Paintings of Terror

Chapter 86: Someone’s Been Polluted

Update: @tsundoku and Emilia Rose have found another site with the correct chapter names, so we are back on track!! <3 apparently the author mentioned something about “Unit 731” and that’s why POT was removed off jjwxc hopefully it’ll be back up soon

Shi Zhendong and Zhu Haowen finally completed their workload before two o’clock, and now everyone had congregated in the lobby on the second floor.

After hearing about the changes to Zhang Tianwei’s corpse, no one said anything, stunned expressions taking over their faces — aside from fear of the unknown, there was also the feeling of helplessness when facing so many changes.

Miao Zipei looked up at the clock on the wall and felt a little puzzled: “The color has changed again.”

Everyone looked up one after another when they heard these words, but they couldn’t see any obvious difference.

Only Yening Chenyi said: “It seems like…. It’s more blue now, not so much cyan, but rather indigo.”

“Us laymen don’t really understand this kind of specific color classification,” Shi Zhendong looked at his younger girlfriend who was also studying art, “What is indigo?”

Although Xin Beibei’s expertise was average, she still knew the basics: “Indigo is a combination of blue and purple, but I don’t think the current clock could be considered indigo.”

Miao Zipei’s eyes were like a highly accurate instrument for distinguishing colors. He squinted his eyes and looked at it for a while: “The color is undergoing a very slight change, slowly transitioning from cyan to indigo. Although the blue base is fixed, the underlying green is gradually turning into purple. I believe that after around ten minutes, everyone will be able to see the expected indigo color.”

Shi Zhendong was a little uncomfortable: “What does the color change on the clock mean? Although I don’t remember the specific color changes you mentioned, all of these colors are mixed, and both cyan and indigo aren’t among our five colors.”

“Why don’t we have student Miao elaborate on each change, and let’s try and analyze everything one by one.” Qin Ci said.

Miao Zipei was about to narrate carefully for everyone, but was interrupted by an exclamation.

The voice came from Yening Chenyi. She stood up from the chair in horror and kept shaking her skirt: “Oh my god, my skirt was stained with other colors!”

The first reaction from everyone was to stay away from this girl immediately, after all, polluting colors was the biggest taboo in this world.

After Yening Chenyi calmed down, she felt more and more like a harbinger of plague. At this moment, she took the initiative to stand far away from everyone, holding onto the skirt that had been stained with blue fruit juice, weeping lowly in the corner.

Yening Chenyi’s long dress was embroidered with lavender flowers, but now, in an inconspicuous area of the skirt, there was a touch of blue — this fresh and soft color was very glaring to the eye.

“Who is from the blue group?” After saying this, Ke Xun suddenly remembered that he was a member of the blue group.

Guo Lixia and Xin Beibei in the same group both hurriedly stood up: “This… every time we walk out the room, we make sure to wash our hands well.”

Yening Chenyi’s entrie face turned pale in shock: “What should I do, am I polluting the colors? When did this even happen? I’ve never even been in another room.”

“As long as you don’t enter a different workroom, it shouldn’t be considered pollution!” Ke Xun thought of this and quickly pulled Yening Chenyi towards the bathroom: “Let’s give it a try, maybe it can be washed off!”

Like a vassal offering silks, Yening Chenyi rushed towards the bathroom to turn on the faucet, using soap to scrub the garment back and forth.

The people in the hall looked very serious. Zhu Haowen said: “It’s currently unclear when she came in contact with the blue. If it was in the morning, then the room has now been contaminated.”

“Let’s not rush, the analysis should be carefully considered before drawing a conclusion,” Ke Xun carefully recalled everyone’s schedule today, “Xiao Ye has never entered the blue room, so the only explanation is that someone from the blue group accidentally brought the color outside and it stained Xiao Ye’s skirt.”

Both Guo Lixia and Xin Beibei frowned, their faces filled with indignation.

Ke Xun continued to analyze: “Everyone had completed their workload before lunch except for the green room, so after noon, no one else entered their work rooms. In other words, if the blue color was dyed after twelve o’clock, then everything should be fine after washing it off.”

Everyone nodded silently, and Shi Zhendong continued the train of thought: “The most dangerous time would be the morning. From morning until noon, only four people were working. At that time, only Guo — Xiao Guo was able to come in contact with the blue juice.”

Guo Lixia suddenly became anxious: “When did it become my fault?! I’ve been working all morning, always washing my hands before coming outside, and being very careful not to bring the color out of the room. Who isn’t afraid of what happened to He Yu yesterday?!”

Shi Zhendong hurriedly said: “Xiao Guo, don’t worry, this might not be an accurate hypothesis, and I didn’t say it was really you who did it.”

Ke Xun also comforted Guo Lixia with a few words, and Guo Lixia finally calmed down, but she couldn’t help but say: “This bad luck, I was just working and something went wrong…”

Shi Zhendong continued: “At ten o’clock in the morning, everyone gathered in the lobby. This was an important time frame and the first opportunity for the skirt to be stained with blue juice. Later, everyone went back to their rooms to work together before going out again at lunch. This should be the second, and last, time frame.”

At this time, Yening Chenyi also walked out the bathroom, her face still pale as paper: “After washing it several times, I think the color washed off, but I don’t know if that changes anything.”

Everyone didn’t know how to comfort her, and all words paled in comparison.

“Xiao Ye, who have you been in close contact with in the morning?” Ke Xun asked. After all, she would’ve had to get close to someone in order for the skirt to be stained.

Yening Chenyi carefully recalled for a long time: “I don’t remember, during the morning break, I mostly just spent time with Mi Wei…”

Mi Wei’s color was yellow, which immediately ruled her out of suspicion.

“I don’t think it happened in the morning,” Mu Yiran began speaking, and this sentence caught everyone’s attention. “When we left the first at one o’clock in the afternoon, the clocks were still blue. We reunited here at two o’clock, and Miao Zipei discovered that the color of the clock had changed from cyan to indigo. Indigo is a combination of blue and purple, this shouldn’t be a coincidence.”

Everyone carefully analyzed Mu Yiran’s words, and Miao Zipei looked up at the clockface that had become pure indigo: “Indeed, indigo is blue and purple mixed together. Yening Chenyi’s skirt was initially purple, and then it was stained with blue. The combination of these two colors would create exactly this indigo color! Is this the clue that the clock was hinting at?!”

Everyone was dumbfounded.

Mu Yiran lightly nodded his head: “Miao Zipei first discovered that the clock changed from white to orange, and orange is a mix of red and yellow. It’s probably related to yesterday’s pollution when He Yu entered the yellow room without washing the red paint on his hands. Can this be understood as the pollution of red with yellow?”

Everyone nodded thoughtfully, trusting this hypothesis: “It turns out the color change on the clock face reflects the color of the pollution! Every time a color is polluted, the pattern on the clock will change color!”

Mi Wei still grasped on a loophole: “But what does the cyan represent? The cyan appeared after the orange, and it’s a combination of blue and green, and the clock turned cyan this morning. Was there any chance of us polluting colors before even entering the workroom?”

Everyone fell silent again, and Ke Xun felt like his head would explode: “Although it’s impossible to explain the origin of the cyan color, the previous analysis should be correct. We all saw how the orange and indigo appeared.”

Yening Chenyi was still at a loss: “But, what can I do now…”

“At the very least, everyone has already completed their work quotas, so you won’t need to enter the workroom again.” Qin Ci also didn’t have any ideas.

.

Yening Chenyi nodded her head in a panic: “But, what about tonight? Our bedrooms are also filled with color!”

Ke Xun thought of something and raised his head, meeting Mu Yiran’s gaze. The two people frowned at the same time, but neither of them were able to think of anything.

Guo Lixia also felt that this little girl was very pitiful: “Hey, why don’t you stay in the lobby on the second floor for one night.”

“Isn’t that a violation of the rules…” Yening Chenyi’s whole person seemed sickly, almost resembling a terminally ill patient.

No one dared to say any more, after all, the NPC required everyone to go sleep in their respective rooms.

Just as everyone thought of the NPC, that familiar music sounded, and the NPC’s voice was so sweet that people wanted to choke her to death: “Congratulations everyone for completing today’s work task~ Afternoon tea is ready in the dining hall, requesting that everyone open the lobby door and go eat. After tea, everyone can stroll around and enjoy the scenery of the castle!” The NPC emphasized her tone as usual, “Remember not to pollute the colors! Remember!”

These words struck Yening Chenyi the hardest, and the girl was so scared that she couldn’t even cry. At this moment, she looked at Mu Yiran in a panic: “Group leader, what should I do?”

Ke Xun didn’t expect that Mu Yiran would be promoted to the purple group’s leader; they matched quite well…

Mu Yiran looked at Yening Chenyi’s eyes with a rare gentleness: “The color has been washed off, so there might be a chance. Don’t sleep in the hall at night, that in itself is a violation of the rules.”

Xin Beibei seemed to have thought of something: “If we think about the red bedroom, because of He Yu, the entire room lost color! If she really polluted the colors, will the purple bedroom also…”

There was an unshakable determination in Mu Yiran’s eyes: “The painting always has a bottom line, and especially when it concerns death conditions, it’s very strict — it will never use one person’s mistake to punish others.”

Wei Dong also said: “Xiao Ye, you can rest assured and go back to our bedroom, we are not afraid! If there’s any danger, maybe we can help you!”

Yening Chenyi was very moved and nodded hurriedly.

At this time, Guo Lixia had already pushed the dining trolley in. There were exquisite western-style pastries stacked in a tower, as well as a thin-necked round-bellied glassware containing bright red pomegranate juice.

Everyone was a little bit put off and chose the ordinary tea instead.

“We have to continue looking for signatures, we shouldn’t waste our free time during daylight hours.” Qin Ci ate the delicious cookies but his face was expressionless.

“This castle is made up of several connected buildings. As of right now, we only know about this square building, as well as the round building connected by the corridor on the fourth floor. We must find a way to figure out the floor plan of the entire castle,” said Shi Zhendong.

Xin Beibei quickly spoke up: “There’s also the exterior of the castle as well. We only looked at the wishing pool this morning, but we didn’t have time to look at the maze yet!”

—

A: Ngl it’s kinda creepy the way the castle seems to be slowly but surely tripping them up. They still haven’t figured out how the blue juice got out of the room, and now that red pomegranate juice…

H: It is indeed very eerie… at least they finally figured out the meaning of the clock