Chapter 44 The Sleeping Curse (8) Let's just go first and wait for them to arrive...
This statement surprised everyone.
Some were confused, some seemed thoughtful, but Lu Jinzhao had no surprise. He simply followed Xie Tan when he heard where Xie Tan was going, and the others hurriedly followed.
So everyone set off. Xie Tan didn't join in the fun with their RV, nor did he ride in Xue Hong's car. Instead, he rode his sightseeing bicycle.
He hung the flower wreath on the front of the bicycle, and Lu Jinzhao hopped on, curiously fiddling with it: "I want to ride this too, A-Tan—"
"Then do your best, Lu."
They rode their bikes side by side, with the lead biker at the front. Their elbows were lightly touching, and the sea breeze playfully lifted their sleeves, which were tucked into their arms, and swirled together. If the wind was too strong, it would blow their sleeves up completely and touch each other's skin.
The sea breeze is cool, but even so, the warmth of another person's body is always particularly noticeable.
Xie Tan's mind was inexplicably in turmoil, so he had to shift his attention and look at the sea again.
The sea looks more like the sea during the day than at night, shimmering and with waves gently pushing each other. But from a distance, the ripples become subtle, trapped in the vast expanse of blue, and difficult to capture.
This sea is called the Still Sea. I don't know how deep it is. The water is as heavy as a thousand pounds, pressing down tightly and unable to move.
However, the town's residents called it "Floating Water," hence the name Floating Water Town.
Bypassing the obstruction of the woods, they saw the abandoned white building, which was the local art museum. It was built in a neoclassical style, but the overall structure was unexpectedly short.
The white dome resembles a slightly curved disc, and the main walls of the building are also very low, giving the impression of being compressed. Although the color is the brightest white, there is still a noticeable sense of oppression and confinement.
Hidden among the buildings and trees, no wonder they didn't see it.
Xia Wujin stared at the strange building, her brows slowly furrowing. Chang Mingai asked what was wrong, and she said, "Don't you think it looks familiar?"
The group of people who were about to enter stepped back and looked around again. Chang Mingai suddenly realized: "A music theater?"
The musical theater was left unfinished, with part of the roof still empty and quite low, but they assumed it was going to have a sloping artistic roof and didn't find it strange.
Looking back now, it's clear that the building wasn't completed because of an accident, but rather that it was probably originally planned to be that high.
The art museum in front of us is the complete form of the music theater, or rather, the music theater was originally designed to be a replica of this art museum.
In a remote, secret seaside town, you find an art building that is exactly the same as, or even more complete than, this one, creating a sense of temporal distortion and a touch of unsettling unease.
It's just as creepy as encountering another version of yourself that is exactly the same.
Chang Mingai also researched bubble paintings and recalled an interview with the founder of the Reef Art Museum: "This... is the hometown of bubbles?"
She looked at Xie Tan, and suddenly realized something.
The others also realized what was happening; they clearly remembered that Xie Tan had repeatedly refused invitations to visit the music theater at night, and had come to Fushui Town alone ahead of time.
I originally thought Xie Tan was disgusted by their reckless team building activities and wasn't interested in finding out the reason for Chang Mingai's sleep.
Now it seems that he knew all along that the music theater wouldn't reveal anything, and that the real source was here, so he simply went there first and waited for them to arrive.
The group cautiously entered the room, their attention immediately drawn to the dome. The dome was very low, like dark clouds pressing down on their heads on a rainy day, but with an even more imminent sense of descent than a sunny day.
Moreover, it is covered with round and oval holes of varying sizes, densely packed, like rotten white leaves eaten by insects, covering the building. I don't know if it was designed this way from the beginning or if it was formed later.
The sea breeze whistled in and out of those holes, producing strange sounds of varying pitch and frequency. When the wind was strong, the sounds rose and fell... like a group of people talking.
They were startled by the sound and thought someone was inside when they entered.
However, the museum has clearly been abandoned for a long time and is empty. It is extremely damp due to moisture erosion. Moss grows on the base of the Roman columns outside the door, and the inside is not much better. Sunlight shines through the holes, leaving mottled spots of light on the ground, like glowing bubbles on the bricks.
The interior of the art museum was relatively simple to deconstruct, as they had already explored a music theater with a similar structure. Apart from a few paintings that had also been eroded and discolored, there seemed to be nothing unusual in the room.
Chang Mingai recalled: "I said I was in a deep sleep, how could I have formed a clone? Could it be that I saw this painting when I was in a deep sleep?"
Xia Wujin: "But the painting is in the Reef Art Museum. Reef Art Museum only reopened this year. You didn't pass by there on the day you fell into a coma."
Chang Mingai: "But Bubble wasn't initially on the list of collections at the Reef Shore. Maybe this painting was already hanging in the Music Theater before, and I saw it without realizing it?"
Xi Rui knew when the bubble painting was placed in the art gallery. Zhu Fengliang later asked him to investigate the identity of the collateral branch of the family, but because of a misunderstanding, he had no choice but to report the origin of the painting.
Zhu Fengliang saw the painting at a small auction held by the Oasis Charity Foundation, where he was hired as a bodyguard for metaphysics as a member of the cult.
The collector who had owned the painting for many years passed away. The painting was then auctioned off by the founder of Reef Shore and also caught the eye of Zhu Fengliang. Indeed, he had never been to a musical theater, let alone one that was still under construction.
So Xi Rui said, "If this is the birthplace of the painting, you may have been here in your dreams."
Everyone agreed that it made sense.
"And what about the singing? Why build a music theater in the city, but an art museum here?"
Xie Tan then recalled the rumors circulating in the town: "The source of the song is also here."
Xue Hong was clearly not so idle as to spend all day with the children; he conducted a survey: "The siren's song that lulls people to sleep?"
The travel agency also learned about the strange events in the town and became even more certain that this was the source.
But... Xi Rui glanced at Xie Tan, knowing full well that Xie Tan had come for more than just this matter.
There was a path on each side of the art gallery lobby, and they split into two groups to search for clues.
Lu Jinchao followed Xue Hong and Xie Tan's group to the right. The strange whistle seemed to be everywhere, constantly following them.
Since it was too empty and there was nothing worth investigating, they walked through the empty corridor on the right and then headed back.
Xue Hong was in the lead, Lu Jinzhao was a step behind, and Xie Tan was at the back. As they passed a corner, the sea breeze whistled and blew down a spider web, which covered Xue Hong. He dodged and bumped into an old painting on the wall.
The tall picture frame trembled and fell down, separating Xie Tan from the two people in front of him. The two people were forced to turn into the next corridor first, and for a moment, Xie Tan could no longer see them.
Lu Jinzhao immediately turned back and asked him if he had been hit, but in the brief moment before he reappeared, Xie Tan suddenly felt someone watching him from behind.
Hiding in the shadows, he stared at him menacingly.
He turned around; the corridor was empty except for beams of light shining through the holes, through which dust motes drifted.
This fallen painting is now the only remaining artistic remnant.
Lu Jinzhao straightened the painting, took Xie Tan's hand, lowered his head slightly, the beam of light trembling on Xie Tan's eyelashes, and asked in a low voice, "Are you hurt?"
Xie Tan snapped out of his daze and looked at the wrist he had grabbed. Lu Jinzhao had first helped up the painting, and his hands were covered in dust. When he grabbed Xie Tan, he left gray finger marks on his arm. So he lifted his wrist, which was still being held, and seemed to smile: "There are only a few claw marks."
Lu Jinzhao released his grip apologetically, feeling a little embarrassed. He didn't have any tissues with him, so he used the clean corner of his clothes to carefully wipe Xie Tan's hands clean. This made Xie Tan, who was joking, feel a little uncomfortable. He tapped the back of Lu Jinzhao's hand and said, "You're not that delicate."
As soon as other people are present, the sight from the shadows disappears.
This was just a minor incident, but this time, Lu Jinzhao insisted on being the last to leave, so Xie Tan went with him.
They turned back into the corridor, and Lu Jin, who was at the back, glanced at the empty depths of the corridor. His sculpted face was half bathed in a hazy light and half in shadow, and his amber eyes were devoid of emotion.
The omnipresent whistle seemed to pause for a moment, its frequency dropping, pressing down on the ground, and trembling even more chaotically.
Once inside, these strange sounds kept changing with the wind, and the two people in front of them didn't react.
They returned to the hall, and another group came back, also empty-handed.
But they weren't surprised; Chang Mingai already had experience: "Maybe we should do it again tonight."
Xi Rui was amused: "Xie Tan's suggestion last time was right. When I get back, I should turn the travel agency into a paranormal agency. Maybe we should bring some photography equipment and make an online program? We can start making ghost stories as soon as the live stream begins."
Chang Mingai said regretfully, "Don't bring up my sad stories anymore. I remember everything except the camera. It's a rare opportunity to come to the beach, and I wanted to take pictures with everyone."
Xue Hong continued, "Do you need a camera? Those young men on the second floor brought one, and they even brought a video recorder; they're still filming in the middle of the night."
Xie Tan glanced at him. Had he left the room last night?
“Then we can go and borrow it. It’s the only hotel in town, and we’re all neighbors.” Xi Rui hadn’t forgotten the paranormal society’s suggestion. “Anyway, we don’t lack good-looking people. We can take turns being the host.”
Xia Wujin glanced at Sun Enze, who was radiating resistance, and said, "You should just give up. The school won't approve it for you."
"The advisor is very easy to talk to, but the angel investor disagreed, so we'll have to regretfully give up." Xi Rui looked at everyone. "So, shall we come again tonight?"
Xie Tan then spoke up: "It's too early to think about these things now."
His idea was that these guys would probably play for another afternoon, and not all of them were that energetic. They might get tired by evening, so it would be better to rest for the night first.
Moreover, once they arrive at the hotel where they crashed, the owner will definitely warn them to stay in their rooms at night, and then they can decide whether to go out or not.
But no sooner had he finished speaking than someone burst into the art gallery. A stylishly dressed red-haired man in his twenties looked around, panting heavily, and asked in a panic, "Have you seen a girl with blue hair wearing a white beach dress?"
Everyone said no, and the red-haired boy looked somewhat distraught. Xue Hong stepped forward to calm him down and asked him what had happened.
The two couples were originally planning to go on vacation at the end of the sunset.
But then a new road appeared, and the rebellious young people got excited. They immediately abandoned their original plan and arrived at Fushui Town, which didn't exist on the map, two hours earlier than Xue Hong and Xie Tan.
But on the way, they got into an argument, and the other couple didn't stay together; they split into two rooms.
To ease the tension, the couple invited another couple to their room, and they all stayed up all night playing board games and drinking some alcohol.
Another argument broke out midway through the trip, and the blue-haired girl from the other couple left the hotel. Her boyfriend, who had a buzz cut, also angrily went back to his room without chasing after her, and the two parted on bad terms.
They wanted to chase after her, but the blue-haired girl was angry and took it out on them. She rudely told them not to follow and drove away.
They couldn't catch up, so they had to go back to their room. Because they were worried about their companions, they couldn't sleep well. The red-haired boy's girlfriend woke up in the middle of the night when she heard the wind chimes at the hotel entrance, as well as the sounds of the door opening and closing and people talking.
She glanced at her watch; it was 00:21. Perhaps the blue-haired girl had returned.
Their room was next to the blue-haired girl's room, and both had small balconies. Afraid of disturbing her boyfriend, she didn't wear shoes. The rain outside had already lightened, and she quietly went to the balcony.
The lights were off next door, but she could hear the blue-haired girl making a phone call.
She breathed a sigh of relief, confirming that her companion had returned. The red-haired boy had also woken up, and she told him what had happened.
After discussing it, the two decided to send a message to the guy with the buzz cut, worried that even though he was angry, he might not be able to sleep and might be concerned about his girlfriend's safety.
The result seemed to backfire. Another guy with a buzz cut suddenly slammed the door and stormed out, yelling in the hallway, cursing who was making noise in the middle of the night and not letting people sleep. He also cursed the blue-haired girl who had returned but hadn't replied to his messages, and even went to knock on the blue-haired girl's door.
They were hesitating whether to go out and try to persuade him when they heard the short-haired boy scream. Startled, they quickly opened the door and found that the hotel had lost power and the corridor lights had suddenly gone out. The short-haired boy, who was already drunk, was so frightened that he fell to the ground.
Xie Tan was somewhat surprised to hear this. So the scream was just because of a power outage?
They wanted to go downstairs to find the hotel owner, but it was too dark around, and they might bump into something if they went downstairs. The owner was probably resting too. They were also feeling uneasy, so they helped the short-haired guy back to his room and told him to get some sleep. They went back to their own rooms and decided to deal with it tomorrow.
Throughout the entire ordeal, the blue-haired girl's room remained unopened, and she did not respond.
The next morning, the power had been restored, but they were still a little worried about the blue-haired girl, so they knocked on her door and asked if she wanted to go beachcombing.
This time, the girl gave them a clear answer. She was clearly still sleepy and impatiently refused outright: "I'm so sleepy, I'm not going!"
The buzz-cut guy who was with them said impatiently, "Go if you want, or don't. Just go to sleep!"
Before leaving, he banged on the door.
But when they went downstairs, their car was gone. The guy with the buzz cut didn't want to go back and ask his girlfriend, so he cursed a few times and saw that Xue Hong was about to go out, so he hitched a ride with Xue Hong.
When they arrived at the beach, their car was parked there, and they even found the blue-haired girl's necklace.
So they used Xue Hong and then discarded it. After playing with it for a while, they drove around the town.
When they returned to the hotel for lunch, they knocked on the door but received no response. They tried calling and texting her, but she didn't reply. Thinking she was still angry, they deliberately avoided her and went out to play by herself.
But when asked, the hotel owner said he hadn't seen her that day.
They didn't take it seriously. The boss was old and wouldn't stay at the front desk all the time. If there was nothing to do, he would go back to his room on the first floor to rest.
Just now, as they were preparing to borrow a jet ski to go out to sea, they suddenly received a call from the blue-haired girl.
After the call was connected, no one spoke, only a series of "glug-glug" sounds, like bubbles in water, and painful sobs as if someone was taking a breath.
This time they recognized it; it was the blue-haired girl's sobbing!
They finally realized something was wrong and forcefully asked the owner to open the door. Sure enough, no one was inside. They set out to look for the person and also asked the townspeople to help, but the residents were all quite indifferent and did not help.
Having no other option, they turned to Xue Hong.
Even before they heard this, the experienced club members had already sensed something was wrong; it was obvious that something had happened, and they joined the search for the blue-haired girl.
But Xie Tan didn't go with him; he couldn't even keep his eyes open while the red-haired boy was talking.
So sleepy...
I didn't get a good night's rest last night.
Xie Tan said, "I'm going back to the hotel."
He decided not to join in the fun.
So they parted ways, with Xie Tan returning to the hotel first.
It was already dusk, and the beautiful red, orange, and purple hues added to the hotel's sense of antiquity.
The boss wasn't there. At the table, only a girl with freckles on her cheeks sat silently, her expression inscrutable, clutching her phone tightly as if she wanted to break it.
She must be the red-haired guy's girlfriend.
Xie Tan glanced at his phone, which was still showing the call log. He took out the chilled milk he had made that morning and sat down at the other end of the dining table.
He inserted the straw and drank slowly, while the freckled girl remained motionless, like a statue.
The freckled girl finally spoke when she was almost finished with her milk. As if she had no one to confide in and was about to go crazy, she said, "She...didn't call last night."
Xie Tan didn't show it on his face, but he immediately understood.
The phone in her hand belonged to the blue-haired girl, and there were no call records from that early morning.
Who was on the phone last night?
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