Chapter 159
Zhu Zangmo took out three incense sticks from the incense box and lit them on the candle flame. He stood in front of the altar, holding the incense sticks, and bowed to the puppets. His sincere expression was accompanied by a hint of arrogance:
"Classmates, please calm down and stop making trouble.
"That's right, it was me who destroyed your body and mind, and it was me who forced you to a dead end.
"But, that's because you are so beautiful."
The camera moves to the puppets, and Zhu Zangmo's words gradually become voice-over.
"Have you ever thought about why I chose you among so many girls in the base? I didn't choose you randomly."
The camera once again frames the first puppet, Lu XX wearing a hospital gown.
"Not only must you be naturally beautiful, but you must also have outstanding talent, only then will you be worthy of being chosen by me!
"I destroy you in order to achieve great art.
"I just want you to die in the most beautiful way at the most beautiful age."
The camera pans right, revealing the second puppet. It's a girl in a nightgown with pigtails draped over her shoulders. Her name tag reads: Zheng XX.
"You know what's shocking in this world? Tragedy. Tragedy moves the heart the most.
"Do you know what tragedy is? It's when the most beautiful things are destroyed for people to see.
"How beautiful your life is, how tragic your death is. The destruction of your life is the most perfect tragedy."
The third puppet, wearing a short-sleeved shirt and long pants, has a bob haircut with bangs. The name tag reads: Sun XX.
"I have created a great painting from your beautiful death, which will be passed down through the ages. This is called immortality!
"What are you dissatisfied with?"
The camera moves slowly.
The fourth puppet was wearing a dark long skirt, with waist-length hair, and a badge that read: Zhou X.
"Since you love art so much and devote yourself to it, it is an honor for you to become a part of my work!
"You are ignorant and disturbed me in my dreams, so I couldn't sleep peacefully. I had no choice but to ask an expert to come up with this solution."
The fifth puppet, wearing a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, had two pigtails with the ends sticking up. His badge read: Yao XX.
"I followed the instructions of the experts and made little puppets in your likeness. I collected your resentful souls, sealed them with talismans to suppress evil, and enshrined them here.
"We artists strive for perfection in everything we do. I meticulously sculpted your bodies. I painted your faces myself. Look how much they resemble you."
The sixth puppet is a girl wearing a middle school summer uniform, with a name tag that reads: Su X.
“Even your clothes are miniature versions that my wife has personally sewn, stitch by stitch, based on what you will wear when you leave.
"I've been so good to you."
The scene swept to the end of the altar, where the seventh puppet stood.
She was wearing a white dress, with soft hair hanging on her shoulders, and her name tag read: Qiu Yue.
"I provide you with good food and drink, and burn incense every day. Please don't be ungrateful. Be good and stop making noise..."
Zhu Zangmo walked to the altar and said, "If you don't obey me, it won't be as simple as just putting you in a puppet."
He inserted the incense in his hand into the small incense burner and said, "I will ask a master to perform a ritual to make your souls fly away and never return to the world..."
"Cha..." is the sound of paper being tilted and rubbed against each other.
Perhaps it was Zhu Zangmo's action of raising his hand to burn incense that created a slight breeze, and the talisman paper on one of the puppets' faces was blown off.
The picture flashes to a close-up, and the dark eyes on the puppet's face, without the talisman paper covering it, stare straight into the camera.
Zhu Zangmo was startled and the hand holding the incense trembled.
One of the three incense sticks broke, and the burning incense head fell on the back of his hand.
He screamed in shock from the burns, and with a flick of his hand, he knocked over the incense burner.
The incense burner rolled over and knocked over the candle.
Zhu Zangmo immediately went to help, but his hand bumped into the altar, causing it to shake violently, making a loud noise—
The puppet fell over, the talisman paper flew everywhere, and the candle was extinguished...
The sound effects and subtitles were a mess: snap, splash, swish...
Gulp!
The screen fell into darkness, with only Zhu Zangmo's wheezing breathing and his monologue floating in the air: "Ouch, I'm dying from the fall..."
"It's so dark... Where's my phone? Use the flashlight... Oh, and I left it in the bedroom."
"Where's the lighter? I remember there was a lighter on the altar. Where did it go?"
Accompanied by the rustling sound of groping, "Found it..."
“Tattatt…”
It seemed as if something was running past in front of me with small and quick steps.
"What's that sound?"
With a click, the flame of the lighter lit up. Zhu Zangmo, holding the lighter, emerged faintly from the darkness. The flame illuminated his face from below, making it look uneven.
He picked up a candle in front of him and lit it, then knelt on the ground, holding the candle with his arms outstretched. However, the faint flame made the darkness seem even darker, and he was the only one in the light.
I can't see anything clearly.
He noticed something and moved the candle closer to the ground, illuminating the tilted altar, the overturned incense burner, the extinguished incense sticks, and the scattered talisman paper.
Zhu Zangmo supported himself on the ground with one hand and asked in confusion, "Where are the puppets? Where did they fall to?"
Not a single puppet was missing.
"Tattatata..." The tiny sound rang out again, as if chopsticks were poking the ground. In the candlelight, a pair of small feet with wood grain flashed by and ran over quickly.
Zhu Zangmo froze, staring at that place.
"What was that just now?" The muscles on his cheeks trembled. "It seemed like wood, wood..."
rustling.
Something crawled up his shoulder.
Zhu Zangmo didn't dare look back. His neck was stiff, and he slowly turned his eyes to glance over his shoulder.
He caught a glimpse of a tiny, articulated wooden hand climbing up to his shoulder from behind.
Zhu Zangmo let out a strange cry, shook his shoulders, and the candle was thrown out.
The candle rolled on the ground, and the flickering flame illuminated seven little puppets standing upright on the ground.
The talismans on the puppets' faces have all fallen off.
Seven pairs of eyes drawn with ink pens stared at him, with the same smile on their lips.
Zhu Zangmo sat on the ground, sweat dripping from his face. "What...what's going on? Why are you all standing?"
The candle flame went out in the blink of an eye, and the room fell into darkness again.
He howled and crawled towards the door.
I felt the wall first, groping in the darkness, but the door didn't seem to be there anymore.
"Where's the door? Where's the door? Where's the light switch?" he muttered anxiously.
“Da da da…” “Hehe…”
There was another strange noise behind him, this time more frequent. Small black shadows surrounded him, and their sharp little hands scratched his calves.
"Don't touch me, don't touch me, go away! Go away!"
The chaotic sound effects indicated that Zhu Zangmo was frantically groping and groping: "Where is the door? Where is the door? The door..."
Click.
He finally found the door handle and the door opened a crack.
Zhu Zangmo rushed out the door and slammed it shut.
There were frequent creaking sounds from the other side of the door, as if many hard little hands were clapping.
He pressed hard against the door.
After a while, there was finally no movement.
He breathed a sigh of relief, holding onto the door with both hands, feeling completely exhausted. He said bitterly, "Why is this so difficult? I guess I need to ask a master for help..."
His voice stopped abruptly.
He looked at the light-colored door in front of him and said, "Why is the door this color? This is not my door."
Zhu Zangmo slowly turned his head. Behind him, it was no longer his home.
It was a small room. The long fluorescent tube on the ceiling emitted a faint electrical sound, illuminating the room with a pale light.
The window opposite was very narrow, with a wire mesh screen on the inside and glass on the outside.
Outside the window, there is a dark darkness as thick as substance.
To the left of the window is a narrow bed covered with white sheets.
Several canvas restraints hung from the iron headboard with peeling paint.
It looks like a hospital bed.
On the other side of the bed, a person was squatting facing the wall, only his back was visible.
His bony shoulders hunched beneath the vertically striped hospital gown, one hand scribbling something on the wall, his shoulder blades trembling with the movement.
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