In the following hour, Fei Yino talked a lot, recounting the joyful times he had with Xiao Tou.
He patiently taught the original owner how to ride horses and praised the original owner’s cute and carefree demeanor.
With Fei Yino’s words, a completely different image was created – that of an innocent college student unfamiliar with the ways of the world.
Fei Yino’s eyes were firm and serious when he described these things, as if everything was true.
However, after listening for a while, Bai Lixin noticed numerous loopholes in the narrative.
In one paragraph, Fei Yino mentioned that the original owner couldn’t ride horses, and in the next, they were participating in a horse racing competition at the racecourse.. The tone was serious, but the language was full of inconsistencies.
Fei Yino had long lost his sanity.
The memories were disordered. To alleviate his guilt, he used false memories to mask the reality, leaving only the positive moments with the original owner in his mind.
After listening to it for a while, Bai Lixin felt bored and his thoughts started drifting. Propping his chin with one hand, he listened silently as the man recited episode after episode, but his consciousness had wandered to the Moon Bay Hotel from the previous night.
He wondered if Dijia was awake now and where he was. He was the shadow that dragged him into the room yesterday, and it was he who later broke into the room, found him and helped him clean up.
However, the humanoid version of him had no memory of the time when he was the black shadow, it wasn’t an act, he really couldn’t remember.
If he hadn’t found the scratch on Dijia’s hand from the passionate encounter with the shadow, he would have thought they were two separate entities.
Should he be relieved? Maybe it’s a good thing?
…
“All these things will come to an end tonight,” Fei Yino’s words brought Bai Lixin back to reality. “Once we get through tonight, I’ll take you away from here.”
Bai Lixin tilted his head, looking at the affectionate man. “What significant event is happening tonight?”
Fei Yino pinched his chin, his eyes filled with indulgence. “It’s not a big deal, just a family banquet at the Fei residence. None of us can leave until the banquet ends.”
He reassured, “It’s just a banquet; with me here, nothing will happen.”
A deep and gentle voice emanated from the man’s mouth as his large hand reached out, intending to stroke the young man’s soft and flowing hair.
Bai Lixin skillfully dodged Fei Yino’s touch, and concisely issued an eviction order, “Since there’s a banquet, I should tidy up as well.”
“That’s right, it’s time to tidy up.” Fei Yino seemed to direct all his good temper toward one person. Facing Bai Lixin’s refusal, he didn’t get angry but slowly withdrew his hand, checking his watch before standing up. “I also need to prepare some things. See you later, Xiao Tou.”
Shortly after Fei Yino left, Bai Lixin also stood up and walked to the window.
Through the window, he saw Fei Yino walking out of the door, then turning as usual and disappearing at the end of the line of sight.
After sitting in the room for a while, Bai Lixin walked out of the bedroom. When he stood at the stairs, he saw the servants bustling on the first floor, busy arranging the hall.
The splendid hall was adorned with romantic white lace curtains. It didn’t look like the setup for an ordinary dinner; it resembled the scene of a wedding ceremony.
—Creak.
A door opened, followed by hurried footsteps.
Bai Lixin turned his head and saw Big Zhuang, Red Hair and Mr. Mouse rushing towards him.
Big Zhuang’s brows furrowed in anger, while Red Hair, unlike Big Zhuang’s anger, showed more of fear.
“Bai Lixin!” Big Zhuang exclaimed angrily, “Quickly tell your parents to let us leave this place. We can’t stay here for another minute.”
Bai Lixin’s gaze swept across the faces of the three, finally stopping at Red Hair. “You said you saw a ghost in the corridor last night. What did you see?”
Red Hair was stunned, and cast an inquisitive look at Big Zhuang.
Bai Lixin continued, “I warned you all when we first entered the Fei family. I told you to leave, but you chose to stay.”
His eyes moved down and fell on Big Zhuang’s muddy trouser legs. “You must have tried to climb over the wall just now and failed, right? You must have noticed something strange about the Fei family and wanted to leave, didn’t you?”
Red Hair spoke up, “Let me tell you. Last night, I couldn’t sleep, so I came out for a walk. When I opened the door, I saw a dark shadow in the corridor. At first, I thought it was someone who hadn’t rested yet. Just as I was about to greet them, the shadow suddenly turned around and I saw its face.”
“It was a pitch-black face, as if covered in a mist. It crawled on the ground, seemingly searching for something. I didn’t dare make a sound and it didn’t seem to notice my presence. I watched it crawl into the wall crack and disappear.”
“The wall crack?” Bai Lixin repeated, “Where is this wall crack?”
Red Hair pointed towards Big Zhuang’s room. “There, it’s that wall crack.”
Bai Lixin walked to the door of Big Zhuang’s room, staring thoughtfully at the exterior wall.
The trio exchanged puzzled glances, and followed behind Bai Lixin.
Was there something special about Big Zhuang’s room?
The night when the shadow escaped, it disappeared outside Big Zhuang’s window. Now, Red Hair saw the shadow vanish on the exterior wall of Big Zhuang’s corridor.
Bai Lixin looked at Big Zhuang. “Open the room, I want to go in and take a look.”
Big Zhuang was somewhat annoyed by Bai Lixin’s attitude, but he was also puzzled about what might be in his room. After hesitating for two seconds, he opened the door.
As soon as the door opened, a faint fishy smell rushed out.
Red Hair immediately glared at Big Zhuang.
Feeling a bit embarrassed, Big Zhuang averted his gaze, quickly walked to the window, and opened it for ventilation.
However, Bai Lixin wasn’t focused on the room’s odor. The moment he entered, his attention was captivated by the painting on the wall.
In Big Zhuang’s room was a framed painting – a wheat field with dreamlike colorful clouds above. In the center of the field were two figures leaning against each other, one in black and one in white. The painting wasn’t clear, and the edges of the scenery were not carefully outlined. Instead, thick oil paint is used to create a three-dimensional and blurry boundary.
The black figure was slightly larger, the white figure smaller. Under the golden wheat and the colorful sunset, the scene appeared both heartwarming and eerie.
Bai Lixin’s gaze shifted to the bottom right corner of the painting.
When an artist creates their work, they often leave traces, treating it as their child. At the bottom right corner, there was a somewhat intricate set of characters. Bai Lixin stared at the connected characters for several seconds before recognizing a few.
—Zhai Tou.
Zhai Tou…
Xiao Tou…
This painting was actually Xiao Tou’s work?
Surprised, Bai Lixin refocused his attention on the black and white figures in the wheat field.
Under the vast wheat field, two figures, one black and one white, looked very small. They weren’t in the center of the field but rather in the most inconspicuous corner in the distance. Despite this, they were still the focal point of the painting; the first thing people would notice when looking at it.
The black and white figures leaning on each other seemed heartwarming, yet Bai Lixin couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.
He squinted his eyes, stared at them carefully for several seconds until he spotted a tiny anomaly.
Beneath the wheat field’s cover, the lower part of the black and white figures wasn’t legs but wooden stakes, closely resembling the color of the wheat field.
The two figures weren’t little people but two scarecrows dressed in black and white.
His discoveries didn’t stop there. While staring at the painting, he had adjusted his angle and faintly noticed traces of writing on the white scarecrow’s back. To see the content more clearly, he moved a few centimeters closer. Just as his face was about to touch the painting, Bai Lixin’s eyes flickered, and he silently took two steps back.
Big Zhuang stared at the painting every day and never saw any issues. Seeing Bai Lixin’s focused expression upon entering, he couldn’t help but complain, “Is there something wrong with this painting?”
Bai Lixin shook his head. “Nothing, I just find this painting quite strange, especially these two black and white figures.”
Big Zhuang murmured, “Strange? I find it a bit creepy. One black and one white figure in the wheat field, isn’t that like Black and White Impermanence in supernatural novels? The people in the wheat field usually wear floral shirts; who would stand in the wheat field dressed like this? It’s eerie.”
S419M: [Lord Host, does this painting really have any issues?]
Bai Lixin: [Yes, it does, and quite a few.]
S419M: [Please begin your performance.]
Bai Lixin rolled his eyes silently.
[First, I faintly saw writing on the back of the white scarecrow. Initially, I approached to read the content, but when I got closer, I noticed that the little figures inside moved.]
S419: [Moved? Meaning, they’re alive? What’s written on the back of the white scarecrow?]
Bai Lixin slowly shook his head. [It’s not words, it’s a symbol.]
As he spoke, he drew the symbol in his consciousness: [The outer circle is circular, and inside it, there’s a pattern that resembles an eye. However, due to the faint color, I’m not sure if it’s an eye or a pattern similar to a spindle.]
S419: [A pattern? Didn’t the Lord God say that it wasn’t a simple murder in that room at Moon Bay Hotel but possibly some kind of ritual? Could this symbol be related to the ritual in Moon Bay Hotel?]
Bai Lixin: [Hmm, I also have this conjecture.]
[Besides, I made another discovery.] Bai Lixin looked at the painting on the wall with complicated eyes. [The signature on this painting is “Zhai Tou”, but this is not the first time we’re seeing Zhai Tou’s work.]
S419M: [Not the first time? Where else have we seen it?]
[Every artist has their painting habits, especially oil painters, these habits are even more pronounced. The layering of colors, brush angles, intensity, frequency, etc., are muscle memories imprinted on the painter’s body.] Bai Lixin spoke solemnly, [Remember Fei Yino’s secret plaster room? Although the painting “Rose Boy” didn’t have the author’s signature, the work could speak for itself. The structure and painting techniques of that painting are identical to this one.]
[If the name “Zhai Tou” on this painting was not written down by someone else, then the painting in the plaster room was made by “Zhai Tou.”]
S419M was stunned: [Let me get it straight, Zhai Tou is Xiao Tou, right?]
Bai Lixin: [Seems like it.]
S419M: [So, Fei Yino has is schizophrenic? He not only constructed false memories in his mind but also imagined a Xiao Tou, pretended to be Xiao Tou, and painted this picture?]
In just a few sentences, Bai Lixin was completely thrown off. […]
[Open your mind a bit. What if, just maybe, the painting “Rose Boy” that Fei Yino treasures, was painted by Xiao Tou himself?]
S419M: [Ah?!!!]
Warning! Warning! CPU overload!
