Third-rate Thriller Novelist

Chapter 20… The Lost Portrait (4)

Shen Yu left from the door of the room.

Yue Ze asked, “How is it?”

Shen Yu sneered, “They deliberately fooled us ! So I thought I’d better leave, otherwise some people will worry that we will rush to eat their share!”

Yue Ze calmly patted his back, “It’s good to get used to it. You will often encounter such people in the story in the future.”

Because Xie Junfei and Zhang Keke have been hiding in the room, Shen Yu decided to look for clues in the villa first.

After thinking about it, the most suspicious thing is the wall in the living room on the first floor.

The three girls were frightened yesterday, and they kept crying today, saying that someone was scratching their sleeping bed last night, and it must have been the ghouls!

So, they didn’t even dare to stay in the room, and continued to hug and shiver on the first floor.

The mold faces on the wall were still scary. The girls didn’t dare to look at them. They closed their eyes and squeezed together into a ball. They accidentally knocked the decorations on the table in the living room to the ground.

The elegant decorations smashed all over the floor, and many fragile ceramic works were broken directly.

Shen Yu sighed silently, without blaming the scared girls, he knelt down and picked up the decorations one by one.

The girls were too embarrassed to see that they caused trouble, and started to help pick them up with shame on their faces.

Wang Tongtong, who is introverted, suddenly said as she picked up a music box , “Hey, this music box is so cute!”. Most of the knocked-over accessories were exquisite in appearance and tasteful, only the music box in her hand looks a bit old, rough craftsmanship, and vulgar taste, as if bought at random on a street stall, incompatible with other decorations.

But the shape of this music box is somewhat immature and cute, no wonder it attracts the attention of young girls.

Wang Tongtong turned the handle of the music box curiously, and a burst of out-of-tune piano music came from inside.

Shen Yu heard that the music played was “To Alice”.

But the music box only played such a piece of tune back and forth , it is too monotonous, and because of disrepair for a long time, the sound has long been out of tune.

After playing for a while, Wang Tongtong lost interest and put the music box back.

Shen Yu took the music box in his hand and continued to shake the handle.

When the song “To Alice” finished playing, the lid of the box opened with a snap, and the two wooden figures hidden in the box rose up under the push of a simple mechanism, swinging in the music box, and kissing each other.

A piece of paper hidden in the music box also rose up along with it, and fell to the ground lightly.

Shen Yu picked up the paper, opened it, and other people surrounded it curiously.

There is a poem written on the paper:

His eyes are filled with a thousand stars

In the unseen depths of the universe

Where even surveillance satellites can’t reach

The softness of the invisible

I have sunk into it

A kiss of salvation

Fate brought us together

Happiness so unimaginable

A sweet sway that cannot be escaped

Aah! God, thank you for letting me meet him.

The girls saw it and couldn’t help laughing at each other: “Haha, it’s a love poem!”

“Who wrote it and why is it hidden in a music box?”

“This love poem is so sour! It’s worse than my writing, and there’s no rhythm. ”

Shen Yu looked directly at the signature at the end of the love poem .

[Emily, to my dear Bard. ]

Was that a lover of Bard when he was young? Or a simple admirer?

What is the relationship between Emily and Alice?

After an episode of the music box, the girls who were originally panicked relaxed a little again, and after returning the overturned decorations to their place, they went away happily.

Only Shen Yu was still frowning at this crooked love poem.

If it is a love poem written by a girl and given to a man she likes, then why hide it in a music box?

He was silent for a while, and suddenly a bright light flashed in his mind, raising his hand to cover most of the love poem, leaving only the first word at the beginning of each line.

[He is watching me, help, run away] 1

This is a hidden poem.

Shen Yu’s eyes trembled slightly, then put down his palms, turned his head and said, “I think we have to find the’affectionate’ Mr. Bard.”

Yue Ze, who had been silent behind him, agreed .

This story is mainly for Shen Yu’s tempering, so since entering the novel, Yue Ze seldom speaks actively.

The two of them passed through the town again and came to the lakeside cottage on the east side. The town was still quiet, not even a single person could be seen.

Mr. Bard was planting flowers by the lake, and the big black dog was lying at his feet, still dying, as if already dead.

When they went, Bard was having a tantrum at a rose, “I want perfection, perfection! God—is there nothing perfect in this world? Even a flower grows so ugly! ”

The rose in front of him, the branch accidentally grew crooked, the leaves were also infected with insects, and one of the flowers was wilted.

He grabbed the gardening shears angrily, “Let me fix it for you, and remove the imperfections.” He cut off the yellow insect-producing leaves, and slammed down the stubborn flower braches , so that the crooked branches were just fine. Cut it off directly… He even cut off the natural thorns of the rose itself.

After he vented and trimmed the bunch of roses to the “perfect” shape in his heart, Bard panted and put down the scissors, and sorted out his appearance with satisfaction.

He once again became the old man and handsome artist.

Shen Yu stepped forward cautiously at this time: “Mr. Bard, excuse me.”

“Oh, it’s you!” Bard looked over kindly, “Respectable Mr. Detective, have you found the portrait of Alice?”

Shen Yu took out the paper: “I’m sorry, Mr. Bard, Although I didn’t find the portrait for the time being, I found Emily’s love poem.”

“Do you know Emily?”

“God! It’s my lovely and kind Emily. She wrote this poem to me. I thought that I had lost it a long time ago. I didn’t expect you to send it back to me again!”

Bard said with emotion. He took the paper with love poems, folded the fragile pieces of paper carefully, and placed them solemnly in front of his chest, with excitement in his wet eyes.

Shen Yu observed his expression, “I thought your lover was called Alice?”

“Alice, of course it is Alice! There is always only one perfect love in my heart.” He explained, “But before I find the true love Alice , I have had several love experiences, but unfortunately in the end those girls all left me.”

Shen Yu, “…”

When you were young, you were still a lover!

Perhaps it was a lost and recovered love poem, recalling the fond memories of Bard’s youth. He missed it and said, “Emily was so kind, she is the first girlfriend in my life.”

“She was always so optimistic. She was a devout believer who went to church once a week and always kindly helped others…”

“Unfortunately, since the appearance of the ghoul, she had been under more and more pressure, and her spirit was getting worse and worse. ”

” I tried to stop her, but it didn’t work. She eventually bit her wrist and liberated herself, leaving me alone in this world, unable to go to heaven to meet her.”

Recalling this, Bard couldn’t help but burst into tears, and his mood fell, “Sorry, Mr. Detective, I need some time to be quiet.”

He dragged his barely immobile old dog and returned to the cottage by the lake again.

Shen Yu shouted behind him, “Mr. Bard, I have one last question.”

“Where was kind-hearted Emily buried after she died?”

Bard’s voice came from a distance in the wooden house, “It’s in the cemetery next to my house, where all my lovers are buried!” After the question was asked, the other party stopped answering, and Shen Yu and Yue Ze set off to return.

But instead of returning to the villa, they went straight to the cemetery.

Many trees are planted in the cemetery. Under the cover of the branches and leaves of these trees, even in the daytime, the light in the cemetery is very weak, adding a somewhat gloomy atmosphere for no reason.

Most of the townspeople who died were buried here. Famous and unknown cross tombstones filled the land.

In the corner of the cemetery, closest to his house, a heavy cross tombstone was erected with inscriptions on it.

[Here are all Bard’s love and dreams. ]

There is no name of the deceased on the tombstone, nor the date of death of the deceased.

Shen Yu suspected that there was even more than one deceased buried in this tomb.

Just as Bard said before, the kind and beautiful Emily was a devout believer, and finally committed suicide due to excessive mental stress.

But looking at the crosses in the cemetery, Emily is obviously a Christian.

According to Christian doctrine, people who commit suicide cannot go to heaven.

So, why did Emily, a devout believer, choose to commit suicide in the end? Or is it a painful way of death by biting one’s wrist alive?

Did she really collapse and commit suicide, or… had to commit suicide?

They stood in the tomb for a long time, until the sky gradually darkened, Yue Ze reminded, “It’s time to go back to the room.” The two went back to the villa in silence.

Uncharacteristically, he stumbled and stumbled. When he took off his jacket, his elbow even accidentally touched the picture on the wall.

Not only did he not pick up the portrait again, but instead threw the coat he took off casually, just throwing it on the fallen portrait, covering the eyes of the portrait.

“It’s annoying to look for Alice every day!” He said loudly, as if to someone, but he pulled Shen Yu to his side.

He spread out his book and wrote on it: The portrait is watching us, through the girl’s eyes.

Shen Yu was taken aback for a moment, and suddenly remembered that love poem.

He is watching me, help, run away.

This is the kind Emily, the last warning for others.

He also wrote in the book: In addition to the monitor, did Bard install a hearing device in the room?

Yue Ze wrote: Yes, the mini-monitor is installed in the eyes of the portrait, and the listening device is installed in the ears of the portrait.

He works in relevant departments and has many years of experience and keen senses for machinery such as surveillance and eavesdropping devices .

Since staying in the villa on the first day, he instinctively disliked the portraits hanging on the wall, and disliked the eyes of the portraits. He always felt that he was being stared at by a living person.

It wasn’t until today that he found Emily’s love poem, Yue Ze was really sure that after they entered the villa, their every move was monitored by Bard.

Shen Yu also wrote: Do you want to destroy the surveillance in the portrait?

Yue Ze: Not for the time being. If the surveillance is destroyed, Bard must notice it.

Now Bard must have a problem, but if they easily reveal their cards, he’s afraid that the other party will become angry , and eventually they will die.

……

Just when Shen Yu and Yue Ze discovered the surveillance, Xie Junfei and brother were not idle either.

In order to occupy the room and keep the secret from being discovered by others, the two of them have not walked out of the room for a whole day, and even the food is eaten in the room.

The two of them stared closely at the extra small window.

“Is the method you said really feasible?” Zhang Keke asked uneasily, “Is this the portrait of Alice Bard wanted?”

Xie Junfei answered, “Of course, we searched the entire room. Only this portrait was hidden. It must be the lost portrait!”

Zhang Keke was persuaded and continued to stare at the small window.

When the light outside the window gradually dimmed, the night gradually enveloped the earth, and the two people’s hearts almost came to their throats.

See it!

Sure enough, there is a gloomy and terrifying woman with blood dripping from her face and wrists, coming from the direction of the cemetery, floating silently to the second floor, her hands wearing jewel rings on the window frame, her turbid eyes staring at the people in the house.

Xie Junfei looked tense, took out some props talisman paper from his book, and then cautiously approached the woman outside the window, Zhang Keke was behind him to cover him.

But the woman outside the window did not move.

Xie Junfei’s courage gradually grew, and he reached out his hand and gently touched the window frame.

With a “plop”, the window frame turned into a picture frame and fell off the wall.

The woman lying outside the window turned into a painting after it fell.

“I knew, this is definitely the hidden portrait!” Xie Junfei was overjoyed and picked up the portrait. “While everyone else is still sleeping, let’s take the portrait for business.”

Zhang Keke, who has been holding her heart finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But no one noticed that the expression of the horrible woman in the portrait changed slightly, and the muddy eyes were full of regret, as if tears were oozing out.

The two of them sneaked out of the villa under the cover of night.

The small town in the dark night is still quiet, not even a single figure can be seen, there is not even a street lamp, and it is completely dark.

But Xie Junfei and the two felt for no reason, as if they had countless pairs of eyes, quietly staring at them.

The two shivered slightly, hurriedly speeded up their pace, and under the hazy moonlight, they came to the lakeside cottage on the east side of the town.

To their surprise, Bard didn’t even sleep at this time.

The big black dog that frightened everyone was lying limp on the ground, motionless, while Bard was squatting next to the big dog, moving his hands.

After the two approached, they discovered that he was actually peeling off the dirty fur on the big dog.

Seeing the two people holding the painting, Bard paused the movement of his hands and slowly said: “Unfortunately, Alice is ill, and her body is too weak, and finally left me.”

“I have raised it for a long time, it’s time to say goodbye.”

Having said that, there was no grief in his tone at all.

Zhang Keke noticed that the old man in front of them was in an abnormal state today. She felt a little uneasy and couldn’t help taking two steps back.

But Xie Junfei couldn’t perceive the weird atmosphere at this time, and wanted to leave more and more urgently, and immediately passed the portrait in his arms.

“This is the portrait you want. We have completed the task.”

Bard took care to wipe the blood from his hands and smiled at the woman in the portrait.

“No, this is not Alice.”

“Emily, long time no see, you are still so kind…and stupid! Do you want to warn these idiot detectives?” He greeted the portrait happily.

What is surprising is that the woman in the portrait really moved.

Emily, with blood on her wrists and cheeks, lowered her head in pain, and covered her eyes with her hands.

“What is it?”

Xie Junfei was startled when he saw the person in the painting actually moved, and immediately threw the portrait in his hand far away.

But Bard in front of them became more excited, “You said she is Alice? What kind of Alice is she, too short, short fingers, ugly hair, long spots on the face…none of them are perfect! Alice, my beloved Alice! She is the most perfect woman in this world!!”

He yelled, his face flushed, his expression became more and more crazy, and his thin figure twitched vaguely.

Seeing that something was going wrong, Zhang Keke immediately pulled Xie Junfe, “Stupid, why are you standing there doing nothing , run!”

“Sister, we both have skills and props. Even if the characters in the book go crazy, we have the power to fight…”

“Idiot! Shut up! Run— ” Zhang Keke kicked the opponent’s ass hatefully, then turned around and ran away panicked.

She has a hunch, an ominous hunch.

She heard the screams of her companions behind her, and a sharp…

dog bark.