Soul Painter

At the beginning of July, during the few days when Gao Fan was working on "The War of Time and Space" in Boston, the high-end apartment building near the Bund where Xin Boyu and Xin Wei lived was the place where Gao Fan once found Lu Tiaoyang's illuminated elk cat statue. There is a fire.

The fire was particularly large. Afterwards, it was found that the fire started on the floor of Xin's house, and the entire floor of the residents were not spared. That night, when the fire spread wildly upwards, half of the building turned into a night in Shanghai. A huge torch, half the city saw the flames.

The fire killed 32 people, including Xin Boyu and Xin Wei.

...

After hearing the news relayed by Lu Guoying.

Gao Fan remained silent, just continuing to complete the painting in his hand.

He used a lot of white to render the background of the whole picture. He adjusted the white very lightly, like a layer of smoke, covering the picture softly, and the girl in the picture seemed to be surrounded by layers of smoke. Covered by white elegiac couplets, she gradually lost contact with the world.

Although he knew that Gao Fan was very sad at the moment, and this was not the time to lament his painting skills, Lu Guoying watched this scene and was still shocked, because Gao Fan's white light book was the only one he had ever seen in his life.

It is not so much a color, but a layer of ambient light, and when such light colors are superimposed, there is a ladder-like concave-convex texture, which makes the painting appear as if there are ladders leading to heaven again and again, and the painting Middle-aged girls walk on such a ladder, gradually leaving this world.

The use of this color shocked Lu Guoying.

If it weren't for this sad moment, he would definitely grab Gao Fan and ask him how he drew it.

Anna knew that it was 'Sakura White'. It seemed that after the creation of "The Battle of Time and Space", Gao Fan could make Sakura White without using demon dye.

But now is really not the time to study skills.

Lu Guoying and Anna watched Gao Fan finish the painting quietly.

In the end, the whole picture is already white, it looks like a piece of white paper under strong light, but once it is refracted by light, the picture will show a sense of light and shade full of layers, and if the light environment is like It is the same as the studio at the moment. From morning to noon, if the sunlight gradually shifts, you can even see a dynamic picture of a girl stepping up the ladder to heaven.

This painting utilizes the colors, environment, structure and light and shade to the extreme. It is a masterpiece that can be placed in the history of modern human painting. Through the creation of this painting, Lu Guoying learned how far Gao Fan's artistic attainment has reached at the moment. This kind of state, if you use one word to describe it, it is miraculous.

But now is not the time to praise Gao Fan, Lu Guoying looked at the painting with a dazed expression after Gao Fan stopped writing, then patted him on the shoulder and said, "If you feel uncomfortable, just cry."

...

cry?

Gao Fan wouldn't cry.

He has seen the ultimate of human beings, and knows that this universe is just an absurd dream, madness is eternal, order is an isolated case, and human civilization is a pile of miraculous orderly bubbles that arise and die with each other on the endless sea of ​​madness. In these bubbles, those human beings who have not become pillars are not even as good as the floating dust in the bubbles.

So why cry.

But what's with the water on his face...?

...

Anna gently stroked Gao Fan's head, while Gao Fan was crying in her arms and was about to pass out.

Lu Guoying watched from the sidelines and frowned. He could understand Gao Fan's grief, but it was a bit ugly to cry like this.

And Lu Guoying didn't know how to comfort Gao Fan, so he sighed a few times and left the studio.

Gao Fan cried all afternoon, his eyes were swollen from crying, while crying, he murmured words that Anna couldn't understand, it seemed that it was his past with Xin Wei, although he couldn't hear clearly, but Anna could understand the guilt .

In the evening, Gao Fan reluctantly stopped crying, while Anna urged Gao Fan to eat and sleep soundly like comforting a child.

Seeing Gao Fan barely fell asleep after taking a few mouthfuls of food, and seemed to be sobbing a few times in his dream, Anna really felt that Gao Fan was like a child.

"Gao, if I die, will you be so sad for me?" Anna asked softly.

Gao Fan in his sleep didn't respond, but when Anna was about to stand up, he suddenly felt Gao Fan grabbing her hand. She looked at Gao Fan's face in surprise, and found that the painter was still awake, but his brows were tightly frowned. , seems to still experience sadness in the dream.

Anna looked at Gao Fan, showing a quiet smile, and she gently covered Gao Fan's hand.

...

the next day.

Lu Guoying came to visit again.

At this time, Gao Fan's mood had returned to normal.

Lu Guoying looked at Gao Fan who was talking and laughing freely, and always felt that this apprentice recovered too quickly.

But Gao Fan's focus was on another point at this time, he said to Lu Guoying very solemnly: "Xin Wei's death is very suspicious."

suspicious? What's suspicious? Lu Guoying was surprised.

"I did divination." Gao Fan held up the red pot in his hand, "That fire is related to demons!"

Lu Guoying looked at Gao Fan who seemed to be holding up a dynamite bag, and was stunned for a few seconds, then turned to Anna and asked, "Is he always like this?"

"Recently, yes, often." Anna said honestly.

"Teacher! I'm serious. I have divination. There is something wrong with the fire, but there are no other clues. There is no way to investigate further. So, teacher, help me find some clues!" Gao Fan said.

"It has something to do with the devil...?" Hearing this, Lu Guoying no longer felt that Gao Fan was going crazy.

Lu Guoying said the word 'devil' naturally. Even in a country that has not been baptized by war, the common people have become accustomed to this word four years after the war started. The existence of demons has become a part of the environment. This means that mystery began to walk under the sun and become a part of human civilization.

And Lu Guoying knew that Gao Fan was related to mystery, just like his son Lu Tiaoyang, so he began to pay attention to Gao Fan's words.

"There is also a department to deal with demonic incidents in China. It is called the Special Affairs Bureau, referred to as the Bureau of Abnormalities. Because of Lu Tiaoyang's relationship, the Special Administration Bureau has special care for me. I can help you ask... But, aren't you connected with those investigator organizations? Why don't you ask yourself?" Lu Guoying thought of this relationship.

"I was forced to retire because my backstage collapsed." Gao Fan said rather depressed.

Ah... Lu Guoying didn't know what expression to make, but he always felt that Gao Fan's words were a bit unreasonable and ridiculous, but it was a good thing to be able to break away from mystery, so he patted Gao Fan's shoulder as a comfort.

Gao Fan continued to communicate with his black box.

"Did the devil kill Xin Wei and her father?" Gao Fan asked the black box.

"Did the devil kill Xin Wei's family because of me?" Gao Fan continued to ask.

"Is that demon related to Qinfan?" Gao Fan continued to ask.

"Where can I find this demon?" Gao Fan asked again.

While Lu Guoying and Anna looked at Gao Fan asking a question about a red jar, Lu Guoying showed a surprised expression, while Anna shook her head slightly at Lu Guoying, probably meaning that this is very complicated and difficult to explain.