"This room is round, with a door at regular intervals, meow," Ke Xun slumped lazily on Mu Yiran's lap, casually examining the six doors on the wall. "But why are the distances between each door different, meow? It feels like this painting isn't very meticulously made, meow. Luckily, I'm not obsessive-compulsive. Or, do you think there might be some hidden meaning, meow?"
"Maybe." Mu Yiran's gaze lingered on the doors, seemingly lost in thought. However, before he could figure it out, he felt Ke Xun suddenly extend an arm and hook it around his neck.
"Yiran meow~" Ke Xun's voice was as soft as a cat's, "Play with me for a while, meow~"
"…" Mu Yiran looked down at him, "Play what?"
Ke Xun rolled over, belly up, looking at him: "Lick me, meow~"
"..."
"Then I'll lick you, meow meow~"
"......"
Pinching Ke Xun's face, which had become exceptionally playful due to his cat-like transformation, Mu Yiran glanced at the onlookers sitting in various corners, secretly watching this way. The onlookers all naturally shifted their gazes, their acting skills superb.
"Ke Xun," Mu Yiran tilted his head slightly, gently sending his clear and sexy voice into Ke Xun's ear, "Behave yourself, I don't want to discipline you in the painting."
Ke Xun felt like he was meowing at this moment. The word "discipline" coming from the mouth of the big boss was just too damn cool!
Meow, I really want to get out of the painting.
Ke Xun sat up abruptly, his eyes gleaming in the darkness. He raised his voice and shouted, "Everyone, stop sitting there! Get your brains working and think of clues!"
Everyone: "..." What was with this feeling of being subjected to hellish training in a concentration camp...?
Ke Xun got up and walked around the room twice. Wei Dong noticed that he was still walking with that damn cat-like gait. Then he stopped in front of Zhu Haowen, his cat ears twitching: "Haowen, the prop you got is a cat whisker. Why don't you wear it on your face?"
Zhu Haowen replied expressionlessly, "Why would I wear it on my face?"
Ke Xun: "...Aren't cat whiskers supposed to grow on the face?"
Zhu Haowen: "Which cat only has one whisker?"
Ke Xun: "...You're right. Cough, so, although you and I both received cat-related props, there's a difference. Meow, my prop, once worn, will slowly evolve into a cat, while your prop doesn't need to be worn, but it will cause your eyesight to decline and you'll become colorblind. What do you think is the reason for this, meow? What's the necessary connection with the cat whiskers, meow?"
Zhu Haowen took out the cat whisker from his pocket. It wasn't that he didn't want to wear the whisker on his face, but rather that he simply couldn't put it on. It's clear that the "painting" doesn't require him to wear the whisker; he only needs to wear it on his person. So what is the function of this whisker? What's the intrinsic connection between causing his eyesight to decline and becoming colorblind, and the cat whiskers?
Cats aren't nearsighted or colorblind, so he's not transforming into a cat like Ke Xun, nor does he seem to be being deprived of his five senses. If the rules of this painting, as Mu Yiran speculated, are "killing" all the characteristics and attributes of all those who enter the painting as humans, then what would be both visually impaired and colorblind?
No, not "things," but animals. Only animals possess the attributes of "sight" and "color blindness."
Besides humans, what animal has poor eyesight, is colorblind, and is associated with cat whiskers—or rather, with cats?
"Haowen."
As Zhu Haowen pondered, he suddenly heard Mu Yiran call his name. Looking up, he saw that Mu Yiran seemed to know something, pointing at Ke Xun: "Are you afraid of him?"
Zhu Haowen was taken aback. What kind of strange question was this? Why should he be afraid of Ke Xun? He wasn't afraid of anyone, not even if Ke Xun might harm or kill him one day.
Zhu Haowen didn't want to answer the question, but Mu Yiran didn't care. He simply beckoned to Ke Xun, who meowed and darted over, squatting in front of Mu Yiran. Mu Yiran whispered a few instructions in Zhu Haowen's ear, then meowed again to indicate understanding. Ke Xun then stood up and silently walked towards Zhu Haowen step by step.
"What are you going to do?" Zhu Haowen looked up at Ke Xun.
Ke Xun didn't speak, but his gaze remained fixed on Zhu Haowen, even coldly, as he slowly approached step by step.
Zhu Haowen suddenly felt a chill rise uncontrollably from the depths of his heart, making him almost instinctively want to escape Ke Xun's gaze.
—What was happening?
He had just been so certain that he would never be afraid of him, so how could he suddenly feel this uncontrollable fear?!
Ke Xun walked step by step to him, then suddenly lunged at Zhu Haowen. Zhu Haowen instinctively cried out, trying to dodge to the side in a disheveled manner, but he couldn't escape. Ke Xun reached out and pressed him to the ground. Zhu Haowen felt as if all the strength had been drained from his body, and he couldn't move at all. Cold sweat instantly soaked through his clothes.
"How..." Zhu Haowen realized that even his voice was trembling.
This couldn't be. He had never cried out so out of control before, nor had he ever been so frightened by Ke Xun's actions that he collapsed to the ground—all his reactions were like instincts ingrained in his bones, something he simply couldn't overcome.
Ke Xun released Zhu Haowen, stood up, his face also filled with disbelief: "Am I that scary, meow? Haowen, you must have some misunderstanding about me."
Zhu Haowen's voice still trembled slightly as he looked at Mu Yiran, who was staring at him solemnly: "It seems you've already figured out the reason."
Mu Yiran was silent for a moment, then spoke slowly: "Mice usually have poor eyesight, and are colorblind."
Everyone fell silent upon hearing this.
After a while, Zhu Haowen was the first to regain his composure, sat up, glanced at Mu Yiran, and then looked at Ke Xun, who was still frozen in shock with wide eyes: "So, I'm turning into a mouse, and therefore have an innate fear of our natural enemy, cats."
What a cruel twist of fate! Why was Ke Xun a cat, and why was he a mouse?
Ke Xun took a few steps back and turned to look at Mu Yiran: "Maybe there are other animals with poor eyesight, or even colorblindness, meow? Besides, fewer and fewer mice are afraid of cats these days, and cats are getting more and more delicate. Some cats even run away in fright when they see a mouse, meow..."
Zhu Haowen looked at Ke Xun's furry back of the head and suddenly smiled.
Was this guy afraid that after he turned into a cat, he would eat him after he turned into a mouse?
"Nearsighted, colorblind, afraid of cats—based on these three known traits, Haowen is most likely transforming into a rat." Mu Yiran remained calm and rational. "Paintings and reality are ultimately different. Mice being afraid of cats might just be the absolute rule in this painting."
Upon hearing this, Ke Xun took several steps back, until he was against the wall opposite Zhu Haowen, and said to him, "Haowen, stay far away from me. Dongzi, I'm entrusting Haowen to you. If you find me having any improper thoughts about him, pull him away immediately, don't let me see it."
Zhu Haowen: "…"
Wei Dong: "You dare to have any improper thoughts in front of the big boss and see what happens."
Ke Xun ignored this and looked at Mu Yiran: "Why is Haowen's prop a cat whisker, but he's transforming into a rat? What's the cause and effect relationship?"
Mu Yiran lowered his eyes and fell into thought again. Ke Xun didn't disturb him, but dared not go towards Zhu Haowen again, so he looked at Qin Ci: "Speaking of which, meow, only the three of you didn't change after entering that two-dimensional paper-cut world. What's the reason for that?"
"Perhaps it's because Mr. Qin encountered the right world." It was Luo Wei who spoke.
Ke Xun meowed: "According to our previous connection classification, the fishing rod and the two-dimensional paper-cut world are connected. Brother Qin's prop is a fishing rod, meow. So, maybe it really is because you entered the right world to which the prop belongs! But, why didn't you and Xiao Li change either, meow?"
Luo Wei didn't say anything for a moment, but suddenly heard Mu Yiran ask calmly: "You just said that 'Mr. Qin' encountered the right world, not that the three of you encountered the right world—I hope you understand that any clue could be a matter of life and death, including Li Yaqing's life, so you'd better not hide anything." "It's like a jigsaw puzzle; missing any piece means it's not complete."
Luo Wei lowered his eyes, then looked up calmly and said, "I'm sorry, I did hide it, but I didn't want Ya Qing to worry about me. In fact, my body has also undergone a strange change."
Li Ya Qing was shocked, looking at him with tears welling in her eyes: "Luo Wei—you—"
Luo Wei gently pressed her trembling hand, still calmly addressing everyone: "I've discovered that my body… is turning into paper."
Upon hearing this, everyone was stunned, speechless, staring at him in shock, quickly processing the meaning of his words.
"Turning into paper…" Wei Dong murmured these three words, involuntarily shivering.
Ke Xun carefully examined Luo Wei for a few moments, but didn't see any changes, so he asked, "Is there anything wrong, meow?"
Luo Wei was silent for a moment, then slowly stood up.
This time, everyone fell silent, because everyone heard the sound of paper rubbing against paper as Luo Wei stood up.
Li Ya Qing burst into tears.
To turn a living, breathing person into a paper doll—what a chilling, inhumane form of torture!
While everyone was terrified by what Luo Wei was about to face, Mu Yiran remained calm and clear-headed. He asked the sobbing Li Yaqing, "Has anything changed about you?"
Li Yaqing shook her head, unable to speak for a long time. Ke Xun walked over and patted her shoulder: "Stop crying, meow. Luo Wei is afraid of water now. Are you worried about him or hurting him, meow? If you want to save him, be strong and work with us to find a solution. Answer Yiran's questions now, meow. Time waits for no one."
Hearing this, Li Yaqing desperately tried to suppress her tears. With tears welling up in her eyes, she tried to think for a while before sobbing, "Nothing has changed about me, it's just... I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I feel like the... the engraved copper basin I got... seems to have gotten bigger and heavier."
Li Yaqing's prop engraved copper basin was originally about the size of a small soup bowl. When she entered the world behind the door, Li Yaqing put it in her small backpack. When she put it in, there was still plenty of space in the bag. But now that Ke Xun asked her to take the basin out, she found that the basin had grown so big that it stretched the backpack to its limit.