Paintings of Terror

Ke Xun and Wei Dong stopped in their steps out of shock. They both looked at Mu Yiran in disbelief.

Mu Yiran also stopped walking. He turned his head back, gaze bearing into the other two. “Let me put it more straightforwardly. The world inside the painting will not permit a day to pass without any deaths. However, because the things in this world act randomly—in the sense that they are reactive, rather than follow strict rules set by the world—it is possible for zero deaths to occur. Therefore, under those circumstances, the painting world will forcibly demand for someone to die, so as to make up for the zero deaths. And the one who dies is chosen via a vote cast by the survivors.”

Ke Xun’s mind went blank from the shock of this matter. His voice sounded a bit airy. “What happens after someone is picked to die?”

“That person will die in a manner that conforms with the painting’s style within one minute.” Mu Yiran’s tone was so calm it was nearing on ruthless.

Ke Xun knew that the other’s ruthlessness was for the sake of reminding him that this world was far more cruel than he had imagined.

How horrifying must it be to be voted to die?

“So, for what reason did you think that old man wanted us to gather at his home by eight o’clock in the morning?” Mu Yiran glanced at him, his tone imperceptibly softening a few degrees. “If no one died last night, the first thing we did at that man’s house wouldn’t have been eating breakfast. We would have had to vote first before we would be allowed to eat.”

“…They…they even give us fucking food to eat, how humane…” Wei Dong spat out sarcastically, a scowl on his face.

Ke Xun exhaled and then looked up at Mu Yiran. “It’s quite cruel. So what you mean is, if we were to team up with everyone, there’s a very high possibility that even if we’re teammates for one day, we might have to kill each other like this the next day? Indeed, there’s nothing lousier than this.”

Mu Yiran suddenly smiled but there was no amusement in his expression. “You’re still too naive. If we left it up to the vote, who could guarantee that they won’t be chosen?”

“…So?” Ke Xun’s eye twitched.

“You should know, human nature is the most difficult thing to understand in the world.” Mu Yiran’s gaze sharpened as he met Ke Xun’s eyes. “Some people may choose to kill in advance out of fear of being chosen.”

Ke Xun sucked in a deep breath before slowly speaking. “So you’re saying that it doesn’t matter if someone dies because of the vote or if someone is killed by someone else? As long as someone dies, it counts as making up for the previous day’s zero deaths. If someone is killed before the vote takes place, then there will be no need to vote, right?”

“Yes,” Mu Yiran replied.

“Therefore, if someone is afraid of being chosen, they may kill someone in advance so they can escape death.” Ke Xun finally understood what Mu Yiran was getting at.

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.

No wonder the atmosphere between those that seemed like veterans seemed so strange. Aside from the coldness and apathy, there was also a feeling of estrangement and mutual vigilance.

After telling the other about the painting’s rules, he had been watching the other’s changes in expression and attitude.

This person wasn’t the first to ask to cooperate. But everyone who had wanted to work together with him had chosen to distance themselves and go on guard against him without exception.

If the person in front of him were to make the same choice, Mu Yiran would not get angry over it.

After all, it was just human nature.

“I agree to your condition.” This was what Mu Yiran heard him say. “Although I’m not very smart, I’m not so stupid as to expect others to treat me well just because I treat them well in a place like this.”

Mu Yiran continued to regard him calmly. He waited for the person to continue speaking.

“But I also have something I should mention in advance.” Ke Xun looked at Mu Yiran with a pure gaze. “It doesn’t matter whether you believe me or not, but I promise that I will not betray you. If it really comes down to a vote, I will not vote for you. But, if we are in a life or death situation and I have to choose between you and Dong zi, I will choose to save Dong zi. I want to make this clear now. I hope you will understand. Of course, in a life or death situation, if you choose to sacrifice us to save yourself, I will not blame you. What do you think? If you can’t accept that, then you can take it as me not having said anything and we can go our own separate ways.”

Mu Yiran’s gaze changed slightly. He nodded. “I accept.”

“Deal.” Ke Xun reached out a hand.

However, Mu Yiran didn’t shake his hand. He simply left with a noble, aloof air.

Ke Xun: “….”

Wei Dong: “Ke er, you treat me so well. I really want to hug your thigh and cry. As expected of my childhood friend. From now on, my father is your father, my mother is your mother, my future son will be your son, and my future wife will be your younger brother’s wife.”

Ke Xun: “…Fuck off. You’re dreaming if you want me to help you take care of your parents and son. Why don’t you let me help you take care of your wife?”

Wei Dong: “You’re a guy that likes guys. Would you even want my wife if I gave her to you?”

Ke Xun: “First of all, you would have to get a wife first. You haven’t even been able to rid yourself of your single dog status. Don’t think so much.”

Wei Dong sighed. “Yeah, I really can’t think too much. Who knows if we can even make it out of this annoying place alive? I should quit while I’m ahead and not hope for too much.”

“Don’t be so pessimistic.” Ke Xun wrapped an arm around the other’s shoulder tightly. “If you abandon hope, hope will abandon you. Do you trust my intuition? My intuition tells me that we’ll definitely make it out.”

Wei Dong’s face scrunched up into a smile that also made it look like he was crying. Although the two of them had tacitly tried to banter to cheer each other up and become more optimistic, it still couldn’t ward off the pressure of death and the bud of despair inside him. “How could a gay guy like you have any intuition...? But sometimes you’re too straightforward. You shouldn’t have said that just now. Even if you think my life is more important to you than his, you shouldn’t have told him that. Who would be happy to hear such a thing?”

“Don’t worry. He won’t mind it.” Ke Xun smiled.

“How do you know?” Wei Dong didn’t believe him.

“If someone wanted to cling onto you to survive and was willing to abandon his best friend to do it, do you think that person would be worthy of your trust?” Ke Xun said as he chased after Mu Yiran with large strides.

When he reached the other’s side, Ke Xun turned to face him. “So we’re officially a team now, right? Shouldn’t you tell us about the clues you got?”

Mu Yiran said in an indifferent tone, “It’s not really a clue. It’s just a theory. I need to test it. However, the only way to test it is to wait for more deaths. The price is too steep.”

“No pressure. How about just telling us first? Maybe we can help you,” Ke Xun comforted him in a gentle voice.

Mu Yiran glanced at him and then looked away. “The first thing I was puzzled over was why the cause of death was different between the five people.”

Ke Xun thought it over. “Could it be because they were killed by different ‘things?’”

Mu Yiran sneered slightly. “Regardless of what these ‘things’ are, aren’t they all still supernatural entities? Why were the three people who were holding vigil in the mourning hall scared to death only to have their eyes gouged out after, while the two tasked with grave digging were….”

Wei Dong covered his ears. “Don’t say it, don’t say it!”

Ke Xun pondered over this again. “Because they encountered different types of ‘things?’”

Mu Yiran said, “It’s true that this could be an explanation for this, but I’m more concerned about their states after death. Regardless of whether it’s gouging out the eyes or….”

Wei Dong covered his ears again: “Manual mosaic, manual mosaic, manual mosaic….”

Mu Yiran “…In both cases, the corpses still maintained their original forms with regards to the general outline of their body. Their states after death were very methodological. Or rather, it seems like there’s some ritualistic or symbolic meaning to it.”

Ke Xun: “Although you say that, I still can’t understand what it could mean.”

Mu Yiran looked at him dully. “You said that you were a physical education student. Looks like you weren’t lying.”

Ke Xun: “…Although you’re making fun of me, I’m not angry.”

Mu Yiran shut his eyes, his voice cold as he continued to speak. “Let’s pretend we’re inside a stadium. There are hurdles set up on the race track, shot puts placed on the grass, a mat placed down for the high jump event, and a sand pit for the long jump. At this moment, a group of students walk in.”

Very cleverly, Ke Xun quickly understood what he was saying and continued the thought. “Then, the teacher would divide the students into various events. Some would go do hurdles, some would do shot put, some would participate in the high jump, and some would participate in the long jump.”

Mu Yiran added, “And in this stadium, every student who is participating in one of the events will demonstrate a different mode of activity.”

Something dawned on Ke Xun. “It’s like our current situation. Some people were tasked with holding vigil, some people were assigned to the firewood room, some people were assigned to the granary, and some people were assigned to dig graves.”

Mu Yiran’s gaze was heavy and cold. “Those that were tasked with holding vigil had their eyes gouged out. Those that were tasked with digging graves…” He glanced at Wei Dong, “Died as a mosaic. It’s just like how those that do hurdles would be expected to run, those who did high jump would be expected to jump, and those who do shot put would be expected to throw their shot puts.”

Ke Xun & Wei Dong: “….”

Mu Yiran: “The focus is on the hurdle athletes, the race track, the action of jumping over hurdles, the hurdles, the shot put athletes, the grass, the action of throwing the shot puts and the shot puts. These are the four important elements to the hurdles and shot put events respectively. Namely, they can be reduced to: people, location, mode of activity, and the symbol of the athletes’ activity that signifies that they are participating in their respective events.

“If we were to substitute our current situation into this analogy, the four key constituents would be:

“People—the five people who died last night;

“Location—the mourning hall, the wastelands;

“The method of death and state of the corpse (activity)—death by fright with post-mortem gouging of eyes and….”

Ke Xun & Wei Dong: “Dying as a mosaic.”

Mu Yiran: “…Then the question is, what is the symbol that signifies their method of death and state of their corpse (or the symbol of the athletes’ activity that signifies that they are participating in their respective events in the sports analogy)?”

Ke Xun swiftly turned to face Mu Yiran.

Mu Yiran also looked at him, his voice steady and calm as he spoke. “If we can find the ‘shot put’ and ‘hurdles’ that were present during the deaths last night, perhaps it will not be long before we can leave this painting.”

Eve: Ke Xun is actually quite a smartie. He will grow~ This is just his first painting. He will shine soon enough~