Paintings of Terror

Chapter 59: The Old Man Who Was Like a Beacon

Translated by Eve

Edited by EB

Xin Miao had returned to the atrium at some unknown point in time. She would periodically oscillate between dancing and staring blankly into the opening in the sky.

Wei Dong bought a few bean paste buns and called her over to eat something.

Although the gatekeeper uncle had excluded her from the ‘human’ category, she still had ‘human’ instincts when presented with bean paste buns.

Old Man Li Taiyong said, “You guys search for the signature. I’ll watch over this child.”

Therefore, the other six people continued to search the building for the signature or seal. There just so happened to be six people and six floors. Each person was tasked with one floor. They had to do their best to search in the most unexpected places.

As Sha Liu put it, they couldn’t even let off a single crack between the tiles.

Sha Liu volunteered to take the first floor. Ever since she heard that there was a store that sold second-hand goods and that some of their wares were purchased from the tenants of this building, Sha Liu had started to believe that this shop must have what they needed.

The other people took the upper floors. As the men ascended the stairs, Qin Ci said, “I just find it weird. Who was the one to knock on Room 410’s door? And why did they only knock on that one door?”

“They also left a weird red whistle on their door.” There was some derision in Ke Xun’s expression.

Wei Dong turned to look at his roommate. “Weren’t you looking out the window the whole time?”

Zhu Haowen: “Not when the giant face appeared.”

“……”

“There was no one in front of 410’s room when the knocking sounded.” Zhu Haowen said with no expression.

This was exactly what Mu Yiran had seen last night.

“Maybe it was the old man from before? Maybe he can go invisible. Another possibility is that the person who knocked on Room 410’s door is someone else entirely?” Qin Ci was befuddled.

Mu Yiran suddenly spoke up: “What I want to know is if Sha Liu has discussed Room 307 with any of you yesterday afternoon.”

Everyone carefully combed through their memories. In the end, Qin Ci said, “When we all went to take a nap, she knocked on our door. She said that she wanted to learn more about our room. She said that, according to her analysis, the first door the resentful spirit would knock on would likely be her room, Room 410. Therefore, she wanted to be prepared.”

“And then?” Several people said at once.

“We let her into the room. She searched the room for a long time but didn’t seem to find any noteworthy clues.” Qin Ci furrowed his brows as he sunk into his memories. “But…we did find something related to the old man in the drawers. The old man who used to live in Room 307 was a very kindhearted person. He usually lived frugally. With the money he saved, he’d help people who were worse off. In particular, he helped children that attended Hope primary schools.... There were a lot of letters from students who were helped by him. There were also letters of praise from the school.”

Everyone thought of the old man from last night who had been shouting ‘Wangfu.’ They had not expected for him to lead such a life.

“But we didn’t find anything related to the porcelain pot. We have no idea what could possibly be in it….”

Mu Yiran asked, “What did Sha Liu say at the time?”

“She had been disappointed but Uncle Li tried to comfort her. He said that the old man who used to live in Room 307 was likely a kind person and that he probably wouldn’t harm them at night…. Sha Liu was comforted at first but quickly after, she started to worry about something else. She was afraid of the vote that would happen the next day should no one die….”

Mu Yiran seemed to have a realization. “No one can be certain of anything when it comes to the vote. As such, some people will become restless as it nears.”

“No wonder. When we were talking about the bamboo’s secret on the sixth floor, Sha Liu had looked terrified for some baffling reason.” Ke Xun had thought that Sha Liu had acted very abnormal last night. “While the idea of breaking through the ground is indeed a horrifying thought, the atmosphere Sha Liu created was even scarier. She was acting like an alarmist.”

Wei Dong had also sensed that. “She even suggested jumping out the windows at dinner.”

“Jumping out the window is a very tempting suggestion because the NPCs had never explicitly prohibited that action. Sha Liu probably really wanted to know what would happen if someone were to jump out the window, but she wasn’t willing to test it out herself. That’s why she chose to use someone else as a test subject.” Ke Xun looked at Xin Miao, who was dancing on the lower floor. Sha Liu was indeed ruthless. She felt no guilt towards Xin Miao. She had also rid herself of all responsibility for Qiu Lu’s death.

Qin Ci started to understand. “If jumping out the window worked for someone else, then Sha Liu could use it in the future. If it didn’t work, then she still wins because she ends up getting rid of one or two people. This would prevent the vote from happening the next day.”

After working through her plan, the men found her even more frightening.

“Just why did that old man choose Room 410? Was it even the old man?” Wei Dong still didn’t get it.

“Has anyone noticed that the knocking on their door was quieter than normal?” Mu Yiran asked.

Qin Ci was the first to nod in agreement. “Yes. It was a bit quieter and a bit muffled.”

“That’s because the knocking came from the inside.” Mu Yiran slowly spat out his conclusion.

Everyone was shocked. “What? The people inside 410 knocked on their own door?! Was it Sha Liu?”

“That’s right.” This time, it was Ke Xun who spoke up. “Sha Liu only needed to make up an excuse to head into the living room on her own. She could then knock on her own door from the inside. She managed to trick all of us, let alone Qiu Li. After Sha Liu knocked on the door, she screamed. This made Qiu Lu think that something terrifying happened in Room 410. Sha Liu then flipped things over to make it seem like someone had made their way into the apartment. She then encouraged Qiu Lu to jump out the window.”

The truth had come to light. There was a different expression on everyone’s faces. Some had on a sneer, some were angry, some only sighed while some remained expressionless.

Ultimately, it was Qin Ci who broke the silence. He sighed. “Before the enemy is settled, a traitor is born.”

“But who hung the whistle?” Ke Xun asked.

“Probably the old man from 307.” Zhu Haowen glanced at the eye-catching whistle on the fourth floor. “After everything settled, the old man silently made his way over to 410’s door and hung the whistle before disappearing through the stairs.”

“Will yesterday’s horrifying events cycle like an infinite loop?” Qin Ci asked.

Zhu Haowen said, “No. I think that hanging that whistle was really imaginative. I think it’ll be more like an endless spiral upwards.”

Wei Dong looked at his roommate. Suddenly, he thought that the other was kind of a freak….

A whole day passed but no one came up with anything.

Sha Liu had searched through all the objects in the second-hand shop. In the end, however, she returned with disappointment.

Sha Liu had difficulty controlling her emotions. After all, the whistle hung on her door.

At dinner, Old Man Li Taiyong spoke with an earnest expression. “I have something to tell everyone.”

Everyone stopped eating and turned their gaze to the elderly person who rarely showed such grave expressions.

“Xiao Qin told me about the rules of the world inside the painting. He told me that if no one dies tonight, we will have to vote,” Old Man Li Taiyong paused, “I think that this is something extremely difficult. Not only will this lead to a hurtful falling out, we will also be forced to take another’s life.”

Everyone knew that. It was just that the rules were the rules. No one could go against them.

“What I was thinking, is that if such a day comes, everyone, please choose me with no reservations.” There was kindness in the elderly man’s solemn expression.

Ke Xun was the first to oppose. “Grandpa, we don’t have to resort to that yet! We might find the signature tomorrow! Besides, even if we have to vote, I can’t bear to vote for you.”

“Xiao Ke er, listen to me.” Old Man Li Taiyong smiled. “You’re all in the prime of your lives. There are still many things out there for you to experience. I’m seventy-six years old this year. I’ve experienced enough. I think that it’s worth it, to trade my old life for your young lives. If I can do that, I won’t feel like I’ve lived in vain.”

Everyone’s eyes reddened. Ke Xun felt like his eyes were hot. He looked at Sha Liu, whose head was lowered. He wanted to ask the elderly man something, but no words would come out of his mouth.

Old Man Li Taiyong continued, “I’ve been thinking about this for the last few days. I’ve already made my decision. If you choose to abide by my decision, I will consider that the greatest respect you could ever confer to me.”

Although Ke Xu had seen selfishness and schemes inside these paintings, he had also seen people like Zhou Bin, whose love for his girlfriend had been unshakable. There had also been Mother and Father Geng who had wanted to protect their child to their deaths….

But Old Man Li Taiyong was different from the others. After all, they were neither kin nor friends of the elderly man. They had only known each other for four days…. Do they deserve to get a get-out-of-death free card just because they were young? Should the elderly die first just because they were older?

“After you make it out of here, make ample preparations. Gain as much experience as you can. Help each other out. Do everything you can to make it through the following paintings. Make it back to our world! When the time comes, you will be the strongest, most fearless group of young people the world has ever seen. If you have great ambitions, help build our nation. If you have no lofty aspirations, just live a happy life. Don’t leave behind any regrets.”

Ke Xun would forever remember Old Man Li Taiyong’s words. Many, many years later, he will still be able to vividly recall his speech.

He would also recall what Mu Yiran had said afterwards. He had said that the elderly man was like a beacon.

….

The long night once again descended. At a bit past nine, Sha Liu came to ask the guys in 411 for help. She said that the large window in her room wouldn’t close no matter what she did.

Mu Yiran completely ignored her. He acted like he didn’t hear her at all.

In the end, Ke Xun still headed over to 410 to take a look. He saw that the large window facing the cement wall was fully-opened. Because the window was an old-fashioned wooden one that opened by pushing outwards, one had to pull it in to close the window. But it was like the wood had rotted. No matter what he did, he couldn’t shut the window.

It was like it was preserving the scene from when Qiu Lu had jumped out.

Sha Liu was suspicious of Ke Xun. She thought that he wasn’t giving it his all to help her. Therefore, she also asked Qin Ci and Old Man Li Taiyong for help. She even went to ask the gatekeeper uncle. Regardless, the window was stubborn. It didn’t close for anyone.

Sha Liu was about to look for something to nail the window shut in a panic but the gatekeeper uncle gave them a warning for lights out before she could.

It would soon be eleven o’clock. Sha Liu was devastated.

In the end, the electricity was cut and not a sound could be heard.

Mu Yiran and Ke Xun did what they did last night. They stood guard over the small window that had no curtain.

From their points of view, they could see the bright red whistle hanging off of Room 410. It was currently swaying softly with the night breeze.

“If our door is knocked on tonight,” Ke Xun had a premonition that this would happen. After all, Room 411 was the closest room to Room 410. If Sha Liu was in danger, she would very likely knock on their door. “We have to make sure we look for any apparitions in our room.”

The snow-white woman from Room 410 and the pot-holding old man from Room 307 both appeared three and two nights ago respectively when someone knocked on their doors. If they could carefully examine the apparition, they might be able to gain something.

Mu Yiran nodded. He looked at Ke Xun. The moonlight illuminated the other man’s body and face. He then shifted his gaze back to the window.

Ke Xun had been enjoying the other’s shining gaze before it disappeared. He sighed, content, before also turning towards the window.

The view outside was the dark tube-shaped apartment. The circular hallways looked like the lines around a stalk of bamboo. The top was also slowly coming together….

Suddenly, the red whistle began to emit a high-pitched noise in the silence of the freakish night. The first sound was short, as if someone was just testing it out.

Quickly after, the whistles grew longer. It sounded like it was being blown to the rhythm of ‘Wangfu’….

However, no one was blowing into it. It was making noise on its own.

Eve: Li Taiyong MY HEART. I almost tear up every single time I read his speech.