Paintings of Terror

Chapter 187: A City

By the time Mu Yiran walked through the entrance of the cave, his companions were already inside with their phone’s flashlight turned on for illumination.

Only Qin Ci walked the slowest. He didn’t turn on his phone and instead stood alone in the darkness, seeming a little hesitant.

Mu Yiran coughed lightly. He stepped forward and patted Qin Ci on the shoulder. “Let’s go. It’s getting dark outside.”

“I want to listen to the radio one last time in this world,” Qin Ci said as he pulled out a small, retro-looking radio.

Mu Yiran obviously didn’t expect Qin Ci to be carrying a radio with him. While slightly surprised, he made a gesture for him to do as he pleased.

Qin Ci held the smooth, wood-colored radio and turned the retro switch on one side.

When Qin Ci entered his office in Heart City Central Hospital for the first time, he was surprised to find that the furnishings were very similar to his office five years ago. This retro-styled radio was sitting on the desk, looking exactly like the one his girlfriend had given him as a birthday present.

Back then, because he was in too much grief, he had put the radio away and no longer listened to it. As a result, when a robber broke into his house, that abominable thief had also stolen the radio too–It was practically the only remembrance she’d left him.

He turned on the radio in the cave and an old English song came on. The woman’s slightly hoarse, magnetic voice rang out, as if embedding soul into the whole cave.

When the companions walking ahead heard the music, they stopped and turned to silently look back at Qin Ci.

The cave was dark, and an old English song actually fostered a relaxing effect.

Just as Wei Dong was thinking about asking Qin Ci to turn up the volume, the singing abruptly stopped.

The sudden disappearance of the singing seemed to have turned the cave even darker, giving their human sense the sensation that they had fallen into a dark hole, so dark that they’re unable to extricate themselves.

“Listeners and friends of Heart City, urgent news is inserted below.”

The radio host’s voice seemed rather anxious as he spoke this sentence.

Everyone stood in place, listening with their ears perked.

“The city’s special police force had just cracked a huge smuggling case on the city’s boundary. All the smuggling criminals from outside the city who tried to resist were shot dead on the spot. There were five smugglers, one of whom was a woman.”

Everyone listened carefully in confusion, thinking that this piece of news had nothing to do with them.

“At 3 o’clock in the afternoon, the man who was shot at the telephone booth at the city boundary has been identified as Luo Wei, 24 years old this year. It was this young man who, after discovering the smuggling attempt, ignored his own safety and promptly called the police. The police quickly blocked the border checkpoint, successfully killed the outsider criminals, and intercepted a batch of beast resources most important to the city.”

Everyone listened quietly, feeling as if they could feel the speed of blood flowing through their veins.

It turned out that Luo Wei’s first call was to the police, and the second call was to them at the hospital.

“Luo Wei is Heart City’s sincere hero! According to the instructions of our city mayor, Luo Wei will be ratified as an outstanding contributor to the city…”

They felt uncomfortable, not knowing what the point of being an outstanding contributor to the city meant.

“The city government had just held an emergency meeting regarding the interception of the beast resources. It was decided that spiritual masters would be invited to supervise and cremate the body of the deceased together with its beast, so as to truly achieve the ‘return the beast to the original body and complete the soul’ proposal of the common people. A rare Guimei Hexagram was involved in the batch of beast resources, and it is also a nutritious beast desperately needed by the secret Beast outside the city. If the criminal succeeded this time, the consequences would have been disastrous and Heart City would likely fall to it once more…”

Mu Yiran frowned. The news contained huge amounts of information, and the many doubts in his heart were slowly being resolved.

Was there a mysterious Beast outside the city? Was it as he’d guessed that the beasts in everyone’s body provided much-needed nutrition for this secret giant Beast? Once the secret Beast had absorbed enough, it would grow, attack, and overtake Heart City.

As the Book of Revelation said: The beast you saw was before, and now is not, and will come out of the abyss and enter perdition.

This mysterious Beast outside the city once made Heart City fall, but now it was recuperating so that it could be ready to strike again.

“This landmark decision will rewrite the history of Heart City! From now on, the exchange of beasts will be listed as illegal, and all the beasts on the market will be returned to the deceased. In addition, the profession of psychologist, which had been banned for a long time, would be reinstated. I believe this profession will prove to be a great significance in eliminating the beast in the human body…For these beasts, it is better to destroy them in the cradle than to save them…”

Everyone was silent, their heartache brimming with a strange excitement: Luo Wei had changed the history of Heart City.

He had indirectly prevented the attack of the mysterious Beast outside the city and had single-handedly saved an entire city.

Luo Wei had saved a city.

He had saved a city inside the painting.

They had no longer bothered to analyze the meaning of the city. Just like the boundaries outside Heart City, there were some things you must give up in order to let go, and some things you might want to keep but could not.

“If it wasn’t for Luo Wei, we wouldn’t even remember to look for the signature right now,” Wei Dong said.

Yes, if it wasn’t for Luo Wei, no one would be able to leave today.

After the news was broadcasted, the English song sounded again, but the people were no longer in the mood to listen.

A song can change people’s heart. But in fact, some people will try their best to seal their heart, and slowly they nourish the bacteria there, giving it a chance to become a beast.

In this Heart City, famous for its romance, the beasts in people’s hearts were said to be related to love, but love was just a point, and this point could reflect many things.

Human sentiments could grow to contain the entire universe.

.

A faint light suddenly appeared in the cave. Could this be the so-called wonders of the cave?

Countless firefly-like flying insects had gathered into a large cloud of light and mist, which gathered and dispersed before falling slowly onto the wall of the cave, forming the three bright and shining characters: Yu Beiguo.

Facing these three familiar and yet unfamiliar words, everyone sighed. This mountain was a famous scenic spot in the city, and this cave was an important attraction. There were glowing flying insects inside, and everyone living for a long time in the city must have seen it.

Although the three characters Yu Beiguo were extremely bright inside the dark cave, they appeared fragile and delicate, flickering timidly as if a gentle cough could scare them away at any moment. This name would no longer exist.

In the darkness, Ke Xun firmly held Mu Yiran’s hand. When the glowing insects form a doorway of light under the name Yu Beiguo, everyone’s mood calmed.

They had found the signature within seven days and opened the exit door.

The design of this door was so offbeat and unique.

But what was the use?

They couldn’t take Luo Wei home with them.

……..

The difference between the real world and the world in the painting was getting thinner and thinner, so that when they returned to Benxin Art Gallery, they still thought that they were still in Heart City.

It had the same temperature, the same humidity. The wind was cool, yet sometimes mixed with a trace of indescribable warmth.

The wind in the painting was scented with flowers, but the wind at this time carried the smell of rotten leaves unique to late autumns.

It had been ten days since everyone packed up their moods and finished up the unfinished business of their friends who had stayed in the painting.

At this point, there was only less than a week to go before they had to enter the next painting. Yes, it was still necessary to enter the painting, and everyone had the damned art gallery ticket in their pockets.

The Bronze Art Gallery was the next stop.

The veteran members were preparing for this entry in the “Entering the Painting Discussion Group.”

Wei Feng·Meng: Is Dr. Qin completely awake? [Wake up from a full sleep and forget about He Xi today.jpg]

With Courage and Wit: Mmn.

Wei Feng·Meng: Is Mama Luo any better?

With Courage and Wit: After a few more days, she will be discharged from the hospital.

Wei Feng·Meng: Oh, I didn’t expect Mama Luo to have that disease.

With Courage and Wit: This disease has become her psychological protection. She always thought that each of us was Luo Wei, just like her son had never left.

ZHW: [A very complicated picture of capital letters connected by the locations of eleven art galleries]

With Courage and Wit: The letter after the T is still unrecognizable. It looks like a half-written M, it may also be an N .

Wei Feng·Meng: TMD. The painting is completely TMD.

ZHW: These letters are probably the key to a complete picture.

Wei Feng·Meng: I had a nightmare a few days ago, such as, in this life, I have to complete the 26 letters according to the traces of art galleries all over the world.

Corgi: [screenshot of a news picture.jpg]

Wei Feng·Meng: When did you start reading news websites? [Don’t say I don’t believe you, I don’t believe you.jpg]

ZHW: Su Benxin finally had an accident.

Wei Feng·Meng: Fuck, I can’t understand what’s written on it. What is suicide by appointment?

With Courage and Wit: The court determined that this case was intentional homicide, and the painter Yu Ji provided a lot of strong direct evidence for this case. Su Benxin’s behavior was determined as temptation to commit suicide. Before this, Su Benxin also had two similar experiences. Both ex-boyfriends committed suicide, but there was currently not enough evidence to prove her involvement.

Wei Feng·Meng: [Look at this perverted bitch.jpg]

Wei Feng·Meng: Anyway, they all died in the painting, and those people’s lives could not last for 10 days outside. I don’t care what happens to Su Benxin.

With Courage and Wit: That’s different, and it means different things to living family and friends. The saying “Don’t pass judgment on a person’s life until the lid is on their coffin” also isn’t the same.

Wei Feng·Meng: But for Su Benxin, it doesn’t make any difference. As soon as she closes her eyes, she won’t know anything.

With Courage and Wit: After death, you enter another world, which is probably like entering another painting. It is impossible to treat all the deceased equally. I still believe in good and evil.