The word "random" felt particularly nauseating here. There were absolutely no patterns or rules, no way to counter or avoid it; it was all down to luck.
Ke Xun glanced at Mu Yiran beside him, who remained motionless, like a white stone statue, his breathing barely audible.
Ke Xun withdrew his gaze, listening to the giant shadow's long, slow panting. He subconsciously synchronized his own breathing with it, and with the giant shadow's panting masking his own, he could barely hear his own breath either.
The giant shadow finally reached the edge of their tent. Ke Xun saw its eight thick, fat arms twisting and flailing wildly in the air, seemingly out of its control. Between these arms, a large, dark, round object obscured the tent roof. Ke Xun guessed it was the giant shadow's head, and it seemed to be crouching down, pressing its head close to the tent.
The panting suddenly resounded overhead. Through the thin tent fabric, Ke Xun vaguely saw two eyes on the giant head blinking slowly.
It was looking into the tent.
Ke Xun instinctively closed his eyes.
The feeling of being stared at so intently by something indescribable was indescribable, because he couldn't predict whether this thing would stretch out its enormous hand, grab them both from the tent, and throw them into its gaping maw.
Ke Xun hoped it would leave quickly, but the panting above him remained unhurriedly in place, relentlessly watching Ke Xun and Mu Yiran in the tent.
The longer it lasted, the more tense his nerves became, and the more his emotions crumbled. It was like a knife tip hanging over his head, not knowing when it would fall; it would be more reassuring if it fell sooner.
Cold sweat involuntarily seeped out of Ke Xun's body, his heart pounding in his chest as if it would burst. If it weren't for the giant shadow's heavy, labored breathing, he felt it might even hear his heartbeat.
He didn't know how long this precarious situation lasted, but finally the panting moved further away from his ears, and the giant shadow moved its legs, slowly walking towards another tent.
Ke Xun relaxed his muscles, which had been tense for too long, opened his eyes, and turned to look at Mu Yiran.
Mu Yiran was lying on his side, only half of his beautifully curved chin and one eye visible in the light and shadow.
Neither of them moved, quietly listening to the movements outside the tent.
Not long after, a shrill scream rang out among the tents.
Because the sound was so shrill, it was distorted, and Ke Xun couldn't immediately tell who had made it. He turned his face towards the direction from which the sound came and saw the giant figure lifting a person out of the tent with one hand. The person struggled and twisted frantically, but couldn't break free from the giant figure's grasp.
The giant figure lifted him like a small mouse. It straightened up, towering majestically, and lifted the person into the air. Suddenly, the giant figure's other arms, which were still twisting and flailing, stretched forward, and its thick fingers grasped the person's head, limbs, and torso.
Then, with a gentle pull, it gave him a tug.
Ke Xun closed his eyes.
Yet, the image of thick blood and entrails splattered everywhere remained etched on his retina.
The screams still echoed in his ears, and Ke Xun finally recognized the voice—it belonged to the young man, Tan Zheng.
The middle-aged man had said that two people had to share a tent. So, the one who died tonight was Tan Zheng, the one who had been chosen to share his tent.
As dawn approached, all the frozen shadows began to tremble again in the wind. The tent was cold and drafty. Ke Xun moved his numb body and sat up, seeing that Mu Yiran had already lifted the tent flap and gone out.
Ke Xun followed him out and glanced in the direction where Tan Zheng had been dragged out the night before. He saw crimson bloodstains splattered everywhere on the gray, rocky ground, and Tan Zheng's severed limbs were scattered all over the place.
The newcomers were terrified. The beautiful woman named Li Ziling had fainted on the spot and hadn't woken up yet. Zhou Bin's girlfriend, Zhao Dan, vomited in the tent out of fright. Wei Dong, covered in filth, was groping around for something to scrape off his clothes.
Ma Zhenhua was terrified, his face ashen as he crouched outside the tent, occasionally glancing furtively in the direction where Tan Zheng had died. Qin Ci and Mu Yiran were collecting the severed limbs and covering them with a tattered blanket.
Qin Ci looked at Mu Yiran: "The head is missing."
"Yeah." Mu Yiran looked up at the sky. "That thing was taken."
Qin Ci said, "It seems the rules this time are actually quite simple: only those who are alone in a tent will die."
"So now we have twelve people left. No one will be alone tonight, does that mean no more deaths?" Ke Xun walked over and asked.
Qin Ci lowered his eyes: "Obviously, that's not good news. If no one dies, we'll vote."
Someone will always have to die.
Compared to those who had been inside the painting before, the newcomers were much less receptive and adaptable. Even after gathering in the largest tent the middle-aged man had mentioned, several of them still looked extremely pale, so frightened they could barely walk.
The middle-aged man was already waiting in the tent, his pale eyes fixed on the crowd: "The sacrifice will be held on the seventh day. You must prepare sacrificial offerings, namely: five kinds of dew, five kinds of meat, dom, libation wine, offering bowls, lamps, gala, dangka..."
As the man uttered a series of strange terms, the crowd exchanged bewildered glances, while Mu Yiran's expression grew increasingly somber.
"We'll gather here again after dark. Let's have breakfast now." The middle-aged man finished speaking and left the tent. Food was already laid out on the table behind him.
Breakfast consisted of coarse grain noodles, milk tea with separated water and milk, and a few pieces of sour yellow cheese. No one had any appetite, and the newcomers didn't even touch their food.
"Eat something, otherwise you won't have the strength to keep going later," Wei Dong said, sitting down next to Li Ziling to comfort her.
"Is there any poison in this?" Li Ziling asked Wei Dong in a hoarse voice, her eyes red and swollen from crying, probably too tired to shed any more tears.
"No, don't worry, it's okay to eat it. It'll just taste a bit disgusting, but it's better than nothing," Wei Dong said.
Ke Xun and Mu Yiran, who was sitting next to him, spoke in low voices: "That person just mumbled such a long string of things, was it all related to the Saha sect?"
Mu Yiran put down his teacup, his voice slightly cold: "That depends on which branch of the Saha sect it's related to."
Having barely filled their stomachs, Zhou Bin, one of the newcomers, was the first to recover. He looked at Mu Yiran and Qin Ci: "Where do you usually find those painter's seals? Or rather, in what form do they appear?"
Qin Ci replied: "Each painting is different, so it's hard to say. But based on the paintings we've entered before, there are usually two ways to find the seals. One is to decipher the painter's intention in creating the painting, or the secret hidden within it, which is what we call 'breaking the deadlock.' The other is to complete the task set for us by the world within the painting. The location of the seal is closely related to the clues provided in the painting and our own understanding of the painting's meaning."
"But how do we break this deadlock? I have absolutely no clue!" Zhou Bin said anxiously.
Qin Ci said, "Actually, we haven't figured it out yet. Clues don't just appear by sitting and waiting. We can take advantage of the daytime to search the surrounding area more."
"How can we search without any clues?" Zhou Bin pressed.
Suddenly, the bespectacled girl, Sha Liu, interjected, "I think the clue might be related to the sacrificial items that person mentioned earlier."
Qin Ci nodded slightly, "This is probably like a task set for us, so let's try to complete it; maybe we'll find something."
Zhou Bin hurriedly said, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's get going!"
His girlfriend, Zhao Dan, grabbed his arm, "But what are those things? I can't understand a word. Meat, wine, and lamps are okay, but the others sound like a foreign language?"
Sha Liu adjusted her glasses, "I feel like this place is a bit like the Ganxiong Plateau, a region where the Sakya religion is prevalent. Did you see the colorful banners in the distance? That's a very obvious marker. So, I think the string of terms that person mentioned earlier refers to objects in the local language."
Zhou Bin said, "Then we just need to find these things, right? Let's get going; the sooner we find them, the sooner we can leave this hellhole!" Qin
Ci glanced at everyone and said, "The things are of course ..." "We need to find them, but we can't just rush off haphazardly. I suggest we split into four groups of twelve, each heading in a different direction. We'll come back here around noon to discuss our progress and findings."
No one objected, and Zhou Bin asked, "How do we group them?"
Ma Zhenhua stumbled and lunged at Mu Yiran, pleading, "Can I be in your group? Please, please!"
Li Ziling, seeing this, also got up and ran over, grabbing Mu Yiran's arm and looking at him pitifully, "Big brother, I want to be in your group too, please, I'm scared..."
Ke Xun: "..."
Wei Dong: "..."
Sha Liu looked at Ke Xun: "Can I be in your group?"
Ke Xun: "..."
Wei Dong: "..."
Qin Ci looked at Mu Yiran and Ke Xun: "Is that it?"
Ke Xun: "I disagree."
Wei Dong: "+1."
Qin Ci: "Then, we'll decide by drawing lots?"
Zhou Bin frowned: "Why do you have to decide everything by drawing lots? Time is running out, what are you wasting!"
"He's right," Ke Xun said. "It would be bad if we separated him and his girlfriend. It's daytime now, not nighttime. They can easily team up with people they know. In my opinion, Zhou Bin and his girlfriend definitely need to be in the same group. This Geng family of three can't be separated either. The two girls are classmates, and they're both girls. It would be inconvenient if they were separated, and they wouldn't have anyone to keep them company, so they can't be separated either. You all agree, right?"
Zhou Bin and his family of three nodded in agreement.
Mu Yiran glanced at Ke Xun expressionlessly, thinking that this guy was about to cause trouble.
Hearing this guy continue, "That makes it much easier to divide them. The twelve people will be divided into four groups of three. Those with partners can't be separated, and those who are alone need to go to the group with partners.
"Based on those with partners, we will divide them into four groups: Zhou Bin and his girlfriend, the Geng family of three, the two girls, Wei Dong and I, the Geng family of three will be in their own group, and the remaining three people will be assigned to the other three groups."
"Both girls are women, and they're the most vulnerable group. They need a mature, reliable man with emergency skills to protect them. Dr. Qin is the perfect candidate. If either of them gets a headache, fever, or sprains their ankle, Dr. Qin can provide timely treatment.
"Ma Zhenhua will go to Zhou Bin and his wife's group. The age difference is obvious; it's much more convenient than having me, Wei Dong, and Xiao Mu, who are the same age, grouped with you two.
"So, that's how the groups are divided. Do you have any objections?"
Mu Yiran: "..." I knew it would be like this.