Old-time musicians

In the empty guidance hall, three black figures illuminated by lanterns looked at each other for a few seconds.

Joan was the first to speak, her soft voice echoing in the dimness: "Carolon, is your bathroom blocked?"

"It's not that I haven't had this suspicion. Maybe it's a dead rat in a corner."

Fan Ning said, holding up a lantern and leading the way to the activity hall on the short side of the "L" shape on the first floor: "But it's a bit strange... When I came here more than half a year ago, there didn't seem to be such an obvious stench..."

"You mean this unpleasant smell has suddenly become stronger in the past six months?...Hey, wait for me." Qiong quickly followed the two people in front.

Fan Ning's "Zhu" spirit felt much stronger than the other two, and he was more familiar with this place. At this time, while exploring the way in front, he explained the original functional layout of each floor of the museum to the two people behind.

Although in this case, the environment was more terrifying than last time, his expression at the moment was quite relaxed.

It's just an art museum that has been in disrepair. Last time I came here alone, nothing happened. This time there are three knowledgeable people.

This event hall used to be mainly used for auctions, conferences or some small performances. It can accommodate about two hundred guests. Now the auditorium is covered with a thick layer of dust. When walking through it, it is obvious that the skin will encounter spider webs from time to time. Feel.

A few people circled the hall twice in the darkness, but found nothing strange.

"This place is suitable to be used as a chamber music hall in the future, but it is only small at best. I'm afraid the symphony cannot be performed here." Qiong held a lantern, stood on the empty stage, and commented while looking at the two people below.

"I have never thought of building a symphony hall here, it is too unrealistic." Fan Ning responded, "Even if it is converted into a chamber music hall, more aisles and cast and crew lounges will be needed behind the stage. In terms of cost, It’s not cost-effective. My idea here is to maintain the design of the event hall and build a rehearsal hall and recording studio on the first floor directly below..."

He continued to think about himself: "Well, in the first stage, the orchestra's official performances are mainly invited to major concert halls, and a separate building will be built on the short side of the L-shape that is connected to it...Besides this For external expansion, my financial ability and risk resistance must be taken into consideration..."

"Caron, does your art museum have a telephone?" Joan suddenly asked an incomprehensible question.

"What do you mean?" Fan Ning asked in surprise.

"Why do I feel like I heard a phone ringing upstairs..." Qiong tilted her head in confusion.

"...Can you stop scaring me by being a fool?" Even though Fan Ning was already a fifth-level knowledgeable person, he couldn't help but swing the lantern in his hand a few times and glanced at the dark door of the event hall. .

He thought that when he checked his father's office on the second floor, there was indeed a phone box on the table, but the wire had been broken on the ground, and he had stepped on it.

Fan Ning closed his eyes and listened carefully for a few seconds in surprise, and then said: "Where is the sound of the phone upstairs? Joan, did you hear it wrong? In an environment that is too quiet, people may be confused by some people around them. The noise floor is too sensitive.”

"Caron, it seems like it really happened. I'm not sure if I heard it too." Sheeran spoke at this time.

The three of them couldn't help but get closer.

This moment really made Fan Ning look nervous. It wasn't that he was afraid of some kind of ghosts and monsters. In this world of mysticism, if there were any evil spirits in this art museum, it would be within the acceptable range. …

He was purely cautious. The system of this world is too chaotic. Every time he experienced several battles, he encountered factors beyond his expectations. And the knowledgeable people who often come in and out of the mysterious field may die when they die. More inexplicable than ordinary people.

This art museum had hidden many secrets before, and Fan Ning was very worried that an existence that no one could understand would suddenly appear somewhere.

After listening carefully for about ten seconds again, Fan Ning still shook his head in confusion: "I really didn't hear anything. As you know, my Candle Awareness is much stronger than yours."

Xilan said: "The sound was vague and intermittent. I really heard it just now, but it seemed different from what Qiong said. Now I hear nothing..."

Qiong also said at this time: "It's not necessarily the sound of the phone, it can only be said to be similar to a sharper ringing sound...and it's not necessarily upstairs. I just asked you like that in my first reaction. How do people feel about it?" Without external stimulation, it is easy to change the way of description when listening repeatedly..."

Her tone gradually became less confident as she spoke: "Caron's spiritual sense is so strong that he didn't even hear it. Maybe we are hallucinating..."

"I heard a small piece again!" Sheeran was sure this time. "Joan's later description was more accurate. It was a sharper sound, but it was too weak. It was much weaker than the violin at the beginning of Carolyn's symphony. The high A is still weak”

"But I think the direction seems not to be upstairs, but to the far end of the other side of this floor...it's gone again."

"The other far side? Mobile exhibition hall?" Fan Ning suddenly looked serious.

He remembered that when he came to the art museum half a year ago, this was the direction he went in the first place.

As he walked, he felt that the stench was getting stronger and stronger, and his heart gradually became hairy. Later, the blocked path gave him a reason to retreat and change sides.

"Go and have a look over there, everyone, be careful." Fan Ning took out the baton from his lapel and led the way out of the door of the event hall, his spiritual sense already in full force.

Sheeran followed after skillfully pulling out a military automatic pistol. She had done a lot of shooting exercises in the past few months according to Fanning's instructions. As for Joan... she had tried Fanning's suggestions, but judging from the training results, her talent had nothing to do with shooting.

In the narrow and dim gallery, the three of them walked slowly in a line.

The smell of rottenness mixed with the musty smell was getting stronger and stronger.

Fanning held the baton and slowly led the way. Joan was in the middle, and Sheeran stepped back with a gun, staring at the darkness behind.

It must be said that in this environment, the back was as uneasy as the front. The three people walked like this, giving each other a lot of psychological support.

"Did you hear anything else?" Fanning asked once during the period.

"I haven't heard it since I left the activity hall." Both of them said so.

The walls on both sides were empty. As before, there were occasionally some graffiti that had not been cleaned up, or winding water-like stains that entered the light circle of the lanterns held by the crowd.

After turning the corner of the corridor and coming to a place with a wider view, the two girls turned back and showed the same dumbfounded expression as Fanning before.

Under the dim light of the lantern, the field of vision was filled with easels, picture frames, tables and benches, as well as dismantled doors and windows, and plaster bodies stuffed in the gaps: portraits, geometric figures, fruit models, and facial models that were a little taller than Fanning.

"Joan, can your first light of understanding control these things to move them away?" Fanning asked.

"They are too different and independent, and it is a bit difficult to define them as wounds, but I can try. The three of us stand together and walk along the wall."

Fanning walked to the wall and propped up a slanted wooden door. Under Joan's control, the scattered small objects slid into the gap on the other side. Several people squeezed in, and continued to prop up the tables and windows in a mess in the uncomfortable stench.

The open space gradually closed, and the three people followed the wall and entered the narrow corridor again.

Then everyone found that there were far more debris than they thought. The three of them were struggling to hold on. They had stumbled out nearly 20 meters away, but there was still no end.

After a while, several people leaned against the wall and rested for a while surrounded by debris on three sides. Their arms were still supporting several key points to prevent large objects from falling down.

Fanning's spiritual sense probed along the gap, and it might take more than 20 meters to reach the end of the pile.

"Carlon, this is really quite inspiration-consuming. What's going on? Is this your warehouse? Did you pile up the things?" Joan asked breathlessly.

"I really don't know." Fanning looked helpless. "This direction is a mobile exhibition hall serving freelance artists. I don't understand why so many debris are piled up in the end. This is probably all the easels, doors and windows, tables and chairs, and sketching props in the entire art gallery."

He couldn't help but have a strange thought: the Special Patrol Office had previously sneaked into the art gallery and searched away the Yin Lie fragments. Have they been here?

Logically speaking, if there is something hidden in this direction, the pile of debris in the corridor that is more than one person tall and more than 40 meters long cannot stop them. On the contrary, it may make the Special Patrol Office pay attention to this area first.

If they know that there is a piece of gold hidden on the opposite side, ordinary people can also make up their minds and spend some time to take it away. At best, it is a bit annoying.

"I heard that sound again."

"I seem to hear it too. It's not a phone call, but some kind of sharp and secret sound, but the volume is very light."

The two girls spoke one after another.

"If you think you hear something strange, speak up immediately."

Fanning used his spiritual sense to scan the bodies of the two people. The meanings of various light and shadow colors were very healthy.

This made Fanning very confused. Could it be that the problem was really his ears as a commander?

"In which direction? Is it upstairs or this direction?"

"I can't tell, it's gone again, too weak, sometimes it feels like a whisper, sometimes it feels like it's far away, and sometimes it feels like it's in my mind..." Xilan said.

"Move out first." Fanning continued to lift a window in front.

A few minutes later, everyone got out of the pile of debris, and the corridor became empty again. The three carefully checked everywhere.

"Carlon, if there is something hidden behind the wall, can you find it?"

"My spiritual sense can't penetrate thick objects, but I can definitely find something unusual about secret compartments."

There are many doors leading to mobile exhibition halls or small rooms on both sides of the corridor. Several people have made careful inspections, including every part of the wall and corner, until finally, they have reached the end of the long corridor on the first floor - the second floor above here is where "Moonlit Night on the Dnieper River" was once hung.

"Have you noticed when the smell became lighter?" Joan asked.

"It's because my nose is gradually adapting. It really seems not as good as before." Xilan deliberately sniffed a few times.

"It's possible that there is nothing here at all. Let's retreat first and check the second and third floors." Fanning motioned everyone to leave here.

But as they turned back, the stench gradually became stronger!

Fanning stared at the darkness in front of him, his eyes flashing.

That was the pile of debris that the few people had spent a lot of effort to move through.

"Go back and walk along the other wall, Qiong, please clean up the small items." He walked closer, bent down and stretched out his hand, and once again opened a long table. Dust fell down, choking several people and making them cough.

This time, after only moving a few meters, everyone found a door on the wall.

The door was closed, but the handle was severely rotted. Fan Ning tried to twist it and found that it was not locked. The door body and the wall were slightly stuck, so he kicked it a few times and pushed it open.

This is a relatively regular circular exhibition hall with a diameter of less than ten meters. The room is empty and the wood pulp-colored wallpaper has fallen off in large areas. In the center of the room is a small ring-shaped collection display counter. There are also glass showcases around the walls, so you can see inside. Exposed rusted lighting gas light pipes.

Seeing this scene, Fan Ning had some impressions. This double-circular display room is not used to store oil paintings, but is an installation art exhibition hall. It also displays some small sculptures, handicrafts, prints, and sandstone paintings. . If I remember correctly, there should be several rooms like this nearby.

A few people walked around it a few times and then left. Sure enough, after picking up the debris and walking about ten meters forward, everyone saw another door.

"I just heard that strange sound again and this time it felt very close." Joan said softly next to her.

Fan Ning supported the easel behind him with one hand and unscrewed the door handle again with the other hand. Sheeran held the gun and stared unblinkingly at the crack of the door that was gradually opening.

A thicker and thicker stench hit their nostrils, and the three of them almost felt sick after taking a breath.

But it was very quiet in the darkness. Fan Ning took a few steps in, frowned and looked around before retreating.

Basically the same layout as the previous room.

Then, several people moved forward and opened two more identical doors, but there was nothing unusual.

The uncomfortable smell that could not find its source was still strong. Fan Ning stood there and thought for several minutes, and then said: "Go back to the second room."

Everyone groped around again, and beads of sweat gradually appeared on Qiong's forehead.

She watched Fanning repeatedly circle the smelly room, and asked, "Caron, did you find anything?"

"Do you think this room is not round enough?" Fan Ning stood by the wall, lowering his head for a while, then looking up, looking around.

"It's quite round." Qiong tilted her head in confusion.

"No, you come where I'm standing."

The two gradually discovered that the other half of the room was a circle, while the half where Fan Ning was standing seemed to be an oval, slightly deflated. Since there are glass showcases and gas light pipes on the wall itself, it is extremely inconspicuous in the ten-meter diameter.

"Is it possible that there were deviations during construction?" Sheeran asked.

"No, I'm pretty sure that those round rooms before were really standard circles." Fan Ning said firmly.

"Caron, there are traces of the secret ritual here." Joan stood next to Fan Ning at this time, facing the wall, and her nose was almost touching it.

"The remains of the secret ritual? Are you saying that someone has been here recently? Is he responsible for this foul smell?"

"The source of the smell has nothing to do with it." Qiong shook his head: "This is not the kind of executive secret ritual, but another type of continuous secret ritual. It should have existed for several years, and it is not accurate to say that there are residual traces. Well, its effectiveness is not over yet, but it has reached its end.”

"Its function should be simple and crude isolation, isolating specific things and also isolating inspiration, but this does not prevent it from having a higher level. If it lasts for such a long time, if it does not reach the final stage, I will do it because of your prompts. Being so close, I can’t detect the so-called residual traces.”

Fan Ning frowned deeply: "What do you mean?"

"What could be behind this wall?"