Paintings of Terror

Chapter 28: The First Death Condition

Translated by Eve

Edited by EB

Hearing the word ‘unpredictable’ here would make one’s skin crawl. If there were no rules or patterns to follow, there was no way to avoid death. Everything would rely on luck.

Ke Xun glanced at Mu Yiran beside him. The other was still, like a stone statue. He couldn’t even hear the other’s breath.

Ke Xun looked away. He could hear the pants of the giant shadow that was slowing advancing towards them. He subconsciously matched his own breathing with the thing outside. As a result, he could not hear the sound of his own breathing anymore because that thing’s breathing covered up his own.

The giant shadow finally reached their tent. Ke Xun watched as its eight arms flailed about in the air. Between these arms, a dark, round object emerged at the top of the tent. Ke Xun surmised that it was the giant shadow’s head. It looked like it was squatting right now, its head brought close to the tip of the tent.

The sound of its breathing suddenly shifted to above Ke Xun’s head. Through the thin material of the tent, Ke Xun could faintly make out two eyes on that giant head slowly move.

It was looking into the tent.

Ke Xun subconsciously shut his eyes.

There was no way of describing how it felt to be stared at by an indescribable creature like this because there was no way to know whether it would stick out its large hand and snatch them out of this tent in the next second. If that were to happen, they would end up getting tossed into its ferocious mouth.

Ke Xun hoped that it would go away quickly. However, the breathing continued to sound from above his head. The shadow also stared at Ke Xun and Mu Yiran without blinking.

The longer this went on, the more tense Ke Xun became. He felt like he would soon break down. It felt like there was a blade suspended over his neck and he didn’t know when it would fall. Compared to this, he would rather the knife have fallen sooner so that he wouldn’t have to suffer through this anxiety.

Ke Xun broke out into a cold sweat. His heart was beating so quickly it felt like it would soon explode. If it weren’t because of how loud and deep that giant shadow’s breathing was, it might have been able to hear the beating of Ke Xun’s heart.

Ke Xun didn’t know how long this situation lasted. However, after an extremely long time, he could hear that the breathing had started to grow distant. The giant shadow shifted its legs and slowly walked over to another tent.

Every muscle in Ke Xun’s body that had tensed up during that encounter now? relaxed. He opened his eyes and turned to look at Mu Yiran.

Mu Yiran lied on his side. Ke Xun could only make out half of his elegantly-arched jaw and one eye under the faint light.

Neither of them moved. They simply listened to the sounds of movement outside the tent silently.

Shortly after, a shrill scream erupted from within their tent district.

Because the scream was so shrill—to the point of changing the voice’s quality—Ke Xun couldn’t immediately tell who it was. He turned to look in the direction the sound came from and ended up seeing the giant shadow pick a person up with its hand from within a tent. The person was struggling like crazy, trying to get free, but it could not escape from the giant shadow’s hold.

The giant shadow looked like it was picking up a baby mouse. It stood up straight, looking lofty and tall. The person was lifted up into the air and the giant shadow’s arms continued to move in what seemed like a grotesque dance. Suddenly, they all darted forward. With its fingers, it pinched the person’s head, limbs and trunk.

Then, it tugged lightly.

Ke Xun shut his eyes.

But in the end, that bloody scene had still been engraved into his retina.

The miserable shrieks still echoed in his ears. Ke Xun was finally able to identify the voice. It belonged to the young man, Tan Zheng.

The middle-aged man had said that each tent was to hold two people. Therefore, the person who died tonight was Tan Zheng, who had been allotted to the single tent by their lottery.

When the sky started to brighten, everything around them that had gone still slowly reanimated along with the return of the wind. The tent was a bit cold. Ke Xun could feel a draft coming in from every direction. He then shifted his numb body a bit and sat up. Upon doing this, he saw Mu Yiran lift the flap of the tent and head out.

Ke Xun followed after him. He looked in the direction from which Tan Zheng had been taken. He saw blood sprayed all over the small gray rocks that were scattered along the ground. Tan Zheng’s remains were scattered in every direction.

The newcomers were scared out of their minds. The pretty girl named Li Ziling fainted from fright. She was still unconscious at the moment. Zhou Bin’s girlfriend, Zhao Dan, had thrown up in her tent. Wei Dong was covered in filth and he was now looking for something to use to scrape it off his clothes.

Ma Zhenhua soiled his pants. He swatted outside his tent with an ashen complexion. He would occasionally turn to glance in the direction from which Tan Zheng had died whenever he managed to bolster up his courage. Qin Ci and Mu Yiran had collected the severed limbs, piled them up and covered them up with a shabby blanket.

Qin Ci looked at Mu Yiran: “We’re missing the head.”

“Mn.” Mu Yiran looked up at the sky. “That thing took it away.”

Qin Ci said, “Looks like the rules are very simple this time. The only person who will die is the person who stays in a tent by themselves.”

“Now, there’s only twelve of us left so no one will be left alone tonight. Does that mean that no one will die again?” Ke Xun walked over.

Qin Ci lowered his eyes. “That’s not a good thing. If no one dies, we’ll have to vote.”

At least one person has to die every night.

Compared to the veterans, the newcomers found it much more difficult to adapt. Until they congregated at the middle-aged man’s tent, some of their complexions were terribly ugly. A few of them almost couldn’t walk because of the fright.

The middle-aged man was already waiting inside the tent. His gloomy, dark gaze fell on the crowd of people in front of him. “The sacrificial offering will take place on the seventh day. You must prepare the sacrificial goods. This includes the five Dews of Wisdom, the five tribute meats, duomu, wine for libation, a sacrificial bowl, a lantern, gala, dangka….”

Everyone exchanged glances as the man spat out these odd-sounding terms. In contrast, Mu Yiran’s expression slowly sunk.

“We will congregate back here when the sky darkens. It is now time to have breakfast.” The middle aged man left the tent after saying this. There was already food laid out on the low table behind him.

Breakfast consisted of pieces of dough made of some kind of coarse grain, milk tea that had separated into water and milk layers, and a few pieces of sour cheese. Everyone ate without tasting the food. Several of the newcomers didn’t eat at all.

“Eat something. Otherwise, you won’t have the energy to hold on.” Wei Dong persuaded Li Ziling who sat beside him.

“What if the food’s poisoned?” Li Ziling’s eyes were swollen and red from her crying. It looked like she had no more tears to shed. Her voice was hoarse as she asked her question.

“It’s not. Don’t worry and just eat. It tastes kind of gross but it’s better than nothing,” Wei Dong said.

Ke Xun spoke with Mu Yiran, who sat beside him, in a low voice: “Do you think the stuff that guy listed off has something to do with Sahism?”

Mu Yiran placed down his cup of tea, his voice slightly chilly. “We have to figure out which branch of Sahism is involved.”

After just barely padding their stomachs, Zhou Bin, one of the newcomers, was the first to come back to himself. He looked over to Mu Yiran and Qin Ci, “Where does the signature or seal usually appear? What does it usually look like?”

Qin Ci answered him. “It’s different for every painting so I can’t say anything for certain. But based on what we know about the previous paintings, what we do know is that there are two methods of uncovering the signature. The first way is to decipher the painter, or the painting’s motive or secret. That’s what we mean by ‘solving’ the painting. The other way we can find the signature is by completing the mission assigned to us by the world. There is an intricate relationship between the location of the signature, the clues provided by the painting and the painting’s meaning we ultimately deduce.”

“So how do we solve this painting? I have no idea what’s going on!” Zhou Bin said fretfully.

Qin Ci said, “Actually, we don’t have any ideas either. We can’t just wait for clues to come to us. We have to search during the day.”

“How are we supposed to search for them when we have nothing to go off of?” Zhou Bin asked.

Sha Liu, the glasses girl, suddenly spoke up. “I think that the clues are related to the sacrificial items that man just listed.”

Qin Ci nodded slightly. “This is most likely the mission we’ve been assigned. Therefore, we might figure something out by completing it.”

Zhou Bin said at once: “Then what are we waiting for?! Let’s get to it!”

His girlfriend, Zhao Dan, grabbed onto his arm. “But what are those things? I have no clue what some of those things are. Meat, wine, lantern—I got those, but the other ones sound like words from some other language.”

Sha Liu pushed her glasses up. “I think that this place seems like the region in which Sahism is prevalent— the Ganxiong Highlands. Can you guys see the colourful banners flying in the distance? That’s a really obvious marker. I think that the things that person listed must be local objects.”

Zhou Bin said, “So we just have to find the things he listed? Let’s hurry up then. The earlier we get these things together, the earlier we can leave this damn place!”

Qin Ci swept a glance over the crowd. “We definitely have to go look for these things but there has to be some order to it. There’s twelve of us. I propose that we split into four teams and head in four different directions. We’ll then reconvene here at noon to share what we’ve found and discuss what our next steps will be.”

No one had any objections. Zhou Bin asked, “How should we split the teams?”

Ma Zhenhua stumbled over to Mu Yiran. “Can I be in the same team as you? Please, I’m begging you!”

When Li Ziling saw this, she also got up and ran over to Mu Yiran. She wrapped her arms around his arms and looked at him with a pitiful expression on her face. “Xiao gege, I also want to be in the same team as you. Please. I’m scared….”

Ke Xun: “….”

Wei Dong: “….”

Sha Liu looked at Ke Xun. “Can I be on the same team as you?”

Ke Xun: “….”

Wei Dong: “….”

Qin Ci looked at Mu Yiran and Ke Xun. “Should we divide the teams like this?”

Ke Xun: “I don’t agree to this.”

Wei Dong: “+1.”

Qin Ci: “Should we draw for it?”

Zhou Bin furrowed his brows. “Why do you always want to draw for it? There’s isn’t much time left. What are you wasting time for?”

“He’s right.” Ke Xun said, “It wouldn’t be good if he and his girlfriend were to be split up. It’s daytime right now, not night time. We can work together with people we know to finish this mission. Zhou Bin and his girlfriend would definitely want to be in the same team. The family of three over there can’t be split apart either. The two girls over there are classmates. It wouldn’t be convenient to split them up and there’s no one else they know anyway, so they shouldn’t be split up. Don’t you guys agree?”

Zhou Bin and the family of three nodded.

Mu Yiran looked at Ke Xun expressionlessly. He thought that this guy was purposely making trouble.

He listened as Ke Xun continued speaking. “With this, splitting the teams becomes really easy. Twelve people into four teams —every team will consist of three members. The people who came as a pair of trio can’t be split. So we just need the solo people to each join one of these groups.

“If we split the groups based on the existing pairs and trios, the teams are: Zhou Bin and his girlfriend, Geng dage and his family, the two ladies, and me and Wei Dong. Geng dage and his family are a complete team already. The remaining three people need to join one of the remaining three groups.

“The two ladies make up the physically weakest group. They need a mature and reliable person with first aid skills to support them. Dr. Qin is a suitable choice for this role. If the girls were to sprain their ankle, get a headache or a fever, Dr. Qin will be able to treat them in time.

“Ma Zhenhua will join Zhou Bin’s group. Although there’s a bit of an age difference between you, he’ll probably get along with you guys better than someone of our age—that is, me, Wei Dong or Xiao Mu gege.

“Any objections to splitting the groups like this?”

Mu Yiran: “…I just knew it would be like this.”