"But we still need one last verification," Mu Yiran said. "Before it's completely verified, I won't say anything more, so as not to mislead your thinking—if you even have any kind of thinking."
Ke Xun: "Although you've mocked me again, I'm still not angry. The last verification you're talking about, is it about seeing the state of death of the next person?"
"Yes. It's cruel, but there's no other way." Mu Yiran said expressionlessly.
"The next one might be me." Wei Dong sighed.
"Don't talk nonsense, children say the darndest things." Ke Xun kicked him and turned to Mu Yiran. "But I think we can't just wait like this, we have to do something."
"Find the seal!" Wei Dong perked up.
"We can't just search blindly," Ke Xun looked at Mu Yiran. "Little Mu, give me a direction."
"Call me Mu Yiran." Mu Yiran glanced at him coldly. "To find the seal, we need to consider the content of the painting."
Ke Xun: "Last night you said this painting depicted a scene of a funeral in the countryside. This morning we searched the mourning hall and didn't find anything that looked like a signature or seal."
Mu Yiran: "This means the mourning hall isn't the main focus of the painting."
Ke Xun: "Besides the mourning hall, the most suspicious place is that cemetery we just saw."
Mu Yiran: "I've looked at it, and there's nothing suspicious."
Ke Xun: "Could it be in that old man's house?"
Mu Yiran: "Unlikely. After all, if this happens repeatedly…" "No one dies at night, so everyone often gathers in that room, making the chances of the seal being discovered very high. It's practically like having the answer sheet right under your exam paper."
Ke Xun: "This kind of good fortune never falls into my lap, PASS. It's not a funeral hall, not a cemetery, not the old man's house, so where else could it be? It's all wilderness all around, nothing particularly outstanding."
Mu Yiran: "What stands out in a painting isn't necessarily what has profound meaning."
Ke Xun pointed ahead: "Could it be those three locust trees?"
Outside the Li family's courtyard, due north, stand three old locust trees.
Mu Yiran's eyes flickered slightly: "According to the customs of some regions, the locust tree is considered a yin tree, called a ghost among trees, and should not be planted near a yang house. In fact, the ancients loved the locust tree more. For example, the term 'Huai Ding' refers to the position of the Three Dukes, and 'Huai Chen' refers to the emperor's palace. In some places, the locust tree is even a symbol of good fortune."
Ke Xun scratched his head: "So this family planted three locust trees to get promoted and make money? That makes sense."
Wei Dong: "Let me interject. I think you two have a misconception. Although this world in the painting is also a world, it is first and foremost a 'painting,' and then a 'world.' Even if it depicts a scene from the real world, you should know that a work of art needs artistic processing. Unless this painting is a hyperrealist work, in order to pursue artistic effects, some artistic modifications will inevitably be made to the picture."
Seeing that Mu Yiran's gaze towards Wei Dong was a little strange, Ke Xun explained: "Dongzi is an art designer, so he is somewhat related to art."
"So, in your opinion, which parts are embellishments added for artistic effect?" Mu Yiran asked Wei Dong.
"The trees," Wei Dong pointed to the three old locust trees, "as you just said, some places consider locust trees unlucky, while others consider them lucky. This is the reality. But if it's used in a painting, I don't think the artist needs to consider the different customs and traditions of each region. He only needs to match the details according to the content of the painting.
"Look at these three locust trees. Why not plant them elsewhere, but specifically next to the Li family's residence where the mourning hall is located? If locust trees here signify promotion and wealth, doesn't it feel incongruous to plant them next to the Li residence?
"Look at these trees again. Even if they really have a lucky meaning in this place, they won't be highlighted in the overall painting. Otherwise, it would conflict with the theme of a funeral. If it's necessary to depict them for realism, one tree would be enough. Why paint three?
"Obviously, painting three trees is to highlight them, to emphasize them, and even to imply something."
"Keep looking at the shapes of these three trees. They're all jagged and bizarre. Do they look like normal trees? Of course, it's not impossible for wild trees to grow up looking like this, but why didn't the artist depict them as normal trees? Why did they choose to paint them in such an abnormal way?"
"Obviously, this is for artistic effect or metaphor. Since it's artistic effect, it can't be conveying an auspicious meaning, so it must be another meaning."
"…Yin wood, a ghost within wood," Ke Xun said.
Mu Yiran seemed thoughtful, looking up at the three old locust trees.
"Whatever the meaning, we still have to search for them." "Ke Xun said, striding towards the three locust trees.
Only when he got closer did he realize that these three locust trees were even taller and more imposing than they had appeared from a distance. Their bark, which should have been grayish-brown, was now a dark gray, a somber color, pressing down heavily overhead, whether from years of dust accumulation or the smoke from the Li family's kitchen.
"These trees are incredibly tall, I'd estimate over twenty meters!" Wei Dong looked up. "How are we supposed to find them?" Mu Yiran
also looked up, his eyes darting around as if trying to think of a solution. But then he saw Ke Xun, without a word, roll up his sleeves, walk to the tree, leap up, grab the trunk, and like a monkey, quickly climb halfway up the tree.
"A top student in the tree-climbing program from the Physical Education Department, anyone?" Wei Dong recommended his childhood friend to Mu Yiran.
Mu Yiran glanced at him indifferently, walked to the tree, and suddenly stretched out his arm, nimbly climbing up the tree in a flash.
"..." Wei Dong was dumbfounded, looking up at Ke Xun who was almost at the top: Brother, this is all I can do for you.
Ke Xun wasn't surprised that Mu Yiran could climb trees; judging from the way he had subdued him last night, he knew this guy was a trained fighter.
"You obviously don't know how to enjoy life," Ke Xun said, straddling a branch, waiting for Mu Yiran to climb up. "Why do you have to do everything yourself when you have a subordinate to order you around?"
Mu Yiran stood up, leaning on the trunk, looking down at him: "Who would entrust their life to a subordinate?" "
...You're handsome, so you have a right." Ke Xun also stood up. "Then I'll try my best to rise from subordinate to confidant."
Mu Yiran ignored him and began searching among the branches. Ke Xun looked down and called out, "
Dongzi, search down there, don't miss a single bark, crevices, or root."
"Don't worry," Wei Dong's voice came from below, "Our art team excels at details; we won't miss a single pixel."
A locust tree has at least a hundred or a thousand branches, and Ke Xun followed Mu Yiran, searching root by root. Several hours passed, and his vision became blurry.
"This is too insane," Ke Xun said, leaning against a tree trunk, panting. "What if that seal or signature is only the size of a pinhole? How long will it take to find it?"
"That won't happen," Mu Yiran also stopped to rest. "I've already said before, the world in the painting doesn't need to set impossible tasks for us; otherwise, it's meaningless. They can just kill us directly."
"Now how do we find them? We need a focus." Ke Xun looked around. "These trees are really ugly. Look at those burls, they look like… something…"
"Ghost faces?" Mu Yiran interjected.
Ke Xun rubbed his arm, which was covered in goosebumps.
Mu Yiran said, "Ancient legends say that locust trees have heavy yin energy, and over time, a ghost face will form on the tree trunk. The older the tree, the more ghost faces it will have, and the more ghost faces it has, the heavier its yin energy."
Upon hearing this, Ke Xun looked around again and suddenly got goosebumps all over his body—the trunks and branches of these three trees were indeed covered with densely packed ghost faces!
Upon closer inspection, the shapes of these ghostly faces were remarkably lifelike, complete with features and realistic expressions. Some were adults, some children, some elderly; some looked confused, some howled, some were terrified, some were contorted in pain, and some grinned maliciously…
The texture of the tree bark made these ghostly faces even more eerie and grotesque. Suddenly, a gust of cold wind swept through the treetops, and from the mouths formed by the tree holes of various sizes on these hundreds of ghostly faces came sounds that were both crying and laughing, rising and falling, sometimes near, sometimes far.
Ke Xun felt a chill run down his spine and hesitated before asking Mu Yiran, "You mean… that signature or seal… it wouldn't… be inside the mouths of these ghostly faces, would it…?"
"It's not impossible," Mu Yiran said expressionlessly.
"Oh my god… what if I reach in and one of these mouths bites me off?" Ke Xun asked.
"I know a good doctor at a good hospital; I can introduce you," Mu Yiran replied calmly.
"..." Ke Xun sighed, "Even if there's nothing wrong with the ghost face, there must be at least several hundred faces on these three trees. How long would it take to search them all?"
Mu Yiran lowered his eyes: "Let's call the others to help us search."
"Is that alright?" Ke Xun asked, "What if someone finds it and leaves quietly?"
"If someone finds the seal elsewhere, they might just walk away," Mu Yiran said, "but if they disappear here, in full view of everyone, the others will naturally know where the seal is."
"Okay, then let's go call the others in a bit," Ke Xun shook his tired arms from climbing the trees, and glanced up unintentionally, "Have you noticed that the sky seems darker than before? It's only noon, but it already looks like evening."
"It's going to rain." Mu Yiran looked at the dark, cloud-covered sky in the distance, then his voice suddenly tightened. "That pure cypress coffin!"
Ke Xun was stunned for a moment, then realized: "Pure cypress wood, it'll be struck by lightning!"
Seeing Mu Yiran's face darken, Ke Xun tentatively asked him: "What will happen if the coffin is struck by lightning?"
Mu Yiran gave him a gloomy look: "It will come back to life."