Paintings of Terror

In another timeline, Du Lingyu was the only survivor, and everyone had already died.

The other twelve people were all dead.

The despair of being unable to struggle against death left everyone speechless.

“Let us continue discussing this picture,” Mu Yiran’s voice was somewhat cold, but those who knew him could sense that this coldness was used to conceal his grief. “Regarding the negative space that Shao Ling mentioned, it is quite evident in this picture and filled up the surroundings of the photograph. Its content is somewhat strange.”

“Indeed,” Shao Ling tried his best to recover from the sadness just now, “negative space should typically appear as a blank space or a gradually fading effect. However, in this photo, the negative space is black with white dots on it. It’s somewhat similar to snowflakes in the middle of the night, but not quite.”

Zhu Haowen also joined in, “I believe the camera is a key item in this world, likely related to Bi Di’s identity as a photographer. We already know that the camera can capture scenes from the past and the future using the different shutter speed, representing a span in time. So, is it possible that the camera’s lens angle can capture the expansion of space? Could a wide-angle lens like this capture scenes beyond the Lantern Inn?”

This idea was quite intriguing, and everyone nodded. Shao Ling continued, “If that’s the case, I think with the extent of how this photo used the wide-angle lens, it might have captured not only the world outside of the Lantern Inn.”

“Oh my God, could it have captured the world beyond the painting?!” Luo Bu was extremely surprised.

“Not to that extent,” Shao Ling said hurriedly, “I have been thinking about the structure of the Four Inns and what the world beyond them is like. Based on the words in the book ‘Code of Shamans’, the Xun and Wei Dong’s drawing, I believe that the Four Inns are in a circular arrangement, which aligns with the phrase ‘surrounds the Inns as a ring’.”

Wei Dong listened while frowning, “So you mean, the Earth’s core is like a big egg, and the Four Inn are like a waistline tied around it?”

“Exactly, you’ve put it accurately,” Shao Ling nodded.

“I think the Four Inns are not tied around the Earth’s core but are rather encircled in its interior,” Zhu Haowen said, “The opening lines of ‘Code of Shamans’ mentioned ‘The Earth’s core is nurtured by the soil. Within it lies time.’ I believe the people of the Four Inns reside inside the Earth’s core, still arranged like a ring, but not like us living on the surface of the Earth, rather inside the Earth’s core.”

“I can’t handle this anymore, my brain is completely overwhelmed. Just tell us, what should we do next?” Luo Bu looked at the burning incense, “We have a little over two hours before the lights go out, so we need to make the most of our time.”

“Besides attending the funeral, I asked Ke Xun and the others to follow the shopping list in the luggage and visit the shops. Hopefully, we’ll find something useful,” Mu Yiran took out another roll of developed film, “Now, let’s take a look at the photos from Xi Shengnan’s camera.”

Luo Bu took the film and set it up in the projector, “I don’t think Xi Shengnan took any pictures. There shouldn’t be any photos of this world in her camera.”

“Perhaps the Xi Shengnan on another timeline took some. We still don’t know who took pictures of those white fish.” Wei Dong casually remarked as he quickly loaded the film, preparing for the “screening”.

“Right, we’ve got plenty of work. We’ll have to enlarge those white fish pictures later.” Luo Bu quickly focused on his job and cooperated with Wei Dong.

Xi Shengnan’s photos started to appear on the screen. Her style was completely different from Mai Peng’s. She seemed to prefer capturing close-ups of still life or narrative-style scenes of people and street views. Occasionally, she also snapped pictures of animals and food.

When the historic building of the Old Station Art Gallery appeared in one of the photos, both Wei Dong and Luo Bu slowed their movements. This familiar gallery was like a dream that suppressed them from waking up, pulling everyone back into the dark night once again.

“Say, are we still inside the Old Station Art Gallery?” Luo Bu suddenly asked.

“If we are still in the painting,” Qin Ci replied, “the painting ‘Inn’ is exhibited in the gallery, so in a broad sense, we are still inside the Old Station Art Gallery.”

“Well, this question is as profound and hard to answer as the mysteries of our current timelines,” Luo Bu shook his head and continued showing the next photo.

Xi Shengnan appeared to be a photographer enthusiastic about recording life. She captured shots of the gallery’s hall and even took a side-profile picture of the old man guarding the entrance. The seemingly ordinary expression in the photo even showed a touch of sorrow.

After that, there were random shots of various exhibition halls and it soon showed that familiar exhibition hall and its familiar door.

Inside the door was another exhibition that was separated from the hall: the exhibition of Bi Di’s photography works.

As expected, the subsequent photos were about the Bi Di’s photography exhibition. Xi Shengnan didn’t focus on any particular works but rather captured the layout of the hall and the natural lighting from the windows, creating a comfortable atmosphere that gilded a sense of golden radiance upon this photography exhibition.

“Stop!” Several people said in unison.

Wei Dong and Luo Bu timely stopped what they were doing, letting this slowly moving negative to stop on the display.

The picture was taken of the exhibition rack in the hall. A row of photography works on display formed a sense of depth, showcasing Bidi’s photographs from near to far.

Everyone’s gaze was fixed on the third work from the left—although it was relatively small and not so clear due to being out of focus, it didn’t hinder them from recognizing it immediately— “Inn”, this picture was indeed the “Inn”.

“My goodness, I feel like I’m displaced in space and time. Are we now looking at this picture inside this very picture?” Luo Bu shook his head, feeling incredible.

The others remained silent as they observed the painting. Although the picture in the photo held a familiar feeling that could be recognized even if it turned to ashes, it also carried a sense of estrangement and unfamiliarity as if after a long separation.

“I now feel that this circle may have a special meaning,” said Wei Dong. “Don’t you think this circle looks like a camera lens? All of us are actually within Bi Di’s lens.”

“That makes sense. No wonder cameras were given such a special meaning in this world,” Qin Ci gazed at the circle in the image and the buildings within it. “Now it appears that this circle might be a ring, and the Inns exist within the rings.”

“And the timelines.” Shao Ling added, “When we first entered the painting, the timeline that we are currently in and the other timeline connected. This probably formed a circle.”

“Signature is outside the ring,” Fang Fei also spoke, and her words were quite astonishing, “We are inside the ring, and the signature is outside. To find the signature, we need to go out.”

Everyone fell silent, realizing this was a rare breakthrough, but at the same time, they also felt that reaching the outside of the ring was nearly impossible—it wasn’t just a matter of geographical distance; beyond the ring, it seemed like another universe.

“Everyone look, there is something on the right side of the ring,” said Mu Yiran.

Everyone squinted their eyes and looked to the right side of the ring after hearing this. Because the signature was on the left side of ring, they had overlooked the right side. Now, they noticed some disorganized lines, but due to their light color, they appeared very blurry.

“I remember these things,” Fang Fei said. “Before we entered the painting, I focused on the pencil-drawn part, which is this ring and the things outside the ring. On the left is the author’s signature and the date, and in the upper right corner, there are some very faint pencil lines. I thought they were just imperfections caused by image processing.”

“Yes, those lines seemed too random, seems like they don’t have special meanings.” Wei Dong said.

Mu Yiran looked at Fang Fei and said, “What kind of lines did you see back then? Can you draw them? Just a simple sketch will do.”

“I’ll try.” Fang Fei walked up to the table and picked up the pen and paper prepared by Mu Yiran. After carefully recalling, she drew a few strokes. “On the left, I forgot if there were one or two lines, anyway, they were slightly curved. I remember the right side clearly. It was two crossed lines, like an ‘X’. I’m certain of one thing, these lines were very faint and had been erased, so I thought they were just excess lines created while drawing and didn’t pay much attention to them.”

“I think we can break through this circle, because you can erase pencil marks.” If it were regular times, Shao Ling would think he was trying to tell a joke, but as of now, he was extremely serious, “The pencil part of this picture can probably all be erased.”

“Including the painter’s signature,” added Zhu Haowen.

“Oh God, that would be terrifying. If the signature is erased, then we’re really in trouble.” Luo Bu was scared by what they were saying.

“Everyone, look at this pattern carefully,” Mu Yiran presented Fang Fei’s sketch to the others. “Let your imagination run wild. What do you think it resembles?”

“A few strands of hair…” said Luo Bu.

“Unfinished clouds?” suggested Qin Ci.

“Traces of wind blowing?” said Wei Dong.

The others didn’t speak anymore. It was difficult to make sense of these few abstract lines.

Mu Yiran then sketched a similar pattern on the side. He kept the cross on the right side but only one curved line on the left: “What about this? What does it look like?”

The group frowned and pondered for a while, but eventually gave up trying to guess.

“A lightbulb,” Zhu Haowen suddenly said, “It looks like the lightbulbs we draw in middle school physics when studying circuits.”

With Zhu Haowen’s remark, everyone began to see the resemblance. However, in a circuit drawing, a complete circle would enclose the cross. This drawing was more casual.

Mu Yiran nodded, “I also think it is a lightbulb. To be precise, it is an indication of a light source. When a photographer composes an image, they would consider the position of the light source. So, perhaps Bi Di drew it specifically as a reminder for his composition in his draft. However, since it was just a draft, he might have erased it after for the overall effect of the composition.”

“But if it is a light source, why didn’t he just draw a sun?” Wei Dong questioned.

“I believe that if this picture were a photograph, it would be impossible to capture it directly in nature,” Mu Yiran explained. “So the artist cannot use sunlight and has to create a staged scene and use artificial lighting.”

“But something isn’t right,” Qin Ci pointed out, “Whether it’s a sun or a bulb, they are both light sources. But why is the shadow of the house inside the circle on the same side of the light source? That’s not normal.”

The light source was in the upper right of the circle, but the shadow of the house inside the circle was in the lower right. This indeed went against common sense.

.

“If the sun is on the right side, then the shadow of the house should be on the left!” Luo Bu also noticed the problem.

“It is probably because of this that the time in this world is so chaotic. The light and shadow inside are completely wrong.” Mu Yiran explained. “Light and shadow, we can also interpret it as time .”

The time in this world was so chaotic and there was even more than one timeline. These were not coincidences but a deliberate design by the artist.

The artist seemed to want to create such a photographic work, a piece with distorted light and impossible to achieve in reality.

“So? How do we exactly get out? The signature is outside the circle,” Luo Bu asked anxiously.

“We can leave because the shape of the Earth’s core is similar to the Xun. It also has a blowing-hole like exit. We can go out from there.” Fang Fei’s voice echoed behind the others.

Everyone felt something was wrong with Fang Fei’s words. They turned around and were surprised to find that Fang Fei was now wearing her mask!

The snow-white mask belonging to the Shamans.

After she put on the mask, Feng Fei seemed to have changed her identity. Although Feng Fei was not usually expressive, this mask made her appear cold, even somewhat divine.

Wei Dong cautiously asked Fang Fei, “Are you now Fang Fei or Master Shaman?”

Fang Fei faced Wei Dong with her snow-white mask. “Whoever I am, we will always be companions, and our goal is to find the signature and get out. I am just using this mask to see things that are invisible to the naked eye.” 𝒷ℯ𝒹𝓃𝓸𝓿ℯ𝓁.𝒸ℴ𝓶

“What did you see?”

“The inside of the Earth’s core and the space we are in.”