Paintings of Terror

Chapter 206: It Takes Courage To Face Yourself

“We must face our biggest weakness head-on, so as to overcome the avoidance and fear of it, and therefore strengthen our mind,” Shao Ling said. “I believe there are two ways to improve. One is the crash therapy that I had just mentioned, and the other is to thoroughly analyze yourself, talk it out with someone else, and thus overcome the avoidance and shame of it. If you have no objections, you can choose any of these two methods. The rest of us will help you.”

“Then I pick crash therapy…” Luo Bu looked at Shao Ling hesitantly. “Brother Shao, how are you going to treat me?”

“Of course, by making you collapse first and then rebuilding you up.” Wei Dong patted him on the shoulder. “That’s what it means. For example, you’re afraid of Sadako and Kayako, right? Then we’ll pretend to be this type of ghost and keep on scaring you. When you’re numbed to the terror, you won’t be scared anymore when you encounter them in an illusion. Got it?”

Luo Bu cried, “I was almost scared to death just hearing you talk about it. Is this really possible, brother?”

It might be that he thought Wei Dong was slightly less reliable, because he looked at Shao Ling when he asked this. Shao Ling nodded. “That’s right.”

Luo Bu began to tremble. “There’s nothing on this boat. How would you pretend to be ghosts?”

“There should be something, so don’t worry about it and just wait,” Wei Dong said.

“What about you? What do you say?” Shao Ling looked at the others.

Everyone looked down, thinking to themselves. It was Fang Fei who spoke first, “I might lose in the emotion of sorrow. Although I like taking risks and challenging my own limits, and I’m not afraid of death, I am a pessimist.”

Fang Fei paused, staring at her cross-legged knees, as if organizing the words to analyze herself.

“Because I’m overly pessimistic, I’m always taking risks. I used a life full of excitement to prevent myself from falling into depression, but I still dare not admit that my risk-taking may just be a way of pursuing death.”

“There are many things that made me feel sad and depressed. If the illusion puts these things together and shows them to me, I may collapse in an instant. Plus…Yu Long’s death. To be honest, my mood is incredibly down right now.”

“I can understand how you feel,” Ke Xun said. “Because I have experienced this situation before, where all kinds of counseling and enlightenment would have no effect at all. Instead, they only increased the self-abuse and the feelings of frustration.”

“But, you’re a really brave person. Many people in this same situation would be unwilling or would lack the courage to speak out about their own psychology. They avoid facing the cruelty of life and also avoid accepting their incompetent failures. They can only drop that broken jar.”

“But you’re different. You are the bravest woman I have ever seen. Although you’re pessimistic, it’s because life is too fucking boring. It’s not your fault. I don’t think you need anyone to help you with your mental construction. Do whatever you want to do. You haven’t lost to death yet.”

After these words, everyone became quiet for a long time.

Qin Ci felt that Ke Xun was truly worthy and deserving of being a leader.

He neither filled people with chicken soup pleasantries nor spoke exaggerated and beautiful words. Even so, he could let a pessimist feel the warmth of his words and the strength he exuded.

This was clear from the smile that came to Fang Fei’s face after hearing his words.

“Thank you,” Fang Fei said. “You turned my frustrated bravery into free and easy bravery. It’s very helpful. Thank you.”

Shao Ling couldn’t help but glanced at Ke Xun a few more times. Ke Xun looked back at him, raised his lips, and smiled. “Although I also have an emotional Achilles heel, I am reluctant to say it. You all continue.”

Wei Dong said, “I think my Achilles heel may be desire…”

Luo Bu looked at him in surprise. “But you don’t look like an overly-indulgent person, Brother Dong.”

“…You idiot.” Wei Dong slapped his head. “I’m talking about a desire for things that are out of reach, such as money, houses, and food. I seem to be particularly eager for these….”

Ke Xun shook his head. “A lot of people are eager to make their lives better. But compared to living with nothing and dying with everything, which is more tempting?”

“…Continue living. I’m afraid of death,” Wei Dong answered.

“So, think about it and recognize this in yourself,” Ke Xun said.

Wei Dong re-examined himself with an “Oh.,” and so Shao Ling’s gaze fell on Qin Ci.

Qin Ci smiled. “As a doctor who is accustomed to seeing patients dying and in pain, I have gradually become numb to death, sorrow, and fear. The work intensity of doctors is very high, and overtime is common. Therefore, there is no time to want anything. A doctor’s job requires a normal mind. I dare not say that I meet the conditions to pass the screening, but at this moment, I’m not certain where my emotional weakness lies. I’m afraid I will know only when it comes.”

“Brother Qin is very calm. Maybe he’ll become an immortal in the end,” Wei Dong said. “Haowen’er is like this too, right?”

Zhu Haowen looked down and said lightly, “I do have an emotional weakness, but I don’t want to talk about it.”

Shao Ling smiled and did not pressure them. It was clear that, although this group of people had different personalities, they were all people with perseverance. Well…maybe not that Wei Dong…No, he also had perseverance, one that insisted on trusting his friends completely.

This was hard to come by.

“So, after all this discussion, only I will be treated alone with crash therapy?” Luo Bu asked.

After this, there was nothing else to do but wait.

Fang Fei silently memorized the marks set by Mu Yiran. Meanwhile, Mu Yiran fell into contemplation about the character “chicken” that Xue Ge had left behind. Shao Ling, Qin Ci, and Zhu Haowen each moved to a separate corner, either closing their eyes or just sitting there. Thinking about it, it wasn’t easy for Chen Xinai to survive last night’s illusion. At this moment, it may be because of the dual effects of sorrow and mental tension that cause her to lay slumped in the corner, asleep. And finally, Ke Xun and Wei Dong were using crash therapy to help Luo Bu overcome his fear.

Ke Xun was the one to plan Luo Bu’s “treatment.”

In Wei Dong’s words: Ke Er, this kid from small to large, was perfect for this.

The plan was actually very simple. He would force Luo Bu to walk around the lower cabin under the deck by himself. Meanwhile, Ke Xun and Wei Dong would wear white robes and surprise him during his walk, either by popping up at the dark cabin door, or crawling up to him or jump-scaring him.

Luo Bu was very timid. He knew that the ones crawling on the ground were Ke Xun and Wei Dong, but he still felt terrified every time he saw them. He couldn’t run away from Ke Xun, and everytime Ke Xun caught him, he would be forced to listen to him telling terrible jokes.

Wei Dong was actually the one who did Ke Xun’s ghostly make-up, with the paints found on the boat. Before Wei Dong became a graphic designer, he used to work in a small production team as a temporary worker, and so his ability to paint ghost makeup was even more terrifying than those seen on films.

Therefore, a terrified Luo Bu was forced to listen to Ke Xun telling him bad jokes, including a few vulgar ones where the protagonist was replaced with Sadako or Kayako. This thoroughly confused Luo Bu. After the fifth time, he began to look at Ke Xun with a grimace, and every time he saw the white robe on his body, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. This method had magically worked.

“It’s done.” Wei Dong squatted beside him. “If you see a ghost in the illusion tonight, just close your eyes and remember the jokes that Ke’er told you. Don’t think about anything else. Don’t worry about anything else.”

“But what if it’s a different ghost? What about the old corpse uncle and the zombie in the mountain village? All of these scares me,” Luo Bu said in anguish.

“All the illusions in the first three nights were unfolded in the dark,” Ke Xun said. “If this is a fixed feature of the illusion, then no matter what kind of ghost appears, they’re all the same in the dark. Unless the illusion has improved and you can see, you don’t have to be afraid. Have you just been practicing for nothing? Do you want to practice a few more times?”

“No, no, enough, enough. Brother, rest and save your energy to fight the illusion tonight.” Luo Bu shook his hands again and again. Then he limply fell back to the ground.? “Brothers, you’re not afraid of anything?”

“What of?” Wei Dong sighed. “I used to be almost like you, timid and cowardly, but since I came across the unfortunate incident of entering paintings, let alone other things, I have become more and more courageous. Ghosts can’t scare me anymore. In order for me to become scared, it would have to be an extraordinary ghost… what else can it do anyway? Encountering it just means death. The only differences are the ways in which I die. At the end of the day, I just hope for a happy death, one that doesn’t involve a lot of suffering.”

Ke Xun patted him on the shoulder, and said, “It’ll be over one day. We have already marked the coordinates of all the art galleries that we’ve been to. You can basically see that they are two letters. These clues meant that the game has a beginning and an end. Although I don’t know how many more paintings we have to go through, there will definitely be an end. Perseverance is victory.”

“All right, I’ll persevere.” Wei Dong took a deep breath and looked at Luo Bu. “You must also persevere. No matter how terrible a ghost is, it’s not as terrible as death itself. Not to mention the ghost in this painting is only just an illusion. As long as you’re not deceived, you won’t be scared and the ghost won’t be able to kill you. Which option will you choose? Think about it .”

Luo Bu nodded bitterly.

By the time they finally returned to the deck, the sky was getting dark, and death was stepping closer to the lone ship on the vast sea.

Fang Fei sat alone on the side of the ship, silently looking at the thick, inky sea below her feet.

“Tell me, where are the corpses of those who have died?” Wei Dong asked Ke Xun. “Even if they fell into the sea, they should have floated up a long time ago already. But why don’t we see them at all? Could there be human-eating sea monsters in the sea?”

Ke Xun raised his eyebrows, as if he’d been reminded of something. He found the crossbow that everyone had used on the first day from the room next door, strode to Fang Fei’s side, and handed it to her, telling her, “After lighting the rhino horn, no matter what you see, it will no longer be an illusion. You may use this bow if you need to.”

“What if I accidentally shoot you?” Fang Fei remembered that the illusion would cause confusion and chaos

“If you see something very tall, you squat down and shoot it in the head.” Ke Xun squatted to demonstrate to Fang Fei. “Look, at such an oblique angle, even if one of us is nearby, we won’t easily get hit. If the thing is really a chicken, and it’s only the size of a chicken, you stand up straight and shoot downward, and you won’t be able to hit us.

The high and low positions can be changed, so if we do get hit, it’s our bad luck that’s to be blamed. But you still have to try to hit it with this arrow, since it’s important as to whether we can break this game. Do you remember what they said about Emperor Qin Shihuang using an arrow to shoot a shark? I think this arrow must be useful, so please feel at ease to use it.

“Okay.” Fang Fei didn’t hesitate anymore. She took the crossbow and saw that Ke Xun had also taken two mobile phones out from his bag and was handing them over.

“Just in case,” Ke Xun said, “If the crossbow doesn’t work well or doesn’t work at all, you can blow up the phone.”