Paintings of Terror

Chapter 165: Looking For the Conditions

Xiao Qinxian had no patience for Zhao Yanbao’s indecisive attitude at all.

“The beast will gradually lose activity over time, so we need everyone’s opinions now!” Xiao Qinxian didn’t know that her own voice could be so high. “If you want to be the Holy Father or the Holy Mother, then please completely abstain like that person just now!”

Mu Yiran’s voice wasn’t loud, but he completely suppressed Xiao Qinxian with his aura. “We are waiting for the opinion of the deceased’s family member, and so her attitude is very important.”

Xiao Qinxian said, “Don’t tell me that if something bad happens later, you would all still dawdle like this?!”

Ke Xun said, “It is quite simple for the rest of us. We can sign our own Corpse Disposal Determination form in advance and decide how we want to deal with the beast in our bodies. Everyone will be responsible for their own bodies, and no matter what decision they make, everyone must respect it.”

“You mean pre-signing?” Yu Ji asked.

“Yes.”

Xiao Qinxian was silent for a moment, avoiding this question in his heart! This kind of mentality was like when some people saw the news that someone else had won the lottery, they thought that they too might win the lottery. But when they heard the news that someone was struck by lightning, they didn’t want it to be them at all. As everyone knew, according to scientific data, the odds of being struck by lightning was higher than the odds of winning the lottery.

“Oh, I’ve said before, if something happened to me, you guys can remove the beast from me!” Lion said first.

“Me too,” Yu Ji said.

Xiao Qinxian rolled her eyes at them and muttered in a low voice, “Some people don’t have beast marks at all so, of course, it’s easy for them to say.”

Mu Yiran turned his attention back to Zhao Yanbao. The latter had her head lowered, seeming to be thinking. Finally, she slowly raised her head and said, “Mmn, I agree to remove the beast from Chi Lei’s body.” Then she added. “I hope that Dr. Qin will handle the scalpel himself; I won’t trust anyone else.”

Qin Ci nodded, and the tense atmosphere finally eased significantly.

Qin Ci immediately picked up the phone and called the bodyguards of the Choujian Detective Agency. He asked them to transport Chi Lei’s body properly to the hospital. Next, he called the hospital office. “Please print out ten copies of the Corpse Handling Determination for me.”

Hearing this, some people still felt uncomfortable. Although they had already decided, when they thought of living people signing how their corpses will be handled, they felt it was like inviting misfortune.

Wei Dong’s first words when he returned to the office was, “It’s 12 o’clock.”

“Let’s eat in the hospital cafeteria,” Qin Ci said. “It’s too late for surgery, so Chi Lei’s body can go into the cold room first. I’ll rest for a bit and then perform the operation at 2 in the afternoon.”

“Everyone, come with me.” As a staff of the hospital, Su Benxin led everyone out. “There are also private rooms in the cafeteria so we can chat while we eat.”

Zhao Yanbao had no appetite, so she decided to go to the hospital door to wait for the car that was transporting Chi Lei’s body. This way, she could personally escort her to the cold room.

No one tried to politely offer to accompany her. After all, they didn’t want to see a corpse right before eating, and today’s stimulation was already quite large.

“There are enough nurses in the hospital. They will take care of these things.” Su Benxin tried to comfort the other members.

Zhu Haowen said, “At this time, Zhao Yanbao may want to stay alone with Chi Lei for a while longer.”

Qin Ci looked at Zhu Haowen. “What’s wrong with Haowen’er today?”

Zhu Haowen answered, “Does your hospital also have a buffet?”

“Mmn, a very rich buffet.” Qin Ci didn’t say any more.

When they ate, they also had to swipe their cards. The cafeteria service staff told them, “Your card can be used 37 more times.”

Wei Dong put away his card and thought, it’s like a life progress bar. There’s one less now.

After everyone selected their meals, they gathered together in a relatively quiet single room to eat.

At first, no one spoke, as if afraid the content of their conversation would ruin their appetite.

When he was done eating, Luo Wei wiped his mouth with a tissue. “I think we need to urgently find out the real cause of death for these people with beasts. Suicide may just be a coverup, and the beasts should play a key role in their deaths. What kind of power did they use to make these people’s mentality collapse?”

“Zhi Chun died by cutting his wrist. Maybe he wanted to get the beast inside his wrist out,” Ke Xun made a bold guess. “If what Yiran said is true, then the beast might be the embodiment of the knot in their heart, so it could be that Zhi Chun was getting rid of his knot and seeking liberation.”

“But the beast is located in a fatal position like the artery. To get rid of it, the price is to sacrifice his life,” Su Benxin said.

“What is the knot in Zhi Chun’s heart? Just an inability to afford a house? Can people really seek death because of this?” Yu Ji also joined the discussion.

Lion nodded. “Owning a home is very important. The Chinese people especially value this.”

“Mothers say that having a house is like having a family. The elderly in the family are especially concerned about the issue of having a house.” Wei Dong took a sip of the soup. “What kind of soup is this? It’s delicious.”

“Icelandic lobster soup is better with bread.” Qin Ci shared the bread on his plate with Wei Dong.

Xiao Qinxian sneered softly. “This should be a pre-dinner soup.”

Everyone was too lazy to pay attention to her. Wei Dong took a sip of the tea next to him. “The label of this tea is Iceland Pu’er tea. Is today an Icelandic meal special?”

Xiao Qinxian laughed. “You’re too cute. Icelandic Pu’er tea is from Yunnan! How could there be green tea trees in Iceland, which is a Nordic country!”

“Eh?” Wei Dong looked at Qin Ci. “Is this true? This person is too vicious, so I don’t particularly trust her.”

Xiao Qinxian: “…”

Qin Ci nodded and said, “Iceland tea comes from the village of Mengku, Yunnan, where the large-leaf tea is produced, which is Yunan’s best Pu’er tea.”

“Old Qin, you have been to many places.” Wei Dong sighed.

Qin Ci said, “I was keen on self-guided tours during my college days. After I started working, I also attended medical conferences in various places, so I have visited a few more places.”

Wei Dong wanted to ask more questions, but felt that it was out of place. Such as, Old Qin, did you have a traveling companion at the time? How can you remain single all this time? But in front of everyone, he couldn’t ask.

Lion wasn’t in the mood to discuss this. He was still struggling with the cause of Zhi Chun’s death. “So, Zhi Chun’s heart knot is buying a house? Is it really just a house?”

“Judging from the shape of the beast, the snail is probably related to the house,” Ke Xun said. “But when it comes to a house, it’s not just as simple as a place to live. Maybe it’s also mixed in with family and love. Mr. Yu said before that Zhi Chun’s girlfriend broke up with him because he didn’t have a house, which probably dealt him quite a large blow.”

Qin Ci agreed with this statement. “In the world we are familiar with, these may not be life-threatening matters, but once a beast has formed in Heart City, it may prove to be a fatal danger at any time.”

This theory seemed to have made sense, but they still couldn’t imagine the scene of the beast making trouble in the body.

“Chi Lei’s situation is different from Zhi Chun’s. Her heart suddenly failed, which was beyond her control. Unless the beast was in it…” Qin Ci didn’t know what else to say? How could the beast be in it? Before the host died, what form did the beast exist in?

Mu Yiran seemed to perceive what Qin Ci was thinking. “Since it couldn’t be detected with technology, then the beast should exist in abstract form in the body of the living host. Maybe it’s a piece of mind, a resentment, or a magnetic field.”

Luo Wei also joined the discussion. “As of last night, there were seven people with the mark of the beast. Why did the painting choose Chi Lei and Zhi Chun first? What order is this based on? Chi Lei and Zhi Chun, what do these people have in common compared to the rest?”

Wei Dong had a sudden realization. “Both of them seemed to be relatively young. Chi Lei is about 23 years old, and Zhi Chun had just graduated from medical school and is 25 years old at most.”

The people who were found to have the mark of the beast last night were Qin Ci, Zhu Haowen, Yu Ji, Xiao Qinxian, Luo Wei, Zhi Chun, and Chi Lei.

Zhu Haowen said, “I’m also 25 years old.”

“Maybe you’re younger than him…” Wei Dong turned his head away and asked Xiao Qinxian, “What about you? Are you over 25?”

Xiao Qinxian looked at Wei Dong with slightly angry eyes, but she still responded cooperatively, “Yeah.”

Qin Ci was a few years older than them, and Yu Ji was about the same age as Qin Ci. Luo Wei’s age…Luo Wei found himself being ignored by everyone again.

“Is it really based on age though? Will the number of people ‘killed’ every night be two? Is there a limit to this number?” Luo Wei continued to analyze.

Wei Dong said, “Oh, if you count it like this, it will be Haowen’er’s turn next, followed by the mushroom head.”

Xiao Qinxian of the mushroom head said angrily, “And Zhao Yanbao, she should be younger than me.”

Luo Wei asked again, “Zhao Yanbao’s beast just appeared today. Should this kind of thing be counted separately or combined with everyone?”

“I’m confused. This is too much. It’s so complicated,” Yu Ji complained.

“No, it’s not complicated. On the contrary, it’s too simple and too mechanical to infer based on age and time,” Mu Yiran said. “This doesn’t fit the beast’s ‘criminal style’, nor does it fit the city’s theme of romance.”

Everyone thought about it. Regardless of whether it could be embodied or not, it was a kind of existence that could only be understood and was difficult to describe. If they wanted to analyze it, it would be even more unlikely.

Mu Yiran continued, “This order may be related to the severity of the existence of the beast. Some beasts may be larger and have a stronger sense of presence. In other words, the beast and their hosts would be in sync.”

This statement was chilling.

“The order may be from strong to weak, or from weak to strong,” Qin Ci analyzed. “Perhaps, the answer will be clearer once Chi Lei’s beast is removed later in the afternoon.”