Ring of Fate

Chapter 956: Studio (asking for monthly tickets at the end of the month)

Sifang Street is near Yangdu’s famous scenic spots and is part of the old city. Jinxiu Dongfang Community is also quite old and no building has more than six floors and is equipped with elevators.

Lumian followed Anderson and turned to the building closest to the entrance of the community.

As he walked up the stairs, he couldn't help but raise his right hand and pinch his nose.

There are many strong smells here.

Anderson turned sideways and laughed:

“The whole building is being renovated.”

Two pieces of white paper had been stuffed into his nostrils at some point.

"Why are they all under renovation?" Lumian did not hide his confusion.

Anderson glanced at him and said with a smile:

"This community is too old. Most of the owners have moved out and chose to rent out the empty houses. Someone has rented all the rooms in this building and plans to..."

Anderson paused for a moment, his smile becoming more obvious in the dim corridor, and his voice became deeper:

“I plan to open a bed and breakfast hotel.”

"Painting" right? That person is you, right? Lumian was mentally prepared for this and frowned slightly.

“Isn’t there a painting studio in this building?

"How can you say that all the rooms are rented?"

Anderson tightened the white paper ball in his nostrils:

“Is it possible that the person who opened that studio is the one who rented the rest of the rooms?

"The B&B he wants to open is adjacent to a tourist attraction, hidden in a residential area, and themed around paintings."

Lumian still pinched his nose and said as if he had suddenly realized something:

"That's it."

Because the smell of decoration was too strong in the corridor, the two did not slow down while talking and soon arrived at the top floor, which was the sixth floor.

The doors of the two houses were open. There was a brightly colored painting on the wall facing the staircase. The core of the painting was four words:

"Dumb Studio"

“It’s a very special name,” Lumian commented sincerely.

When you get here, the decoration has faded.

Anderson removed the white paper ball stuffed in his nostrils and explained seriously:

"Painting is done with hands, not mouths. Dumb represents the studio's expectations for students: focus, quietness, and dedication."

“That’s a great explanation.” Lumian clapped his hands.

Anderson did not take it as an offense and said with a smile:

"This is not my forced explanation. It was said by the studio owner."

"My sister once taught me dialectics, which states that even the worst words can have a good side. Do you think that's right?" Lumian asked with a smile.

Anderson nodded:
"Whatever you think is right is right."

He led Lumian to the door on the left.

Lumian was not in a hurry to go in. He stood at the door and looked around the fairly spacious living room.

This place has obviously been renovated to some extent, with paintings hanging on the walls:

There was a darkness, with only a few golden-red "dawns" painted in the distance, a "storm" with surging deep blue waves, a large number of blurry human figures of "pilgrims" walking in the wilderness, as well as hideous "monsters" drilling out from the bottom of the sea and "pirates" who were trying to rescue their own ships.

The painting of "Pirates" suddenly reminded Lumian of the latest volume of "The Great Adventurer". He saw vines growing on the heads of those figures, forming watermelons, and milky white liquid was spraying everywhere on the deck.

Was this a reproduction of Gehrman Sparrow's experience? Lumian stared at the sea monster that looked like a giant leech with a mouth full of sharp teeth for two seconds.

Anderson walked to the drawing board in the middle of the living room and turned around.

Lumian looked around, followed in at a moderate pace, and asked in confusion:
"Where is the owner of the studio?"

Anderson raised his right hand and pointed at himself.

“Are you the owner of the studio?” Lumian confirmed in surprise.

Anderson nodded.

Lumian suddenly smiled:
"Why don't you speak anymore? Did your throat suddenly become hoarse? Have you become mute?"

Anderson, wearing a black T-shirt, signed.

Lumian looked at him for a long time but couldn't understand what he was saying. He said thoughtfully:

“I wonder if there is a small program that translates sign language…”

Anderson picked up the paintbrush, took a piece of white paper from the side, and wrote something in dark red.

Unlike Lumian and others, he can write in the common language of the Dream City.

Lumian looked at it intently and saw a paragraph written on the white paper:

“It’s best not to speak in the studio and pretend to be dumb.”

Lumian raised his eyebrows, but before he could speak, he saw Anderson add a sentence with a gloomy expression in dark red paint:
"You just spoke."

Lumian suddenly felt a chill on the back of his neck, as if a cool breeze was blowing.

He didn't look back and seemed to feel nothing.

Anderson wrote another paragraph, and the dark red of the paint seemed to have become much brighter:
"Do you know this person?"

After writing, he turned the drawing board over so that the painting on it appeared before Lumian's eyes.

The painting was of a tall woman with a thin face, clear light blue eyes, bright and generous features, and a strange sharpness.

This is Lumian himself.

It's his female image!
Lumian smiled and answered Anderson's question:

"do not know."

As his voice echoed, something cold and wet suddenly pressed against him from behind.

Lumian suddenly pulled back his hand and grabbed it, and red flames suddenly burned in his palm.

As the flames compressed, he saw what was attacking him.

That is the giant "leech" in the "monster" oil painting. Its pink and transparent body extends out from the painting, and its mouthparts are opened to the maximum, enough to bite an adult's head.

Looking at the densely packed, pale sharp teeth with blood at the roots, Lumian directly slapped the red and almost white fireball in his hand towards it.

Boom!

The fireball exploded instantly, enveloping the sea monster that emerged from the painting.

The shock wave carrying flames quickly swept around, igniting every painting, every drawing board, and every person here!

At this moment, the blue sea water in the "Storm" oil painting surged out, poured into the room, and drowned all the flames.

Lumian's figure disappeared from the spot and appeared behind the mute Anderson.

His eyes had turned completely black, reflecting a hint of paleness.

Lumian clenched his right fist and thrust it out, hitting the mute Anderson on the back.

The punch came with a rumbling sound, tearing Anderson's flesh and blood, piercing through his body, and hitting the oil painting and drawing board with the image of Lumian woman.

The body of the mute Anderson suddenly broke, quickly became thinner, and turned into a portrait with a huge gap.

The portrait, along with the oil painting of Lumian's female image, was ignited by the red flames and turned completely into light black ash in just a few seconds.

As Mute Anderson turned back into a painting, the blue water that poured into the room and the sea monsters that were scrambling to get out disappeared at once, leaving only the motionless oil paintings.

Lumian took a quick look around and discovered that there was indeed a giant "leech" missing from the "monster" painting. The studio floor was covered with traces of water and pieces of paper that had not yet been burned.

It became unusually quiet here, with no living creatures except Lumian himself.

Lumian then walked around the two houses that made up the studio and found nothing unusual.

Those paintings are no longer weird or mysterious.

He left the place and walked down the stairs, where he saw tenants in the community looking around in groups of three or five.

They just heard the sound of an explosion, but did not find the source of the explosion, nor did they discover which buildings in the community were damaged. They could only attribute this to a high-speed fighter jet flying over the sky.

Lumian walked through them and returned to the entrance of the community.

A figure suddenly appeared in his eyes.

The figure had blond hair and blue eyes, and was wearing a white shirt and black trousers, with his hands in his pockets, as if he was one of the spectators.

Anderson!
Anderson Hood!

Upon discovering Lumian, Anderson asked in surprise:

"You've arrived and entered the neighborhood?"

Lumian smiled.

"I'm used to arriving early."

Anderson laughed:

"Me too."

When Lumian came up to him, he smiled and asked:
"Did you have fun just now?"

“It was fun.” Lumian kept smiling and said meaningfully, “I want to do it again.”

Anderson Hood nodded slightly.

He was about to speak when he suddenly looked around.

"Let's wait for next time." Anderson retracted his gaze and said with a smile, "Contact us on WeChat."

He raised his right palm which was holding the phone.

He did not mention visiting the studio, nor did he ask Lumian's friend if he was interested in taking a class. Lumian did not initiate the conversation, but waved his hand and said:
"Then I'll go first."

"Goodbye." Anderson also waved.

Lumian walked past the cram school teacher and headed to the side of the road.

A gray car drove up and stopped in front of him.

Lumian opened the car door, got in, and said to Anthony in the driver's seat:
"Go to Gongren Road."

Anthony nodded and drove the vehicle into the river.

Franca, Luo Shan and Zhou Mingrui have plans to have dinner on Gongren Road tonight, where there is a taro chicken hotpot restaurant.

As the vehicle was moving, the sound of chewing continued to be heard from the back seat.

…………

On Gongren Road, inside a taro chicken hotpot restaurant called "Yizhou Roast Chicken".

Franca and Roxanne arrived earlier, chose a seat by the window, and ordered chicken and taro, but no other dishes.

The two of them ordered a bottle of iced soy milk each, and didn't think there was anything wrong with Zhou Mingrui's choice of such a noisy, lively and not-quite-bourgeois place to eat.

What matters is whether it tastes good!

At around 6:50, Zhou Mingrui, wearing a black shirt, walked in.

"Here, here!" Luo Shan waved happily.

Zhou Mingrui walked around the other table, came over, sat down and said:
"There's something else going on when I'm almost off work."

"We agreed to meet at seven o'clock." Luo Shan didn't care at all and pointed at Franca and said, "This is my neighbor and colleague Luo Fu."

Zhou Mingrui glanced at Franca and said with a smile:

"We've met before, let's order first."

Franka looked at the sky outside which was getting darker and felt a little nervous.

PS: Ask for monthly tickets at the end of the month~
(End of this chapter)