Paintings of Terror

Chapter 234: Projector

No one expected that they would benefit so much from the Inn Officer — in addition to borrowing a precious high-power magnifying glass, they also borrowed an extremely bright fluorite.

“It was said that a Master Shaman from the Fluorite Inn personally provided it for the sake of our Master Shaman.” Ke Xun put the two “treasures” on the table.

Wei Dong was able to borrow some carpenter tools: “Boss, shall we get started?”

Mu Yiran put a large wooden box on the table. It was about the size of two shoe boxes: “These things are enough. This piece of fluorite is a pleasant surprise.”

Under Mu Yiran’s command, everyone worked together, and after about half an hour, the wooden box was used to make a simple magnifying projector.

The magnifying glass was skillfully inlaid on one side of the wooden box, and the fluorite was inlaid on the side opposite to the magnifying glass. The other two sides had fine grooves for moving the film.

After all the lights in the room were off, the magical projection displayed on the wall.

Perhaps because of the unique texture and brightness of this fluorite, the projection on the wall was not any inferior to that of modern projectors, especially in this world. It was simply a miracle.

Wei Dong and Luo Bu stood on the sides of the projector. One person was responsible for pushing in the film, and the other was gently retracting the film. They kept their speed and strength consistent to prevent scratches on the film surface.

When frames of the pictures were magically displayed on the wall, everyone let out a burst of amazement.

The pictures ranged from landscapes to cities, from dusk to night scenes. When it got to the familiar night view of the city TV tower, everyone’s hearts rose to their throats.

Everyone remembered what the next picture was.

Wei Dong and Luo Bu paused together in unison. Luo Bu looked at Wei Dong who was standing opposite to him. At this time, Wei Dong’s face looked strange under the illumination of the projector, as if he had also become part of the pictures on the wall.

Wei Dong nodded, which meant: Prepare to push the film in.

Luo Bu also nodded slightly and gently released the film in his hand. He felt an appropriate stretching force from Wei Dong. The TV tower gradually moved into the darkness and was replaced by a slightly blurred picture.

Because the film was not developed, the pictures on the wall still had a negative effect. Black was white and white was black.

The overall color of this negative was gray. The blurry figure of the woman was slightly darker than the overall background. It seemed that the woman was wearing a light-colored dress with some large patterns on it. The biggest color conflict here was the woman’s hair. On the negative film, the woman’s hair was almost white.

From this, it appeared that this was a young woman with long black and thick hair. The long hair seemed to be braided into a thick braid, hanging down from one side of the ear, and the end of the braid was almost down to the knees.

“This is…” Du Lingyu looked at the woman on the wall in surprise, and Lu Heng was also surprised.

“Why, do you know this person?” Shao Ling asked.

“Judging from this woman’s hairstyle, she should be Xiayu.” Du Lingyu said.

Lu Heng also nodded in affirmation: “Shengnan described it like this in the novel: the heroine always braids her thick hair into a long braid. It hangs down from her shoulders to her knees…”

Ke Xun’s gaze locked on the woman’s clothes. He approached slowly, trying to identify something without blocking the light: “There seems to be something at where her heart is. That thing is very white so it shouldn’t be part of the clothes, nor part of the pattern on the clothes.”

Everyone’s eyes fixated on the woman’s chest, and finally Qin Ci said: “That location is the vital part of the human body. If my deduction is correct, the white thing on the negative should be a black knife handle.”

The display on the wall trembled slightly as Luo Bu’s hand shook: “If that really were the case, then the large patch of light color on her heart is not a pattern on the clothes at all, it should be… a deep red bloodstain.”

If these were indeed bloodstains, it would be truly horrifying because there was not just one bloodstain on the woman’s body, but many, large and small.

“Judging from the woman’s movement and posture,” Ke Xun said, “she was walking with a staggering gait, almost on the verge of collapsing at any moment.”

No wonder her movements were extremely slow. It turned out that this slowness was a sign of being in a state of near-death, on her last breath.

Due to the blurry image, it was difficult to discern the woman’s facial expression. However, considering the bloodstains and her staggering gait, her expression must have been one of intense agony.

“I don’t understand, why was this captured in the photo?” Mai Peng questioned, “When we came to this world, Xiayu was already dead. That is to say, the camera captured events that happened before?”

“Judging from this photo, the only thing that is correct is the location. Could it be that we can use a camera to capture what happened before at a location?

“This incident is simply so beyond belief and too mysterious.”

Mu Yi Ran was standing slightly off to the side, his eyes fixed on the wall without blinking. Finally, he spoke up: “If not mistaken, Lu Heng used a shutter speed of 1/16 second to take this photo.”

Lu Heng was still in a daze, but upon hearing his own name, he suddenly snapped back to reality. He processed Mu Yi Ran’s words and nodded, “Yes, my shutter speed was indeed too slow. If I used 1/60 second, we would be able to see the woman’s face clearly.”

Mu Yiran nodded: “Does anyone else have any other opinions on this picture?”

Luo Bu also took the initiative to speak and said, “Didn’t the Officer say that there are two knives stuck in Xiayu’s body? Why is there only one in the photo? Where did the other go?”

Ke Xun answered the question directly: “When I went to get the magnifying glass just now, I asked about it. The other knife should be stuck in the back. Because of the angle, we can’t see it.”

“I have no more questions.” Luo Bu moved the film in his hand, ready to show the next negative.

“Then let’s move on to the next one.” Mu Yiran said.

The next photo was very familiar to everyone, because it was this room. But there was no one in the room except the mysterious animal on the other side of the window with a pair of glowing eyes.

This was also the first photo that had scared everyone.

“If the camera can really capture past events, then there is a reasonable explanation for these photos.” Mai Peng’s voice was completely fine now, but he felt his throat was extremely uncomfortable and often swallowed saliva from time to time.

Indeed, if the difference in time caused these different effects, then these photos did not seem so terrifying anymore.

“If I remember correctly, Mai Peng took this photo at a speed of 1/250 second.” Mu Yiran said.

Mai Peng admired Mu Yiran’s memory: “Yes, 1/250 second is my usual speed.”

Zhu Haowen folded his arms and looked at it for a long time: “Judging from the lighting in this photo, this should be taken at night. Furthermore, that animal’s eyes should only be so bright in the middle of the night. — If the camera only captured moments before the time of the photograph, then I really don’t recall our room ever having such a scene after the lights were off. At least, after the lights were off and before Mai Peng took the photo, all of us were gathered around the table, and some were sitting on the bed.”

What Zhu Haowen said made sense. Judging from the angle in the photo, there had been no one on the bed and no one knew where everyone had gone.

Qin Ci, who was standing by the side, also couldn’t figure it out: “Why don’t we discuss this photo later. Let’s take a look at the next one first?”

Everyone had no choice but to nod in agreement, so the display on the wall moved again, and the next photo appeared.

This photo had also caused panic among everyone last night.

Based on the lighting, the photo should be relatively bright. It was obvious that the gauze lamp was emitting light, and there was also some brightness coming from the window. There was no doubt that this photo recorded a scene before the lights had gone off.

The reason why the content made everyone uncomfortable was because the people in the photos were eating. Due to the contrast in the negative film, it was difficult to make out what they were eating. Not only were there humans, but there was also a dog eating a large pile of food on the ground.

“Yesterday, Koharu did eat a lot, and everyone was feeding it…” Luo Bu frowned and looked at the black dog in the picture. Based on its outline and posture, he concluded that it was Koharu.

Perhaps because they had gained some confidence, everyone dared to rush forward to carefully examine the photo, especially Cao Youning, who resembled someone searching for themselves in a graduation photo, “I see it, I see it! The person sitting on the bed is me! I have a big pancake in my hand! I remember tearing off a large portion of the Guluozi mutton pancake at that time! Yes, yes, that’s me!”

After careful examination, everyone became more certain that this photo captured the scene of the group having lunch together yesterday.

Lu Heng also scrutinized it for a while, and his gaze gradually shifted from himself to the person next to him, “At that time, Shengnan was also here.”

Due to Xi Shengnan’s presence in the photo, everyone’s hearts couldn’t help but tighten. Perhaps Xi Shengnan’s movements at that time were perfectly synchronized with the shutter speed, her outline was exceptionally clear — a well-defined half profile with a small rolled-up mutton pancake in her hand, which appeared unusually white.

“Why is the thing that Sister Xi was holding so white? Why is it not the same color as ours?” Cao Youning asked carelessly, “In the real world, it should be something very dark, right?”

No one answered him.

The color on the mutton pancake was that of the poisonous spicy sauce.

“What shutter speed was used for this photo? 1/30 second?” Mu Yiran asked.

Mai Peng nodded, “Yes.”

“The next one is 1/60 second, right?” Mu Yiran continued.

“Yes,” Mai Peng answered, seemingly grasping something vaguely.

Mu Yiran said, “Let’s look at the last one.”

Even though they knew that the photos were of real events and the eerie effects were caused by the time difference, the last photo still made most people take a few steps back.

When the last half of the photo appeared, some timid members couldn’t help but gasp, because the figure of the stranger in the picture was incredibly huge. It was too close to the camera, creating an unsettling approaching effect.

The screen suddenly trembled, and Wei Dong’s voice cracked, “Oh my God, it’s Ke Er!”

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