Paintings of Terror

Chapter 3: The Broken Record Old Man

Translated by Eve

Edited by EB

Ke Xun thought that the only thing you could do when you found yourself in a completely foreign situation was to pester and follow someone. After that, just play it by ear.

From his observations of the people in this group, Ke Xun had decided that this cold, handsome man seemed the most reliable. Therefore, he chose him.

As they spoke, the last of the latecomers had also started to follow along while cursing in fright. Actually, they didn’t have any other choice. Aside from the little village in front of them, the area was desolate all around them. If they didn’t follow everyone else into the village, where else could they go?

Moreover, people were herd animals. In a strange situation like this that couldn’t be explained, most people would choose to find confidence in a group.

Everyone entered the odd, grotesque village with different thoughts.

Ke Xun couldn’t tell what time it was in this ‘painting.’ When they had left the real world, it had still been morning. But the sky was dark and eerie here. The village was covered in a sheet of black. All the windows in the houses of the village were constructed of wood. Some of the windows were covered in shabby paper, others had wooden boards nailed over them.

But regardless of whether one gazed through a window or crack in the door, all that could be seen was darkness.

He didn’t know if he was seeing things, but Ke Xun felt like there was something inside, staring at him through those pitch-black windows and seams in the door.

As the crowd wound their way through the village, a pale yellow light suddenly appeared in front of them. Unexpectedly, the light came from one of the houses.

“It’s here.” Someone said.

“Let’s go in,” Someone else interjected.

Everyone walked over. The big-bellied middle-aged uncle at the front knocked on the door.

The wooden door creaked as it was pushed open from inside. Out came a grey-haired, wrinkly old face.

“Has everyone arrived? Come in then.” The old man opened the door as he spoke.

Everyone filed in. The walls and floor were made of rammed earth. There was a single worn-out table, several long benches in the middle of the room and an oil lamp on the table.

It was extremely fitting to describe this home as ‘a home with nothing but four bare walls’ or ‘disappointing and destitute.’

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The old man stood in the room, his muddy eyes slowly sweeping over the people inside. The moment Wei Dong met eyes with the old man, a shiver ran through his spine.

There was no warmth or focus in the old man’s eyes. They were slack like that of a… dead man.

Wei Dong lowered his gaze at once. He was afraid that something bad would happen if they maintained eye contact. He only listened to the old man speak. “Everyone’s here. We’ll divide the work now.”

After saying this, the old man pulled several cloth strips out. He then extended his hand out to the crowd. “We’ll use this. Each person takes one.”

Ke Xun and Wei Dong were confused. However, they then witnessed the people, who had entered the painting the earliest, calmly reach out to take a strip each, one after another. The two of them could only follow suit.

The cloth strip was about an arm long and two fingers wide. It was made out of coarse hemp fibres. In the middle, there was a dark red character written in cinnabar or some other kind of pigment.

Ke Xun’s strip had the character yang written on it. Wei Dong’s strip had the character gu.

Before they had time to think about what these words meant, the old man continued speaking. “Those that received the min character strips will be in charge of keeping vigil in the Li home. Those that received the qie character strips will head five li north of the village to dig a grave. The grave must be six chi long, four chi wide and two chi deep. Those that received the gu character strips will chop firewood in the Li Family firewood room. Those that received the yang character strips will keep a watch over the Li Family’s granary. Those that received the dai character strips will…those that received the qu character strips will….”

As the old man spoke, Ke Xun began to mull over these words.

Min, qie, gu, yang, dai, qu…what purpose did these characters serve? It was obvious that choosing strips was meant to divide the thirteen of them into teams. However, it was difficult to relate these words to their current situation.

After the old man finished splitting the teams, he concluded with, “The Li home is situated in the northern part of the village, just beneath the three old Chinese Scholar trees. Everyone, you may begin work but remember, those that work at the Li home cannot go out at night. All right, everyone should reconvene here at eight o’clock in the morning tomorrow.”

After everyone heard this, they all turned to head outside. Wei Dong couldn’t hold it in anymore. He walked over to the old man and asked, “Old man, can you tell me what’s going on?”

The old man’s expression was grave. “The Li home is situated in the northern part of the village, just beneath the three old Chinese Scholar trees. Everyone, you may begin work but remember, those that work at the Li home cannot go out at night. All right, everyone should reconvene here at eight o’clock in the morning tomorrow.”

Wei Dong: “…No, can you tell us where we are?”

The old man: “The Li home is situated in the northern part of the village, just beneath the three old Chinese Scholar trees. Everyone, you may begin work, but remember….”

Wei Dong: “…Did I accidentally turn on your repeat function? Can’t you say anything else?”

The Old Man: “The Li home is situated in the northern part of the village, just beneath the three old Chinese Scholar trees. Everyone, you may begin work, but remember….”

Wei Dong turned to look at Ke Xun. “Is there a law against beating up ill-mannered old men in this painting?”

Before Ke Xun could respond, Pigtail suddenly barked out a laugh. He walked over and glanced at Wei Dong. “Don’t waste your energy. He’s not human.”

“Fuck, if he’s not human, what is he?!” Wei Dong was shocked. “The spirit of a broken record?!”

“You can consider him like an NPC in a game. He’s only responsible for explaining the ‘plot’ or the rules of the ‘game.’ He can respond to certain questions. As for any other questions outside of the preset ones, he probably won’t answer them.” Pigtail’s lips curled into a mocking smile.

Ke Xun and Wei Dong exchanged glances. Ke Xun asked Pigtail, “Is this place a game or a painting?”

“A painting.” Pigtail smiled coldly. “But the rules that preside over the painting are strict and precise. There’s only one outcome that awaits those that break the rules: death.”

“Death?” Wei Dong stared at him. “Are you talking about a fake death or real death? What happens after we die? Can we go back to the real world?”

“You wish.” Pigtail mocked. “If you die in the painting, you die for real. Don’t ever think about going back to the real world again, if you die. Do you understand?”

“——Are you serious?!” Wei Dong was shocked.

“It’s up to you whether you believe me or not. In any case, I’ve already made things clear. Don’t blame others when you die.” Pigtail looked at the strip of cloth in Wei Dong’s hand, gaze impatient. “It’s really bad luck to be put into a group with a newcomer like you! Are you going or not?”

“Going? Going where?” Wei Dong was dumbfounded. He looked at Pigtail and then looked at Ke Xun.

Pigtail rolled his eyes and sucked in a deep breath, as if trying really hard to hold back his temper. “I also got the gu strip of cloth. This means that we’ve been put into a team together. Therefore, you and I have to do as that old man said. We have to go to the ‘Li home.’ Do you understand?”

Wei Dong asked him, “If we don’t do as the village chief says, what will happen?”

“Did you not listen to me?” Pigtail was furious. “If you break the rules, you’ll die. Die!”

“Then, can we make our own teams? For example, what if I don’t go chop wood or whatever with you at the Li home and instead go guard the granary with him?” Wei Dong pointed at Ke Xun.

“Death!” Pigtail roared, a fierce expression on his face.

“Fuck.” Wei Dong looked at Ke Xun. “What should we do?”

Ke Xun rubbed his chin. “Looks like we’ve really encountered something that can’t be explained by common sense. We probably won’t be able to figure things out in a short amount of time. We might as well listen to him first. This guy seems to know something. It’s better to believe him than to not. Our safety is most important.”

“Okay.” Wei Dong then asked, “What about you? Who are you with?”

The three of them exited the old man’s house. Ke Xun thus saw someone standing at the bottom of the steps. That person was tall, and had a cold, stern expression on his ridiculously handsome face.

The hemp strip loosely tied around that man’s waist had the character yang written on it.

Wei Dong looked at this person and then turned to look back at Pigtail, who was standing next to him. “Right, what happens if we trade our strips of cloth?”

“Death!” Pigtail gnashed his teeth.

“You should be more careful. Stay alert. Safety comes first.” Ke Xun warned Wei Dong.

The fellow had been an idiot since he had been young. Ke Xun was worried that he would really end up dying in this strange place after making a bad call.

“I got it. You should also be careful.” Wei Dong patted him on the shoulder, worried.

According to the old man’s arrangements, the majority of people were assigned to the ‘Li home.’ The others had already gone ahead, therefore, the four of them traveled together.

Shortly after beginning their trek, Ke Xun turned his head around and discovered that the light in the old man’s house had been extinguished at some unknown point in time. It was now identical to the surrounding houses—trapped in deathly silence and darkness.

It was really difficult traversing the village without any light. The dirt roads of the village weren’t even. One step would end up on hard ground and the next would sink into something soft. The grass sandals they wore were also very thin, causing them to very acutely feel every step.

Ke Xun took a step. Suddenly, it felt like he had stepped onto someone’s hand, one with very distinct joints. The sharp, slender, stiff outline of the hands’ fingers clearly pressed against the bottom of his foot.

Ke Xun jumped up quickly and ended up knocking against a tall body. When his feet touched the ground again, he could feel his own heart thudding against his chest. He involuntarily pressed a hand over his heart. It felt like if he were to remove his hand, his heart would be bloodily yanked out of his chest by that hand he had stepped on.

“——What’s wrong? You nearly scared me to death!” Wei Dong asked, startled.

Ke Xun’s heart was beating too fast. He couldn’t speak for a moment.

Just as he felt his palm and lips grow cold from shock, he heard the tall guy’s insipid voice ring in his ears. “Don’t pay it any attention. Just keep walking.”

It seemed like he had guessed as to why Ke Xun had suddenly jumped.

Ke Xun made a sound of acknowledgement. He did his best not to look at the ground and simply looked straight ahead. However, a dense grey fog had enveloped this village at some point in time. Although it was already difficult to navigate the village, the fog made it even harder.

“Cough, right. Since we’ll be teammates from now on, let’s get acquainted.” Wei Dong seemed to have sensed something. Therefore, he made conversation as a way to bolster his courage. He stretched his hand out to Pigtail. “I’m Wei Dong. This is my buddy, Ke Xun.”

Pigtail didn’t want to shake hands with him. He just snorted, “Liu Yufei.”

Wei Dong turned to give his hand to the tall guy. “What about you, dude?”

The tall guy gave him a cold look. He didn’t shake his hand either. “Mu Yiran.”

Wei Dong could only shake hands with Ke Xun. “Nice to meet you.”

Ke Xun felt the cold sweat on Wei Dong’s palm. He squeezed the other’s hand and then let go. He then turned to ask the handsome guy named Mu Yiran a question. “Can you tell us everything about the situation we’re in so I won’t end up a useless teammate?”

The author has something to say:

【★★★ Important Announcement ★★★】

■ The artists and paintings mentioned in this novel are fictional. Any similarities are coincidental! ■

Eve: Dkm.

Wei Dong: “What if—”

Liu Yufei: “DEAAAAAATH”