Paintings of Terror

Chapter 191: Another Big Boss?

“Based on what you said, at least one person will die every night,” Liu Yanlei said. “In that case, there’s no difference between burning and not burning, right? No matter what, someone will die, right?”

“Death begins at night,” Shao Ling said. “It’s better to watch for any new developments first, and then make the decision whether to burn or not to burn based on the situation at hand. We might as well each hold onto a rhinoceros horn in case of an emergency.”

No one objected to this proposal. Everyone took out the rhinoceros horns in the box and counted them. There were exactly 13.

“It seems that your proposal is right.” Luo Bu pretended to play with the rhino horn in his hands. “It seems that these rhino horns are prepared specifically for us, and the quantity is just right.”

“So does that mean that we still need to light these horns?” Li Yi asked in alarm.

“It’s useless to make guesses out of thin air. We can only wait and continue to analyze existing clues,” Shao Ling said.

“I’m hungry,” Xue Ge, the young female painter who often seemed distracted, suddenly recovered and said.

“Wow, beautiful lady, we’re all on the cusp of death and you’re still in the mood to eat?” Luo Bu looked at her in surprise.

“It’s better to be a full ghost than a starving ghost.” Xue Ge’s indifferent expression didn’t seem to regard the situation of being inside a painting as bizarre at all. She turned toward the kitchen on the first floor, saying, “Can someone help me?”

The other two female members, Fang Fei and Chen Xinai, followed her out.

The others stayed in the captain’s room to look through the contents of the boxes. Unfortunately, no matter how hard they tried, no one could read the ancient seal script on the bamboo slips.

“I think we should first figure out why this ship is sailing at sea,” Qin Ci said. “If possible, we should also figure out where its destination is.”

“Since the flag on the ship has the country’s name, then this ship must be an imperial ship,” Shao Ling said. “With the living standards of the Qin Dynasty, it would be impossible for ordinary people to build such a large private ship, so it should definitely be an imperial ship.”

“In the Qin Dynasty, there was no sea trade. Although this ship is full of grains, clothes, medicines, and daily necessities, it shouldn’t be for commercial trade.”

“It was said that Qin Shihuang liked to patrol the sea to admire the territories under his control and to show-off the national power of the Qin Dynasty. Then, could this ship be considered a patrol ship sent by Qin Shihuang?”

“If that’s the case, there would be no need to carry jewelry and expensive things on the ship,” Zhu Haowen said rigorously.

“It seems to me that this ship is making a long-distance voyage,” Qin Ci said. “It carries a lot of food, clothing, daily necessities, and illness-preventing medicine. It’s obviously prepared for long-distance travel. Indeed, what would be the purpose of an imperial ship making a long distance sea voyage without the prerequisite of displaying force?”

“Cultural exchange?” Yu Long, the dull green, linen-haired man, said. “Aren’t there many scrolls in the ship?”

“It’s very possible,” Shao Ling nodded.

“Long-distance voyages, cultural exchanges, these two key words can only remind me of the eastern crossing to Japan,” Qin Ci said.

“It may also be to the Korean Peninsula,” Zhu Haowen calmly added.

“Eastern crossing…Ah! I know! This painting tells the story of the eminent monk Jianzhen!” Wei Dong’s eyes shone brightly.

“…Examine your big head!” Ke Xun smacked him on the head, slapping out his divine light. “Even I, this mediocre academic slag, knew that Jianzhen is from the Tang Dynasty. This painting is from the Qin Dynasty.”

“My bad.” Wei Dong clutched his head. “Qin Dynasty…There are also some similar tales. Isn’t Xu Fuji, who went out to sea to find the Elixir of Immortality, from the Qin Dynasty?”

“…Are you sure he went to sea looking for an Elixir of Immortality and not for candies?” Ke Xun narrowed his eyes at him.

“Xu Fu! Xu Fu!” Wei Dong hurriedly changed his words. “This is easy—Xu Fu took a bunch of virgins on a sea voyage to search for the Elixir of Immortality for Qin Shihuang, right?”

“It is said that there were several large-scale sea voyages during Qin Shihuang’s reign,” Shao Ling said. “The most famous one was exactly this Xu Fu. I agreed with Mr. Wei’s conjecture. It is very possible that this painting is describing what happened when Xu Fu crossed east. After all, the Qin Dynasty’s navigational technology was limited by the times, and so it was impossible for there to be more frequent long-distance sea voyages. Only Xu Fu’s eastern crossing was recorded down in history.”

“Legend says that Xu Fu took some boys and girls out to sea to look for the Island of Immortals, but they never returned. Could it be that this was because they encountered these…monsters at sea? The whole crew was wiped out and he could not go back?” Li Yi guessed.

“But some experts said that Xu Fu actually took these people to Japan, and they all stayed there. Are the Japanese our descendents?” Yu Long said.

Shao Ling shook his head slightly. “This kind of statement is really arrogant. Japan during the Qin Dynasty already had aboriginal people living there. It was just that, during the Warring States period in China, Japan was experiencing the Jomon culture of the Stone Age. They made a living by hunting, fishing, and gathering. In other words, their society is still in the primitive clan state.”

“However, with the inception of the Qin Dynasty, Japan suddenly developed bronze and iron tools, and even rice planting techniques appeared out of thin air. It took them an extremely short time to transition from the Stone Age to the Iron Age–This phenomenon seems to prove the theory that Xu Fu did indeed bring the advanced technology, culture, and products of the Qin Dynasty to Japan.”

“If this painting is depicting Xu Fu’s eastern crossing, then at least it proves that the people on this ship weren’t all completely annihilated. Otherwise, how would they appear in Japan?”

“I remember that, according to historical records, Xu Fu went out to sea to search for the Elixir of Immortality twice under Qin Shihuang’s order. There was no result the first time, so Qin Shihuang ordered Xu Fu to make a second trip. During the first sea voyage, Xu Fu had said that there was a giant dragon blocking him. Therefore, in the second voyage, Qin Shihuang dispatched an archer to follow Xu Fu out to sea. When the archer shot and killed the sea dragon, Xu Fu then started his second voyage.”

“I think this is particularly critical. Shi Ji’s Historical Records of Qin Shihuang once mentioned that Qin Shihuang had a dream that he fought with the Sea Emperor. After waking up, he called for a dream interpreter, who told him that the Water God’s sight was originally not wide-ranging enough and so it was using the sea dragon as a scout, one whose purpose was to spy. Now that this fiend had come out to make trouble, so long as he killed it, he would see the true, benevolent god.”

“The key points are, one, the phrase ‘The Water God’s sight was originally not wide-ranging enough’, and second, it was using the sea dragon as a scout. Or, we can understand it as a kind of patrol, such as patrolling the sea. Third, in killing the sea dragon will he break through the obstacle of the evil god. In other words, doing so will break the deadlock and allow him to see the true, benevolent god. Or, allow us to escape from the heavens, clear the customs, and leave the painting?”

“So, can we think that a sea dragon may appear in the sea? If we want to leave the painting, we will have to try to kill it? But the sea is so vast and far-reaching, how can we find the sea dragon?”

“The answer is the rhinoceros horn in our hands. According to the legends of Rhino Horn at Bull Islet Rock, once we light the rhinoceros horn, it will cause the creatures of ‘the other world’ to appear to put out the fire. Regardless of whether they are the fiends of gods or if they are ghosts, they are still creatures of another world.”

“Therefore, we can use the rhinoceros horn to attract the sea dragon, figure out a way to kill it, and then use the burning rhinoceros horn to attract the “unseeing” Water God. I think that this Water God may be the seal, and as long as we find it, we can leave the painting.”

“These are just my personal conjectures, so let’s take it as merely a starting point. If you have any other ideas, you might as well speak up and brainstorm.”

After Shao Ling said these words, his eyes swept across everyone’s faces and finally rested on Mu Yiran’s face.

This person spoke very little, but for some reason, Shao Ling felt that he could not be ignored.

Shao Ling’s reference to the classics and legends seemed to have calmed everyone present. Wei Dong and Luo Bu looked at him with admiration. Meanwhile, Li Yi took the lead in recovering and nodded his head, saying, “I think you’re close to the truth. That might very well be how it is.”

Yu Long also nodded. “Your reasoning is faultless. To leave the painting, we need to kill this sea dragon.”

Lui Yanlei’s eyes flickered. “I also think you make sense. However, this raises another question. How do we kill this so-called giant dragon?”

“There are arrows and crossbows in the warehouse below the deck,” Yu Long said. “Since the history books recorded that the giant dragon was killed with arrows, let’s use them.”

Li Yi and Liu Yanlei nodded in agreement.

Shao Ling turned to look at the veteran members, all of whom had yet to make a statement. “What do you think?”

Qin Ci glanced at his companions and carefully said, “Based on the experience and lessons gained from previous paintings, all conjectures and speculations may be the key to leaving the painting. Therefore, we try not to reject any possibility.”

“So, we support your inference, but it is necessary to remind you that the unnatural forces in the painting cannot be resisted.”

“Once that power wants to or needs to kill you, then it will definitely be able to kill you. You cannot make any resistance, much less counter-kill it.”

“Of course, the rules of each painting are different. Maybe, in this painting, we can kill this unnatural force. I am just saying this to remind you not to underestimate the enemy. The cruelty of the ‘painting’ is far beyond your imagination.”

“In addition, using crossbows also raises the problem of knowing how to use them, so it’s best to learn how to use them before it gets dark.”

Shao Ling nodded. “Thank you for the reminder. Then we’ll hurry up and move the crossbows to the deck so that we can become familiar with them and practice.”

Everyone stopped talking and walked toward the stairs leading to the lower deck.

Wei Dong walked at the back of the group and quietly touched Ke Xun’s elbow. He lowered voice and said, “This Shao Ling knows his stuff. I feel like I’m seeing another Boss Mu, and he seems to even be stealing the limelight with his knowledge, so that the big boss couldn’t even say a few words from beginning to end.”

“This isn’t too bad.” Ke Xun looked at his boyfriend’s straight back. “I wish that everyone who entered the painting could steal his limelight with their abilities. At least then, he wouldn’t have to bear everyone’s expectations and lives on his shoulders. Doing so is simply too heavy and too much burden for one person.”