Qin Ci was also surprised: "Indeed! The story of Hailibu takes place on the grasslands, but there are no grasslands in these six worlds!"
Mu Yiran's eyes darkened. He didn't know much about the animation, so he was at a disadvantage when thinking about the clues.
"Could it be that Mr. Mu's props don't belong to the story of Hailibu?" Luo Wei said.
Not many young people of their age had watched the old animations from the 70s and 80s, and besides, Luo Wei had always been a top student, spending most of his spare time studying or attending various tutoring and interest classes. He didn't have much time to watch animation, so he couldn't provide any significant assistance at this time.
"No, his props must belong to the story of Hailibu, meow," Ke Xun, though not much older than him, had a rich extracurricular life since childhood despite being a poor student, and his brain was full of anime. "He ate the fruit, and his body is slowly petrifying, that's proof, meow! There's a problem here, why isn't Hailibu's world among these six worlds?!"
Everyone looked at each other, but Mu Yiran remained calm. He glanced at Ke Xun's fur standing on end in his anxiety, raised his hand to cover the back of his head, and calmly soothed him: "This might mean that there are more than six worlds behind these six doors. There might be other hidden worlds in places we haven't discovered."
"Like hidden maps in a game?!" Wei Dong suddenly realized.
"So what should we do?" Luo Wei looked at Mu Yiran from behind his glasses.
"Every choice you make from now on could determine your life or death," Mu Yiran's gaze swept lightly over him, Li Yaqing, and Qi Qiang. "I'm only providing options; what you choose is up to you.
"The rule in the painting is that someone must die every night. The fact that we survived last night means that one of the four newcomers died, but we can't be sure whether only those who didn't return to this initial room after nightfall will die.
"If last night's deaths were just random selections, then staying in the initial room might not be safe. Perhaps only those who find their corresponding world will avoid being chosen by death. If that's the case, then finding your corresponding world as soon as possible is obviously the best choice.
"So, whether you stay in this room or go searching for your world again before nightfall, you can decide for yourselves." After discussing it, Luo Wei
and Li Yaqing decided that Li Yaqing would stay in the initial room while Luo Wei would go to find the worlds corresponding to the two of them. Li Yaqing's engraved copper basin was getting bigger and bigger, making it difficult to carry it for long distances.
Qi Qiang and Huang Pi both decided to find the worlds corresponding to themselves. Qi Qiang chose the ancient world with a sea and a city, and his prop was a sword, presumably believing that this world was very likely to correspond to him.
Huang Pi, however, still chose the world of Ma Liang's Magic Brush, and his prop was a Confucian scholar's cap, suggesting that most ancient worlds could be his.
"Haowen'er meow?" Ke Xun looked at Zhu Haowen.
"You guys think Haowen'er might be..." Wei Dong coughed, "that one-eared guy?"
"Then his prop, the cat whiskers, could it be the Black Cat Sheriff's meow?" Ke Xun said.
"No... no, it's not the Black Cat Sheriff's!" "After thinking for a moment, Wei Dong decisively denied it, "I know Black Cat Detective very well. I watched it several times when I was a kid. My art teacher even taught us to draw it in art class. I remember it very clearly. Black Cat Detective only has two whiskers, one on the left and one on the right. If someone plucked one of them, would it still look good? Besides, even One-Ear doesn't have that much power!"
"Meow? Black Cat Detective only has two whiskers?" Ke Xun exclaimed in surprise, "Damn, I only found out the truth today!"
"So this whisker is definitely not Black Cat Detective's," Wei Dong said confidently, "Maybe it's Tom's?
"
Zhu Haowen: "..." Ke Xun: "...What the hell is Tom? So Haowen is Jerry?
" Zhu Haowen: "..."
Wei Dong scratched his head: "It doesn't look like Jerry either. Jerry has good eyesight and isn't colorblind."
Qin Ci: "And it seems that this painting doesn't include any old foreign animations." Wei Dong clicked his tongue: "
Then which old Chinese animation is related to mice and cats? Black Cat Detective is out of the question, so... Shuke and Beta?"
Ke Xun shook his head: "Those two mice, one flying a plane and the other driving a tank, can they be nearsighted, meow?"
Wei Dong thought for a while, then his eyes lit up: "Calabash Brothers! Aren't there mice among the snake demon's minions?"
Ke Xun also thought for a while: "I can't quite remember, meow, I think they were bats, meow? Besides, even if there are mice, there are no cats, where do cat whiskers come from, meow?"
"These cat whiskers are really a problem..." Wei Dong looked at Zhu Haowen, "But speaking of mice, I remembered an old cartoon, in which the mouse was carrying an eggshell while singing a very catchy song, what was that song again?"
He looked at Ke Xun, Ke Xun thought for a moment, and Wei Dong thought for a moment, and the two of them sang in unison: "Little eggshell, little eggshell, don't cry, come with me obediently, live in my house!" ..."
Zhu Haowen: "..."
Everyone: "..."
Ke Xun: "There's no cat in here, meow!"
Wei Dong shrugged: "I can't think of any more either. I only know a few animations about mice and cats, like this one about lifting eggshells. I only vaguely remember it because of that meow singing scene..."
"Meow!" Ke Xun suddenly widened his eyes, "Mice singing! Melodious meow! Dongzi, do you remember an animation where the mouse also has a meowy scene? Let me think... meow! What's this 'Mice are afraid of cats, that's a rumor. What's so scary about a kitten? Brave mice, knock down the cat, and overturn the age-old prejudice'? Is it this one?"
Wei Dong and Qin Ci, who had been listening for a long time, quickly said in unison: "That's it!"
Qin Ci continued with certainty: "I remember this animation, it's called 'Good Cat Mimi,' which should be the world Haowen corresponds to. There's a scene where the mouse pulls off the cat's whiskers—that's it." "
This proves once again the possibility of hidden worlds, meow," Ke Xun said. "There's no good cat world among the six known worlds."
"Let's not delay. Since there's still some time before 11 p.m., let's quickly go back inside and look for clues," Qin Ci said.
The group didn't linger any longer, each pushing open a door and entering their respective worlds.
Ke Xun re-entered the forest from "The Tiger Learns Skills," running and trying to recall the plot of the animated film. He remembered that the tiger lost because it hadn't learned to climb trees from the cat, and the tiger fell into the water, giving the cat the victory.
If he needed to advance the plot to the ending to get clues, did that mean he had to lure the tiger out first and then put it in the river?
Ke Xun looked around but couldn't find any trace of the tiger, so he looked up and meowed a few times. After a while, he heard someone calling from a tree: "Auntie Cat! Auntie Cat!"
Ke Xun: "…"
Ke Xun: "Hey monkey, come down here, meow! I'll beat you to death!" The monkey, oblivious to the danger, jumped down and asked Ke Xun, "
Auntie Cat, are you looking for your child?"
...Child? Ke Xun honestly couldn't remember much of the plot of the earlier parts of the cartoon, so he tentatively asked the monkey, "Do you know who my child is, meow?"
"I know, it's Mimi," the monkey said.
"…Oh, so do you know where it is, meow?" Ke Xun asked.
"I don't know," the monkey said.
"…Then what the hell are you talking about?" Ke Xun was speechless.
He hadn't expected the cat in this cartoon to be a female cat, and the female cat even had kittens… Old cartoons are truly well-made; every little detail is full of humanity and humanistic charm. He just didn't know what kind of thoughts and feelings the artist, Milen, wanted to express with these nostalgic moments, and what kind of mentality the person behind the "painting" was harboring, using such beautiful things to manipulate and harm those who were depicted within
it. Ke Xun didn't waste any more time with the monkey. He continued running deeper into the forest, asking any animals he encountered if anyone had seen a tiger. When he encountered a giant panda, he even took the opportunity to pet its head—this was a national treasure that could only be admired from afar in the real world! Being able to pet it in a painting was enough for him!
The giant panda watched Ke Xun run off, completely bewildered. Suddenly, the tiger, Awu, leaped out of the forest and chased Ke Xun upstream.
Ke Xun scrambled up a tree, narrowly avoiding being grabbed by the leg by the tiger. But simply hiding wouldn't advance the story; he had to get the tiger into the river.
Ke Xun let out a long sigh and looked down at the tiger pacing below.
This tiger was nothing like the ones in cartoons; in this world of the painting, it looked exactly like a real tiger—huge, ferocious, and emitting a foul stench from its mouth and nose.
A moment's carelessness, and he could be torn to pieces and eaten by this tiger.
This was the way the painting had prepared for Ke Xun's death.
Ke Xun suddenly thought that if he didn't return to his starting room by 11 PM, or if he failed to get the tiger into the river, the "painting" might just knock him down from the tree and let the tiger tear him apart and eat him.
He couldn't delay any longer!
Ke Xun took a deep breath, mustered his courage, and mustered all his strength. He grabbed a branch and dangled
in mid-air. The tiger below leaped up, its massive claws slamming down on Ke Xun. Ke Xun used his core strength, jerking upwards and coiling back onto the branch. The tiger missed its target and continued roaring around the tree, tentatively trying to climb it.
Ke Xun estimated the distance between the tree and the river; it was a bit too far. Even if the tiger pounced around below, it would be difficult for it to fall into the river.
This meant… he needed to find another tree.
Ke Xun looked around and found a tree in an excellent position, suspended above the river. However, running from his current tree to that tree would be very risky; the tiger was below, and if he climbed down, he could be pounced on instantly.
Ke Xun gritted his teeth. This was the only way and the only chance. It was either death, or waiting until eleven o'clock to die, or... a desperate struggle for survival, a fight for a sliver of hope in a life-or-death situation!
Ke Xun returned to the trunk of the tree and used the stone shard he had used as a marker to carve a few words on the trunk: Yi Ran, Meow loves you.
"..." Damn it, he clearly meant to write "I," so why did he write "Meow" instead! Meow!
Ke Xun made up his mind and didn't hesitate any longer. He took another deep breath, seized the moment when the tiger was slightly distracted, and jumped down from the tall tree with a desperate gamble. After landing, he rolled on the ground, got up, and rushed towards the target tree.