Paintings of Terror

Chapter 50: Spring Bamboo

Translated by Eve

Edited by EB

Since the NPC didn’t have any missions for them, everyone decided to look for the signature after breakfast.

Because it was inconvenient for Old Man Li Taiyong to move around, he waited at Wu Mei’s Restaurant while having tea for the time being.

At present, the remaining ten members of the party were congregated at the atrium.

The newcomers were all silent after seeing actual deaths. At the same time, their instinct to survive filled them with energy.

“Xiao Mu, do you have any ideas?” Qin Ci asked.

Everyone listened with respectful attention. They all had an inexplicable feeling that this tall man wasn’t simple by any means.

Mu Yiran looked up at the oddly-shaped tube-apartment. “Only by finding clues related to the deaths will we be able to seek out the signature’s location. Looking at the current condition of 402, it seems like their death is related to last year’s fire. I don’t know if this could be considered one of the rules governing the method of death, as I’m not sure about the specifics around it.”

It wasn’t just Mu Yiran who had thought of this. Sha Liu also nodded. “The gatekeeper uncle specifically gathered all of us to tell us about what happened last year. I think that this has to be one of the rules! After every death, the NPC will tell us about the mode of death.”

Mode of death. A fitting description.

Thinking of this closely, this NPC setting was actually really cruel. Whenever something happened, the gatekeeper uncle would stand up and say: this happened to the previous tenant last year, that person died like this, do you understand now….

“Every person is cursed by the previous tenant of the apartment they reside in. That means that the most urgent issue we must tackle is to find out what kind of death occurred in each of our rooms!” Sha Liu was a little worked up. Her gaze drifted over each person. “Before searching for the signature, I think we should resolve this first!”

“But we can’t visit other people after lights out. We can only face the danger with the other tenants of our rooms!” Xin Miao spoke up, her face deathly pale. She was the only living tenant of 402 at present.

Wei Dong tried to comfort Xin Miao. “As long as we don’t break the rules, it shouldn’t be too bad….Besides, something’s already happened in your room. The likelihood of something happening again is probably lower now.”

Qiu Lu jumped off of Wei Dong’s words, “That’s right! The reason they died last night was because they were knocking on people’s doors! They broke the rules! As long as we earnestly remember the gatekeeper uncle’s words and don’t visit other units after lights out or go to other floors, we should be fine!” Qiu Lu rarely spoke so loudly. It was clear that she was trying to raise her own courage.

Zhi Shao was the most realistic of the three poets. “But one person has to die everyday. That’s what Dr. Qin said yesterday. If no one dies, we’ll have to vote….”

Everyone fell silent.

In the end, it was Ke Xun who broke the silence. “There is not enough information for us to come to a conclusion regarding the rules governing over death. I don’t think it’s likely that we’ll ‘have the chance’ to vote any time soon.”

Mu Yiran glanced at Ke Xun: Is this supposed to be comforting…?

Sha Liu was anxious. “We’re already figured it out! The previous deaths will happen again in each apartment! As long as we search the rooms carefully and analyze what we find, we will find clues! For example, the scorched marks on the walls of Room 402!”

“Only one death has occurred thus far. There is no way we can be certain that every death will occur in the apartments, or that the targets will be the tenants of each respective apartment.” Ke Xun didn’t look at Sha Liu, whose gaze was scorching. His eyes shifted over to the four staircases and he fell into thought.

Mu Yiran continued where he left off: “The disappearance of the stairs was likely intimately related to the design of last night’s death. That means that the scope of where the death could have occurred is actually very wide—it was by no means limited to their apartment. Secondly, aside from the strict rules given to us by the NPC, there has to be other hidden death conditions we have yet to uncover. If someone were to trigger a death condition while outside of their room, would they die according to a mode of death assigned to another room while still inside of their own?”

Ke Xun looked at Mu Yiran, his expression changing subtly. Was Boss Mu explaining on his behalf? His understanding of the situation was more-or-less the same as his own as well….

“Outside the room? Why would someone leave their room in the middle of the night?” Qiu Lu thought that this question was terrifying.

Ke Xun sent Sha Liu a meaningful look. “The NPC said that we could not visit other people or other floors. That means that, aside from our own units, we can still travel through the hallways, communal washrooms and the stair area.

Sha Liu didn’t mind the fact that Ke Xun had seen through her plan. In contrast, she felt better knowing that there were other intelligent people around. “If that’s the case, if something were to happen in a particular unit and the people in the unit managed to escape to the hallway, they can be helped. That wouldn’t count as visiting other units or floors. We can help each other so long as we’re in an unrestricted area!”

Xin Miao also got worked up. “Can I stay in the hallway the whole night then? I don’t want to stay there alone! My friends died….”

“If we could stay in the hallway, there would be no need to assign us rooms.” Qin Ci rebuked her. “Sha Liu’s emergency plan will probably only be effective for a short period of time.”

Qiu Lu was slower to react. Only now did she process what Sha Liu had said. She hastily ran over to hold Xin Miao’s hand. “That’s right! We girls are weak! You guys have to help us out when the time comes!”

As she said this, she tugged on Xin Miao’s hand. Xin Miao nodded along.

Shou Zhu comforted them. “Don’t worry. Us men should protect women.”

Zhu Haowen, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly spoke up. “Death doesn’t discriminate between the old or the young. Death in this apartment complex also doesn’t discriminate between men and women. There’s no reason for anyone to be obligated to take care of anyone else.”

Qiu Lu felt like her ego had taken a hit. She looked at the fellow wearing Japanese-styled clothes. Although he looked nice, his words were harsh. “Don’t you know the saying, ‘one never knows from which cloud rain will fall?’ Who knows who’s the one who’s going to need help later on! Just like how we’re taking care of Grandpa Li right now, we should help each other out. We can go further by working together rather than on our own!”

“If we had to run for our lives right now, would you trail at the end and help Grandpa Li out?” Zhu Haowen retorted. “This is the Spring Bamboo Apartments, not the Titanic.”

Wei Dong quickly went over to pat his roommate. “All right, no need to waste your breath. Think about it, what they’re talking about has nothing to do with us.” He then looked at Sha Liu, “We live on the sixth floor. Due to the floor restriction, we’re basically cut off from you guys at night.”

Sha Liu’s mind whirled. “How about telling us about any weird phenomenon you experienced in Room 616 now? We can help you guys think of a solution!”

Wei Dong thought about it. Aside from the fact that staying in Room 616 gave them headaches and chest pain, there really wasn’t anything odd about it. “Our apartment’s pretty clean. It’s just really stifling up there. Ke er, wanna go in and test it out?”

“Sure. Grandpa Li also handed me a bottle of Compound Danshen Dripping pills. I’ll take one and then go up to take a look la….”

Zhu Haowen cut him off: “Our unit changes shape.”

Ke Xun: “The fuck?”

Everyone’s expression changed upon hearing this. Change shape? Do you think this apartment complex is a Transformer?

Mu Yiran looked at Zhu Haowen: “It changed shape?”

Zhu Haowen nodded. “As soon as I entered the suite last night, I started to look for the signature. That’s why I remember both the approximate location of the things in the room and its angles. When I woke up this morning, I noticed that the outer wall of the room was slightly tilted inwards. Many of the objects placed on the wall also shifted. The angle between the wall and the floor is no longer exactly ninety degrees. It seems like it’s become an acute angle.”

Many people had to take a moment to digest what Zhu Haowen had said.

Wei Dong was the most surprised. He didn’t expect for his roommate to be so sharp. Originally, he had planned on saying, “Bro, I’ll be counting on you,” but he was afraid that the other would spit back a “There is no such thing as camaraderie at Spring Bamboo Apartments.” In the end, he stayed silent.

Mu Yiran said, “It would be best if we all returned to our rooms to inspect them again. Try to see if you notice anything that’s different from last night. Might as well take the opportunity to search for the signature while we’re at it. We will then re-congregate and discuss any and all changes or abnormalities we’ve found.”

Everyone agreed to this plan. Even Zhu Haowen nodded.

Ke Xun and Mu Yiran returned to Room 411. The fourth floor housed the greatest proportion of their party members. Aside from 411, there was also Sha Liu and Qiu Lu in 410. Xin Miao was also in Room 402 on her own.

If one was to solely consider the people on this floor, Ke Xun and Mu Yiran were without a doubt the best in terms of physical strength and reflexes. The other three were girls. In Qiu Lu’s words, they ‘needed to be protected.’

The real reason Sha Liu had said all that was to direct the conversation towards that subject.

Ke Xun didn’t really think much of it. If his comrades were in danger in front of him, he would not stand by and watch. No one needed to remind him of that.

“Do you know anything about this painting or painter?” Ke Xun turned on the electric fan. The door and small window were also open. This helped air circulate through the stuffy room.

Mu Yiran carefully examined the corners of the room, as if trying to find any differences from last night. In particular, he focused on the angle of the ground in relation to the walls. However, he didn’t notice anything off.

“Breaking Through the Ground isn’t a painting.”

“You better not tell me it’s actually a horror movie.” Ke Xun was facing the fan, so his voice sounded distorted.

Mu Yiran paused before continuing: “Breaking Through the Ground isn’t one single painting. It’s actually a series or works. They describe the environment in which the painter grew up. There are twelve paintings in total, each brimming with vitality.”

“Twelve paintings?”

“The series, Breaking Through the Ground, consists of twelve paintings. They depict the streetscape the painter grew up in. There are depictions of snack vendors, hair salons, etc. They are a representation of an ordinary life.”

“Are there any mentions of the Spring Bamboo Apartments? Or any other circular tube-shaped apartments?”

“I’ve never researched the twelve paintings in detail. In contrast to painter Luo Bing’s magical realism works, these twelve paintings are so realistic that they seem ordinary.” Several names of this painter’s works appeared in Mu Yiran’s mind. They were all filled with mystery and fanaticism. However, they all had deeper meanings relating to society and history behind them.

“Did you notice anything before entering the painting?” Ke Xun tried his best to recall what he had seen. “For example, an electric fan or children skipping rope.”

“I didn’t see as much as you did. Aside from the label ‘Breaking Through the Ground’ in one corner of the painting, the only thing I could faintly make out while being pulled into the painting’s vortex was…” Mu Yiran frowned. It seemed like he too thought that what he saw was peculiar—even comical. “A stalk of bamboo.”

“Bamboo?” Ke Xun couldn’t recall if he had seen anything pertaining to bamboo after arriving at the apartment complex. “Do you think there’s a connection between bamboo and the Spring Bamboo Apartments?”

Mu Yiran didn’t reply. His eyes were focused on the old-fashioned desk in front of him. “There’s something engraved onto the desk.”

“Is it the character for morning?” Ke Xun also walked over. Upon getting closer, he noticed that it was actually the character for return. It looked like it was carved into the desk with a ballpoint pen as there were hints of blue ink inside the engraving.

The character was very deeply carved into the desk. Who knew how many repetitions it would have taken to carve into the desk with a feeble ballpoint pen? Every single stroke was deeply engraved. One could imagine just how intense the carver’s desire or hatred must have been.

Eve: While it is kind of smart to use your womanly wiles to get protection (assuming it works), imma just say in a real life or death situation irl ain’t few gonna care in this day and age.