Paintings of Terror

Chapter 160: Mark

Ke Xun felt Luo Wei’s eyes observing him like a high-precision scanner, until finally, Luo Wei concluded, “No, you don’t have it on your face.”

“Then, what about Yiran?”

“Neither did he.” His eyes swept across Mu Yiran lightly, and it seemed that he had carefully observed the other party.

Although he still couldn’t figure out what those red marks were, Ke Xun was still relieved. At least in the face of unknown danger, Mu Yiran was the same as himself.

Ke Xun and Mu Yiran became silent, waiting quietly for Luo Wei to reveal what he saw.

“Some people were like the two of you. Their faces were the same. But the others…” Luo Wei’s voice became slightly hoarse.

“Xiao Qinxian was the first person I saw bearing red marks. Just after we went back to our dorm in the afternoon, I found that there was an obvious red mole under her eye. Although I hadn’t been paying careful attention to her before, it seems that this red mole appeared all of a sudden, and it was a red that could swallow all surrounding colors.”

Although Ke Xun didn’t see this red with his own eyes, he could imagine that this red was the same color as the red dress of the little girl in “Schindler’s List.”

Luo Wei said with a sneer, “Probably Xiao Qinxian noticed that I was looking too inquisitively at her, so she began to become suspicious and disgusted towards me.”

“What about the others?” Mu Yiran asked.

“In the restaurant, I discovered that Chi Lei and Zhi Chun had red marks of different sizes on their foreheads. At that time, it wasn’t until I saw Dr. Qin’s forehead that I realized something was wrong.”

“Qin Ci?” Ke Xun completely didn’t expect Qin Ci to also be included.

“Yes, half of Dr. Qin’s forehead was covered by something like a dark red birthmark. It looked very old and it was a deep, heavy red, different from the other people’s red.” Luo Wei touched his own forehead subconsciously. “Most of the other people’s marks were bright red, attached to their forehead, but only Xiao Qinxian is under the eyes.”

It took a long time for Ke Xun to regain his senses, all because he heard Qin Ci’s name.

“Who else?” Mu Yiran asked.

“Zhu Haowen’s eyebrows had a bright red spot like a red bean, Yu Ji’s was above his forehead. It looked like a willow leaf, and the color was darker,” Luo Wei recalled carefully. “If I have paper and a pen, I should be able to sketch a rough copy of these marks.”

Mu Yiran wasn’t in a hurry to take out a pen and papers, and seemed to want to straighten things out first. “According to what you just said, the order is Xiao Qinxian, Zhi Chun, Chi Lei, Qin Ci, Zhu Haowen, Yu Ji, these six people?”

Luo Wei’s voice was a little low as he said, “There’s one more.”

“Who?”

“Me.”

Mu Yiran’s eyes showed a bit of surprises.

Luo Wei’s fingers never left their position on his right forehead. “It’s here. It’s about the size of a large bean, and it’s darker than the others but slightly brighter than Dr. Qin’s.”

Ke Xun approached Luo Wei and studied the place he was pointing to for a long time. However, he couldn’t see anything. “Why is it that only you can see them?” His eyes seemed to have been covered by a red screen.

“Probably because I’m the only outsider in the city,” Luo Wei answered.

“But why would people outside the city also have red marks on their foreheads?” Ke Xun said. Then he asked, “When did you discover it?”

“When I looked in the bathroom mirror, I saw it. I was taken aback because I didn’t expect that I would have it too.” Luo Wei slowly got up, walked over to the window, stuck his head out, and found that Xiao Qinxian’s window was still lit. Then he turned around and leaned against the window. Under the light, his face was bright and clean–at least to the eyes of the “city people.”

“If I have to guess, it should have started from the moment I got the outsider certificate. Unfortunately, my mood was completely wrapped up in my special identity and I wasn’t paying attention to the faces of the people around me,” Luo Wei speculated. “The red marks on our faces shouldn’t have come on suddenly. They should have been on our faces since entering the painting. It was just that only outsiders stamped with the seal of “Outsider of Heart City” could see them.”

The three of them couldn’t analyze the existence of the red marks. However, it was certain that these red marks were related to the scarlet beast.

“There are 13 people in total. Seven of them have red marks, and there are three workplaces.” Mu Yiran took out a pen and paper and made a simple record. After that, he handed the pen and paper over to Luo Wei and asked him to draw from memory the shape and location of each person’s red marks. They could not be certain whether these red marks would change tomorrow or whether those with clean faces tonight would suddenly grow suspicious red marks tomorrow.

Ke Xun didn’t expect Luo Wei to have some basic skills in painting, such that he could even grasp the facial proportions and features of the person he was drawing. Thus, he was startled to find traces of Qin Ci’s face gradually appearing on the paper. Although he was using a pen, the color red itself could be envisioned by human imagination. As such, Qin Ci’s red mark had spread all over the last half of his forehead and had even encroached to the area around the left eye.

“His color was the darkest, almost a black red. Yu Ji’s color was also dark, and so was mine.” Luo Wei drew the last face, which was his own. “It could be said that we three belonged to the dark red category while the remaining four belonged to the bright red category.”

Ke Xun’s mood was very complicated at this time, due to seeing the most serious red marks on Qin Ci’s face. He constantly felt like something was blocking his heart, feeling worried and distressed. Then looking at Luo Wei, who was drawing with focus, he also felt distress. But at the same time, he also couldn’t help but admire his calmness.

When they were assigned work in the afternoon, Luo Wei, labeled as a foreigner “outside the Heart City district” must have felt a sense of loneliness similar to being abandoned by the world. Even when he asked the old policeman and everyone questions, no one could hear him.

Those red marks were like a conspiracy he’d discovered, and only he could see them. However, while spying on these secrets, he also saw the red marks on his own face in the mirror.

It was like a satirical painting. As an outsider clearly relegated to a “bystander”, he was unavoidably contaminated by the red dust of Heart City.

Ke Xun felt a little depressed. He stretched out his hand and touched Luo Wei’s forehead based on the mapping on the paper. The cryptic red mark felt no different from skin. “Does it feel any different here?”

“No difference.” Luo Wei smiled lightly. “But now that I’ve seen it, I always felt as if that small piece of skin is no longer my own.”

This kind of psychological change was normal.

Ke Xun said, “I still can’t figure out what the criteria are, and whether the difference between those with red marks and those without were chosen by the painting or were predestined.”

“I think it must have something to do with the heart.” Luo Wei used the pen to lightly shade in the marks. “These traces may lead to the heart.”

Both Ke Xun and Mu Yiran agreed with this statement, but they couldn’t figure out the internal relationships and so they couldn’t say it too thoroughly.

The clock on the table was pointing to 12 o’clock, and Luo Wei got ready to leave. “I’ve only told you both about these things. Although I shouldn’t hide it from everyone, I’m afraid it will cause unnecessary panic.”

There definitely would be panic, and perhaps some people might use it as a reason to turn on each other. After all, everyone’s task was to find enough crimson beasts and these people with red marks may be mistaken for crimson beasts.

Just because Luo Wei had looked at Xiao Qinxian a few times, he was rejected by her by all means, not to mention this kind of serious differences. If these suspicions caused internal division, it would be difficult to leave the painting.

“No, I have to tell Qin Ci and Haowen’er about this. Even though we don’t know how they can take precautions, at least they can be more careful tonight.” Ke Xun scratched his head. “Especially Qin Ci.”

Mu Yiran didn’t speak, but he cooperatively took out the piece of paper with phone numbers on it.

Luo Wei had already stood up and was ready to leave. “You can consider the rest. It’s getting late.”

When Luo Wei opened the door and came out, he found Xiao Qinxian’s figure in the hallway. She was wearing a white forensic lab coat and was leaning against the wall, smoking.

Luo Wei looked at her, not planning to speak.

Xiao Qinxian took the initiative to speak. “I answered a call just now.”

Luo Wei stopped and looked at her questioningly.

“The other party was silent.” Xiao Qinxian was a little annoyed, and she ran one hand through her hair, messing up the mushroom style, “I unplugged the phone line. How come we don’t even have caller ID on the phones here? I can only pull it out and try to calm down.”

“Have you calmed down?” Luo Wei asked. “If you’re afraid, just squeeze in with us.”

Xiao Qinxian lit a cigarette. “No, I’ve been lucky since I was a child.”

Luo Wei squinted at the “lucky one” holding her cigarette. The eye-catching red mole was like a drop of blood on her face.

………

Ke Xun dialed Qin Ci’s number and heard a familiar voice on the other end of the phone. “You haven’t slept yet?”

Suddenly, he felt very cordial. He didn’t know when these friends who he’d experienced paintings with had become like family.

“Can’t sleep. You’re the only one in your room?”

“Yes, it’s a special treatment for the chief physician.” Qin Ci smiled bitterly.

“Luo Wei came over just now, and he saw some strange things…” Ke Xun briefly explained the red marks.

There was silence on the other end of the phone, and Qin Ci’s voice sounded after a while, “We can talk about it in the morning and use a pen to draw along the edges of the red mark, so that it would be easier to observe any subtle changes.”

“…Let’s not talk about changes now. I just want to remind you to be careful.”

“Don’t worry. Judging from the tone of the old policeman, a surgeon is needed here, and so a doctor’s life shouldn’t be sought out so early.” Like a big brother, Qin Ci comforted Ke Xun in response.

“Take a scalpel with you when you go to bed, just in case you need it.”

“Mmn, that’s a good idea.”

Ke Xun put down the phone and was absentminded for a while before dialing Zhu Haowen.

“Who is it?” The other party seemed to have fallen asleep.

Ke Xun briefly explained his purpose, and the other party asked the exact location. “There’s a red spot between the eyebrows? The location is too terrible.”

“Yeah, so be careful.”

“I happen to have a small medicine box here.”

“……Okay.”

Ke Xun hung up the phone and looked at Mu Yiran. “They’re both pretty optimistic.”

——————

Xida: I’ve changed Xincheng to its literal translation, which is Heart City.