Paintings of Terror

Chapter 63: Come ah, Let’s Meet Naked~

The Cyrano Art Museum was located on a relatively quiet street in the cultural circle of City G.

Judging from the information collected by members of the Introduction to Painting Theory group, this art museum has always been rather avant-garde. The exhibitions undertaken in the museum are typically abstract and surrealist works, with many of the owners of these works being small and unknown painters, while others were only well-known in niche circles.

Even Mu Yiran failed to provide any useful clues this time.

It’s worth mentioning that, as a new member to the group, Zhu Haowen joined the “Introduction to Painting Theory” chat. Meanwhile, A Gentle and Soft Green’s avatar in the group was permanently fixed to a blank photo.

It could be said that no matter what kind of person Sha Liu was when she was alive, in the end they felt they could not judge her in death and could only sigh in pity. But as people who were destined to die anyway, sympathizing with others was both inherently useless and a waste of emotions.

When Ke Xun and Wei Dong arrived at the Cyrano Art Museum, it was raining heavily. Due to the fact that it was already midsummer, the climate was too humid to bear. Therefore, an open AC building like the art museum became the best place for nearby pedestrians to avoid the rain and beat the heat.

“We’ll definitely have enough people to join us now.” Wei Dong said sarcastically.

Ke Xun collapsed the umbrella and went to find the personal item storage with Wei Dong, when they happened to find Zhu Haowen there already.

Zhu Haowen’s fashion was one that Ke Xun admired a lot: a blue and white horizontal striped T, a pair of moss green loose slacks, rolled up trousers that exposed his ankles, and a pair of blue and white canvas shoes. The whole person emanated a sort of Japanese Harajuku style.

It was a shame this set of clothes could easily become anything from beggar robes to even monk attire after entering the painting.

“Konnichiwa!!” Ke Xun greeted.

Zhu Haowen turned his head, and after giving Ke Xun’s face and body a once-over, nodded lightly.

“Let’s go up together,” Ke Xun offered. “The fourth exhibition hall is on the third floor.”

“Although the building doesn’t seem that big on the outside, it has quite a lot of floors.” Wei Dong added, looking at the towering iron staircase and wiping his face.

The prospect of entering another painting reminded him of going to the hospital for injections as a child; the smell of disinfectant upon entering would cause his stomach to seize and his legs to tremble in fear.

At this moment, Wei Dong really wished he was going to the fourth exhibition hall for an injection rather than to die.

Ke Xun patted his shoulders sympathetically and took the lead going up the stairs.

The architectural style of this art gallery was also very surreal and bizarre. A door here, a window there, and sculptures of strange shapes would pop up once in a while, causing the three people to search for a long time before they found the fourth exhibition hall entrance.

At the entrance, there was a sign titled “Works of Emerging Artists”, the area below showing twenty artist names.

“Ah, it’s another mixed-artist exhibition hall,” Ke Xun said. “When we go in later, let’s divide the work. Once the light shines from the painting, I will look at the canvas, and the two of you will look at the display cards under the painting. Let’s do our best to clearly see the artist’s name and painting summary, alright?”

“Alright.” Wei Dong tried to make himself seem confident.

Zhu Haowen carefully nodded his head in agreement.

The three of them marched forward into the exhibition hall, and they were immediately blinded by the weird and bizarre paintings that ordinary people couldn’t understand. The content was strange and the colors were bold; it was almost as if they had entered a mental hospital by mistake instead.

When the overhead lights suddenly went out and another ray of light appeared, the three men immediately cast their eyes on the painting that was emitting light. After the flash, they opened their eyes and found that they were already in the painting.

Zhu Haowen: “…….”

Wei Dong: “………..”

Ke Xun: “………………”

Wei Dong: “This time we… seem to have entered a men’s bathhouse this time?”

Why were there naked men in all directions……

Looking at each other, Zhu Haowen’s Harajuku men’s clothing, Ke Xun’s black T and hip-hop pants, and Wei Dong’s white T and holey denim, all had disappeared without a trace, not even their boxers were left alone.

“Fuck! What the hell is this!” Wei Dong quickly covered his privates and clamped his legs.

“Don’t bother covering it, there are only men here anyway.” Ke Xun looked around calmly as if he was wearing high-end clothing instead of being naked.

“Huh, how come it feels like you’re getting exactly what you want.” Wei Dong side-eyed him.

“Does it seem like I haven’t seen something like this before?” Ke Xun kept scanning the surrounding group of naked men. “If you want to see this kind of thing, you can go to the public bathhouse anytime.”

“Forget about it, the men who go to bathhouses are all big-bellied middle aged uncles, unless you’re hardcore like that.” Wei Dong said.

“That’s just the kind of bathhouses you went to, considering there are only uncles in the public ones. Some bathhouses are filled with young, handsome and good-looking fresh meat like me.” Ke Xun said.

“You damn gay.” Wei Dong rolled his eyes.

“You damn hetero.” Ke Xun shot back.

Zhu Haowen glanced at them from the sidelines.

Ke Xun was still sweeping his eyes across the crowd when Wei Dong directly exposed his intentions. “If you want to see Lord Mu’s body so badly just say straight out instead of acting like a groundhog.”

“But I’m so bent, how could I tell it to you ‘straight’.” Ke Xun said.

“No wait let’s stop for a second, this is a painting, not an actual bathhouse. Let’s not forget the situation at hand okay?” Wei Dong looked around again, noticing that aside from him, all the other surrounding naked men were calmly sitting or standing or laying on the grass; everyone looked extremely comfortable. He reluctantly moved his hand away from covering his privates. “Did we enter an erotic painting or an anatomical model poster? Why is everyone butt naked?”

Ke Xun asked him: “Did you see what was written on the display board before entering the painting?”

Wei Dong replied: “I saw the name of the artist, they’re called Lex.”

“Where is Hao Wen’er?” Ke Xun looked in the direction of the Zhu Haowen who had remained silent the entire time.

Zhu Haowen maintained eye contact with Ke Xun’s as he replied “I was able to clearly see the painting’s name; it’s called 【Animal World】.”

Wei Dong was puzzled: “Are you sure this isn’t a TV show? What does【Animal World】have to do with naked people?”

Ke Xun replied: “Technically humans are animals too, but as for the reason why we’re naked, we probably won’t be able to figure that out for now.”

Wei Dong asked him: “Did you take a look at the canvas?”

Ke Xun replied: “We entered the painting too quickly so I only got a quick glance. I think I saw a cow head, and there seemed to be a cat with a strange expression in the distance.”

“Well I guess we’re not wrong about the animal part.” Wei Dong shook his head. “What are we supposed to do now? Just hang around like these other naked people, chilling and playing under the sun?”

Ke Xun answered seriously: “I think our top priority should be finding our friends so we can all discuss together.”

Wei Dong: “Hehe.”

The three of them stood there and looked around, and after ten minutes, Qin Ci appeared on the grass.

Qin Ci was obviously shocked when he entered the painting and immediately found himself naked, but in the end he was a doctor and soon calmed down. He calmly walked to the three of them and raised his hand to wave.

Seeing each other naked like this…..

Wei Dong hid behind Ke Xun and watched this “bold” greeting.

“Doctor Qin, what do you think about the situation?” Ke Xun asked.

Qin Ci’s usual calm and composed face was also a bit emotional at this moment: “I also have no clue, I never thought the style of this painting would be like this…”

Ke Xun tilted his head: “Surrealism is an art style that breaks through all kinds of shackles and is free from secular constraints. By the way, have you seen Mu Yiran?”

Qin Ci shook his head.

The four of them stood there and continued to wait.

After another ten minutes, there appeared two men in their twenties, both with panicked looks on their faces. One was very tall and broad, likely over 6 feet tall. The other youth was round and chubby, his belly bouncing up and down as he ran. Combined with the nakedness, it was very painful for the eyes.

Ke Xun and Wei Dong looked at them with indescribable expressions and watched these two men rush around aimlessly before running into the group of naked men basking in the sun. They didn’t know what kind of questions they asked, but soon the two had attracted a group of people who looked at them with disdain.

“Over here!” Qin Ci waved over the newcomers.

The two rushed over, and the tall and strong man cleared his throat and asked, “What’s the matter? Where is this? Who are you?”

Ke Xun and Wei Dong were accustomed to hearing these three questions from newcomers, but decided to leave this kind of thing to the very patient Qin Ci instead. The two moved aside, mainly to avoid the fat man’s panting. Since everyone was naked now, the fat man’s rapid breathing sprayed directly on the chest of the two people making them feel numb from head to toe.

A few minutes later, the two newcomers unsurprisingly voiced their doubts and reprimands; Ke Xun and Wei Dong moved even further when they saw this.

Some things just can’t be repeated again and again without losing an inordinate amount of patience. Of course, for the very patient Doctor Qin, his work was like this everyday.

While Qin Ci continued explaining to the newcomers, more than ten minutes had passed, and again came a young man around eighteen or nineteen years old from the grass. He had a pale body with a slim waist and short legs who seemed to be squinting at people, staggering as he ran.

“My glasses are missing — my classmates are missing — where is this? What’s the matter? Who are you?” The pale youth held his head and shrank into a ball.

Qin Ci continued his explanation.

“Something couldn’t have happened to Mu Yiran, right?” Ke Xun looked at the grassy plain.

“Maybe he would rather die outside than be coveted by you.” Wei Dong said.

“Hehe,” Ke Xun glanced at him, “I’m more worried about the girls who entered the painting.”

Wei Dong’s mouth opened fell open: “Fuck! Why didn’t I think of this- fuck- this is going to cause problems!”

Ke Xun: “…Can you control your joyful expression, let’s not forget the situation at hand okay?”

Wei Dong squeezed his lips shut with his hand, but opened his mouth again and said: “How come we haven’t seen a woman come in after waiting for so long? Furthermore, have you noticed all the people over there sunbathing are men as well?”

Ke Xun: “Perhaps due to the strange nature of this painting, it was only men who were selected to enter this time.”

Wei Dong: “What kind of bullshit painting!”

Ke Xun: “Pay attention to your quality of life and focus on harmony.”

Wei Dong: “Harmony is ****! Tell me the truth, this painting was actually made by you right? Do you have a pen name called Lex, are all the animals you draw bent too?”

“Hush…” Ke Xun said suddenly.

Wei Dong raised his eyebrows to look at him, and saw that the corners of his naturally curved mouth were gently bent upwards as he looked forward intently.

Wei Dong followed his gaze and saw Mu Yiran slowly walking towards them under the brilliant sunlight.

His skin was white and glowing, and his tight muscles resembled intricately carved sculptures of Greek gods. His narrow waist and slender straight legs perfectly reflected what was known as the golden ratio and what was called exquisite sexiness.

Wei Dong felt that as a straight man, he couldn’t even take his eyes off this body, let alone his gay bro…Huh, where’d he go?

Instead of flying forward as he imagined, his gay bro ducked behind him.

Wei Dong: “…….”

Is he really being shy, or is it… “getting up” at the sight?

A: Hey everyone! This is Amanagawa here, I’m super excited to be picking up the translation for? Paintings of Terror I’ve been following the series for a while, so we’ll all be experiencing the story together! This is my first time translating, so please feel free to comment or @ me in the discord if you find any mistakes. The big bulk of work is honestly from my lovely editor Hime <3 she helps me out so much QAQ please welcome her too!

Hime: Hiya, I’m Hime the editor! Amanagawa is doing such a great job at translating and I’m so excited to be a part of the team and share this journey with you all >< Excited to see our mc melt MYR’s ice heart (?????)? ??

A: among other things… hehe (?ω<) About update schedules: Since I’m just starting, I’ll be doing a chapter a week (probably always posted Sat or Sun), but as we go along I’ll start trying to up my load to 2 chapters a week or so. If there’s ever a reason for a delay or time off, I’ll always let you guys know through the discord