Chapter 48: The corners of their mouths...are tilted (Update )
There are more than just these four soldiers who have suffered psychological trauma. According to Zhou Yunke, such people are common in the military.

After reading the files, Su Liuyue also understood why Zhou Yunke spoke in such a heavy tone when talking about this case.

Su Liuyue looked at the man on the main seat and said, "Commander Feng said that when the four of them died, they left behind suicide notes or relics."

Zhou Yunke nodded and said, "Feng Yang, bring all their things in."

Soon, Feng Yang came back with a soldier. Both of them held two boxes in their hands. There was a piece of paper on each box with the names of the four dead written on it.

Feng Yang pulled a table placed on the side of the tent to the middle, placed all the boxes on it, and said, "These things will be returned to the families of the soldiers in the future, so we packed them up in boxes separately."

Su Liuyue nodded and opened the box of the first deceased, Zhou Hao, only to find a stack of paintings inside. It was a thick stack with at least dozens of paintings.

Su Liuyue was stunned for a moment, picked up the painting and took a look, only to find that it depicted all kinds of natural scenery, including the vast desert, the breathtaking and majestic mountains, the lonely city in the desert, and the quiet woods under the moonlight.

These should be the scenes he saw during the march. These paintings were all drawn with rough charcoal pencils. There are no amazing techniques, but they are full of aura and vitality. Through these paintings, people seem to be able to see the painter's state of mind at the time.

The same group of people appear in many paintings. They are either marching together in the desert, or making their way forward in the mountains, or taking a rare break to sing and drink under the moon.

However, as the painting progresses, the number of people in the group becomes smaller and smaller, from six at the beginning, to five, to three, and finally only one person is left.

The last painting, however, is particularly terrifying. There is no natural scenery in this painting, nor even any background. There are only five people painted on the yellowish and rough paper.

Moreover, they were all dead. Their deaths were different. Some were hacked to death by the enemy, some were trampled to death by horses’ hooves, some were accidentally shot to death by the enemy’s arrows, and some even died with incomplete limbs…

These five people lying together, squeezed on a small piece of canvas, make people feel miserable.

Zhou Yunke on the side said in a deep voice: "Zhou Hao has a cheerful personality and has always been popular. When he came to join the army, he came with five brothers from the same village. The captain of these people said that the six of them grew up together and have a very good relationship.

Zhou Hao can't write, but he has loved painting since he was a child. When he was bored in the army, he liked to draw everything around him.

Most of the paintings here were painted when he was still in the army. After he left the battlefield, he never picked up a paintbrush again. No one knows when he painted the last painting..."

Therefore, this last painting was most likely painted before his death.

Feng Yang, who was usually taciturn, couldn't help but whispered: "After His Highness settled these people in Xinjing, he sent people to inform their relatives. Zhou Hao's relatives were the first to arrive in Xinjing.

Zhou Hao also has a fiancée. These days, his fiancée has been taking care of him without taking off her clothes. Originally, Zhou Hao's relatives said that his mood had gradually improved. Not only did he smile, but he was also willing to go out for a walk with his family. Who would have thought... this would happen in the end. "

Because they are also soldiers, no one can empathize with these people's experiences better than them.

Su Liuyue just kept staring at the last painting. Suddenly, she raised her hand and gently stroked the corner of one of the people's mouth, and whispered, "They are laughing..." Her voice was too low and Feng Yang couldn't hear it clearly for a while, but Zhou Yunke suddenly raised his eyes and looked at her.

"Although they are all dead, didn't you notice? In this painting, they are all smiling."

Su Liuyue took out the painting separately, placed it on the table, and pointed at it, saying, “Also, I feel that the expressions on their faces are very peaceful.

Their ways of death were all different, the only thing they had in common was that each of them was extremely painful, and how could someone who died in that way have such a peaceful expression. "

Feng Yang stared at it unconsciously for a while, a little stunned.

It actually really is...

He couldn't tell whether they were peaceful or not, but the corners of their mouths were indeed slightly raised!

Zhou Yunke looked at Su Liuyue with deep eyes, "What does this mean?"

“It speaks to the mindset of the painter.”

Su Liuyue paused and said, "From this painting, I can't feel any pain, only a slight sadness and deep nostalgia. I think that when Zhou Hao painted this picture, he had already let go of the deaths of the five people and he had moved on."

Feng Yang's eyes suddenly widened, and he said in disbelief: "Impossible! If... he came out, why would he hang himself? If he was killed, why would he draw this picture before he died?"

No one knows when Zhou Hao painted this picture, not even his fiancée who has been taking care of him. This means there are only two possibilities:

First, Zhou Hao painted this picture without telling anyone; second, he painted this picture just before his death.

Regardless of the situation, the most puzzling thing is why this painting happened to be right next to him before he died?
If he was killed, how could the murderer know that he had drawn such a picture? Or was it that the murderer had asked him to draw this picture?
But how did the murderer make Zhou Hao willingly draw this picture? The emotions expressed in this painting are all genuine! There is no sense of being forced!

Moreover, according to the files, after the four deceased returned to Beijing, they were temporarily placed in the military barracks. Zhou Hao hanged himself in a forest near the barracks. When he was found, the paintings were weighed down by a stone at his feet.

According to Zhou Hao's family, these paintings had always been locked in a cabinet at home by Zhou Hao, and he had kept the key himself. People from the government office checked and found no signs that the lock of the cabinet had been forced open.

This means that those paintings were most likely taken out by Zhou Hao himself and brought to the woods!

Su Liuyue was silent for a moment, and did not answer Feng Yang's words. She only said, "Let's finish reading other people's things first."

As she spoke, she put the paintings in order and was about to put them back into the box, but she suddenly paused.

Her attention was focused on the stack of paintings just now, and she didn't notice that there was something at the bottom of the box.