IWBL: Chapter 165
Xiao Li’s question was very polite. Not only did he use respectful speech, he also bent down slightly.
The ghost face in the painting looked at him for a moment and found that this person was actually asking the question sincerely. It was stunned for a moment and didn’t know what to say. It didn’t know how to draw. It was just a ghost locked up in the painting.
Xiao Li really wanted to get this answer. He was very interested in drawing things. If this ‘painter’ could make his skills better then it was appropriate to ask here. Thus, he waited patiently for a while but the ghost face remained still.
Zheng Yi stood next to him in the same pose for a while. Then he found that the ghost face in the painting wasn’t responsive and was slightly twitching. Looking closely, it looked a bit ignorant. It was like a teacher preparing to receive the homework only for a student to raise a peculiar question.
Xiao Li spoke to himself. “You can’t answer? Ah, you are also a work and you’re not a painter. Then do you know who the person or ghost is? How is this three dimensional painting drawn? There is such a technique…”
The fact in the painting still didn’t answer.
Fu Guangbo on the side was also numb. He looked at it to the left and once again looked to confirm this wondrous scene. In the haunted hallway late at night, a legendary bigshot was leaning at an angle to have an academic exchange with a ghost in the painting…
Where was this? Was it a painting workshop? If it wasn’t for the fact that his teammates around him had the same expression, he would’ve thought that he had fallen into an illusion.
In this vision, he saw Xiao Li straighten up after not getting a reply and turned to continue deeper into the corridor. Fu Guangbo froze for a moment before immediately following.
The corridor was very long and there were many corners. The hanging paintings were of different heights and sizes. The light of the flashlight lit them up and combined with everyone’s different angles of view, it seemed like there were many ghosts on the wall from time to time.
Xiao Li ordered softly, “Don’t look.”
Zheng Yi’s brain hadn’t responded but his body was obedient enough to close his eyes first. Only then did he ask, “Why?”
Due to the darkness, he staggered after a short step. He had to open his eyes again to see where he was going and finally took a half-squinting look.
Xiao Li told him, “Gao Yao might’ve died like this.”
Fu Guangbo interjected. “Is it because he saw the ghost in the painting?”
He covered his eyes with his hands but cracked open his fingers to prevent falling while walking. He squinted while looking forward.
Xiao Li replied briefly. “Probably.”
“How do you know?”
“It is a guess. There are only these paintings here and the means of attack should be related to the ghost faces in the paintings. Xiao Li paused and stood still for a moment. “There is a way to prove it…”
“Eh?” Fu Guangbo didn’t quite understand this operation and let out a questioning sound.
“Go back and look at the place where Gao Yao disappeared. See if he appeared in the painting.” Xiao Li stretched out a finger lazily and tapped on a painting hanging on the wall in front of him. “Just like these ghost faces.”
This was an oil painting of the back view of a person. However, if looked at from a specific angle, it was full of heads densely packed together. If these faces were all individuals…
It might even be the group of security guards who came here one after another. Fu Guangbo couldn’t help closing his eyes because he feared he would become one of them.
Xiao Li retracted his hand. Due to his previous action of knocking on the frame, the sleeve that had been pulled up had slipped down his arm, covering most of his hand. Xiao Li lowered his head and was about to fix it but someone had already folded it up for him.
Shen Chenzhi’s fingers were slightly bent and his distinct knuckles protruded as he tucked in the corner of the sleeves. He always did this. He never talked and never expressed his views on tasks or outsiders. He just always paid attention to the small details on Xiao Li’s body. He was very happy to have such subtle contact with the other person, as if he only cared about Xiao Li in this world.
Xiao Li stared at the other person’s lowered eyes for a moment before slowly relaxing his body. He abruptly asked, “Why do you never talk?”
Shen Chenzhi looked up. “What do you want to hear from me?”
“For example…” Xiao Li turned his face and looked deeper into the exhibition hall. “What do you think of this place?”
Shen Chenzhi didn’t follow his gaze but kept looking at Xiao Li’s profile. Finally, before the other person became impatient, he smiled. “The ghosts here are all in the painting. If you want to find the painter, we have to go further inside.”
The moment he spoke, Xiao Li nodded along with his words and walked forward. The two bigshots had such a strong aura that Zheng Yi and Ye Zeqing didn’t dare disturb them. Even though the other teammates were anxious, there was no urging. It wasn’t until Xiao Li started moving again that Zheng Yi belatedly followed.
Xiao Li dared to look at the ghost paintings directly with his eyes open but others didn’t dare to do this. There was the lesson from Gao Yao just now and their fear was still high. In addition, this wasn’t a physical ghost. There was Hercule here but even he might not be able to stop it in time.
They had to continue to cover their eyes and try to focus their attention on the gap between the floor and the frame on the wall.
However, sometimes people’s thinking was quite strange. The more they didn’t want to see something, the more they couldn’t control their eyes. For example, Tian Bin.
Since Gao Yao disappeared, Tian Bin was the last person. He ran forward to try and catch up with his teammates in front of him. Tian Bin’s method of blocking his eyes was to look at the world through the cracks in his fingers. It was just that due to his rapid running, his eyes shook and he uncontrollably glanced at the painting on the wall.
His hand holding the flashlight shook and he immediately forced himself to look away and run forward. However, the image on the painting was still printed in his mind. The more he thought about it, the clearer the pattern became.
Tian Bin could easily remember the delicate lines, elegant strokes and true depictions. It was a bottle of perfume. A transparent box with a crown on it. The crown was made of crystal and shone brilliantly. There was no ghost… yes, no ghost.
Tian Bin sighed with relief. After all, he had seen so many paintings previously and nothing happened. It was just that the shape of the crown was becoming clearer, as if it was imprinted on his retina.
It wasn’t until the image enlarged in Tian Bin’s mind that he got an electric shock. He could see a reflection on the crown crystal. It was half a face, only half. It was extremely twisted as it turned its head to look at him.