Paintings of Terror

Fang Fei’s hand was mostly fine, and Shao Ling’s condition was also optimistic.

Cao Youning needed to stay in the hospital for a day. Qin Ci voluntarily stayed to accompany him, while the others went home.

Everyone still left by train, but their mood was completely different from when they came.

This time, Luo Bu accompanied them, but he spoke less. He held his electric scooter, gazing at the scenery outside the window, and only spoke after a long silence. “I feel it’s getting harder. This time, our fate was completely in the hands of another group of people. We had no control.”

Fang Fei stretched her left wrist. The purple color was gradually fading, and the pain was easing. “And we’re forced to do role playing. We had no control over that either.”

There were very few people in the train cabin at the moment. The few of them sat together, so their conversation couldn’t be overheard.

Shao Ling had been resting with his eyes closed and now he opened his eyes. “I’m thinking, can we filter out useful information from the experiences we’ve had in each painting? If we combine these pieces of information together, could they be related to important clues regarding ‘entering the paintings’ itself?”

“But what information can be considered useful?” Wei Dong asked. “Should we filter out a main theme for each painting? Like in ‘Inn’, time is the main theme?”

“Then what about ‘Burning Rhinoceros at Sea’? Is the main theme the illusions, or our emotions?” Luo Bu also felt that it was difficult to figure out this main theme.

Mu Yiran was looking up information on his laptop. “As a photographer, Bi Di has always been dedicated to recording historical landscapes through photographs. He was especially interested in historical remains.”

“No wonder, the Lantern Inn looked neither modern and ancient…”  Luo Bu said.

“When Bi Di was 13, he won a city-level photography award. During summer vacation, he visited his uncle who was an archaeologist and took some valuable photos of fish fossils in the area. It was precisely these photos of fish fossils that won him the award,” Mu Yiran’s eyes fixed on the computer screen. “It was also because of this award-winning experience that Bi Di was determined to become a photographer.”

“So that’s why his signature was on those white fish stones?” Luo Bu listened to this new information, combined with the various hardships in the paintings, and suddenly felt somewhat defeated, even ridiculous.

It was just a photographer’s bizarre idea, yet it formed an unbreakable world. Any twisted and unrealistic scenarios could exist as a matter of course, and all who entered the paintings were imprisoned, forced to follow his pace to be able to move forward.

“After Bi Di became terminally ill, he was unwilling to accept it because he was preparing for a very important photography exhibition.” Mu Yiran said, “Some of his works before his death were related to time, as if he really wanted to make time linger a little longer.”

This coincided with some of the things said by Mai Peng earlier. Bi Di had ambitious aspirations for photography, so when his body collapsed, he became extremely desperate, hence he came up with this “absolute fair concept” of time cycle.

“Is this a coordinate map?” Ke Xun looked at Mu Yiran’s computer screen. “With this painting, we have two complete letters, ‘TN.’ Is this really an abbreviation of some name?”

“I guess it’s an abbreviation for ‘TNND.'” Wei Dong said with a serious face.

Everyone laughed, but in that laughter, there was an indelible sadness.

“Let’s use all the time we can. We must find a way to figure out the painting in the next art museum. Although the painting instigator has done everything possible to keep us in the dark, it seems that there is another force opposing them.” Shao Ling seemed to have learned a lot from this painting, such as “let’s use all the time we can” — “In any case, we have to try. It would be fine even if we only just figure out the theme of the exhibition hall.”

Everyone nodded in agreement, and the next step was to divide the work to investigate the situation of the next art museum, trying to learn as much as possible about those damned paintings.

Qin Ci’s call came to Ke Xun’s phone. Ke Xun’s expression was somewhat strange as he answered, “You mean, he left the hospital early? And he didn’t say goodbye to you? Oh, he left a message on WeChat.”

At this moment, all their phones simultaneously rang, and they opened the chat group “People Who Are Going Into Painting Theory” to find a new member had joined — Gazing At The World.

In the group, Gazing At The World left a long message—

“Thanks to everyone for never leaving my side, especially thanks to Ke Xun and Brother Mu, who didn’t abandon me even when it was a matter of life and death.

Just now, at the hospital, I tried to contact Mai God and others. They’re all still there. They said they got separated from me at the art museum and couldn’t reach me by phone.

You guys probably can’t imagine. When I received their call, I heard Mai God, Sister Xi, Lu Heng, and Xiao Yu. I heard their voices. I was so grateful and yet desperate.

They were worried about me, asking where I am right now.

But who would have known, I am the sole survivor among the five of us! I can’t believe it. The four of them will all leave me in a few days, leaving this beautiful world!

I’ve made up my mind. I won’t let them leave with regrets! I’ll go with them to a place we’ve always wanted to visit, the five of us together, with our cameras, capturing the landscapes we’ve most longed for! No regrets in this life!

I’m sorry. I can’t travel with you all because there are more important people who need my company.

Please forgive my stubbornness and cowardice.

Wish you all good luck!”

Wei Dong was thinking of saying something but found that Cao Youning had already left the group.

For everyone, the only means of contact with these people was Cao Youning’s WeChat, and now it was completely cut off.

Cao Youning’s departure made everyone’s mood even heavier.

“Everyone has the right to choose their own way to leave, maybe this is the best for him,” Shao Ling said.

“So, that means we are still 8 people, and in the next painting, we will welcome 5 new people,” Wei Dong scratched his head, “I thought the combination this time was the best. They did so well, a hundred times better than I was at the beginning. Sigh… this damn painting.”

The atmosphere in the car was a bit gloomy. Everyone divided the tasks for researching information, and booked tickets in advance to go to City C. The next art museum was in this city.

When they arrived at their destination, City B, the weather suddenly seemed much colder. They felt the coolness on their faces, and only then did they notice snowflakes falling from the sky.

This kind of weather once again coincided with the world inside the painting.

Fang Fei stamped her slightly cold feet and said, “Whenever it snows, I crave dumplings.” It was as if she was deliberately trying to lighten the mood, which was quite hard for the usually reserved Fang Fei.

“That’s easy. Come to my place and let’s make dumplings!” Ke Xun made a generous invitation.

Everyone looked at each other and confirmed that they all had the time.

Only Luo Bu hesitated, “Um…Brother, aren’t you and my brother-in-law going to spend some private couple time together?”

“No matter how many rotations Earth makes, the two of us are forever a couple.” Ke Xun replied with a slight smile.

“Alright, then let’s go eat dumplings! My favorite is radish with lamb fillings! Eating them in winter helps ward off the cold. How about you guys?” Luo Bu hugged his Koharu scooter and sneezed.

“You’re called Radish and you still eat radish filling?” Wei Dong teased, “Back in our class, there was a girl named Yu Lan who never ate sliced yulan and there was a guy surnamed Niu who was born in the Year of the Ox and he never ate beef!”

“Then how about you, Brother Dong, do you eat winter melon?” Luo Bu teased back.

“They are not the same ‘Dong’~” Wei Dong glanced at Fang Fei. “What filling do you like? I’ll buy it when we get there!”

Fang Fei replied, “I like the Sanxian fillings, chives, shrimp, and wood ears.”

“Oh? I love this filling too~” Wei Dong smiled. “How about you two? Do you guys eat dumplings?”

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Zhu Haowen and Shao Ling: …

Shao Ling: “I like vegetarian fillings, like zucchini and egg or carrot and egg.”

Zhu Haowen: “I like meat fillings, lamb with scallions or pork with scallions or beef with scallions are all fine.”

“We don’t have a lot of people and yet so many different preferences” Wei Dong looked at Mu Yiran and Ke Xun standing together. “Ke Er likes the classic pork and cabbage, right? And what about Boss Mu?”

Mu Yiran: “Same.”

Ke Xun grinned, “It’s really fate, even our tastes match.”

“Extra ginger?” Wei Dong asked reluctantly.

Mu Yiran: “Yes.”

“Two drops of mustard oil in the vinegar for dipping?” Wei Dong asked further, “I still don’t believe it, such a weird way of eating…”

Mu Yiran: “Exactly.”

“Oh my oh my. It’s a match made in heaven.”

So, they all went to Ke Xun’s home in City Z and bought various ingredients before heading back to make dumplings.

“Let’s keep it simple. There are too many types of fillings. Let’s just separate them into meat and vegetarian,” Fang Fei suggested as she watched Ke Xun chop chives.

“No, no. Everyone must have the dumplings that they like. We can’t be careless about this,” Ke Xun said with a smile. “Brother Qin even ordered some flounder filling…”

Luo Bu couldn’t find ways to help out at all. He was just thinking of pulling Zhu Haowen aside to play some games, but he saw Zhu Haowen kneading the dough. Although his movements were somewhat clumsy, he eventually got the dough together, and after some kneading, it actually started to look like what it was supposed to be.

When Luo Bu noticed that Mu Yiran was also peeling shrimp nearby, he voluntarily joined in to wrap the dumplings: “Being together like this with everyone feels just like a family, even closer than relatives,”

“Relatives, those are sometimes the most unnecessary people,” Fang Fei shrugged as she beat eggs.

“We’ve all read each other’s last words, who else could have a bond like ours?” Wei Dong energetically chopped up napa. “Is President Shao crying?”

“Leave me alone, I’m chopping onions…” Shao Ling wiped his tears and turned his head away, sneezing twice.

“What kind of conspiracy do you think will be in the next painting? We’ve covered literature, religion, history, and even animal protection. This time, we got to experience time. What’s next? Any guesses on what the painting instigator will challenge us with next?” Wei Dong started squeezing water from the napa.

“Now we’ve done time, maybe it’ll be space?” Luo Bu boldly speculated.

“Speaking of that, are you bringing Koharu next time? I’m really curious about what Koharu will turn into in the next painting,” Wei Dong asked earnestly.

“I can’t bear to part with it. Koharu is fine the way she is,” Radish grated some radish, almost grating his hand, “As long as she stays outside the painting, that’s good. It would be troublesome if she couldn’t come out.”

There was some silence among the group. “As long as she stays outside the painting”, that really was some big heartfelt truth.

“Just checked the weather forecast,” Ke Xun changed the topic, “There will be heavy snow in City C in the coming days, so make sure to dress warmly and avoid getting cold! We don’t know what the situation will be like inside the painting, so let’s be well-prepared.”

“Haowen Er, what are you doing?” Wei Dong suddenly yelled out, “Why did you ferment the dough? We’re eating dumplings not buns!”

“I see my mom add yeast into it every time…” Zhu Haowen appeared quite innocent.