Phantom Skeleton Painting

T/N: Sorry for the late chapters. As mentioned previously things have been hectic at work, however, the audit is finally complete so things should calm down a bit.

 

Chapter 76.1 Ghost Market

Men are all about saving face. If the stupidest thing they have done is found out by the person they love the most, they will naturally be very sad.

Lin Banxia spoke for a long time before he explained clearly that it was Li Su who betrayed him, but that no matter how Li Su slandered him, Song Qingluo was still the most lovable and powerful person in his mind. Song Qingluo listened quietly for a while, then stood up and said, “I’m going out to smoke a cigarette.”

Lin Banxia said: “Stop smoking, there are children at home.”

Song Qingluo glanced at Xiaohua and Small Cave, who were sitting on the sofa with their calves dangling, and stuffed the cigarette back in his pocket.

“Can you tell me?” Lin Banxia asked cautiously, “Just…why on earth would you buy such a thing.”

Song Qingluo raised her hand to look at her watch: “Go change your clothes, I’ll take you somewhere.”

Lin Banxia said: “Where are we going?”

Song Qingluo said, “You’ll know when you get there.”

Lin Banxia went to change and followed Song Qingluo out.

The weather had gotten hotter recently, but fortunately the sun had already gone down and the heat faded a lot. Song Qingluo flagged down a taxi outside the community and told the driver an address that Lin Banxia had never heard before.

The car passed through the new city and arrived at the old city, which Lin Banxia rarely visited. Unlike the area where they live, most of the houses there were old. However, although the houses were old, the prices were not a joke. A small house of only fifty or sixty square meters could be sold for several million. It was the kind of location that Lin Banxia thought he would never afford in his lifetime.

The taxi finally stopped outside an alley. Song Qingluo paid the fare and got out of the car with Lin Banxia.

It was close to ten o’clock. Although it was summer, it was getting a little late. There were only dim street lights on the old streets, and the roads were full of crowded buildings. The alleys extend in all directions as dense as a spider web. If you were there for the first time, you would definitely get lost.

However, obviously this was not Song Qingluo’s first time there. After getting out of the car, he naturally held Lin Banxia’s hand and went into the alley next to them.

Walking all the way, turning left and right, Lin Banxia had no idea where he was at the end. Just when he couldn’t help but ask Song Qingluo where he was taking him, noise suddenly sounded. Song Qingluo opened a small door, and an alley full of people suddenly appeared in front of Lin Banxia.

The alley was quite spacious. There were vendors sitting on the side of the road with all kinds of strange things in front of them, some modern and some ancient. Under the dim light of the street lights, it adds a bit of mystery.

Lin Banxia saw the scene and immediately realized: “This is the legendary ghost market?”

Song Qingluo said: “That’s right.”

The ghost market had nothing to do with ghosts. It just described the mysterious location of the market and the various vendors selling everything. Song Qingluo took Lin Banxia’s hand and walked inside, saying: “This place only opens once every half month. It starts at around ten o’clock and ends in the early morning. They sell everything.”

Lin Banxia looked around, and sure enough he saw a lot of strange gadgets at the stalls nearby, including watches, tapes, jewelry, and everything else. Lin Banxia even saw a stall selling picture books. He squatted down curiously, picked up a book and looked at it. He found that it was a comic book that had long been out of print. He asked the boss how much he was selling it for, and the boss smiled and stretched out his fingers.

Lin Banxia exposed the nature of his poverty: “Five yuan?”

Boss: “I’ll buy whatever you have for five yuan!”

Lin Banxia said: “What about fifty?”

The boss clicked his tongue in disgust.

Lin Banxia didn’t ask any more questions, silently put down the things in his hands, stood up and leaned into Song Qingluo’s ear and said, “I don’t seem worthy of being here.”

Song Qingluo said calmly: “It’s okay, let’s just take a look and not buy it.”

Lin Banxia said calmly: “Yes, I won’t buy it.”

The two held hands and walked away, leaving the boss looking at them speechlessly, probably muttering in his mind about why these two people were so picky.

This ghost market was quite lively. It seemed that many outsiders came because of its name. The two of them walked around but bought nothing. Lin Banxia was even more curious at this time. He asked: “Are there any real goods here?”

Song Qingluo said: “There are some, but few.”

Lin Banxia: “Have you ever bought one?”

Song Qingluo said: “I bought it.”

Lin Banxia said: “That’s not right. Your house is empty. Where are the things you bought?”

Song Qingluo glanced at Lin Banxia and said, “Come here.” He took Lin Banxia through an alley next to the ghost market, and after some twists and turns, he finally stopped in front of a red door. Lin Banxia thought that Song Qingluo’s friends lived inside, but the next moment, he watched helplessly as Song Qingluo took out a vermilion key from his pocket, and opened the door.

As soon as the door opened, a spacious courtyard came into view. It seemed to be a very large courtyard with lush vegetation, red walls and black tiles, which was particularly beautiful. This was the first time Lin Banxia saw such a beautiful courtyard, and he was surprised: “It’s so beautiful, whose house is this?”

Song Qingluo said: “My family’s.”

Lin Banxia: “…” He suddenly remembered the small building where Song Qingluo lived in the dream, and the beautiful roses hanging on the walls. It did have the charm of a courtyard, but the building in front of him made it even more amazing.

“My family used to live here,” Song Qingluo said. “Then something happened to my dad, so my mom and I moved to another place.”

Lin Banxia said: “Your parents…”

“No more.” Song Qingluo said, “They are all dead.”

Lin Banxia: “…”

Song Qingluo said this in an understated manner, but it was obvious that some injuries could never be healed.

Lin Banxia regretted asking this question: “Sorry, I’m not…”

“It’s okay.” Song Qingluo said, “I’m fine.”

The two of them walked to the center of the yard. Lin Banxia felt that no one had lived here for a long time, but judging from the state of the plants, someone should still be taking care of them, otherwise they would not be so neatly grown.

“Something happened at home. After the accident, I moved out, though I do come back to visit occasionally.” Song Qingluo’s tone was very calm, and no emotion could be heard. “But it’s a waste to leave the house empty, so I use it for storing stuff.”

Lin Banxia said: “Storing stuff? What do you store?”

Song Qingluo said: “Come and take a look.”

As he spoke, he took out the key again and opened the door of the largest room. As soon as the door opened, Lin Banxia was shocked. He saw that the whole room was filled with densely packed antiques, including porcelain, there were paintings and furniture. At first glance, it looked like a small warehouse.

Although Lin Banxia didn’t know much about antiques, he casually looked at a few porcelains and thought they were quite beautiful: “Did you buy them all?”

Song Qingluo said: “Yes.”

“Are they real?” Lin Banxia was a little curious.

Song Qingluo said: “Some are real and some are false.”

Lin Banxia: “…can you tell the difference clearly?”

“Absolutely.” Song Qingluo said, “My father is an archaeologist, and I learned a little bit from him when I was a child.”

Lin Banxia blinked.

Song Qingluo had obviously guessed what he was going to ask, and stretched out his hand to make a pause gesture: “That was just an accident.”

Lin Banxia couldn’t help laughing.

Song Qingluo sighed helplessly, knowing that this matter had already become his dark history. Almost everyone who knew his name also knew this ridiculous story. He had nothing to explain, so he left it to others.

Lin Banxia suddenly remembered the painting he saw at Song Qingluo’s house and said, “By the way, in my dream before, I seemed to have seen a very strange painting at your house.”

Song Qingluo’s expression slightly condensed: “What?”

Lin Banxia: “…It’s a bit special, it looks like a bunch of skeletons.”

Song Qingluo said: “Oh, I know.” He stretched out his hand, wiped off the dust on the porcelain beside him, and said, “That painting is called Phantom Skeleton Painting.”

Lin Banxia: “Phantom Skeleton Painting?”

“That’s right.” Song Qingluo said, “The painting done by Li Song in the Southern Song Dynasty is very special. Anyone who has seen it is usually deeply impressed.”

Lin Banxia was surprised: “Is that painting at your home?”

Song Qingluo said: “Of course not. The original painting is naturally in the museum.”

Lin Banxia said: “Oh…” Song Qingluo said that, so the one in his home should be a replica, but he didn’t know why Song Qingluo would be so impressed by a replica that he kept repeating it over and over again appear in deep dreams.

Although he was curious, Lin Banxia felt that this was not a good time to ask this question, so he sighed. He carefully observed the collection around him, but he really couldn’t distinguish the authenticity from the fake. Indeed, antiques was a kind of interest for those who knew about the products, but for those who didn’t know much, they were just ordinary decorations.

It was unknown how long Song Qingluo had been collecting the items in this room. When Lin Banxia asked, he learned that he had embarked on a path of no return after getting the first sum of money to successfully seal up heretics.

Lin Banxia originally wanted to ask Song Qingluo how many of these collections were authentic. Unexpectedly, after walking around inside, he found a large porcelain vat in the corner with strange patterns printed on it. The more Lin Banxia looked at the pattern, the stranger he found it. It looked like Peppa Pig, Small Cave’s favorite. Although the painting style was changed to a classical style, the flat head, which was exactly the same as a hair dryer, was as eye-catching as a firefly in the dark night. Lin Banxia held back the question she wanted to ask, and pretended to be calm: “How much did you pay for this vat?”

Song Qingluo stood at the door but did not come in. He glanced at it and said, “I don’t really remember. I bought it a few years ago. The vat is from the Song Dynasty, and the picture on it seems to be the exotic beast Qilin.”

Lin Banxia: “…” Qilin is not bad.

Song Qingluo: “What’s wrong?”

Once again, Lin Banxia swallowed the mouthful of blood that rushed into his throat with difficulty, and said in a trembling voice: “It’s okay, just look at it, it’s pretty good-looking.” It seems that there is some truth in Song Qingluo’s statement about the collection containing both real and fake pieces. Song Qingluo should be thankful if there were a few genuine items in such a big pile. It was unknow when he bought that vat, but Lin Banxia guessed that Peppa Pig was not popular yet when he bought it…

In order to avoid further irritation, Lin Banxia walked to the door. The weak expression on his face made Song Qingluo feel a little strange so he asked him what was wrong.

“It’s okay, it’s just that the weather is a bit hot.” Lin Banxia wiped the sweat from his forehead, thinking that this was Song Qingluo’s secret treasure, otherwise if Li Su and the others saw it, they might not be able to stop laughing for the next year.

Song Qingluo said: “There is a mung bean paste seller at the door. Want to eat some?”

“Okay, okay.” Lin Banxia couldn’t wait, feeling that if he continued looking, he would have a heart attack.

When they went out, Song Qingluo told Lin Banxia about his relationship with the old man, saying that the old man and he had known each other before, and he was also an antique dealer, and he had introduced many sellers to Song Qingluo. However, since the Apple Jade Pendant incident, Song Qingluo hasn’t seen anyone else. It could be guessed that he was also a little guilty and embarrassed to show up again. Song Qingluo just didn’t know what kind of medicine he took recently, to still dare to come to his door.

Lin Banxia asked: “Why did you buy so many antiques?” This was actually his most curious question.

Song Qingluo said: “I want to find something.”

Lin Banxia: “Looking for something?”

“Yeah.” Song Qingluo said, “I lost something and I want to get it back.”

The two of them talked and walked to the alley outside and found a vendor selling mung bean paste. It was a hot day and people were coming and going in the ghost market, so the vendor’s business was very good.

Lin Banxia generously took out his wallet, bought two bowls, and said, “Eat it.”

Song Qingluo took it and said, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Lin Banxia took it and took a big sip. He felt the cold and sweet mung bean paste slide down his throat and into his stomach, making him feel much better immediately. It was unknown if it was from being stimulated by the antiques in that room, but Lin Banxia felt that his blood pressure was a little high.

Song Qingluo was not as uncouth as him. He was drinking slowly beside him. Lin Banxia glanced at him quietly and felt that Song Qingluo looked good in anything he did, whether he was drinking mung bean paste or bird’s nest soup.

 

If possible please consider supporting me on Patreon or Ko-fi. I will be working on a stockpile for Patreon where you can read advanced chapters for as little as $3 a month. Alternatively, I will release an extra chapter for every Ko-fi donation I receive. It might not be on that exact day, but it will be released within the week.