Chapter 709: Art!

"Why after midnight? Is there a reason for that specific time?"

I kept pressing for answers until Bai Ya'er grew impatient. She waved me off. "You don't have much time left. I don't want to get you killed."

With that, she retreated into the bathroom, seemingly to change out of her rain-soaked, filth-stained clothes.

'The residents of the Red Building are getting more bizarre by the minute. That Streamer from Jinghai City is hiding among them. If I want to find him, I need more clues.'

My eyes full of doubt, I stared at the woman's back until she shut the bathroom door.

Hearing footsteps echo in the hallway late at night and having a stranger knock on her door—Bai Ya'er's experiences in the Red Building had caught my attention, but they also made me suspicious.

Why would a woman living alone stubbornly stay after encountering such bizarre events instead of moving out? What exactly was drawing her to this place, making her stay regardless of her own safety?

I couldn't figure it out. While she wasn't paying attention, I looked toward the spot she had just been staring at.

The damp bedroom wall. While she was talking to me, Bai Ya'er had repeatedly shot intentional and unintentional glances at it. She seemed apprehensive, afraid of something.

I suddenly remembered the holes in that wall, and a terrifying thought flashed through my mind like lightning!

'Those holes connect the two rooms. Is someone peeping?' The first time I had peeled back the wallpaper, I saw a blurry red shadow behind it. I thought it was red paint, but thinking back on it now, that vivid crimson color had bulged outward, pulsing like a blood vessel.

'That red definitely wasn't paint—it was blood! What I saw was a blood-red eyeball!' My brain shuddered. I took a deep breath to calm myself down.

I had greeted the Painter when I first reached the fourth floor. Although he only revealed half of his face at the time, I could never forget those bloodshot eyes.

'The Painter has been peeping from the other side of the wall this whole time!' I realized in hindsight, my palms sweating. I had inadvertently discovered his secret.

As my heartbeat slowed and I calmed down, I felt there was something fishy going on.

There was more than one hole in that wall, allowing someone to spy on different scenes from various angles.

There was no reason for such brazen Voyeurism to go unnoticed. Forcing back the urge to go inspect those holes, I walked toward the bathroom. 'Everything in Bai Ya'er's house is neatly arranged and spotlessly clean. It's obvious she's a girl who loves cleanliness. So why would someone like her choose to live in a bedroom that reeks of decay? To sleep beneath someone else's gaze?'

The newly plastered wall told me that Bai Ya'er knew about the holes. She clearly knew she was being watched, yet she still insisted on living in the Red Building and didn't even change rooms. There was definitely a hidden reason behind this.

'I think I've already guessed why Bai Ya'er is living in the Red Building.'

Pushing open the bathroom door, I looked at the woman who had just taken off her coat. Staring at her bony, slender, and artistic body, I lowered my voice. "What is the name of the Painter living next door to you?"

Bai Ya'er clutched her freshly removed coat. Underneath, she wore only a thin white top. "Why are you asking that?"

I stepped into the bathroom and closed the door behind me.

In the confined, narrow space, I could clearly hear the woman's heartbeat and breathing. "You don't need to be afraid. He can't see anything right now."

"What nonsense are you talking about? I don't understand."

The woman panicked slightly and moved to open the door, but before she could touch the lock, I grabbed her. "You don't understand?"

A hint of mockery played on my face. "You're the Painter's model, aren't you? How much money did he give you to make you follow him so stubbornly, living in this ghost building that reeks of decay and is filled with danger at every turn?"

With every word I spoke, Bai Ya'er's expression turned uglier. She started to struggle, her voice rising. "Let me go!"

Covering her mouth with one hand, I pinned her to the ground and dragged her to the deepest part of the bathroom.

By the dim light, I sized up this delicate woman. She looked like a natural-born work of art. It was just a pity that beneath her beautiful exterior hid a rotting heart.

"Speak. While you were drunk, I peeled back the bedroom wallpaper and locked eyes with him while he was spying. I can confirm he's the one hiding behind the wall."

"I don't know, I don't know what you're saying! Peeping? What peeping?" The woman was weak; her resistance seemed feeble and powerless to me.

"Lying to me is useless. I have no interest in whatever deal the two of you have, nor will I interfere. You just need to tell me the truth, otherwise I might do something very painful to you." My voice was freezing and devoid of emotion. I grabbed a towel, shoved it into her mouth, and applied force with my hands.

The pain caused veins to bulge on the woman's face. I showed absolutely no mercy. In the face of a life-or-death crisis, any act of tenderness was foolish.

"Now do you understand?" I saw her nod and only then did I pull out the towel, pressing my knee firmly against her lower back. "Speak. What is your relationship with the Painter? Why are you living in the Red Building?"

Bai Ya'er gasped for air in large gulps. She glared at me viciously and struggled a couple of times. Realizing she couldn't move at all, she finally resigned herself to her fate. "I admit I knew this Painter you speak of, and I only live here because of him."

'Just as I thought.' The woman's words confirmed my guess. "What's the Painter's name? Give me his specific details."

Faced with a mix of hard and soft tactics, Bai Ya'er finally yielded.

"His name is Zhu Li, and he's an artist. Not just in painting—he has astonishing talent across many artistic disciplines. He is a genius. No, a genius among geniuses!" A trace of fanaticism seeped into the woman's voice, and her description successfully piqued my curiosity.

'That unkempt, down-and-out Painter with bloodshot eyes is actually an artistic genius?' My gaze shifted. The woman's tone was very off. "How did you meet him?"

"I saw the teacher's works online and really loved his style, how it struck directly into the depths of the human soul. So, I kept leaving my contact information beneath his pieces, hoping to meet him one day." Bai Ya'er had no idea how pathetic her current expression looked. "Later, the teacher reached out to me himself. He wanted me to participate in his next piece and asked me to be his model."

"So you came to Jinghai City? And moved in next door to him?" I couldn't understand Bai Ya'er's actions at all. That Painter was clearly a bit psychopathic. Although many geniuses had a crazy side, that didn't mean every lunatic was a genius. I didn't think a peeping tom could be an elegant artist.

"Yes, to assist the teacher in completing his masterpiece, I had the honor of becoming his neighbor." Now that everything was out in the open, a hint of pride showed on Bai Ya'er's face.

"You said earlier that you've been in Jinghai for three or four months now. What kind of artwork requires such a long production cycle? I'm afraid things aren't as simple as just painting between you two, are they?" I couldn't shake the feeling she was hiding something crucial.

"With your filthy mind, you definitely wouldn't understand Teacher Zhu's art. There's nothing going on between us. I'm just his model; he has never done anything to cross the line." Her face pressed against the floor, Bai Ya'er gave me a disdainful smile.

"You're calling me filthy? And just how much grander is a peeping tom compared to me?" I pinned her hands. "He paints you every day? Can you let me see his work?"

"You people will never understand true art. Painting is only one method of expressing consciousness. No matter how abstract a painting is, it's ultimately just portraying a type of thinking." Bai Ya'er scoffed dismissively. "It's impossible for you to understand Teacher Zhu's art. That is true art; that is what can be called a soul-stirring creation!"

Her face was flushed; it seemed that just talking about it thrilled her to the core. "I have the teacher's works saved on my phone. If you want to see them, I can unlock it for you."

"Lie here and don't move. I'll go get the phone." I slowly released my hands. Seeing the woman obediently staying prone on the ground, I finally left, found her phone and charger, and quickly returned to the bathroom.

I plugged it in, turned it on, and placed the phone next to the woman's hand.

She opened a hidden folder. After typing in the password, photos numbered by date appeared on the screen.

I randomly tapped on one. The photo had been taken several years ago. In the frame was a Doctor wearing a white coat, wielding a pestle to smash a human brain specimen. Swiping further, the next few photos documented the entire process of the Doctor crushing the human brain. This set of photos was titled Wisdom.

"This is that Teacher Zhu's art?"

I continued scrolling and opened the second file. Inside was a masked man who had sewn pig skin onto his own thigh. The photo's name was Skin Grafting.

Moving further down as the dates progressed, this Teacher Zhu's works grew increasingly morbid and insane.

One of them showed an infant placed next to a stray dog, the camera capturing the exact moment the vicious beast opened its jaws. This piece was named Sacrifice.

There was another taken on an elongated dining table. A living human specimen had been dismembered and prepared as a dish on a dinner plate, while seated on the other side of the table was a pig wearing a suit. Written in the bottom left corner of the photo were two words: Banquet.

These weren't paintings or fictional creations at all; they were all photographs—authentic, hysterical records that left anyone who looked at them trembling with fear and their scalp numb!

"How is it? How is it?!" Bai Ya'er screamed in excitement. I forcefully shoved the towel back into her mouth and endured my discomfort to keep swiping through.

Among all the pieces, one caught my attention. It wasn't the goriest, but it exposed a problem.

I zoomed in on this photo called Redemption. It had been taken just a few days ago.