The darkness in front of him dissipated, and Shen Yu found that they were at the entrance of a small town.
From the style point of view, here is a European town, the steeple church in the distance is slightly dilapidated, and the nearby lake is sparkling, sunny and picturesque.
In front of them stood a white male with a big black dog squatting beside him.
Besides the two of them, there were five other people who entered this horror story together.
The three young girls gathered together in a dazed manner, chattering, "Where are we?"
"I don't know. I fell asleep in the car and woke up here."
"Didn't we apply for a group tour out of the province? What kind of tour group is so affordable, and it's directly sent abroad!"
Beside the girl, there was a man and a woman holding a black book, looking at them, a rookie audience who didn't even have a book, with disdain.
The two were obviously novelists and seasoned veterans.
At this moment, the man standing in front of them spoke: "Seven distinguished detectives, gentlemen and ladies."
"Welcome to my hometown, the town of Rice."
This is an old man with gray hair and wrinkles around his eyes, but he has taken care of himself meticulously, with a pair of glasses on the bridge of his nose. He is well-dressed and speaks elegantly. Obviously, he has received a good education.
In his youth, he must have been extremely attractive.
Three unidentified girls whispered: "This foreigner speaks Chinese quite fluently!"
The old man smiled slightly, obviously well-bred, and continued to say slowly: "My name is Bud, and I used to be a painter when I was young."
"This time, you detectives are invited here to find my love again."
"The girl I loved, the most beautiful girl in my heart... She finally abandoned me and left this world forever."
Speaking of this, the old man's eyes were slightly moist: "Fortunately, when I was young, I used a paintbrush to preserve her flawless face and paint her the most beautiful portrait in the world."
"But unfortunately, because of a move, I accidentally lost the portrait of my lover, as if I lost my heart... So I have to ask you to find my old love again."
The drama begins.
While the newcomers and the audience were still in a daze, Shen Yu and other novelists all opened their books at the same time.
[Seven little detectives came to the small town of Rice.]
[Love makes people intoxicated.]
[However, on the way to pursue love, you will encounter obstacles from ghouls.][Watch out for those ghouls!]
After seeing the beginning of the story, Shen Yu slightly raised an eyebrow.
He politely asked the old man: "Dear Mr. Bard, may I ask where was the last time you saw the portrait of your lover?"
Seeing that he entered the play so quickly, the other two novelists gave him a surprise look, and finally put away the contempt in their eyes.
The old man Bard helped his eyes on the bridge of his nose: "I accidentally left the portrait in my former residence, the villa on the west side of the town."
Shen Yu said: "Since you know the location, have you gone back to look for it?"
Bud shook his head quickly: "No, the townspeople all said that there were ghouls hiding in my house, so I hurriedly moved out of the house I've lived in for decades to leave the portrait behind."
"Ghoul?" Shen Yu grasped the key words, "What is a ghoul?"
Seeing that he asked about the key points that everyone was concerned about, all the novelists present immediately pricked up their ears.
A look of disgust appeared on Bud's face: "Ghouls? Those incarnations of demons, filthy creatures, existences that feed on rotting corpses!"
"My house is near a cemetery, which is the best place to breed ghouls. There have been a lot of strange things happening in that house recently, so be careful," he warned.
Speaking of this, Bud's expression suddenly became disappointed: "There are three days left, and it will be my birthday. I really hope that my birthday gift is that lost and found portrait."
Shen Yu and Yue Ze couldn't help but look at each other.
It seems that the time limit for this story is shorter, only three days.
At this moment, another novelist suddenly asked: "Since you moved out of your own house, where do you live now?"
Bud smiled, and patted the head of the big dog at his feet: "Alice and I are temporarily living in a lakeside hut. The scenery here is very good, and the flat and wet land is very suitable for the lovely Alice to run around." run."
Only then did everyone turn their attention to the big dog at Bud's feet.
This is really a very big dog, it seems to be able to bite off the neck of a person when it stands up, but it is already an old dog, skinny and bony, with yellow teeth that are not sharp and blunt.
The dog's fur was black, as if it hadn't been bathed for a long time, and it was dirty and smelly, like a person's hair that hadn't been washed for a long time, knotted in strands.
The old dog’s eyes had also been blind long ago, and there was turbid pus flowing out. When Bud put his palm on its head, it seemed to wake up suddenly, and suddenly raised its head and roared like crazy. Like a hysterical shrew.
This black dog is not only unlovable in appearance, but also has such a violent and crazy personality, everyone can't help but take a step back.
Only Bud took the initiative to squat down, hugging his dog pitifully.
He sighed sadly: "Poor Alice, my old Alice, you are getting old like me, and your energy is getting weaker and weaker. You can't see the beautiful scenery and eat delicious food."
"Maybe after a while, even you will leave me."
Bud seemed to be in grief, and he held the black dog's neck tightly. Under his comfort, the old dog finally regained its tranquility, and lay down sickly again, motionless, as if it might die at any time.
And the dog owner, Bud, seemed not in the mood to continue the conversation. After pointing out the direction for everyone, he led his old dog to the lakeside hut.
The two novelists, a man and a woman, went to the west of the town without hesitation.
The three girls who were accidentally involved in the story were completely confused at this moment, standing there in a daze, not knowing where to go.
If they were randomly thrown into this story, not one of them would die in less than a day.
Shen Yu greeted them: "Let's find a place to live, will you go?"
Looking at Shen Yu, who was sunny and refreshing, and Yue Ze, who was cold and deep behind him, the three girls discussed with each other for a while, and finally followed behind the two of them because they were unfamiliar with the place.
These three girls are indeed naive and easy to deceive. In this kind of place, it is easy to be eaten to the bone.
Shen Yu sighed silently in his heart.
This small town is small, but it has an exotic style. The houses of the residents are very beautiful, but they are too quiet.
They walked all the way without seeing anyone, and the whole town seemed to be in a dead silence.
Until then, the three girls finally realized that something was wrong in this world. They became afraid at first, huddled together tightly, and walked slowly.
Many notices were posted on the buildings near the church, and most of them were dilapidated after a long period of wind and rain. A gust of wind could blow away a few scraps of paper on the walls.
A piece of paper dangled past their eyes, and Yue Ze reached out and grabbed it.
[Emily, female, eighteen years old, missing for nine months, suspected to have been killed by a ghoul. ] Shen Yu also ran to take off a few notices and read them.
[Annie, female, fourteen years old, has been missing for three months. According to eyewitnesses, the area where she last appeared was haunted by ghouls.][Betty, female, sixteen years old, has been missing for a year, and there is no news yet. She is suspected to have been killed by a ghoul.][Jenny, female, seventeen years old, has been missing for a month. Her parents are anxiously waiting for her to come home. She is suspected to be related to ghouls.][Anna, female, fifteen years old, missing for three years...]
The girls on the notices have been missing for a long time or a short time, and the dates on the notices are new or old, but the disappearance of each girl has a greater or lesser relationship with the ghouls.
Shen Yu and the two put some scraps of paper in the book and took them away together.
When you come to the west of the town and look from a distance, you can see a three-story white villa located on the hillside.
The pure white walls are especially beautiful under the sunlight, and there is a garden on the first floor, where the flowers are in full bloom and fragrant.
The three girls who were trembling at first finally regained their strength when they saw this beautiful house. They all cheered and ran towards the villa excitedly.
"This house is so romantic! It's much better than the place that the crappy tour group took us to!" the girls cheered.
At the door, the two novelists who arrived one step ahead of them also came out at this time, looking at the group of them with complicated eyes.
"What are you doing with those three burdens?" the man whispered.
But the woman poked him quietly, stopped his next words, and greeted Shen Yu and the two with a smile: "My pen name is Zhang Keke, do you know me?"
This is a tall woman with muscular limbs and a shrewd face; the man beside her is rather thin.
The man saw that his companion was the first to show his affection, although he was unwilling, but in the end he said softly: "Pen name, Xie Junfei."
Then he raised his chin arrogantly: "Where's your two pen names?"
"Mints." Shen Yu blinked and said, but did not say Yue Ze's pen name.
Koshizawa didn't seem to have any intention of introducing himself.
At this time, the three girls squeezed in when they saw them talking: "Hello, my name is Lin Miaomiao, her name is Li Qingqing, and there is Wang Tongtong."
Zhang Keke and Xie Junfei didn't even bother to look at these novice audiences who couldn't provide them with benefits.
Only Shen Yu greeted them seriously: "Hello!"
The little girls were even more excited, and Li Qingqing, who was more cheerful and outgoing, jumped out and said, "Isn't that foreign grandfather looking for portraits? We just looked around the room and found several in one go!"
They excitedly asked Shen Yu to look at the portrait, but Xie Junfei who was at the side said impatiently, "How can it be so simple!"
"We have also seen these portraits. Portraits of many different people are hung in various rooms. It is obviously not that we want to find portraits."
Sure enough, as he said, probably because Bard was a painter before, the room was covered with portraits, almost all of which were portraits of different girls, and there were about a dozen of them in detail.
These young girls with different appearances are all equally radiant in the portraits. Without exception, they all look directly out of the frame, with sweet smiles, youthful and lively faces, and bright eyes, as if the people in the painting have come to life generally.
It's just that Yue Ze frowned slightly when he saw these portraits.
Shen Yu took off a picture frame in front of him and examined it carefully.
On the back of this painting, there is the artist's signature.
[Give me the perfect Alice-Bud.]
The girl in this painting is Alice
The person in the painting is a little girl wearing a water-blue skirt, with a ruddy complexion and long flaxen-colored hair thickly tied into a braid.
Shen Yu looked at it for a moment, then hung the portrait back to its original place, then walked into another room and took down the portrait hanging on the room.
This painting shows a tall and thin girl in a white linen dress, with black hair, a few freckles on her face, and blue eyes.
On the back of this portrait, there is also the artist's signature.
[Give me the perfect Alice-Bud.]
This girl's name is Alice too
Shen Yu frowned secretly, looked at several portraits one after another, and finally found a problem.
These girls with different appearances are obviously not the same person, but they are all called "Alice"!
And the dying old dog next to Bud seems to be named "Alice".
Perhaps the lover of the painter Bud when he was young was named Alice, so since then, he has been keen to name each of his works "Alice"
Just as he was thinking secretly, Xie Junfei and Zhang Keke also found him.
Zhang Keke put on a smiling face and asked, "Did you find any clues?"
Shen Yu pointed out the "Alice" behind the portrait to them, and then asked, "What about you? You are one step ahead of us. You should have seen the portrait first. Did you find anything?"
Zhang Keke's fingertips pressing on the black book trembled slightly, but it didn't show at all on his face, he just said regretfully: "It's a pity, we don't have such keen observation ability as you."
Shen Yu stared at her indifferently, and after a while, said lightly: "Really?"
Behind him, Yue Ze cast a cold glance at the two of them.
Zhang Keke's cold sweat broke down instantly!
The unknown person on the other side cast an indifferent gaze, but it was as sharp as a blade, almost suffocating.
This person must not be provoked!
Zhang Keke managed to squeeze out a smile, and while walking out, there was nothing to say in his mouth: "You guys are busy first, let's go to other places and have a look..."
While speaking, she also dragged away her companion who was still standing there stupidly and didn't feel anything.
At this moment, a scream suddenly came from the direction of the living room.
"What the hell—"