The artist stood up suddenly, his back already wet.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead, went into the bathroom and flushed it over and over again, then gasped and stood in front of the mirror in a daze.
"It's this dream again."
The person in the mirror looked very young and handsome, with a strange black tattoo on the left side of his face. He looked a little haggard at this time. He slapped his face hard, and he didn't know what he thought of, and his face became more and more ugly.
After checking the time, he gave up eating breakfast, got dressed and went out.
Because of [Performance Art], the artist has always had the habit of acting, but sometimes the person he plays will bring him sporadic horrific memories, and this memory can be eliminated with the death of the person being played——
Therefore he often kills the person he is impersonating.
Of course, the other party is often someone who deserves to die.
However, there is a memory that cannot be eliminated, and has even become his nightmare for a long time, appearing from time to time. (See Chapter 80)
The person he played and killed was named Han Qiang. It is speculated that he may have inherited a curse or something from the other person for some reason and became like this. It is not that he has not investigated in recent years, but he has never had a clue.
Until not long ago, he was inspired by the interrogation of the tomb keeper and the suggestion of a colleague that he might be able to weave the past in his dreams and find enough information to restore and play Han Qiang's life, thereby finding the curse.
Clues to the source.
This is also one of the ways to use [Performance Art], but the premise is that enough information must be collected, and the target is preferably a miscellaneous fish.
Yes, although he woke up at this time, he was actually still in a dream. With the help of a colleague, he was playing an in-depth role of Han Qiang in order to find clues to the curse.
There seemed to be some kind of guidance in the dark, telling him that he needed to get rid of this nightmare as soon as possible.
So after completing the arrest of the target named Mu and confirming that he had nothing else to do for the time being, he started his own acting plan.
From now on, he is no longer an artist, but Han Qiang, the department head of a company.
According to his guess, he would experience most of Han Qiang's life and finally stop at the moment of death by his own hands.
At that time, he will wake up safely and find out where the curse came from.
…
Han Qiang could barely be considered a young and promising person, but he knew very well that the people below him were not convinced by him.
After driving to the company, he calmly went upstairs and walked to his office.
As soon as they saw him, the employees who were whispering in the room closed their mouths in unison, looked at their noses, noses and hearts, looking like they were working seriously.
Han Qiang naturally heard someone talking about him. Before, he would have had to teach this person a lesson, but obviously, he was not in that mood today.
His office was beautifully decorated, with his desk facing a floor-to-ceiling window. When he was tired from work, he could look out and relax. This was a design that many people liked, but he was not interested in it.
The day ended in a daze, and Han Qiang walked downstairs absentmindedly, turning a deaf ear to the employees' comments, and walked straight to the parking lot.
However, something bad happened. The car, which was fine in the morning, seemed to have lost its temper. It couldn't start, and I didn't know where the problem was.
Han Qiang cursed secretly and had to go to the roadside to take a taxi, adjust his mentality, sit in the passenger seat and close his eyes to rest.
After not sleeping well for several days, he felt sleepy quickly. After being groggy for a while, he forced himself to open his eyes and found that the car had stopped.
"What's going on?"
"There's a traffic jam at the residential building in front," the driver said, puzzled, "This isn't a holiday, so why is there a traffic jam..."
Hearing the words "residential building", Han Qiang subconsciously stirred, his sleepiness immediately dissipated, and he hurriedly stuck his head out of the car window and looked into the distance.
Vaguely, he saw a slightly old residential building. The stagnant vehicles were coming from that direction, and the cars behind were unable to move at all.
He didn't know why, but his heart suddenly rose to his throat.
"Oh, I heard, someone seems to have committed suicide by jumping off the building over there." At this moment, the driver spoke. He seemed to have heard a few voices from his peers, and turned around and sighed, "Damn it, this place doesn't seem to be the first place in the world."
It was a suicide, the last time..."
The driver kept chattering, but he couldn't listen to a word. His body trembled slightly and his face turned pale.
He didn't even know how he got to the door of his house. He opened the door in despair, but noticed that the light in the living room was on.
"dad!"
Before he could think about it, a little girl jumped on him and hugged him tightly.
The other boy moved slower, rushed over and hugged his thigh, his round face full of joy.
Han Qiang's heart suddenly softened, and a smile appeared on his face. While hugging his two children, he looked at his wife who came out of the kitchen and asked, "Why are you back?"
His wife rolled her eyes at him, took off her apron, and said helplessly: "Didn't you tell me to take the child to my parents' place to play for a few days and then come back? Today is the day to come back, have you forgotten?"
She pretended to complain and continued: "Forget it, he didn't come to pick us up. He didn't even prepare any food."
Han Qiang then remembered it and quickly explained that he had forgotten the date because he had been too busy with work recently.
No matter what, the return of his wife and children was a matter worth celebrating. He immediately forgot all the unpleasantness, teased the two children, and then asked them to wash their hands and eat.
"What's wrong with you? You look like you're not in good spirits."
He forced a smile, shook his head to his wife and said, "I can't help it, I've been working overtime recently... By the way, how was your fun?"
"It's good, but the two children are clamoring to say they want to see you." The wife walked to the table carrying the dishes, and smiled as if she remembered something, "By the way, I also met someone, you must also want to meet me."
See."
"Who?"
"You'll know when I see you tomorrow. Thanks to his help on the way back." The wife looked mysterious.
Han Qiang was so happy today that he drank a few glasses of wine, but unfortunately he couldn't drink enough and fell asleep quickly.
But tonight was no exception. In the middle of the night, he was woken up by the same nightmare again.
The wife beside him was startled, but did not wake up. She turned over and continued to sleep.
He turned on the desk lamp, sat motionless on the bed, and stared into the darkness.
As expected, the dark circles under his eyes were a little darker the next day.
But as long as he sees the child, he can always calm down and forget about the nightmare.
After get off work, he quickly returned home and called his daughter who was watching TV.
"Where's mom?"
The daughter thought for a while and replied: "I went to buy groceries. I said I wanted to entertain the big brother I met yesterday."
"Big brother?"
"Yeah, mom said we should thank others for helping us."
Looking at his daughter's serious look, Han Qiang smiled. Just as he was about to deepen his education, he heard his son's words.
"Dad, I had a dream last night."
"What dream?" He had a bad feeling.
"I dreamed that I fell from a building. Fortunately, an uncle hugged me." My son recalled, "He told me, 'We should fall together', but I didn't know what he meant... I now
I still remember them all.”
Han Qiang broke out in cold sweat, swallowed hard, and said in horror: "That uncle...what does he look like?"
The son shook his head in confusion and said, "I don't remember, but he seemed to say he knew dad..."
In an instant, Han Qiang's soul flew into the sky.
"I made a mistake alone, so I don't need to involve my family, right?" After a while, he lowered his head and muttered something, as if he was talking to someone.
The surroundings were extremely quiet, and no one could answer him.
Just then, the doorbell rang.
The son volunteered to open the door, and soon his wife and a young man appeared in the house.
Han Qiang finally calmed down his emotions, but when he saw the person coming, his expression suddenly became unnatural.
But the young man greeted him calmly: "Hello, Uncle Han, I am Xu Heng. I wonder if you still remember me."
Han Qiang was stunned for a while, then forced a smile and said: "Of course I remember, Brother Xu's son..." His voice gradually turned lower, and he blamed himself, "I'm sorry about him."
Xu Heng seemed to not want to mention this matter, he just shook his head and said nothing.
"Look at you, you know how to open and lift the pot!" The wife pretended to be angry, slapped her husband, turned to Xu Heng and smiled, "You can sit down wherever you want, while Auntie goes to get the vegetables."
With that said, she entered the kitchen, leaving Han Qiang and Xu Heng behind, and the air was a little quiet.
Xu Heng sat on the sofa and said after a while: "My younger brothers and sisters are very cute."
"Haha, really?" Han Qiang smiled, but became nervous inside.
My son just had a nightmare and this guy came to my house. Isn’t it a coincidence...
He was suspicious in his heart, but he didn't show it on the surface, and asked: "Where is your mother? Why don't you ask her to come with you?"
Hearing this question, Xu Heng lowered his head and said nothing.
Han Qiang was silent for a moment and said, "I understand."
Of course he knows Xu Heng's mother. This woman and Xu Yan have been together for a long time and have a very good relationship. Now I'm afraid she is still immersed in the pain of her husband's death...
The food was served not long after, and several people sat around the dining table, but the atmosphere was inexplicably awkward.
Xu Heng was too cold. Even though he was polite and would chat along, everyone could see his alienation.
I don't know if it was an illusion, but after the meal, Han Qiang always felt that something was wrong with the way Xu Heng looked at him.
…
It was another night of nightmares. Han Qiang wiped his sweat and walked to the bathroom. When he returned to the bedroom, he heard something moving at the door.
Having been frightened recently, he suddenly became alert, quietly walked to the door, and looked through the peephole to the corridor.
The voice-activated light outside the building turned on at some point, and a figure with a lowered head stood outside the door, his body looking a little distorted in the cat's eyes.
"this……"
Han Qiang was shocked, how could there be anyone outside in the middle of the night?
But the figure slowly raised his head, revealing a slightly pale face. He leaned his head closer, as if intending to look into the room through the peephole.
An eyeball gradually enlarged, and before Han Qiang could retreat, the corridor became dark.
It’s Xu Heng!
Han Qiang almost screamed, his heart pounding. This guy didn't go home, but kept standing outside the door?
He was a little creeped out, but he pretended not to notice, and tiptoed back to the bedroom, lying on the bed with confused thoughts.
"Doesn't he know?"
As he muttered, the whole story of that nightmare began to emerge in his mind.
The story is not complicated.
Xu Yan is much older than Han Qiang. He is his good brother and his leader. Not only did he bring him into his company, but he also spent time helping him adapt to work.
But even with Xu Yan's care, Han Qiang was only promoted to a small position after one year, and has not made any progress since then. On the other hand, Xu Yan's work has become more and more smooth, and he has become a supervisor naturally, and no one is dissatisfied.
Han Qiang was jealous, but he knew that Xu Yan deserved all this. He was capable and more sophisticated, so maybe being a supervisor would not be his end in the company.
In Han Qiang's perception, Xu Yan was almost perfect, and it was almost impossible to find any flaws in his body, until one day, he entered a place called a secret store.
Yes, it is the most famous restricted area for activities, the secret shop.
This is a strange store that can only be entered at midnight. The goods inside are blood-stained mouths, and they will tell you any secret - as long as you can pay an equal price.
The owner of the store was a woman whose face could not be seen clearly. Under her "sales promotion", Han Qiang's desire was aroused and he accidentally purchased Xu Yan's secret.
He really wanted to know what secrets Xu Yan, who was loved by everyone, hid that could not be disclosed to the public.
Xu Yan indeed has a stain.
Manager Xu, who is trusted by the company and loved by the employees, is actually cannibalizing the company's public funds!
Han Qiang couldn't believe it, but he was more willing to believe in the power of the secret store. After the shock, he was inexplicably excited. When he came to his senses, he had anonymously reported Xu Yan to the company.
Desire is the poison and alcohol is the catalyst.
Not long after that, after drinking a few glasses of wine, he followed Xu Yan to the roof of a residential building.
Xu Yan lives in this building.
The wind was very strong that night, but it could not wake Han Qiang up. Xu Yan trusted him very much and told him many things, including the secrets he hid.
"Someone reported that I was squandering public funds," Xu Yan said while smoking a cigarette, his voice not revealing any emotion or anger. "You may not believe it, but this is true... My son is sick and my family needs money. I really have no choice."
Han Qiang listened quietly. Perhaps it was the effect of alcohol. Instead of saying anything to comfort him, the corners of his mouth curled up unconsciously.
"I know I made a mistake. Before I step down, I will find a way to make you a supervisor. This is the last thing I can do to help you."
Xu Yan walked to the edge of the building and looked down at the crowds of people moving downstairs. His face showed fatigue. This was the first time Han Qiang saw him like this.
"It's so high. Do you think it will feel like flying if you jump like this?"
Xu Yan looked at everything downstairs, sighed, and turned around dejectedly, only to be met with a ferocious and twisted face.
"You'll know if you try it!"
The suppressed roar fell, a figure fell from a height, and bloody flowers bloomed on the street.
A gust of wind blew by, and Han Qiang realized what he had done. Looking at his gloved hands, he was a little scared, but more of it was morbidly excited.
Because of the scarcity of land, the buildings now are very high, and that guy can't survive!
He is Xu Yan's good friend and holds Xu Yan's secret, so he quickly faked the incident into a suicide.
Because his son was ill, Xu Yan had no choice but to squander public funds against his conscience. Faced with the dual pressure of life and conscience, he was exhausted and chose to commit suicide by jumping off a building.
The police naturally suspected Han Qiang, but there was no surveillance around the area where the incident occurred. He also wore gloves when pushing the person, leaving no fingerprints. Therefore, even if this was possible, the police could not produce evidence.
It was a troubled time at that time, and they couldn't afford to use extraordinary powers to investigate two guys who were not extraordinary people.
The loss of public funds also involved some people. Han Qiang found the clues about these people in the information left by Xu Yan, and took the position of supervisor without any resistance.
When the dust settled, this matter should have ended, but Han Qiang leaked the secret.
The secret store has two purposes: equal exchange and no leakage of secrets. Even if the world knows about the secret store, its existence should not be leaked by customers.
But he said it out loud once when he was drunk.
Of course, everyone who heard it didn't take it seriously, and he forgot about it when he was drunk.
But Han Qiang's first nightmare began.
He returned to the secret store, with all the shelves facing him, and the bloody mouths arranged neatly, opening and closing to murmur.
The woman stood in front of the shelf and cast her eyes on him.
"You leaked the secret," she said in an ugly voice. "Those who leak the secret will have nightmares again."
"The nightmare will be repeated!" Countless mouths on the shelves repeated in hisses, with strong malice.
Han Qiang did not expect that his child would also have nightmares, and this incident seemed to involve his family.
And Xu Heng, does he know anything...
There was a sudden movement beside him, interrupting Han Qiang's thoughts. He turned on the lamp and saw a pale face.
His wife sat up sweating profusely, looking at him with empty eyes, and the words she spoke pierced his heart.
"I had a nightmare...I dreamed about Brother Xu."
…
The artist breathed a sigh of relief.
It turned out that this was the origin of the strange things happening to Han Qiang. Later, the guy died at his own hands not long after, so there was no need to read on.
Secret store!
He got the information he wanted, and all he had to do next was to prescribe the right medicine. He wanted to withdraw his consciousness, but was horrified to find that he couldn't escape no matter what, and could only be forced to continue experiencing Han Qiang's life.
But he is not worried, because Xu Qiang will be killed by himself in the dream soon, and he will definitely wake up by then.
However, the scary thing is that the subsequent development of the dream is completely different from what he knew——
Han Qiang was very anxious. Things were starting to get out of control. His nightmares seemed to be contagious and had begun to affect his family. This was by no means a good sign.
Sadly, there was nothing he could do to change the situation, the method of entering the secret store had failed, and he couldn't even go to someone to apologize.
Is it really going to be a lifelong nightmare?
And his intuition told him that the nightmare was just the beginning, and the price of leaking the secret was far more expensive than any secret.
The only thing that gives him some comfort is that his family only has nightmares occasionally.
Han Qiang's mental condition was very bad and he had to take leave to rest. But obviously, his condition could not be solved by resting.
"Husband, husband?"
His wife's call rang in his ears. Han Qiang threw the cigarette into the ashtray, rubbed his brows, and asked, "What's wrong?"
"You ask what's wrong?" The wife dropped the broom in her hand with some dissatisfaction and complained, "Didn't you listen to what I said?"
Han Qiang remained silent.
Seeing his haggard look, his wife couldn't help but feel a little distressed, and said in a gentle tone: "Have you forgotten, the day after tomorrow is our wedding anniversary, and it also happens to be the birthdays of our son and daughter."
"I thought about it for a long time and asked my children's opinions, and finally decided to eat at the Nanyue Hotel. There is an open-air restaurant on the roof..."
"no!"
Han Qiang interrupted her.
"Why?"
"You said it was on the roof of the building. The child is so young, what if he falls down accidentally?"
The wife said helplessly: "The railings there are as high as two of them, and I will take good care of them." As her words changed, she said with admiration, "It would be so romantic to overlook the whole city together."
Han Qiang wanted to say it again, but his son and daughter came over to act coquettishly and clamored to go, so he had to give up.
Just in time for a change of mood.
So that night, the family dressed up and went to the outdoor restaurant on the roof of the hotel.
"So high, so high."
My daughter, who was excited before, is now a little scared.
Han Qiang touched her little head and said helplessly: "You are clamoring to come, now you know you are scared?"
The wife, who was wearing exquisite makeup, said doubtfully: "There are a little few guests today. I heard there are usually quite a few people."
"It's nice to be quiet."
At this moment, the son suddenly pointed in one direction and shouted: "It's big brother!"
As he spoke, he jumped and waved to that location.
Everyone looked over and found Xu Heng standing alone in front of the railing, seemingly overlooking the scenery below.
He didn't seem to notice this and stood quietly. His wife, who was ordering, thought about it and asked the waiter to order a few more dishes.
The family chose a location slightly closer to the railing, where they could see the scenery downstairs.
Feeling the night breeze on the high-rise building, listening to the children's exclamations from time to time, and looking at the changing night scene downstairs, Han Qiang suddenly felt that it would be nice to come here.
The wife didn't look at the scenery. She quickly pulled Xu Heng over, asked him to sit with the family, and then started talking to each other.
"Are you here to eat too, or are you the only one?"
Xu Heng lowered his eyes and said "hmm".
Han Qiang stared at him with burning eyes. He thought this was such a coincidence... There was obviously no one around tonight, so why did he happen to be here?
"By the way, where is your mother?" Seeing Xu Heng raise his head, he looked back and asked casually.
Xu Heng said nothing, but just when Han Qiang thought he didn't want to answer, he heard him speak.
"She's dead...she jumped to her death a while ago."
The slightly cheerful atmosphere immediately dissipated, the smile on his wife's face gradually solidified, and Han Qiang's pupils also shrank.
"How could this happen..."
"Like my father, he jumped from the roof... My mother and my father have been together for a long time, and they have a very good relationship. She cried every night after my father died... Sometimes I think about it, after death
For her, it is not a blessing."
Han Qiang suddenly remembered that when a taxi passed by the residential building where Xu Heng's family lived a few days ago, the driver said that someone had committed suicide.
So the person who committed suicide was Xu Heng’s mother?
His arms trembled slightly and he felt inexplicably irritable.
"But even so, she can't abandon you, right?" His wife looked at Xu Heng with sadness on her face.
There was no sadness on Xu Heng's face, he shook his head and said calmly: "I am sick and I am about to die. My mother did not abandon me, so I can reunite in another world."
The wife was stunned and couldn't even speak. Fortunately, the two children were still young and could not understand the cruelty in these words.
Han Qiang lowered his head unbearably, but when he raised his head, he found Xu Heng staring at him.
But when he looked carefully, he found that it seemed like his illusion.
Xu Heng did not look at him, but stood up and walked to the railing, looking in one direction.
"I've been to this place once," he turned around and smiled, and continued, "You can just see the roof of my house from here...it's very clear."
Han Qiang's heart jumped inexplicably.
"Where is eldest brother's home? I want to see it, I want to see it!" The son rushed to Xu Heng's side.
Han Qiang's heart suddenly rose and he stared at Xu Heng, fearing that he would throw his son downstairs in the next second.
He was so scared, this guy knew...he must know!
The expected horrific scene did not happen. Xu Heng just rubbed his son's head and did nothing else.
Han Qiang's heart gradually dropped, and he walked to the railing and looked into the distance. He actually saw the residential building, but it was very blurry.
He breathed a sigh of relief, but heard Xu Heng ask his son beside him: "Is he very tall?"
The son nodded excitedly and said: "It's so high, so high! If you jump down... maybe it will feel like flying..."
As he spoke, his voice became colder and colder, as if he had lost all emotion.
"careful!"
These familiar words made Han Qiang's heart beat wildly, his eyes turned red instantly, and he rushed over with a yell.
Isn’t this what Xu Yan said before he died?
Everyone looked at Han Qiang. As if he was possessed by a demon, he suddenly threw himself on the railing, making a huge collision sound.
The night wind blew past my ears, and everything around me became quiet.
Han Qiang looked around, as if he had returned to the day he committed the crime.
"Leaking secrets is punishable."
Xu Yan stood in front of him, blowing smoke rings and smiling: "I'll wait for you below."
As he spoke, he opened his arms and leaned back, disappearing from his eyes.
Han Qiang lowered his head and saw the dreamy night scene and the bright red flowers on the street.
Broken corpses with closed eyes, pedestrians like puppets... everything is the same as in the nightmare.
Just as I remembered, in the next second, all the pedestrians who stopped raised their heads in unison, and together with the corpse that suddenly opened its eyes, revealed a malicious look.
"now you!"
Han Qiang was horrified and wanted to retreat, but found that the railing in front of him suddenly came loose, and his forward leaning body fell from the building along with the railing.
The wind began to whistle in his ears, and the missing sounds returned. He heard the cries of his son and daughter, the screams of his wife, and a familiar unpleasant voice.
"It's like flying, right?"
At the last moment of his life, Han Qiang's heart calmed down. He opened his arms and experienced the feeling of flying, with a relieved smile on his face.
"Finally no more nightmares..."
The same thought also appeared in the artist's mind, and he subconsciously thought that he could wake up.
"boom!"
In the night, a bloody flower bloomed.
In a daze, he saw a Yingying figure walking towards him. The other person's face was blurred. He leaned over and looked at him, as if he was laughing. He tore off his mouth like paper and looked up at Xu Heng, who looked calm upstairs.
His voice was hoarse, like a mourning crow.
"The leaker has been dealt with, it will be your turn soon."
The young man touched the rose earrings on his earlobes and smiled casually.
