Almighty painter

Chapter 669: The Painting of Breaking Through the Realm (I)

『Time: 2023.6.26 dusk』

"Time remaining until departure of flight to Singapore: +99 hours, 17 minutes and 25 seconds"
-
The taxi stopped next to a bench at the intersection.

Fifty meters away, at the end of the road, is the main entrance of Xihe Guild Hall. Through the gate, the red brick and stone building in the Arts and Crafts style is faintly visible among the green lawns and the crown trees planted on both sides.

Between the iron gate and the main body of the building, a large field of yellow roses swayed in the light of the street lamps, with their stamens blooming, like clouds flowing low at the height of people's ankles.

Late June, early July.

It is the season when the late-blooming yellow roses are in full bloom.

Gu Weijing looked out the window.

After living in Yangon for so many years, this was the first time he had actually seen this extremely "mysterious" guild hall that was talked about in the local after-dinner gossip.

Say it is mysterious.

Because in half of the legends, this is a paradise built on earth, a real den of debauchery and extravagance. It is like the fairy caves that travelers encounter after getting lost in the mountains in Central Asian myths and legends.

The Golden Girls, singing and dancing, everything.

In those vivid word-of-mouth descriptions, it is described as if even the toilet paper next to the toilet was covered with gold foil.

And in the other half of the legend.

This is a devil's den built on the human world, a cave of demons that eat people without leaving any bones behind.

Three steps to a post, five steps to a sentry.

The smell of blood always lingers in the air, and at night you can hear the sound of ghosts crying in the wind and the barking of wild dogs.

It is said that if you dig a hole in the ground, you will find piles of dead bones.

These legends were also told vividly and eloquently, as if they would carry hoes and sneak over the wall into Brother Hao's back garden every night and carefully dig the ground.

and so.

Gu Weijing's previous imagination of Xihe Club was always strange, a strange combination of the big manor where Leonardo DiCaprio held a party in "The Great Gatsby", the toilet of a wealthy prince in the Middle East, the Spider Cave in "Journey to the West", and the "corpse farm" in detective dramas.

But when Gu Weijing really saw the appearance of Xihe Guild Hall... he had to say... it was very different from what he had expected.

we can even say.

They are two completely different things.

Gu Weijing neither saw the cool and impressive decoration as he had imagined, nor did he see the big golden characters "Xihe Guild Hall" on the gate of the manor.

Nor did he see the wild dog running past the flower bed with a dry bone in its mouth, wagging its tail.

None of those miraculous things that adults passed down existed.

It is neither a magnificent palace nor a spooky haunted house.

It's just weird...

Surprisingly simple and elegant.

It’s also surprisingly quiet.

All the buildings within sight are neatly constructed brick and stone structures, with the wooden eaves on the roofs exposed.

It is beautiful, but not unbridled ornate.

Gu Weijing was not sure whether there were pale human bones buried under the swaying rose fields in the distance, but at this moment, he sniffed carefully but could not smell any blood.

Only the pale yellow roses exude a light yellow fragrance.

The fragrance with a tranquil luster floats and floats, slowly blending into the deep blue night around it.

If the driver had not assured them that they had reached their destination, there would have been only one Xihe Hall in the whole of Yangon.

He would have thought they had come to a secluded park in the heart of the city.

"Sir, we can't stay here for long. Are you sure you want to come here? Do you want to get off?"

While Gu Weijing was lost in thought, the driver reminded him again.

His eyes quickly swept across the clubhouse at the end of the road with a hint of fear, and when he looked at the young man through the rearview mirror, his eyes also became wary.

The driver must have been wondering whether this surprisingly young-looking guy could really have any connection with that legendary place.

"Oh, sorry."

Gu Weijing pushed open the car door and got out carrying Awang.

hum~
As soon as he got out of the car, the driver didn't want to wait for even a second. He stepped on the accelerator, turned around quickly and drove away along the same road he came from.

As the taxi's engine sounded away, Gu Weijing truly felt for the first time that the place he was about to visit was not an ordinary city park.

He saw no visible boundaries.

There was no traffic sign prohibiting entry into private territory, no sentry post, no guards, let alone the big brother of the underworld who looked difficult to deal with. When Gu Weijing was at the door of Xihe Club, he didn't even see a guard like Dewei in a security uniform.

Even at night, the carved metal gate at the end of the street was wide open.

It seems to welcome all guests with openness.

Not to mention driving the car directly in, the taxi driver didn't even dare to turn the intersection and drop him off at the door of the guild hall.

It seemed as if he was afraid of disturbing the peace of something.

The elegant fragrance emanating from the manor seems like an invisible boundary that stretches across everyone's heart.

Let me tell you - if you don't belong here, please leave immediately.

The aroma certainly can’t drive away tourists.

What drives people away is power, or is it...

fear.

"Hello sir, I'm very sorry, how can I help you?"

Gu Weijing held Awang in his arms and walked along the deserted road under the shade of trees. He was just thinking about whether he should walk all the way to the lobby and ring the doorbell.

An old man in a dark suit and headphones with a Bluetooth microphone stopped him.

He kept staring at the gate of the guild hall in front of him and didn't notice where the other party came out from.

"Can I come in?"

Gu Weijing pointed to the gate in front.

"of course."

The old man did not show any contempt because Gu Weijing was too young, or because the "one thousand dollar branded suit" that old classmate Gu bought for his grandson did not look as good as the one worn by a concierge like him.

He continued with a smile.

"This is a private men's lunch club. Can I take a look at your invitation? Or can you tell me the name of the guest who has made an appointment to invite you? If you are not a member here and just want to apply to join the club." The old man took out a business card from his pocket and said, "You can send an application letter to this address, and someone will review it regularly..."

"I'm here to see Brother Hao."

Gu Weijing did not take the business card that was destined to be ignored. He asked softly.

"Or rather, it was Brother Hao who asked me out. I don't know his specific name... Is this okay?"

The old man put the business card back.

He didn't say yes or no.

From the other person's expression, it was impossible to tell whether he knew who Brother Hao was or not.

He took two steps back and spoke into the microphone on his ear.

Then he walked back to look at Jing.

"Please wait here for a moment. I need to check the appointment list."

After about five or six minutes, a car drove out from the iron gate at the rear. It was not the battery-powered cars used in tourist attractions, but a black luxury MPV concierge car.

"Mr. Gu, is that so? Welcome."

A blonde foreign concierge took over Gu Weijing's reception service from the old man. She opened the car door for Gu Weijing and made a gesture of invitation.

“It’s about a four-minute drive and you can get something to drink.”

Gu Weijing discovered that the area of ​​Xihe Guild Hall was much larger than he had imagined.

The red brick and stone buildings stretched for a long distance. The car was driving very fast on the internal road of the manor, and it covered a long distance in just a few minutes.

Woods, rockery and even a small lake kept passing by the car window.

at last.

The car stopped in front of a building that looked like the main building.

"There is a pet care room in the clubhouse, and there are people to take care of your pet 24 hours a day. Do you need to foster it? If it has any special needs in daily life, you can tell me."

The concierge looked at Awang and asked.

"No, it just follows me."

Gu Weijing refused.

"Then may I help you hold this little cutie?" She continued to smile.

Gu Weijing shook his head again.

"Okay, please follow me." The woman in the slit skirt pushed open the door of the building for Gu Weijing.

There were no rooms or halls behind the door, but a dark corridor. The concierge led the way, and Gu Weijing followed behind her, holding Awang.

The woman pushed the wall from time to time.

The wall slid open like a door, revealing another long corridor behind it.

Gu Weijing walked through the Xihe Guild Hall.

There were no windows in the corridor, and it was dim, with only a row of small lights dotted at foot height along the wall, illuminating the path beneath your feet.

It is hard to imagine without walking in that the interior of the seemingly simple and elegant red brick building actually has such complex internal passages.

The internal road just now and the corridor under his feet now, they all reminded Gu Weijing of a maze or a spider web.

If there hadn't been someone leading the way, he would probably have quickly lost himself in the complex of the guild hall, like a rat running around in panic.

But he knew.

Whether Xihe Hall is a maze or a spider web, he is rapidly approaching its core.

One step, two steps, three steps...the last quiet moment before the storm.

They seemed to have walked in the corridors for a long time, but it also seemed like only a moment, and the concierge stopped by a wall again.

She nudged the wall.

The door in the wall slid inward.

This time, what was revealed behind was not another corridor, but a room.

The woman opened the door for Gu Weijing, but she did not go in herself.

"Mr. Gu, this is it. I can't go in. Please wait inside. Mr. Gu just had a guest to meet and will be here soon."

Say it.

The concierge bowed deeply to Gu Weijing, and then disappeared into the corridor-like hallway.

Gu Weijing stepped over the threshold.

The space around them suddenly opened up. This seemed to be a simple and elegant study, with bright moonlight pouring in from the half-opened curtains.

Clear as water.

Gu Weijing seemed to be able to really hear the sound of water.

He walked over and drew aside the curtains.

Through the glass, you can see the river winding through the distant walls. The water flows slowly and peacefully, like a cold silk ribbon.

The window was pushed open a corner.

The sound of water and the swaying of leaves poured in through the gaps in the window.

Gu Weijing glanced at the furnishings in the study.

There is a walnut-colored desk, an oriental solid wood official hat chair, and a reclining chair with a curved base near the window. The most eye-catching thing is that there is a built-in Buddhist shrine on the inside of the room, which houses a golden four-faced Buddha.

It is the thing in the house that best fits the public's imagination of Brother Hao's identity.

With such a large golden sculpture placed here, the room becomes much brighter.

But this is not the golden sculpture.

The overall furnishings in the room are really simple.

No TV, no computer, no speakers.

The octopus-shaped telephone adapter in the center of the desk is the only modern furniture in the room that belongs to the 21st century.

There is a painting hanging on the wall.

The painting seems to be of a woman. The painter superimposed the facial features of the woman he saw from different angles on a flat surface.

Her eyebrows, her nose, her clothes, the hat on her forehead, all the elements were re-pieced, combined and overlapped by the creator in the drawing.

So when outsiders first see her, they will find her very abstract.

This is a typical Cubist painting feature.

"Bust of a Woman, Picasso, 1932"

(Note: The image is not the stolen Bust of a Woman.)
Gu Weijing recognized the work as one he had seen in a textbook. It was an oil painting Picasso created for his model and lover, Miss Dora Maar, who was 26 years younger than him.

Just 10 months after Picasso painted the famous "Guernica".

The painting passed through auction houses and art dealers, and its last public owner was a Middle Eastern oil tycoon before it was stolen in 1997.

It has never appeared in public since then and has become one of the many stolen works circulating on the underground black market. As early as the 90s, the estimated value of this painting was close to 3000 million euros.

Interpol once set up a special investigation team for it and tracked the whereabouts of the painting for twenty years.

Gu Weijing heard about it.

This "Bust of a Woman" has been circulated many times as an intermediary object in underground arms deals and smuggling trades.

did not expect.

Today he actually saw this painting here.

There is no need to activate calligraphy and painting appraisal techniques.

Good works have their own magic.

The moment he saw it, Gu Weijing knew that the painting on the wall in front of him was the original Picasso that had been missing for many years.

He put Awang on the table next to him and took a step back.

Anyway, Brother Hao hasn’t come yet.

Gu Weijing now has plenty of time to look at the office carefully.

It seemed that the owner of the office had just left for something.

The desk lamp was on, there was unfinished tea on the table, unburned incense sticks in front of the Buddhist shrine, and a book upside down on the desk.

Gu Weijing scanned the words on the book.

It is a book in Thai.

He didn't quite understand it, but judging from the cover, it should be a Hinayana Buddhist scripture. There was another book with a bookmark on the windowsill next to the recliner, "God Father" - The Godfather, Gu Weijing recognized the title of this book.

He took the book casually.

Turn to the bookmark.

"Tang made great efforts to open his eyes and took one last look at his son. The severe heart attack turned his red face into a livid color. He was already on his deathbed. He smelled the fragrance of the garden, and the yellow ball of light stung his eyes. He said calmly and softly: "Life is so beautiful."

"Vito Corleone is dead."

"He did not see the women's tears. He died before they returned from church, before the ambulance and the doctors arrived. He died surrounded by men, holding the hand of the son he loved most."

Gu Weijing shook his head and put the book back to its place.

This isn't really a normal lifestyle for a typical old gangster, is it?

He could imagine how the other party had spent his time in this office in recent days.

Read a book or Buddhist scripture on a recliner, listen to the sound of wind and rain outside the window, and drink tea.

Occasionally he might get up and light some incense in front of the shrine, sniffing the cigarettes and looking at Picasso's famous paintings.

It is really difficult to define a person's true self by how he lives his life.

Just thinking about these things, you would think that Brother Hao is like a university professor, but in fact, he is a gangster tycoon with blood on his hands.

If you look carefully, in addition to the books on the windowsill, the golden Buddha next to it, and the paintings on the wall, there are some quite interesting things in the room - such as a bookshelf on one side.

The bookcase is filled with neatly arranged manuscripts, but the top shelf is empty.

There are no books.

In its place was an old-fashioned fixed-focus photographic lens.

The lens was signed with black marker - "F.F. Coppola, 1972", which is the abbreviation of the name of the great director Francis Ford Coppola.

Gu Weijing guessed that this should be the camera lens used in the filming of "The Godfather". In the circle of old movie prop collectors, it can be regarded as a sacred object.

but.

Gu Weijing's attention was not on this precious camera lens.

He reached out, opened the bookcase door, and took out a photo frame next to the lens.

It was probably taken during a Water-Splashing Festival many years ago. In the photo, Brother Hao was burning incense in front of the Shwedagon Pagoda.

"I didn't expect you to come back. This time we met earlier than I originally expected."

Gu Weijing stared at the photo.

The man's slightly hoarse voice suddenly came from behind him.

"I thought you would take other approaches. One million is not an unacceptable number, or... just give up Gu Lin." said the voice.

"So-called family affection is just the first chip on the table when people are turning into non-humans. That's what you said, isn't it?"

Gu Weijing replied in a low voice.

He didn't turn his head to look at Brother Hao who walked out the door, still looking at the photo in his hand.

"This incident happened because of me, so I have to save her. This is my responsibility."

"Besides, I'm very lucky. From childhood to adulthood, I've met people who love me. Mrs. Sakai knew it was troublesome, but she still wanted to help me, including Uncle Sakai and even Aunt. Giving up is the easiest thing. Mrs. Sakai could have given up on me just like I gave up on Gu Lin. Aunt could have also forced me there, but she didn't...none of them."

"She made me realize that human nature is not just about begging, coercion and threats. Maybe they are one side of human nature, but that's not all. There is also love, warmth and family affection."

Gu Weijing took a deep breath, "I can let Gu Lin die, or I can completely sever ties with her. It's all fine. I have...really considered it, but before that...I think I should give it a try first--"

"I love her."

Gu Weijing pulled the corner of his mouth and smiled, "Even if we take a step back."

"I don't know what Gu Lin will choose in the future, that's her business, but I can choose to be myself now, that's my business. Just like you said, no matter what the outcome is in the future, I want to be myself, so I don't regret it."

The man behind him said nothing.

He seemed to be thinking.

So, there was a long silence.

"And you?"

This time, Gu Weijing did not let the quiet atmosphere in the room continue. He took the lead in breaking the silence and asked.

"I?"

"What should I call you? Should I still call you Brother Hao? I once heard Uncle Alai say that your name is Dahuo. Is that your real name, or -"

"It's all fine. It doesn't matter which one is my real name and which one is a pseudonym, they are all my names. I grew up in the countryside, and my parents named me Dahuo, saying that it was like the bright stars in the night sky, which could bring the light of happiness. Later, my brothers in the underworld showed their love for me and called me Brother Hao."

"A few years ago, I felt it was time to change my appearance. The fortune teller told me that my five elements are mainly fire, and wood produces fire. The more wood, the stronger the fire. So the name should be based on wood."

The man smiled and explained.

"So from that day on, my name on my passport became..."

"Chen Shenglin."

The character “陈”, composed of the characters “木” and “木”, represents the stars in the sky in ancient Chinese characters, while the original form of the character “东” is “木”.

Gu Weijing nodded.

He put the photo frame back on the table.

The man holding the fragrance in the photo is thin, with fair skin, light eyebrows, a high nose bridge, and a pair of small gold-rimmed glasses on the tip of his nose. He looks very literary.

Although his appearance has changed slightly over the years.

Gu Weijing finally recognized the person in the photo - it was indeed Chen Shenglin, Boss Chen without a doubt.

"You're not as surprised as I thought you were?"

"What should I do? Make an unbelievable fuss?" Gu Weijing asked back.

He turned sideways and looked at Brother Hao or Chen Shenglin's face.

"I was a little surprised, but more disappointed. I was still expecting and looking forward to meeting you in the corridor before I walked in. But it wasn't you who I met."

"Did you guess it?"

"A little bit. I once went back to Miss Koko's house with her. Thinking back, I always felt that the conversation that night was a little strange."

Gu Weijing always remembered what Koko's father said to him that night when he held the wine glass.

He reminisced for a long time.

Only then did I realize where this strange feeling came from.

Of course, those words could be understood only as his love for his daughter, but... Gu Weijing realized that there was a deep fear hidden in the eyes of Officer Dan when he looked at him.

The other party is afraid of me.

It's just that he ignored this point at that time.

Normally speaking.

There was no reason for the other party to be so afraid of him.

(End of this chapter)