Paintings of Terror

Chapter 248: Time, the Thief



Everyone had their belongings packed and ate the cold-resistant Shaman medicine. When they pushed open the door and stepped into the corridor, the Lantern Inn was still like the lights interwoven in a dreamy film. As they silently walked through the corridor, their eyes couldn’t help but linger on the seven vertical lines on the wall.

“The first three lines are drawn very straight and with much force. I feel like they are from the same person…” Wei Dong didn’t even finish his words as a voice of “lights-off” came from inside the Lantern Inn. Soon, the lights on each floor went off in succession, and everything returned to the familiar darkness. 2PZfwX

Everyone instinctively turned on their phones. They also brought the piece of fluorite with them – since there wasn’t enough time to bid farewell to the Master Shaman who provided the stone, they left all their valuable items to her.

Guided by the light of the fluorite, they successfully reached the top floor.

“Thinking about leaving through the window where Sister Xi and Lu Hen’s burials occurred, I don’t feel comfortable…” Mai Peng’s emotions were complex – both the joy of finding the exit and a certain inexplicable sense of loss.

“There’s no other way. The time they left for themselves was too little.” Zhu Haowen knew his words might sound heartless, but the things that needed to be said had to be said, “Some decisions are made in an instant, but just like the butterfly effect, they can result in earth-shattering changes.” jPaLZ5

Mai Peng stopped talking. Certain decisions were determined within a very short time. If they could have gritted their teeth and endured a little longer at that moment, they might have changed their fate.

The darkness on the top floor was slightly thinner, perhaps because of the reflection of the surrounding glass windows. Outside the windows was the snowy world.

Everyone silently approached the familiar window. Ke Xun opened it, and a fierce gust of wind, accompanied by snowflakes and ice crystals, rushed in. The sudden coldness took their breath away.

“I didn’t expect the weather outside to be so harsh. Is this a snowstorm?” Cao Youning shrank his neck. Though they had taken the cold-resistant Shaman medicine, it was not as if they could not feel the cold at all – the medicine merely mitigated the cold to a bearable level. wXJEc4

Du Lingyu stood at the back, her expression somewhat timid.

Fang Fei still wore her white mask. She stood by the window and looked for a while: “The passage is right here. I can see it clearly. The snowstorm might actually help us get to the Cold Night Inn faster.”

Fang Fei turned to look at Du Lingyu. “On the day we attended the funeral for Xi Shengnan, did you stick your head out of the window?”

“I don’t remember if I stuck my head out completely, but I did lean out and experience a hallucination…” Du Lingyu moved closer to the window step by step. “Actually, they weren’t hallucinations. The twelve coffins I saw were not hallucinations at all.” Jo8Yrh

Those twelve coffins held the members of the other timeline who had sacrificed themselves.

This thought left everyone uncomfortable.

They were going to gain a new life from the place where “they” were buried. How ironic, going towards death to seek life. This path of life was built using the bodies of their other selves as a bridge!

Fang Fei’s tone remained calm. “I brought some incense. I want to offer them a tribute here before we leave.” xOsa7h

No one objected. They silently watched Fang Fei light the incense and insert them into the solid snow outside the window.


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