Paintings of Terror

“Xiao Shao’s analysis is very detailed,” Qin Ci nodded. “I also think we should also refine them. Perhaps each of the fourteen paintings we’ve entered has provided us with a different hint. We shouldn’t overlook more clues in our search just to find commonalities across the paintings.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“Maybe ‘Animal World’ hints at the survival of the fittest and the species swapping Shao Ge just mentioned?” Luo Bu said, looking at Ke Xun. “Ge, do you remember in ‘Burning Rhinoceros at Sea,’ you mentioned the movie ‘Pacific Rim’?

“The monsters invade the human world from the sea, slaughtering humanity—if they eventually succeeded, doesn’t that sound like the cows in ‘Animal World’? In that painting, the cows replace humans as the dominant species, and their numbers would surely grow until they completely replace humans, swapping out the most powerful species.

“I remember you also said it felt like ‘humans’ from another world were slowly infiltrating and replacing us. At first, they only used the lowest-level members to test us, then they’d send higher-level ones to continue the tests, and eventually send even more advanced ones to launch a full invasion…

“Brothers and sisters, do you think these fourteen paintings we’ve entered might be tests sent by ‘another world’ to probe this world’s most powerful species—humans? Once all thirteen of us receiving the tests fail, they might then launch a full-scale invasion?”

Luo Bu shivered at his own words and scooted closer to Ke Xun.

“Radish’s idea is very possible!” Ke Xun suddenly slapped his thigh, startling Luo Bu.

“But according to our investigation a few days ago, weren’t the previous batch of entrants all wiped out?” Zhu Haowen asked. “If Luo Bu’s theory is correct, shouldn’t the full-scale invasion have started already?”

“What if that group didn’t all get wiped out, but…all succeeded instead?” Ke Xun’s eyes gleamed as he spoke. Everyone’s attention was drawn by this statement and looked towards him. “They all succeeded, and the final thirteen people passed the challenge without losing a single person and stopped the invasion from that other world. Now, nearly a century later, the power from that world has returned, and we, the chosen ones, must once again pass a painting without losing anyone, to suppress that force again?”

This theory suddenly invigorated everyone—if the previous batch of participants hadn’t died, that would be truly encouraging and uplifting news!

“In any case, at least the clue hinted at by ‘Animal World’ is probably what Radish said,” Qin Ci said. “It hints at the invasion of another species, or another absolute power, and its attempt to replace the world we live in.”

Everyone exchanged glances; this theory left them feeling unsure what to do.

They had initially thought that the painting event was just a small-scoped strange, terrifying event confined to the thirteen of them. But they didn’t expect…expect it might impact the survival of the real world.

Yet, due to the constraints imposed by the force behind the paintings, they couldn’t tell anyone outside the thirteen about it. A world-level crisis, with only a handful of them to bear the burden.

Could they really handle it?

This world had no superheroes.

There were only ordinary people like them, forced into this situation.

The slight uplift in their spirits from earlier now weighed down heavily once again.

“I have an idea about the hint in ‘Pure Land’,” Ke Xun was always the first to cheer back up again. “In that painting, each of us selected an item, and these items were closely tied to our fate, or more specifically, our deaths. Don’t you think these items are somewhat similar to the existence of the patterns on our bones?”

His words were a wake-up call, and everyone was startled.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

“For example, Yiran, Prez Shao, and I have gu-xiang that resemble hemp rope-like markings, similar to the bunny ears, cat ears, or dragon horns headbands. The patterns on you guys come from the ‘Classic of Mountains and Seas’ painting, and each of you has a different pattern. This is similar to the sword, pen, clothes, and treasure bowl— isn’t this like the items we were forced to choose to get through the painting?”

“—Items!” Wei Dong clapped his hands. “That’s it! Our gu-xiang are the items that the force behind the paintings forcefully imposed on us, meant to help us pass through the entire painting incident. At some critical moment, our gu-xiang is bound to play a vital role!”

He had almost wanted to stay in the painting and didn’t want to come out. While inside that world, the eerie and peaceful feeling and that sense of belonging he felt left him not only with lingering fear afterward but also with a trace of longing and reluctance.

This painting really had a profound impact on him.

“Do you remember the news broadcast we heard on the radio just before we left the painting, when we were heading into the cave with the signature?” Qin Ci recalled every detail of the painting vividly. Seeing that some of the veteran members were shaking their heads, he continued, “The news mentioned that the beasts Su Benxin had taken were intercepted by local police, and among them was a Hexagram Beast, which was said to be a crucial nutritional beast for the secret Beast outside the city. It also mentioned that if the criminals succeeded in smuggling those beasts, the consequences would be unimaginable, and Heart City could very well fall again…”

“—Divination!” Ke Xun’s eyes widened. “Say, do you think this has something to do with our gu-xiang?”

“I think it does,” Zhu Haowen licked his lips, his emotions seeming stirred. “The red marks on some of us in that painting bore a similar meaning to the patterns on our bones. Coincidentally, our gu-xiang were identified by someone skilled in yin-yang techniques. They’re a type of item, yet, like in ‘Pure Land,’ they became part of us, turning us into ‘divination Beasts’…”

“So, the ‘nutritional beasts crucial for the mysterious Beast outside the city’ means…” Wei Dong’s voice was dry. “We might be… food for the force behind the paintings?”

“Or we could be sacrifices,” Mu Yiran suddenly said. “the ‘Classic of Mountains and Seas’ was a shamanistic painting used in rituals for ancestor worship, soul summoning, soul sending, and communicating with the heavens and earth in ancient times. So, we might very well be living sacrifices.”

After he said that, everyone was so shocked that they were momentarily speechless.

Wei Dong recalled the horrific deaths of those who became sacrificial offerings to the Heishitian in “Faith,” and he couldn’t help but shudder. His voice became even more hoarse as he said, “Then, then, the so-called fall of Heart City might be a metaphor for our world. In other words, after we become sacrifices, the ‘mysterious Beast,’ or rather the force behind the painting, will gain enough power after absorbing ‘nutrients’ to make our world fall?”

“…Well, it is giving us a lot of credit,” Ke Xun twitched his mouth. “Are we really just random test subjects who, after being screened, possess such great power to help the painting overthrow the world?”

“That question might relate to the clue hinted at in ‘Schrödinger’s Cat,'” Mu Yiran said. “Human willpower and spiritual strength are forces beyond measure. Perhaps what the painting ultimately wants to exploit isn’t, or isn’t only, our physical bodies as sacrifices. After enduring all these trials and screenings, our willpower is no longer weak, and that might be what the painting truly wants to harness.”

The group fell silent, the atmosphere turning somber.

Noticing this, Mu Yiran, with a calm tone that yet carried a faint, almost imperceptible note of reassurance, said. “As for the remaining painting, ‘Inn,’ if it’s not hinting at two worlds either, perhaps the clue it points to could help answer some of the questions we have been concerned about. All of us united together to take this step forward—even if this is a step backward, this step backward is for the sake of moving forward for longer. Although that step backward may lead to a deep abyss, we will get eternal light in return.”

Mu Yiran’s gaze rested on Ke Xun’s face, and Ke Xun’s eyes also flickered. He immediately understood what he meant.

Ke Xun smiled and looked at everyone. “See? There will be eternal light, so there’s no need to worry too much. All the clues that seem unfavorable to us now might just be a temporary ‘step backward’. It’s for preparing us to ultimately defeat the force behind everything and bring about that ‘eternal light’—to finally end all of this. Since we managed to come back alive from ‘Inn,’ we’ll surely make it through this whole ordeal as well. Let’s all stay strong!”

“—Yes, Captain Ke!” Wei Dong shouted, his spirits lifted.

“Ge, I think you’d be great at running a pyramid scheme,” Luo Bu rubbed his ear, startled by Wei Dong’s shout.

“Get lost,” Ke Xun said. “Come on, let’s keep going. The only hint left unclear is from ‘Burning Rhinoceros at Sea.'”

Everyone perked up again, focusing on Shao Ling’s laptop screen.

“I have a thought…” Gu Qingqing suddenly said. “Of the fourteen paintings we’ve entered, ‘Burning Rhinoceros at Sea’ seems to be the only ancient painting. Could this be intentional on the part of the painting’s force?”

“I think that suspicion is a bit of a stretch,” Shao Ling replied. “We know that the last group of people who entered the paintings did so nearly a hundred years ago, and most of the artwork circulating in our country at that time would have been ancient paintings. If being an ancient painting hinted at some clue, then what could the previous group have gleaned from the dozen or so ancient paintings they encountered?”

“There may be different ways of hinting at clues in different eras,” Ke Xun said. “I actually agree with Miss Qing’s suspicion. Otherwise, with so many real masterpieces of famous artists displayed in the art galleries, why would we be made to enter a replica instead of getting an original for us to enter? This suggests that the painting itself holds an important hint.”

Shao Ling looked at him for a moment, then nodded. “Your analytical skills have grown remarkably.”

Ke Xun: “I’m honored to receive praise from you, Prez Shao. Come for a kiss.”

Shao Ling: “…” Did I lose my mind, why did I praise him.

“Since this painting itself is important,” Zhu Haowen said, “then the clues it hints at might be related to its inherent attributes, like illusions? Mythical beasts? Immortality? Or perhaps, its era?”

“Era,” Mu Yiran and Shao Ling simultaneously said.

“There’s only one ancient painting in all the paintings. The biggest difference between them is the era.” Mu Yiran said.

“This painting is from the Qin Dynasty, so it’s very likely that the hint it gives us relates to the Qin era,” Shao Ling said.

“Could this hint mean that the origin of the entire painting event dates back to the Qin Dynasty?” Wu You quickly asked.

“Could it really be connected to Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s quest for immortality by sending people to sea?” Luo Bu also asked quickly.

Shao Ling thought for a moment and said, “There were many practitioners of esoteric arts during the Qin era. Just the number of them buried alive by Emperor Qin Shi Huang was over 460. TODO Secret arts, mysticism, and strange phenomena likely flourished during ancient times too. We might need to consult quite a bit of historical material. For now, let’s assume that the clue from this painting points to the Qin era. Now that we’ve roughly outlined the clues from all fourteen paintings, I’ll organize and summarize them.”

While Shao Ling was sorting out the clues, everyone else stood up to stretch. Some went to the bathroom, some got a drink of water, and others stood by the French windows, watching the snow falling from the gloomy sky.

Ke Xun noticed it was getting late and ordered takeout for everyone—now that they were at a critical stage in tracking down the clues, he temporarily didn’t have the energy to cook for them.

Just as he finished brewing a pot of Tieguanyin tea and brought it over, Shao Ling had finished organizing, and everyone gathered around again to look at the screen, where fourteen concise and clear lines of text were displayed:

“Free Evaluation of Evidence“ — The method to crack the mystery of the paintings requires using one’s heart to judge right from wrong.

“Ling Shu“ — Each painting points to a clue, and each clue points to the truth behind the scenes.

“The Funeral” — The truth is related to shamans.

“Faith” — Both good and evil forces coexist within the painting and fight against each other.

“Breaking Through the Ground” — The evil force is about to break into the real world.

“Animal World” — Survival of the fittest: if the evil force arrives, we will become the lower rung of the food chain, replaced by the evil force, completing the swap of the species.

“Shadow” — The evil force comes from the opposite of our world, like the relationship between black and white, or yin and yang.

“Human Studies” — The good or evil forces in the painting screen the entrants, and the strong ones remain.

“Pure Land” — For those who remain, gu-xiang becomes an “item” for clearing the challenge.

“Scarlet Beast” — The “item” might serve as a sacrifice to the evil force or as an energy source for the good force.

“Burning Rhinoceros at the Sea” — The entire event originates from the Qin Dynasty.

“Inn” — The method to defeat the evil force: in order to achieve victory, we must take a step backward.

“Schrödinger’s Cat” — The weapon to achieve victory is our willpower and spiritual strength.

“Restart” — If we fail, the entire world will be replaced by a new one. The world will be rebuilt and turned upside down.

Shao Ling’s summary was not only concise and clear, but it also connected seamlessly. A complete chain of clues clearly emerged.

“This makes things very clear!” Wei Dong said. “Next, we need to investigate if any strange events occurred during the Qin Dynasty that could be linked to the painting event.”

Author’s Note:

Ke Xun: I’m honored to receive praise from you, Prez Shao. Come for a kiss.

Shao Ling: …

Mu Yiran: Will you praise him again in the future?

Shao Ling: … (Should I answer “yes” or “no”? Please help, what do I do, urgent.)