Paintings of Terror

Chapter 172: A Sudden Realization

Not everyone with red marks were willing to air out their thoughts, and even if they did, they were very selective in what they revealed.

Zhu Haowen was expressionless and didn’t say a word. He refused to listen to other people’s stories and left the restaurant, opting to go back to his residence instead.

Xiao Qinxian firmly believed that she had no beast marks, and so with an indifferent expression, she too returned to the police dormitory by herself.

Zhao Yanbao said, “I’m going to try to self-counsel myself. If anyone else needs psychological counseling, I can help.”

Qin Ci, Yu Ji, and Luo Wei also left.

Luo Wei said he was mentally and physically exhausted today and wanted to go back to rest. As a result, Mu Yiran walked back to the dorm with him since he was still able to momentarily pay attention to this partner.

Ju Yi always followed Qin Ci, refusing to leave him alone, as if he regarded Dr. Qin as his only life-saving straw.

Although their hospital colleague, Su Benxin, did not feel unsettled–after all, she belonged to the group of people with no beast marks–at this moment, she was chatting with her friend Lion under the streetlight. From time to time, they would pat each other on the shoulder, as if comforting one another.

Ke Xun and Wei Dong didn’t leave and stood under the tall magnolia tree with Qin Ci.

Yu Ji stood beside Qin Ci like a tail, with an embarrassed expression. “I know I’m a little redundant, but I don’t want to leave Dr. Qin. If I suddenly start to feel pain somewhere, maybe Dr. Qin can quickly use the scalpel to clear that thing out and save my life.”

Qin Ci wanted to say that he doesn’t carry a scalpel with him, but seeing Yu Ji’s incredibly nervous expression, he didn’t say anything.

Wei Dong looked at Qin Ci’s forehead and remembered with some discomfort the large beast mark that Luo Wei had described, which had supposedly covered half of his forehead and spread to his eyes. “Haowen’er doesn’t want to talk and you don’t want to talk, as if talking is shameful. If it was Chi Lei and Zhao Yanbao, she would have explained her anxiety. If you both…I won’t even know why you’re both gone.”

Qin Ci didn’t mind at all. “Actually, I don’t have any secrets. When Luo Wei said that he saw a dark red mark on my forehead, I probably knew the reason for it.”

Wei Dong became a little anxious when he heard this. “Then why are you still so calm? Hurry up and find a way to get rid of that evil demon!”

“I don’t think it’s a heart demon either. It’s just an unforgettable memory.”

“Dr. Qin, I, I…Should I leave for a moment?” Yu Ji looked at Su Benxin, who was not far away talking to Lion, and didn’t seem to be willing to go that way.

Qin Ci was noncommittal. “It’s not a secret. There’s nothing to hide. It’s been five years since my lover passed away.”

When he heard this, Ke Xun was stunned, not knowing how to continue. A person like Qin Ci was kind, thoughtful, patient, and moderate. In his dictionary, such a person belonged to the bright category of “a highly educated and successful person”, and so he had never even imagined that this person would have this kind of story. For this person with a kind of bustling worklife, was this the result of a blind date with a “very decent” lady, like a teacher, a nurse, or a civil servant?

Qin Ci actually had a lover who had passed away.

“The lover that you’re talking, were you both already married?” Wei Dong couldn’t help but ask.

“We got a marriage certificate, but haven’t had the wedding yet.” Qin Ci’s voice gradually softened. “She died in an air accident when she flew over from another city to find me and celebrate my birthday.”

Ke Xun silently came forward and patted his old friend on the shoulder.

Yu Ji also added, “My lover also passed away…Could it be that people like us have dark marks because our lover died? Was that the same situation with the outsider guy?”

Ke Xun thought of Luo Wei’s situation and nodded. Suddenly, a thought flashed in his mind, but it went out again, and his attention shifted to the present moment.

Qin Ci showed his usual kind smile. “Although I have never been able to forget this person, I haven’t been entangled in it, especially recently. I..It seems that I have returned to the past, and I have no burden and am completely at ease. In the last five years, I wasn’t living so easily like this.”

Ke Xun looked into Qin Ci’s eyes and said, “The relaxed state you’re talking about refers to these past two days in Heart City, right?”

Qin Ci didn’t have to think deeply about this matter. “Yes, it’s these two days.”

The thick white magnolia petals fell down like snow accumulating in winter.

Ke Xun seemed to hear his own voice echo, “You, you don’t want to go back?”

Qin Ci said, “I’m someone who usually just goes with the flow. Besides, isn’t it good for us to be here?”

It was probably after Ke Xun came to Heart City that he felt this most frightened, even though it was only Qin Ci’s calm face in front of him.

Wei Dong didn’t seem to be thinking so deeply, or maybe he had already been partly assimilated into the painting and was just trying to dissuade him at the moment, “Don’t, ah. We have left our home, and our temporary resident permit is only valid for 13 days, or six and a half days to be exact. If we don’t find the beast, we might have to fold it here! Besides, you have such a big beast mark, if something goes wrong, it would be a big deal.”

Qin Ci said, “I don’t think the beast represents evil. After all, my beast is just my memory. In the past, this fusion with the beast seems to help one find one’s original self. I don’t believe it will hurt me. From the data I’ve seen, there were cases where the beast and the host were able to live peacefully together for decades.”

“The year the beast came into existence can be calculated?” Ke Xun grabbed onto this sentence and asked.

“The result may come out tomorrow. Through the invisible texture on the beast’s body, we can measure how long the beast has existed in the host’s body.” Qin Ci seemed to be acting as if he was talking about some other person’s affair. “My beast is probably about five years.”

The more peaceful and comfortable Qin Ci was at this moment, the more uncomfortable and panicked Ke Xun felt.

……………

Xiao Qinxian put out the cigarette and went back to her room.

The phone let out a thunderous ring, like a beggar frantically showing off the scrap metal he’d picked up.

Xiao Qinxian picked up the phone angrily and said, “Who are you?”

On the other side of the phone was a familiar voice, “It’s okay. I’m just testing the phone.”

If it was someone else, it would have been fine, but it was the outsider most disliked by herself! That non-local Luo Wei had actually called herself from next door!

Xiao Qinxian shouted directly into the phone, “You’re sick!”

After shouting, she didn’t feel relieved at all and so she ran next door. “You’re harassing me!”

In the next room, Luo Wei was still holding the receiver and Mu Yiran was standing not far from him.

Luo Wei’s expression didn’t change at all despite Xiao Qinxian’s anger. At this moment, he faced that person and said, “I’m doing a lie detector test.”

“Why are you examining me like I’m a criminal?!” Xiao Qinxian let out a screech, not knowing why she was so angry.

Luo Wei was calm like a robot. “Last night, when you said that you received a call, it was a lie.”

Xiao Qinxian was stunned for a moment. Then she glared angrily at Luo Wei again. “1000! Truth! 10000! Truth! Last night, a psycho did call me!”

“The ringing is so deafening, there’s no way we wouldn’t be able to hear it,” Luo Wei said, neither hurried nor slow.

“You sleep like a dead pig, of course, you couldn’t hear.”

Luo Wei passed Xiao Qinxian at the door and pointed to a place in the hallway outside. “Last night, when I came out of Mu Yiran and Ke Xun’s room, you were right there, smoking. You told me that you had answered a phone call, but the other party didn’t speak, so you simply unplugged the phone line. At the time of the call, the three of us were in the room, and it was impossible for us not to hear the phone ringing so harshly.”

Xiao Qinxian was a little dazed, and she even lit another cigarette, as if to reenact that scene. “Yes, I also complained that there was no Caller ID on that garbage phone…”

Mu Yiran, who had been silent, finally spoke, “There’s something wrong with what you said just now. You said that the person who called you last night didn’t speak, but just now, you also said that the other party was a psycho.”

Luo Wei’s cold and silent eyes finally lit up. He looked at Mu Yiran gratefully. He hadn’t really dared to hope that this conversation with Xiao Qinxian could be successfully heard and correctly understood by Mu Yiran.

Mu Yiran, who had lived up to his expectations, continued, “Did someone really call? Did the caller speak? What did they say?”

With a cigarette in her mouth, Xiao Qinxian messed up her mushroom hairstyle, so that it looked exactly the same as what Luo Wei had seen that night. “I don’t know if there was anyone on the other end of the phone. It sounded vaguely like a radio with a faulty signal. It seemed to be a man and he said something that I couldn’t understand clearly. I suspect that the phone lines had gotten mixed up.”

“Can’t understand? If you can hear even a single word, that would be great, “ Mu Yiran said.

Xiao Qinxian calmed down and then said, “It seems that there were two words that I could vaguely hear—the left hand, it should be these two words.”

After saying this, Xiao Qinxian went out the door. “I’m about to collaspe. I’m going to take a shower. You guys had better not ask me anymore.”

Mu Yiran was silent for a moment, watching as Luo Wei wrote something again and again on a piece of paper. But when he walked over to take a look, there were no traces of anything that made sense, like a child making horizontal and vertical marks on a paper pad when doing homework.

Frowning, Mu Yiran took the paper and looked at it for a long time. He couldn’t make out a single word, but he folded it up and put it in his pocket anyway.

Luo Wei smiled bitterly. “I probably won’t last until the end and will probably collapse first.”

“Don’t worry.” Mu Yiran tried to soften his tone. “I already heard what Xiao Qinxian said about the mysterious phone call that we couldn’t hear, and the ‘left hand’ that was said on the phone. This is a clue that we can somewhat communicate on, right?”

Luo Wei sighed and shook his head. His eyes became shiny and teary, but he quickly blinked it away. “I’ve already guessed what my beast looks like. It’s probably a treasure pot. Haha, it should be a treasure pot. That scene is etched in my heart and will never leave for the rest of my life.”

Mu Yiran sighed, not knowing how to comfort him.

“I’m really tired.” Luo Wei leaned against his bed.

“Let’s rest first. I don’t think it’s possible that the situation will not progress.”

“Okay, good night.” Luo Wei smiled tiredly.

“Good night.” Mu Yiran walked out of the room, thinking about Luo Wei’s words. The beast as a treasure pot, his girlfriend who’d died in a terrible way…

Mu Yiran’s heart tensed little by little, and the memories were like the sound of drums from afar, gradually spreading through his mind, jumping out of the heart, out of the painting, painting, painting…

He suddenly took out the piece of paper in his pocket and was shocked to find a string of names written so clearly on that paper: Mi Lun, Kang Lai, Rong Rang, LEX, Luo Bin, Qiu Jian, Li Jinghao.

They were signatures. They were the signatures of the painters.

To get out of the painting, they have to find the signature!

Luo Wei had been racking his brain to remind him again and again that this was the most fundamental problem!

They, who had walked into Heart City, had forgotten the way they came and the key to leaving in the end.

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Xida: Oh my god, I was so caught up in what was going on with the beast that I completely forgot that they have to find the signature in order to leave. Very sly, author, very sly. Did you guys forget the signature too, or was it just me?