Paintings of Terror

About the arc title (mild spoiler for future chapters)

和合actually has a multitude of definitions. I’m translating it based on a definition mentioned by our painting-enterers, which is the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/He-He_Er_Xian 和合二仙.  They are two gods that represent family harmony and happy marriage.

“Some force, in some way, during the long Semi-Historical era, completely erased hundreds of years of records of human activity every once in a while. Perhaps to put an end to this, Yu had people cast nine cauldrons, inscribing shamanic patterns endowed with the power of gods and spirits, and placing the shamanic symbol of ‘light’ across the vast land to seal this force.

“Whether it was casting the cauldrons or setting the shamanic symbol, both processes took an exceedingly long time. This act may even take hundreds of years due to various unexpected conditions. Only when it finally succeeded, and the force was completely sealed, did history, led by humans, begin to be continuously recorded.

“However, during the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States periods, wars broke out and the world was in chaos, the nine cauldrons inexplicably disappeared. Without the mystical artifacts to suppress it, that previously sealed force began to stir, searching for an opportunity to re-emerge in the human world through luring people into paintings.

“And another force, which had been keeping it in check, noticed its disturbance and did everything possible to imprint images representing the nine cauldrons and the Earth Cord onto the painting entrants’ gu-xiang. It continued to suppress that dark force through the entrants, and tried, through each painting, to give clues.

“There may be a cycle to how often this dark force reappears, and we are the people chosen during this cycle. If this theory is correct, just using gu-xiang may only suppress this dark force for a century. To completely and permanently seal it, we likely need to find the actual nine cauldrons.”

Mu Yiran’s analysis clarified the entire chain of clues for everyone, so their focus was now on finding the whereabouts of the nine cauldrons.

After lunch, everyone continued to work based on their previous assignment. Wei Dong continued analyzing the gu-xiang images, Luo Bu delved into “Classic of Mountains and Seas”, and Ke Xun posted on Weibo again to seek information about the nine cauldrons from the powerful online community. Zhu Haowen was responsible for posting on popular online forums and message boards, while Mu Yiran typed continuously on his laptop—Ke Xun guessed he was using his connections all over the world to find clues.

The remaining members went to the library.

It was not until they all returned that evening and gathered to eat dinner together, Wei Dong, rubbing his strained eyes, sat down at the table and said weakly to Ke Xun, “You may not believe this, but I’ve looked at these images for so long they’ve started appearing 3D in naked eyes…”

Before Ke Xun could respond, Mu Yiran asked, “What did you see in the 3D image?”

Wei Dong suddenly realized something, his expression startled. “It looks groovy, there are mountains, valleys, and trees…”

“When you stare at the mountains and the trees, obviously all you’ll see are mountains and trees,” Ke Xun said as he peeled a braised prawn for Mu Yiran.

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“It’s not flat, it’s 3D,” Wei Dong waved his hand, “Remember those picture books we used to buy as kids? The pages were full of dense and tiny geometric patterns, and if you stare at one point in the middle, the image would suddenly pop into 3D with some parts protruding and some sunken.”

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

“—I stitched together the gu-xiang with ‘Classic of Mountains and Seas’ illustrations into one image. There are mountains, rivers, trees, spirits, birds, and beasts in it. With all these patterns put together, if you stare at them for a long time, they will become a whole three-dimensional picture. This whole picture looks like a mountain!

“—Note, it’s not that gu-xiang with a mountain showed up as a mountain; it’s all of them combined together and formed a 3D mountain. The spirits, birds, and beasts stuff are all part of the mountain’s outline. But this mountain is incomplete, missing a part. Now that I think about it, I suspect it’s because we’re still missing the gu-xiang of the three remaining people!”

“This is a huge breakthrough!” Qin Ci was rarely this excited. “Could it be that once we piece together all of our gu-xiang, it will reveal the exact location of the nine cauldrons?”

“Dong Ge, let me take a look at that image,” Luo Bu said. “If this mountain actually exists in reality, I might be able to recognize which one it is.”

“I mean, if it’s some obscure little hill or a mountain without some special features, then no,” Luo Bu replied. “My dad was always busy with work when I was a kid, and didn’t have time to spend with my mom and I. So my mom loved to take me on trips. When I got older, I continued exploring the country with my second-generation rich friends who like to have fun. We all loved climbing mountains. We even aspired to climb every mountain in China during our chuuni phase—that time, whenever we climbed one, we’d take tons of pictures to prove we were there.

“And I think if this mountain really is the one where the nine cauldrons are hidden, it must be very distinctive. They wouldn’t just hide nine such legendary artifacts in some tiny dirt hill. If it’s a mountain with a name, I’m sure I’d recognize it.”

“Good job, little Radish head, you really give us surprises again and again.” Ke Xun said as he stuffed a peeled prawn into Luo Bu’s mouth. “Go check the picture with Dong Ge. If you recognize it, let us know.”

Luo Bu, chewing on the prawn, followed Wei Dong to the study, as the picture was on the computer there.

A short while later, they returned. Luo Bu shook his head. “The image is incomplete, so it’s hard to tell. But I feel like it should be a mountain in the Xiyuan region. I know that area pretty well—I’ve been there over a dozen times. Pity that the picture is missing a critical part. If we can complete the picture, I can definitely recognize the place.”

Everyone exchanged glances. Finally, Shao Ling sighed, “I think this is exactly what the force behind all this intended. Without thirteen people together, we’ll never be able to touch upon the final answer. Our search for clues might have to stop here for now.”

“There’s nothing we can do about it,” Qin Ci consoled. “Even if Radish could pinpoint the exact location right now, we wouldn’t have enough time to head to Xiyuan to look for it. We’re about to enter the next painting, and we still need to set aside some time to scout the local area and investigate. For now, let’s leave it at this.”

“Look at the bright side: we are going there to gather all thirteen people, and we are closer and closer to  the final answer,” Ke Xun said with a smile. “Come on, let’s eat. Don’t let the feast I prepared for you guys go to waste. Eat well, recharge, and prepare to fight again when we enter the next painting!”

At the mention of entering the painting again, everyone can’t help but feeling a bit dejected. Despite all their various breakthroughs in unraveling the main mystery, they offered little help for the next painting they were about to enter.

Wu You opened her phone to check the calendar. “This is my first time spending New Year‘s away from my family.”

Thinking of her family, Gu Qingqing’s expression also soured. “I told a massive lie to get my parents to agree to let me spend New Year away from home.”

Clearly, everyone had told some sort of lie to their families so they could leave their homes and hide out at Ke Xun’s place at the end of the year.

“To enter the painting on the first day of the New Year, we’ll need to arrive in City K at least three days in advance to prepare,” Shao Ling said.

“To welcome the Spring Festival, the art gallery has replaced a large batch of old paintings and will be exhibiting new artworks in this upcoming exhibition. Though there’s still no detailed information on the new works. I’ve arranged with the relevant staff to get a clear floor plan and the main content of each exhibition hall around the 26th of the lunar month,” Mu Yiran said. “So, we’ll likely set off on the 26th, arrive in City K on that day, and spend the next four days thoroughly analyzing the exhibition content.”

Though everyone knew how cunning the painting instigator could be, Mu Yiran’s words still offered some reassurance. Even if they couldn’t pinpoint the exact painting, understanding the overall style of the exhibition halls would provide some advantage for entering the painting.

Luo Bu scratched his head. “Are we really in the Spring Festival time already? We are already counting days by the lunar month? Looks like it’s really time for the New Year.”

Wei Dong glanced at the calendar on the table—Ke Xun didn’t rely entirely on his phone for these things. Clocks, calendars, timers, cookbooks… he insisted on having physical copies of them all.

Wei Dong continued to look at the calendar, “Wow, it’s the 25th today? Tomorrow’s already the 26th! We’ve been so deep into researching these past few days that Little New Year passed without us realizing it!”

“Dong Ge, it’s already this late, you’re still thinking about Little New Year?” Luo Bu saw Ke Xun and Fang Fei carrying food and quickly stepped in to help. “Pretty soon, we’ll be celebrating the New Year inside a painting together—now isn’t that awesome…”

Though they called it a feast, Ke Xun hadn’t had much time to prepare ingredients lately. He’d just picked up some items from the convenience store, combined with whatever was left in the fridge, doing his best to make sure everyone was well-fed.

“Main course: lamb pilaf~ everyone, do your best and dig in~ ” Ke Xun stirred the lamb pilaf in the pot, filling the room with aroma. “Everyone’s been worn out lately. Ever since we got out of the last painting, we haven’t had a moment’s rest. Even machines need to recharge, right? Let’s treat today as New Year’s Eve!”

Luo Bu was already happily eating. He was not used to eating with his hands so he used a spoon. “Let’s celebrate the New Year here today. We’ll be going to City K tomorrow and let’s continue celebrating there~”

“I can see everyone’s nerves getting steadier these days. The way Radish talks about going to City K, it almost sounded like we’re going on a vacation.” Wu You picked up a lamb rib and took a bite. “Oh my God, Old Ke’s cooking is lit—these onions, these cumin seeds—they each have their own soul ah~”

Everyone: Who’s the one with steady nerves here?

After dinner, Wei Dong and Luo Bu escorted the girls back to the hotel. Qin Ci and Zhu Haowen cleaned up the dishes. Shao Ling sat awkwardly on the bean bag chair and reviewed the information he summarized today. After a while, he began to feel his neck getting stiff…

Ke Xun and Mu Yiran stood on the balcony. It seemed like a rare, relaxing night amidst these days.

It seemed like nothing more than an ordinary, homey evening, yet because of its unusual brevity, it felt especially precious.

“Yiran, we’ll be able to spend the New Year’s together,” Ke Xun said, gazing at the stars in the cold night sky through the glass window, feeling even more true that everything in this world had two sides.

The painting instigator had set their next entry into a painting for the first day of the Lunar New Year—a deeply malicious choice, yet by a twist of fate, it also meant that he and Mu Yiran were about to spend their first Spring Festival together.

Ke Xun felt Mu Yiran’s arms wrap around him from behind, his chin resting at the crook of Ke Xun’s shoulder. It felt tingling and warm.

The silence from Mu Yiran made Ke Xun feel strange. He held Ke Xun’s hand quietly without saying a word. Ke Xun couldn’t help but turn his head to look back, only to feel a sudden chill on his fingertip.

There was an unfamiliar sensation on the ring finger of his left hand. Ke Xun seemed to realize what it was, but he couldn’t help raising his hand to look. On his left ring finger was a silver men’s ring.

Instinctively, Ke Xun grabbed Mu Yiran’s hand, and sure enough, on Mu Yiran’s left ring finger was an identical silver ring like his.

Mu Yiran continued holding him tightly from behind, his voice seemed muffled by Ke Xun’s sweater, drifting softly into his ear. “It was an old family heirloom. I had it melted down and made into two rings. It’s nothing special—I just wanted to make it, for us both to wear.”

Ke Xun had never imagined that, as a man, he’d one day be given a ring—even if it was from Mu Yiran, he’d never thought of it.

He’d always considered himself a rough and straightforward guy, this kind of delicate and formal things were not for him.

But now, this ring was firmly fixed on his finger, now warm from its initial coldness, a tangible token that seemed to encircle their future together.