Su Benxin's voice continued: "...Yuezi killed Sanlang with a hoe. She said: He tortured me, and this ending is the inevitable retribution for his torment. No one is allowed to torture me. No one can torture me."
Two more lights in the restaurant went out as Su Benxin finished speaking, leaving a candlelight effect.
This was not a comfortable story.
Wei Dong: "We've talked for so long, but we haven't discussed the painting. What is the connection between this novel and that painting?"
"What exactly does the scarlet beast in the book refer to? If it's a reflection of Yuezi's heart, then the huge, visceral-like red mass in the painting seems to make sense." It was Zhao Yanbao who spoke.
"But where are we going to find such a heart? A 13,000-gram heart." Zhi Chun looked at Qin Ci, "A normal person's heart only weighs 250 grams."
Everyone fell silent, but Luo Wei slowly stood up: "It's ten o'clock, time to go back to bed."
The discussion had reached this stage; relying solely on imagination and speculation would not yield any results.
Reluctantly, everyone stood up, as if the dimly lit dining table before them was the safest place in the entire city.
"If there's real danger, what should we do?" the painter Yu Ji asked hesitantly.
"Act according to the situation, use their tactics against them," Qin Ci replied with eight words.
These eight effective words seemed applicable to any dangerous situation, but in the city slowly swallowed by night, any advice sounded like empty rhetoric.
Reluctantly, everyone left the restaurant one after another, heading to their respective residences.
The streets were filled with a faint floral fragrance in the late night. Ke Xun gazed at a tree of snow-white blossoms by the roadside: "The temperature here is about the same as outside the painting. I always thought it was still autumn, but I didn't expect it to be spring in the painting."
The snow-white blossoms came from a magnolia tree, each white flower particularly radiant in the darkness.
This tree of blossoms became an extra surprise in the painting.
Ke Xun stopped under the tree, and Mu Yiran didn't insist on going forward either, seemingly intending to stay and admire the flowers together.
The hospital and the detective agency were quite far apart, so the two groups walked back along the street, the intersecting streetlights casting jagged shadows.
Wei Dong, Luo Wei, and Lion weren't in the mood to admire the flowers, so they went back to the police station dormitory first. Xiao Qinxian, however, wasn't in a hurry to go back; instead, she lit a cigarette in front of the police station.
It's said that women who smoke often have stories, but compared to Yuezi's story they had just heard, the stories of other women seemed warm and ordinary.
Mu Yiran and Ke Xun stood under the magnolia tree, not minding that this woman had overheard their conversation.
"This time is different from before," Mu Yiran said, opening her palm, a large, snow-white petal landing in her hand. "Before, whether it was a village, a farm, or a tenement building, there was always a relatively clear area. This time, there's no focal point."
The thirteen people were scattered across three different residences, something that had never happened before.
"The people in the entire city are incredibly realistic, from the police officers in the police station to the waiters in the restaurant just now," Ke Xun carefully recalled the paintings he had previously experienced. "Upon closer examination, only the people in the Spring Bamboo Apartment building possess a similar realism."
"In that case, there are probably only two possibilities: one is that the painting's level is improving, gradually increasing its complexity and difficulty; the other is something similar to the Spring Bamboo Apartment incident—this special experience might be related to some kind of curse."
Ke Xun listened to Mu Yiran's words and pondered for a moment: "In the Spring Bamboo Apartment incident, the Rhinoceros Elephant Art Museum was built directly on the ruins of the tenement building. Under the influence of the painting, it's possible that some kind of overlap of 'fields' occurred… But this time, the city before us is clearly different from the old third-tier city where the Benxin Art Museum is located."
Ke Xun glanced at Xiao Qinxian not far away; her thin figure seemed somewhat lonely, the cigarette between her fingers swirling in the backlight of the streetlamp.
"The painting's difficulty is increasing," Ke Xun said.
"As soon as we entered the Benxin Art Museum, something felt off," Mu Yiran tried to say, even though she wasn't entirely sure what she was getting at. This would have been impossible before meeting Ke Xun. "In any art museum we've been in before, we were almost always chosen in batches, with a lot of randomness."
Indeed, Ke Xun and Wei Dong had been chosen by this unfortunate randomness; when two people were missing from the painting, the two people who entered the exhibition hall had to fill the gap.
"Yiran, do you mean that this time the 'painting' is choosing its people?" Ke Xun asked.
"Besides Su Benxin and Lion, who came in last, the remaining 11 people all lingered in front of the painting 'The Scarlet Beast' for a long time."
"Is the painting looking for people who are interested in it?" Ke Xun felt the night wind getting colder—the 'painting's' abilities and level were improving, and this was undoubtedly an act of actively hunting for prey.
"Or perhaps, it's interested in a certain type of person." Mu Yiran looked at the lonely Xiao Qinxian, who had already stubbed out her cigarette and walked back to the police station alone.
Although illuminated by streetlights, the street still exuded an endless darkness, like the void of the universe.
The detective agency and the central hospital weren't far away, within a 10-minute walk.
"Let's go back too. After 11 o'clock, some things might be hard to control." Ke Xun brushed away a few large petals that had fallen on his head, tilting his head to look at Mu Yiran. "Our dormitory doesn't provide hot water 24 hours a day."
Mu Yiran narrowed his eyes and walked back side by side with Ke Xun.
"What did you observe from Luo Wei?" Ke Xun suddenly asked.
Mu Yiran paused for a moment before slowly saying, "Luo Wei did some things that were unusual."
Ke Xun thought carefully for a moment: "You mean, he proactively went to the restaurant's service desk to borrow paper and pens? And proactively turned on many lights for everyone's illumination? Too proactive, too considerate?"
Thinking about it, it was indeed true.
Before Li Yaqing's death, Luo Wei wasn't a very considerate person. Although he possessed the meticulous logic typical of science students, he wasn't good at running around doing chores. After Li Yaqing's death, he became even quieter, always sullen. In this state, Luo Wei was even less likely to serve everyone comprehensively.
Mu Yiran affirmed Ke Xun's statement: "Besides, he also carefully observed everyone's expressions, which is really unusual." Ke
Xun had a bad feeling but didn't know where to start to understand the whole situation: "Do you think Luo Wei's abnormality was passive or active?"
Although life is equal, Ke Xun didn't want anything to happen to the old members—Luo Wei had been through life and death with everyone and was already a brother.
Mu Yiran's expression remained indifferent, but he gently patted Ke Xun's shoulder: "Dr. Qin said, act according to the situation, and turn the tables on them."
"Hmm."
Back in the dormitory, the smell of women's cigarettes still lingered in the corridor.
The bathroom was currently unused, so Ke Xun let Mu Yiran shower first, while he went into Wei Dong's room next door.
Luo Wei was sitting on the edge of the bed drying his hair with a towel. Lion was being pulled aside by Wei Dong to chat—"...Don't do graphic design, really...I searched on Baidu and found so many pictures of pigeon heads, those raptor eyes, grabbing the weapon, I was biting the corner of the towel and enduring it for three hours...In the end, the client, holding back his gasp, chose a Hitler painting of ruins as the sign for the pigeon lodging...Don't do graphic design, listen to your buddy, even if you're a scalpel operator, a gym owner, or a shut-in at home, don't do graphic design!"
Ke Xun walked over, stepping over the international friend's broad frame, and directly touched Wei Dong's forehead: "Are you alright? You look like you're drunk."
Lion smiled kindly: "Dongzi is really drunk this time, he tasted half a glass of cocktail at the restaurant."
"It can't be that bad, Dongzi may not have a big capacity, but he can easily drink four ounces of 52-proof liquor." Ke Xun watched as his buddy rambled on and on until he turned over and fell asleep.
"The hospital apartment just called. That painter named Yu Ji had a beer and is now drunk." Luo Wei stood up shirtless to close the window. Since he didn't have any work clothes or anything like that to change into, he could only wrap himself in a white bath towel.
"I'll go rest for a bit after you're all done," Luo Wei said to Ke Xun.
"Sure, but you need to wear pants," Ke Xun said.
"Okay."
…
The dormitory was simple, but clean and tidy.
After showering, there were no pajamas to change into, so Ke Xun and Mu Yiran temporarily wore their police uniform shirts and pants, while Luo Wei pitifully changed back into the clothes he had worn during the day.
"Is everyone asleep?" Ke Xun asked.
"The two in our room are asleep, but the light is still on in the girl's room next door." Luo Wei's gaze sharpened as he looked at his two companions: "Can you see the beauty mark under her eye?"
"Who?" Ke Xun asked back.
"The girl next door, Xiao Qinxian." Luo Wei emphasized. "A beauty mark under the eye
? I didn't notice, do you have one?" Ke Xun looked at Mu Yiran sitting across the bed, seeing that the other also denied it. Luo Wei gestured on his face with his hand: "It's under the corner of my right eye, about the size of a soybean, and it's red." Mu Yiran said confidently: "I didn't see it." — A beauty mark the size of a soybean should be quite noticeable. "Will that beauty mark help our later analysis?" Ke Xun asked bluntly — Luo Wei's expression was really a bit neurotic. Luo Wei sat on the edge of Ke Xun's bed, his elbows on his knees, and gently touched his forehead: "It's not just Xiao Qinxian, many people have them." These words, spoken in the dead of night, were somewhat chilling, and Ke Xun's heart tightened: "You mean a beauty mark under the eye? Who has them? You saw it?" "Not just beauty marks under the eye, there are some other red marks, like birthmarks, appearing on the face, mostly on the forehead," Luo Wei's hand remained on his forehead above his right eyebrow, "For example, in this position, there's a red birthmark the size of a broad bean." "You saw it?" Mu Yiran asked. "Yes, right there in the restaurant." "You turned on all the lights under some pretext just to see these things more clearly?" "Yes," Luo Wei wasn't surprised that Mu Yiran had seen through him. "Turning on the lights made it even clearer; the various red marks on those people's faces." At this moment, Ke Xun was closest to Luo Wei and couldn't help but ask, "Do I have them on my face too?"