Paintings of Terror

“Hurry.” Mu Yiran looked at the sky. The sky was already lighting up, but there was still a little time left before they had to vote.

However, right now, they didn’t need to work hard to figure out what to do next, because not far from where they had fallen was a huge ship.

“Wh–? Another ship?!” Wei Dong was shocked and confused. “Is this like an endless loop? This isn’t an infinite nested space, right? If we sink and swim downward again, will we arrive at the same space?”

“No, it’s not the same, Look, there are people on that ship.” Ke Xun had good eyesight, and he pointed to the people standing by the side of the ship. “They’re all dressed in ancient costumes. Maybe they are the real ancient people traveling on the ship in this painting.”

“Let’s get on the ship and take a look,” Mu Yiran said as he began to swim in the direction of the ship.

The people on the ship also spotted them in the sea. After a burst of shouting, someone lowered a rope ladder.

They climbed up the ladder while the ancient people watched them.

Looking at their style of dress, these people indeed seemed to be from the Qin and Han Dynasties. What’s more, the flag flying overhead was embroidered with the character “Qin” in seal script.

The people in the ship stared at them in amazement, fear evident in their eyes.

Ke Xun and the others didn’t act rashly and stood on the deck, dripping water and exchanging glances.

The two sides were in a stalemate, when suddenly, the ancient people in the front stepped to the side, making way for a person that appeared to be of a higher status. This person saluted them and began to speak.

Ke Xun and the others looked at one another in dismayed.

What was he saying? It sounded like Cantonese, but also like the Southern Min dialect, and the also like the Hekka dialect.

“It was said that the Qin Dynasty’s common language was similar to Cantonese,” Shao Ling whispered to them.

Wei Dong and Luo Bu looked confused. “Isn’t the common language of the Qin Dynasty supposed to be Shaanxi?”

Shao Ling expressed that he no longer wanted to bother with these two people.

It was a pity that there was no Cantonese speaker among them. Even if there were, though, the ancient pronunciation and the modern pronunciation would likely vary significantly, thus making it difficult to communicate.

Mu Yiran stepped forward and replied with a hand gesture to the other person, followed by a writing gesture.

The other person quickly understood. He turned his head and said something to the person next to him. After a salut, the person next to him hurried away. When he returned, he was holding a silk sheet and pen and ink.

Mu Yiran told Wei Dong, “Try to use the simplest way to clearly draw what I am saying. Draw the ship and an ancient person painting the ship.”

Wei Dong hurriedly responded. Ignoring his body still dripping with water, he took the painting supplies, spread them out, picked up the brush, and began to paint.

Luo Bu looked on from the side and sighed. “Fortunately, we have Brother Dong. What kind of immortal touch is this? You can draw so vividly with just a few strokes.”

In his heart, Shao Ling said: It’s true that no one should be underestimated. No matter how good people are at certain things, they will have things they are bad at. And no matter how ordinary some people are, they too will also have their shining points.

The super ordinary Comrade Wei Dong completed this painting within three minutes. He took up the silk cloth and showed it to everyone. The content was clear at a glance.

Mu Yiran pointed to the image of the person painting and then pointed his hand at the ancient people surrounding them. Then, he pointed to the image of the person painting again.

His meaning was very clear. He intended to find someone who could paint among the people on the ship.

The person in charge quickly understood and said a few words to the others. Someone left to carry out his order, and he made a few gestures to Mu Yiran, indicating for them to talk in the cabin.

Mu Yiran shook his head to express rejection.

Time waits for no one. They had no time to deal with irrelevant things.

But the leader seemed to have something important to say to them. Seeing that Mu Yiran was unmoved, the leader thought for a moment, called someone to come, gave an order, and then the person turned and ran into the cabin.

“It feels like the painting has upgraded since The Scarlet Beast.” Qin Ci looked at the ancient people around them. “These NPCs no longer behave mechanically. They seem…smart, or rather, closer to real humans.”

“Yes,” Zhu Haowen said. “Even without us influencing the plot, they still have their own life trajectory and thoughts. This kind of escalation is extremely scary.”

“Uh…How is it scary?” Luo Bu asked in a trembling voice.

Qin Ci and Zhu Haowen both looked down to think up more precise answer. Meanwhile, Ke Xun glanced over the faces of the ancients who were still watching them curiously and with awe, and said thoughtfully, “This feeling is like… Hmm, have you seen Pacific Rim?”

Some people nodded and some shook their heads.

Ke Xun said, “Monsters from another world under the sea invaded the human world. At first, only the lowest level monsters came, one at a time. Later, it became two at a time, and the monster’s level also increased. Much later, the higher the monster’s level, the more they came to invade. I don’t know why, but the painting gives me a feeling similar to this. The NPCs in the paintings are slowly becoming more and more real and intelligent. It seems…like human beings from another world slowly invading and replacing us. At first, they only used some mechanized lowest-level members to test us, and then they would send high-level ones to continue the test, and then send those with higher levels….to launch an invasion.”

“Brother, you have a big imagination.” Luo Bu couldn’t help but shiver again.

As they were talking, they saw that the person who had ran into the cabin earlier had returned, and there was a person behind him. Seeing this person, the seven-member group cried out in surprise. Even Mu Yiran was surprised.

“Hey, good seeing you again.” Fang Fei waved her hand to several people.

“—Fuck——What’s going on?!” Wei Dong threw out this shocked question on behalf of everyone.

With a calm expression, Fang Fei came to the front. “After I shot the pheasant and only got its feather, it rushed over and tried to destroy the rhino horn. I hurriedly tried to avoid it, but it chased too closely and the horn fell into the sea. When I discovered the horn could still burn underwater, I thought that I should at least try to find Yu Long’s body before I die…so I jumped into the sea after it and kept diving and ended up here. These ancient people think I’m some kind of god or someone with supernatural powers. They pulled me up to the ship, but we don’t understand each other so we haven’t been able to communicate much.”

Everyone thought it was quite lucky, and Ke Xun raised a smile at her and said, “Well, I did say that you wouldn’t lose. How does it feel to defeat death?”

“Very good.” Fang Fei also smiled.

“Oh, I admire this girl so much.” Wei Dong said to Luo Bu.

“Yes, Brother Dong, she is even manlier than you,” Luo Bu praised.

Wei Dong: “…” Why say it, you rotten child?

Fang Fei’s reappearance made everyone feel much better. After experiencing the unseen deaths of the people around them, they finally had a…a person who outperformed, no, who had beaten death. This kind of joy and relief gave them renewed hope and strength.

As they were speaking, another person that the leader had sent off with a command returned. There were eight people behind him, and the leader pointed to these eight people and made a painting gesture to Mu Yiran.

“These people should be the painters on the ship,” Mu Yiran said.

“But…among these eight people, who was the real author of Burning Rhinoceros at Sea?” Wei Dong scratched his head.

Shao Ling said, “Qin Shihuang’s painters were included in the list of hundreds of workers, and most of them were unnamed. If one of these painters created this painting, it’s likely that they aren’t qualified to leave their seal or signature on the painting.”

“Then what can we do? How can we leave the painting without the seal?” Luo Bu said shakingly.

Shao Ling frowned, thinking hard. However, he soon discovered that everyone else was looking at Mu Yiran, and so he followed suit.

Mu Yiran raised his gaze. With the sea and the morning light reflecting in his eyes, he made a few gestures to the leader.

He pointed to the eight painters and made a painting gesture. Then he shook his hand to point at the distant sky behind them all.

He was pointing in the direction where they had fallen.

From the moment when they got on the ship, their attentions were focused on the ancient people in front of them, and so they hadn’t been able to spare time to look back at where they had fallen from.

Now, following Mu Yiran’s gestures, everyone turned their heads in unisom and cast their eyes to the sky and sea behind them. They were immediately stunned.

In the place where the clouds and mists touched the sea far away, a phantom and dreamlike mirage floated like a giant screen.

In the mirage surrounded by clouds and mists, there were faint mountains in the distance, and a few pavilions among the peaks. And nearby was a vast inky sea and a huge ship floating on the surface of the waves.

“–A mirage!” Wei Dong exclaimed in surprise. “We actually–we were in that mirage?!”

Mu Yiran ignored his companions’ surprises and simply gestured for the eight painters to draw the image depicted in the mirage. The leader was still in awe of these people that had appeared out of nowhere, and so he quickly passed on Mu Yiran’s request. After fetching eight sets of painting tools, the eight painter sat on the floor and went straight to work.

As they painted, the painters were quiet, and so everyone stared at the painters nervously for a while and then turned their heads to stare at the mirage in the distance for a while.

Mirages could last for a short time or for a long time. Although a mirage in the early morning was rare, it wasn’t uncommon. Sometimes, it could last 40 minutes, and sometimes it could last more than two hours.

However, they didn’t have much time left. The time for voting was near. But how could they obtain the seal? They could not think of a clear way yet…

As time ticked on, the tension in everyone’s heart increased. Luo Bu sometimes forgot to breathe, so nervous was he, and so his face alternated between white and red.

Finally, with only a few minutes left to go, the eight painters finished their paintings. Mu Yiran stepped forward to carefully observe their eight paintings. Everyone also rushed over. By this point, they had understood Mu Yiran’s intention. As eight pairs of eyes were fixed on the paintings, desperately looking–

“–This one!” All hands pointed to one painting in particular. This one looked exactly like the original Burning Rhinoceros at Sea painting they’d seen in the art gallery!

“Yes–But there’s no seal!” Wei Dong called out anxiously.

Everyone felt helpless.

Suddenly, Ke Xun turned and grabbed the hand of the artist who painted Burning Rhinoceros at Sea. He removed the brush from his hand and ran the brush over his thumb. Then he forcibly dragged his thumb over and pressed it onto the painting.

The four sides of the silk cloth on which the image was painted suddenly lit up with a bright white light, forming an axis. The axis of the painting became larger and larger, and the white light became brighter and brighter until it was so bright that everyone could hardly keep their eyes opened. The axis in the center of the painting fell and–

“Crash!”

Eight people fell on the cold marble floor of the art gallery, all tangled in a mess.

“Fuck, Ke’er, you’re too awesome!” Wei Dong shouted excitedly, not caring that he was at the very bottom of the pile. He was full of joy and excitement. “How did you know that you can use his fingerprint?!”

“I just guessed…” Ke Xun had fallen into his boyfriend’s arms, and so he opened his own arms and hugged him tightly, not wanting to get up right away. “The seal and the signature both represent the painter’s identity. But fingerprints are also a kind of identification. Since there’s a language barrier, it would be impossible for us to ask him to sign his name, and the painter may not have a seal, so I can only use his fingerprint.”

Shao Ling climbed up and looked at the imitation of Burning Rhinoceros at Sea on the wall.

It was said to be an imitation, but in fact, it was more like a remake of the original. It faithfully reflected all the details of the original painting, including the damaged portion. ｂｅ𝚍ｎｏ𝚟𝚎ｌ.𝚌𝚘ｍ

In the original painting, the chaotic areas in the sky were mirages, but the colors had faded and the lines had become blurred due to age.

Shao Ling stared deeply at the painting for a long time. Then looking at the crowd with a somewhat complicated expression, he pointed to the surface of the sea in the painting. “This place in the original painting had a fingerprint-like imprint. If you aren’t looking closely, you would just think that it was a ripple on the sea. It’s nearly blended in.”

“So, did the painting come first, or did we come first?” Qin Ci philosophically ask.

“Ah—” A scream came from the entrance of the exhibition hall, startling everyone, and they turned to look.

There were a few females standing by the entrance, staring at them in fear and disgust. One of them asked in a sharp voice, “What are you doing?! Acting like ruffians! Security–Security–We need to call the police!”

Everyone suddenly reacted and looked down at themselves. Most of them were wearing only a pair of underwear or a boxer, all in diverse styles and distinct colors.

Only Mu Yiran and Fang Fei were neatly dressed, and at this moment, they took a few steps to the side, pretending not to know these people.

Everyone else: “…”

No wonder Mu Yiran refused to take off his clothes when jumping off the boat.

Shao Ling said in his heart.

—————-

Xida: Of course, how can the perfect Mu Yiran be caught half naked? /sarcasm