The first volume of the funeral Chapter 20 Painter: Li Haojing
Ke Xun paused and said, "When I was a kid, I was much taller than other kids my age, so I was always laughed at as a big, stupid guy. No one except Dongzi wanted to play with me, so I can understand what Li Mazi went through when he was a kid. Of course, he must have been a hundred times worse off than me."
"Then we can imagine why Li Mazi is both Li Guaiguai's brother and his father." Mu Yiran said.
Ke Xun's expression was a bit complicated: "Because a man like Li Mazi can never get married, so he has to find someone nearby..."
Mu Yiran, however, looked calm: "Unfortunately, Li Mazi's son is also a deformed child, even worse than his appearance. So it is conceivable that what befell him must be an even more miserable situation."
Ke Xun looked at him: "But Li Mazi has become the longest-lived person in this village. Why?"
"The reason is," Mu Yiran opened his palm and saw a paintbrush in his palm, "Li Mazi later became Li Jinghao."
Ke Xun looked silently at the paintbrush stained with an old color that was either red or black.
Li Mazi, who was born with a deformity, has been subjected to the villagers' monster-like gazes and unpleasant words behind his back since he was a child. This terrible mental blow and psychological pressure reached its peak after he had a son/brother who was even more deformed than him, and completely broke the string that he had been trying to endure for so long.
Li Mazi couldn't bear it anymore, and after Li Guaiguai was born, he finally fled from this terrible village.
"There is a 4% chance of having deformed, mentally retarded or premature children when close relatives marry, but there is also a high chance of having a genius who is extremely talented in some area." Mu Yiran picked up the paintbrush and looked at the bottom of his eyes. "For example, the world-famous Adolf Hitler, Darwin, Einstein, and the most recent example is Li Mazi."
Ke Xun suddenly realized: "Li Mazi has a talent for painting ."
Mu nodded happily: "After escaping from Lijia Village, Li Mazi came into contact with the outside world. While trying to make a living, he also learned the skills of painting. It is impossible to verify whether someone taught him or he was self-taught. Anyway, after several years of hard work, he finally became a famous painter of his generation."
Ke Xun turned his head and looked at the deserted village behind him: "Since Li Mazi was able to draw this picture, it means that he once returned to Lijia Village after becoming famous, but why did he make that pure cypress coffin for his son? Did he do it intentionally or unintentionally?"
"I guess it was intentional." Mu Yiran threw the paintbrush in his hand to the ground. "From this painting, we can see that the resentment caused by Li Mazi's previous experience in the village has not diminished with the passage of time and his fame. Instead, it has accumulated into a mountain, making him uncomfortable and unhappy.
“The three locust trees in the painting were not originally planted in the village, but Li Mazi included them in the painting as an image to express the theme, implying hatred, resentment and a curse on the entire village.
"I think that among these people, Li Mazi hated his parents the most. If his parents had not married close relatives, they would not have given birth to a deformed boy. All the ridicule, sarcasm and cold reception he suffered in his childhood left him with an indelible psychological shadow, so in his painting, he painted these three cursed locust trees outside his yard.
"And the person he hated the most was his son/brother. Because the existence of Li Guaiguai indicated that Li Mazi had done immoral, ignorant and terrible stupid things like his ancestors. This was simply unbearable for Li Mazi, who had been exposed to science and advanced ideas in the outside world.
"He cannot sever his connection with his foolish past self, which will become a stain and nightmare for his whole life. The existence of Li Guaiguai makes it impossible for him to forget his miserable past, and makes his humiliating and painful experience and memories continue. This is tantamount to constantly whipping him with a whip dipped in salt water, causing him pain , humiliation and hatred all the time.
"I think this is why he hates Li Guaiguai so much. Maybe he wants to vent his anger or to cover up the past. With anger and hatred, he built this pure cypress coffin for Li Guaiguai. He wants Li Guaiguai to be struck by lightning and turned into ashes without leaving any trace. It seems that only in this way can he, Li Mazi, completely shatter the past that he cannot bear to look back on.
"As for these dead villagers, they are obviously the objects of Li Mazi's resentment. He hates this backward and ignorant village and the ignorant ancestors left behind. In his mind, he probably hopes that this village will be extinct and never exist again.
"Whether it was out of personal resentment or out of criticism and condemnation of this feudal cancer, Li Mazi painted this picture full of desolation and resentment, and also painted himself in it. As the last survivor of the entire village, he had to watch the complete annihilation of this family with his own eyes.
"All of the above are based on my inferences, but I think the facts should not be much different."
Ke Xun listened quietly to Mu Yiran's explanation and sighed: "No wonder that old man - Li Mazi couldn't catch up with me. It doesn't seem like the power possessed by those things. It turns out that he is the painter himself... No, he is not the painter himself. He is the reflection of the painter in the painting. He can't be considered a 'person', but he is not that kind of thing either."
Mu nodded in delight: "The Li Mazi in the painting is just a reflection of a resentful mentality. His real curse and resentment have been dissipated to other things and scenes in the painting."
Ke Xun's eyes lit up: "Since this old man is the reflection of Li Mazi himself, do you think the seal is on the old man's body?"
Mu Yiran shook his head. "The seal in the painting is a kind of salvation for those of us who have entered the painting. It cannot be lethal at the same time, but this old man will chase you everywhere."
Ke Xun asked, "Is there no seal in his room?"
Mu Yiran: “No.”
Ke Xun scratched his head: "It's getting dark again. Will this old man still arrange work for us tonight?"
Mu Yiran's eyes were deep: "If you don't arrange it, it will be extremely dangerous."
Ke Xun thought about last night. Even though he and Mu Yiran hid well, they still couldn't resist the strange sound coming from Li Guaiguai. They almost lost their lives because of it. He scratched his arm and said, "While there is still some time, let's call those guys to continue looking."
The two men returned to the locust tree and saw Wei Dong and several others already waiting there. When the doctor saw that the two men had returned safely, he asked what they had found in the old man's house.
Mu Yiran simply explained it again, and everyone was stunned.
“Fuck…” Wei Dong took a long time to recover, and was speechless. “When I get home, I have to ask my parents if there is any blood relationship between us going back more than ten generations.”
Ke Xun: "...Do you hope to have it or not?"
Wei Dong: "I doubt it, otherwise why do I have athlete's foot? It must be a deformity."
Ke Xun: "...Do you believe that after you ask, your father will be able to reserve a coffin board made of pure cypress for you?"
The doctor asked Xiang Mu Yiran, "Now that we have figured out the whole story of this painting, I still can't figure out where the seal should be placed. Xiao Mu, do you have any suggestions?"
Mu Yiran shook his head slightly: "I can't think of anything anymore."
"What should I do..." Ma Zhenhua's eyes turned red with anxiety, "It's getting dark, look, it's getting dark..."
Zhang Maolin was also anxious. He tugged at the linen strip around his waist, glanced at Weidong, then at the owner of the pancake stall, and suddenly rushed to the owner of the pancake stall: "Brother, let's talk about it. How about we exchange this strip of cloth? I'll give you money, whatever you want, 500,000, 1 million, I'll give you all, okay?"
Wei Dong couldn't bear it and said to him, "It's useless. If I could change it, I would have done it long ago. If you change it, I'm afraid you will be retaliated. If you don't believe me, ask Boss Mu and Doctor Qin."
Zhang Maolin sobbed: "I don't want to be tortured to the point of having my bones removed! I don't want to die... I don't want to die..."
"If you don't want to die, others do?" Wei Dong said angrily, "Just accept your fate. Who assigned you this character?"
"Why-why..." Zhang Maolin broke down, "Why must it be words? Why must good words be turned into such a supernatural thing..."
No one answered him.
The situation with no clues or ideas made everyone anxious and depressed, even Mu Yiran frowned.
Time passed by minute by minute, and the sky gradually darkened.
Everyone fell silent. Some were desperately trying to think of clues, while others were in despair and lost their minds.
Ke Xun looked absentmindedly at the deformed "歹" character on Zhang Maolin's hand, then looked at the "顾" character on Wei Dong's hand, and finally looked down at the "阳" character on his waist.
Suddenly a flash of light flashed in my mind.
He stepped forward and grasped Mu Yiran's arm, pulled him to face him , looked into his eyes, and asked him word by word: "The cloth strips on our bodies are from the old man's hair, right? The old man is Li Mazi, right? Li Mazi is Li Jinghao, right? Li Jinghao understands the original meaning of these characters, right?"
Mu Yiran looked into the dark eyes of the person in front of him. Against the backdrop of the dark clouded night sky behind him, these eyes shone as brightly as stars.
For the first time, she did not shake off the man's hand. Mu Yiran pursed her lips and looked at him with wide eyes: "The original meaning of the word 'Jing' refers to a towering pavilion. The original meaning of the word 'Hao' refers to a turbulent river with a roaring sound of water."
"--high tower!"
"——Dahe!"
Ma Zhenhua and Zhang Maolin shouted almost at the same time.
"There is a dry riverbed in the south of the village, and there is a fire observation platform next to the riverbed," said Doctor Qin. "We went there when we were searching for clues in the village."
"What are you waiting for? Let's go, it's getting dark!" Wei Dong couldn't wait and ran towards the south of the village.
Everyone hurried to catch up, and only then did they realize that the sky had already turned dark without them knowing. The night wind roared towards them, swirled behind them, and then turned back and blew up. The sound of the wind was mixed with sharp cries, and upon listening carefully, it seemed to be coming from the mouths of thousands of people. There were both male and female cries, young and old, and there was even a very familiar voice, screaming miserably: "Die - you all must die -"
It’s Liu Yufei’s voice!
Everyone heard it and couldn't help but turn their heads to look back. This sight frightened the pancake stall owner and Ma Zhenhua so much that their legs went weak and they fell to the ground.
