The engraved copper basin was taken out and placed on the ground. Everyone gathered around to examine it closely for a while, only to find that apart from the basin becoming larger, there were no other changes. Ke Xun couldn't help but ponder, "This is a bit strange, meow. Why is it that our bodies have changed, but Xiao Li's prop has changed, meow?"
As he spoke, he hooked his hand and scratched the front of Mu Yiran's shirt, meowing and glaring at him, "You still won't tell me what changed about you, meow? Did your body change, or did your—meow! Your prop made you eat it, so your body also changed, where? Where? Tell me quickly, meow!"
Mu Yiran reached out and pinched the back of Ke Xun's neck, rendering the large, dog-like meow immobile, before calmly saying to the others, "Now let's regroup. We'll enter our respective worlds as soon as it's light. Time is of the essence."
Everyone held their breath, listening to his instructions.
"Wei Dong, Huang Pi, Qi Qiang, go into the ancient world from before the Qing Dynasty that we visited today," Mu Yiran said. "Dr. Qin, go back to the two-dimensional paper-cut world. Ke Xun, go into the anthropomorphic animal world that Wei Dong and the others visited. Hao Wen, go into the world with anthropomorphic monkeys that Qi Qiang visited. Luo Wei and Li Yaqing, follow me. We'll choose one of the remaining two worlds to enter."
"May I ask what your rationale is for this arrangement?" Luo Wei still had a strong student-like air about him, always wanting to know the cause and effect of things.
"The current basis is just my personal speculation," Mu Yiran said calmly, glancing at everyone. "Based on our previous categorization of props and worlds using the connection method, the only ones that seem to match are the two-dimensional paper-cut world and the fishing rod. Dr. Qin and the others are in a fishing village in this world, and the fishing rod is Dr. Qin's prop. Among us, only Dr. Qin's body and props haven't changed at all. So, for now, I believe that Dr. Qin is the only one who entered the correct world."
Luo Wei pointed at Huang Pi and Qi Qiang: "Aren't they the same as before?"
Mu Yiran said coldly: "They just didn't tell the truth."
Didn't tell the truth? Everyone couldn't help but look at the two of them. Wei Dong, with the sharpest eyes, was the first to exclaim in surprise, pointing at Huang Pi: "He's swollen too! His facial features are rounder than before!"
Strictly speaking, Huang Pi's face hadn't swelled up or become fat; it had just lost its original sharp angles. And looking at Qi Qiang, the same change was observed.
"So you assigned the three of them to the same world." Luo Wei understood now. Wei Dong, Qi Qiang, and Huang Pi had undergone the same transformation, and the props they held were all ancient in style, so Mu Yiran arranged for them to go to that ancient world.
As for Ke Xun and Zhu Haowen, who were also transforming into animals, they couldn't be assigned to the same world, lest Ke Xun couldn't resist swallowing Zhu Haowen halfway through...
Everyone had no further objections to Mu Yiran's arrangement, and they all returned to their original places to rest and conserve their energy to enter the door at dawn. The four newcomers who entered the inner world didn't return to their initial room all night.
Until dawn, no one in the room was killed by the painting.
According to the law in the "painting" that someone must die every night, since everyone in the room survived, it meant that one of the four was in grave danger.
"Let's move out." Mu Yiran's gaze swept over everyone, finally landing on Ke Xun's face. "Those who enter alone should be careful."
Ke Xun snorted: "Those who refuse to tell others about their changes should also be careful, meow!"
Mu Yiran slightly moved the corners of her lips and said in a gentle voice, "Stop being so arrogant, let's go."
With that, she took Luo Wei and Li Yaqing, chose one of the two worlds that no one had entered yesterday, and pushed open the door to go inside.
Ke Xun fluttered his cat ears twice, then turned to Wei Dong: "Be careful, meow. Don't get too close to them. There are marks we left yesterday on the road. If things look bad, run back immediately. Did you remember everything I told you about the inside yesterday, meow?"
"Yes," Wei Dong nodded. "Go find the magistrate first and see if his lines have changed."
"Hmm." Ke Xun was still a little worried. "Even if you get new clues, don't act rashly if you're unsure. Come back and discuss it with us first, meow."
"Alright, I know. You should hurry up and go. Your whiskers are almost growing out," Wei Dong looked at him worriedly. "If you don't find a world that matches you, your tail will probably grow out by tonight."
Ke Xun glanced at Zhu Haowen, waved his hand, and without saying anything more, strode into the door leading to the anthropomorphic animal world.
This world felt slightly more comfortable than the ancient world he'd entered yesterday. At least it was a vibrant, colorful world, somewhat resembling a modern human society. There were vehicles, buildings, and shops, and even the animals were dressed in human-like clothes…
Ke Xun watched these human-like animals walking around him with such seriousness, and for a moment, he still felt a little awkward. After
calming himself down, Ke Xun called out to a monkey wearing a red T-shirt and black pants—wait, this style of clothing…
"Brother, let me ask you, where is this place?" It was Ke Xun's first time communicating with animals in human language, and the feeling was quite…strange.
"This is a great forest," the monkey said, looking at him strangely.
…A great forest… Ke Xun looked around. Sure enough, there were many trees, and throughout the forest were simple, pointed-roofed bungalows. All sorts of animals dressed in human clothing moved in and out, creating a peaceful and tranquil scene.
Ke Xun had no idea where to begin with the clues from the painting. He scratched his head, about to ask the monkey if there were any cats like him nearby, when he suddenly heard the roar of a motorcycle in the distance. He and the monkey looked in the direction of the sound and saw a group of cats in police uniforms speeding into the depths of the forest on motorcycles.
"..." This world is truly indescribable... Ke Xun twitched his lips and asked the monkey, "Where did those... uh, cats come from?"
The monkey looked at him even more strangely: "The Forest Police Station!"
"Which way is the Forest Police Station?" Ke Xun quickly asked again.
The monkey pointed him in a direction, and Ke Xun thanked the monkey and hurried towards it.
When he reached the entrance of the Forest Police Station, Ke Xun saw a poster on the bulletin board with words on it and a photo below. The photo showed a mouse.
A torrent of memories, mixed with the shock of sudden realization, swept over Ke Xun in an instant. Countless thoughts and the events after entering the painting yesterday flashed through his mind—So that's how it is! That's what happened! This painting I entered this time had this theme!
Ke Xun let out a loud meow, turned around and ran back, following the marks he had made on the way here, sprinting towards the door that led to this world.
When he returned to the initial room, the others hadn't returned yet. Ke Xun spun around twice, picked up the paper and pen left by Mu Yiran, hurriedly wrote a few lines, and then stepped into the last door to a world he hadn't yet entered.
This world was also brightly colored, with mountains, trees, rivers, and rocks, seemingly located in a forest, yet there were no buildings in sight.
Ke Xun made marks as he carefully moved along the river through the forest, meticulously observing the style of this world, while simultaneously searching his memory for overlaps.
After walking for about two hours, we still didn't encounter any humans or anthropomorphic animals. Looking at how large this forest was, we figured that even if there were animals or people, they wouldn't be too densely distributed.
Ke Xun hesitated, wondering whether to continue searching for clues or return the way he came to see if Mu Yiran had gone back. Just as he was about to turn back, he suddenly heard a roar from the depths of the forest, and in the blink of an eye, monkeys, goats, rabbits, squirrels, and even pandas came running out of the woods.
"..." Ke Xun didn't have time to figure out how these animals had gathered together. He quickly took a closer look and saw that these animals weren't wearing human clothes. They were all in their natural state, jumping, climbing, and leaping as they pleased. It was more like a normal natural world than the one he had just entered.
Before Ke Xun could continue analyzing which part of his memory this world belonged to… he suddenly heard a crow-like cry circling in the sky: "Ah—Awoo, you're bullying me—"
"…" Ke Xun immediately took off running, because he already knew which world he had entered. This was damn—utterly ridiculous—
a foul wind swept through the forest, accompanied by a tiger's roar that shook the rocks, coming from behind. Amidst the flying sand and stones, a striped tiger pounced, seemingly intent on swallowing Ke Xun whole!
Ke Xun narrowly dodged, using all his strength to run forward, but how could a human outrun a tiger? After nearly being pounced on again, Ke Xun suddenly understood the death rule of this painting.
Props.
The props each person chose were the way they chose to die.
And what determined the rules and methods of death were the stories told by the worlds behind each door.
These stories were surprisingly familiar to some, because they were many people's most cherished memories, and a pure land deep within many people's hearts.
"—Yiran—" As his life hung in the balance, Ke Xun suddenly understood what the terrifying physical transformation that Mu Yiran had been unwilling to tell him was.
Mu Yiran—he was—he was petrifying—he would become a stone man—he—
…
After returning to the initial room with Luo Wei and Li Yaqing, Mu Yiran saw the note left by Ke Xun. He was slightly surprised at first, then fell silent, and finally gave the note to Luo Wei. After Luo Wei finished reading the contents, Mu Yiran asked him, "Have you read all of what Ke Xun wrote?"
Luo Wei pointed to the paper: "I've read this." He then suddenly looked up at Mu Yiran, "You're older than me, you should have read more."
"…" Mu Yiran was silent for a moment, "I've never read any of these."
Luo Wei was also silent for a moment: "Should I pity you?"
"Thank you," Mu Yiran said calmly.
Before long, Qin Ci, Wei Dong, and the others returned one after another. After reading Ke Xun's note, Qin Ci was the first to exclaim, "Oh!" "No wonder—I didn't expect this painting to have such a theme. This explains why it's called 'Pure Land.' It really brings back memories."
"I think we'll have to rely on Brother Qin for this painting," Wei Dong said. "After all, it's a product of your generation."
Qin Ci: "..." Why use the word "you" when we're only in our thirties...
"In that case," Qin Ci looked at everyone, "let's reorganize the connections between each of our props and these worlds. This time, it should be quite clear, just as Ke Xun's note speculated—each world that these six doors lead to is an old cartoon that I, or rather, people like the painter Milen, watched in my childhood."