When the snow outside the tent turned a ghastly white, Ke Xun knew that the Black Corpse Heaven had descended.
Mu Yiran had said that only when the Black Corpse Heaven descended could the patterns on the tent ceiling be seen clearly by the snow light, and that was true, because the snow light had changed.
Ke Xun felt that he was really slow to realize things; he had noticed the change in the snow light in that instant since the first night he entered the painting, but he had never given much thought to what was so strange about it.
However, he couldn't dwell on it now. Using the ghastly white snow light, he moved the tent around to find the angle from which the patterns on the tent ceiling would appear.
Mu Yiran was the first to enter his tent. Ke Xun didn't speak to him, afraid of disrupting his memory of the patterns, and simply silently stepped aside to give him space.
Mu Yiran stared intently at the tent ceiling without blinking, his dark eyes moving rapidly and slightly, clearly trying his best to record the patterns.
Ke Xun stared outside the tent as the massive figure of the Black Corpse Heaven landed on the ground, slowly walking step by step towards the group of tents.
To avoid being wiped out at once, the seven tents were not placed too close together, maintaining a certain distance, but not exceeding the range where everyone could maintain a high-speed sprint.
Before Hei Shi Tian reached the edge of the tent cluster, Mu Yiran left Ke Xun's tent and rushed into Wei Dong's tent.
Ke Xun kept a close eye on Hei Shi Tian's figure, seeing it head towards Qin Ci's tent first.
Mr. Geng rushed out of his tent, a few steps ahead of it, and rushed into Qin Ci's tent.
Hei Shi Tian stopped and turned to walk towards Sha Liu's tent.
Mu Yiran, who was paired with Sha Liu, was still in Wei Dong's tent; there was too little time, and he hadn't had time to memorize the patterns on the tent ceiling.
Ke Xun rushed out of his tent and ran towards Sha Liu's tent. He didn't tell Mu Yiran, because he wasn't sure if the sound would attract Hei Shi Tian's attention.
What made him happy was that Mu Yiran and he had this tacit understanding—he stayed in Wei Dong's tent and continued to record the patterns inside.
Ke Xun figured that since Mu Yiran had already memorized the pattern of his tent, he didn't need to rush back. He could team up with Sha Liu first and observe the situation.
At this moment, all four tents occupied were in pairs, meeting the required number of people for the night. Hei Shitian paused again and walked towards the tent where Geng Ma and her son were.
Geng Ba rushed out of Qin Ci's tent and ran towards his own tent, while Mu Yiran left Wei Dong's tent and entered Qin Ci's.
Hei Shitian turned and walked towards Geng Ba's tent. Ke Xun, once again acting as a firefighter, ran out of Sha Liu's tent and into Geng Ba's tent.
A breathtaking race against death unfolded in the almost silent, tense, and terrifying darkness. One, two, even three figures constantly moved between the seven tents simultaneously. No one spoke, no one looked around, only their eyes were fixed on their destination, sprinting with all their might, gambling everything for their lives.
But in reality, everyone was growing increasingly tense. No one was certain when the "god-level" boss, Black Corpse Heaven, would suddenly go berserk. Every second that passed meant the moment of its rampage was drawing ever closer.
All hopes rested on Mu Yiran.
Mu Yiran had already crawled through five tents, but clearly, that was far from enough. He still needed to organize and rearrange the seven patterns imprinted in his mind, then piece them together completely.
It sounded easy, but all of this could only be done in his mind, making it incredibly difficult. Leaving aside the complexity and difficulty of remembering the patterns on the seven tents, simply avoiding confusion was already an almost impossible task. Then, to simulate a jigsaw puzzle in his mind and piece together the seven patterns one by one tested far more than just memory.
While Mu Yiran was arduously working on this mental jigsaw puzzle, everyone's nerves were stretched to the limit, their hearts pounding with tension. During this time, the group had to maintain a single tent at all times to attract Hei Shitian's attention, so they were constantly running back and forth.
The dual strain on their minds and bodies caused them to tire quickly, to the point that, except for Mu Yiran and Ke Xun, the others' stamina was declining sharply, and their running speed was getting slower and slower.
The oldest, Geng Ba, was the first to give in. His legs buckled, and he stumbled and fell to the ground between the two tents, his knee hitting a sharp stone, causing him so much pain that he couldn't get up for a while.
Hei Shitian only needed two steps to get close, and his eight outstretched arms descended like a giant net.
Ke Xun rushed out and arrived just as Hei Shitian's giant hand reached for Geng Ba, pushing him away. The giant hand didn't stop; with a swift opening and closing motion, it lifted Ke Xun up from under its palm.
"Ke Xun!"
Ke Xun heard someone call out urgently.
It was a man's voice. It wasn't Wei Dong; Wei Dong always called him "Ke'er." Nor was it Qin Ci or Geng's father; they called him "Little Ke" or "Brother Ke."
Ke Xun was lifted up by a giant hand, his perspective forced to shift rapidly, yet he still managed to turn his head and find the person who had called him.
"Goodbye," Ke Xun smiled at him, his eyes crinkling, and waved.
To die should be a glorious, flamboyant death.
Turning back, Ke Xun looked up at the enormous head overhead.
The eight-armed Black Corpse Heaven, its skin pitch black, its eyes enormous and bulging from their sockets, blood-red eyeballs, indigo pupils, long, drawn-out breaths emanating from its flat, wide nostrils, its vermilion mouth splitting open to its ears, four huge, sharp fangs protruding from its open, blood-red mouth seemingly holding a vast ocean of blood.
Finally, the moment arrived. Ke Xun, surprisingly fearless and relaxed, even waved at it and greeted it with a smile, "Excuse my bluntness, but you're a fucking ugly bastard."
Perhaps this creature had never seen a human sacrifice that didn't scream, struggle, or show fear, for it didn't immediately "enjoy" Ke Xun. Instead, it bulged out its bloodshot eyes, staring directly at Ke Xun's face.
Ke Xun, held in front of its face, had no choice but to meet its gaze. On this dark and ugly face, something vaguely seemed to be trying to manifest.
What was it? Ke Xun opened its eyes wide to look closely, hearing Mu Yiran's rapid and urgent commands echoing beneath its feet: "Tent number four to the left of tent number one, tent number three to the east of tent number one, tent number five to the west of tent number four..."
The Black Corpse Heaven's face changed. Two crescent-shaped eyebrows and a pair of slender, joyful, and benevolent eyes faintly appeared on its dark face.
It was the Benevolent Black Corpse Heaven!
The Benevolent Black Corpse Heaven wanted to manifest!
But it seemed its power was still insufficient. The face before it remained that of the raging Black Corpse Heaven, while the benevolent Black Corpse Heaven was like an embryo struggling to break through its outer membrane,
writhing and pushing. Finally, the raging Black Corpse Heaven was enraged. Its eight arms outstretched, flailing and twisting wildly, grasping and clenching in mid-air, seemingly trying to crush all forces that opposed it. It pinched Ke Xun between two fingers, opened its blood-red maw wide, and thrust Ke Xun into its mouth!
It wanted to devour him alive!
Ke Xun yelled "Holy crap!"—he'd rather be torn to pieces instantly than be reborn inside this thing's belly and end up as a pile of divine dung. He frantically reached out and grabbed the sharp teeth at the Black Corpse Heaven's mouth, refusing to go into its mouth no matter what.
The Black Corpse Heaven extended its sharp, soft, long red tongue, and with a gentle hook and roll, it pulled Ke Xun off its teeth. Just as it was about to pull him into its mouth, a deep shout came from the ground: "Take over the tent!"
The black and red before Ke Xun's eyes were instantly obscured by a burst of golden light. The light was so dazzling that he had to close his eyes tightly. Even so, his eyelids couldn't block out the magnificent light. A rumbling, seemingly heavenly chanting sounded in his ears, sounding holy and solemn, like celestial music. His nose was suddenly filled with the fragrance of flowers and spices, refreshing his body and mind, and opening his pores.
Amidst the sacred music, fragrant flowers, and golden light, Ke Xun tried to open his eyes.
All he could see were two enormous, soft, and beautiful lips. Something gently pulled him from between them. His perspective shifted, and he saw that the dark, ugly, and furious Black Corpse Heaven had vanished. Standing before him was the dignified, joyful, and benevolent Black Corpse Heaven, with skin like white jade and soft, lustrous features. Although his eyes still held no life, they still brought a sense of peace. The benevolent
Black Corpse Heaven lifted him and gently turned his wrist, Ke Xun's face immediately facing the ground. He saw that the seven tents had been flipped over, resembling seven shallow bowls, the patterns on the bottom of the bowls forming a complete picture.
On the picture was a string of Gan Xiong characters composed of two lines: flowers and flesh. Ke Xun guessed that this string of characters was probably the signature of the artist, Qiu Jian.
Mu Yiran said that the skull was believed to hold all of a person's life force and soul.
Qiu Jian, a fanatical follower of the Satuo sect, inscribed his entire life force and soul into the offering bowl for the gods, sacrificing himself as a devout offering to his faith.
Whether he adhered to the Qing sect, which worshipped evil, or the Satuo sect, which worshipped righteousness, was a matter of opinion.
In the overwhelming golden light, something resembling a picture frame faintly appeared above the signature. The crowd filed out, leaving only Mu Yiran standing beside the frame, looking up at Ke Xun.
Ke Xun felt the two fingers gripping his body loosen, and he fell from mid-air. He thought he might be caught in a princess carry by his idol, but Mu Yiran expressionlessly sidestepped, clearing the way for his landing…
Returning to the third exhibition hall from the painting, everyone collapsed to the ground, silent for a long time.
Ke Xun rubbed his body, which had nearly shattered from the fall, and turned to look at the wall displaying the painting "Faith."
It was a typical religious icon, the majority of the canvas occupied by a benevolent-looking Black Corpse God statue. Around the statue were flower petals, clouds, colorful silks, and various jewels, but in the statue's hand lay a painting of human skin.
The painting depicted a wrathful Black Corpse God, wearing a skull crown, a chain of human heads around his neck, and a human skin cloak. One hand held a skull bowl containing fresh human brains, while the other held a vajra made of human bones. A human bone bracelet encircled his wrist. In front of him were offerings made of various flesh and blood, placed in six skull bowls.
Ke Xun stared intently and realized that the head in the center of the chain of human heads was Tan Zheng's. The whole human skin used to make the cloak belonged to Ma Zhenhua. As for the human brains, flesh, and bone artifacts, they likely came from Zhou Bin and Li Ziling.
"What are you thinking about?" Mu Yiran stood beside him, looking down at him with lowered eyelids.
"No wonder I always felt so cramped and oppressed in the painting," Ke Xun pointed to the painting, "So this is a painting within a painting. What we really entered was this human skin painting in Shan Xiang Hei Shi Tian's hands."
"Holy crap... So we've been eating, drinking, defecating, and sleeping inside the human skin all this time?" Wei Dong exclaimed in surprise, then turned his head and "Ugh—"
Before leaving the third exhibition hall, Qin Ci gave Sha Liu and the Geng family some instructions, such as not mentioning the world inside the painting to others, and that they must enter the next painting on time according to the time and place indicated on the ticket that appeared in his pocket.
Sha Liu left with a pale face and staggered away, while the Geng family stayed behind. Qin Ci said he would introduce a psychologist to give the child some psychological counseling.
Ke Xun and Wei Dong left in a taxi. Ke Xun was about to ask Mu Yiran if she was going to the hotel or taking a plane immediately when he turned his head and saw that
Mu Yiran had already fallen into a deep sleep.
"You've worked hard," Ke Xun smiled and said softly.
(Third painting: "Breaking Ground")