Lu Miao glanced at her hand that could not control its trembling slightly, reached out to pick up the cup, brought it to her lips and took a sip under her nervous gaze.
I asked casually, "Why are you the only one? Where are the others?"
The servant stammered back, "Well... everyone else has gone home. Yes, Madam said that it was the New Year and Mr. Zhang would not come back if he had something to do, so she gave everyone a holiday and asked them to come back after the New Year. , leaving me alone to guard here."
Lu Miao nodded, "Sorry, I want to go to the bathroom."
After speaking, he walked straight towards the bathroom. The servant was startled and hurriedly stopped him, "Ms. Lu, the bathroom on the first floor is broken and is being repaired. I will take you to the second floor."
Gu Shiyan looked at Lu Miao from the side with a smile flashing in his eyes. It was obvious that there was something wrong with the servant. She probably thought she was hiding it well. He didn't know what was in the bathroom on the first floor, but he knew Lu Miao's original purpose. I just have to go upstairs to the study and find the painting.
Get up quietly and follow behind.
Lu Miao had just walked up to the second floor when he saw light pink petals floating out from the crack in the door not far away. The petals had already covered the large corridor outside the door. At this rate, it probably wouldn't be long. The entire corridor will be flooded with petals.
A petal fluttered in front of her. Lu Miao reached out to pick it up, but a long, slender hand stopped in front of her and picked up the petal.
The moment Gu Shiyan saw the petals, he immediately thought of the pink petal-shaped mark that Lu Miao found on Gu Jinxi's wrist last night, and then thought of Gu Jinxi's disappearance early in the morning and the recent frequent disappearances. The brat must have been tricked.
No wonder Lu Miao was looking for someone early in the morning. Although she was not afraid of these, these petals were definitely not a good thing.
The petals fell into his hands. After a slight burning, the petals slowly disappeared, leaving a pink and white mark on his palm. It was exactly the same as the one he saw on Gu Jinxi's wrist yesterday, but the color was slightly lighter.
Gu Shiyan felt it carefully, but other than that, he didn't feel much else. "It's a little hot."
Lu Miao raised his hand, and his cool fingertips gently touched the mark on his palm, and the remaining burning sensation disappeared.
The servant then saw that Gu Shiyan had followed him up at some point. She couldn't see the petals, but only saw them raising their hands inexplicably as if to catch something. Just as she was about to speak, Lu Miao took two steps forward and stretched out his hand. Pushed open the door.
The servant was startled when she suddenly opened the door, and hurriedly stepped forward to stop it. The petals that had accumulated for more than half of the room poured out, drowning her in an instant.
She felt as if she was being submerged in a sea of scalding fire, but there was nothing where she could see it. She only had time to exclaim and then disappeared along with the petals that gradually dissipated.
On the wall facing the door of the study room, petals are still falling from the ancient paintings hanging on it.
Ignoring these petals, from the outside, it seems to be just an ordinary calligraphy and painting. The painting is a peach forest. A woman in ancient clothes is holding a fan and covering half of her face while standing next to the tree and smiling.
There is a line of inscriptions next to it, and the peach blossoms on the human face reflect the red color.
You can vaguely see some flower-viewing spectators in the peach grove, and behind them is a looming pavilion.
Lu Miao stood at the door and looked at it for a moment.
Gu Shiyan squinted his eyes and said, "Do you feel that the woman in this painting seems to be a little closer to us?"
When I first looked at it, I could almost see the whole body of this woman. Now the lower part of the calf is outside the painting, and the fan in front of her face has been lowered a bit. Most of her face can be seen, and the smile on the corner of her lips is even stronger. .
Gu Shiyan looked intently, and saw that the crowd of twos and threes dispersed more and more. The figure of a person near the edge of the peach forest became slightly clearer, and he could barely see that the clothes on his body were of modern style!
He reacted instantly, "Are they the missing people?" "Yeah." Lu Miao responded.
Gu Shiyan asked simply and rudely, "Do you want to split the painting?"
Lu Miao shook his head, "If you split them open, they will remain in the painting forever."
She already knew what it was.
As the two of them were talking, the peach forest in the painting was covered with a layer of gray mist, and all the blurry figures were submerged in it.
The woman in front only had her upper body left, her fan was completely put down, and she looked at them with enchanting eyes and a dark smile.
The jade-like hands were facing towards them, as if they wanted to stretch out the scroll and catch them in it.
The originally beautiful picture of a peach blossom beauty now becomes terrifying.
Lu Miao turned her head and stretched out her hand towards Gu Shiyan. She didn't say anything more, and Gu Shiyan didn't ask any questions. He took her hand without hesitation and walked in with her into the flying petals.
After a moment of spinning, the two of them found themselves in a peach forest, with soft soil under their feet. The rich fragrance of flowers poured into their noses, and several figures were vaguely visible in the mist.
“Hold on to me, no matter what you see or hear, don’t let me go.”
Lu Miao turned around and led him forward. The fog became thicker and thicker, as if it was about to turn into substance. The peach trees around him were gradually invisible. Even Lu Miao's figure in front of him gradually became blurred until he could not be seen at all. .
Gu Shiyan felt that the hand he was holding turned into ice cubes, not like a human hand, and a biting coldness came from the place where the palms of his hands met.
A hand suddenly patted his shoulder from behind, and then a familiar voice whispered in his ear, "Don't say anything, the person you are holding is not a human being."
The warm and soft little hand grasped the other hand at his side, and a sharp dagger was thrust into his hand.
“I’ll count one, two, and three in a moment. You use this dagger to cut off that hand and then run backwards with me. Remember, never look back.”
After speaking, she released her hand and held his shoulder from behind, signaling to reassure him.
“One, two…”
Gu Shiyan slowly raised the dagger towards the hand in front of him. As the sound of the three words fell, he turned around and stabbed the dagger in his hand directly into the chest of the man behind him.
Warm blood spurted out instantly from where the dagger pierced, staining his hands with sticky matter, and little blood drops splashed onto his body and face.
Lu Miao's beautiful and deserted little face was as pale as paper at the moment, her beautiful eyes were wide open, and she looked at him in disbelief. Her slender body staggered a few steps, and then fell in front of him with a thud.
Gu Shiyan's pupils narrowed and the dagger in his hand fell to the ground.
As Lu Miao fell to the ground, the surrounding fog finally slowly dissipated, and the peach forest returned to its original appearance, with the fragrance of flowers overflowing.
The sound of footsteps in the distance and the noisy voices of people were vaguely visible in the breeze, but all that was left in Gu Shiyan's eyes was Lu Miao's pale face. (End of chapter)