Paintings of Terror

Chapter 171: Communications From Different Dimensions

Luo Wei’s gaze swept over everyone’s faces and finally stopped on Mu Yiran’s. “In other words, this beast has existed before, but doesn’t exist now, and will exist again in the future?”

“Then, right now, does it exist or not?” Wei Dong asked very seriously, finding it difficult to get rid of the suspicion of ‘talking cross talk to spoil the situation.’

Xiao Qinxian seemed to be deliberately trying to create a terrifying atmosphere. “Not now, but maybe tomorrow, or even tonight.”

“Climb out of the abyss.” Lion was afraid, and so he clearly remembered Mu Yiran’s words just now. He murmured in a low voice, “In the end, it will sink again.”

.

Abstract concepts that were too sectarian could sometimes make people subconsciously avoid them, finding them too obscure and incomprehensible.

In the silence, Zhao Yanbao said, “I think the religious lense of The Book of Revelation is too overwhelming, and so it might have nothing to do with the setting of Heart City. However, the marking of the forehead that Ke Xun mentioned earlier shouldn’t be a coincidence. In other words, those of us who have the mark of the beast fit more closely with the image of the woman riding the beast. The words on the woman’s forehead embodied evil language, or it could be said to be posting a red flag. Then what about our beasts? Judging by the shape of the red marks on Chi Lei and Zhi Chun’s forehead, these marks don’t seem to have any resemblance to the shape of the beast in their bodies…”

Zhao Yanbao felt that concentrating on thinking seemed to offer her some small measure of relief from her inner pain.

“We don’t have to analyze this for now.” Qin Ci felt that his thoughts were repeatedly being interrupted by the others, and now he finally had the chance to smooth it out. “I think that the most important thing right now is what Xiao Mu said, which is the relationship between the woman and the beast. We won’t mix in our previous analysis for now. For example, regardless of whether the beast is a heart demon or not, we will only focus on this woman and the scarlet beast. She and it seems to be in a community of interest, and of these two, which one is the stronger? Is it the woman who dominates the beast or the beast who dominates the woman?”

The topics seemed to be careening toward an incomprehensible philosophical category. Wei Dong sighed and said, “Such mystery…”

Mu Yiran no longer quoted the words in the book but gave a more simplistic answer in his own words, “The beast was originally a woman’s mount and comrade-in-arms, but in the end, it will bite back at the woman.”

“The beast is born in our hearts, but it makes sense that we will have to fight back against it in the end,” Zhao Yanbao said.

The others listened, and in the end, had the feeling of ‘the truth is obviously very simple but it is being discussed at length” and “taking off your pants just to fart.”

“I don’t think this beast refers to the beast in each of us.” Mu Yiran’s words seemed to have a kind of magic power, his words loosening everyone’s tight nerves. “Or, the beast in each of us is just a single particle scattered by this beast.”

Wei Dong didn’t get it. “Isn’t it just an artwork? Why has it become a particle?”

“No matter which world you are in, whether it is in ancient or modern China or abroad, everything in society serves a centralized power,” Zhao Yanbao said. “Including the values of works of art. Those so-called auctions actually rely on the breath of the upper echelon of society to survive.”

Zhu Haowen, who had remained mostly silent all this time, also said, “We went around in a circle and returned back to the original point. What is the symbolic meaning of this beast? Is it a heart demon birthed by this city or world?”

Mu Yiran said, “This so-called beast must have an inseparable connection with the city. We have to figure out why Chu Zhiyong wants us to collect these beasts, and what benefits these ‘beast resources’ bring to the police station and to the entire city. If we can grasp this essential point, many of our confusions can be easily resolved.”

“Heart City seems to be a city of romance on the surface, but the two beasts that have been removed aren’t only related to the love between men and women, but also seems to be based on the point of love as a reflection of the person’s inner psychological state,” Su Benxin chimed in.

Xiao Qinxian looked restlessly at the completely dark night outside the window. “I think talking like this is useless! Night is coming, and people will die tonight! What should we do?!”

Su Benxin said, word by word, “I haven’t finished what I’m saying. We can’t grasp the purpose of the centralized power in this city at present. We can only start from the individual itself and use the most stupid method to solve it.” She looked at Zhao Yanbao and added, “Can talking to a psychologist offer some relief? Will this make the beast temporarily retract its minions?”

Because Su Benxin’s description was too vivid, Yu Ji even felt that his stomach had begun to feel uncomfortable, as if the beast inside was trying to use its claws to break away from its bondage.

Ke Xun looked at Mu Yiran beside him, and couldn’t help comforting, “Everyone’s reaction is a little slow, and so they can’t make big turns all of a sudden.”

Mu Yiran gave him a light smile. “It’s me who is going too fast. But sooner or later, we’ll have to figure out the beasts’ meaning to the city.”

“Maybe we can go to the beast-trading market tomorrow to see if we can make some discoveries.” Ke Xun patted the boss on the back. “Right now, I’m thinking about putting Dr. Qin and Haowen’er first…Oh yes, I mean Old Qin, Brother Qin.”

Mu Yiran seemed to realize something, and he suddenly looked at Luo Wei, who was seated on the other side of him. It seemed that this person hadn’t made a sound in a long time, and he had that strange feeling again. “You have been silent all this time?”

Luo Wei sighed and answered the question. “You didn’t forget about the cigarette, right?”

That was the secret code that they had managed to agree upon.

“I didn’t forget,” Mu Yiran said. “Actually, your way of solving this matter is quite good. It seems that you can deceive the painting by making some deep detours.”

“Okay, but I seemed to have failed to detour three times.” Luo Wei looked down at himself. His glass was filled to the brim with lemonade. “Every time, during the ‘space,’ you would pour me lemonade, and it has been filled up three times in succession.

Mu Yiran raised his eyebrows. He really didn’t have the habit of taking care of people by refilling their glass.

Zhu Haowen, who was sitting only a little further away:….

“Haowen’er, just talk about it.” Wei Dong continued to lobby Zhu Haowen. “Tell us what’s in your heart. Maybe it’ll save your life. Or, do you want to just tell me alone?”

“I have nothing to say.” Zhu Haowen was expressionless.

“Look, what’s the crux of the matter? You already know why you have a red mark on your forehead, right?” Wei Dong said, worried again. “I hope your beast is hidden in your feet. You’ll be disabled, but at least it won’t be fatal.”

“….”

At Qin Ci’s request, Luo Wei had to observe everyone’s faces. “No change. In order of the size of the beast mark: Qin Ci, Yu Ji, me, Zhao Yanbao, Xiao Qinxian, Zhu Haowen. My mark also hasn’t changed.”

“That’s right! Luo Wei, you also have a beast!” Wei Dong seemed to remember. “What’s going on today? How come I don’t seem to have noticed you at all today…?”

“I’ve been here all this time.” Luo Wei put away his innocent expression, stood up, and took the meal comment card the waiter had handed over. This restaurant will give customers a satisfaction survey at the end of the meal. Last night, Ke Xun had signed the comment card, and this time, Luo Wei took the initiative to undertake this job.

The others were discussing freely in hope of slowing down their beast’s intrusion, but no one was willing to speak their inner secret thoughts in public.

Luo Wei lowered his head and carefully checked the options on the opinion card. From time to time, he would ask for Mu Yiran’s opinion, such as, “Is the temperature here very good or great?”

Mu Yiran paused for a moment and said, “I think it’s very good.”

Ke Xun: …..

“That’s good.” Luo Wei ticked the ‘very good’ option, asked a question or two, and then handed the opinion card and pen to Mu Yiran, “Since you also participated, this time you sign it.”

Frowning, Mu Yiran took the pencil the restaurant had prepared, somewhat puzzled for a while. His head seemed to be hurting a little after thinking so deeply.

Ke Xun said from the side, “Why don’t I do it? It doesn’t matter who’s signature it is.”

Mu Yiran was about to give Ke Xun the pen when he heard Luo Wei say in an unquestionable tone, “It’s different, it’s very different. He has to sign it.”

As Mu Yiran was lost in a state of confusion, Luo Wei suddenly took the pencil from Mu Yiran and said, “I’ll do it. After all, I chose most of these options, so I’ll sign.”

Afterward, he wrote his name, leaving the last stroke very long, as if being artistic.

Mu Yiran looked at the signature carefully, not knowing what the last stroke was trying to emphasize. Seeing that the degree of curvature seemed to look like the letter L, he asked directly, “Is it related to the abbreviation of this letter.”

Luo Wei, who had nothing to live for, “No…”

Puzzled, Mu Yiran looked at Ke Xun and he heard him say, “I have made an appointment with Dr. Qin so I won’t be in our dorm for a while. We’ll just talk under the big tree at the entrance of the police station.”

To talk about Qin Ci’s secret..? Mu Yiran didn’t want to hear anyone’s secrets. It was best for everyone to communicate with their current level of understanding, and although they had experienced life and death together, this didn’t mean that they had to bear each other’s secrets. Even if Ke Xun had a secret that he wanted to keep to himself, Mu Yiran would never pry into it.

There was a slightly irritated sound of fingers tapping on the table. The sound came from Luo Wei. Mu Yiran looked at Luo Wei’s empty glass and filled it with the jar of lemonade.

After filling it up, the hand holding the pot froze in midair. “Actually, you can try to be more roundabout.”

Luo Wei folded his arms and watched as Mu Yiran opened his book and wrote on it: 21:38, L.

Mu Yiran had a sudden realization. “Did you try to write it out just now?”

Luo Wei said, “I had tried to write it a long time ago, but either I couldn’t write it or no one would be able to read it.”

Mu Yiran said, “Then…use allusions? Riddles?”

Mu Yiran felt tortured by the fact that he seemed to be ‘unable to communicate.’

“We don’t seem to be on the same dimension.” Luo Wei felt like the lonely wreckage of the universe in a three-body world.

Mu Yiran put the jug of lemonade in front of Ke Xun and said, “Don’t let me touch it again.”

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