Bai Yuhuai ended up drawing two paintings.
At first, Jing Jiujiu found it boring, but gradually, he settled down. He quietly gazed in Bai Yuhuai's direction, suddenly feeling a strong urge to draw a picture of Bai Yuhuai as well.
This thought came unexpectedly and without warning.
It was like an instinct to preserve something beautiful.
Is this why Bai Yuhuai drew me? Because he had the same kind of thought?
Could this be called a tacit understanding?
Numerous random thoughts popped into Jing Jiujiu's mind, bringing a hint of joy and peace.
"It's finished," Bai Yuhuai said softly.
Only then did Jing Jiujiu slowly get up. As he moved closer to look at the paintings, he asked in a low voice, "Aren't you cold?"
Jing Jiujiu hugged him from behind, wrapping his arms around his neck, just as he had done many times when climbing onto him. He slowly slid down the man's straight back, embracing him completely, then resting his chin on his shoulder, hanging on.
This way, he could easily view the paintings.
Even though he knew Jing Jiujiu wouldn't slip off, the youth had already gained plenty of experience "riding" him.
Bai Yuhuai still reached back and gripped Jing Jiujiu's waist.
He asked in return, "Do you think I'm cold?"
Jing Jiujiu pressed his face against his back.
"Not cold, you're actually hot... really, really hot."
His own blood was cold, but Bai Yuhuai's blood was hot.
Not just hot.
It seemed to become scalding and fiery because of him. How marvelous, marvelously enough to make one a little happy.
Thinking this, Jing Jiujiu completely draped himself over Bai Yuhuai's back, refusing to get down.
His gaze slowly fell upon the paintings—
On the left was Jing Jiujiu, properly dressed in a shirt and small suit, long legs slightly bent, sitting on a sofa.
Light shone in from behind through old glass windows covered with colorful paper, falling on him and scattering a brilliant seven-colored glow.
"I was actually lying on the bed just now..." Jing Jiujiu said.
"Mm." Bai Yuhuai paused, "But I can imagine how you'd look sitting on the sofa."
Not a single detail was wrong.
It was as if he had firmly etched the image of him sitting down into his mind.
Jing Jiujiu smacked his lips. His sense of taste was dull, but he inexplicably felt a hint of sweetness in his mouth.
Jing Jiujiu's gaze shifted.
And on the right... the right painting was probably the kind that wouldn't pass the censors on Jinjiang—
He was lounging lazily on the bed, with no light around him. The windows behind were tightly shut, with only an old lamp overhead casting faint, dim light, like a thin veil draped over his body.
The surroundings were old and cold, exuding a chilling air of decay.
Only the youth in the center of the painting was vibrant and bright, bringing a touch of radiant light to this gloomy, deathly scene...
A painting itself is inanimate.
But a painting conveys human emotions, and at that moment, it comes alive.
This was the most important lesson Jing Jiujiu had learned when he started studying painting as a child.
Jing Jiujiu was stunned.
Is this how he appeared in Bai Yuhuai's heart?
"I like this painting," Jing Jiujiu said softly, nibbling on Bai Yuhuai's ear.
Bai Yuhuai put away that painting, covering it.
Then he peeled Jing Jiujiu off his back, held him in his arms instead, and bit Jing Jiujiu's lips.
Jing Jiujiu raised his hand to touch his own lips, asking quietly, "Why did you draw two paintings?"
Bai Yuhuai pointed to the one on the left: "This one is to be hung up. ...Not just this one. Those paintings of you from the Sleeping Beauty Castle will all be hung up too."
Jing Jiujiu nestled in his arms, dazed: "Where will they be hung?"
"Where would you like?"
"I used to like the castle a lot, but now... I don't anymore." Jing Jiujiu thought for a moment and said, "I like your home."
"Then we'll hang them there."
Jing Jiujiu kicked his legs a little: "Ah... then won't everyone see paintings of me as soon as they enter your home?"
"Yes."
By now, the sounds of quarreling from downstairs had gradually turned into screams.
Smashing objects, scolding, wall-banging—they all intensively intertwined, accompanied by the rhythmic chopping sound of a cleaver on a cutting board.
Bai Yuhuai frowned imperceptibly.
Such noises were too disruptive for intimate conversation.
Jing Jiujiu didn't seem to mind much. He tugged at Bai Yuhuai's sleeve, stroking his wrist, and asked softly, "So everyone will know that Bai Yuhuai is mine?"
"Mm, that's right."
A dysfunctional family was falling apart.
But it seemed a new family was being established.
Hanging up the paintings held extremely significant meaning for both Jing Jiujiu and Yu Ran.
It was like a family portrait.
As if it were proof of happiness and stability.
Jing Jiujiu wanted to live properly now.
He didn't want to be a ghost anymore.
He hooked his arms around Bai Yuhuai's neck, propped up his upper body, leaned close to Bai Yuhuai's ear, and said in a slow, sickeningly sweet voice: "Big brother Bai, I..."
At that moment, a loud "thud" from outside the building interrupted Jing Jiujiu's words.
But that "thud" didn't stop there. On the contrary, it became more frequent, "thud" "thud" "thud", like beating drums, or like watermelons smashing against an iron plate.
Bai Yuhuai: "..."
Jing Jiujiu: "..."
They got dressed and went out.
There was nothing strange in the hallway or outside, but the sound didn't stop.
Bai Yuhuai raised his hand, and Room 202's door was knocked on.
"Seems like there's no response?"
"Mm." Bai Yuhuai frowned, "I've already warned Xu Sanyu."
"Is he scared stiff?" As Jing Jiujiu spoke, he gently pushed the door, and it opened.
They found Xu Sanyu in the bedroom.
Xu Sanyu's face was tightly scrunched up, with damp stains spread around his pillow, as if... he had been crying?
"Brother Xu? Xu Sanyu?" Jing Jiujiu called softly.
Xu Sanyu groggily opened his eyes, asking in a daze: "Is this real or not?"
Jing Jiujiu raised his hand and tugged at his own cheek: "...It's real."
Xu Sanyu: "Then can you detach your head for me to see? If you can't detach your head, it must be fake!"
Jing Jiujiu: ?
Bai Yuhuai: "..."
Xu Sanyu thought to himself, I'm quite clever, you know.
I still remember you're not human.
"Xu Sanyu." Bai Yuhuai spoke.
The boss's voice was indeed etched into his brain, no, it was etched into his DNA. Xu Sanyu jolted awake: "I believe it, I believe it! It's real!"
"I followed your instructions and hid under the covers the whole time. It was too terrifying, the sounds around were really too scary. Where are Director Gong and the others? Didn't they have any reaction?"
Xu Sanyu was too nervous, and once he started talking, he couldn't stop: "I was so scared I cried, but I didn't dare reach out to wipe my face with tissue. I just remembered what you said, to keep the blanket wrapped tight, eyes closed, don't open them... But those sounds, they just got more intense. One louder than the other. I don't understand, I wasn't even angry, why were they throwing a tantrum? Towards the end, my eyes were tired from being closed, and as I kept them shut, I was so scared that I... fell asleep."
Bai Yuhuai: "..."
So he had fallen asleep, not fainted from fear.
Jing Jiujiu pulled out a tissue from nearby and handed it over.
Xu Sanyu took it and quickly said, "Thank you, young master!"
He asked, "What's that sound now? Geez, these ghosts sure have a temper, huh?" Now that Xu Sanyu had backup, he felt more confident and his words became bolder.
Bai Yuhuai said calmly, "The sound of people jumping off buildings."
Xu Sanyu shuddered, too horrified to speak.
Jing Jiujiu also swiftly clung to Bai Yuhuai's back.
After about half a minute, Xu Sanyu finally regained his senses and asked in a trembling voice, "With one sound after another like this, how many people are jumping?"
"Mass suicide, or a single ghost repeating its death process in a loop," Bai Yuhuai said plainly.
Xu Sanyu's heart, however, was about to leap out of his chest in shock.
"What do we do now?" "What's really going on here? Have many people died here? What kind of haunted place has Director Gong brought us to?"
Jing Jiujiu held tightly onto Bai Yuhuai's neck, no longer afraid at all. He smacked his lips: "Actually, many people here don't look much like living beings. The aura of death around them is so strong..."
Bai Yuhuai corrected, "They are people nearing death." "Director Gong is one of them too."
Xu Sanyu recalled Director Gong's appearance.
Indeed, he did look like someone whose life was coming to an end.
"But... but that's not really a ghost, is it? How did this building suddenly become haunted?" Xu Sanyu said, shivering as he spoke.
Bai Yuhuai gently stroked Jing Jiujiu's wrist, speaking with an air of nonchalance: "Do you know why haunted houses drop in price so dramatically? Places where people have died are inherently different."
"I get it now..." Xu Sanyu jumped up from the bed in shock.
No, not just the bed.
Even the floor beneath his feet felt unsettling to walk on.
"Did Director Gong bring a haunted house here?" Xu Sanyu was on the verge of tears.
Jing Jiujiu: "That's pretty impressive, isn't it?"
Xu Sanyu: ?
Is this impressive?
This is terrifying, my young master!
"He's been developing this place for some time now. Perhaps he's recreated haunted houses from all over the country here. For authenticity, there might even be old objects from those haunted houses. Old objects retain negative energy and souls. So, this place might be re-enacting events that occurred in those haunted houses. In 1994, there was an incident in Qingzhou where residents of a building slated for demolition committed mass suicide... This might be the site of that event."
Xu Sanyu covered his ears and hugged his head, nearly shouting, "Stop, master, please stop!"
"Director Gong is so... so terrifying. Isn't he afraid something will go wrong?"
"When a person is near death, their obsessions become too deep."
Jing Jiujiu: "Isn't this film city just one big haunted house?"
Xu Sanyu: ?
You call this a haunted house?
This is a crime scene!
Jing Jiujiu: "The people living here are those between life and death, and the scenery is Haunted House 2.0... The negative energy here must be intense."
"This place is like a natural beacon. Ghosts will be continually drawn here by the scent," Bai Yuhuai added.
Xu Sanyu felt like fainting on the spot.
Jing Jiujiu: "Using this place as the underworld, Yama must be thrilled."
Bai Yuhuai felt a twinge of jealousy: "...Mm."
"We need to film well, and then buy the film city from Director Gong afterward."
Film well?
Yes, there are still many scenes left to shoot.
Bai Yuhuai's lips finally curled into a smile again: "Mm... provided that Director Gong doesn't die after the ghosts start multiplying."
"Will Director Gong... die?" Xu Sanyu asked, stunned.
"Negative energy attracts ghosts. But if you were the original owner of a haunted house, would you like seeing countless ghosts flooding in and occupying your home?" Bai Yuhuai calmly asked in return.
"No... I wouldn't." "So, the owners of the haunted houses will feel anger and hatred towards Director Gong."
As soon as he finished speaking, they heard the sound of a door being pushed open.
A creaking sound that set their teeth on edge.
Bai Yuhuai walked out with Jing Jiujiu on his back.
Xu Sanyu, frightened, quickly followed.
They saw that the door to room 203 was wide open.
Faint, blood-colored footprints were left on the floor.
That thing slowly walked into room 203, finally stopping in front of an easel.
"Ghost, ghost, ghost!" Xu Sanyu stammered.
The thing seemed to stop abruptly and turn its head. Actually, Xu Sanyu couldn't see it, but he just felt that it had turned its head.
It glanced at Xu Sanyu, then turned back.
The canvas covering the easel made a rustling sound. One corner was lifted up.
Xu Sanyu asked in a trembling voice, "What is it doing?"
"Lifting the canvas," Bai Yuhuai said as he stepped into the room, his expression suddenly turning cold.
Xu Sanyu quickly asked again, "How did another painting appear? Is it the painting of this house's owner?"
Bai Yuhuai: "It's Jiujiu's painting. I painted it."
As he finished speaking, Bai Yuhuai had already taken two large steps and pressed his hand on the canvas.
Xu Sanyu: ??
The fear in Xu Sanyu's heart suddenly receded. He stared at the invisible ghost.
Oh boy, you're in trouble now.