Paintings of Terror

Chapter 162: Scarlet Beast 09┃ Suicide

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Zhao Yanbao looked at the "Corpse Opinion Disposal Letter" placed on the table, and was silent for a long time. The whole figure was like a relief made of a piece of bluestone. Half of his thoughts were buried deep in the stone, and the other half of his thoughts protruded coldly. There was a kind of paradoxical loss of soul. awake.

Everyone had their own thoughts, but when the dead Chi Lei's body was still cold, no one was embarrassed to express their thoughts immediately.

As Chi Lei's closest person, Zhao Yanbao has the most right to speak morally.

Wei Dong felt uncomfortable. Although he had experienced too many deaths in his previous paintings, every time he saw fresh life disappear in an instant, he still felt a sense of despair.

What makes it even more confusing is that the crimson beast that everyone tried to find is actually in the body of the deceased. According to Chinese tradition, this is a great disrespect to the deceased. - If this matter is spread to me, I definitely don't want others to do anything to the remains of close relatives and friends.

Mu Yiran broke the silence: "Although it was determined to be a heart attack and death, we as criminal police still have to take a form and investigate the scene again. This is also the task assigned by the police station."

The tense and awkward atmosphere seemed to be relieved, Zhao Yanbao whispered, "Go ahead."

Mu Yiran and Ke Xun entered Chi Lei's bedroom again, and the people waiting outside relaxed a little. Zhu Haowen whispered to his companions, "Want something to drink? There is coffee downstairs."

Several people stood up almost at the same time, only Zhao Yanbao still stood there thinking about her thoughts, and it was inconvenient for everyone to disturb her, and they all went downstairs lightly.

No one was in the mood to drink at this time, so Zhu Haowen immediately called Qin Ci, asked what was going on over there, and briefly explained what was going on over there before hanging up the phone.

Everyone's attention was on Zhu Haowen. Wei Dong couldn't help but ask first, "You said that Zhichun committed suicide?"

"Qin Ci said so, that he cut his wrist with a scalpel, and the time of death was between 1:00 and 3:00 in the morning." Zhu Haowen did not think this similar death time was a coincidence.

"Has it been determined that it was suicide? I remember that Zhi Chun and the painter lived in the same dormitory?" Luo Wei suddenly said.

"The forensic doctor and the criminal police have already been to the hospital scene, and suicide can basically be confirmed." Zhu Haowen poured a glass of water for everyone present, "It is said that this person's mood was normal before going to bed, although he was panicking about the unknown night, but he did not show it. Desperate and miserable."

Zhi Chun and Chi Lei, one committed suicide with a scalpel, the other died of a heart attack, and the two died at about the same time.

Whether suicide or death from illness, these seem to have nothing to do with external forces - the old members have never experienced such a "natural" death in their previous paintings.

"There must be something here, but we can't guess it." Wei Dong put his elbows on his knees and crossed his fingers with both hands. "At dinner last night, the performance of these two people was quite normal."

"Weren't you drunk last night?" Rowe asked.

"It's weird to be drunk. When I was in the restaurant, nothing happened. I felt dizzy when I came out of the restaurant. I guess it might be because of the spring. I have a pollen allergy." Wei Dong didn't think he was drunk. This thing matters.

"Qin Ci said on the phone just now that Yu Ji was also drunk and fell asleep early last night, so he didn't notice anything unusual at night." Zhu Haowen said.

"I think it's useless to analyze these now," Xiao Qinxian finally couldn't help but said, looking at Zhu Haowen with inquiring eyes: "Did Dr. Qin mention beasts on the phone just now? Did Chi Chun appear on Zhi Chun's face? Animal spots like Lei? Has the forensic doctor issued a "Cadaver Opinion Disposal Letter"?"

Everyone's eyes were fixed on Zhu Haowen, as if Xiao Qinxian had just asked what everyone was embarrassed to ask.

Zhu Haowen was always expressionless: "Zhi Chun's situation is similar to Chi Lei's, Qin Ci and the others are also waiting for everyone to have a meeting to discuss the solution."

Xiao Qinxian's eyes flashed again: "In other words, he also has a beast in his body. This Zhichun came alone, right? He should have no company."

Xiao Qinxian's naked expression, on the contrary, is like a beast ready to eat the corpses of his companions at any time.

Xiao Qinxian then said: "Forensic doctor Zhao also said just now, we only need to follow the principle of the minority obeying the majority - since we are in this city, we should abide by the rules of this city, the social norms of our previous world, everyone is best Forget about it for now."

Lion also expressed his position: "Oh, I don't think it's disrespectful to the dead. The beast in the body should be removed. Oh, I don't think it's a good thing."

Everyone was silent, and in Lion's eyes, it seemed like they were silently affirming their own words.

Lion continued: "If this kind of thing happens to O, O will donate the beast in her body without hesitation. I believe Ni will do the same, right?!" Lion looked at Xiao Qinxian next to him.

Xiao Qinxian didn't know which expression to use for a while, after all, this kind of assumption itself is very unlucky.

A strange sound suddenly sounded from upstairs, and everyone carefully identified it, only to realize that it was actually Zhao Yanbao's cry.

Zhu Haowen was the first to get up and walked to the second floor, and people followed suit one after another—Zhao Yanbao is a forbearer, something must have happened just now to cause her to lose control so much.

Only Xiao Qinxian sat still, his expression a little irritable.

In the living room on the second floor, Zhao Yanbao was leaning on the sofa, still whimpering in a low voice, Ke Xun took a look around before taking out a tissue from under the coffee table and handing it to her.

"I don't believe that she will commit suicide, there must be a conspiracy in it! This must be a conspiracy of the painting! It is the painting that killed her!" Zhao Yanbao's eyes were red with hatred.

Luo Wei frowned and looked at Zhao Yanbao, but did not speak.

Ke Xun explained to everyone, "We found Chi Lei's suicide note in the drawer when we checked the dormitory."

"Suicide note?" Everyone was surprised, "So Chi Lei didn't have a heart attack..."

Ke Xun nodded slowly: "From the content of the suicide note, the deceased seems to have committed suicide."

The suicide note was placed on the table, and the entire piece of paper was placed in a transparent isolation bag, presumably to protect fingerprints.

The suicide note has only a few lines, and it is written in a very delicate style—

Yanbao, please forgive my willfulness, I just want to seal myself in the most beautiful and best time, just like amber.

The inscription is four words: Chi Lei Jue Pen.

"Is this her word?" Mu Yiran also sat down on the sofa, beside Zhao Yanbao.

Zhao Yanbao nodded: "She wrote it right, but she has struggled from death several times and never gave up easily. I don't believe that she would end her life hastily, and in such a place. in an unfamiliar world."

"If it's really done, it's probably in the way of bewitching the soul?" Wei Dong was even glad that he was drunk last night - with such a weak will, he would have been bewitched early.

"But why did you choose these two people? There should be rules here. As the difficulty deepens, it is unlikely that the painting will arbitrarily arrange death like this." Zhu Haowen, who paid the most attention to the rules, said, "If you follow the rules of bewitching the soul If you say that, then the selected deceased should have weak willpower, but this matter itself is difficult to determine."

Zhao Yanbao wiped away her tears with a tissue, raised her head, and said in a very firm tone, "I never thought Chi Lei was a person with weak willpower. She has been fighting the disease for a long time, and at least she is stronger than me."

Mu Yiran took a pen and paper to record some of the words just now, and when Zhao Yanbao's mood stabilized a little, he continued to ask: "How was Chi Lei's state before going to bed last night? Did you say anything that impresses you? More profound?"

Zhao Yanbao thought back carefully: "The three of us came back down the street last night. Chi Lei said the most. She said that although this world is weird, she likes spring here very much."

Zhu Haowen nodded as a witness.

"After returning to the detective's office, the three of us had a brief chat on the sofa here, mainly to express our opinions on the crimson beast." Zhao Yanbao wiped his eyes with a tissue, "Chi Lei also said at the time that although she was a little scared, But she is still full of curiosity about the mysterious game that is about to unfold, and she really wants to be the last person to wait until the end, so that she can see exactly what is going on on the entire board."

In this way, Chi Lei had no reason to commit suicide.

Mu Yiran was silently taking notes, and Ke Xun frowned slightly. He could only continue to ask as a non-professional detective: "What did Chi Lei talk about specifically about the Scarlet Beast?"

"We didn't have any clues at the time. I remember Chi Lei saying that she sometimes seemed to understand what the heroine Etsuko was doing... After that, everyone went a little off topic and talked about some things about women's rights." Zhao Yanbao said.

Ke Xun looked at Zhu Haowen.

Zhu Haowen: "Yes, I have talked a lot about women's rights, and I have always advocated equal rights..."

"Why did you think of feminism from Yuezi? What was the opportunity for this topic to change?" Mu Yiran asked.

The two thought for a while in silence, and Zhao Yanbao bit his lip: "I remember thinking of "A Ying" from "The Scarlet Beast" at that time, and everyone is still saying that if these protagonists change from women to men, they will be one of them. A different story."

Just when Ke Xun was still wondering what happened to "A Ying", he heard Mu Yiran ask: "Why do you suddenly think of "A Ying", and where did it turn from?"

"Chi Lei said that the opening parts of these two works are too similar, and they are both women's humiliation because of their gender." Zhao Yanbao looked at Zhu Haowen, "It seems that the book "The Scarlet Beast" was mentioned. Title page?"

Zhu Haowen also remembered something in an instant: "Yes, Chi Lei said there was a strange word on the title page of that book, saying that there was a woman riding on a red beast, she thought it was a lifelong love for the heroine. an abstract depiction of femininity, but later came to be seen more and more as a symbol of female stigma.”

"Is there such a beast in the book "A Ying"?" Wei Dong interrupted and asked.

"'A Ying' is a movie. At the beginning of the film, A Ying's mother was executed as a 'wooden donkey' because of the crime of adultery. The executioner was A Ying's father." Zhu Haowen explained.

Wei Dong: "… "

"This is just an association we had last night, because both of these two works show women's deep sense of powerlessness, and their resistance is also fanciful and unreal." Zhao Yanbao further said, "No matter what The punishment of the red beast or the wooden donkey seems to allude to the torture of women's sexual sin."

"Let's put aside the other work first, let's just talk about "The Scarlet Beast", what the original words on the title page are, probably only those who have read this book know." Mu Yiran said.

- When Xiao Qinxian walked upstairs slowly, everyone's eyes were focused on her.