Luo Binhan didn't know how this idea came out of his head. When he looked at the complex and unified city outline, he suddenly remembered those statues he had seen before. They were completed by an artist named Odufodo, who is known as the artistic pearl of this city. According to the age of his works, he is now about fifty or sixty years old.
Many photos of his award-winning works are on display in the Kowlam City Museum, as well as two actual statues he made specifically for the 500th anniversary of the city of Kolan. One of them is a giant dragon composed entirely of skeletons, symbolizing the history and spirit of the city; the other is a statue of the goddess of spring with butterfly wings on its back, which was made to promote the spring float parade.
Both statues are extremely exquisite and complicated, but their details reveal some kind of uncomfortable mania. Luo Binhan especially disliked the statue of the goddess: its outline was soft and elegant, and its expression was lifelike, but the surface of the statue was lightly engraved with numerous densely arranged hexagonal patterns, which looked like a dark honeycomb under the light.
According to the accompanying text, these hexagonal patterns mean "the diligence of bees brings sweetness", which is one of the spiritual connotations of the goddess of spring. But in Luo Binhan's view, these regular hexagonal patterns are really out of proportion to the soft curves of the goddess's body, and they are so dense that they are disgusting.
Despite this, Luo Binhan noticed that the burgundy ponytail paid special attention to the statue. She stood in front of the statue of the goddess for a full five minutes, with a rare concentration on her face, and she seemed to like that style. He didn't take this matter to heart until just now when he was looking at the city scenery, the goddess statue with honeycomb texture appeared in front of his eyes again.
He thought that Li Li allowed him to see the world from the eyes of a madman - isn't there just a thin line between an artist and a madman?
"How about we go find that sculptor?" Luo Binhan said, "Didn't the introduction just now say that he lives here? Let's go and inquire and see if we can find his studio."
The wine-red ponytail agreed without saying a word. She didn't seem to have considered the statue owner's safety or personal safety at all, and started searching on the spot with her mobile phone. Luo Binhan rubbed his eyes and said, "Can you really find this thing? It should be a personal matter, right?"
Luo Binhan's plan is actually to find a famous art museum in the city. According to his experience, an artist of O'Dufodo's stature must maintain certain contacts with local art dealers in order to have a guaranteed customer base. They can try this line of thinking. Even if it doesn't work, this exploration process can also be used as a pastime.
But the burgundy ponytail has another solution. She told Luo Binhan that a serious mistake was made when announcing the candidates for an international art award more than ten years ago, and the physical addresses of a large number of invited celebrities were leaked. Those lists were widely circulated on the Internet, and one of her friends happened to save a copy.
Luo Binhan began to look at her with admiration: "Do you still have such friends?"
"Actually, this is who I am," said Burgundy Ponytail. "I always plan to put on an animal mask, bring a knife and a gun to visit them."
"Do you hate the rich?"
"No, that's just for fun."
Luo Binhan didn't take what this little crazy girl said seriously, he just said without smiling: "You will only be beaten to death by their security guards."
The burgundy ponytail shrugged indifferently. Luo Binhan felt that he was one step closer to the madman's perspective that Li Li said. The sand was probably blown into his eyes by the wind, and the more he looked outside, the more uncomfortable he became.
"I found it." said the burgundy ponytail, "at No. 4 Bailan Park."
That address was more than ten years ago, I don’t know if it can still be counted. But when Luo Binhan discovered that the address was located in a remote suburb of the city, he believed it a little more. He was only familiar with two artists in his life, namely Zhou Yu's girlfriend and prospective father-in-law. The father and daughter lived in the outer suburbs of Lihai City in an old Western-style villa that was isolated from the world and extremely inconvenient for transportation and shopping.
That was probably some kind of quirk of the artist, and the house is now under the jurisdiction of Zhou Yu. It is said that it has been handed over to a rural woman from a remote countryside to take care of it.
He and the burgundy ponytail called a taxi together and went to Bailan Park on the outskirts of the city. During this period, Luo Binhan's eyes were still a little swollen and painful, and he would shed tears when exposed to sunlight. The burgundy ponytail noticed his situation, opened his eyelids for him and blew on him.
"It looks like nothing is wrong on the outside, and I don't see any bloodshot eyes or anything else... Do you want to go to the hospital for a check-up?"
"No need." Luo Binhan said. He was not sure whether the body structure of the people in this world was exactly the same as his own, so it was best to avoid any risk of getting involved.
They took a taxi to Bailan Park. During this period, Luo Binhan sat in the car, lowered his head and thought, examining what he was doing at the moment. The shadows of the two statues representing the city still lingered in his mind, giving him some urgent desire.
Going to see the sculptor, he thought vaguely, would confirm something.
He was thinking drowsily and didn't wake up until the driver stopped the car. Probably because he was in a closed carriage, the pain from the foreign body in his eyes was much lessened. Luo Binhan judged from this that the air environment in this world might not be suitable for him, but he would go back in a day or two anyway, so there was no need to be too nervous.
No. 4 Bailan Park stands on the top of a hill on the outskirts of the city. It is a three-story dome villa. It is beautifully decorated, but it is far away from the neighboring buildings, giving it an incompatible and indifferent feeling.
Seeing this building made Burgundy Ponytail very excited, and even took the initiative to hold Luo Binhan's arm and talk.
"How much do you think it would cost to live there every year?" she said.
Luo Binhan glanced at her: "Are you envious?"
"No, of course not. I'm not interested in occupying such a large space." said the burgundy ponytail, "but I would like to see how long a fire can burn with so much money."
This was a dangerous statement, but Luo Binhan was used to it. They came to the courtyard gate together, but surprisingly did not see any security personnel. Luo Binhan rang the doorbell, and it took a long time before a young man in his twenties came.
The other party, disheveled and with gloomy eyes, asked them through the door why they were here. Luo Binhan told him that he came to the great artist to seek business cooperation and wanted to customize a unique store statue for his family business.
The way he was dressed at the moment didn't really support his remarks, but the other party still let them into the house. The young man introduced himself as a student of Odufodo. The great artist was currently away on business, and he was doing some simple raw material processing for him. For some reason, he seemed to like the burgundy ponytail and always put his eyes on her.
"Can we go to the studio to see the works?" Luo Binhan asked.
"It may not be appropriate now." The young student politely declined. "The studio is too messy."
Luo Binhan didn't intend to force it, but the burgundy ponytail stalked the young sculptor, begging him to secretly take him to have a look. Luo Binhan saw that she didn't like the statue at all, but she was just rebellious and had to force others to make things difficult for her to feel happy.
The young man's position was not firm. After a few rounds, he raised his flag and surrendered, promising to take them in for a look. But before that, he had to tidy up and cover up some of the unfinished products involving trade secrets.
This didn't sound unreasonable, so Luo Binhan cooperated and stayed in the reception room, drinking tea and looking at the photos on the wall. The burgundy ponytail was like a devil escaping from hell on All Souls' Day, and began to encourage Luo Binhan to set fire to the house with him, or to smash all the statues in the studio.
"Do you want to piss your father off to death?" Luo Binhan said while drinking tea indifferently, "You can go ahead and think about how to go into the mountains to find savages in the women's prison."
The burgundy ponytail kicked him, deliberately knocked over the tea, and ran out after threatening to attack the studio. Luo Binhan was sitting comfortably, but he didn't think she was really capable of committing the crime just mentioned, so he still stayed on the sofa and looked at the photos.
Those photos are the past works of old artists. Most of them are related to the human body, but they are not entirely realistic. He seems to like to put together parts of the human body and other bits and pieces, such as a large number of gears, nails or shells, which are extremely dazzling and dense enough to make people's hearts tremble.
A photo of a statue composed of a baby's body and shell limbs reminded Luo Binhan of the past. The sea of shells he crossed before going to Gate City, as well as the purple pearls in the Silence's warehouse, have artists also seen these in their dreams?
Luo Binhan walked to the photo frame and saw the name of the statue - "Birth" written underneath.
His eyes stung again. Just as he was about to reach out and rub it, a woman's scream came from the studio downstairs.
