At noon, everyone gathered in the hospital cafeteria for lunch.
Qin Ci and his group went to several landmark buildings in the city to look for signatures, but returned empty-handed.
Ke Xun briefly recounted how they obtained the 7-kilogram beast, and everyone sighed in dismay.
Zhao Yanbao listened attentively: "Shouldn't we also have someone perform a ritual to release our companions' beasts?"
"Chu Zhiyong said that once we've collected 13 kilograms of beasts, we'll have someone perform the ritual ourselves," Qin Ci said.
"We've already collected enough, when do we hand them over?" Su Benxin asked.
"We've already spoken to Chu Zhiyong on the phone, and he said... someone will come to the police station to inspect the goods before nightfall," Qin Ci said.
Upon hearing this, everyone couldn't help but curse. This was practically deliberately driving people to their deaths. Did they have to stay here for another night because of this? Someone was bound to die that night, and if they were lucky enough to survive, they would face the cruelest election the next day!
"Our most important thing is still to find signatures! Only this can get us out of all this!" Wei Dong prioritized the signatures, constantly reminding himself of this.
Everyone nodded. Qin Ci said, "Let's study the map again after dinner to see if there's any place where the signature might be hidden. Boss Su and Luo Wei are going to the train station this afternoon to find the signature. Are the two of you enough?"
Su Benxin thought for a moment, "Yesterday it was just the two of us talking to them. It wouldn't be good to suddenly have someone else. Let's just keep it to the two of us."
Qin Ci nodded and asked, "By the way, did you gain anything from watching the video today?"
At this point, Su Benxin's expression turned grim: "I was watching it on fast forward... I only watched it at normal speed when the beast appeared. The scene was quite unsettling... However, there wasn't anything strange about it. Xiao Qinxian hadn't answered the phone beforehand either. I think we can rule out any suspicious points here."
These words seemed to put a final period to the lives of the Xiao Qinxian sisters. What kind of past they had, what kind of tangled inner demons they harbored, no one could say or guess. How that strange Guimei hexagram was formed, no one would ever know the reason again. Whether in the painting or outside the painting.
It was rather ironic that Xiao Qinxian, such a sharp-tongued and incisive person, ultimately left with a secret.
...
After dinner, Wei Dong went to the newsstand downstairs and bought several more maps. They decided to check the maps before continuing their journey.
The asthma medication from the pharmacy finally arrived, and Su Benxin and Luo Wei prepared to set off.
The two took a taxi straight to the train station.
"Don't forget that suitcase," Luo Wei said.
"I won't forget it. I paid the deposit yesterday," Su Benxin said. "Besides, Sister Lin seems like a profit-driven person. A few doses of asthma medication probably won't impress her."
Sister Lin was the person in charge of passenger information at the station. Yesterday, Su Benxin had already gotten close to her, promising to bring her some asthma medication and a nice bag.
Sister Lin said she didn't need a bag, but her daughter was about to start university and she wanted a nice, sturdy suitcase.
Su Benxin readily agreed; she had a good friend who sold suitcases and could get them at cost price.
Luo Wei wasn't good at building relationships, especially when women talked about things like handbags; he was often lost in thought.
Finally, Sister Lin smiled apologetically and said she'd finish organizing all the materials that day and the two of them could review them tomorrow.
To be on the safe side, they didn't mention Yu Beiguo's name. Su Benxin only said that a few years ago, a cousin of hers had left Xincheng, and his family missed him dearly.
The taxi stopped at a high-end handbag shop next to the train station. They paid and got out. Su Benxin went straight into the shop to pay the balance and then pulled out a very feminine rolling suitcase.
Luo Wei offered to help, but Su Benxin smiled and said, "An empty suitcase isn't heavy, and besides, it's a women's style; it's not appropriate for you to pull it."
The two of them walked into the station's office building, one after the other. Su Benxin, pulling her suitcase, knocked on an office door and quickly came out again: "The archives are actually on the city's edge; we'll have to take a train to get there."
So, the two of them took another train and got off at the stop before "Xincheng Inventory Station."
The station is called the Heart City Checkpoint because it's the border station of Heart City; beyond that lies the city.
All passengers undergo strict screening here. Luo Wei, worried about being recognized with his square stamp, got off the bus early and walked towards the border.
At the checkpoint ahead, there was also strict screening. Su Benxin glanced ahead and stopped.
Luo Wei, confused, was suddenly grabbed tightly by Su Benxin: "Luo Wei, we're leaving."
"What?"
Su Benxin gave a short laugh: "Haven't you been feeling unwell lately? Especially around your heart."
Luo Wei was surprised: "How did you know?"
"Because I've been feeling unwell too." Su Benxin clutched her chest and took a few deep breaths. "The reason we feel unwell is because we don't belong here."
"We?"
Su Benxin took off her Central Hospital work badge and showed Luo Wei the back. There, prominently displayed, was a long, rectangular stamp with the words: Outside Heart City Area.
This was the most surprising thing Luo Wei had ever experienced since entering this painting: "You're also from out of town? Why are your work badges different on both sides?"
Su Benxin seemed a little tired and simply sat on her large suitcase: "I was also very confused at first, and I still can't quite figure it out. Maybe I'm a pawn planted by someone from outside the city, with two identities, one yin and one yang."
"When did you discover your true identity?" Although Luo Wei was somewhat disgusted by Su Benxin's pretense these past few days, he couldn't help but feel a strange sense of kinship with her, given that they were both from out of town.
"After I received the first phone call," Su Benxin said.
"You received a phone call too?!" Luo Wei was extremely surprised.
"Yes, when I received the first call, I was terrified. The indistinct voice on the other end told me that a beast was bound inside a person's heart and couldn't get out." Su Benxin seemed to be trying to calm herself down. "The next day, Chi Lei died. The beast inside her heart was a bound female body."
Luo Wei looked at Su Benxin in front of him, feeling completely unfamiliar. No, he didn't really know this woman. He couldn't imagine how someone could slowly process such a strange and terrifying phone call without asking for help from their companions.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I never trust anyone. I just pondered this matter in my mind until I found a clue on the ID card. Later, during lunch, I took the opportunity to look at your ID card to check if the two stamps matched."
Luo Wei also recalled that scene. Su Benxin's behavior at the time was so natural, even showing the worry and sadness that an ordinary woman should have, making it hard to doubt her.
Luo Wei tried to calm himself down: "I remember you also let me see your forehead. Since you don't trust anyone, why did you make me examine your forehead so carefully?"
"What did you see then?"
"There was nothing there, no red marks," Luo Wei recalled the scene. "There was just a black dot at my hairline, which you said was there from birth."
Su Benxin brushed her hair aside. "It's here, isn't it? It's not a black dot, and it wasn't there from birth."
Luo Wei looked closer. It wasn't a black dot at all; it wasn't anything on the skin, but—a tiny black hole.
"What's inside…"
"It's a hole. I've never understood why I have a tiny hole here," Su Benxin chuckled to herself, glancing at the city's boundary in the distance. Her perfect profile remained calm. "Only today did I realize that my beast left long ago, probably from this spot, leaving behind a tiny opening."
Luo Wei frowned, unable to process what had just happened, and the discomfort in his heart made him even paler.
"The reason I'm considered an outsider to Heart City is probably because I've never actually entered this city, if this city is the heart of the painter Yu Beiguo," Su Benxin said.
"You know Yu Beiguo?"
"We used to be lovers. He wanted to hold onto the best moment of our relationship. He said this thought was like a beast slowly devouring his heart. He said every step forward was downhill, and he dared not go any further, only trying to stop."
"And what about your beast?" Luo Wei countered. "Why were you able to leave? And why were you unharmed after leaving?"
"Because I had a way to release it." Su Benxin's expression suddenly turned fierce, then returned to calm in an instant. "I was the one who helped him find the beast that was troubling him. I taught him how to get rid of his beast. Only in this way could I get rid of my beast."
Luo Wei thought silently for a moment: "Everything was taught to him by you, including his suicide attempt. Just like Yuezi in the story 'The Scarlet Beast,' only by killing what troubled her could she find peace."
"That's roughly the gist of it." Su Benxin's messy curly hair was blown by the wind. "On the second night, I received a second phone call. The person on the other end told me that a painting was to be exhibited from someone's body. I was shocked, but I mustered up the courage to ask who this person was, why they were telling me this, and whether it was just idle amusement or a well-intentioned reminder.
"Then they said it was an order, an order for us outsiders. These beasts are very precious, and we need to move them."
Hearing this, Luo Wei's gaze suddenly shifted to the large suitcase Su Benxin was sitting on.
Su Benxin seemed not to notice Luo Wei's gaze and continued, "That person told me that when the Gui Mei hexagram appears, it will be our time to return."