Since the NPCs didn't have any tasks to assign, everyone used the time after breakfast to search for the seal.
Given that Elder Li Taiyong's legs weren't very strong, he stayed at Fifth Sister's Restaurant to wait and have tea.
Meanwhile, the remaining 10 people gathered in the courtyard.
Because of the real death that occurred last night, the newcomers to the painting had a somewhat fatalistic silence, yet also a strong survival instinct.
"Xiao Mu, do you have any clues?" Qin Ci asked first.
Everyone listened attentively, inexplicably feeling that this tall man was no ordinary person.
Mu Yiran looked up at the oddly shaped tenement building: "Only by finding clues to the deaths can we figure out the location of the seal—judging from the current situation in 402, the deaths last night coincide with last year's fire. I wonder if this counts as a vague pattern of deaths."
Clearly, more than one person had thought of this. Sha Liu nodded as well: "The doorman specifically gathered everyone together to talk about last year's events. I think this might also be a pattern!—After each death, the NPC is responsible for revealing the 'death template'."
The term "death template" was novel and apt.
Thinking about it carefully, the NPC setting is actually quite cruel. When something happens in a room, the old doorman will stand up and say: "The same thing happened in this room a few years ago. That person died like this back then. Now you understand..."
"If everyone in every room is cursed by the person who died in that room, then what we urgently need to solve now is—what kind of murders happened in each room before!" Sha Liu was a little excited, her eyes sweeping over everyone present. "Before finding the seal, I think this is the most urgent issue to be resolved!"
"But, after lights out, we're not allowed to visit other rooms. In the end, only the guests in this room will face danger!" It was Xin Miao who spoke, her face pale at this moment—she was now the only guest left in room 402.
Wei Dong couldn't help but comfort Xin Miao, saying, "As long as we don't break the rules, it shouldn't be that bad... Besides, something already happened in your room, so the probability should be lower."
Qiu Lu quickly chimed in, "Right! They got into trouble last night because they were visiting other rooms! They broke the rules! As long as we remember the doorman's words and don't visit other rooms or floors after lights out, we should be fine!"—Qiu Lu rarely spoke so loudly; it seemed like she was trying to bolster her courage.
Zhi Shao, the most pragmatic of the three poets, said, "But people still die every day. Dr. Qin said yesterday that if no deaths occur, everyone will elect someone..."
Everyone fell silent.
Finally, Ke Xun spoke up: "We can't deduce a clear pattern of death from the current situation. I don't think we can 'smoothly' proceed to the meeting and vote."
Mu Yiran glanced at Ke Xun: Is this your way of comforting everyone...?
Sha Liu said anxiously: "A pattern has clearly emerged—the deaths that happened in the room will repeat themselves! If we observe and analyze carefully, we can find clues in the room! For example, the walls of 402 that were blackened by smoke before are examples of past deaths!"
"Currently, there has only been one death. We cannot be certain that the so-called death template will definitely be played out in this room, or that it is specifically targeting the guests in this room." Ke Xun's eyes did not meet the burning gaze of Sha Liu, but instead scanned the staircases in the four corners, and he fell into thought again.
Mu Yiran continued Ke Xun's words: "Last night, there was a strange incident where the stairs disappeared. This should be closely related to last night's death design, so the location of the incident is very large and not limited to inside the room. Secondly, besides the NPC's strict rules, there must be other death conditions that we don't know about. Suppose someone violates the death conditions outside the room and doesn't return to their own room, could they become prey for the death templates of other rooms?"
Ke Xun looked at Mu Yiran, his gaze becoming subtle. This big shot had just explained the problem for him? And the content was almost exactly what he had thought...
"Outside the room? Why would people appear outside the room in the middle of the night?" Qiu Lu felt terrified just thinking about this question.
Ke Xun gave Sha Liu a meaningful look: "NPC rules prohibit visiting other rooms or using the stairwells. That means, besides your own room, the entire corridor around this floor, as well as the four stairwells and the public restrooms, are all within the legal area."
Sha Liu didn't mind that Ke Xun had seen through her thoughts; instead, she felt more at ease having a few smart people around: "That way, if something really happens in a room, and the person in trouble manages to escape, then people from other rooms can come to the corridor to help. This isn't considered visiting other rooms or using the stairwells; it's just helping each other within the legal scope!"
Xin Miao was a little excited upon hearing this: "Then can I stay in the corridor all night? I really don't dare go back to my room alone! Tina and the others died here..."
"If we could stay in the corridor, they wouldn't have assigned us rooms," Qin Ci corrected her. "Sha Liu's method is probably just a short-term emergency rescue."
Qiu Lu was slower to react, and only now did she understand what Sha Liu meant. She quickly grabbed Xin Miao's hand: "Right! We girls are helpless; we'll still need you men to help us!" She pulled Xin Miao's hand tightly, and Xin Miao nodded hurriedly. Shou Zhu
comforted the two, "Don't worry, it's our duty to protect girls."
Zhu Haowen, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly spoke up: "There are no old or young on the road to the underworld, and there are no men or women in this death apartment. There's no reason for anyone to take care of anyone else."
Qiu Lu felt a blow to her pride. She glanced at the pleasant-looking Japanese man, but his words were truly unsettling: "Do you know which cloud will bring rain? Who will be able to help whom is still uncertain! Just like how we're taking care of Grandpa Li now, we can only go further by supporting each other!"
"If we were running for our lives right now, would you help Grandpa Li up from behind?" Zhu Haowen retorted. "This is Chunshun Apartment, not some Titanic."
Wei Dong quickly patted his roommate: "Alright, don't bother. Have you thought it through? What they're saying has nothing to do with us!" He then looked at Sha Liu, "We live on the sixth floor. According to the rule of not visiting other floors, we're basically isolated."
Sha Liu rolled her eyes: "Then tell us what strange things are happening in your 616 room, and we'll help you figure something out!"
Wei Dong thought for a moment. Apart from the headache and chest tightness, he hadn't noticed anything else strange about his 616 room: "Our room is pretty clean, but it feels stuffy. Ke'er, why don't you go in and try it later?"
"Sure, Grandpa Li just gave me a bottle of Danshen Dripping Pills. I'll take some up and take a look..." Before Ke Xun could finish speaking, Zhu Haowen said, "Our room has transformed."
Ke Xun: "Holy crap?"
Everyone's expressions were different: What the hell is transforming? Do you think this apartment is a Transformer?
Mu Yiran stared at Zhu Haowen: "Transformation?"
Zhu Haowen nodded: "I started looking for the seal as soon as I entered the room last night, so I remember the approximate location and angle of the room. When I woke up this morning, the exterior wall of the room had tilted slightly inward, many items placed against the wall had shifted slightly, and the angle between the wall and the floor was no longer the standard 90 degrees; it seemed to be changing into an acute angle."
Many people took a moment to process what Zhu Haowen meant.
Wei Dong was the most surprised, not expecting his roommate to be such a formidable person. He wanted to say, "Brother, I'll rely on you from now on," but fearing a retort of "There are no brothers in Chunsun Apartment," he remained silent.
Mu Yiran said, "We should all go back to our rooms and check them now, think about what's different from last night, and look for the seal in our rooms—meet at the restaurant at lunchtime to discuss any changes or anomalies in the rooms."
Everyone agreed, and Zhu Haowen nodded in agreement.
Ke Xun and Mu Yiran returned to room 411. The fourth floor had the most residents among the team, including 411, 410 (where Sha Liu and Qiu Lu lived), and 402 (where only Xin Miao remained).
If their activity was confined to this floor, Ke Xun and Mu Yiran were undoubtedly the best in terms of physical strength and reaction time. The other three were women, and as Qiu Lu put it, they were clearly the ones who needed protection.
Sha Liu had just said a lot, essentially trying to steer the conversation towards this.
Ke Xun hadn't thought too much about it; if he saw his companions in danger, he would never stand idly by—this didn't need any reminders or emphasis.
"Do you know anything about the painter and this painting?" Ke Xun turned on the fan, and opened the door and small window, finally allowing some air circulation in the stuffy room.
Mu Yiran carefully observed the corners of the room, seemingly finding nothing different from last night, especially checking the angle between the wall and the floor, which also seemed normal.
"Breaking Ground" isn't a single painting.
"Don't tell me it's actually a horror movie." Ke Xun's voice echoed in a loop, seemingly unreal, as he faced the electric fan.
Mu Yiran paused, then finished speaking: "Breaking Ground" isn't a single painting, but a series depicting the author's childhood environment. All twelve paintings are very lifelike. "
Twelve paintings?" "
The Breaking Ground series consists of twelve paintings, depicting street scenes from the author's childhood—snack stalls, barbershops, and the like—recording the lives of ordinary people."
"Does it mention the Spring Bamboo Apartment? Or similar cylindrical buildings?" Ke Xun asked.
"I haven't seriously studied those twelve paintings. Compared to the magical realism of the painter Luo Bin, these twelve paintings seem ordinary because they are too realistic." Mu Yiran's mind conjured up several of the painter's famous works, often filled with mystery and the bizarre, yet possessing profound social and historical significance.
"Did you see anything before you entered the painting?" Ke Xun tried hard to recall what he had seen. "Like an electric fan or children jumping rope."
"I saw less than you. Besides the 'Breaking Ground' label in the corner of the painting, I vaguely saw something in the vortex of the painting..." Mu Yiran frowned, finding the image somewhat peculiar, even comical: "A bamboo shoot." "A
bamboo shoot?" Ke Xun couldn't recall seeing anything related to bamboo shoots since arriving at the apartment. "A bamboo shoot, could it be related to the Spring Bamboo Shoot Apartment?"
Mu Yiran didn't answer, his eyes fixed on the old-fashioned desk in front of him: "There's a character carved on this desk."
"The character 'early'?" Ke Xun also came over and saw that there was indeed a character carved on his desk—'return,' as if it had been carved with a ballpoint pen, because there were obvious traces of ultramarine blue inside.
The character was carved very deeply, and it was unknown how long it had been repeatedly carved with a fragile ballpoint pen. Every stroke was deeply engraved into the table, and one could imagine how strong the writer's desire, even hatred, was.