Among the group of college students, a tall, slightly older boy wearing glasses introduced himself as their representative: "My name is Zhang Tianwei, and I'm a first-year graduate student at the Academy of Fine Arts. We are all volunteers for this exhibition. He Yu and Miao Zipeng are third-year students, Mi Wei and Xin Beibei are second-year students, and Ye Ningchen is the youngest, a first-year student."
Being art students, and relatively well-mannered volunteers at that, the group seemed to have already accepted the situation.
Ye Ningchen nodded to Ke Xun and the others, "We meet again. Now I understand why you sent me away back then."
Wei Dong was relatively more proactive when facing girls: "Our main purpose is to find the seal and signature. You even helped us explain the paintings in Hall K, so you should all know these paintings well, right?"
Ye Ningchen looked at the otherworldly beauty before her: "I was too panicked to see which painting it was, but based on my experience, what we're looking for should be a signature—today's exhibits are all oil paintings, so there shouldn't be any seals."
"The title of this work is 'Shadow,' and the artist's name is Rong Rang," Ke Xun stated, revealing what he had seen.
Several college students exchanged glances and nodded to each other. Zhang Tianwei, as the representative, spoke first: "Rong Rang is a fan of the Fauvist school. As a young painter who just graduated with a master's degree, he has already gained some fame in the art circle. This exhibition features five of his works, each priced at over 50,000 yuan. In particular, this painting, 'Shadow,' is priced at 120,000 yuan, which is one of the higher prices in the entire exhibition."
As they talked, they walked towards the building ahead. Zhu Haowen put his phone in his pocket and asked Zhang Tianwei, "What is this painting trying to express?"
Ke Xun looked at Zhu Haowen, who had suddenly spoken up. He often felt that this usually unremarkable person would suddenly appear.
Zhang Tianwei, however, seemed to be stumped by the question, gazing at the wondrous world within the painting: "I think that's what those colors are trying to express."
"Which one?" several people asked at once, including the voice of a middle-aged woman.
"Free-flowing colors, those vibrant, colorful spots and dots, can constitute all things in the world!" Zhang Tianwei's voice was somewhat excited. "This is absolutely a great tribute!"
The thin, wiry, long-haired boy standing next to him carefully pondered these words, his expression also showing some excitement: "This is probably the most transparent and delicate sunlight Matisse spoke of. These free-flowing colors carry Matisse's soul! They can form 'Luxury, Tranquility, and Joy,' or they can come and form this 'Shadow' right now!"
Everyone looked at the two excited young students. Only a few other art students nodded in agreement. The others had different expressions. The middle-aged woman, Guo Lixia, bluntly said, "We can't let the kids learn to paint. They'll go crazy from it."
Mu Yiran didn't listen carefully to what the others said. Instead, he focused his gaze on the building in front of him. As the group slowly approached, the grandeur of the building gradually became apparent.
"Is this a castle?" Xin Beibei stopped sobbing and looked at the dreamlike castle with its comfortable colors in surprise.
As the view zoomed in, the building was no longer as vibrant as before, but gradually revealed a more soothing color palette: rose gray, dark blue, pine green, mustard yellow…
Ke Xun was now standing beside Mu Yiran: "Whether this is a castle or not, there are many rooms, probably nearly a hundred scattered around. The conditions of death might be related to these."
No matter the environment, no matter how deceptive it may be, the primary task for everyone present would never change—analyzing death is the eternal theme of the painting.
"Perhaps this is a maze." Mu Yiran's eyes were fixed on the garden in front of the castle, where there was a small corner surrounded by green plants forming a maze. Suddenly, a high fountain erupted from the circular pond next to it, splashing water droplets like shattered diamonds all over everyone.
Everyone was startled by the fountain. After a moment, the girls were quite excited. Xin Beibei even asked Miwei beside her, "Is this a wishing well?"
Miwei shook her head, "It's best not to wish on anything unknown. It might ask you to exchange your life or soul for it."
Xin Beibei felt that Miwei was deliberately scaring her, but she still couldn't help feeling afraid and moved away from the beautiful fountain.
A piece of elegant music began to play, complementing the beautiful surroundings. A sweet woman's voice reached everyone's ears along with the music: "Welcome everyone. Please gather in the hall."
This was the first time they had seen such a gentle and sweet NPC.
The group of 13 people entered the castle's hall one after another. The decoration inside was not luxurious; it would be more accurate to describe it as rustic and beautiful: there were wooden tables and chairs everywhere, with rough pottery vessels on them. Some flowers and fruits were arranged like in a still life painting, and the handmade clocks on the walls seemed to transport people to a fairy tale world.
Because the whole world was brightly lit, everyone had an uncertainty about the source of the light. Now, seeing the shadows of the fruit in the room, however, revealed a rich, vibrant color—large swaths of deep purple and lemon green shadows, their saturation no less than the brightly colored fruit themselves.
"My God!" exclaimed the thinnest, long-haired boy. "This whole room is a masterpiece! We could totally use this as a studio!"
Mi Wei glanced at the boy. "He Yu, stop talking nonsense. What we need to do now is get out of here as soon as possible."
Guo Lixia placed the vintage water jug on the table and plopped down in a wooden chair. "I'm exhausted! It's so heavy!"
Guo Lixia leaned back in her chair, surveying the room and the fruit on the table. She quickly glanced at everyone, finally fixing her gaze on Ke Xun's face. "How many days can we stay here at most?"
Ke Xun didn't understand this older woman's... Why were they targeting him? "Seven days at most. Anyone who stays past seven days will die."
Guo Lixia actually thought Ke Xun looked the most approachable, and then asked a few more questions: "After we get out, will they still charge us for food and lodging here? Are we just eating and drinking for free these past few days?"
Ke Xun felt that he couldn't communicate with this woman at all: "Yes, we'll eat and stay for free, and we might even lose our lives."
Guo Lixia seemed to breathe a sigh of relief when she heard that she didn't have to pay, and very casually picked up a big peach from the fruit plate and started eating it: "I've been thirsty for a long time."
For some reason, no one disliked this middle-aged woman. It was as if the entire atmosphere of the painted world was supported by this older sister.
As the familiar music played again, the sweet female voice spoke once more: "I hope everyone has a wonderful experience here. Please divide into five groups according to the colors of your clothing patterns, and then find your respective rooms to fully experience the beauty that labor brings."
Ke Xun looked at the pattern on his clothes, which was a patchwork of sea-blue ripples, while Mu Yiran's clothes had grape-purple scroll patterns—this was the first time he couldn't be in the same group as him.
Xin Beibei looked at the sky-blue pattern on her clothes, then at the dark green striped pattern on her partner Shi Zhendong's clothes, and went straight to Ke Xun: "Brother, can you switch clothes with him? You're also wearing blue, and I... I really don't want to be separated from him."
"I also want to switch clothes with someone, but this world doesn't allow it." Ke Xun glanced at Wei Dong and Ye Ningchen, who were slowly gathering around Mu Yiran; these three were all in the "purple group."
Xin Beibei wanted to say something, but Shi Zhendong patted his girlfriend on the shoulder: "We'd better not break the rules here."
"Okay." Xin Beibei was still obedient to her boyfriend, and slowly walked towards Ke Xun. "Who else is in our group?"
Guo Lixia, whose classical dress was covered with royal blue circular patterns, walked over while eating a peach...
Everyone quickly divided into groups, and under the guidance of the sweet female voice, they entered their respective "workshops" from the hall. Faced with the mountain of beautiful fruits piled up in the room, everyone was still stunned.
"Remove the leaves and pits from the berries in the room, wash them clean, and store them in glass jars." The sweet-sounding NPC suddenly emphasized, "Don't bring the color from your room to other rooms! Don't pollute these colors!"
Mi Wei and Miao Zipei looked at the bright yellow berries, which resembled small tomatoes, and heard Qin Ci from their group say, "The NPC means we can't move between rooms. Remember these words; this is the most basic condition for death."
Mi Wei picked up a small yellow fruit and smelled it; the scent was very refreshing. "Dr. Qin, you just said that these deaths happen at night. Why does the NPC start asking us to follow the rules during the day?"
"This is indeed a bit unusual, but we'd better do as it says. Perhaps the boss is using daytime screening to find targets for death at night." Qin Ci had already rolled up his sleeves, washed his hands in the sink in the room, and then sat on a small wooden stool, processing the berries like picking vegetables.
The other two college students followed suit, washing their hands and sitting down next to Qin Ci to begin their work for the day.
"Does the NPC always appear this way?" Mi Wei had many questions.
"No, this is the first time an NPC has appeared with a voice," Qin Ci said, gazing at the brightly colored room. The yellow berries, and their peacock-blue shadows cast on the ground, made the room feel more like a painting.
Qin Ci subconsciously looked at his own shadow, also a beautiful peacock-blue, without any blurring, plump and rich at his feet.
At the same time, Ke Xun was also looking down at his shadow, its golden reflection shimmering like golden sand, just like the blue berries that had rolled onto the ground, each with a small golden puddle beneath it.
Guo Lixia worked efficiently, doing more work than Ke Xun and Xin Beibei combined. She kept talking: "Do you think these blue berries are edible? Are they a mutant blueberry? If we try them, the higher-ups shouldn't care, right?"
"Oh my god, Aunt Guo, aren't you afraid they're poisonous?" Xin Beibei exclaimed in surprise.
"Call me Sister Guo!" Guo Lixia glared at Xin Beibei. "Your boyfriend is older than me!"
Xin Beibei was about to argue when Guo Lixia said, "He's not a member of the post-75 generation, is he? I'm a genuine member of the post-75 generation!"
Xin Beibei's arrogance immediately deflated, her face turning red and white in turns. Suddenly, Guo Lixia asked, "Is he divorced? You're following him so ambiguously, thinking you've gotten a great deal, but in the end, you're the one who suffers!"