Chapter 1 The Wax Museum

Having bypassed the church, they arrived in front of the wax museum.

This wax museum had a distinct Eastern cultural style. In most people’s minds, wax figures were a Western thing, like "Madame Tussauds," which many people had heard of; it was one of the most famous names in the wax figure world.

But this wax museum, starting with the two statues of "Hei Bai Wuchang" (Black and White Impermanence, two deities in charge of escorting souls to the underworld) placed at the entrance, displayed a strong Eastern cultural flavor. Even one of its walls was carved with an image of "Laozi."

However, the image of "Laozi" was likely a stone carving, not a wax figure, while the ox below the stone carving was a wax figure.

As Zhou Ze led the little boy over, he ran into a group of people arguing. Wang Ke and the little loli were also standing there. Seeing Zhou Ze arrive, Wang Ke walked over.

"What's wrong?" Zhou Ze asked.

"They're saying the Laozi image is too big and exposed outside, not in accordance with the rules, and needs to be rectified. They're negotiating over there."

"Oh."

The little boy looked at the little loli.

The little loli pouted, ignoring the little boy, but when she turned her head, she had a smile on her lips. She didn't seem to dislike this new transfer student.

Wang Ke was only focused on talking to Zhou Ze and didn't notice that his own cabbage was being nuzzled.

The negotiation ended, and Zhou Ze wasn't sure of the specific result, but the interrupted opening ceremony resumed.

There were no performance groups or emcees invited. A male and female employee of the wax museum, both wearing uniforms, the male welcoming guests and the female holding a microphone giving a simple opening speech.

Not many people came to show support. Many were nearby shop owners who had received invitation flyers and came to give face, or friends of bosses like Wang Ke. There wasn't much publicity, and no TV stations were invited.

Generally speaking, in small cities, setting up a Western novelty and linking it to things like "culture," "tradition," or "customs" is the easiest way to touch the hearts of local leaders.

The traditional cultural farces that have swept the country in recent years have arisen for this reason. Even if it's fabricated out of thin air, they'll create it for you.

Being able to open a wax museum in this location, the level of loss-making idiocy is no less than that of a certain Zhou opening a bookstore here, and to do it so low-key was truly puzzling.

Art is something for people to see for themselves and slowly appreciate. Anyway, each wax figure has an explanatory data card below it, so there's no need for someone to give a separate lecture with a loudspeaker.

Moreover, the joy of lingering here lies in this tranquility.

Zhou Ze and Wang Ke each held a child's hand and walked inside.

The space inside was quite large, with two floors. The first thing at the entrance was a lifelike wax figure of Bruce Lee.

It was that standard,

"A-da!"

pose.

Next, there were wax figures of many world-famous people. Of course, if you looked closely, many of the wax figures here were actually not authorized. If the original owners found out and took it seriously, they could sue the wax museum.

But because it was low-key and wax figures had little influence in China, the problem shouldn't be too big.

"Daddy, are all the people here made of wax?"

The little loli asked curiously.

"Not really. Nowadays, many wax figures use silicone technology, so they're also called silicone wax figures," Wang Ke replied.

"Ah, what's silicone?"

"Silicone is a special material. It's..."

"Put on women here."

The little boy immediately touched his two *maimai*.

Zhou Ze covered his face.

Wang Ke was speechless.

The little loli "hmph"-ed, disdainfully:

"Pervert!"

The little boy didn't care, even a little smug.

In school, many boys liked to tease girls, just to attract their attention. The shy ones weren't as good at expressing themselves as adults.

Nor did they have the courage to park their cars at the school gate with a bottle of Mediate on top.

There weren't many visitors. Many people took a quick look around and left, just to give face and go through the motions.

Moreover,

walking under the gaze of wax figures was something many people couldn't stand. Many people's childhood shadows came from wax figures.

Looking at these humanoid wax figures, many people would naturally imagine them as corpses.

In addition, no matter how exquisite the wax figures were made, there would be some "stiff" details that you could catch, making you feel uneasy.

This was a bit like the "uncanny valley" theory, although that described machines that looked very much like humans, but the essence was the same.

Therefore,

after walking around for a while,

besides Zhou Ze's group, there didn't seem to be many other customers left in the wax museum.

"Relying on ticket money, they can't even make back the electricity bill."

Zhou Ze sighed,

"What a waste of money."

"If you like it, isn't that enough?" Wang Ke replied with a smile.

The implication was,

aren't you the same?

The little loli was quite interested in the wax figures, reading the data cards below each one, and the little boy naturally followed along, which meant that Zhou Ze and Wang Ke had to accompany them.

Ahead, there was a small, separate area with a door, with a sign that read, "Those with weak psychological endurance should not enter."

The sign could actually be changed to "I'll just rub it, I really won't go in."

Generally, if tourists had already come this far, seeing this sign, how could they not go in and take a look?

Just as Wang Ke pushed open the door to enter,

the female employee who had been standing at the door with the microphone walked over and said,

"It's best not to bring children in here, because it's very scary inside and might be bad for them."

Hearing this,

Wang Ke nodded,

not planning to take the little loli in.

"Do you dare to go in?"

The little loli asked the little boy beside her.

The little boy puffed out his chest.

In front of a woman,

how could he say "no"?

Saying that,

the little boy took the initiative to walk inside,

The female employee wanted to stop him,

but Zhou Ze stopped her.

Immediately,

he followed the little boy inside.

The lighting inside was very dim, but still clear.

Turning left after entering,

before them appeared wax figures of corpses piled together.

Blood,

gruesomeness,

fear,

these details were vividly displayed.

And Zhou Ze and the little boy simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief.

*Hu*,

how comfortable!

This atmosphere,

he loved it!

These piled-up corpse wax figures were probably based on a photograph from the French Revolution.

Many of the wax figures here were very heavy.

Zhou Ze had been to some haunted houses in amusement parks before, which liked to use paper figures or things wrapped in cotton cloth to scare you.

Actually, those things weren't really scary, but they were disgusting.

But the horror here,

was actually a perfect combination of art and a sense of terror.

Each work had its own deep meaning and presented the creator's own thoughts.

For those who truly liked this kind of thing, it was no less than a visual feast.

In fact, people's spiritual needs were multifaceted, especially after passing the initial stage of merely pursuing enough to eat and wear.

That pursuit and need,

couldn't be easily summarized by a few glorious and righteous words.

Of course,

this wax museum probably placed this part of the collection separately in a secluded area to avoid trouble.

You should know,

the "Laozi" statue on the outside wall had already caused trouble.

Walking and admiring,

until almost reaching the exit,

Zhou Ze stopped.

The little boy looked at Zhou Ze strangely, then followed Zhou Ze's gaze.

This was a king's wax figure,

but the shape was very strange.

The wildly popular TV series "Game of Thrones" had made the "Iron Throne" famous,

but the throne before them was made of layers of white bones.

The nobility of kingship, in essence, was the power of "life and death."

The person on the throne could order your death, and that was the root of people's fear of it.

As for other things like "Son of Heaven," "shepherding the people on behalf of Heaven," and "divine mandate,"

they were nothing more than veils covering it.

This throne,

from the beginning,

told you directly,

if you don't kneel before it,

your fate,

will be like the white bones below!

Very direct,

very straightforward,

not coy, getting straight to the point!

A man sat on the throne,

his upper body bare,

with strange runes carved on his body. He wasn't very muscular, nor very majestic. He even used one hand to support himself on the edge of the throne, resting it on his forehead.

His eyes were closed,

as if dozing off,

or,

sunbathing...

But it was precisely this feeling, this contrast, this reversal,

that made people feel even more shocked.

It was as if the moment the man on the throne opened his eyes,

the surrounding situation would completely change!

The little boy bent down to look for a data card but found that this was the only one that didn't have one.

"Who is he?"

The little boy asked curiously.

Zhou Ze shook his head.

"I don't know."

For the first time,

after entering here, his expression was a bit serious.

Unfortunately,

Ying Gou was still asleep.

Every time he came out, he had to sleep for ten days and a half. During that time, he couldn't even communicate.

Otherwise, Zhou Ze really wanted to ask him,

did you ever have nothing to do and grab the ghosts of painters to paint portraits for yourself?

Did you have this specific image circulating?

Otherwise,

why would it appear in this wax museum?

"Let's go."

Zhou Ze took the little boy's hand and walked out.

After going out,

it was suddenly bright and open.

Ahead was a small hall. Zhou Ze saw Wang Ke and a woman in a white dress sitting there drinking tea.

"You're out. Let me introduce you. This is the owner of the wax museum, a friend I knew before. Her Chinese name is Luo Su. She's an American-Chinese."

"Hello, I'm Luo Su. It's nice to meet you."

Luo Su stood up, shook hands with Zhou Ze, then bent down and touched the little boy's head kindly, saying,

"Little friend, you're really brave."

The little boy wore a sullen face.

Would an old monster of several hundred years like head pats?

"That little girl just said you were very brave, daring to go in there to visit. I didn't believe it before, but now I do. You're really brave."

The little boy smiled happily.

Zhou Ze stood beside them, silently watching the woman.

"Let's sit down and have some tea together. Please, Mr. Xu."

Zhou Ze also sat down.

Luo Su poured tea for Zhou Ze, and Zhou Ze took the opportunity to look around the small hall. The furnishings were quite unique.

"Uncle, where's Wang Rui?" the little boy asked.

"She's playing computer inside."

Luo Su pointed to the inner room, which should be her office.

The little boy pushed open the door and happily ran inside.

Zhou Ze picked up his teacup and took a sip.

This tea,

was a little bitter.

…………

Walking into the office, he found that there were actually three wax figures in the office.

They were of the female curator, and the male and female employees.

What unique taste.

To actually put his own wax figure in the office.

The little boy saw Wang Rui looking up at a wax figure, wanting to reach out and touch it but not quite daring to.

"Want to touch it?" the little boy asked.

Wang Rui nodded.

"Then touch it," the little boy encouraged.

"But… but…"

"But what?"

"I want to touch *maimai*."

"Okay, then touch it."

"I just want to feel what *maimai* feels like, don't think too much."

Saying that,

the little loli's fingertips gently touched each other, looking very hesitant and embarrassed.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. This is a secret between you and me."

"Hehe, okay," the little loli said happily.

However,

she immediately said helplessly,

"It's so high, I can't reach it."

"I'll hold you."

Saying that,

the little boy bent down, grabbed the little loli's knees, and stood up directly.

He could lift a cow!

"Wow!"

The little loli was also surprised and exclaimed,

"Boys are so strong."

"Touch it, can you reach it now?"

"I can reach it, I can reach it."

The little loli reached out,

and touched the female curator's wax figure's *maimai*.

"Whoa… so soft, is this silicone?"

Actually,

silicone should feel relatively hard.

"Touch it again, no rush."

"Okay."

The little loli touched it for a while. Because she was worried that the little boy was too tired, she said,

"I've touched it enough, put me down."

The little boy steadily put her down.

"Thank you, are you tired?"

Saying that,

the little loli subconsciously reached out to wipe the little boy's sweat,

but she was surprised to find that there wasn't a single drop of sweat on the little boy's face. She put her hand on the little boy's face, but couldn't find a place to wipe.

The little boy was enjoying this feeling,

however,

in an instant,

his nose suddenly twitched,

a greedy look appeared on his face,

but he instantly regained his senses.

He immediately grabbed the little loli's hand that was on his face, turned it over,

in her palm,

there was a patch of red.

"Ah, I touched paint. I'll go wash it. There's a bathroom in the office, I just went there."

The little boy let go of her hand.

The little loli ran towards the bathroom.

But the little boy stood there,

silently looked up,

at the wax figure of the female curator that the little loli had just touched.

The little boy was certain,

that the red in the little loli's palm,

was definitely not paint,

but,

blood…