Paintings of Terror

Chapter 77: Dedicated to the Most Loyal Friend of Mankind

TW: Distressing description of dog abuse :((( please tread carefully. If you wish to avoid: skip once you see “It was a group of shocking scenes” and come back at “In the center of that golden light”. Also warnings for canon-typical gore and cow-eating-human shenanigans.

“It’s useless to cry ah!” Ke Xun was also falling apart, lunging forward to help grab people, but the girls’ legs were already scared soft.? With their shaking and freezing every three steps, his efforts weren’t able to get them very far.

Ke Xun was very anxious, but he didn’t have time to placate everyone. Even if there was time, it probably wouldn’t have any effect. These girls were newcomers to the painting world, and although the guys at least had older companions to help give pointers, the girls came in confused and had to encounter terrible and incomprehensible things one after another. Let alone having no time or experience to build psychological endurance, it was impressive enough that they made it until now.

“– Sisters, if you don’t run then you’ll die, please stop crying. Run- if you run then you’ll be able to live. The signature should be right in front of us, I can almost see it, just run quickly towards the front.” Ke Xun worked hard to use an uplifting and optimistic tone to encourage them, almost like when he’d cheer for his teammates on the track field.

This gave the girls hope, struggling and stumbling but running after him desperately.

However, the sound of giant hooves slamming on the ground rumbled from behind them, once in a while broken up by a dog barking.

“Listen! If the dog catches up, don’t hide and just jump on it!” Ke Xun shouted, “The dog is the signature, if you jump on it you can leave the painting. Do you hear me?”

No one could answer him, as the few girls were all out of breath.

The hooves and barking sounds got closer and closer, and Ke Xun couldn’t tell which one would come first. If it was the dog they would live, if it was the cow they would die. He didn’t dare to gamble the lives of these girls.

It was a pity that they really couldn’t climb trees, otherwise it would be easy to see which animal came first.

Thinking of this, Ke Xun turned to climb up a tree: “You guys keep running and listen for my voice. If the dog comes first, stop running, but if the cow’s in front then keep going!”

Ke Xun climbed up the tree at the fastest speed, looking in the direction of the sound, and saw a big golden retriever rushing in front of several giant cows!

“Don’t run! The dog is here! The signature is here, don’t run!” Ke Xun yelled at the girls who had begun to run forward.

But, who knows if it was because they were so scared that they couldn’t hear anything, or they couldn’t believe Ke Xun’s claim that the dog was the signature– after all in this world, animals were still a thousand times more terrifying than humans.

Several girls continued running forward desperately, scattering near the dense trees and fleeing in different directions.

Ke Xun frowned, shook his head, and sighed.

There was nothing he could do since the girls were all new to the world of paintings. If they were veterans, they definitely would’ve listened to him and stopped.

It’s a pity that they weren’t, and they couldn’t believe this fantastical thought process. Truthfully, even if they were replaced with Bi Jing or Dong Dong, his words wouldn’t necessarily be believed either.

After all, the barking of the dog sounded too fierce, as if it was about to bite the people it chased into pieces.

This was just an illusion, a trick to confuse the outsider’s vision and judgement.

Ke Xun looked helplessly at the backs of several girls and sighed, then stared at the big golden retriever that had run up close.

This was a labrador retriever, which was said to have the highest level of loyalty to humans.

Ke Xun thought, perhaps the painter Lex raised one before.

The big dog was already close at hand, and Ke Xun was ready. As soon as the large dog swept under the tree, he jumped down and rode on its back.

The dog carried him forward, like a heavenly canine spirit here to carry human beings from their deep misery and suffering. It rushed towards the dazzling golden light that lit up the forest.

On the way towards that golden light, Ke Xun seemed to see some scattered pictures quickly fly by on both sides.

It was a group of shocking scenes. Some dogs were beaten bloody, some were poisoned and foamed at the mouth, some had their tails, limbs, and eyes cut off, while others were covered in cigarette burns. There were dogs with countless scars, and there were dogs that had been beaten, strangled, drowned, smashed, and even skinned shortly after being born.

There was also a dog who had been beaten and abandoned by their owner time and time again, but continued to return to the owner’s door, waiting silently.

In the center of that golden light, a framed picture of a cartoon dog head emerged, and Ke Xun was ushered towards it by the labrador under him: “– F*ck! Wait- Mu Yi–”

He rolled and fell onto the floor of the exhibition hall. Ke Xun couldn’t bother to care about anything else, quickly jumping up and rushing towards the painting on the wall. But the painting was now simply a picture again, hanging there quietly and coldly, showing him the bizarre image inside.

Ke Xun saw the cat he had originally seen at the periphery of the canvas, wearing a ridiculous office lady outfit, as well as a pair of bright red high heels on its feet.

Even more disturbing was that the heel of one of the shoes was fiercely stabbing into the mouth of a thin human, directly penetrating his skull and spewing blood out.

This human’s body had almost no skin intact, and in addition to cigarette burns, there were also water burns, as well as signs of having their skin peeled while still alive.

The nails on the humans’ fingers were removed and the fingertips were bloody, but the most unbearable thing was his lower body which had been castrated by non-medical means, with blood flowing like a river.

Ke Xun looked closer at this human’s face and saw that it was Bi Jing.

He had been picked up by that cow earlier, and who knows how many hands he’d been handed over to in between for him to have fallen into the hands of this cat- or er, glamorous, elegant, white-collar worker.

Ke Xun didn’t want to keep looking at the canvas anymore, but he had to force himself to continue searching the painting. He didn’t want to find the silhouettes of Mu Yiran, Wei Dong, and the others, and he hoped that no one else would appear.

Unfortunately, he saw the faces of the four girls. The one with a big belly had been made into a barbecue for family gatherings, and another girl had been placed in the center of a special table. Only the head poked through and the skull had been cut so that the bright red brain had been exposed. A pot of hot oil had been poured in, and her expression seemed extremely painful and distorted. It was obvious that at this time, she had not completely died.

This seemed to be the legendary practice of eating monkey brains alive.

Ke Xun started gasping for air.

He wasn’t in the mood to think about why that girl suddenly grew a big belly, and he didn’t want to look at how the remaining two girls were ‘painted’. He didn’t even have the courage to check other parts of the painting to confirm if Mu Yiran and the others were safe and sound.

Ke Xun suddenly remembered something from a famous book, 【The Black Chapter】 . He felt like he was now on the verge of blackening, no longer wanting to be a human being, and longing to become a demon.

While he was in a trance, a strong force suddenly pushed through the canvas and Ke Xun was knocked backwards onto the ground. He felt a series of heavy objects fall onto his body one by one.

“F*ck… this human pyramid is a bit too rough…” Ke Xun groaned at the bottom in pain, “Everyone f*cking get up please…. Ah, just lie down, it’s alright.”

Seeing Mu Yiran who was pressed face to face in his arms, Ke Xun felt that it was stupid to become a demon, being a human was far better.

Because in the world of humans, there was Mu Yiran.

Leaving the exhibition hall, everyone couldn’t help but look back at this extremely fierce 【Animal World】.

That golden retriever seemed incompatible with everything else on the canvas.

It wasn’t simply a dog raised by the giant cows, rather it’s existence seemed to be at peace with both humans and animals alike.

It existed outside the picture, in the real world, waiting at the edge of the forest to help all creatures in need and in trouble.

Its cry was vicious, but its eyes were very kind.

Those who trust and treat it well have been redeemed, while those who misunderstood or rejected it pushed themselves away from its help and cut off their own path to life in the painting.

On the comment board below, the artist’s self-introduction was written:

Lex, an extremely passionate dog owner.

This painting is dedicated to my loyal friend, Bobbie.

“Bobbie was his dog. Two months after he was stolen, he was found to have died tragically by a trash can. Before his death, he had suffered cruel abuse.” Mu Yiran’s voice message resounded in the groupchat, “The truth is the name Bobbie is also from another famous dog in history. That dog, also called Bobbie, went missing while on a long journey with his owner. After six months of walking, the dog suffered multiple injuries and even his bones were exposed, but he still persevered in finding his master and his home.”

“Perhaps after Lex’s dog disappeared, he was also hoping day and night that his dog would find its way back home. Unfortunately, this place isn’t the 【Animal World】.” Zhu Haowen’s calm and cold voice concluded their adventure through the painting.

Ke Xun hadn’t appeared in the groupchat for many days, hadn’t called anyone, or even gone out the door.

When Wei Dong found him, he was lying lazily on the couch, like a big half-dead dog.

“Are you entering seclusion?” Wei Dong went up and kicked him. “When the guys asked you to go out and drink, you won’t go. When I call you, you won’t pick up, so laozi has to come and see whether or not you’ve died at home.”

Ke Xun rolled over on the sofa listlessly: “I think I might be a bit depressed.”

“Depressed my ass,” Wei Dong scolded, “Even if everyone else in the world was depressed, you would still stay positive. Stop being a hypochondriac, hurry up and roll out with laozi to go on a walk.

“Even a dog can become depressed, why can’t I?” Ke Xun closed his eyes, still half dead.

Wei Dong looked at this man whose butt was rounder than a corgi and sneered: “Why don’t we take advantage of the remaining ten days and go to S city to play with the big boss?”

The corgi twisted his butt and bounced off the sofa: “Let’s go then, you go head home and pack your things, I’ll buy the tickets.”

Wei Dong: “…. What about your depression?”

“Depressed my ass,” Ke Xun said, “Laozi here was in seclusion, what do you know.”

Wei Dong: “Then please tell me what kind of seclusion you were entering.”

Ke Xun: “Joyous meditation.”

Wei Dong: “Heh.”

However, the two of them didn’t end up going to S City, and Wei Dong still had to go to work– his family was very average, and if he didn’t go to work, the pressure of life would be a little bit heavier. When it came time to enter the paintings, they weren’t always lucky enough for it to land on the weekend, and sometimes he would have to take a few days off in advance. Afterwards, he could only take on the usual overtime to avoid being dismissed.

Ke Xun finally stopped being so despondent. He went to the gym and ran twice a day, watched movies, played billiards, and went to the supermarket frequently. At home, he would cook, go online, and occasionally chatted with the members of the “Enter Paintings” group.

Mu Yiran was very busy. Many people in the chat @’d him multiple times but he barely replied. The only time he did reply was for Ke Xun.

Corgi: [Selfie.jpg]

Corgi: Look at me quickly, even the impression that I pressed on my face when I slept is in the shape of loving you.

Mooney: ….

Mooney: What is it.

Corgi: The heart-shaped mark left by the pillow on my face.

Mooney: Ke Xun, I’m very busy, don’t contact me if there’s nothing important.

Corgi: I have something very important to tell you.

Mooney: Say it.

Corgi: Mu Yiran, fall in love with me ba.

Mooney: [Selfie.jpg]

Corgi: What’s that?

Mooney: The mark of a heavy punch on a sandbag.

Corgi:…

Mooney: Understand?

Corgi: Okay. If there’s nothing important going on then I won’t contact you.

—

A: RIP KX TT-TT come on MYR we know you care about him

H: MYR stop being a tsuntsun plss QAQ