Paintings of Terror

Chapter 151: Regrets of the Classics

Mu Yiran wrote “moon, incantation” on the paper and then raised his eyes to gaze at them. “Then continue to advance the plot and learn how to walk through walls…”

Ke Xun and Wei Dong, under Mu Yiran’s guidance, dissected the plot of Laoshan Taoist.

Since they were working hard, time flew by very quickly. When Qin Ci and Luo Wei returned, it was already more than 8 in the evening.

The paper-like changes on these two people’s bodies had also become quite serious, and their every movement would result in the sound of paper crinkling.

“We almost couldn’t come back.” Qin Ci looked at his flat hands. “…Paper people walk really slow.”

“You’ve worked hard,” Mu Yiran said. “How did it go?”

“Meijian Chi triggered The Fish Boy,” Qin Ci said. “There was a character in Meijian Chi called Heizi, who was Gan Jiang’s disciple. After Gan Jiang was imprisoned by the King of Chu, Heizi took Meijian Chi and escaped on a boat. The treacherous officials next to the King of Chu shot him into the water. Luo Wei and I managed to advance the story to here when we realized that the boat they took was similar to the fisherman’s boat in The Fish Boy. Fortunately, we were right.”

“If this is the case, then most of the worlds are now linked together!” Wei Dong quickly wrote on the paper.

Laoshan Taoist (presumed) → Legends of the Book of Heaven (presumed) → Tiger Learns a Skill → Good Kitty → Black Cat Sheriff → The Snow Child (presumed) → Ma Liang’s Divine Brush → Hailibu → Fire Boy → Nezha Roils the Sea → Meijian Chi → The Fish Child → The world where Zhao Haicui died.

“That’s it–” Wei Dong looked at everyone excitedly.

Qin Ci continued, “The world where Zhao Haicui died could trigger…”

Ke Xun added, “Ao Meow!”

“…Laoshan Taoist,” Wei Dong said.

It was past 9 o’clock when Zhu Haowen returned. He didn’t say a word, and when everyone asked him, he merely pointed to the paper, indicating that The Snow Child connects to Ma Liang’s Divine Brush.

Ke Xun speculated that he could no longer speak human languages, and since he was too embarrassed to speak rat language, he would rather not speak at all.

Quite proud.

He really wanted to rush over and play with him.

Play until he was half-dead, then bite his throat…ha, just thinking about it made him happy.

Ke Xun stared at Zhu Haowen, subconsciously licking his lips.

“After confirming that The Snow Child triggers Ma Liang’s Divine Brush, the line is basically completely connected.” Mu Yiran glanced at Ke Xun, raised his hand, and squeezed the back of Ke Xun’s neck until he became dazed. Afterward, he continued to say, “But now we’ve come across a problem. The worlds Laoshan Taoist and Legends of the Book of Heaven are both hidden worlds and both still need to be triggered. However, the one that triggers Laoshan Taoist is the world where Zhao Haicui died. No one has seen this cartoon, and there’s no way to speculate on the cartoon’s key points, which means that we’re stuck on this specific world.”

“I’ll go take a look at the world where Zhao Haicui died,” Luo Wei said calmly.

“I’m afraid that your transformation can no longer withstand it.” Mu Yiran gave him a light glance. “We’re running out of time. It’s almost 11, and we have only one chance.”

“The six of us will work together.”

“Ke Xun and Haowen can no longer speak human languages. If an incantation is the trigger point in Laoshan Taoist, then we’ll need someone who can speak human languages. However, Dr. Qin and Luo Wei have become paper-like and they cannot move quickly. Therefore, Ke Xun and Dr. Qin will work together, and Haowen and Luo Wei will work together. Ke Xun and Haowen will carry the other two on their backs.”

“Wei Dong and I will work together. My legs are now petrified, and I can’t walk, so I’ll bother Wei Dong to carry me.”

“We’ll all enter the world of Zhao Haicui’s death. Together, all six of us will look for the trigger to the hidden world. If we’re lucky, this won’t take too long.”

“As soon as the hidden world Laoshan Taoist is opened, everyone will enter it immediately. Wei Dong and I will try the moon, Haowen and Luo Wei will try the incantation, and Ke Xun will hurriedly return Dr. Qin to the initial room, and then meet with us.”

“Once we trigger Legends of the Book of Heaven through Laoshan Taoist, Ke Xun would immediately go and find the fox in that world. You’re fast, you’re similar to the fox, and so it would be easier for you to find the fox than one of us. Meanwhile, Wei Dong will carry me and Haowen will carry Luo Wei, and we will return to the initial room as quickly as possible.”

“After Ke Xun triggers Tiger Learns a Skill, he will come straight back to the room through that door.”

“The reason for these actions is to ensure that we use as many hands as possible to find the trigger point and evacuate with the fastest speed.”

“Do you have any other questions?”

“No!” everyone said.

“It’s already 10 in the evening, and we only have 1 hour left. When we leave through that door, either we’ll all die inside or we’ll all survive together.” Mu Yiran looked at his companions, all of whom were ready to work hard to the very end. “If you have any last words to say, please say it now.”

“Meow meow meow,” Ke Xun said to him as he carried Qin Ci, who now weighed half as much as he did before.

“Mmn.” Mu Yiran smiled. “I trust your instinct.”

When everyone was ready, Mu Yiran stretched out his hand and pushed open the door of the world where Zhao Haicui had died.

And thus, a race against death quietly began. Six people rushed into the boundless snow-covered forest, rushing toward the cave with the burning fire. In that cave, there was a monkey, an otter, a fox, a…rabbit that looked exactly like Zhao Haicui, and they were all sitting around the fire with the old man.

What was the trigger point?

Was it the monkey? The otter? The fox? The old man? The fire?

Or was it the fruit the monkey carried, the fish the otter carried, or the lizard the fox carried?

.

And why was the rabbit empty-handed?

Why did the rabbit jump into the fire on its own accord? Why did it commit suicide?

The scene in front of them was so strange, and everything the rabbit did was strange and incomprehensible.

Luo Wei, who was being carried on Zhu Haowen’s back, wanted to jump down and get the fruit from the monkey’s hand. He didn’t know what the trigger point was, and he didn’t want to miss any possibility.

However, Zhu Haowent took a few steps back. Luo Wei was already half-paper, and if he went too close to the fire, he might catch on fire.

Ke Xun also backed up with Qin Cin on his back. He was about to put Qin Ci on the ground, intending to go question each animal one by one, when he saw the rabbit suddenly jump up and run toward the fire.

At this critical moment, everyone watched as Mu Yiran, who was being carried on Wei Dong’s back, suddenly stretched one long arm and grabbed the rabbit in mid-air.

The flames caught his sleeve, but he didn’t let go. Instead, he moved the rabbit away from the flames.

Wei Dong wasn’t able to react at all. He was still shocked by the big boss’ action. They were trying to advance the plot to the end, but why did the big boss do the complete opposite? He-he stopped the human rabbit!

Was it that the rabbit character itself wasn’t the trigger point?

However, the old man by the fire suddenly stood up. He took the rabbit from Mu Yiran’s hand, and with the rabbit in his arms, rose up into the sky. Above the sky, the moon was bright and round. When the old man put the rabbit on the moon, the rabbit turned into a clear shadow in the middle of the moon.”

“–The Moon!” Wei Dong roared. Zhu Haowen’s reaction wasn’t slower than his. He’d already jumped up with Luo Wei on his back. Wei Dong followed with Mu Yiran on his back. The moonlight sucked their bodies, and in a flash, they appeared in Laoshan Taoist!

Since the moon was the trigger point for this world, the trigger point for the next world was most likely the incantation!

Four people waited for the story to advance until the protagonist learned the art of walking through walls from his master. Looking at the protagonist with Huang Pi’s face, everyone’s mood turned heavy and melancholic.

Luo Wei deserved to be a top student. He only had to listen to the master’s incantation once and remembered exactly what he’d said. He chanted the spell, and Zhu Haowen rushed toward the stone wall with him on his back. When they opened their eyes, they had traveled from the world of Laoshan Taoist to Legends of the Book of Heaven.

Here, Luo Wei’s dull face was stained with sadness.

If they had gotten here earlier, if…

By this time, Wei Dong had already returned to the initial room with Mu Yiran on his back. Ke Xun put Qin Ci down and hurried over to Legends of the Book of Heaven. He waved for Zhu Haowen to quickly take Luo Wei back, not only in an effort to hurry them up, but because he was afraid that if he saw more of Zhu Haowen, he wouldn’t be able to control his impulse to pounce on him and…torture him.

Zhu Haowen frowned tightly and watched him run away. He saw that Ke Xun’s body had grown a dense layer of cat fur and that his eyes had turned into the shape of a cat’s eyes. As he watched him run on all fours, he feared that his husky would become a cat from then on.

Ke Xun ran swiftly, using his newly gained cat’s vision, smell, hearing, and intuition to navigate the mountain and plains and through the lively markets, desperately looking for the whereabouts of the three foxes in Legends of the Book of Heaven.

But…cats were not animals that were good at running long distances.

The pads of Ke Xun’s paws were growing more and more painful. He wanted to stop and sleep on the ground and become boneless soft. Everything around him aroused his curiosity, and he wanted to figure out what they were. He wanted to play, wanted to find a tree to sharpen his claws, wanted to lick his fur, wanted to tease himself with his own tail, wanted to be bitten on the back of his neck…

And so he exhausted his energy and stamina to restrain these animal instincts caused by his transformation into a cat. Even so, he couldn’t control the rapid decline in his physical strength. His cat paws were too soft, and he ran and ran until they became bloodied.

The five people who had returned to the initial room waited anxiously for Ke Xun to successfully rush through the door of Tiger Learns a Skill, which should be triggered through the foxes of Legends of the Book of Heaven.

But time ticked on, and still Ke Xun remained missing, even as 11 was fast approaching.

Seeing that Wei Dong was waiting in front of Tiger Learns a Skill with red eyes and choked breath, Qin Ci found a topic to relieve this…this tension and depression. He asked Mu Yiran, “How did Xiao Mu know that, in the world where Zhao Haicui had died, preventing the rabbit from throwing itself into the fire would trigger the hidden world?”

“I wasn’t sure.” Mu Yiran’s voice was still calm as usual, but his gazed was fixed on Tiger Learns a Skill.

“Although I haven’t watched any cartoons,” he said, “the contents of each cartoon that you’ve all told me about had, more or less, regretful outcomes.”

“For example, the snow child fails to accompany the little rabbit in the end and so it melts into water in order to save it. Another example is the male praying mantis, who bravely fights against the locusts, beats One Ear, plays the guitar, and sings love songs. But in the end, its loving bride swallows it into its stomach.”

“There’s also the Fire Boy and Hailibu, both of whom also ended in the protagonist sacrificing themselves.”

“Ma Liang’s Divine Brush has hateful government officials and officers, and The Fish Child has foreigners who bullies the Chinese.”

“Good Kitty’s grievances in being bullied by a mouse, Nezha’s helplessness in raising a sword, and Meijian Chi’s tragic decapitation…All of these are for children, but they aren’t beautiful and pure.”

“I thought, if it were me, when I saw such things as a child, would I feel regretful about the unjustness of these things? Would I want to help them or change things if I could? Would I want to change it to a perfect ending?”

“Since the name of this painting is called Pure Land, I think that the author may not have consciously thought of these small shortcomings when recalling these beautiful memories as he painted. But a pure land should have no flaws, and as he painted, he might have projected these emotions into the painting.”

“So, those trigger points may not just be the key plot points, but they may also be the scenes that cause the most tumultuousness in emotions and the heaviest regret when watching these cartoons as a child.”

“In the world where Zhao Haicui had died, rabbits were the most harmless creatures. Why did it jump into the fire by itself and commit suicide? For children audiences, this was a very negative plotline.”

“So I thought that, if Mi Lun were here, maybe he would have thought about saving this rabbit, and so I tried to reach out and save it.”

Qin Ci nodded with feeling.

“How is Ke’er—How is Ke’er—” Wei Dong held his head in one hand and tremblingly held his cell phone in the other. The time on the cell phone was one minute short of 11 o’clock.

After eleven, those who do not return will die.

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