Du Ruhai's Bride

We didn't dare keep looking at that painting.

But I was still curious. Who was the bride in it?

Rumor had it that Du Ruhai's wife had died many years ago, and he had never remarried afterward.

But that was only what I'd heard from others.

As for whether Du Ruhai had any children, no one seemed to have mentioned it.

If we hadn't been investigating the girl who knocked on doors, we wouldn't even have known Du Ruhai had an adopted daughter.

That suggested Du Ruhai had kept his private life-and Du Yuwei's-very well protected.

Even his recent wedding had been held in secret. No one in his industry knew about it.

Surely the wedding of a major businessman like him would at least make the local news?

The Seventh Master turned his head back toward us. After surveying the entire living room, he said, "There are only signs of one person living in this villa: Du Ruhai. No one else."

His words left us puzzled again.

"What about his wife?" Meng Yifan blurted out. "He just married a new wife. Doesn't he live with her?"

The Seventh Master shook his head, indicating that he didn't know either.

Actually, after hearing what the Seventh Master had just said, I'd already formed a bold suspicion.

I thought I probably knew who that bride was.

But I couldn't bring myself to say it.

"No normal person would hang an Evil Painting in their home."

The Seventh Master frowned. "I'm afraid there's more to Du Ruhai than being a businessman. There's something sinister about him. You two should be careful."

After warning us again, the Seventh Master led us straight up to the second floor.

The old man reasoned that since this villa only showed signs of Du Ruhai living here, and Du Ruhai was currently in another province, there shouldn't be anyone else inside.

That meant we didn't have to be quite so jumpy about sneaking around.

We checked every room on the second floor. Sure enough, no one was living there.

But although there was no one there, we didn't find Du Yuwei's body either.

Only the third floor and the attic above it remained.

The Seventh Master took the lead again, guiding us up to the third floor.

Watching his back, I suddenly had a strange impression. I kept feeling... as though he'd been here before.

He seemed familiar with everything here. When we'd first climbed into the villa's grounds, we hadn't even been able to get our bearings, yet he'd led us straight around to the outside of the first-floor bathroom.

It wasn't that I wanted to think the worst of him. I genuinely felt he'd been here before.

A chill crept over me, and a frightening thought crossed my mind.

Could the Seventh Master... know Du Ruhai?

But then I thought it through. Even if the Seventh Master was an expert, aside from that, he was an ordinary person just like us. He even lived in a small, single-story house.

Could he really have any connection to a businessman like Du Ruhai?

I reassured myself that I must be overthinking it. The Seventh Master had been helping Meng Yifan and me all along. How could I suspect him?

Besides, Brother Liu had introduced him to us. Surely he wouldn't screw us over...

Before long, we reached the third floor.

Its layout was different from the second floor's.

The second floor had seven rooms, consisting of bedrooms and studies.

But the third floor had only one room, with the rest of the space forming a large living room.

Judging by eye, the living room took up less than half of the third floor, while that single room occupied all the remaining space.

That meant the room had to be enormous, but its door had a lock on it, so we couldn't get inside yet.

"None of the rooms on the second floor were locked. Only this one is."

I looked at the Seventh Master and Meng Yifan. "There must be something locked inside. Something important to Du Ruhai."

Meng Yifan's eyes lit up. "Could Du Yuwei's body be in there?"

"The door's locked from the outside," I said. "We can't open it. We'd need hydraulic cutters at the very least to force it, but where would we get those?"

Just then, the Seventh Master pulled us both aside and took a piece of wire from his pocket.

Holding the wire, he pushed it straight into the keyhole.

His movements were astonishingly practiced.

"Seventh Master, what did you used to do for a living...?" Meng Yifan and I were curious.

As he worked the wire, the Seventh Master darted furtive glances left and right. "I spent a couple of years learning to pick locks when I was young."

The way he kept swiveling his head reminded me of a man back in our hometown who'd been arrested for theft and still hadn't been released.

But I had to admit, his skill was definitely professional.

The lock soon gave a click.

In less than a minute, the Seventh Master had picked it open.

He gently set the lock on the floor and blurted out, "You two stay outside and keep watch for me..."

"Seventh Master, there's no one in this villa..." I reminded him.

He froze, then gave two dry coughs. "Right. Let's go in together."

With that, he pushed the door open.

The instant it opened, a dense expanse of red unfolded before our eyes like a painted scroll.

We were just about to step inside when we froze on the spot.

Because... we saw Du Yuwei's body.

She sat upright directly opposite us... dressed in a red wedding gown, her head covered by a red bridal veil. Behind her was an enormous double happiness character.

The entire room was decorated in bright red: red tablecloths, red curtains, and burning red candles...

The scene was terrifyingly familiar.

Wasn't this exactly what Meng Yifan and I had seen in that Evil Painting?

It was identical!

There were even wedding guests in the room, but those guests... weren't living people at all. They were paper figures.

The kind made in shops selling paper funeral offerings.

The only difference between this wedding scene and the one in the Evil Painting was that there was no groom here. One chair stood empty.

At the sight of this eerie scene, my legs began to go weak.

So this was the place depicted in that Evil Painting...

"This bride, she... isn't she Du Ruhai's new wife? His wife died too?"

Meng Yifan seemed so frightened by the scene that his mind had gone blank. He still hadn't realized who the bride was.

But the bride was definitely dead. Although her face was covered by the red veil, her exposed hands had already turned a bluish purple.

Judging by the Seventh Master's expression, he seemed to have guessed the bride's identity too, just as I had.

He was braver than either of us. After hesitating for a few seconds, he walked straight over, reached out with his right hand, and lifted the bride's red veil.

A dead face appeared before our eyes once again.

When Meng Yifan saw the bride's face, he nearly dropped to his knees in fright, clutching my shoulder tightly.

This bride was the girl we'd seen before, the one who knocked on doors.

It was Du Yuwei...