Paintings of Terror

Chapter 36: Some People Value Justice More While Others Value Emotions

Translated by Eve

Edited by EB

Suddenly, a scream erupted from the main tent’s direction. The weird-looking face at the top of the tent suddenly straightened up. It then headed towards the source of the scream with its wildly dancing arms.

The startled scream turned mournful. Because it was so warped, Ke Xun couldn’t tell who it was

The arms of the giant shadow gathered at its front. Its immense body blocked Ke Xun’s view but he could still hear the blood-curdling scream. A second later, everything went quiet. Just as Ke Xun had prepared himself to face the giant shadow upon its inevitable return, he saw it head over to Zhou Bin and Qin Ci’s tent. The giant shadow bent down and reached out an arm. A moment later, it pulled someone out of the tent.

That person shouted something out loud. Shortly after, another ear-piercing screech echoed through the air. It made one’s blood run cold.

Ke Xun was stunned. Before he could break out of his trance, a person suddenly darted outside and entered his tent.

Rather, it was actually two people. It was Qin Ci with an unconscious Zhao Dan on his back.

“What—” Ke Xun had just started to speak when Qin Ci slammed his hand against his mouth. He quickly laid Zhao Dan down before lying down himself.

Ke Xun was completely befuddled but lied down anyway. Zhou Bin’s terrible screams quickly ceased and the giant shadow once again headed in their direction. Step by step, it approached the tip of Ke Xun’s tent.

Ke Xun looked up and saw the giant shadow above them. Six arms swayed in the air while two held something that seemed to be dripping with blood.

The giant shadow bent down and placed the thing it was holding onto the roof of the tent. The objects slid down the tent, appearing white as a sheet amidst the light reflected off the snow. The outline of the objects could be clearly seen.

They were two perfect skulls, freshly obtained.

The skulls were stained in fresh blood and some kind of flesh or viscera. They slowly slid down from the top of the tent.

Ke Xun stared at the giant shadow, the sharp stone still held tightly in his hand. He thought that even if he was going to die, he would at least stab that thing in the eye before he breathed his last.

Before dawn came, the giant shadow took the offerings and rose off the ground.

Ke Xun sat up and turned to look at Qin Ci.

Qin Ci looked sallow. He squeezed his glabella and said in a heavy, low voice, “I don’t know what happened either. Zhou Bin played the biggest part in preparing the offerings but that thing still chose our tent…. When Zhou Bin saw that it was going after him, he told me to take Zhao Dan to you…. He might have had a hope that Zhao Dan could still make it out alive. When he saw that his offerings were useless, he decided to let the three of us form a new team. He wanted to prevent our entire tent from being killed.”

Ke Xun looked at the unconscious Zhao Dan who laid on the floor. He then shifted his gaze over to bloody skulls. It felt like one of the skulls’ empty sockets were staring at Zhao Dan from above.

“At least he treats his girlfriend well.” Ke Xun looked away and stood up. He was about to head out when he saw Mu Yiran come in with a dark expression on his face. Ke Xun had just been about to greet him when he got socked in the face. He stumbled back a few steps before falling down onto the tattered rug. Although two streaks of blood slid down from his nose, he smiled at Mu Yiran.

“Don’t do that again.” Mu Yiran glared at him darkly before leaving.

Ke Xun wiped the blood from his nose with the back of his hand. He then laid down on his back and took in a few breaths. Turning his head to the side, he smiled at Qin Ci and said, “Why do you think he hit me?”

Qin Ci rubbed his temples. “Probably because you knocked him out last night.”

Ke Xun laughed. “Is that so? And here I thought he was just showing his concern for me in a violent way.”

After leaving the tent, Ke Xun saw that Mu Yiran was covering the corpses that had slid to the ground with pelts.

They didn’t quite look like they were huddled into a ball. It was like they were deflated dolls that were now crumpled into a heap.

Mu Yiran and Wei Dong’s tent was half open. One could faintly make out Sha Liu sitting inside with both arms around her legs. The visible half of her face was deathly pale.

The moment Wei Dong had woken up was also the exact moment Zhao Dan did. A heart-wrenching cry echoed throughout the tents. Zhao Dan, who wasn’t particularly brave to begin with, fell over Zhou Bin’s boneless corpse. She wouldn’t leave the corpse no matter who came to pull her away.

“Why?!” Wei Dong’s fists were clenched tight and his eyes were red as he directed this question to Ke Xun and Mu Yiran.

“Didn’t we collect all the offerings? Why did someone still die?” Father Geng asked, voice shaking.

Qin Ci frowned deeply. “Something’s wrong. I think we must have been wrong about something. Or maybe we’re missing something.”

“The five Dews of Wisdom, the five tribute meats, duomu, libation wine, a sacrificial cup, a lantern, gala, dangka,” Sha Liu pushed her glasses up, her lips completely drained of blood, “We got them all. We got more than enough. So why…why…?”

No one answered her. Everyone was puzzled. They felt an unprecedented sense of helplessness and fear.

“I remember now,” Sha Liu’s bloodshot eyes widened. “The book had said that we had to place the offerings on the skin of a dead boy! Because the skin of a dead boy can subdue any obstacles that intend to disrupt the sacrificial ceremony. Is this why we failed?”

“It sounds like you’re talking about an evil cult now!” Mother Geng couldn’t hold it in any longer. She shouted in fury while pulling her son into her arms protectively. Sha Liu’s mention of a boy had caused her to become exceptionally guarded and nervous.

“What kind of proper religion would use such things as offerings?!” Father Geng also rebuked her angrily.

Sha Liu looked at the Geng couple silently before quietly adding, “It is an honour to sacrifice oneself to one’s religion as a devout follower.

“I’ve read that, in Ganxiong, followers of Sahism have gone so far as behead people they had considered friends without any hesitation. One moment, they could be drinking with you merrily. In the next moment, as long as an elder commanded it, they would kill you.

“Especially those who are not educated in the sciences. The less educated they are, the stronger the hold faith has on them. They do not fear death. Life and death are both parts of the reincarnation cycle. Death is simply a return to nature. That’s why they would not think that a cruel, bloody sacrificial ceremony like this is inhumane or anything to fear.

“To put it another way, in their eyes, life and death are a gift from their gods. The gods decide it for them. To them, life and death are equal. Their bodies are simply sacks of flesh that hold them temporarily. There is no reason to hold any sort of attachment towards them. Many religions practice self-flagellation. The more pain one experiences, the deeper one’s cultivation, the purer one’s soul.

“Therefore…although outsiders would find self-sacrifice to be unacceptable and difficult to understand, in places where Sahism is practiced, it’s nothing noteworthy. They are cultivating their souls, not their bodies.”

“Scram!” Mother Geng pointed at Sha Liu and scolded, “I don’t care where we are. I don’t care what they believe in. We don’t believe in such things. Don’t you dare get any ideas about my family! I don’t care where you heard this from. I’ll fight you if you dare utter another word!”

Sha Liu didn’t respond. She only lowered her head and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

“The most important thing right now is to figure out why Zhou Bin was picked last night,” Qin Ci said, “Otherwise, it’ll be extremely difficult for us to escape death tonight.”

He spoke his thoughts out loud: “The tent Zhou Bin and I shared had practically all the sacrificial offerings required. The same went for the Geng Family’s tent. Zhou Bin had even gotten his hands on some of the dew of wisdom Li Ziling had. He also had some of the other four types from Sha Liu. He also had the five tribute meats he had collected on his own and the…things…that had been harvested from the sky burial platform yesterday. He and Sha Liu had also worked together to create the offerings required out of those things. Our tent had the most comprehensive collection of sacrificial goods. Therefore, I don’t understand why our tent had been chosen.”

Father Geng was also mulling over this issue. He added, “Maybe he broke a rule? He did kill a person in the painting. Furthermore, he had stolen the corpse from the sky burial platform. That could be considered desecrating the dead. This kind of behaviour is unforgivable! Maybe that’s why he was chosen.”

“That’s a possibility,” Qin Ci muttered. He then looked at Ke Xun. “Something is bothering me though. That thing had walked over to Xiao Ke’s tent at first, most likely because he had fulfilled the first death condition. But why didn’t it kill him? I don’t get it. Xiao Ke, did you notice anything from when it peered into your tent?”

“I don’t get it either.” Ke Xun shrugged. When he felt Mu Yiran’s cold gaze turn to him, he blinked his eyes innocently. He then looked away when he saw the other’s face darken. Once again, Ke Xun turned his gaze towards Qin Ci. “But I think it did want to take me. He stared at me for a really long time. It felt like it was observing me. I just don’t know why it watched me for so long.”

“Maybe it was appraising the quality of your meat,” Wei Dong said.

“Then there’s even less reason to hesitate. What’s there to nitpick about me?”

“I don’t think it would let off someone that fulfilled a death condition,” Mu Yiran said, “Li Ziling is an example of that. She and Zhou Bin had opposite circumstances. Zhou Bin had satisfied the tent quota and had the most complete set of offerings. Meanwhile, Li Ziling had failed to satisfy the quota and she had no offerings around her. The only thing that can explain why both people were picked is that we must have misunderstood the second death condition. But of course, we can’t ignore the fact that Ke Xun had still managed to survive despite failing to satisfy the quota.”

“So what you’re saying,” Qin Ci looked at Ke Xun in shock, “Is that Xiao Ke might have satisfied a self-defense condition?”

.

Everyone’s gazes gathered onto Ke Xun’s face.

Ke Xun looked down at himself. “I didn’t do anything. I didn’t even take any of the five Dews of Wisdom. I was also alone last night. What, could I have had a male and female ghost in the same tent as me? Did they latch onto my body without my knowledge?”

“What did you do when it appeared at your tent?” Mu Yiran asked coldly.

“Thinking of you,” Ke Xun said.

When he saw Mu Yiran raise his fist as his expression changed, Ke Xun promptly changed his tune: “Sorry, I remembered wrongly. Let me think…oh. I think I was cursing it. I even gave it the middle finger. It can’t be that my middle finger cast a magic spell on it so it couldn’t do anything to me, right?”

“Fuck, if that’s true, just how many monsters have I attacked with magic while growing up?” Wei Dong stuck his middle finger up at Ke Xun.

“Well, I can’t think of anything else that would explain this,” Ke Xun said.

“I have a conjecture.” Mu Yiran suddenly swept a gaze over the group. “It’s about the settings of the death conditions.”

Eve: The “thinking of you” got me. Ke Xun, you’re just asking for a spanking.