Soul Painter

Go to Linkou Middle School.

First of all, you have to fly to the capital city of Yunnan Province.

Then another twelve hours of car ride.

The area where Zhengxiong Town is located is at the junction of the three provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Shu, surrounded by mountains. So far, there is no train, so when a car took Gao Fan to Linkou Middle School, it was already three days later.

Now.

Gao Fan is standing in Jianshanpo Township, Dawan County, Zhengxiong Town, Zhaotong City, Yunnan Province.

Jianshanpo used to be the name of a cottage.

Most of the residents living here are ethnic minorities. Although most of the living habits have been sinicized, Gao Fan can still see the evening glow shining on the concrete road in the mountain village at this moment. Elderly people in embroidered national costumes sit on small bamboo chairs in front of old stilted buildings.

"Do you know where Wu Haoxue is?" Gao Fan asked an old man.

The old man shook his head with a smile, and said something that Gao Fan couldn't understand.

At the junction of the three provinces, high mountains blocked the communication between various villages. Almost every other mountain had a language. It was normal for Gao Fan not to understand the old man's words.

After thinking for a while, Gao Fan took out the painting tube in the bag on his back, took out Wu Haoxue's painting from it, and asked the old man, "Then do you know this person?"

A good sketch can completely replace the function of a photo, so Gao Fan thinks that the old man in front of him looking at this painting should be able to point him to where Wu Haoxue is. After all, the character in the painting should be Wu Haoxue's grandmother.

Unexpectedly, seeing this painting, the old man suddenly called out, "Yadu!"

When he called out these two words, the old man's expression was extremely frightened, as if he had seen some ghosts and ghosts.

"What?" Gao Fan didn't understand.

At this time, the old man in national costume had already stood up and left the small bamboo chair, and stepped back. His movements and expressions were full of fear and disgust, as if the painting in Gao Fan's hand was astonishingly evil.

But... no.

Gao Fan looked at the sketch carefully again.

He has 33 points in occultism and 63 points in investigation skills. It can only be seen that this is an ordinary painting. The skill level is equivalent to that of a student in the Academy of Fine Arts. , so, what went wrong?

Gao Fan looked at Jianshanpo Village in the setting sun.

Go all the way up the cement road.

When the sun sinks behind the mountains.

A large shadow fell on Gao Fan as if collapsing.

The village is deserted but not poor.

Diaojiaolou stands apart from some Chinese-style buildings, representing the integration of modernity and heritage.

Then, Gao Fan first heard the "Dangdang" bell, and then met a dozen or so children. They rushed down from the hillside like a group of lively waves, breaking away the silence and desolation in the village. Now that it was school time, Gao Fan stopped one of them and asked him where Linkou Middle School was, and the child pointed back to the direction above the hillside.

"Aren't you primary school students? The middle school is there too?" Gao Fan asked him.

"Middle school and elementary school are the same!" The child replied.

"You can't say 'one Ki', but 'together'!" Another little girl corrected him.

"Then do you know Wu is studious?" Gao Fan asked again.

"That ghost! He's a ghost!" the little boy and the little girl cried together.

ghost? Gao Fan asked a few more questions, only to find that they probably didn't know what 'ghost' meant, and they didn't know what scary was.

Wu studious is a ghost.

...

Gao Fan stood at an intersection.

The waves of the elementary school students have already roared away.

He now faces a choice.

Up is Linkou Middle School, and down is Wu Haoxue's home.

There is not much information heard from the primary school students, but they only hear things like 'Wu Haoxue is a ghost', or 'Wu Haoxue turns people into ghosts'.

It sounds scary.

After thinking about it, Gao Fan still walked to Linkou Middle School first.

Do some research first.

...

Linkou Middle School.

The principal received Gao Fan.

Because Gao Fan took the certificate issued by Tianmei, proving that he came to Linkou Middle School to check with Wu Haoxue for the scholarship, so the principal treated Gao Fan very enthusiastically.

"What does Yadu... mean?" Gao Fan asked.

"It means 'ghost,'" said the headmaster, and then he realized something, and said, "You may have heard what the people in the village said, but it's not true."

The principal speaks standard Mandarin. According to his own introduction, he came back to his hometown from the capital of Yunnan Province to support education.

"Don't believe them, Wu Haoxue did behave strangely for a period of time, but it was precocious, not a 'ghost upper body', Wu Haoxue's grandma didn't die because she was his model.

What he does at home every night is not witchcraft, but painting. His art expertise is really outstanding. Later, he got a serious illness and couldn’t paint. Recently, he can paint again. It’s a bit weird, but This kid is still very smart..."

The principal's enthusiastic introduction not only failed to dispel Gao Fan's doubts, but made Gao Fan even more confused.

In the principal's introduction, he heard a very weird child, who was very ordinary from birth to thirteen years old. At the age of fourteen, he suddenly became mysterious and profound like an IQ apocalypse. He knew foreign languages ​​and could draw. He also has the ability to predict, and even foreigners come to him for fortune-telling. When he was fourteen years old, he suddenly became an idiot and knew nothing.

Only in the last month has it become normal again, but the mysterious predictive ability has disappeared.

This sounds...not a normal person.

A middle school student in a poor area can have such an outstanding talent in art and... the ability to predict? Does the prophecy refer to feudal superstitions such as jumping gods and ghosts? Or is it like the Great Elder of Bengka Village, polluted by mystery and gained the vision of a demon?

In the introduction of the principal, among Wu Haojia, he and his grandmother are the only ones who depend on each other. After his grandmother passed away due to illness, he now has problems eating, let alone continuing to study. If Tianmei does not give him a scholarship, he has to rely on the government. It is still possible to live on subsidies and maintain a livelihood, but the road to fine arts will definitely be cut off.

The principal seemed to see Gao Fan's doubts.

He hurriedly said: "Wu Haoxue's painting, I think it is already very good, but in the eyes of you professionals, it may not be as good, but this is not his best work, I will take you to see, his paintings are all At home, it was particularly shocking.”

After speaking, the principal took Gao Fan to Wu Haoxue's house with his briefcase.

Just go downhill from Linkou Elementary (Middle) School, go downhill, and after about two kilometers, cross a stone bridge, and you have gradually arrived at a remote place in Jianpokou Township. Here you can see a dilapidated and low building If Gao Fan hadn't seen the thatched cottage with his own eyes, it would be hard for Gao Fan to imagine that there would still be people living in such a place in the 21st century.

The headmaster pushed open the ajar door.

Wu Haoxue was not at home.

"He went to hunt pigweed." The principal introduced, pointing to a pig in the house, "If this pig is raised and sold, it can feed him for a year."

Pigs and humans live together in a main room with a stove.

Seeing Gao Fan and the principal coming, it snorted a few times.

"The painting is inside." The principal said again.

Then, the headmaster pushed open the door. The innermost room was very dark without even a window. The headmaster groped to find the light cord and pulled it down. The light from the yellow light bulb instantly filled the room, so Gao Fan looked There it is...a stunning painting.

Chapter Two~