Paintings of Terror

Chapter 227: Lights Off

Since they weren’t able to get a magnifying glass for the time being, Ke Xun and others prepared to head back with the lunch.

“There must be a reason why roosters and dogs can’t make sounds.” Luo Bu seemed to think of something from this and looked at Ke Xun. “Brother, does this also have something to do with time?”

Ke Xun was looking up at the buildings above the courtyard. The buildings here could be described as ingenious. Each floor had its own shape, some with a protruding platform, and some with a staircase.

Ke Xun stared at the top of the buildings, which was completely covered. A ring of lights was lit along the roof at the moment, illuminating the entire city of buildings as if it were daytime.

“No wonder my Koharu can’t bark! It’s to not let it play the duty of a dog!” Luo Bu suddenly figured it out, “The original duty of a dog is to keep watch at night! It’s said in the Three Character Classic: chicken heralds the break of day, dog keeps watch at night!”

Everyone was stunned: “The chickens and dogs here have forgotten their original responsibilities. Does it mean that this world has no concept of time!”

Wei Dong patted Luo Bu on the shoulder: “Radish you really are something, you even managed to recite the Three Character Classic! So that means, there is no morning, no night, and no time in this world.”

Cao Youning looked around, suddenly feeling terrified: “Is it because the outside is so gray that you can’t see the sun? Without the sun, there would be no day and night.”

A world without the alternation of day and night and the flow of time was like a spaceship that had lost its track in space, floating there forever—at this time, “forever” is no longer a good word.

Ke Xun: “However, time is always there, and it will not disappear because of intentional neglect.”

Even if the room was covered with thick black curtains, even if dark clouds covered the sun forever, time still passed by every minute.

“If people could really escape time, then Su Shi wouldn’t have written phrases such as ‘life is but an inn, I, too, am a passerby.’” Fang Fei pointed out the title of the painting.

Perhaps it was precisely because of people’s indifference to the concept of time here that this strange society, where Inns were eternal residences, came into being.

They thought about it all the way and got to the ninth floor before they knew it.

The people in the room seemed to be chatting about something together and stopped talking when they saw lunch.

“We’re talking about Bi Di.” Qin Ci hurriedly took over the hot steamy paper bag from Ke Xun’s hand, “What delicious food did you buy?”

“I thought this place was quite cold, so I bought mutton pancakes. I don’t know if anyone has any dietary restrictions.” Ke Xun said.

Wei Dong also put the things he bought at the market on the table: “There are still some vegetable dumplings and a few dried radishes here. The vegetables here don’t seem to be very fresh.”

The smell of mutton pancakes had successfully captivated everyone, and the sounds of stomach growling kept coming and going. Everyone was ready to eat after washing their hands.

In the face of this “delicious meal”, several newcomers, except Cao Youning, hesitated. Qin Ci said: “If this world wants to poison us with food, there is no need to go through all the trouble.”

The few felt that it was reasonable. When they were about to eat, they realized that a little less than half of the mutton pancakes were already gone.

“Are you used to eating mutton?” Lu Heng asked Xi Shengnan.

Xi Shengnan took a small piece and tasted it: “Roasted mutton is okay. It doesn’t have any smell. I’m not too used to eating mutton dumplings.” Xi Shengnan seemed to have remembered something, and took out a small jar of condiments from the common cabinet, “I saw this just now, who wants to eat it?”

It was a small porcelain jar with “extra hot chili sauce” written on the paper attached to it. Everyone laughed. No one planned to try it. Cao Youning was eating the mutton pancakes with a satisfied face: “Sister Xi, this gulouzi is already very flavorful. There’s no need to add seasonings at all!”

“Gulouzi?” Shao Ling interrupted Cao Youning, “You mean, this kind of mutton pancake is called gulouzi?”

Luo Bu replied: “That’s right, that’s how the boss introduced it, and his shop sign also says ‘gulouzi’. Brother Shao, what’s the problem? Oh shit, gulouzi isn’t some code name for poison, right?!”

“No, don’t worry, eat at ease.” Shao Ling explained before continuing, “Just now we talked about how Bi Di had a set of very famous photography works of the city Dunhuang, and that he was very interested in the Tang dynasty. I believe that this Lantern Inn has some traces of the Tang dynasty, such as the patterns on our clothes, these candlesticks, and the gulouzi mutton pancakes, which is a delicacy from the Tang dynasty. It has been recorded in Tang Yue Lin: ‘During the mealtime of rich families, a catty of mutton is prepared. Put it layer by layer inside large pancakes. Add black beans, chili peppers, and butter. Bake in the oven and eat when half-cooked. It is called ‘gulouzi’.’”

Everyone listened in earnest. The shape and materials of the mutton pancakes they were eating now were very similar to the description of gulouzi in the Tang dynasty. Everyone could not help but admire Shao Ling’s vast knowledge. Du Lingyu asked: “Could the Tang dynasty be a clue? But our world already has cameras and developing tanks.”

Shao Ling said: “The world is obviously influenced by Bi Di. Whether the Tang Dynasty can be used as a clue remains to be investigated.”

Xi Shengnan stopped chewing, and the gulouzi covered with bright red chili sauce in her hand was particularly eye-catching: “My novel is set in the Tang Dynasty. It is a story that happened in the golden era of the Tang dynasty.”

So Xiayu’s story was also related to the Tang Dynasty. Perhaps because of this coincidental similarity that the story was “selected” into this world?

Mai Peng had no appetite due to his cold, so he only ate a little and then stopped. He said: “I remember that when I was young, a photography magazine once published some things about Bi Di. He seemed to have a dreamto use photography to record the relics of the Tang dynasty, but he passed away after only completing a small part of it.”

“When did Bi Di pass away? Do you have a specific time?” Mu Yiran also finished his lunch early.

The newcomers all looked towards Mai Peng. Mai Peng thought carefully: “No more than a year after that photography magazine published his interview. He seemed to have passed away from some disease. I was young at that time. It was originally an old photography magazine in my home, published in the 90s. It was already old news when I saw it. I felt it really was a pity when I read the interview and his courageous words, knowing that he was already dead. The magazine was either published in 1995 or 1996. I really can’t remember.

Everyone couldn’t help but sigh after hearing this, but they mostly tried to analyze the connections between this information and the painting.

After dinner, Koharu didn’t want to stay inside and wanted to go out.

Luo Bu could only walk his dog in the ninth floor’s corridor and warned himself to talk as little as possible if he encountered an NPC. Try not to talk and pretend to be mute if it comes to it.

After walking around the corridor twice, they met an NPC who was also taking a stroll.

He was a short, fat and slightly bald man who liked to laugh. His laughter was fuzzy and viscous, as if he was laughing with ventriloquy.

“What a nice dog.” The man said with a smile.

Normally, no matter how much Luo Bu didn’t like a person, he would politely say “thank you”. But at this moment, he didn’t want to cause any trouble, so he just nodded and planned to take the dog away.

The man followed all the way, and said in an intimate tone: “This dog is really white. He didn’t grow up in the Lantern Inn, right. It looks good everywhere.”

Koharu seemed to be able to read its master’s mind, and when it saw its master speeding up, it started to run along with him.

Although the man’s legs were short, his walking speed wasn’t slow: “This dog’s legs are also good. Are the eyes good?”

Seeing that the man was about to lower his body to catch Koharu, Luo Bu hurriedly picked up Koharu. He opened his mouth, making sounds of “ah ah bah bah”, and gestured with his head shaking along the way. Koharu also followed and shook its head too, cooperating with its master with sounds of “woo ahh”.

The man kept laughing and sounded as if there were many pearls falling on a jade plate in his belly. If he shook his head, perhaps skittles could pop out of his ears. “How beautiful are these eyes! Brother, your dog must be a spirit dog! How much did you pay for it? Can you give it to me? I’m going to the Cold Night Inn.”

“Ah bah ah bah!” Luo Bu was so scared and started running with his arms around Koharu. He didn’t feel at ease until he saw Ke Xun and Mu Yiran standing at the door not far away.

The man smiled stickily. He was short-legged, so he tiptoed over to touch the dog’s head and look at the dog’s eyes: “How much did you get it for, I’ll buy it. I’m serious, not kidding.”

Luo Bu breathed in deeply and burst out four words: “None of your business!!!”

The short and fat man was obviously frightened. He probably really thought Luo Bu was deaf and mute.

Luo Kuo skipped and ran back with his dog. With heavy pants, he reported: “Brother, brother-in-law, there is a creepy man over there…” Luo Bu pointed while talking, and suddenly realized that the man had disappeared at some point, “No, creepy ghost…”

Ke Xun: “What did that fat man tell you just now?”

“Woo…” Koharu called out aggrievedly.

Luo Bu recounted the situation just now with some exaggerations. Mu Yiran listened very carefully, and after filtering out many adjectives and adverbs, he said slowly: “It is similar to our previous guess. Dogs here may really be a means of transportation. ”

“Oh my god, brother-in-law, you have the heart to ride Koharu?!” Luo Bu was anxious.

Mu Yiran: “… there are often surprises in the world of the paintings. The man mentioned the Cold Night Inn just now. I think that place should be even colder than here. Perhaps we really need to use dogs to pull sleds.”

Koharu listened to Mu Yiran’s words very carefully. It wanted to bark, but unfortunately could only utter a few “woo”.

Ke Xun tilted his head and looked at Mu Yiran: “Of course, we are a caravan of thirteen people, and we have a large amount of goods. Dogs can’t bear such weights. Let alone we only have a small Koharu.”

Mu Yiran couldn’t figure it out for the moment. Looking at the eyes of the two people and the dog in front of him, he felt like a sicko who was trying to abuse the dog. Mu Yiran wanted to reach out to pat the dog’s head, but he was not used to it, so he folded his arms and smiled lightly. It was an innocent and cute smile, which was rare to see.

Ke Xun felt that a certain part of his heart seemed to turn soft and transparent. He cleared his throat with a smile and changed the subject: “By the way, we may have a lead for the magnifying glass.”

“Woo?!” Before Luo Bu could speak, Koharu rushed to ask.

“The pattern of that man’s clothes just now is the same as ours. We are both from the Light Inn. He may also be a merchant. Maybe we can buy a magnifying glass from them, or even borrow it.” Ke Xun said.

“Which man? Brother, you sound very silly when you say ‘man’…” Right after he finished speaking, Luo Bu realized that he was wrong. He really couldn’t bear the looks that Ke Xun and Mu Yiran were throwing at him. He said a few words of “ah bah ah bah” to try to brush it off.

Ke Xun: “The fat man just now. He should be from the Light Inn. We have to think of a good reason to visit him, because this guy is likely to ask for Koharu in exchange.”

Before Ke Xun finished speaking, a voice suddenly came from the top floor: “Lights off—”

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