Paintings of Terror

Chapter 197: Black-Bellied Boss, A Fatal Blow

“Am I hearing things?” It was Luo Bu who broke the silence first. He looked at Liu Yanlei, whose face had turned red, and said with an incredulous expression, “The year is 8012 and there are still people who thought homosexuality is abnormal?” (tn: yea, it says 8012. I dunno if author meant 2018? Edit: For explanation, please see Liffychan’s comment below.)

As Luo Bu was talking, Wei Dong saw that the situation was taking a bad turn. This fierce child was already rushing to defend Ke Xun, but he feared that his close childhood buddy himself, with his bad temper, would end up kicking Liu Yanlei into becoming a paraplegic.

But, before Ke Xun could speak or act, Mu Yiran suddenly spoke, his voice as cold as ever, “From the known phantoms that Shao Ling, Luo Bu, and myself experienced last night, the phantom will only pretend to be the person we are closest to, or the one we love the most. Only this kind of person can attack our heart and make it difficult for us to be cold and unfeeling. So it seems that the illusion Mr. Liu experienced last night should be the phantom simulating Miss Chen. So let’s ask Mr. Liu to tell us how he overcame his deep feelings for his lover last night and avoid being murdered?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the room fell into silence once again. However, this silence wasn’t awkward but very subtle.

A momentary stiffness visible to the naked eye flashed across Liu Yanlei’s face, and Chen Xinai’s gaze fell on him with some suspicion.

This was like being caught between a rock and a hard place.

If the person in Liu Yanlei’s illusion wasn’t Chen Xinai, it would prove that the person he loved most wasn’t her.

If it were Chen Xinai, the fact that Liu Yanlei could still sit there safely might have meant that he just did not love her deeply enough, so he was not moved by the bitter cards created by the ‘her’ in the illusion.

Of course, it could not be ruled out that Liu Yanlei fully understood his girlfriend, so there was no possibility that he could be fooled by the illusion. However, even the momentary stiffness on Liu Yanlei’s face could be seen by Luo Bu. It was impossible to look at him and not think that he was not guilty.

So, no matter how Liu Yanlei dealt with the problem raised by Mu Yiran, there was no way he could escape not offending his girlfriend.

Qin Ci and Zhu Haowen, one with his head hanging down and the other with his eyelids half closed, tried to conceal their mirth as much as possible. Wei Dong simply grinned directly, thinking that this black-belly boss’ method of spraying was very black and powerful indeed, dealing a fatal blow to the snake!

Liu Yanlei quickly concealed the embarrassed look on his face, and deliberately put on a cold and calm look. He coldly responded to Mu Yiran’s words, “The illusion I experienced last night was similar to Shao Ling and Luo Bu’s. I don’t think we need to recount it in detail. It would waste too much time for all 12 of us to talk about our experiences. Now that we have understood the ploy, we should focus more on whether the rhinoceros horn needs to be lit.”

Shao Ling spoke at the right time, “If the illusion that you experienced last night has no more clues or differences, then we will move on to the next question-what is the role of the rhinoceros horn? At present, the consequences of igniting it might very well result in drawing the attention of the monster, in addition to having to deal with the illusion. Does anyone have a different opinion?”

They all looked at each other and said that there was none for the time being.

“In this case, the next question we have to discuss is,” Shao Ling said, looking at everyone, “whether we still need to ignite the remaining rhinoceros horns. If it is necessary, who will ignite it tonight? And after igniting it, what should we do? How should we respond to the illusion, and what if it is an upgraded version of last night’s?”

“If we don’t light the rhinoceros horn, we might not be able to find clues about the seal,” Qin Ci said. “This painting will deprive us of all lighting functions except through the means of the rhinoceros horn. It’s obvious that we must burn the rhino horn; this is inevitable.”

“I agree,” Zhu Haowen followed.

Wei Dong jumped in, “Agreed.”

Luo Bu also added, “I agree with my brother.”

“Although I also think that burning rhinoceros is related to the clues of the seal, I also think that we can’t give up looking at alternative ways. As long as we can see something with the naked eye and can reach that place with our bodies, we should observe it carefully and not let any corners go unobserved,” Liu Yanlei suddenly expressed his opinions very positively, seeming eager to bury what just happened.

“Yes, as long as there is a trace of possibility, we can’t let it go,” Shao Lin also affirmed Liu Yanlei’s statement. “Like this, we will separately inspect the entire ship and try our best to work at the level of detail in centimeters. In addition to exchanging information about any clues we find, we also must think about the relationship between burning rhinoceros and the seal and how we can deal with tonight’s danger.”

No one had any objections to this arrangement, and so they spontaneously formed into groups. Some were responsible for checking the upper deck again, some were responsible for checking the lower deck, and some were responsible for checking the sails.

Just as they were about to put this plan into action, Liu Yanlei uttered another sentence, “You seem to have overlooked an important place–the bottom of the ship. Who will check it?”

Everyone stopped to think.

It sounded impractical to check the bottom of the ship, but they really couldn’t let go of any possibility.

But…who would inspect the bottom of the ship? This would require jumping into the sea and diving underwater. This ship was so large, and naturally, the bottom wasn’t small. If that person couldn’t hold their breath long enough, it would be too late to go up for air. With the bottom of the ship blocking the top of that person’s head, how could he get around the bottom of the ship and float to the surface in the shortest time possible?

Not to mention–that terrible thing. It was unknown whether this thing was a ghost or some unimaginable force that came from the sea. Who could guarantee that once they entered the sea, they wouldn’t be killed by that thing on the spot?

This was an awkward but serious problem.

As everyone was considering the feasibility of this matter, they suddenly heard the girl named Fang Fei say, “I’ll check underneath the ship.”

Fang Fei was Yu Long’s girlfriend, with her hair dyed the same dull blue and linen color as him. Since entering the painting, she had rarely spoken.

“Really?” Luo Bu looked at her in surprise. “Beauty, don’t underestimate…”

“I have a diving license,” Fang Fei interrupted him lightly. She pointed to her boyfriend, Yu Long, and added, “He has it too. We’re members of a diving club.”

Yu Long silently glanced at her.

“What is your diving certification level?” Shao Ling asked suddenly.

“AOW.” Fang Fei looked calm.

“AOW?” Luo Ling asked.

“Advanced Open Water,” Shao Ling explained. “These divers can dive into a depth of 30 meters and can do deep diving, ship diving, underwater navigation, and night diving.”

“Awesome!” Luo Bu gave a thumbs up. “But there’s no diving equipment on this ship.”

“We can dive freely,” Fang Fei said.

“Free diving means diving without carrying an oxygen tank, but only by holding your breath,” Shao Ling said, looking at Fang Fei. “You should think carefully before deciding whether to go into the sea. After all, we don’t know what will happen once you’re in the water.”

“They said that no one would die during the day in the painting,” Fang Fei pointed to the veteran members. “Then I’ll make a bet just this once.”

Shao Ling’s gaze moved to Yu Long.

It was clear that Yu Long didn’t actually want to go underwater. This was why, before Fang Fei had spoken, he had not mentioned that he could dive.

Yu Long felt pressured by everyone’s gaze. He frowned and looked at Fang Fei. “What if you lost the bet?”

“When we play extreme sports, aren’t we betting with our lives?” Fang Fei looked at him blankly. “Free diving is the second most dangerous sport in the world, and a single misstep can result in reaching the gates of hell.”

“Just because I’m willing to die while deep diving doesn’t mean I’m willing to die in the sea in this ghost place!” Yu Long was a little irritated.

“Then do whatever you want. I’ll go down there myself,” Fang Fei said. As she was about to get up and walk outside, Yu Long grabbed her arm.

“What’s the matter with you?!” Yu Long glared at her anxiously, sounding quite angry. “Are you being deliberately irritating to make me anxious? What’s wrong with you? Don’t be self-willed, and don’t force me!”

Fang Fei glanced at him indifferently. “You’re no longer qualified to tell me not to be headstrong. Yu Long, after we get out of here, let’s break up.”

After saying this, she threw his hand away and walked out the door without looking back.

Yu Long seemed to be caught in disbelief and incomprehension. He yelled, “You’re crazy!” But he still chased after her.

Wei Dong quietly nudged Ke Xun’s arm with his elbow and said in a low voice, “It seems that the illusion tested out several pairs of plastic lovers last night…I say, who was in your illusion? Was it the boss?”

“I refuse to answer this no brainer question. Come with me.” Ke Xun took his boyfriend’s hand in one hand and grabbed Wei Dong’s hand with the other.

“Where are we going?” Wei Dong asked hurriedly.

“Since this girl insisted on going into the sea, she needs to have some safety measures with her,” Ke Xun said. “We need to find some twine and tie it around her waist. This might help a little.”

By the time they came back on deck with a roll of hemp rope, Yu Long seemed to have decided to accompany Fang Fei into the sea. They seemed to be waging a cold war, and while they were each ignoring the other, they didn’t purposefully hinder the decision to go undersea and were focused on doing some warm-up preparations.

“There is low visibility undersea, and it won’t be easy to see the bottom of the ship,” Ke Xun said, stepping forward. “My phone’s waterproof rating is IP68, and the flashlight should be okay to use underwater for two hours. You can use it.”

“Hey, so is my phone. I’ll give it to the guy.” Luo Bu, who was following Ke Xun, also offered up his phone very generously.

“Thanks.” Fang Fei took the phone, affixed it with some rope, and hung it around her neck.

Ke Xun suddenly remembered something, and turned to ask Mu Yiran. “It’s very strange. Why are the watches and lighters in this painting degraded to a very early state, but our phones are still in their original state, although they could only be used during the day and we can use the flashlight. Doesn’t this violate the rule?”