Paintings of Terror

Chapter 180: Yu Beiguo

Xiao Qinxian’s entire figure looked like she’d just came out of the deep sea. Her body was soaked with sweat, and her mushroom hairstyle had lost its fluffiness and was clinging wetly to her head.

Although they had already left the old woman, she could not shake the feeling that the woman’s terrifying red-eye was still fixed on her body.

The taxi drove slowly on the way back, and Xiao Qinxian was sitting in the back row by the window, leaning in a collapsed state against Wei Dong.

Wei Dong could only help her by allowing her to lean on his body.

“I was born weak, and I was often followed by things when I was a child. My family had to invite a priestess practically every day to see me, and she said that my bones are just too light and that makes it easy for me to be caught.” Xiao Qinxian stared blankly at the unfamiliar street outside the window. “Once I got older, I became much better, and nothing happened anymore. But because I am still afraid, I would often wear something to ward off evil spirits.”

Sitting in the passenger seat, Ke Xun stuffed the map into his bag. The old woman had seen that it was impossible to divide the beast, and so she had insisted on telling their fortunes instead. She had even said that she wanted to exorcize Xiao Qinxian. In the end, Ke Xun spent 10 yuan to purchase a map, and so the old woman reluctantly gave up.

Xiao Qinxian’s eyelids drooped silently, but she wasn’t blinking, making people wonder what she was focusing on. “My father thinks my birth characters are unlucky and always wanted to give me away, but my mother had insisted on keeping me.”

“How is it reasonable to give away one’s own flesh and blood simply because of bad birth characters?” Wei Dong couldn’t understand.

Xiao Qinxian squinted and smiled. “I have a sister. My sister was very lucky. The year she was born, my father’s business made a fortune, my mother was promoted in her unit, and we received a lot of money for the demolition of our old house. But I was different. The year I was born, my father’s business went down. My uncle sued my father in court for the inheritance my grandfather left them. Yes, my father directly called me the death star.”

“On the other hand, not only was my sister lucky, she was an academic genius. She was very good at sports. She was good everywhere. She also looked very good. Although people had said that we sisters looked alike, not everyone with similar facial features would have the same beauty. Sometimes, the subtle differences were like heaven and earth. My sister was a big beauty, and I am just an ordinary person.”

“My grandfather was an artist, so our family had genes in this regard, especially my sister. She was admitted to the best art academy in the country, and she was mentored by many well-known painters. She had a very good personality, was sunny and enthusiastic, and had very high emotional intelligence. No one could imagine that she suffered from depression, and that it was so serious. She committed suicide at the age of 25 by jumping off a building.”

“I can’t believe that her soul is in my body. How could her soul with such a high IQ and EQ choose an ordinary body like mine?” Xiao Qinxian let out an uncomfortable laugh.

The car was unusually quiet, including the taxi driver who was staring with raised eyebrows.

After a long while, Qin Ci broke the silence. “How do you know it’s her? What if it’s someone else?”

“She has Type O blood, and there’s a red tear mole under her eye.” Xiao Qinxian touched the underside of her eye, where there appeared to be a tear mole. “The person Luo Wei saw was her, not me.”

Wei Dong couldn’t help but say, “But Luo Wei’s eyes could only see the beast, right? Then what’s with the red tear mole? Shouldn’t the beast be on the forehead?”

No one could provide the correct answer to this question, and Qin Ci could only make a guess. “Maybe Luo Wei can not only see the mark of the beast, but also the soul of the beast. We can hypothesize that there are two souls in Xiao Qinxian’s body, and when one is awake, the other is asleep. During the day, Xiao Qinxian is awake, and at night, the sister is awake. Whenever a soul is awake, the body will show a state that corresponds to that of the soul.”

If this was the case, it would explain Xiao Qinxian’s night smoking addiction as well as the various marks on her body in the early morning.

“It’s not just day and night. As long as there is no sun, she will come out to move. I am not completely unaware. It’s like a shallow dream, with some impressions and memories, but it is not profound and cannot be dominated.” Xiao Qinxian looked at her hands and used her right index finger to draw an invisible pigeon on the car window. “This is the current me. My aura is different from her’s.”

“Do you still remember the wedding dress I designed for Chi Lei? At the time, I thought Chi Lei had appeared and used my hands to design a style of wedding dress completely different from something I myself would create. Now that I think about it, it was my sister who drew it.”

“But it was afternoon, wasn’t it?” Wei Dong asked.

“It was indeed in the afternoon, but there was no sun at the time.”

They all suddenly recalled that, at the time, a storm had struck and turned day to night in an instant. In that darkness, Xiao Qinxian and her sister must have replaced each other, and so her sister became the master of her body.

However, once the light returned, Xiao Qinxian regained her body once again.

“Does your sister know Yu Beiguo?” Ke Xun turned his head and asked.

“I don’t know.” Xiao Qinxian’s voice was low. “I went to that art gallery because I knew that my sister’s painting would be exhibited that day. Since it was dark, maybe it was she who wanted to see that painting.”

“Have you seen her painting?” Wei Dong asked.

Xiao Qinxian was still leaning on Wei Dong, not feeling a sense of inappropriateness at all. “You saw it and you even said that you drew better than her.”

“Huh? Did that really happen?”

“You were pointing to a wedding dress my sister had painted when she was 7 years old, and you said that when you were 7 years old, you could paint much better than that.”

Wei Dong thought about it. “I remembered. It was a pencil drawing…No, the name of the painter is Xiao Qinxian, right? That’s obviously you.”

Xiao Qinxian silently smiled. “Xiao Qinxian is my sister’s name. I wasn’t called this when I was a child.”

Everyone was a little surprised.

“Before my sister died, she worked as a wedding dress designer in the most famous international wedding dress shop in S City. Her death was so sudden that it took everyone by surprise. Of course, it would also bring a lot of unpredictable losses to the wedding dress shop. Therefore, the person in charge of the wedding dress shop asked me to replace my sister. I had also studied wedding dress design, and although I could not compare to a genius like my sister, my grades weren’t bad. Therefore, I replaced Xiao Qinxian and worked there. We both worked in the wedding shop, we looked a bit alike, and my sister disliked taking pictures, so this incident didn’t arouse any suspicion at all.”

“In order to settle this matter, I even changed the name on my ID card to match.”

When everyone heard this, they didn’t know what to say.

The taxi driver suddenly said, “Some ghosts only recognize names. You’re even using her name, so she naturally thinks your body is hers. But, if you can make a lot of money working in that international wedding dress shop, then being surrounded by ghosts is nothing.”

“Your sister really doesn’t know Yu Beiguo?”

Then she must know Su Benxin. Otherwise, how could Su Benxin get ahold of the painting she’d done when she was 7 years old? Ke Xun always felt that going around in such a big circle would not be in vain. This matter must have something to do with Yu Beiguo.

The taxi driver suddenly spoke again, “What did you say about Yu Beiguo? Why does this name sound so familiar? Which Yu is that surname you speak of?”

Wei Dong answered first, “The top part is rain and the bottom part is deficiency.”

The driver became distracted and nearly collided with the car next to him, so he slammed on the brakes and then slowly turned to the roadside safety zone.

After parking, the driver felt everyone’s look of anticipation.

“Master driver, do you know Yu Beiguo?” Qin Ci asked seriously.

The driver scratched his head. “I just think the name sounds very familiar, especially the character Yu…I have definitely seen this name somewhere..Where is it?…These three big characters are quite eye-catching, especially the Yu character. The writing is also particularly artistic.”

The others seemed to hear the sound of their own blood flowing, and they couldn’t believe that the answer was right in front of them.

“Master, think about it carefully. This Yu Beiguo is very important to us! Please help and think about it!” Wei Dong wanted to hug the driver across the seat at that very moment.

The driver also had some difficulties. “This name is so familiar, I must have seen these three characters somewhere. But I just can’t recall where. I really can’t remember.”

Ke Xun was also anxious. “Since you feel it’s familiar, think about it. If you can’t recall, it’s certainly not someone who is your relative or your friend…Is this Yu Beiguo a celebrity in this city? Is that why you find the name familiar?”

“Actually, it could be regarded as me not being too familiar with it. It’s just that I have seen these three characters somewhere.” The more the driver said, the more the other people’s eyes brightened. Therefore, he could only anxiously try to recall.

Qin Ci searched for something that might trigger his memory. “Since you’ve read these characters somewhere, maybe you’ve seen them in the newspaper, in a book, or on TV? Is it possible that it’s on a billboard? Or…”

“Not those places. I’m not familiar with this name, but I’ve definitely seen it somewhere before, and it’s in a very conspicuous place…” The driver thought for a while, frowning. Finally, he could only give up. “I’m sorry, I really can’t remember.”

Qin Ci looked at the time and could only say to the driver, “Master, let’s exchange contact info. You can call if you remember something, and we will check with you if we have clues.”

“Okay, I’ll think about it and tell you if I remember.”

The police and the doctor badges on some of their chests were still very useful, allowing them to become easily trusted.

Since the car wasn’t far from the hospital, they got out of the car and opted to walk the rest of the way on foot.

Xiao Qinxian’s legs were still soft, so Qin Ci took the initiative to support her. “Have you really thought about it? I’m not sure about actually removing a beast from a living person.”

“I’ve figured it out.” Xiao Qinxian’s eyes were filled with desperation. “If I hadn’t known about this, it would have been fine. But now that I know, I realize that it won’t be long before the beast wants to come out. Maybe, it might even come out tonight. It’s better to believe in your medical skills than to believe in luck.”