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墨書 Inktalez
At one o'clock in the afternoon, the street was very quiet, with few pedestrians. Perhaps people were accustomed to resting or taking a short break at this time. Occasionally, vehicles would slowly pass by, as if they too were about to fall asleep.
Qiluo Ling wore a blue baseball cap, with exaggerated sunglasses beneath the brim. Her long hair was tied into a ponytail, and she was dressed in a relaxed red tracksuit, sporting sneakers and carrying a large travel backpack. Her outfit was completely different from yesterday; she looked like a backpacker visiting Shanghai.
She had never imagined that one day she would sneakily steal an artifact from a public exhibition hall like a character in a movie. Of course, this artifact wasn’t really stolen; it originally belonged to her Great-Grandfather. As the heir of Devil's Music, retrieving it seemed only natural, even though her actions appeared somewhat underhanded.
What excited her was not just the goal but also the thrill of the adventure. Growing up as a well-behaved child, any adventurous activities existed only in her imagination and were rarely realized. Therefore, this adventure held great allure for her.
Everyone yearns for a wild and unrestrained journey, hoping for changes and unforeseen excitement in life. It seems that peaceful and tranquil happiness can be easily foreseen, which is why people desire to do things that drive them crazy but leave lasting memories years later. Thus, today held exceptionally special significance for Qiluo Ling.
As she entered the hall, she tried to lower her cap to avoid being recognized by the staff at Moses Synagogue; she had already visited once yesterday. She knew very well that if she attracted attention, finding the Sheet Music would become an impossible task.
She bought another ticket at the ticket counter for fifty yuan, suppressing her excitement and pretending to be a curious first-time visitor, looking around with feigned interest.
She went straight to the second floor, but her luck was not as good as yesterday; there was already a group of tourists on the second floor.
Qiluo Ling stood among them, slowly touring the exhibition room. Before long, this group of tourists was led by their guide to the third floor of the hall.
Qiluo Ling felt delighted; after visiting the third floor, they would proceed down another corridor directly to two adjacent exhibition halls next to the main hall. This meant she would have time to act alone.
However, before she could reach the painting in front of her, another group of tourists arrived on the second floor. Clearly, this new group was larger than the previous one.
The visitors were all Western tourists, making her East Asian appearance stand out even more. This caught the attention of the Guide at Moses Synagogue, who couldn't help but glance at her several times.
The longer she lingered, the more suspicious it seemed. Whether it was her own guilt or if the staff had begun to suspect her, she felt their gazes on her were somewhat unusual.
She endured for a while longer until the group of tourists finally finished their visit, and the staff took them up to the third floor.
Taking advantage of the absence of tourists and Moses Synagogue staff, she decided to speed up and complete what she hadn’t finished yesterday.
She looked around, realizing that in her panic yesterday, she had forgotten to check if there were any surveillance cameras in the museum. After a careful inspection, Thank God, there were no cameras in sight.
She quickly unloaded her large travel bag from her shoulder, pulled out a flathead screwdriver and pointed tweezers, and swiftly placed them in her clothing pocket. Then she took out a camera with a telephoto lens from her backpack and hung it around her neck for cover.
If there was any noise, she could immediately raise the camera and pretend to be an enthusiastic photographer particularly interested in Portrait.
She walked up to Uriel Portrait without taking Portrait down. Just like yesterday, she used her left hand to pull at the bottom of the painting while raising the flathead screwdriver with her right hand to forcefully scrape away the wall plaster at the seam of the brick.
Thanks to her practical experience, she quickly cleared out the mortar at the seam, revealing the brick completely. Qiluo Ling worked with her right hand while keeping her ears alert for any sounds around her, listening for anyone coming upstairs.
At the same time, she silently prayed that no one would come upstairs at this moment. If everything went smoothly, she only needed twenty seconds.
She wedged the screwdriver into the innermost side of the brick, but it still showed no signs of loosening. She began to apply more force with her right hand; the small handle of the screwdriver pressed painfully into her palm, but finally, the brick loosened.
She felt a surge of joy and applied even more strength.
But at that moment, a childish voice came from behind her: “Auntie, what are you doing?”
She was startled and turned around to find a four or five-year-old girl with short hair staring at her in confusion.
Panic set in; she was at a loss for what to do. If it were any other time, she would have patted the little girl's cute face and played with her.
But now, she just wanted to send the little girl away as quickly as possible. If the girl's parents came looking for her, it would be a disaster.
Qiluo Ling feigned calmness and smiled cheerfully, saying, "Little girl, Auntie is looking for the Barbie doll hidden behind the painting. Shh, don't tell anyone, okay? This is our little secret."
The little girl nodded innocently.
"Why don't you go find your mommy and daddy? Once Auntie finds it, I'll give you the Barbie doll," Qiluo Ling lied out of desperation.
The little girl smiled, turned around, and skipped away.
After watching the little girl leave, she let out a long sigh of relief; it was truly a close call.
She resumed her work. Once, twice, three times, the bricks became loose again. She exerted all her strength, her face flushed red, and finally with a strong pull, she pried a brick out of the wall.
She was sweating profusely and took a deep breath. As she slowly removed the brick and revealed a small rectangular hidden compartment inside, there indeed lay a Brown Wooden Box, about the size of a thirty-two-page book, almost identical to what she had seen in her dreams.
Qiluo Ling placed the brick on the ground and reached out to grip both sides of the wooden box, pulling it with all her might. The box moved but nearly slipped from her hands because it was too heavy! Finally, she mustered more strength and managed to secure the wooden box into her backpack.
She cleaned up the dust on the ground, replaced the brick in its original position, and hung the Portrait back up; everything was as it had been.
Just as she bent down to pick up the screwdriver from the ground to put it back in her bag, she suddenly heard someone say beside her ear, "What are you doing?"
She was startled and turned to see a staff member from Moses Synagogue standing there.
He was in his sixties, frowning slightly as he lowered his head to stare at Qiluo Ling. From his angle, there was no doubt he could see that screwdriver.
It was over, she slowly stood up.
Just now, she was so excited that she didn't notice him approaching.
"You..." the Guide said unhappily, "Although photography is allowed here, you should be mindful of how you do it. It's not good for foreign tourists to see this."
"Ah?"
"Those few are portraits of the prophets of Judaism. Even if you don't believe in Judaism, you should maintain respect. If you're going to take pictures, do it properly. Sneaking around in the corner to take photos, what does that count as?"
"Ah... I..." Qiluo Ling didn't expect him to say such things and didn't mention the screwdriver on the ground. Just as she was puzzled, she suddenly noticed that the staff member's reading glasses were still hanging on his chest. Thank God he didn't see the situation on the ground clearly.
"You should leave now; you've been here long enough. This will affect others' visits."
"Okay, okay." She nodded hurriedly.
Qiluo Ling watched the Guide walk out of the second floor, her face changing from a flush a few minutes ago to a pale color.
A minute later, after cleaning up all the traces, she hurried down the second floor with her large backpack and finally followed the same route she came from, exiting the Moses Synagogue.
Just as she reached the entrance of the hall, an empty taxi was parked there. She bent down and climbed in...
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