guys come over here and kowtow, begging the queen to calm down!"
No one moved, looking at him like he was a lunatic.
"Outsiders, you shouldn't have come!" Wu Xiang was so angry that he hammered the ground, "Empress Xi Le has already left a prophecy. When Wu Xiang's house collapses, Changming Village will be destroyed!"
"No one in this village, including you, can escape, and no one can survive!"
Gao Mengtang was holding a handkerchief and wiping the water off his face, which was covered with rain. Bo Yao was extremely panicked and instinctively sought the most reliable harbor, so he ran to him and asked: "Blind man, is what he said true? We will all die? What should we do?"
Gao Mengtang: “…There’s nothing I can do.”
System: “The highlights have been edited and uploaded to the platform.”
Gao Mengtang: “……?”
What’s so exciting?
Forget it, I can’t guess what the system is thinking.
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