Paintings of Terror

Chapter 21: Out of the Painting!

Translated by Eve

Edited by EB

What they saw, was that the ghost faces had completely peeled themselves off of the three Chinese Scholar trees. Thousands of ghost heads flocked together with malevolent and warped expressions on each of their faces. They all competed to be in the lead as they chased after the survivors, their messy hair all tangled together, forming one giant blob. Within this hairy cloud, the slower ghost heads could also be faintly made out from in between the outer layer of hair. Their eyes were bulging, their mouths were wide and their faces were ashen and withered. They looked like they were itching to catch up to the people in front and eat them alive.

The jianbing vendor’s and Ma Zhenhua’s legs softened. They tried to climb to their feet but couldn’t do it. They were scared out of their minds and lost control of their bladders.

Ke Xun turned around. He ran back to the jianbing vendor, grabbed him by the collar and then continued to sprint ahead.

He wasn’t capable of helping two people. Although he frequently trained by running with weights, the weight of one grown person was already the extent to what he could handle.

When Ke Xun saw Wei Dong turn around with the intention of saving Ma Zhenhua, he yelled, “Can you even drag him?! Don’t do more than you can. Just run!”

Wei Dong promptly turned back around and continued sprinting for his life. Meanwhile, Mu Yiran took one glance at Ke Xun before heading back to grab the paralyzed Ma Zhenhua.

“Will you be okay?” Ke Xun asked.

“Looks like you’ve already forgotten who pressed you down onto the ground the first night,” Mu Yiran replied blandly.

Ke Xun laughed. He winked. “Don’t feel proud just yet. You just caught me off guard. If we really faced off, who knows who’d be the one on top?”

He then saw Mu Yiran’s expression turn cold. The other increased his pace and overtook Ke Xun.

Teasing him is pretty fun, Ke Xun thought.

Meanwhile, the ghost heads that were gaining on them was definitely not something very fun.

Amidst the gale and shrieks, the horde of ghost heads had nearly caught up to Zhang Maolin, who was trailing at the end. Zhang Maolin howled as he ran for his life. Who would have expected that he would suddenly trip and end up bitten in the foot by one of the heads.

Zhang Maolin subconsciously turned to look at his foot. The head that had bitten into his shoe was Liu Yufei. Immediately, Liu Yufei let out a sinister smile, revealing his exquisite white teeth. With a howl, he pounced onto Zhang Maolin again.

“Help me—help me—” Zhang Maolin stumbled forwards. When he reached the steps of the fire tower, he grabbed hold of Ma Zhenhua’s pants.

Ma Zhenhua had been dragged forward by Mu Yiran this whole time. It was only when they entered the fire tower that he had come out of his stupor. With all his limbs, he struggled to climb up the steps. However, he had unexpectedly been grabbed by Zhang Maolin. Ma Zhenhua tried to pull his leg away but Zhang Maolin wouldn’t relinquish his hold.

“Let go! Let go!” Ma Zhenhua’s eyes bulged out of his head as he glared at Zhang Maolin with hatred. He kicked his foot, trying to break free.

“Save me—I beg you—save me—” Zhang Maolin’s eyeballs also seemed to protrude out of his sockets out of fear. This made his face look twisted and horrifying. He directed all of his energy into his hands, as if he wanted to drag Ma Zhenhua down and throw him into the horde of ghost heads behind him. It seemed like he wanted to sacrifice the other to buy himself time to escape.

“I’ll give you money—I’ll give you money—I’ll give everything I have—I have 800 million—-I’ll give it all to you—save me—save me—” Zhang Maolin sobbed, his voice so shrill it felt like it would pierce your eardrums.

“Let go—go die! Go die!” Ma Zhenhua panicked. He ruthlessly trampled on Zhang Maolin’s face and throat.

Once, twice, ten times.

Each kick was filled with more force than the last. Each one was more and more ruthless. In the end, he gave one last kick that contained all of his strength, directing it to Zhang Maolin’s throat. The suffocation and intense pain caused the latter to unconsciously let go. He then rolled down the steps and fell straight into the vortex that was the horde of ghost heads that were connected like a bunch of grapes by the hair.

Countless ghost heads immediately surged upwards and then swallowed Zhang Maolin into their collective mass. Zhang Maolin stretched out a twisted arm, as if pleading for someone to save him.

The ghost heads bit down firmly onto Zhang Maolin’s body. The sound of tearing flesh and swallowing resounded in the air, repeating over and over again.

Zhang Maolin’s screams were like barbed, blunt blades piercing them from the soles of their feet.

Ma Zhenhua peed his pants again as he struggled to climb up the steps.

It wasn’t a particularly tall fire tower. And yet, it felt like it was taking them a century to reach the top.

At the top of the tower, there was a wooden pillar inside the platform, part of the wood already peeling off. On top of it was a dreary and cold-looking clay-red seal: Li Haojing’s seal.

Dr. Qin sighed in relief. They had searched this area before but the seal hadn’t been here. It had probably appeared after Mu Yiran had solved the mystery surrounding the painter’s painful, tragic life and finally allowed him to let out all of his grievances and resentment through this painting.

“What now?!” The first to reach the top was Wei Dong. He screamed his question as he stared at the seal.

“Press down on it with your palm!” Dr. Qin said, following closely behind.

Wei Dong was about to reach out when he suddenly turned around and saw Ke Xun heading back down. Panicked, he shouted, “Ke er, hurry up! They’re going to catch up to us soon! Hurry up!”

“You go first! I’ll be fine!” Ke Xun shouted back. He then ran back down to tug on Mu Yiran who had fallen behind.

Mu Yiran had been dragged down by Ma Zhenhua. When Ma Zhenhua and Zhang Maolin had been fighting, Mu Yiran had let go of the other, intending to wash his hands clean of him. He hadn’t expected for Ma Zhenhua to catch up to him and grab onto his leg like Zhang Maolin had to Ma Zhenhua earlier. The other wouldn’t let go of him no matter what he did.

The horde of ghost heads surged towards them. They would soon reach Ma Zhenhua. At this moment, Ma Zhenhua felt the extreme fear Zhang Maolin had suffered a moment prior. He held tightly onto Mu Yiran’s leg. He was afraid that the other would kick him down like he had to Zhang Maolin. He thought, even if he died, he would drag Mu Yiran down with him.

Why? Why do I have to die while you guys get to live? Ma Zhenhua couldn’t accept this. He hated this. He resented the people who would get to survive.

A person’s strength can reach new extremes during a life-or-death situation. Mu Yiran couldn’t break free.

Ke Xun went to try and pull him out. However, he discovered that he couldn’t get the other to budge. They had no more time. They couldn’t continue to stay entangled like this.

Ke Xun pushed the jianbing vendor forward. He then yelled at Dr. Qin: “Take him away!” He then turned around and tugged at Mu Yiran’s pants.

“Do you want to die?!” Mu Yiran glared, teeth clenched tightly.

“What are you thinking about?! What do you think I’d do to you at a time like this?!” Ke Xun shouted as he continued to work. A moment later, he managed to pull Mu Yiran’s linen pants all the way down.

Ma Zhenhua slipped down along with Mu Yiran’s pants. A shrill, mournful scream escaped from his lips.

“Heh.” Ke Xun really wanted to kick this person into the horde of ghost heads. However, he still reached out to heave the other up by the collar.

Ke Xun and Mu Yiran simultaneously climbed the last few steps. Two hands reached out at the same time to press against the seal. White light flashed before Ke Xun’s eyes. Amidst the white light, something that looked like a painting’s frame appeared.

His body subconsciously started sprinting towards the frame. Everything only lasted for a second. By the time his gaze refocused, he realized the light above his head had softened and he was once again inside a room. On the walls around him hung paintings of all colours and sizes.

——He was back. He was back in that odd art gallery that had brought him onto such a strange, nightmarish adventure.

Wei Dong pounced over and wrapped his hands around Ke Xun’s neck. He shook the other fiercely. “Ke er! Am I dreaming?! Did we come back?! Did we really make it back?! Quickly, let me pinch you. Does it hurt? We’re not dreaming, right?”

Ke Xun shoved him away. He rubbed his neck and coughed. He was about to say something when a sudden force struck him behind, forcing him to stumble forward. He turned around and saw Ma Zhenhua. The other’s features were twisted into a warped expression, tears and snot running down his face as he flopped onto the ground.

“He’s a lucky one.” Ke Xun said expressionlessly. He didn’t bother to look at Ma Zhenhua again. He only looked up to examine the painting hanging in behind him.

The painting was named “The Funeral” and the painter was Li Haojing.

Ke Xun finally got to see the painting’s appearance.

The Li village was surrounded by mountains. As expected, it was definitely a remote, closed-off village.

The lonely village was filled with dilapidated houses. The painting was created with murky colours, showcasing the tragic and oppressive atmosphere that surrounded this village.

In the outskirts of the village, there were people digging graves. On the north end of the village, there was a mourning hall set up in one of the residences. There were people walking around that residence in linen clothes.

Outside of this courtyard quietly stood three ghostly and grotesque Chinese Scholar trees.

If you were to carefully examine these trees, you’d notice that there were craggy lines on the tree’s trunks, as if they were covered with human faces. On even closer inspection, you’d also make out a face that looked very much alike to Liu Yufei near the roots of one of the trees.

Ke Xun took a step back. He then looked over at the fire tower and river bank to the village’s south. The shape of these two areas looked like the characters for Haojing.

Ke Xun pointed to the face in the tree that looked like Liu Yufei. He turned to Mu Yiran. “Was this on the original painting?”

Mu Yiran stared at him coldly and didn’t answer him.

Ke Xun raised a brow. He was about to ask him something else when he heard Dr. Qin reply to his question. “No, this wasn’t on the original painting. This appeared because…he died inside the painting. It was the same in the previous two paintings we were in. If someone dies in the painting, their likeness will be forever preserved within the painting and they will become a part of it.”

Ke Xun turned to look at him. “What about in the real world? Will they disappear into thin air? Won’t people get suspicious?”

Dr. Qin cast his gaze downwards. “In the real world, these people get to leave for a few more days. However, they will have lost their memories of the painting world. They will then die in a seemingly natural manner. It won’t arouse any suspicions.”

Ke Xun was speechless. He didn’t bother with the painting any more. He continued to ask Dr. Qin questions instead. “What now? Will we have to enter another painting right away?”

Dr. Qin calmly said, “Put your hand in your pocket.”

Ke Xun and Wei Dong immediately reached into their pockets. At this moment, Ke Xun discovered that he was once again wearing his original clothes. The only difference was that there was now a card made of stiff paper he had never seen before inside his pocket.

On the front of the card, “Long River Art Gallery’s Exhibition” was printed. There was also a date, time, address and ‘third exhibition hall’ printed on the back.

“This is…” Ke Xun had a bad feeling about this.

Dr. Qin’s voice was low. “The time and place in which we will have to enter the next painting. This is our ticket to the art gallery. It’s also…a forced invitation to enter the painting, one that we cannot refuse or give away.”

Eve: Our babies survived! Yay~