Shao Ling said, “There’s not a single person in the entire residential area. The area isn’t very large, and after a short walk, you can get to the forest behind. We wandered around the outskirts of the forest and found out it’s not a dead forest. There are many living animals inside, and there’s quite a rich variety of plant species.”
Qin Ci added, “On the streets in the residential area, outside the houses, and in some other corners, we found a lot of bloodstains. They’ve been there for a while. There were no signs of fighting, not even signs of escaping after being injured. It seems like blood was just flowing out while people were simply walking around. In a few places, we found signs of someone falling and knocking over nearby objects while bleeding. Strangely, these knocked over objects remained untouched, with no one coming to clean up afterward.”
Wei Dong said, “In this residential area, besides regular houses, there’s also a small community clinic. There’s another road leading to a distance, but it’s blocked by barriers. We tried walking along the road, only to find that the road disappeared after a while, and ahead was a void, just like the painting ‘The Funeral’. The areas on the boundary have been blurred. So obviously this is also a painting of limited areas, restricting us to the range inside this residential area and the forest.”
Ke Xun also recounted what he and the other two had just seen to everyone. After listening, Shao Ling said, “From the looks of it, this residential area seems to have experienced a strange and even bizarre incident, causing people’s daily lives to suddenly come to a halt in an instant. All scenes remain unchanged, and in this process, many people suffered injuries of varying severity.”
“These are all preliminary speculations for now,” Mu Yiran said, “We only checked one house, and we need to inspect the interiors of other houses to obtain more evidence to prove that.”
“So let’s continue and make the most of our time,” Ke Xun said, looking at everyone, “What about you guys?”
Qin Ci said, “I’ll check the houses with you.”
Shao Ling, Wei Dong, and Fang Fei also nodded in agreement.
Xiao Kai scratched the back of his neck, glanced at Tian Yang, then looked at the veteran members, finally settling his gaze on Ke Xun’s face. “I have an off topic question: How did you guys deal with eating and drinking when in the world of paintings before?”
“Some paintings provide those resources, while others won’t let you feel hungry or thirsty,” Ke Xun answered.
“Then which category do you think this painting belongs to?” Xiao Kai asked uncertainly, “At least for now, I feel a bit thirsty, which shouldn’t fall under the second category you just mentioned, right? So if it’s the first category, where would the resources be?
“I think, while finding the signature is important, but first, we need to ensure that we can survive in the painting. In this hot weather, food and water are crucial. After all, we might have to survive for seven days in the painting, right?
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.
“Food might be secondary, but water is indispensable, especially now with such hot weather. If we don’t replenish water in time, we might get dehydrated and get a heatstroke.
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Xiao Kai scratched his neck and nodded. “Another issue, you mentioned that it’s dangerous outside in the evening in the painting. Shouldn’t we find a safe place to stay for the night first? Like one of these houses that doesn’t make people feel eh… you know, a relatively cleaner house?”
“For real,” Ke Xun said to Mu Yiran privately as everyone split up to inspect other houses, “I feel like inside of these houses might be more dangerous than outside.”
The teams split into four groups again to check out the other houses.
The house that Ke Xun’s group entered this time was better than the previous one. At least there were no bloodstains when they opened the door, but the house was still covered in thick dust, with cobwebs in the corners. Like the first house, everything inside remained frozen in time, maintaining a scene of daily life that had come to an abrupt stop.
The three of them headed straight to the kitchen. Ke Xun turned on the tap, but no water came out. Zhu Haowen checked all the valves, but no matter how much he turned them, no water came out.
They also checked the electricity and gas, but the supply had been cut off.
Mu Yiran opened the fridge and the sight was simply unbearable. Due to the power outage, the food inside had become unrecognizable. However, to Ke Xun’s amazement, Mu Yiran managed to find some packaged food without flinching.
“You definitely can’t eat that,” Ke Xun reminded him.
“I just want to check the production date to determine the time period depicted in this painting,” Mu Yiran looked at him.
“My man pays attention to detail,” Ke Xun said, giving him a thumbs up.
Mu Yiran ignored his flattery and carefully checked the packaged food. However, he found that the years of the printed production dates on the food were all blurry, with only the initial “2” was visible. The months and days were still visible but were all different. Mu Yiran felt this wouldn’t be useful for finding clues, but the blurred-out years were certainly important.
“This painting doesn’t want us to know exactly when these strange events happened.” Ke Xun said. “So that means, knowing the specific time frame could help us find the signature.”
“We can search for items in the house that might have dates, like calendars, newspapers, or other items with production dates,” Zhu Haowen suggested.
“I don’t think the outcome will be optimistic,” Ke Xun remarked. “If even the dates on food packaging are blurred, other items pointing to specific dates will likely have the same result. Unless we can infer the time period from some physical objects.”
“This can be part of our next plan. For now, the most important thing is to find water,” Mu Yiran said. “I believe water and climate issues, besides other unknown factors, may be the biggest challenges we’ll face in this painting. We cannot afford to be complacent.”
The three thoroughly searched the entire house, focusing on finding water and food while also looking for any relevant clues. However, they found nothing—no water, no edible food, and no usable clues.
As they exited the house, they headed straight to the next one, passing by members of other groups also moving between two houses.
Unbeknownst to them, the entire morning had slipped by, and when the group gathered again, it was already well past noon according to their phones.
“We’ve searched them all, but there’s no drinkable water,” Shao Ling said. “There’s no food either, just some vacuum-sealed food packages. However, since we can’t see the production dates clearly, although they seem unspoiled when opened, we can’t be sure if they’re safe to consume. Apart from facing unknown dangers, this time we also have to deal with the most basic survival challenge.”
“Besides this, did anyone make any other discoveries?” Mu Yiran inquired.
“Almost every house has a large amount of bloodstains,” Qin Ci said. “The volume of blood, if not from multiple individuals, seems equivalent to the amount of blood a person has in their body. Observing the shapes of these bloodstains, we noticed some dripped onto the floor while others appeared splattered on the walls or ceiling. This puzzles me. What could be the reason behind this situation, and more importantly, why does almost every household here have the same scenario?”
Silence enveloped the group as they surveyed their surroundings. Each dilapidated and quiet house stood beneath the hazy sky. Each house was like a miniature hell on earth, filled with traces of human blood in an eerie and terrifying way.
This place, what terrible events had happened here?
“We need to find water as soon as possible,” Qin Ci said, glancing at the parched and fatigued group, especially at Xiao Kai, whose lips were already cracked and also looked physically drained.
“If we can’t find water within the residential area, we’ll have to venture into the forest,” Shao Ling pointed towards the forest behind the residential area. The forest is vast, stretching as far as the eye could see. There seemed to be many towering ancient trees and should be a natural primeval forest.
Everyone gathered up their strength and made their way through the residential area to the edge of the forest.
Judging by the variety of plants, it seemed to be a forest of tropical regions, with many tropical plants growing. The air in the forest was also heavy with moisture, and the incessant sharp chirping of insects made people feel their heads ache.
“In a forest like this, we need to be wary of poisonous insects and snakes. It’s best to cover any exposed skin,” Mu Yian instructed everyone before entering the forest. “Each of you should find a sturdy branch as a weapon. Don’t be distracted when moving forward and pay attention to your surroundings.”
Upon hearing his instructions, everyone hurried to find suitable branches and wrapped the clothes they had already taken off around their heads and hands.
“Let’s enter in a line,” Ke Xun said. “Mu Yiran and I will lead at the front. President Shao, Wei Dong, and Radish, you three will be in the middle. Brother Qin, Haowen Er, and Fang Fei, you three will take the rear. The rest will spread out between our three groups.”
“While we are moving, Mu Yiran and I will watch the front. Those in the middle will watch the sides and above. Those at the rear will watch our backs.”
“To the new members, listen carefully. No matter what happens, do not get separated from the group. Do not panic or run around aimlessly. Stay close. If anyone gets separated, try to stay put in the same place if you can. If not, head towards the residential area. We’ll try to rescue you under the premise that we can ensure our own safety.”
“If you hear Yiran or me shout ‘run,’ immediately turn back and run. Don’t ask questions and don’t hesitate, just run first. Run as fast as you can. Unless you hear Yiran or me say ‘stop’, don’t stop running.”
“And remember, don’t touch anything you shouldn’t. Stay calm if you encounter insects, snakes, or wild animals, and inform the others immediately. Does everyone understand?”
Thank you for the update.
Mu Yiran is the leader but Captain is Ke Xun haha
Thanks for the chapter 😊
Wow, Ke Xun sounds like hiking’s gide
Thank you for your translation 💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙