The hotel room wasn't very big; it had two single beds, a washroom, but no toilet. The decor was simple, and the layout was just right for two people.
Besides a painting, there was only one window on the wall. The window was not big, only up to Yin Xiu's shoulders. Looking out, you could see the town square and the statue of the woman. The view from the room was surprisingly good, with the square directly in front of it.
"Brother, this painting is so strange!" The little girl, who had been jumping around the room since entering, suddenly pointed to the decorative painting on the wall.
The portrait depicts a beautiful woman with her eyes closed. Her blonde hair is striking and her skin is fair. Her hands are clasped together on her chest, as if she is praying with her eyes closed. The image is incredibly lifelike.
The first thing Yin Xiu saw when he entered the lobby was a similar painting on the wall downstairs, but it wasn't a woman, but a very handsome young man with his eyes closed.
Similar paintings can be found in corridors and stairwells. The people in the paintings are both men and women, and the age range is not so narrow. What they have in common is that they all have their eyes closed.
Yin Xiu thought of the rule: Do not stare at the portraits of people inside the house for too long, and do not pay attention to their voices.
First, how do you look at a portrait with its eyes closed?
Moreover, there are sounds, and just by looking at the rules, one can be 100% certain that the portraits in the whole room are not simple, but they are everywhere.
"What's strange?" Yin Xiu asked softly, wanting to see what difference the little girl would make.
"Why did you draw this older sister lying down and sleeping?" The little girl pointed at the drawing and looked at Yin Xiu with an innocent expression.
Yin Xiu looked up at the portrait. The woman in the portrait had her eyes closed and looked serene. The portrait had frozen this moment forever. At first glance, it looked like she was standing and praying, but the little girl's description of her lying down and sleeping opened up Yin Xiu's mind a bit.
If you look closely, you can indeed see that the hair falls down the head, but it's not so easy to notice because it's arranged so well.
Perhaps the painting depicts a woman lying asleep, but because it is taken from directly above, she appears even more lifelike.
The more you look at the portrait, the stranger it becomes. The sense of space within the portrait gradually distorts, as if it's trying to suck you in, causing a dizzying sensation in your brain.
"Maybe she looks better when she's asleep..." Yin Xiu quickly turned his head away, no longer looking at the portrait. He gave a perfunctory reply and then took the little girl's hand. "It'll be dark soon, let's go downstairs to eat first."
"Okay." The little girl nodded with a smile, and before leaving the house, she turned back and waved to the woman in the portrait.
Yin Xiu glanced at the portrait out of the corner of his eye, and even though he didn't look at it anymore, the sense of distortion still lingered.
He quickly opened the door, wanting to go out for some fresh air.
As he looked up, a pair of bright blue eyes suddenly came into his view. On the wall of the corridor opposite the door hung a painting. The painting depicted a man of similar age to him with an extremely handsome appearance. At this moment, he was staring at Yin Xiu in terror, his eyes glued to the frame of the painting.
Their eyes met, and the already slightly distorted sense of space instantly intensified.
Is this what they mean by "cannot gaze at a painting for too long"? It came as a complete surprise.
Yin Xiu quickly turned his head away, calmly took the little girl's hand and left, ignoring the man, and turned to leave.
But the person in the portrait stared intently at him, watching his every move. Before Yin Xiu left, his voice drifted out softly, "Please be careful, please be careful, please be careful of him..."
The low, muttered murmur drifted down the corridor, overlapping with the line of sight and landing on Yin Xiu's back, like a needle pricking him.
"You're in grave danger...you're in even more danger than they are..."
"Don't respond to him at night, don't respond... don't keep going back and forth..."
"Get out of here quickly, drive away, drive away, drive away..."
The layers of indistinct sounds mingled together, making Yin Xiu feel dizzy and lightheaded for a moment. The sounds seemed like sharp noises invading his mind, swirling around his ears and causing a prolonged tinnitus.
The chill in the corridor slowly seeped into his body through his skin, and suddenly his body became so heavy that Yin Xiu could not move.
He instinctively resisted, feeling a churning in his stomach and breaking out in a cold sweat.
The spatial distortion that had been lingering around him became even more severe at this moment. The entire corridor began to distort in Yin Xiu's eyes, and his body seemed to be dragged into the distortion as well, becoming incredibly heavy, unable to move an inch for a long time.
"Let's go... let's go..."
"Leaving..."
"He...he...he...dangerous, dangerous, dangerous—"
"Brother!" A clear, crisp cry from the little girl suddenly brought Yin Xiu back to his senses. Her innocent face was full of confusion. "What's wrong?"
Yin Xiu was startled, and the chill and heaviness he felt vanished instantly. He turned sharply to look at the painting. The portrait was normal; it depicted the man with his eyes closed, quiet and beautiful, like a flower that would never fade, frozen in this moment.
"Brother, what's wrong?" The little girl tugged at Yin Xiu's hand in confusion. "Are you feeling unwell?"
"It's nothing." Yin Xiu turned around, puzzled by what the voice said.
After the feeling of being unable to move dissipated, the sense of sight remained.
Yin Xiu led the little girl and continued walking down the corridor. The portraits on both sides were densely packed, like a tidal wave, but when you looked up, they were all people with their eyes closed.
The painting features beautiful young girls, elegant women, energetic teenagers, and a reserved yet scholarly man. The common feature is that each type of girl is attractive, clearly indicating that the owner of the painting is a person who appreciates good looks.
"So many handsome older brothers and sisters..." the little girl murmured softly, gazing at the portraits. "It's a pity they're all dead."
Besides the main hall for entering and resting, there is also a canteen on the first floor. It's almost dinner time now, and many players are waiting downstairs, taking a break and studying the rules on the pillars.
When they saw Yin Xiu come down, they all had unfriendly expressions and wanted to avoid him. But when they saw the little girl coming down, they wanted to get closer, since the little girl was one of the important conditions for passing the level.
As a result, Yin Xiu sat in a corner eating with the little girl, while a group of players walked around, wanting to get closer but not daring to. They could only gather in twos and threes, staring at the other side and whispering among themselves.
"Why is that little girl so close to him? I remember she was quite fierce."
"They probably have some special methods."
"But isn't he a newcomer too? How come he's so different from us? He doesn't act like a newcomer at all. Do you think he might be the big boss?"
"The expert who provided the strategy guide three days ago is dead, it definitely wasn't him."
"I always felt this one was more like it."
"Sigh, even our leader has confirmed which one it is, how could we be wrong? Zhang Si has experience in clearing customs, he's better at recognizing people than we are."
"That's true, but I always feel..."
"I bet it's not him. He's just a pretty face. Kids these days all like to be around good-looking people. He definitely won't live past tonight."
"You can't be that sure, can you?"
"Didn't you notice? The paintings on the wall sometimes open their eyes, but they're only looking at one person... that man."
"I have a feeling he's going to get into trouble tonight."