The paintings of the eccentric school are unconventional and imaginative, unrestrained by any rules.
After entering the painting, the group found themselves in a circular room without doors or windows. The walls and ceiling were painted with strange paint, and there was no furniture or facilities, only a box in the center.
Li Yaqing's boyfriend was named Luo Wei. Now that they were inside the painting, there was no need to hide it from him any longer. Qin Ci, in a low voice, explained the world and rules of the painting to him.
Luo Wei's ability to understand was surprisingly strong. He listened calmly from beginning to end, finally asking, "Is everything in the painting something that cannot be revealed to the real world?"
Qin Ci thought he was quick-witted and nodded with a mixture of admiration and regret.
"Neither verbally nor in writing?" Luo Wei further confirmed.
"Neither," Qin Ci said.
"Then, have you tried Morse code?" Luo Wei's eyes, calm and thoughtful like an engineer's, gazed at the group through his glasses.
The group seemed frozen in place by his words, forgetting even to blink.
"Holy crap..." Wei Dong was the first to recover, staring at Luo Wei with wide eyes. "Never tried it! Never really tried it—maybe it really works!" He then quickly turned to look at Mu Yiran, as if only the big boss's certification and affirmation could confirm the feasibility of this idea.
"Even if it works, so what?" The big boss was even calmer and more composed than Luo Wei. "Given modern people's curiosity,"
"and their 'don't be stupid' attitude," Ke Xun interjected.
"…It's hard to guarantee that someone won't want to enter the painting." Mu Yiran said, his gaze suddenly turning cold. "Even more so, it's not impossible for them to lure their nemesis or enemy into the painting. Most importantly, we don't know if the existence of the 'painting' will be widely leaked, and whether it will trigger a backlash from the force behind it. Therefore, we can only adopt a conservative approach for now, entering the painting while trying to find out its underlying patterns on our own."
Luo Wei looked intently at Mu Yiran's face, then calmly said, "It was my oversight."
Li Yaqing cried beside him, "I'm sorry…I'm sorry…I've dragged you into this…"
Luo Wei didn't complain, but simply patted her shoulder: "No need to apologize. Everything has its chance and its inevitability."
"This young man is a good person, what a pity…" Wei Dong whispered to Ke Xun.
"Who among us doesn't feel sorry?" Ke Xun said.
Wei Dong sighed, walked to the center of the room, circled the box twice, but didn't see anything unusual about it, and didn't dare touch it.
The others were also looking around. It was a closed room with no doors or windows. The ceiling and walls were painted a deep blue with countless golden star and moon patterns, giving it a whimsical feel at first glance. A star-shaped golden lamp overhead emitted a creamy yellow light.
The enclosed space easily instilled anxiety, and Qi Qiang, already irritable, couldn't find a way out after searching for a while. He couldn't resist trying to pry open the box in the center of the room.
He tried to knock or lift it, but the lid wouldn't budge.
Wei Dong saw him pull out some tool from his pocket and fiddle with it on the box. He nudged Ke Xun with his elbow and said with a smirk, "Professional."
"Too bad it doesn't work here," Ke Xun said, glancing at Qi Qiang, who was kicking the box in frustration after failing to open it.
Unable to leave the enclosed room immediately, everyone quieted down, standing, squatting, or sitting to wait.
Given that it was raining outside and the museum was sparsely populated, they guessed it would be a long time before they could gather enough people.
Ke Xun leaned against the wall, shoulder to shoulder with Mu Yiran, waiting. His hand, hanging by his side, idly tugged at Mu Yiran's fingers.
Mu Yiran wasn't bothered, letting him fidget. Suddenly tickled, he slipped his hand into his pocket.
Ke Xun bent down beside him, squatting and staring blankly at the ground.
Mu Yiran lowered his eyelids, and the V-shaped hairline at the back of Ke Xun's neck came into view again. His hand in his pocket twitched slightly, but he ultimately kept it inside.
Time dragged on; nearly two hours passed, and not a single person was "captured" by the drawing.
"Could we not be able to gather thirteen people this time?" Wei Dong's face held a smug satisfaction at the broken rules.
"Look at the time on your phone," Zhu Haowen said calmly.
Wei Dong took out his phone and was taken aback when he saw the time: "Why is it still the time when we entered the painting?"
"That means time is frozen inside the painting during this period," Zhu Haowen said. "I'm afraid time won't pass until all thirteen people are gathered."
"What about time outside?" Wei Dong asked hurriedly. "No matter how many days we stay inside the painting, won't it still be the time of the day we entered the painting outside?"
"Time outside also passes, but it should generally only be limited to the time between the opening and closing of the art museum on the day we entered the painting," Zhu Haowen said. "As for how to gather thirteen people, that's a matter for the mastermind behind the painting."
Wei Dong had no choice but to continue waiting with everyone. After an unknown amount of time, the star-shaped light above their heads suddenly shone brightly, so bright that it was hard to open their eyes. The bright light then dimmed in an instant, and four more people suddenly appeared in the room.
Everyone didn't move, but just stared at the four bewildered people. They were two men and two women, all around twenty or thirty years old, wearing work uniforms and name tags around their necks. They seemed to be working together.
"What's going on?" One of the women, with her hair up in a bun, looked at the group in surprise.
Everyone tacitly remained silent, leaving the explanation to Dr. Qin.
Qin Ci patiently explained to the four of them, while Wei Dong said to Zhu Haowen on the other side, "Next time, have Dr. Qin record a clip on his phone. Play the recording as soon as the newcomers come in; it'll save him the trouble of straining his voice."
Zhu Haowen ignored him, his gaze already fixed on the box. Everyone was here; it was time to begin.
The four newcomers clearly didn't have Luo Wei's high level of acceptance. No matter how Qin Ci explained, they wouldn't believe him, arguing amongst themselves. Finally, Qin Ci, not wanting to waste any more breath, shook his head and walked away.
"Tell me! What exactly is going on?!" The woman with her hair up, sporting a striking red lipstick, glared angrily at the group of oddly dressed people standing, squatting, and sitting before her. She glanced at the handsome man in a suit standing nearby and quickly strode over in her high heels.
"Hey, can you tell us what's going on here? Who are you all? Why did you bring us here?!"
The veteran members: ???
"Let me tell you, all our colleagues are outside, forty or fifty of us. A phone call and they'd all come!" The woman with her hair up seemed to have just remembered she could make a call, took it out to dial, but found there was no signal.
"Say something!" The woman got angry and reached out to grab the handsome man, but suddenly a large, humanoid dog squatting next to him spoke up: "Ma'am, talk to me, don't get physical. Don't you even remember how you got in here?"
The woman was startled and quickly took a step back, looking down to meet the arrogant face of a young gangster.
"We were looking at the paintings! We've run here in the blink of an eye, and now we see all of you. Who would believe we have nothing to do with you!" the woman glared at him.
"See? You said it yourself, you've run here in the blink of an eye. Then why don't you blink away in the blink of an eye? Who told you to blink?" the young man said.
"Are you crazy?!" the woman shouted angrily.
"Then stay away, this disease is contagious," the young man retorted nonchalantly.
"You—" the woman tried to continue arguing,
but was pulled away by the three men who had come with her. Just then, a loud "snap" was heard, and the lid of the box in the center of the room opened by itself, startling everyone into a freeze-up. Thirteen pairs of eyes, each with a different emotion, were cast towards it, only to find that the box remained motionless, just sitting there with its lid open, like a monster waiting to devour them, its dark maw gaping wide.
"Who did this with a remote control?" the woman with her hair up, thinking she had been tricked, angrily glared at everyone.
No one paid her any attention. The veteran members exchanged glances. Ke Xun stood up and walked lightly and cautiously toward the box. She stopped where she could see inside, craned her neck to look inside a few times, then raised an eyebrow, looked at the veteran members, and finally her gaze landed on Mu Yiran's face: "A bunch of strange things, none of them fit together."
She then looked back at the box a few more times. "There are thirteen items in total. There are words written on the inside of the lid: 'Please choose one prop according to your personal preference.'"
"It seems that's the rule of this painting," Qin Ci said.
The veteran members didn't say anything more and tacitly gathered around the box. Just as they were about to examine the props inside, Wei Dong exclaimed "Hey!" but Qi Qiang pushed aside from behind and squeezed in front of him, seemingly wanting to be the first to choose a prop that would be more advantageous to him.
Ke Xun squatted beside the box, resting her chin on her hand, watching Qi Qiang rummage through it with a half-smile.
Wei Dong knew his best friend best. He knew Ke Xun was being overly protective, upset that Qi Qiang had touched his "little calf." As his "little calf," Wei Dong felt a surge of courage. He knew that if Qi Qiang picked the right prop, all would be well; if he picked the wrong one, he might get a good beating from his Ke'er and have the prop snatched away.
It felt so good to have someone protecting him.
Ever since they met when they were three or four years old, Wei Dong had often felt a sense of security, like wearing a sanitary pad.
He couldn't help but glance at Mu Yiran, but was slightly taken aback. This person stood motionless behind Ke Xun, his face as cold and calm as ever, yet he could sense a strange aura emanating from him that he had never felt before. This aura... how to put it...
it was exactly the same as every time Ke Xun stood behind him, Wei Dong.
Wei Dong suddenly realized.
His closest buddy, his best brother who deserved his utmost care, his guardian angel since childhood—finally, he too had his own guardian angel and the person who cared for him most.
Wei Dong suddenly felt his eyes welling up and quickly turned his head away. Just as he was about to pat his dear buddy's shoulder with a sense of satisfaction, he saw Mu Yiran suddenly glance at him, take two steps forward, and stand next to Ke Xun.
What's wrong with being a domineering CEO? Is asserting your dominance so great? Fine, I'll move aside for you! Wei Dong turned his head, deciding to go and huddle with another single guy, Zhu Haowen, for warmth.
Mu Yiran stood next to Ke Xun, looking down at him, his hand suddenly pulled out of his pocket and gently landed on the nape of the neck of this crouching, humanoid dog.
Hmm… finally, he couldn't resist and stroked the tip of the fluffy tail.