Paintings of Terror

Chapter 237: Twin-born

This one and a half hours belonged to Fang Fei.

The Master Shaman of the Fluorite Inn lived in another courtyard-style building, two buildings away from their residence.

Fang Fei walked along a long corridor that resembled an ancient, covered walkway, which connected several courtyards.

She got the address of this Master Shaman from the Inn Officer. Qin Ci also helped Fang Fei pick out the valuable spices that she was carrying now. In Fang Fei’s experience, this was the first time she had visited an elder with a gift in hand by herself.

The place where the Master Shaman lived was very high up, close to the top floor. Observing from there, the entire Lantern Inn felt like an ancient yellowish painting.

A girl, who appeared to be around fifteen or sixteen years old, opened the door for Fang Fei. She glanced at Fang Fei and said, “Please come in, big sister.”

Fang Fei placed the gift on the table. The room had no lights, instead, there were various fluorites for illumination. The cool-toned light often made people feel clear-headed.

“Are you here to see my grandmother? She was called to take care of a twin-born,” the girl gestured for Fang Fei to take a seat.

“I’ve come to express my gratitude to the Master Shaman for providing the valuable fluorite.” Fang Fei politely replied.

The girl, however, appeared very welcoming. “Shamans have been like a family since ancient times. There’s no need for formalities.”

Fang Fei thought about what she said and carefully asked: “I’ve often heard people say this phrase too, but in our world, how far back does ‘ancient’ really go?”

“Well, it just means a long, long time ago,” the girl earnestly replied.

Feng Fei glanced at the ancient-looking bracelet on the girl’s wrist. It resembled her own. She cautiously asked, “Are you a Shaman too?”

The girl nodded. She sat next to Fang Fei to look at her bracelet and also took her own bracelet off to compare it with Fang Fei’s: “My grandmother says that no matter how ancient something is, it cannot escape this circle.”

Feng Fei felt something in her heart but she couldn’t fully grasp it and refrained from asking rashly.

Fortunately, the girl was lively by nature and walked towards a cabinet, “I heard that the masks of your Light Inn are pure white, is that true?”

Feng Fei noticed that she also took out a mask. It was a black one with irregular white shapes on it, resembling pieces of fluorite.

Feng Fei nodded: “Right, my mask is white.”

“That’s so pretty!” The girl still retained a youthful nature.

Fang Fei smiled faintly and asked: “Have you worn it?”

“Not yet.” the girl stuck out her tongue, “No one has invited me to perform any Shaman rituals, so I haven’t had the opportunity to wear it.”

“Oh.”

The girl whispered to Fang Fei: “I secretly wore it once. I couldn’t quite explain what felt different, but it was indeed different. Unfortunately, my grandmother noticed afterwards, and I dare not wear it in secret again.”

“It can’t be wrong to listen to what Master Shaman says.” Fang Fei didn’t know how to continue the conversation. “Right, what did you say the Master Shaman went to do? How soon will she be back?

‘Soon’, Fang Fei felt nervous when she said this word. It was a specific expression of time, and she didn’t know how the other person would react.

The girl, however, continued to smile: “That’s the advantage of our Fluorite Inn. Even after the lights go out, we still have the fluorites to illuminate, so my grandmother is often invited to attend to matters for a long time.”

“I rarely come to the Lantern Inn, so I don’t know much about the rules here. I have never ventured outside after the lights go out.”

“It’s better not to go out. People with poor fate might end up walking the wrong path at night, resulting in a case of twin-born and they would be unable to achieve consummation.” the girl said seriously.

Fang Fei still remembered what the girl said earlier. The Master Shaman was called to “take care of a twin-born”. What exactly was this twin-born? She had initially mistaken it for some fright-calming rituals for twins, but it seemed that it had a different meaning altogether.

Fang Fei: “Can we all deal with twin-born?”

“Yes we can, but it’ll take some days!” The girl sounded a bit regretful.

“Some days?” Fang Fei emphasized the word ‘days’.

The girl blushed: “Did I break a taboo? In your Light Inn, it’s called days, right? Because it’s bright there.”

“Yes, we call it days.” Fang Fei wasn’t accustomed to beating around the bush and speaking in riddles, so she directly asked, “What exactly is ‘twin-born’? I still haven’t fully understood it.”

The girl sighed softly: “I don’t fully understand it either. It’s about people who are unwilling to die and are attached to the mortal world. They can never reach consummation and just wander around in the Inns. What’s frightening is that if they happen to see their other self while still alive…” The girl’s face turned pale. “The more I talk, the more I get scared about it.”

“How do the Shamans deal with it, then?” Fang Fei asked.

“I don’t know,” the girl looked at Fang Fei with some confusion. “Aren’t you already a Shaman?”

Fang Fei lowered her head slightly. “I have very little experience.”

“Oh…” The girl suddenly smiled. “It’s okay, you’re still young. By the way, how much lifespan do you have?”

“Huh?”

“Was your lifespan not calculated when you became a Shaman?” The girl stared at Fang Fei with round eyes, becoming more and more puzzled by the big sister in front of her.

Fang Fei whispered, “Don’t ask, it’s best to say less about taboo matters.”

The girl blushed. She smiled softly and no longer said anything.

Fang Fei felt she would inevitably blow her cover if she stayed longer, so she decided to take her leave. However, just as she was about to leave, the girl spoke again, “I guess the other you have already become a great Shaman, and she has provided you with many shortcuts.”

Fang Fei was filled with endless questions but couldn’t ask them one by one. It was a suffocating feeling. She took a deep breath and replied, “I believe the same for you.”

The girl smiled sweetly and spoke in a soft voice, “My lifespan is very long, from the birth of the white fish to the extinction of the earth’s core. She must have gone through many hardships to protect the carefree me today. Unfortunately, I can never see her in my eternal life.”

“She, the other you.” Fang Fei didn’t fully understand.

“I believe the other you have gone through the same.” The girl’s expression was extremely solemn.

At this point, Fang Fei had already stood up, and it seemed that their conversation was coming to an end.

“The lights are about to go out. Big Sister, you should head back.” the girl reminded her.

……

Fang Fei’s one and a half hours soon passed by, and so did everyone else’s.

When Fang Fei returned to the familiar room on the ninth floor, Mu Yiran was already developing films with Mai Peng and a few others, meanwhile Ke Xun and Wei Dong were setting up the food. Wei Dong looked up and saw Fang Fei, “You’re back, you’re back, another one has returned!”

“Who hasn’t returned yet?” Fang Fei first noticed Koharu, who had come to greet her alone. “What about Luo Bu?”

“I’ll go next door and look for him in a moment. He should be back by now. The pancakes are getting cold,” Ke Xun said.

Listening to Ke Xun’s tone, it felt like he was a father going to the neighbor’s house to find his playful child who hadn’t come home for dinner…

The door opened again, and this time, Shao Ling and Du Lingyu walked in.

“How did you two form a team on your own?” Wei Dong asked curiously.

“Just now, Xiao Du talked about her hallucinations, and I thought there was something to it. So I temporarily handed her camera to Mai Peng and went to a few places with her to explore and hopefully find new… clues.” Shao Ling swallowed the words “hopefully find new hallucinations”. It sounded somewhat cruel.

“Did you make any new discoveries?” Ke Xun looked at Du Lingyu, fortunately he couldn’t detect any signs of distress on her face.

Du Lingyu subconsciously touched the top of her head and remained silent.

Shao Ling continued, “We went to several places, including the wall with seven lines carved and the window of the top-floor where the coffin was suspended, but Xiao Du didn’t experience any more hallucinations. Later, we also visited the location on the second floor where Xiayu died, but again, no new hallucinations.”

Wei Dong patted Ke Xun and said, “Next time, send Mr. Ke, the ‘Hallucination Catalyst’.”

Shao Ling sat down and took a sip of water. “However, based on Xiao Du’s account, there are indeed some unfathomable things. When we first arrived in this world, did any of you feel a sudden headache?”

Ke Xun: “No.”

Wei Dong: “No, I don’t remember.”

Fang Fei: “No.”

Mai Peng, who was stirring the developing solution: “I don’t think so. I had a bad cold at that time, and my head was constantly foggy.”

Mu Yiran: “No.”

Cao Youning: “No, I was too scared at the time, if I felt a sudden headache I would definitely have yelled out. Lingyu, when did you feel the headache? How kind of pain was it?”

Du Lingyu moistened her throat with water. “It was right when we arrived in this world. It was still dark, and we were all in this pitch-black corridor. Suddenly, I felt a headache, but it happened all at once. After the pain went away, I felt fine. At that time, I thought it was just discomfort caused by entering the painting… Besides, I didn’t dare to say much at the time, so I didn’t mention it.”

“Was it very painful? Can you describe the location of the pain?” Qin Ci closed the medical book in his hands and asked: “What kind of sensation was the pain? Can you describe it? Have you ever experienced similar pain before?”

Du Lingyu carefully recalled, “It was the crown of my head, it felt like someone slapped it with quite some force, and it’s never been this painful before.”

Qin Cihé furrowed his brow, “Strange. Based on her description, I feel like she may have actually been hit by an external force.”

Ke Xun seemed to think of something and suddenly asked Mai Peng, “Didn’t you take a photo in the corridor when we first arrived? What shutter speed did you use?!”

Mai Peng just remembered, “Oh right, I did take a photo. I think it was my usual 1/250 second. But now, to save film, we’re using a single camera to take photos, and I can’t take out the film from my camera for now.”

Mu Yiran asked, “How much film would be wasted if you took it out?”

“If I do it in the dark and cut away the used portion, it shouldn’t waste more than a few pieces, maybe around three?” Mai Peng said. “I have a whole roll of film, so we can try this approach.”

“Alright, let’s give it a try. Let’s address any doubts as soon as possible,” Mu Yiran agreed.

Mai Peng looked at Du Linyu and asked, “Lingyu, are you sure your camera contains a full roll of film?”

“Yes, when I advanced the film, the display showed ‘one’.” Du Linyu couldn’t understand why there were problems with her film. “What’s wrong?”

“Your roll of film only has a dozen or so pieces in total.” Mai Peng found it equally perplexing.

“Why is that?” Du Linyu wondered.

“These rolls of film are hand-wound in this world. I don’t know why your roll only has a dozen or so pieces, but I don’t think it’s a case of mishandling.” Mai Peng said.

“For now, let’s stop making wild guesses. We’ll see after the film is developed.” Cao Youning said.

As they were busy with their work, Koharu suddenly hopped and ran to the door, making sounds of ‘woo’.

Sure enough, Luo Bu had returned, and his eyes flickered with panic. “Brother-in-law, where’s my brother-in-law?”

“Your brother-in-law is busy. What’s the matter?” Ke Xun pulled Luo Bu into the room.

“The fat uncle gave us a gift.” Luo Bu put an oiled paper bag on the table, “It’s dried fish.”

“Oh, in case it’s poisonous, don’t eat it.” Wei Dong didn’t even look at it.

But Luo Bu opened the paper bag: “Everyone look at this!”

The oily paper bag contained several palm-sized slices of fish, resembling flatfish yet completely snow-white in color.

Even after being pickled and dried, the white color was still dazzling.