This was the first time since the painting began that the process of the subject's death had been laid bare before everyone, without any embellishment or concealment.
It was an extremely cruel and cold-blooded method, forcing everyone to confront their own weakness and helplessness, and to experience the fear of being controlled by an irresistible force.
This method not only robbed the dead of their lives but also destroyed the will of the survivors.
Ge Lei was destroyed. He suddenly screamed like a madman and charged towards the nearest door. Ke Xun reacted quickly, following closely behind to try and stop him. However, the physical potential unleashed by a madman is often several times stronger than that of an ordinary person. Ge Lei broke free from Ke Xun's grasp and ran like a madman into the world beyond the door.
"Ke Xun! Stop chasing him! You can't leave this room!" Zhu Haowen called out to him.
Ke Xun stopped at the door and slammed his fist against it.
Mu Yiran walked behind him, raised his hand and squeezed his shoulder, saying nothing. Ke Xun turned back to look at him and whispered, "He clearly mustered up his courage, he said he would survive through his own efforts... Meow..."
Unfortunately, this cruel world within the painting doesn't follow the typical movie formula. Villains die, supporting characters die, and the protagonist, perhaps, will also die.
"But I believe," Mu Yiran's gentle voice rang out, he raised his hand and cupped the back of Ke Xun's head, his fingers gently running through his fluffy hair, "even if we ultimately die in the world of the painting, we will never die as losers or defeated ones."
"That's right." Ke Xun tilted his head slightly, feeling the warmth from Mu Yiran's hand behind his head, his previously unstable emotions gradually calming down.
Taking a soft breath, Ke Xun asked the few people in the room who were still barely conscious, "Did anyone see how Qi Qiang died, meow?"
Qin Ci looked at Zhu Haowen, who shook his head.
Everyone's attention was still focused on the melted Zhang Lifeng; no one noticed what had happened to Qi Qiang.
Ke Xun hesitated whether to go check on Qi Qiang's body when he suddenly heard Huang Pi's hoarse voice: "He cut off his own head with a sword."
Everyone turned to look at him. If he didn't speak, he was often overlooked; no one had even noticed the title of the animated film he had written on the piece of paper in the box.
Just like now, after answering Ke Xun's question, he remained silent, sitting in the corner, his face grim as he stared at the box in the center of the room.
Li Yaqing gradually regained consciousness, but upon opening her eyes and seeing Qi Qiang's decapitated body, she collapsed in terror again, screaming and wailing uncontrollably.
Luo Wei comforted her for a long time. During this time, Wei Miao also woke up, and his reaction upon seeing the body was naturally not calm either. Thus, the latter half of the night slowly passed amidst the girls' cries and the men's silent, bewildered state.
As the light in the room came on, the facial patterns on the walls, ceiling, and floor returned to the stars and moon, as if everything that had happened the night before was nothing more than a nightmare. However, the large pool of bright red blood on the floor and Qi Qiang's decapitated body did not disappear; they remained a gruesome sight before everyone's eyes.
No one wanted to stare at them any longer, except for Ke Xun and Mu Yiran. The two hadn't greeted each other beforehand, and they both started walking at the same time. One walked towards the corpse and the thick blood on the floor, while the other went straight to the box in the center of the room. After taking two steps, they realized each other's actions, paused for a moment, exchanged a glance, and then continued with their respective actions.
Ke Xun walked towards the pool of blood where Zhang Lifeng had melted. His eyesight was always excellent, and although he couldn't bear to look closely, he still noticed two dark, round spheres soaking in the pool of blood, which contained nothing of Zhang Lifeng's body except blood.
They were the two longan seeds.
Ke Xun stared at the two longan seeds, a fleeting flash of inspiration seeming to cross his mind. He frowned, standing still, desperately trying to catch this fleeting glimmer of light. Suddenly, he heard Wei Dong, whose voice was already hoarse from talking, groan weakly in the corner: "Melted... A living person, just fucking melted away..." —Melted
!
—Two shiny black longan seeds!
Ke Xun meowed and turned around abruptly, looking at Mu Yiran, who was holding a piece of paper with the name of an animated film written on it in the box: "Yiran meow! Zhang Lifeng's animated film is 'Snow Child'!"
His boyfriend looked up at him with a "I haven't seen the animated film, so what is Snow Child? Is it a kind of cheese, a latte art coffee, or an ice cream? I haven't seen the animated film" expression.
"The main character of 'Snow Child' is a snowman," Qin Ci suddenly realized. "Could these two longan seeds be used to make the snowman's eyes?"
"It should be, meow," Ke Xun nodded. "Although I don't quite remember if the animation mentioned that longan seeds were used to make the snowman's eyes, Zhang Lifeng's death was exactly the same as the snowman's, meow!"
"So, Zhang Lifeng wrote the wrong name of the animation he was supposed to be," Zhu Haowen said. "And that's why he died. Then Qi Qiang also died because he wrote the wrong name. Does this prove that all of us who survived wrote the right name of the animation we were supposed to be?"
"If that's the case," Mu Yiran put down the paper in her hand and looked at everyone calmly. "The rules for choosing death tonight will change again."
Since everyone else wrote the right name of their animation, if they had to write the names on paper again tonight, no one would die. And according to the law in the painting that someone dies every night, it's obvious that the rules for choosing death tonight will change again.
The mood grew even heavier. Mu Yiran didn't give them much time to recover, but quickly made arrangements: "Ke Xun and Dr. Qin, organize the plots of the animated films for the rest of us, try to recall as many details as possible, and find common characters or items among us;
"Hao Wen, enter the hidden world that Ke Xun triggered yesterday, advance the story of Good Cat Mimi to the ending, and try to find ways to trigger other hidden worlds;
"The rest of you stay here for now to assist Ke Xun and Dr. Qin. I'm going to find Ge Lei."
"Yiran!" Ke Xun grabbed his arm. "You can't go into other people's worlds anymore, otherwise the mutations in your body..."
"Don't worry, I'll be right back." Mu Yiran gently pinched the back of his neck, and taking advantage of the moment when his hand was unable to exert any strength, he strode into the door where Ge Lei had disappeared.
"He had clearly mustered his courage, he had said he would survive through his own efforts..."
Ke Xun's expression as he said this kept flashing through Mu Yiran's mind. Although he quickly rallied, Mu Yiran knew that at that moment, Ke Xun had almost been crushed by all his perseverance and faith.
If no matter how hard they tried, how brave they were, they still couldn't defeat this terrifying and evil force, then what was the point of their current perseverance and struggle?
Mu Yiran decided to find Ge Lei and let his cat-shaped corgi wag its vibrant tail again.
Ke Xun's cat tail drooped limply behind him as he and Qin Ci faced the list of animated film titles on a piece of paper, earnestly recalling the plots of the films.
"The characters in 'Snow Child' are very simple, besides the snowman there are only two rabbits," Qin Ci analyzed, "so triggering this hidden world should be the easiest; just find the rabbits in other people's animated film plots."
"Excuse me, I'm going to say something that might be hard to hear," Luo Wei suddenly spoke up, "Zhang Lifeng, who corresponds to the animated film Snow Child, has already been murdered. Is it still necessary for us to look for his hidden world?"
"Although we don't know what use finding his world would be after he's dead," Qin Ci said, "but since it concerns finding the signature, we can't let go of any clue. The saying 'existence is reasonable' isn't quite appropriate here, but in the painting, every existing clue could be the key to finding the signature. We can't let go of even the slightest one."
"Understood," Luo Wei nodded. "I have no other questions."
"Speaking of rabbits," Wei Dong continued the previous topic, "Isn't Zhao Haicui a rabbit…"
"But she's already thrown into the fire," Luo Wei said, "so the rabbit character shared by both animations isn't her, and there should be rabbits in other animations, right?" This question was directed at Ke Xun.
"Yes, there are," Ke Xun nodded. "They're in Black Cat Sheriff's world, and they're in Good Cat Mimi's world too."
"Ge Lei corresponds to Black Cat Sheriff, but we don't know if he can… be found again. And Haowen is in Good Cat Mimi's world, so we have to wait for him to come back." Qin Ci said, "Then let's put the world of 'Snow Child' aside for now and continue analyzing the other hidden worlds…"
"Hailibu meow!" Ke Xun said, "Hailibu is also a hidden world, with many animals in it: squirrels, deer, crows, foxes, sheep, cows, ants, horses, bears, meow! Meow meow meow!"
Everyone: "…"
Qin Ci quickly soothed the furry cat: "Don't rush, take your time. How about this, let's list out all the important animals and props in each animated film, find the ones we have in common, and then let everyone try them out one by one, okay?"
Ke Xun: "Meow!"
After Ke Xun and Qin Ci led the sorting out, with the others assisting, everyone listed the important characters, animals, or items they could remember from each animated world on paper:
Snow Child – Rabbit, Carrot, Fire;
The Legend of the Heavenly Book – Fox, Heavenly Book, Egg, Magistrate, Immortal;
Ma Liang's Magic Brush – Old God Immortal, Magistrate, Advisor, Ox, Sheep, Chicken
; Fishing Boy - Fishing Boy's Porcelain Basin, Lotus, Pearl, Magistrate, Foreigner, Boat, Net;
Good Cat Mimi - Mouse, Rabbit, Squirrel, Tiger, Chicken, Fish
; Hailibu - Arrow, Mountain God, Squirrel, Deer, Sheep, Crow, Ox, Ant, Horse, Bear, Goose
; Fire Boy - Arrow, Monkey, Sheep, Tiger, Gourd, Stream, Fire;
Black Cat Detective - Cat, Mouse, Monkey, Rabbit, Pigeon;
Nezha Conquers the Sea - Universe Ring, Hun Tian Ling, Wind and Fire Wheels, Fire-Tipped Spear, Sword, Deer, Lotus, Immortal, Dragon;
Tiger Learns Skills - Cat (Hidden World Triggered).
Aside from the worlds corresponding to Zhao Haicui and Qi Qiang, which are still unknown, the remaining world corresponds to Huang Pi. Take out the paper from the box and see the answer he wrote for himself:
"The Taoist of Laoshan".
Qin Ci glanced thoughtfully at Huang Pi. This guy had chosen an ancient scholar's cap as a prop from the start, which clashed terribly with his personality and temperament. Not only that, but he even knew about the animated film *The Taoist Priest of Laoshan*, which was even more surprising.
And what was most astonishing was that since he survived last night's death-defying choice, it meant he had written the correct answer.
Truly… appearances can be deceiving.
Even the worst, most hopeless adults may have had a beautiful childhood memory.