Time flew by, and Cordelia and the baby were finally discharged from the hospital. To ensure his wife could rest comfortably during her postpartum confinement and recover her figure, Norman naturally took on the responsibility of caring for both children. The nurse arranged by Dr. Zimmerman conducted regular check-ups for the baby, recently completing a series of tests including allergy screenings. Additionally, blood and genetic analyses confirmed the children's sensitivity to alcohol. All developmental indicators fell within normal ranges, showing no signs of impairment.
Three weeks later, both parents had returned to work. One day, Norman luckily won two tickets to a limited-time exhibition. titled Volodymyr's Dark Night Wonderland. The exhibition featured the original manuscript of the renowned anime The Cursed Forest and the first draft by its protagonist, Miroslav Avinov. Since the author had passed away some time ago and the copyright had expired, the work entered the public domain. It had already been adapted into numerous anime, films, and TV series.
On Saturday, the couple arrived at the museum, leaving their two children in the care of the domestic helper. The moment they entered the exhibition space, Norman suddenly felt an ominous foreboding. Volodymyr Ivanov's portrait, visible immediately upon entering, seemed to stare directly at him. In the painting, Volodymyr Ivanov had one red eye and one pink eye, with shoulder-length black hair. His appearance didn't quite resemble that of a Slavic person. Then, the purple necklace's voice sounded again. The voice spoke clearly, coldly, and maliciously, directly into his ear: “This man is me...” Norman thought: “Bullshit, stop playing ghost tricks!” He didn't believe it at all.
During the exhibition, the two saw the outfits Ivanov had worn back then, including: the blue robe with a white cape from the portrait, a traditional Slavic shirt and trousers, and an all-black tuxedo with a moon hat worn for book signings. The all-black tuxedo and moon hat were the outfit for a book signing event, replicating the look of Miroslav Avinov, the protagonist of The Cursed Forest. The only difference was that Miroslav had blond hair and blue eyes. Norman joked, “Wouldn't it have been great if my tuxedo back then had been like this?” Cordelia gasped, “If you'd really worn that, it would've scared people to death! Have you forgotten Miroslav is a demon? A cannibalistic one! When you went to the anime convention dressed as that face-shattered Miroslav, the makeup alone was terrifying enough—didn't you scare a little girl to tears back then?” “I didn't do it on purpose,” Norman replied. “Didn't you play his female counterpart—Tatyana Shurapova? I was just joking earlier. Don't take it so seriously. The Miroslav model at home differs from the original artwork. The one I recently acquired has lots of glitter added, which wasn't in the original design. Probably a modification to suit modern aesthetics.”
At that moment, the purple necklace spoke again. “Look to the right...” That same bone-chilling voice. Norman thought, Shut up! The necklace's color abruptly shifted to a deep blue. Simultaneously, Norman's body felt pulled by invisible threads, moving uncontrollably to the right. He walked into an exhibition area. The display featured two unsettling paintings: the left titled The Flame Execution, the right titled The Black Sorcerer. Though Western in origin, their authenticity had long been disputed. The description for the left painting read: “This work depicts Vladimir Ivanov, captured by Qing forces during the Russo-Qing border conflict (1660), bound to a stake and burned alive.” “So hot... so painful...” That same chilling voice echoed again, this time broken and clearly agonized.
Right description: “This painting depicts a sorcerer in black robes sealing a restless soul within a purple necklace.” Wait—the sorcerer's face was unmistakably Chinese, bearing a striking resemblance to Norman. “A descendant of the Huyan family... finally able to return home...” The purple necklace emitted the voice once more, leaving Norman thoroughly unsettled. Just then, Cordelia found Norman and said they needed to head home, as the museum was about to close.
After returning home, Norman immediately opened The Book of Huyan Hu. To his surprise, Hu Yihe had vanished without a trace in 1645, leaving only his young son behind in the Beijing area. The one thing he couldn't comprehend was: Could Volodymyr Ivanov be Hu Yihe? One was Western, the other Chinese—the two couldn't possibly be the same person. At that moment, the purple necklace spoke again: “Read my life story.” Norman had no choice but to comply. The account stated: "That day, a tall, blond-haired, blue-eyed man suddenly knocked me unconscious and stuffed me into a sack. When I awoke, I found myself in a place brimming with exotic sights. A man dressed in splendid attire was watching me. I understood neither their language nor their writing. It turned out that man was Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Recognizing I meant no harm, he renamed me Volodymyr Ivanov and ordered my captors to teach me Russian."
Faced with this overwhelming flood of information, Norman felt utterly confused and lost. He feared both endangering his family and disrupting his work. With no other choice, he locked the ominous purple necklace deep inside a drawer, attempting to escape it all. Yet this proved futile. He didn't realize that every move he made had already been observed by a pair of sinister eyes...
Not far away, a figure lurked in the shadows. Clad in a deep blue robe, black trousers, and boots, long hair cascading over their shoulders, their right eye was completely concealed by thick bangs. A single phrase lingered: “Free at last... Finally, a fresh body.” This was Hu Yihe—the most intelligent, yet also the most wicked of his clones.
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and then Add to home screen.