The Bronze Art Museum's decor perfectly matched its name.
The entire exterior was decorated in a bronze-like style and color.
However, the visitors weren't in the mood to appreciate the ancient and grand architecture. A chilly autumn rain was battering the city, with temperatures plummeting three times in a week, catching these out-of-towners off guard. Qin Ci even bought a thin down jacket as soon as he got off the plane.
Ke Xun, wearing a baseball cap and jacket, stood stylishly at the museum entrance, attracting glances from passing young women.
The Bronze Art Museum opened at 9:00 AM, and it was now 8:40 AM. Mu Yiran was still missing from the five-person art discussion group.
"Will the boss make it?" Wei Dong shivered in his thick hoodie.
Mu Yiran had gone to the Apennine Peninsula; he had just gotten off the plane when Ke Xun called him around 3:00 AM last night.
Ke Xun, hands in his pockets, looked at the rain on the street: "What's the rush? We can still get into the studio before eight o'clock tonight. Let him sleep a little longer."
"Tsk tsk, so you know how to be considerate," Wei Dong turned his head, "Come on, Haowen, let me pamper you. Put your hands in my pockets, they're warm."
Zhu Haowen expressionlessly raised one hand, wearing thin cotton gloves.
"You're both pretty good at taking care of yourselves," Wei Dong shivered, "I regret not listening to my mother and wearing an extra layer. I'm almost freezing to death now... Ke'er, did you bring any extra clothes?"
Ke Xun took off his shoulder bag and threw it to him: "Just one coat, wear this first, don't get it dirty."
"Damn, you're already starting to look down on me? You unfilial son who forgot his mother after getting a wife!" Wei Dong turned the coat over and saw that it was a short black woolen trench coat.
"Huh? Don't you never wear formal clothes like this?" Wei Dong looked at Ke Xun with great curiosity. Seeing that Ke Xun was still standing there with his back turned, only showing him the back of his head so he could figure it out himself, Wei Dong suddenly realized, "Oh, I see. This is specially prepared for the big boss, so he won't get cold—tsk tsk tsk, people with families are different, much more thoughtful than us rough guys."
Wearing a formal trench coat and jeans, Wei Dong looked up at the sky: "It's still very gloomy. With this kind of rain, I wonder how many people will be willing to come to the art museum today."
"Never mind others, have you reviewed all the knowledge about the paintings in this museum?" Ke Xun turned to ask him.
"I've reviewed everything," Wei Dong said. "The museum exhibits traditional Chinese paintings by modern and contemporary artists. I've memorized all the information we found online about the museum's collection, and I've also backed up a document and pictures of all the paintings on my phone. Don't worry!"
"I feel like this one should go more smoothly than the previous paintings," Qin Ci tried to convey optimism, smiling as he glanced back at the museum's closed doors. "We've done a very thorough job of preparing this time."
"Provided everything goes smoothly and no unexpected events occur," Zhu Haowen said calmly.
At nine o'clock sharp, the museum doors opened from the inside, and two staff members carried out a roll-up poster and placed it outside the door.
The group looked at the content on the poster and then exchanged bewildered glances.
It read: "New paintings from the Bronze Art Museum are on display today. Welcome to all…" and so on.
"…This is…" Wei Dong looked at his companions speechlessly, "They're just deliberately making things difficult for us! I bet the painting we're going to get today is one of the new ones in this gallery! All that preparation was for nothing!"
"We'll deal with whatever comes our way," Ke Xun said calmly, "You guys go inside and warm up, I'll wait for Yi Ran here."
The other three didn't stand on ceremony with him and went into the gallery first.
Ke Xun's phone rang at just the right moment. He glanced at the caller's name, and a smile involuntarily crept onto his face: "Why didn't you sleep a little longer?... Hmm, we haven't arrived yet, just about to leave. We'll probably be close to you... No rush, buy some food on the way, don't go hungry... Oh, what are you eating?... Okay, drink plenty of hot water. Are you dressed warmly enough? It's raining here, quite cold... How could I skimp on myself? I'm bundled up, I'm sweating buckets... Okay, I'll wait for you... Don't worry, I won't stand outside, I'll go straight in, okay?... Okay, see you in a bit, be careful on the road."
Seeing that it was almost 9:40, Ke Xun turned and went into the art museum. He'd only been there for less than five minutes when he saw Mu Yiran enter with a black umbrella.
"Am I a good boy?" Ke Xun went to greet him, opening his arms to hug him.
"Ignore the rain on you." Mu Yiran pursed his lips, using his other arm, which wasn't holding the umbrella, to wrap around Ke Xun's waist and back.
The two hadn't seen each other for over ten days. Mu Yiran had been busy, flying back and forth between China and abroad.
"How many days can you stay in China this time?" Ke Xun asked, pulling back from his embrace and stroking his cheek with his lips.
Mu Yiran looked at the moisture clinging to his brows and eyelashes, gently wiping it away. His voice was slightly deep and soft as he said, "This time, I'll stay as long as you want me to."
Ke Xun paused, then a slow smile appeared on his lips. "Darling, I won't stand on ceremony. Since you asked me to say it, I hope that from today onwards, you'll stay by my side forever. You won't go back on your word, will you?"
Mu Yiran raised his hand and gently ruffled the dog-like head that had been bare of its hat, saying calmly, "Your question is really asking for trouble."
"As long as you don't leave for more than ten days at a time, I'd gladly give you a good beating." Ke Xun grasped his hand.
Mu Yiran glanced at him, stepped inside, and casually tossed out a sentence: "As you wish."
Ke Xun: "..."
So the boss meant he wouldn't be gone for more than ten days at a time, or was he planning to "deal with" him to death? ...
Thinking about it, he felt a little excited.
The other three, who had entered the museum early, didn't sit idle either. Instead, they inquired about the new paintings from the staff. Unfortunately, the staff didn't know much either, only saying that they had been airlifted over last night and that employees had been brought in to hang them up around 7 a.m. this morning.
The three of them walked around the museum and saw that the new paintings were all traditional Chinese paintings, some by modern and contemporary painters, and some were imitations of ancient paintings. It
was like they hadn't seen anything at all. With thousands of years of Chinese civilization, the paintings from ancient times to the present were as vast as the sea, and there was no way to guess which painting would be the target painting in the target exhibition hall.
"Shall we go in now?" Standing at the entrance of the target exhibition hall, Wei Dong asked Mu Yiran and Ke Xun.
"Let's go in. The sooner we get in, the sooner we might find clues." Ke Xun, never one to hesitate out of fear, took Mu Yiran's hand and stepped into the exhibition hall first.
When all the lights went out, a beam of light from the void fell on the target painting, and Ke Xun saw a faded ancient painting.
It was painted on silk, with dark tones and blurred patterns.
Fine gray lines outlined a vast ocean and a giant ship, the sky tinged with a watery haze, and beneath that vast ocean, there seemed to be countless lifelike creatures surging about.
Before he could look closely, a white light had already illuminated the painting, and when he opened his eyes again, he was already inside it.
"Whoosh—whoosh—"
A vast, dark sea suddenly appeared before everyone's eyes.
"Holy crap...this is...on a ship?" Wei Dong spun around in shock, looking around.
Clearly, this was the giant ship depicted in the painting. The hull was wooden, and the superstructure had two levels, each with about a dozen rooms. The doors and windows were antique, and a large black flag with gold lettering hung from the tall mast, bearing an ancient script.
"This painting is..." Qin Ci looked at everyone.
"The 'Burning Rhinoceros at Sea' painting," replied Mu Yiran and Zhu Haowen.
The two had seen the painting's title before entering.
"Is this painting famous?" Ke Xun asked Mu Yiran.
Mu Yiran's eyes flickered slightly, his voice calm: "This is a privately collected painting, never publicly displayed. I've only heard a few words about it from a friend in the industry. I never expected a replica to appear here."
"A friend?" Ke Xun tilted his head, looking at him.
"A connoisseur of calligraphy and painting, and a lover of Chinese culture, over sixty years old," Mu Yiran glanced at him, "is from Japan."
"Our Yiran has friends all over the world," Ke Xun boasted.
"Your expression just now tells us that's not what you meant," Wei Dong said sideways, "I smell the sour scent of romance."
"How much do you know about this painting?" Zhu Haowen asked Mu Yiran.
"Not much," Mu Yiran's expression also turned somewhat solemn, "The owner of this painting refuses to reveal its contents to anyone, only mentioning it briefly when drunk with a friend. And that friend is the connoisseur of calligraphy and painting I mentioned; the owner, like him, is from Japan."
"Then what country is this painting from?" Wei Dong asked.
"An ancient Chinese painting, but not recorded in any documents," Mu Yiran said.
"How did a painting from our country end up in the hands of an island nation? Was it looted and destroyed again?" Ke Xun asked.
"I also have a question," Qin Ci continued, "Since this painting has never been shown to the public before, how can we be sure it's a work from our country?"
Mu Yiran answered calmly, "The owner of the painting is surnamed Fukuoka, and his family lives along the coast of the island nation. Their ancestors made a living by fishing and possessed superb underwater skills.
"Hundreds of years ago, one of Fukuoka's ancestors accidentally discovered a shipwreck while fishing at sea.
"The Fukuoka family gathered all their sons who were good swimmers and went to the sea to salvage it. However, the shipwreck was too old, and most of the items on board had been soaked and lost their value. The Fukuoka family only salvaged a few valuable items, and this silk painting
, kept in a water-repellent container, was one of them. "The Fukuoka family sold some of the salvaged items and gradually rose from a fishing family to a wealthy merchant family. This silk painting and several other salvaged items with collectible value were kept in the family and passed down from generation to generation."
"The reason we can be certain this painting is a Chinese work is because all the other items salvaged from the same ship originated in China, and several of them are now displayed in the National Museum.
Furthermore,"
Mu Yiran said, pointing to the large flag flying on the mast, "the ship depicted in the painting is from China, and the script on the flag is Small Seal Script."
Everyone's faces showed expressions of understanding.
Ke Xun then asked, "So, who painted this 'Burning Rhinoceros Horn at Sea' painting?"
Mu Yiran's gaze was somewhat complicated, and he replied solemnly, "Unknown."