Am I really hallucinating?

Chapter 625 Fish Eye Alley

Fish Eye Lane is not actually a remote or secluded place. The housing conditions here are not bad, with several apartments and residential complexes above standard.

Further in, there are some relatively densely packed detached houses, but some of them seem to have collapsed in the earthquake and there is no sign of them being rebuilt yet.

Chassil's residence in Fish Eye Lane is in one of the sizable detached houses.

According to him, the building belongs to one of his college classmates. After graduating, this classmate achieved some success in business and, in addition to living in the house in Fish Eye Lane, also rented it out to creators like Chaxilu who had some money but weren't very wealthy and were feeling frustrated with their careers.

Chassilu was virtually unknown in the sculpture world, and the fame he had made was mainly in the horror art circle, but at least he managed to find such a good place to live thanks to the connections of an old friend.

“If there’s really no other way, I’ll consider moving out, at least so as not to cause trouble for my old friends,” Chasilu said.

While such "haunted" rumors may increase fame to some extent in the short term, and might even attract the attention of some law firms and independent individuals in gray areas, in the long run, the negative impact will definitely outweigh the benefits.

Not to mention, if someone were to die unexpectedly in their rented apartment, it would put a lot of psychological pressure on an old friend.

Chaxilu opened the door and led Zheng Fan and Mo Mang inside.

Even from the outside, you can tell this house is quite large, and once inside, the spacious interior is still impressive. Although real estate in the grey neighborhoods generally doesn't reach very high prices, this is still quite remarkable.

“There’s a studio specifically provided for us on the left. Besides my friend and landlord’s family, there are two other people living here like me. They are both painters, and you can see some of their finished paintings here,” Chaxilu explained as he led them around.

"The place where I live is on the right. The whole house has three floors. Most of the rooms on the first floor are used as studios, with only one room left for rent. On the second floor, there are two rooms, a kitchen, and a living room. I live there with another person. The third floor is where my friend's family lives."

At that moment, a door on the right opened, and a man with a somewhat gloomy demeanor walked out. He had long, dry, seaweed-like hair, a long and thin face, and was wearing a thick black windbreaker.

“Chaxilu?” His already furrowed brows seemed to furrow even more upon seeing Chaxilu. “Kresh said that outsiders cannot be brought in without permission, right? Don’t think you can act recklessly just because you are Kresh’s friend.”

Chasilu also looked displeased: "I will go and explain things to Kresh later."

"Hmph." The man persisted, "You've gone too far these past few months! I live on the first floor! I've been putting up with you making all that noise during my rest time for so long!"

“The price is that your first-floor rent will be half of ours, as we told you when you moved in!” Chaxilu retorted sharply, already under considerable stress due to recent events. He was fine with people from Mo Mang and Zheng Fan's firm, but he certainly wouldn't tolerate someone he didn't like.

"Hmph! Of course, I'm not the only one being disturbed; it's just that I'm closest to your studio. You've been acting so neurotic these past few months, and lately you've been acting strangely too. You'll be kicked out sooner or later." After saying that, the man shoved Chaxilu aside, glanced at Zheng Fan and the others, and then pushed open the door and walked out.

Mo Mang and Zheng Fan glanced at each other, then looked at each other again without saying a word.

Chasilu looked at them with a hint of embarrassment and said, “He is one of the other two tenants who just arrived not long ago. At that time, Kresh—who is my friend and landlord—explained all the issues of moving into the first floor to him. He initially swore that there would be no problems, but now he is impatient and keeps giving me attitude.”

“There’s nothing we can do about not being able to control the sound while carving,” Mo Mang said.

“Yes, so to give us the best possible working environment, the soundproofing of each studio has been specially done. The guy who moved out before lived with us for two years and never mentioned this, but Zhang Ren has been picking on us every day since he came.” Chaxilu was a little indignant, feeling that he was being targeted.

"Let's go take a look at your studio," Zheng Fan said, neither confirming nor denying. He simply stepped forward.

“It’s over there.” Chaxilu pointed to the door at the end of the corridor on the left, but didn’t move. Looking at the door, his face was pale and his lips trembled. What should have been his studio, where he had spent so many years and worked almost every day, now felt like an ominous place, making him hesitate to enter. Zheng Fan ignored him and walked straight towards the door. Mo Mang followed without hesitation.

The empty first floor was filled only with the sound of their footsteps. The silence sent chills down Chaxilu's spine, but he still shakily caught up with the two people in front of him.

After Chaxilu took out the key and unlocked the door, Zheng Fan pushed the studio door open somewhat roughly.

What came into view was a room filled with various strange sculptures, except for a central area. The sculpture that had chased them earlier seemed to be one of the better ones among Chassilu's works.

Surrounded by these sculptures, there is a sense that some kind of mysterious and evil ritual is taking place.

The placement of the sculptures is rather haphazard and lacks any rules, which somewhat obstructs movement.

Chaxilu stood at the door watching Zheng Fan and Mo Mang move around in his studio, but he didn't have the courage to come in: "Um, did you find anything?"

Toast casually climbed onto one of the sculptures in the room that looked like a spire. It looked at the sculptures in the room with great curiosity, and you could feel a kind of serious "gaze" in its non-existent eyes.

"Was that sculpture placed here before?" Zheng Fan pointed to a noticeable indentation in the room.

“Yes,” Chasilu nodded.

Zheng Fan nodded and noticed some carving tools that Chaxilu had carelessly tossed on the ground: "Do you just leave your tools lying around like this?"

Chaxilu scratched his head: "I'm generally not particular about things."

Mo Mang approached Zheng Fan and, seeing Zheng Fan's puzzled expression, asked, "Did you find anything? It seems like there are no valuable clues."

He couldn't figure it out.

Zheng Fan walked to the cabinet by the wall, picked up a brush and casually stirred the paint in a palette on it, replying with a half-smile, "Yes, I found a lot. There's even a bit too much. It's unbelievable that this ordinary studio is such a mess."

Mo Mang was somewhat puzzled, but Zheng Fan was obviously no match for him, so he waited for what was to come.

Chaxilu quickly asked, "Do you have any leads? What exactly is going on?"

"Chaxilu? You're back?" A gentle voice came from behind.

Chasilu turned around: "Emily, did I disturb you?"

Zheng Fan and Mo Mang peeked out and saw a short girl, who was also very well covered up, standing in the hallway outside the door. She was wearing thick glasses and had a pair of listless eyes that were looking at them and the situation in the studio.

"Do all of you artists seem to have such a touching mental state?" Zheng Fan couldn't help but complain, feeling that the stereotype was a bit too strong.

(End of this chapter)