Chapter 81: The Painting from the Ghost Town

“Mr. Xu, please tell me everything exactly as it happened. Don’t try to hide anything.”

“You should understand perfectly well that if I wanted to, I could use other methods to make you talk!”

Chen Jing drove the Jeep along a long stretch of winding unlit road. Lu Xin sat obediently in the back seat. Beside him huddled Mr. Xu and Xu Xiao Xiao who had just bandaged her wrist and taken strong painkillers. Both father and daughter shrunk away from Lu Xin occupying only a fraction of the rear seat leaving Lu Xin with almost two spots to himself.

It was clear the father and daughter had suffered a heavy blow.

Flanking the Jeep were four other vehicles each filled with fully armed soldiers escorting them.

The intersecting beams of headlights occasionally tore through the thick darkness illuminating patches of stark white.

Chen Jing spoke calmly as she drove her voice carrying the steady confidence of someone in complete control.

In the back seat Mr. Xu hesitated slightly as if wanting to say something defiant in protest. But then he glanced at Chen Jing driving up front and Lu Xin sitting calmly beside him and remembered the fate of his private security…

He sighed softly his voice raspy. “Actually I don’t know much either…”

“I… I just felt sorry for all those works of art buried in abandoned towns…”

“Truthfully many people in the Main City do the same thing. We just provide funds to sponsor some scavenger teams letting them enter various abandoned towns to search for art pieces. In such a crazy era what we lack most is the pursuit of beauty. The chaotic times where a moldy piece of bread was more important than anything should be over…”

…

Chen Jing cut him off. “I attended your lecture during my training at Qinggang University so you can skip the sentimental commentary.”

Mr. Xu was momentarily stunned.

Lu Xin helpfully added from the side “I think she means you should get straight to the point!”

…

Mr. Xu’s expression turned complicated. After a moment he lowered his head somewhat dejectedly. “I regularly sponsor some scavenger teams to find valuable artworks. Depending on the piece I give them payment and compensation. Then… then I use some of my private channels to transport them into the Main City for my collection or to… share with like-minded individuals…”

He added another sentence “I believe you understand this sort of thing isn’t uncommon…”

Chen Jing nodded expressionlessly her voice rising slightly. “Continue!”

“This time was the same…”

Mr. Xu paused for a moment before continuing “I received news from a reclamation team outside the city. They said they had just returned from a large abandoned city and found some good things. They included a list featuring two traditional Chinese paintings a complete set of Hainan Huanghuali Ming Dynasty furniture a leather case of jewelry necklaces and several ancient jade carvings among other things…”

Chen Jing interrupted him “When was this?”

“That… that was already two months ago…”

Mr. Xu paused again before answering softly “Because I was tied up at the time I had Xiao Xiao go meet them. She’d actually done it a few times before so she was quite familiar with it and even knew the captain of that scavenger team. But… but I didn’t expect that as soon as she returned this time something would happen. I’ve been busy arranging her treatment so the goods are still piled up at Bengbu Port…”

“You should consider yourself lucky!”

Chen Jing stated coldly “If she hadn’t had the accident those items would probably already be inside the Main City.”

Mr. Xu was speechless. After a long moment he let out a low sigh.

“Your turn Miss Xu.”

Chen Jing said no more simply directing her cold words towards Xu Xiao Xiao who was nestled against her father.

The girl looked utterly drained. She had lost an entire hand and a significant amount of blood. If Chen Jing hadn’t ordered someone to give her an injection she likely would have already fainted. Although still conscious she was listless and weak. Hearing Chen Jing’s words she merely shot a fierce glare at the back of Chen Jing’s head before looking away.

Even Lu Xin beside them found it strange. That she still dared to resist at this point felt abnormal.

Mr. Xu instantly grew anxious calling out “Xiao Xiao…”

Before he could persuade her Chen Jing’s brow furrowed with impatience.

Her gaze met Xu Xiao Xiao’s in the rearview mirror. Her voice dropped becoming slightly deeper incredibly penetrating.

“Keeping secrets hidden inside is exhausting isn’t it?”

Lu Xin noticed her pupils turn red at that moment. “So you should tell me everything you know. Tell me all the secrets in your heart. Only then can I help you bear them right?”

Lu Xin noted that Chen Jing’s words this time were even gentler and more meticulous than before.

He had seen descriptions of ‘hypnosis’ in old movies but while Chen Jing’s actions were similar the method itself was vastly different.

Unlike hypnotists who needed the right timing and methods.

Chen Jing’s felt more like a forced induction.

No matter how gentle the voice the method was extremely crude and direct.

Hearing her words Xu Xiao Xiao’s expression immediately became vacant. Her previous resistance slowly faded into a trance as if she had suddenly fallen into a dream. Though clearly awake she looked like she was sleepwalking murmuring:

“When I… when I went to their camp…”

“The scavenger team members were all dead…”

…

Mr. Xu looked slightly startled calling out “Colonel Chen…”

“Let her speak!”

Chen Jing said calmly “She is currently in a deep state of hypnosis. If you want her to become an imbecile try interrupting her.”

Mr. Xu hastily shut his mouth looking both anxious and worried.

Xu Xiao Xiao robotically recounted everything “They… their bodies looked terrifying.”

“I saw several team members naked huddled together. Some were even clutching a pig’s head…”

“They all had many bullet holes in them. And the person who shot them was… was the scavenger team captain.”

“I knew him. His name was Shen Baohui a very loyal guy. But… but he was sitting in a chair having shot those teammates. The submachine gun was right at his feet… And he… he was dead too. He’d shot himself under the chin with a handgun…”

“I didn’t know what had happened. I quickly went to check the items they mentioned before and found… found that everything they brought back from that city was still there. And… and there was one extra thing they hadn’t mentioned…”

“It was a painting!”

“Everything else was still sealed in boxes. Only… only that painting was placed in the middle of their tent on a wooden easel covered with a black cloth. It looked… it looked like it had been hastily covered…”

“I… I had people pack everything up. By bribing an old guard from the City Patrol Army I transported it to the temporary warehouse in Bengbu Port for sorting and categorization. I… I took the painting because… because I could see… how much they valued it. I thought it must be very valuable so I planned to appraise it. So… I unveiled the black cloth…”

…

Hearing this Chen Jing’s brow furrowed deeply.

Lu Xin sitting in the back seat also tilted his head slightly listening intently.

Mr. Xu opened his mouth to speak several times but ultimately just sighed softly letting his daughter continue.

He knew that after revealing this whole affair his path was surely finished and many others would be implicated. This was why he hadn’t wanted anyone else to know initially. But having reached this point what else could he do?

“That painting… was so beautiful…”

Xu Xiao Xiao remained in a daze but when mentioning the painting her usually immobile pupils brightened slightly.

There was even a faint sign of her trying to break through the hypnotic fog.