Phi-Fic Chapter 657: Li Shumu and the Long-Haired Man
Chapter 657: Li Shumu and the Long-Haired Man
"Oh... I see, so your New Year's Eve Red and White Song Festival is equivalent to our Spring Festival Gala here?"Manager Mao Li Zhishu said, "Mm, pretty much."
Jiang Ran took a deep breath. "Speaking of which, the programs on the Spring Festival Gala really are getting more and more boring..."
This wasn't just Jiang Ran's opinion; many people felt the same way, especially with that one person who kept saying, "I'm so proud..." every other moment.
The four of them wrapped the dumplings quickly. While they were wrapping,
a figure leaned against the window on the hall side, looking into the management office.
The four turned their heads and saw a man in his thirties, dressed appropriately, watching them.
"Who are you?"
Jiang Ran asked.
"My name is Li Shumu, a newly moved-in resident."
So, this person was the lab rat, Li Shumu.
"Are you preparing for tonight's welcome party?"
Li Shumu, who had just arrived not long ago, had already received the notification in the group chat.
His attention was fixed on those sushi dumplings.
Without any ceremony, he picked up a sushi dumpling and stuffed it directly into his mouth.
While eating, he said, "It would be better if there was some vinegar."
Looking at this new resident who was acting so familiar so quickly, Jiang Ran said, "If you eat too much now, you'll have less to eat tonight."
Li Shumu gave an OK hand gesture.
Then he asked, "By the way, you four, I want to ask, have you seen any particularly suspicious people in our apartment building?"
"Suspicious people? What counts as a suspicious person?"
Jiang Ran inquired.
Li Shumu, who was also quite bold, said, "That is... people who look like deranged criminals, deranged serial killers, murderers, homicidal maniacs, or the like?"
……………………
Dead silence, utter dead silence.
After he finished saying this, the three people inside the management office paused for a moment before resuming their actions.
Jiang Ran said with a smile, "How is that possible? How could our apartment building have that kind of person?"
Jiang Ran actually wanted to say, the three people sitting beside me all trigger danger warnings, I wonder if they count as the kind of people you're talking about?
"Is that so..."
Li Shumu glanced at Jiang Ran, then looked at the other three people.
He silently turned and left.
Manager Mao Li Zhishu's heart was pounding wildly at this moment.
What the hell, what is this lab rat thinking?
Is he going around the entire apartment building looking for so-called deranged criminals? Deranged serial killers?
How brave!
Since she couldn't understand Chinese, Ohguchi Tomoko was essentially blind, completely unaware of what the Chinese man who had just appeared was looking for, and thus had no reaction at all.
...
"Alice Apartment, hmm, it seems nothing has happened here either, including Nancheng City, everything is very peaceful."
Li Shumu, who had left Building No. 1, pursed his lips and used his phone to search for news related to Nancheng City and Alice Apartment.
He wanted to see if there had been any murder cases or special incidents, but the internet was completely calm. Nancheng City and Alice Apartment were just very ordinary places.
"Serial killers possess extremely strong concealment; their usual behavior is just like ordinary people."
Putting down his phone, he repeated this murmur to himself.
He began to wander around Alice Apartment.
He wandered over to the bike shed on the ground floor for parking electric bikes and bicycles.
He discovered there were only a few electric bikes or bicycles here.
"Hmm, how long has this vehicle not been used?"
He then wandered over to a white car. The car had been exposed to wind and rain, covered in thick dust and hard-to-wash stains.
He kept wandering like this until he arrived in front of an art gallery.
The art gallery's design was somewhat unique; the blue waterfall on top of the building was quite beautiful.
He walked inside.
Li Shumu briefly scanned the art gallery.
Then, he began to quickly glance over the paintings one by one.
Finally, he stopped in front of that Western oil painting where Jiang Ran had once lingered for a long time.
It depicted a ferocious, incredibly realistic vampire on a bed, holding a beautiful young girl and sucking her blood.
"This painting..."
His body leaned closer, and his frown deepened further.
"What's the matter? Interested in my painting?"
A ghostly voice, along with a figure that had appeared without a sound, suddenly emerged behind Li Shumu.
Li Shumu turned his head and discovered that behind him was a man with hair down to his shoulders, a few years older than him.
The man was dressed with a very artistic aesthetic and was looking at him with great interest.
"This painting is yours?"
Li Shumu pointed.
The long-haired man was precisely the one Jiang Ran had encountered back then.
"It's mine. What about it?"
Li Shumu pointed at the bright red blood flowing down from where the young girl's skin was pierced by those sharp fangs in the painting.
He said, "The blood you painted here, you didn't use paint, but real blood, right?"
The long-haired man was slightly taken aback, then he nodded. "Yes, I did indeed use real blood. After all, only then does it possess true aesthetic beauty. The name of this painting of mine is 'Reality'."
"Not only the blood, but everything in the painting truly happened."
Li Shumu ignored this and continued, "What kind of blood is the blood on your painting?"
The long-haired man became interested. "What do you think it is?"
Li Shumu said, "It's not animal blood. If I'm not mistaken, it's human blood."
His eyes locked tightly with the other's, as if trying to see through him.
The long-haired man smiled. "Correct."
"The blood used in this painting is all my own blood. Only then can it be considered a 'labor of heart and blood'."
The long-haired man revealed a trace of obsession.
Li Shumu immediately asked again, "Your blood? From which part of your body did you draw the blood?"
Long-haired man: "I've drawn from both my left and right arms."
Li Shumu: "Roll up your sleeves and show me."
The long-haired man was about to roll up his sleeves but suddenly stopped, his brows furrowing deeply. "Wait, why should I show you?"
Li Shumu, as if he had guessed something, sneered. "If you don't show me, it means the human blood used in this painting isn't your own at all!"
The long-haired man became somewhat angry. "Are you crazy? Are you here to look at paintings or to pick a fight?"
"And, whether this blood is mine or not, what does it have to do with you?"
Li Shumu thought to himself, that person really didn't lie to me.
There really are deranged criminals, deranged serial killers in this apartment building!!!
The person before him is genuinely suspicious!
"If you don't show me, I'll call the police and say there might have been a murder here."
Li Shumu pressed forward step by step, his gaze unwavering and resolute.
The long-haired man gritted his teeth and rolled up his left sleeve.
He revealed the yellow skin of his arm.
But there was no trace of blood extraction on the yellow skin of that arm.
After seeing this, Li Shumu looked quite pleased with himself. "What do you have to say now?"
Long-haired man: "I used a syringe to draw blood, and it was a very long time ago, so the needle marks gradually faded and disappeared. Isn't that normal?"
Li Shumu pointed backward at the painting with his right hand. "Fine, since you say so. I'm going to take your painting now and use it for a DNA test to compare with yours. If the blood is yours, then everything's fine. But if the blood isn't yours... then—"
"Wait! Are you a bit mentally unstable? What right do you have to take my painting for some test?!"
The long-haired man said angrily.
"Alright then, if you don't give me the painting for testing, I'll call the police right now!!!"