Mu Yiran placed his hand on Ke Xun’s ankle and squeezed it for a while: “Let’s consider one scenario first. If the first painting that Qin Ci and I entered was the last painting entered by the previous group, then perhaps there is a way to investigate.”
“What way?” Ke Xun quickly asked.
“It may require Haowen’s help.” Mu Yiran put down the teacup in his hand and dialed Zhu Haowen’s number.
“Can you hack into the surveillance system of the art gallery?” Mu Yiran asked straightforwardly.
Ke Xun quickly sat up and leaned his ear over.
“Yes, it’s possible,” Zhu Haowen on the other side replied in a monotone, as if answering a simple question like “Can you climb to the third floor in one go?”
“Time Art Gallery, the date is before March 13th of this year, you can go back about three months,” Mu Yiran said, “I need all the surveillance videos inside the art gallery during this period.”
“The premise is that the art gallery still retains the surveillance videos from that time period. If they do, I’ll give them to you by tomorrow morning at the latest,” Zhu Haowen replied crisply.
After hanging up, Mu Yiran said to Ke Xun: “Maybe we can find some suspicious people from the surveillance videos.”
“Your head runs quick,” Ke Xun praised him.
“The results may not be too optimistic,” Mu Yiran said very cautiously. “We cannot determine the extent to which the force behind the paintings can do. If it can erase or modify even the surveillance videos, it will be even more difficult for us to make a breakthrough.”
“Take one step at a time. If this path is blocked, we can take another path.” Ke Xun was unusually optimistic. “From the sixth point of your summary just now, the force behind the paintings wants to kill us, but it also wants to leave us a chance at survival. What is the purpose of doing this? Just to test our ability to pass the challenges? What’s the significance? I think, since the force behind the paintings can forcibly change a place that was not originally meant to be an art gallery into an art gallery, it shows that it is a force with capability to think. So, setting up this painting event is definitely not to just purposelessly test us. The kind of set up that wants us to die and also wants us to live must have some meaning and purpose.”
Mu Yiran lowered his gaze in contemplation. “You’re right. So, we need to analyze the meaning and purpose of this setup. In fact, the painting ‘Schrödinger’s Cat’ gave me some inspiration.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“In general, this painting presents Cheng Shi’s critical views of the current education system in a satirical manner.
“Mbg fzjwqif, atf fzjw-ilxf rajufr lcrlvf la jgf rlwlijg ab atf rmtbbi’r rmgffclcu bo raevfcar atgbeut fzjwr. Vaevfcar ktb raevs kfii mjc rajs lc atf tbcbgr mijrr, ktlif raevfcar ktb ojli fzjwr klii yf rfca boo ab atf gfueijg mijrr bg ybaabw mijrr.
“Po la kfgfc’a obg atlr qjlcalcu, P wluta cba tjnf gfjilhfv atja wjsyf atf obgmf yftlcv atf rmfcfr mbcalceberis jyrbgylcu cfk qfbqif jcv wjxlcu atf fcagjcar ub atgbeut atf mtjiifcufr lc atf qjlcalcur gfqfjafvis, lr j obgw bo rmgffclcu jr kfii?”
“Thus, among the veteran members who are now left, not to mention you and me, think about Qin Ci’s meticulousness, Haowen’s rationality, Shao Ling’s vast knowledge, Fang Fei’s fearlessness, as well as Wei Dong and Luo Bu’s complete trust towards their companions—all of these traits displayed by these individuals in the paintings are extremely rare when compared to all the entrants before and after.
“Newcomers Wu You and He Tang, having only experienced one painting, may have a significant luck factor involved, and it’s not easy to define them for now. However, if we must say something, both of them exhibit a stronger personality compared to girls of the same age.
“In the world inside the paintings, strong individuals may not necessarily survive till the end, but weak ones are more likely to die than the strong ones.
“From this perspective, saying that the force behind the paintings is trying to select stronger and more suitable individuals sounds plausible. Hence it always seems to be trying its best to find people with relevant professional qualities.
“If its purpose is to gather thirteen strong individuals, then two questions arise. Firstly, when it’s grabbing new people, why do not all of them have the corresponding professional qualities?
“Secondly, what is the purpose of gathering these thirteen strong individuals? Is it to pass the paintings faster? If so, why create these paintings and expose us to the constant risk of death?
“For the first question, I have a speculation. I think the force behind the paintings may not be as omnipresent and powerful as we imagine. It also has its limitations and can only ‘try its best’ to find suitable candidates, but cannot ‘completely’ find all suitable candidates.
“So, the conclusion for the first question is: the force behind the paintings also has certain limitations.
“As for the second question, it might be the ultimate question we want to know: why does the force behind the scenes make us enter the paintings?
“In fact, we gain no benefits from entering the paintings, or if we want to be more melodramatic, we might gain only more courage and bravery. Is this the real purpose of the paintings? I don’t think so. Training a group of people’s courage through bloody and cruel killings is meaningless; it must have a purpose.
“So, we can first speculate based on our common sense. Let’s consider the force behind the paintings as a physical being. This being selects several individuals with outstanding physical conditions, psychological qualities, knowledge, and intelligence through a screening mechanism. What could this being use these individuals for?”
At this point, Mu Yiran lowered his head to look at Ke Xun, and Ke Xun, lying down with his head on Mu Yiran’s leg, gazed at his nose in thought. He then said, “If we follow the routines in novels or movies, I feel like we are like mercenaries selected by a wealthy and influential bigshot. Then, this person might hire us to complete a dangerous and challenging task, like a treasure hunt or assassination—basically something closely related to this person’s benefits. After we successfully complete the task, we might receive a commission, but there’s also a possibility that this person might kill us all to silence us.”
“Your idea is not impossible. In fact, I also suspect the same,” Mu Yiran nodded slightly. “I suspect that after we finally gather thirteen people together, the whole situation of the paintings will change, developing towards a new scenario. However, at this point, it’s hard to speculate what kind of situation it will be.”
Ke Xun felt a bit startled and reached out to hold Mu Yiran’s hand. “Now you said that, it feels like there are more unpredictable things waiting for us ahead. We don’t know what fate awaits us. But speaking of gathering thirteen people together, does it mean that there will be a painting where we can all pass without anyone dying?”
“I think so,” Mu Yiran nodded.
“Ah…” Ke Xun sighed and grabbed Mu Yiran’s hand, placing it on his forehead. “This makes me wonder whether to hope for that day to come sooner or to hope it never comes.”
“Sooner is better,” Mu Yiran said. “The sooner it comes, the sooner it ends. Regardless of whether the outcome is life or death, it’s much better than struggling endlessly between life and death.”
“You’re right,” Ke Xun felt these words were a bit sad. He stood up, stretched lazily, and said with a smile, “I’ll go to the supermarket to buy some meat. Tonight, let’s have a hotpot party and invite Dongzi over for some fun, what do you say?”
“Okay,” Mu Yiran nodded. “I’ll send the thoughts I just had to the group.”
The next morning, Zhu Haowen indeed managed to obtain three months’ worth of surveillance footage from the Time Art Gallery. The members of the People Who Go Into Painting Theory group worked together. Each responsible for watching the footage from a specific time period, meticulously checking for any suspicious individuals.
It was a massive project that required a lot of time. Wu You even quit her job and stayed at home, scrutinizing the footage on her computer every day.
However, time waited for no one, and the day to enter the painting quickly approached.
After coming out of the previous painting, Shao Ling, who was closer to L City, conveniently stopped by the Tercet Art Gallery. However, they once again faced the malicious intentions of the paintings. A sign at the entrance read: “Closed for renovation.”
As for when it would reopen, the sign didn’t specify, but the members of the People Who Are Going Into Painting Theory group knew very well that the day they had to enter the painting would be the reopening day of the gallery.
The Tercet Art Gallery was in the central park of the city. Despite the cold weather, people on holidays still enjoyed strolling in the park when they were free, especially young people. As the group entered the park gate, they saw that the park was filled mostly with young couples.
Watching these people for a while, Luo Bu took out his phone from his pocket and called his girlfriend, “Beauty, what’s up?… Really? What color?… Oh, okay, it’ll definitely match your cherry lips… Me? I might be back in a few days, you can have fun by yourself first… I bought you a bag, I’m sure you’ll love it. If you don’t, you can twist off my head and use it as a figurine… Okay, make sure to cover yourself with a blanket at night and cover your feet… Rub Dou bao, Dou Ding, and Dou zi’s cat’s head, dog’s head, and mouse’s head for me… Yeah, after you hang up, send me a photo of you and your friends… Okay, nothing else, mwah! … Take care, Yinyin… Yeah, bye, mwah.”
Ignoring his slightly reddened eyes and nose, everyone walked straight towards the cold building in the distance.
The Tercet Art Gallery had a simple and elegant design, with its exterior walls painted in the tone and texture of rice paper. Above the entrance, beautiful running script displayed a tercet poem by the writer Han Shishan titled “Clouds”:
Wandering
Birds
Where is home
After the renovation, it was said that all the paintings displayed inside had been replaced with new ones. Despite this, the group still thoroughly researched the previous exhibition information to prepare adequately.
Compared to Luo Bu, who was gradually getting used to entering the paintings, Wu You and He Tang, entering for the second time, were obviously still in the newcomer stage, filled with rejection and fear. Wu You’s face turned pale as soon as she entered, and she ran to the restroom twice. He Tang was practically dragged in by Fang Fei.
“I’m so scared…” He Tang wiped away the tears streaming down her face with a tissue, trembling.
“Whether you advance or retreat, it’s all the same,” Wei Dong took out a pack of chewing gum from his pocket and handed it to her. “Chew one, it’ll help reduce the tension. Fang Fei, you want one too?”
Fang Fei took the gum, gave one to He Tang and herself, and then handed the rest back to Wei Dong.
“Once we’re ready, let’s go in,” Ke Xun’s voice came from the entrance to the exhibition hall.
“Let’s go,” He Tang chewed hard on the minty sweet gum a few times, and with determination, she gritted her teeth and walked in.
The start of new arc! I am nervous…
Me too🥹
Girls, be strong!!!
Thank you for your translation 💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚
im very attached to these two girls… please! stay safe 🤍 the last time i said this was w the two bl lovers and then i cried!!