Qin Ci stood up and patted him on the shoulder, his deep voice carrying a hint of coldness: "Let's try our best to take care of him."
Wei Dong pulled over his shoulder bag—he had originally brought a backpack into the exhibition hall, but inside it had become a rough cloth shoulder bag.
Inside, he had beef jerky, chocolate, sausages, and even a five-pack of instant noodles. Seeing the poor child's terrified face, he wanted to take out a piece of chocolate to comfort him, but when he opened the bag, he was dumbfounded. The instant noodles had turned into crumbs, the chocolate into a yellowish lump of solid, and the beef jerky and sausages had reverted to their raw state, a mushy mess.
"What the hell has this turned into!" Wei Dong exclaimed angrily, pulling out the yellowish lump that looked like chocolate and staring at it.
"It looks a bit like cheese," Qin Ci said.
"Cheese?" Wei Dong looked completely bewildered. "I can understand instant noodles turning into crumbs and cooked meat turning into raw meat, but chocolate turning into cheese? What kind of bizarre logic is that?"
Ke Xun patted himself down, took out his phone, and swiped the screen to check. Sure enough, it still only had the functions of telling time and providing light.
"They've probably all degenerated," he replied to Wei Dong, then turned to Qin Ci, "Hasn't Mu Yiran arrived yet?"
Qin Ci shook his head.
Just then, the sunlight suddenly shone brightly, so bright it was hard to open their eyes for a moment. When the light faded, two more people appeared in their field of vision, their expressions shifting from shock to bewilderment, and then to frantic screams.
Ke Xun and Wei Dong looked at the two people with complex emotions.
Seeing them was like seeing themselves when they first entered the painting; back then, no one could have imagined the unimaginable experience they would face next.
They wondered how many of these people would ultimately survive.
The two finally saw the group and stumbled towards them. It was a young man and woman, seemingly a couple. The man shouted at Ke Xun, "Dude! What's going on?"
As they approached, Ke Xun replied, "This is inside a painting, a world within a painting. Sounds unbelievable, right? But it's real. We're all inside that painting you just saw."
The man was dumbfounded and blurted out, "This isn't fucking ridiculous! Are you crazy?"
Ke Xun raised an eyebrow: "Do you have a cure?"
The man was both shocked and angry: "Are you insane?!"
Ke Xun: "Can you cure me?"
The man roared, "Fuck—" and was about to punch Ke Xun in the face. Ke Xun easily dodged the punch. The man turned to continue, but Wei Dong grabbed him.
"Dude, take it easy," Wei Dong said. "Don't mess with him. If it really comes to blows, he can beat you until you're crying for your daddy."
"Get out of my way!" The man shook off Wei Dong and was about to charge at Ke Xun when his girlfriend pulled him back.
"Zhou Bin! Stop messing around! Quickly ask what's going on!" His girlfriend's voice was trembling with panic.
Zhou Bin glared at Ke Xun, lowered his fist, and glanced at the others. Most of them looked just like him and his girlfriend, panicked and helpless. Only one tall, clean-cut, and composed man was calmly watching them. He walked over and asked, "Excuse me, sir, could you tell me where we are? What's going on?"
Qin Ci, with the patience of a doctor, gave Zhou Bin and his girlfriend a brief explanation. Zhou Bin and his girlfriend were stunned.
Ke Xun didn't care about what was happening and turned to look into the distance.
In the distance were rolling mountains, their peaks covered with patches of snow that shimmered dazzlingly in the sunlight.
The sky above was an unusually deep blue, almost unnaturally so. Despite the clear skies, it felt as if countless enormous, terrifying things were crammed into the sky.
Ke Xun took a breath; the air carried the chill and cold of the distant snow.
"I'm having trouble breathing," Wei Dong said, crouching at his feet.
"Indeed, although this place is open, there's a strange sense of pressure and suffocation," Ke Xun said.
"Are they trying to kill us with suffocation?" Wei Dong shuddered. "That kind of death is too horrible. If that's the case, I'll just kill myself now."
Before he finished speaking, Zhou Bin's girlfriend behind him let out a piercing scream: "How could this happen—I don't want to die—Zhou Bin! Zhou Bin! What do we do! I don't want to die—"
Wei Dong and Ke Xun exchanged a glance; clearly, Qin Ci had already explained the situation in the painting to these people.
Ke Xun didn't want to listen anymore and looked towards the snow-covered peaks in the distance.
Wei Dong looked around for a while: "Why hasn't Boss Mu arrived yet? Could it be that he's decided to rather die outside than go back into the painting?"
"He's not the kind of person who accepts his fate or gives up easily," Ke Xun said.
Wei Dong clicked his tongue: "You're already praising him? You don't actually have feelings for him, do you?"
Ke Xun put his hands behind his head: "'Having feelings' has many meanings. It can be admiration and respect, it can be admiration and love, or it can be being a fan of his looks and soul."
"...Okay, I know what you mean," Wei Dong said. "Go ahead and have your feelings. I support you. Anyway, we don't know when our lives will end in the painting. Since we might kick the bucket at any time, do whatever you want."
The two were chatting to calm their emotions after entering the painting when they suddenly felt the sunlight become dazzling again. When the light passed, they looked around and saw the tall and handsome Mu Yiran walking towards them.
Ke Xun unconsciously curled his lips into a smile, kicking Wei Dong, who was still squatting to the side, "Get up."
"Why?" Wei Dong reluctantly stood up, "Your idol isn't my idol, do I have to line up and welcome you?!"
Ke Xun looked at Mu Yiran walking over and sighed, "A big shot is a big shot, even beggar clothes look like an artist on him."
Wei Dong shaded his eyes and looked at him a few times, then sighed as well, "These clothes look like beggar clothes on us, but on him, they look like the work of a celestial being..."
Before he could finish speaking, he saw the gay guy next to him already scurrying over to greet him, so he could only mutter "face-value fanatic" and follow him.
"Everyone's here." Qin Ci said to Mu Yiran.
Thirteen people.
Mu Yiran glanced at the crowd, ignoring them, and looked only at Qin Ci: "Where is the place?"
Qin Ci pointed behind him: "Down the slope."
After passing several boulders three or four people high, there was a steep slope leading downhill. There were no signs of human development, and almost no vegetation; the slope was covered with jagged boulders and gravel, patterned with grayish-white stones.
At the bottom of the slope was a relatively flat clearing, with a dozen or so tents scattered about, some large, some small, enough for ten or so people, others tiny and seemingly flimsy.
Qin Ci walked ahead, carefully feeling his way down the slope, Ma Zhenhua following closely behind. Mu Yiran glanced at Ke Xun, then silently followed. Ke Xun was about to follow when he saw the newcomers cowering in place, none daring to move.
Ke Xun glanced at the family of three and said to the father, "Come on, staying here is useless. It'll be even more dangerous after dark; you'll die here. Go down and find a way out; maybe there'll be a chance to survive."
The father's lips trembled slightly, but in the end, he took his wife's hand in one hand and his child's in the other, and silently followed.
Hearing Ke Xun's words, perhaps out of herd mentality, or perhaps because they could tell that Qin Cimu and Yi Ran were experienced, the others didn't linger and, trembling, supported each other as they walked down the slope.
Ke Xun couldn't quite understand how such filthy and terrifying things could appear in such a clear and clean environment. What was the person who painted such a picture thinking?
Although the slope was difficult to walk on, there wasn't anything particularly dangerous. However, with four ladies and a teenager among the thirteen people, there were bound to be stumbles and screams along the way.
Wei Dong had already run to the side of the eighteen or nineteen-year-old long-haired beauty, supporting her arm as if an old eunuch were serving an empress dowager.
As the sun began to set, the group finally arrived at the tents. A middle-aged man, dressed similarly to the others in a cloth robe, emerged from the largest tent. He had a dark face, chapped lips, a short stature, and dark circles under his eyes. His eyes, mostly white with little black, stared at the group as he spoke stiffly, "Go to bed early tonight and don't wander around. Meet in this tent at dawn tomorrow. I'll be waiting for you here. Now I'll arrange your lodgings."
The group remained silent, listening intently.
The man seemed unconcerned, his pale gaze sweeping over them. "You'll all sleep in tents tonight. The tents are small, only two people per tent—remember, only two people per tent."
Thirteen people, only two people per tent—meaning one person would be left alone.
After speaking, the middle-aged man went to the furthest small tent, leaving the group behind.
It seemed the tent assignments were left to the group to decide.
Ma Zhenhua was the first to react, and hurriedly stepped in front of Mu Yiran, looking at him with hopeful eyes: "Brother Mu, I... can I share a tent with you? Please!"
Before Mu Yiran could speak, the slightly chubby young girl with glasses called out: "Wait a minute! Can you listen to me for a few words?"
Everyone's eyes turned to her.
After the initial shock and fear, the bespectacled girl was surprisingly calmer than the other newcomers, though her face was still pale and her voice trembled slightly: "What I want to say is, although I don't know what terrible things will happen next, I think that in times like these, we should especially demonstrate our collectivist spirit. Whether it's in novels or movies, you should all know that those who go it alone never have a good ending."
Seeing that everyone was listening, the bespectacled girl seemed somewhat encouraged. She pointed to Qin Cimu, Yi Ran, and Ke Xun, and continued: "I can see that you guys are experienced and know each other well. In contrast, we... we have absolutely no understanding of this 'world.' We are very passive and very helpless. Usually, people like us are the most likely to die.
"So I sincerely hope and implore you, out of humanitarian spirit, to help us. After all, many hands make light work, and our survival will definitely help you. The fewer people there are, the greater the danger, isn't it?"
"I beg you to help us, to let everyone survive. If we all work together and find a way out, it'll be much more effective than just four or five of you, right?
"I feel there's something wrong with that person. He deliberately stated that each tent could only house a maximum of two people. I think there's definitely something fishy about that. I have a feeling something might happen tonight.
"In this situation, I beg you few to show some kindness to us. Don't leave us to face this alone, okay?
"So what I mean is... could you experienced people help us inexperienced people by sharing tents one-on-one, giving us a better chance to survive? Please! Please! I believe you are all good people, kind people, please!"
Ke Xun couldn't help but glance at the girl with glasses a few more times. Appearances
can be deceiving.
This girl with glasses had a clear mind and spoke logically. What was rare was that she could maintain a degree of composure under these circumstances, stronger than several men.
The newcomers to the painting weren't all purely weak.