Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 78: Oil Painting

The faceless female ghost occupied the secret passage, and the fires of hell burned the room.

The horror line, escape line, and love line intertwined into a “sea of happiness”.

Captain Wei had no time to wonder why even the love line had to endure the torment of a sea of fire. Seeing the female ghost being driven out of the secret passage by Han Buting’s team’s exorcism ritual, he made a quick decision. “Let’s go—”

His four companions, who had been waiting for this moment, swiftly entered the passage. Zou Jun and Feng Rang were the fastest, followed by Zhu Mo and Ji Yunlei in the middle, with Captain Wei covering the rear to prevent the fierce ghost from returning.

Of course, the fierce ghost wouldn’t return; Han Buting’s team had it firmly under control, and the female ghost’s body was becoming more transparent, about to be subdued.

Facing a powerful opponent had its advantages; there was no need to clean up for others.

Xu Wang and his team rushed to the painting, concentrating hard, wishing they could discern every detail in it. However, the scene in the painting was both illusory and real; one second, you’d think it was about to come to life, the next, it was just an ordinary painting. Instead, the heatwave in the room intensified, making breathing difficult.

Should they retreat?

Each companion had the same hesitation in their heart.

But Wei Menghan had found the secret passage, and Han Buting had caught the ghost. How could they return empty-handed!

Xu Wang looked at Wu Sheng, his eyes already decisive. “Put out the fire.”

He had always been worried that extinguishing the fire would break their only clue, but now, since they didn’t want to leave, there was no other choice!

“Boom, boom—”

Thunder rumbled from the ceiling.

Wind rose with the thunder, carrying moisture.

Xu Wang was astonished. He had just finished speaking, and Wu Sheng hadn’t even moved. But this effect was exactly what he wanted Wu Sheng to use with his defense stationery.

The only explanation was that his advisor had understood his command before he gave it and had acted first.

Looking at Wu Sheng again, indeed, his eyes had “Please start praising me” written all over it.

Xu Wang wouldn’t, and prepared to deflate his self-esteem, but just as he opened his mouth, a torrential downpour came pouring down!

“Whoosh—”

This was rain.

“Fwish—”

This was wind.

“Boom, boom—”

This was thunder.

Captain Xu swallowed a mouthful of water and said nothing more. It was better to keep quiet.

The flames on the walls were extinguished in the storm, and the temperature in the room dropped sharply, making it much more comfortable.

But Han Buting’s team might not think so.

Having just subdued the female ghost, their joy was not yet put away when the downpour turned them into drenched chickens. Hairstyles ruined, demeanor destroyed, leaving no joy left and only baffled faces.

The notification sound of the indiscriminate defense stationery came belatedly in the ears of the ten companions—

[Owl: Someone used [(Defense) Let the Storm Come in All its Fury*] on you~~]

*This is a line from the short piece of revolutionary literature “The Song of the Stormy Petrel” by Maxim Gorky.

Han Buting: “……”

Li Xia: “……”

Li Zijin: “Can the names of your stationery be any longer?!”

Xu Wang brushed his hands over his face like windshield wipers, trying to keep his vision clear from the rain and convey a “sincere look”. “Each to their own line. It’s accidental harm, accidental harm.”

Han Buting gritted his teeth, not wanting to stay here for another second.

Turning to leave, a third Wei-style breakdown came from the secret passage—

“What—the—hell—”

The voice was mournful and piercing, cutting through the storm’s noise into the room, sounding more bitter than a ghost.

Han Buting stopped in his tracks and, along with his teammates, looked puzzledly at the mouth of the passage.

Wu Sheng also deactivated his defense stationery, and the wind, rain, and thunder disappeared instantly, leaving only a room full of drenched companions.

A few seconds later.

Teacher Wei emerged, falling to the ground. He didn’t care about his appearance, quickly got up, and hurriedly pulled the teammates behind him.

Ji Yunlei, Zhu Mo, Feng Rang, and Zou Jun came out of the secret passage one after another, with urgency in their movements and expressions.

The five people who returned safely immediately retreated to the corner of the room furthest from the passage.

Seeing this, Xu Wang immediately had a bad premonition and hurriedly led his team, squeezing next to Teacher Wei’s team for warmth.

Only Han Buting’s team remained in the middle of the room.

The air suddenly became quiet.

Rustling sounds came from the secret passage.

An arm stretched out without warning, pale and withered, looking like a white bone at first glance.

Han Buting gave his teammates a look, and the four companions immediately reformed the exorcism formation, with Li Xia taking out another talisman.

Teacher Wei, leaning in the corner, still couldn’t suppress his concern as a gardener. “The student with bangs covering the eyes. This is a multiple-choice question. One talisman might not be enough…”

Li Xia frowned. Before he could understand the cryptic hint, the owner of the arm tremblingly crawled out of the passage, falling to the ground.

It was an old lady so thin that she was just skin and bones.

She seemed to have hurt herself in the fall, letting out a low cry that didn’t sound human.

Struggling to stand up, the hunched old lady slowly lifted her head.

All the companions gasped, and their scalps went numb.

It wasn’t a human face, but something between a human and a cat—eerie and strange.

Qian Ai shuddered. “Cat-faced old lady…”

“Thump—”

Another thing fell out, almost knocking the old lady over.

This second ghost was no longer recognizable as human. It had eight legs supporting a woman’s head, just propped up on the ground.

Qian Ai swallowed hard. “Spider woman…”

“Thump—”

“Thump—”

The third and fourth fell out together, a little girl in red clothes and a disheveled woman with a mask.

Qian Ai’s back was already against the wall. “Little girl in red*… Slit-mouth woman…”

*I believe this one is based off of an urban legend that this movie is based off of. Supposedly, there’s a “little girl in red” wearing children’s clothing, but her face is extremely old. 

Xu Wang, Wu Sheng, Qian Ai, Qi Shan: “……”

Wei Menghan, Feng Rang, Zhu Mo, Ji Yunlei: “……”

Phoenix Eyes Zou Jun was, unfortunately, the closest to Qian Ai. “…Is this your stationery since you know so much?!”

Seeing the real thing was scary enough. Why delve deeper into it?!

“He likes to watch zombie movies from the 80s,” Kuang Jinxin kindly explained to his opponent.

Zou Jun: “……”

None of those opposite could match up with zombies!

Qian Ai: “There are also urban horror films, not limited to domestic, European, American, Japanese, Korean, Indian, or Thai productions.”

Zou Jun: “Then, why, are, you, hiding?”

Qian Ai: “Scared.”

Zou Jun: “……”

During their conversation, Han Buting’s team had already driven the dead ghost to the corner of the wall. The yellow talismans in Li Xia’s hand turned into four, and it looked like they could subdue it at any moment.

But just then, the cat-faced old lady suddenly let out a piercing howl.

In an instant, all four ghosts disappeared!

Before Han Buting’s team could react, a cold wind suddenly swept through the room!

The ten companions in the corner suddenly had a bad feeling, looking at each other—an extra face had appeared among them.

The mask-less slit-mouth woman was laughing so hard that she revealed her gaping mouth, which bore sharp teeth.

“Ahh ahh ahh ahh ahh—”

In the screams, the ten companions scattered.

No one knew who screamed, but certainly, no one would admit it.

The four ghosts floated erratically, appearing one moment at the entrance, another at the window, and the spider woman persistently guarding the door, preventing anyone from escaping.

Han Buting’s team was also thrown off by this turn of events, unable to trap all the ghosts as before and had to fight them one by one!

This was tough for the other two teams, who didn’t follow the horror line, as they found their stationeries were useless against these ghosts!

Xu Wang didn’t have time to judge whether the stationeries were used incorrectly or couldn’t be used across lines. He had just dodged the cat-faced old lady when he was grabbed by the ankle by the little girl in red from under the bed!

Luckily, the little girl wasn’t very strong, and Xu Wang managed to escape, but he was already in a bad state. “Why did you have to break open the wall—”

Wei Menghan, who just avoided the embrace of the slit-mouth woman, refused to take the blame. “We were following the clues to find the secret passage—”

Xu Wang: “…Is this a secret passage or a ghost portal?!”

“Whoosh—”

The still-wet, charred walls suddenly reignited.

“No way…” Xu Wang was in despair.

In the center of the painting, which was burning more fiercely than before, petals suddenly floated out.

Xu Wang was stunned.

Wu Sheng, Kuang Jinxin, Qian Ai, Qi Shan, who were scattered around the room, also noticed the anomaly.

The painting was their love line.

But there had never been such a beautiful moment in this line before.

Light blue petals fluttered in the firelight, like butterflies.

With their arrival, even the heatwave seemed to fade.

Han Buting’s team, engaged in battle, and Wei Menghan’s team, forced to fight, also noticed this change but had no time to deal with it or see the need to.

The canvas continued to release petals, and soon, a rain of fiery petals filled the entire room.

At the same moment, the witch execution scene in the painting suddenly turned into a light blue vortex!

In an instant, the fifteen companions surrounded by the petal rain were lifted into the air and, before they could react, were pulled into the painting by a strong suction force!

The chaos subsided.

The flames and petals were gone, the walls returned to their cold, charred state, and the painting hung as usual, still depicting the witch’s execution, as if nothing had happened.

Only the four ghosts remained in the room.

The little girl in red crawled out from under the bed and, along with the cat-faced old lady, the slit-mouth woman, and the spider woman, walked towards the entrance of the secret passage.

They no longer had their previous ferocity and brutality; like extras after the end of a play, they quietly crawled back into the passage, disappearing into its depths.

Room 1310 returned to tranquility.

……

In a medieval European village.

The sun had just set, leaving a faint red still lingered in the sky.

Fifteen companions, just freed from a dizzying whirl, rose up slowly or quickly, finding themselves amidst rural cottages and villagers hurrying past.

Occupying the village’s main thoroughfare, they were completely ignored by the villagers, who all rushed in one direction, faces alight with a strange fervor.

At the end of the road nearby, there was a wide open space, like a small square, now crowded with people. In the center, a tall cross stood, binding a young girl. Her lower half was obscured by the onlooking villagers, but it was obvious that firewood was piled beneath her.

This was the world inside the painting.

Since entering Room 1310, only one team had been fixated on the painting…

Han Buting and Wei Menghan, along with all their companions, narrowed their eyes and slowly turned to the culprits.

Han Buting: “Your, team’s?”

Wei Menghan: “Love, line?!”

“Cough.” Captain Xu cleared his throat, trying not to look at the ten pairs of angry eyes. “The fiery love of the past and present.”

Wu Sheng proudly said, “I chose it.”

Kuang Jinxin boasted, “I was the second vote in favor!”

Qian Ai quickly distanced himself. “I wanted to choose the career line.”

Qi Shan looked concernedly at Li Zijin’s slightly bloodied hand. “Are you hurt?”

Han Buting’s team: “……”

Wei Menghan’s team: “……”

One wrong step, and it’s a deep abyss…

Why did they have to enter the same room with these people? Why?!

Sensing the murderous intent, Captain Xu quickly spoke up again to calm his companions. “We’re in, but we can think of a way out, right?”

His last two words, accompanied by his innocent eyes, made Wu Sheng instinctively nod. “Mm.”

Han Buting, Wei Menghan: “……”

Xu Wang: “Since everyone agrees, let’s quickly go there and see what the situation is.”

Wu Sheng: “Okay.”

Xu Wang: “Let’s go!”

In a blink, Xu Wang’s team was leading the way; their speed was so fast that it seemed like they were “running away”.

“Captain…” Li Zijin couldn’t even look at those people now. A glance made him want to beat them.

Han Buting felt the same. If they had a little more time, they would have gathered all five ghosts and gotten the clues for the checkpoint.

Now, they were dragged into someone else’s mission line, the ghosts gone, and they had to join this impromptu love story.

Who could understand their plight!

But the captain couldn’t say this; he had to steady the troops’ morale. “Since we are here, let’s make the best of it.”

Li Zijin kicked a stone on the ground grudgingly and followed reluctantly.

Who could understand Han Buting’s plight?

Wei Menghan!

They just wanted to play a simple escape room game. Was it necessary to face fierce ghosts at the front and burning fires at the back?

The cat-faced old lady had already left a psychological shadow on him, and now, in front of them, they were about to burn an innocent-looking girl. His educator’s heart couldn’t take it; it was too exhausting.

Zou Jun, Zhu Mo, Feng Rang, and Ji Yunlei followed behind, one with deep furrowed brows, one sighing, one smiling, and one bewildered.

Zou Jun frowned at Zhu Mo. “You’re still happy? Have you no heart?”

“Don’t you find it interesting?” Zhu Mo grinned, his gaze drifting past Han Buting’s team to Xu Wang’s retreating figures. “Every time we meet them, there’s always a surprise.”

Ji Yunlei had been wondering all along and finally got the chance to ask. “What’s your history with that team? You speak in bits and pieces. Can someone give me the full story?”

Feng Rang put his arm around him. “Lei Zi, let me tell you…”

Soon, all three teams reached the small square.

On the way, they confirmed that the villagers indeed had no reaction to them. They could see and avoid them, but never spoke or gave them a second glance, even though their attire was completely out of place here.

Under the cross, the firewood was still being piled up; those carrying and stacking it were sweating profusely but worked with great vigor.

The girl facing execution hung her head lifelessly, her face hidden by her long hair.

“It’s different from the painting,” Han Buting said gravely. Given the situation, complaining was useless. Taking it seriously was the only way out.

“Yes.” Wu Sheng understood Han Buting’s point. “In the painting, the fire had already started.”

Xu Wang pursed his lips, becoming serious. “So, this is a moment in time just before the scene in the painting.”

“What exactly is your love line mission?” Han Buting suddenly asked.

Wei Menghan was also curious. “We can only provide maximum help if we have enough information.”

Xu Wang looked at Wei Menghan surprisingly. “You’ve never chosen the love line?”

Setting aside Han Buting’s team, Wei Menghan’s team had made it to the overall leaderboard with an 8/23 score. Could it be that every time they came here, they chose the same line? Of course, they should choose the same line—it was faster on a familiar road.

Xu Wang figured it out and was about to retract his question with a “never mind”. Unexpectedly, Wei Menghan answered, “We chose the joy line last time.”

Xu Wang: “……”

Wei Menghan: “You don’t have to look so sympathetic…”

The group found a quieter corner, not too far from the firewood pile, and stopped.

Now that everyone was in the same boat, Xu Wang had no reason to lie or hold back.

Starting with Pushkin’s sorrowful love letter, followed by the request of the girl with braided hair, the gypsy’s fortune-telling, and the legend provided by the old writer… Xu Wang shared everything about this line.

The last part was the room where everyone met, the wall catching fire, the painting emitting petals, and finally sucking people into it—Xu Wang didn’t need to explain these as the other ten companions had experienced them firsthand.

Wei Menghan: “So the fire in the room is the fire from hell? Is it a vengeful spirit?”

Xu Wang: “I think the evil spirit is probably the girl on the cross. She was innocently harmed and naturally wants revenge on the villagers.”

Feng Rang: “But there are so many villagers…”

“Or maybe it’s the person who betrayed her,” Xu Wang suggested, glancing at a large tree not far away.

Under the tree, a man and a woman were talking intimately.

Han Buting pondered for a moment, finding the story line plausible but raised a question. “What does this have to do with the girl who received the love letters?”

“I’ve been thinking about that too,” Xu Wang said. “The only reasonable explanation is that the braided girl is the reincarnation of the girl under the tree, and the boy reincarnated too.”

Wei Menghan: “So the boy is the one who wrote the love letters to the girl with braids?”

“Yes.” Xu Wang nodded. “They both betrayed the evil spirit, reincarnated, and fell in love again. How could the evil spirit let them go?”

Zhu Mo: “What about the substitute?”

Xu Wang: “The boy became the girl’s substitute, constantly burned by the hellfire of the evil spirit, so he could only communicate with the girl through letters and couldn’t show himself. Otherwise, the evil spirit would find out and burn the wrong person.”

Wei Menghan: “But didn’t you say the evil spirit wanted revenge on both of them?”

Xu Wang: “I reanalyzed it. Since it’s a love line, the evil spirit might still have feelings for the boy, so she only wants revenge on the girl, not realizing that her most beloved had become the substitute.”

Wei Menghan, Han Buting: “……”

Xu Wang: “Any more questions?”

Han Buting: “The logic is tight, and the cause and effect are reasonable.”

Wei Menghan: “Detailed and emotionally nuanced.”

Wu Sheng, Kuang Jinxin, Qian Ai, Qi Shan: “……”

Are they really on the same storyline as their team captain? How come they just walked out of a few scenes while their captain had already produced a whole movie…

“I’m not a witch—”

Suddenly, a desperate shout came from the cross.

Everyone looked up to see the flames rising.

They exchanged glances and immediately rushed towards the execution site.

They stood on the outskirts, not squeezing into the crowd of villagers, firstly because the girl on the cross was visible from there, and secondly for easy surveillance of the tree.

The man and woman under the tree were embracing each other, oblivious to the tragedy happening nearby.

“I’m not…”

The girl on the cross no longer had the strength to shout. She must have been bound there for a long time. Her lips were cracked, and her voice was hoarse.

Large tears rolled from her eyes, reddened by the firelight.

The flames grew fiercer, reaching the girl’s feet.

Some villagers shouted, “Burn her.” Initially there were just a few voices, but soon, everyone was chanting in unison.

Xu Wang wanted to save her, but when he opened his [Stationery Box], the icons were grayed out.

He was shocked. Couldn’t use stationery?

Then he smelled it. A faint scent of flowers amidst the burning smell was particularly noticeable.

Xu Wang looked up and saw familiar pale blue petals.

This time, the colorful petals flew towards the girl being executed.

They circled around her like a halo around a holy angel.

The flames that were climbing up suddenly withdrew back to the pile of wood. The wood crackled fiercely, but the flames dared not rise any higher.

The girl on the cross was bewildered.

The villagers were even more so, but soon their bewilderment turned into fear.

The fire weakened visibly; even the sound of the wood burning was softer. The fire could be less fierce, but there was no reason for it to weaken unless…

“It’s magic. This is the witch’s magic—”

Someone in the crowd yelled.

The word “magic” was enough to terrify these ignorant villagers. They dared to kill “witches” because those “witches” never resisted, let alone used such evil magic to fend off flames!

In the blink of an eye, the clearing was empty, with every household closing their doors and windows tightly, fearing being targeted by magic.

“Amy—” A young man’s urgent call came from under the tree.

The three teammates turned to look but saw the girl who had been under the tree, now holding a torch she got from somewhere, striding towards the cross!

The young man remained under the tree, wary of the magic, and didn’t dare to move, only calling out continuously. “Amy, don’t go there—”

Amy was deaf to his calls.

Her eyes were fixed only on the cross—only on the girl who was supposed to be burned, filled with only coldness.

“Witches should be burned. They don’t dare. I will…”

The girl with the torch reached the base of the cross. Not even glancing at the girl above, she bent down, and used the torch to reignite the dying flames.

The girl on the cross, barely alive, looked at her incredulously, her eyes filled with shock and sorrow. “Amy?”

“Witches should be burned…”

Amy repeated this one sentence, constantly poking the fire with the torch, maintaining the last flames almost obsessively.

A pale blue petal landed on Amy’s shoulder.

Suddenly, her torch flared up, and the flames rose high.

She was delighted and moved closer.

Without warning, a wind started on the ground.

The wind blew against Amy, and the high flames suddenly engulfed her.

In one moment, the girl trying to kill was now a human fireball.

The torch fell to the ground.

Amy screamed in agony.

The young man under the tree, paralyzed with fear, ran away in panic, showing none of the love he professed.

Amy fell to the ground, curled up by the flames, and, with her dying breath, cursed at the girl on the cross. “Even if I die, you won’t escape. I will become an evil spirit and return from hell to find you—”

Amy died.

Burned to a crisp by the intense fire.

The girl on the cross was terrified.

The teammates who had been watching the whole scene were also silent for a long time.

Even though they had dealt with zombies in various ways on 3/23 and seen bloodshed, it still took time to adjust to such a scene.

The last spark under the cross was extinguished.

The air gradually cooled with the night’s chill.

Captain Xu Wang looked toward the cross. “Should we take that girl down…?”

Han Buting took a deep breath and said, “Is the girl on the cross the evil spirit?”

Wei Menghan followed up. “And the girl under the tree was the one with the braids?”

Li Zijin was exasperated. “So the guy who just ran away, supposedly willing to become a substitute to protect his beloved, is that it?”

Xu Wang: “Well, there seems to be a slight deviation in the story line…”

Everyone: “No more making up scripts!”

Ten teammates who were fooled and four who wasted their admiration, achieved an unprecedented unity.

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The author has something to say:

Captain Xu doesn’t want to talk, hmph.

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Kinky Thoughts:

Unfortunately, spider woman is too common so I can’t find what Qian Ai is referencing.

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