Paintings of Terror

Chapter 168: Helpless Point In Time

The sky gradually returned from darkness to light, but by then, it was already approaching dusk.

Xiao Qinxian looked at the wedding dress she had just drawn and frowned. “I must be really absentminded just now. How could I design such an old-fashioned and conservative wedding dress? I hate this style the most.”

But Zhao Yanbao looked at it seriously and said, “This is exactly the style Chi Lei likes.”

“Really, then…”

“I thank you on Chi Lei’s behalf.”

“No need.” Xiao Qinxian was a little embarrassed and suspicious. The wedding dress didn’t really look like her style at all, and she couldn’t believe that she had just designed it.

Could it be that the dead really had spirits in the sky? Taking advantage of the darkness of the thunderstorm just now, it drew itself a wedding dress with the help of the costume designer?

Thinking of this, Xiao Qinxian shuddered.

At this time, all 11 members were gathered in the hallway. Qin Ci said, “The two kilograms of beasts collected have been locked in a special refrigerator, please rest assured.”

Qin Ci looked at the dusky sky outside and added, “Do you want to eat dinner in the hospital cafeteria again today, or go to another place?”

No one wanted to continue to stay in the hospital, but they also didn’t have any appetite.

Lion suggested, “How about we all go to the buffet restaurant from last time?”

Everyone approved of this suggestion, and so they all left the hospital and walked along the familiar street toward the restaurant.

Su Benxin wrapped her big bohemian shawl tightly around herself. As she walked with Mu Yiran and Ke Xun, she subconsciously sighed. “Alas, if you put aside other factors, it would be easy to enjoy such a beautiful spring in this painting. It’s unexpectedly like a gift given to us by the painter.”

Ke Xun looked up at the branch of the peach blossoms he saw in the corner. “In the previous painting, there were very few distinct seasons and most of the people in the painting would ignore the existence of the seasons. This is the painting’s arrangement. It’s clear that it did this with a purpose.”

“The season of Spring is always connected with things like romance.” Su Benxin smiled lightly. “Perhaps this is more in line with the setting of the romance of Heart City.”

“In view of the situation of the two beasts today, I always feel that it would be a little too perfunctory to simply attribute it to the meaning of love.” After Ke Xun said this, he didn’t feel like talking more about this topic. He walked beside the rose stone fence, his warm beige sweater adding color to his entire person. Even with the police uniform on his arm, it didn’t violate the harmony of it.

Su Benxin raised her head and looked up at the green branches that belonged to spring. “Love is supposed to be heavy, and it is destined not to be too overly simple. No matter how simple a person’s background is, as long as they have thoughts, love will have layers. On the contrary, those beasts, they are the real simplicity and that’s why they are so stubborn.”

Hearing these words, Ke Xun didn’t fully agree. “Those beasts are the product of negative emotions, they can never be pure.”

Su Benxin turned to look at Ke Xun. After thinking about it seriously, she nodded slowly in agreement.

Qin Ci, who was walking in front, was telling everyone, “Those who have a beast, after their deaths, the police station will be in charge of arranging their funeral and other related tasks.”

“What arrangements do most people make for the beasts?” Yu Ji asked.

“It is said that most people will choose to donate it to the city. This kind of donation isn’t free, and the person who donated will get a very general reward in return.”

“How ridiculous. It is obviously a sale, but it must be said to be a donation!” Xiao Qinxian gradually returned to normal. She added more words. “In terms of the value of the beast itself, no matter how much reward the Heart City government gives back, it is probably not comparable to the beast itself.”

Qin Ci said, “Of course, this is only a one-sided reasoning. What are the uses of these beasts? I’m afraid my office cannot answer this question.”

Su Benxin took two quick steps and happened to be side by side with Luo Wei, who was walking in the middle. “Why are you so silent?”

“I don’t speak much.”

“We are a group, so you must not exclude yourself.”

“Thank you.” Luo Wei looked at Xiao Qinxian, who was chattering in front of him. “Have you seen her smoking today?”

Su Benxin looked at Luo Wei with a smile. “I think the early spring at this time is the best, even more attractive than the late spring when the flowers are in full bloom.”

“Okay, I didn’t say anything.” Luo Wei smiled bitterly.

Ke Xun and Mu Yiran gradually fell behind.

“You’ve been observing Dr. Qin.” Ke Xun looked at their long shadows. The sunset behind them made this world seem so realistic.

“Actually, the relationship between light and shadow is the most miraculous. It’s like this sunset right now. It is obviously stretching our shadows out, but the sun is exerting force in the opposite direction.” Mu Yiran showed a rare smile, which put Ke Xun in a trance. He felt that all the white fragrant flowers in this world were blooming one after another.

Their two broad shoulders were pressed together, making him feel at ease. “I haven’t really thought of this matter. But now that you have said it, this kind of power is different from all the powers in the world. The more westward, the more our shadows face eastward, as if our shadows are stretched in the opposite direction.”

“Heart City also seemed to have such an indescribable power.” Mu Yiran squinted to see the nine members walking ahead. “These beasts are the deepest parts of people’s hearts, so we can’t make advance analysis. If my guess is correct, those who have red marks should already understand what is in their hearts.”

“This is it.” Ke Xun had been about to say that the veteran members could communicate first to see if the people with red marks could guess the characteristics of the beast in their own bodies. In doing so, they may be able to avoid it by brainstorming. “So, what do you think is wrong with Dr. Qin?”

Mu Yiran smiled lightly. “It’s not just Dr. Qin. Now, you have something too.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t you think your title is a bit strange?” Mu Yiran raised his arm. “You haven’t called Qin Ci Dr. Qin in a long time.”

Indeed, Ke Xun usually referred to Qin Ci as Brother Qin, and he would occasionally call him Old Qin. The title of Dr. Qin—except for Mu Yiran, no one else called him that formally.

However, Ke Xun thought it was easy to explain: “After all, only in this painting does Qin Ci really exist as a doctor. I have never seen him as a doctor in the real world before. It is only in this painting did he truly show his side as a surgeon.”

“It seems that Qin Ci feels the same way,” Mu Yiran said. “He has integrated into this world quite naturally.”

Ke Xun seemed to understand. “Could it be because of the beast?”

Ke Xun remembered what Luo Wei had said about the shocking red mark on Qin Ci’s forehead. What kind of existence was it? Was it fierce? Forbearing? Or like an invisible elephant?

“It is due to Qin Ci’s change that I feel the horror of this city.” Mu Yiran took Ke Xun’s hand. Both of their fingers were cold so they tried to use the warmth in their palms to warm each other’s fingertips. They accomplished it without having to try too hard, as their two palms formed a subtle kind of inter-embedding.

If the light and shadow could also behave in this way, with such frank easiness, perhaps it may be easier to solve the puzzle of Heart City.

“I have to talk to Dr. Qin tonight…Have a good talk with Qin Ci.” Ke Xun became more and more worried about Qin Ci. “The beast is too scary, it holds the host’s life.”

Sometimes, face-to-face confrontation wasn’t as scary. Even if there was a huge disparity in strength, bravery might still win out in the end. He also wasn’t afraid of enemies hiding in the darkness. As long as he remained calm, he could always force the other side to reveal clues. The most terrible, the most fearful thing, was to have one’s own body used as a mountain. Caught up in this mountain, it only made it all the harder to see the forest for the trees.

“Yes, there must be a meeting tonight.” Mu Yiran looked at Luo Wei, who was walking in front. His deep frown slowly unfolded, and he took two steps to catch up with him. “I have something I wanted to ask you today, but it was delayed by other things. We all saw a lot of people today, whether on the street or in the hospital. What percentage of people have red marks on their foreheads?”

Luo Wei slowed down and showed a wry smile. “Mr. Mu, you finally remembered to ask me this question.”

“Have you reminded me?” Mu Yiran took out a piece of paper from his pocket, with some strange time notations on it. “During lunch in the cafeteria? Twice? Or this afternoon while waiting for surgery? Three times? Of course, it may also be during the morning surgery, but I haven’t thought of recording it at that time yet.”

Luo Wei let out a sigh and showed a relieved expression. “I feel like I’ve been shouting in a lonely village all day and finally, I’m getting a response at dusk.”

“Sorry. I was just having lunch and found that there always seemed to be a short gap in my communications with you, but I didn’t know what it was. So, I began to secretly record these points of time on a piece of paper.”

“Thank you for your wisdom.” Luo Wei couldn’t help laughing. “What you said just now, I have already mentioned it to you twice, but you all seemed indifferent. Regarding other people in this city, people with red marks account for about 30% of the total number of people. I don’t think they know it themselves.”

Mu Yiran nodded. “After all, in this city, only the beast inside dead people can be detected by professional instruments.”

Mu Yiran couldn’t help but looked at Luo Wei for a while. “Letting you bear this alone, it really is a bit cruel.”

“It’s okay, I’m a very quiet person anyway.” Luo Wei soothed himself.

Mu Yiran continued, “I have listed a total of 5 points in time on this paper. That is to say, there have been 5 times that we could not communicate. If you propose it unilaterally, we won’t hear it. Unless we have an epiphany and ask you, only then will we hear your answer.”

“That’s what I mean, I’m like a supernatural entity…” Luo Wei made a rare joke.

“Apart from the question just now, what do you want to say at the other three points in time?” Mu Yiran asked again, somewhat unresigned.

Luo Wei didn’t know which one to start with, and his eyes fell on Xiao Qinxian in front of him. “Let’s talk about that woman. She smoked a lot last night, but she didn’t have a single cigarette today. I think it’s unreasonable. People who are addicted to smoking wouldn’t be able to bear it for so long.”

Mu Yiran seemed to be lost in thought, and he looked into the distance of the long street. “I think we should have a good chat about the title page next. We have to at least figure this out tonight.”

“Okay.” Luo Wei wanted to cry without tears. “Then don’t mention smoking.”

“Only two of the women have read this book so far. I think Su Benxin is more reliable.”

“Yes, I also don’t think women who love smoking are reliable.” Luo Wei tried his best to bring the topic up.

Mu Yiran suddenly looked at Luo Wei, took out a pen from the pocket of the police uniform, and wrote down on the paper: 18:39.

———————

Xida: This painting is really insidious. People are slowly integrating into the painting without even realizing it. It’s also making it so that Luo Wei, as the outsider who can see these beast marks, is unable to share his ideas unsolicited. I’m worried about Qin Ci and Luo Wei, not gonna lie.