After a night of torment, the exhausted artists had no appetite for breakfast.
They'd spent the morning discussing their most disgusting experiences.
Examples included centipedes with countless legs, large, juicy, soft-bodied, multi-legged worms, the dreaded toad for those with trypophobia, and so on.
Eventually, they decided to skip the details and just recount the events: being attacked by their most repulsive creatures in the dark, followed by screams and footsteps rushing out of the room.
"So, I'd like to ask," Shao Ling said, looking at everyone, "who screamed last night?"
Wei Dong and Luo Yi slowly raised their hands, looking embarrassed.
Shao Ling looked at the three girls with slight surprise. Chen Xin'ai, still lost in thought, hadn't heard Shao Ling's question. Fang Fei said, "Don't be surprised. We're seasoned divers; we're used to not opening our mouths even in the most panicked situations, or we'll choke on water."
Yu Long nodded in agreement.
Xuege, whose hallucination was a large-bellied moth, said, "The reason I'm disgusted by moths is because I watched a disaster horror movie when I was a child. In it, moths flew into people's mouths to spin cocoons and lay eggs, which gave me an indelible psychological trauma. So, in reality, whenever I encounter a moth, my first reaction is to shut my mouth tightly."
"So, what did you two shout?" Shao Ling's gaze returned to Wei Dong and Luo Jin.
Wei Dong hesitated for a moment and thought, "Well... 'Ah, ah, holy crap, ah, ah ah ah, ah,' like that."
Everyone: "..."
Luo Jin also thought for a moment, "I can't remember. I was so scared that I peed my pants. But usually, I like to shout things like 'No, no, ah, ah, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, ah,'"
Everyone: "..."
Wei Dong: "Requesting the source, requesting the torrent."
"But in last night's hallucination, I heard almost everyone screaming, and I believe you did too," Shao Ling said. "So, did anyone actually try to run out of the room?"
The group looked at each other. Luo Yi said, "I was so scared my legs went weak; I had the will but not the strength, so I just lay paralyzed on the floor." Wei Dong
said, "Although I heard everyone running out, I wanted to run too, but then I thought, even if Ke'er and the others really ran, they would never abandon me. Ke'er would definitely call out and tell me to run, but I didn't hear him." "When I was called, I felt that regardless of whether others ran or not, Ke'er definitely hadn't run, so I forced myself not to run either."
Zhu Haowen: "Didn't run."
Qin Ci: "Didn't run."
Xue Ge: "Compared to moths landing on me, I was more afraid of the feeling of stepping on a moth's big belly, so I didn't dare to run and just stayed frozen in place."
Yu Long: "I heard that toads can only see moving things, so I didn't dare to move, afraid it would smear on my feet..."
Fang Fei: "I was also afraid of the feeling of stepping on a big worm, so I didn't dare to run."
Chen Xin'ai continued to be absent-minded and ignored everyone.
Ke Xun: "Even if it's disgusting, it's just an illusion, so they definitely won't run away."
Mu Yiran: "So we can be sure that whether it's the shouts we hear from each other or the sounds of everyone desperately running out of the room, they are all illusions, a means to mislead us into making the wrong choices. In fact, after that darkness descended into the room, we should have already been isolated by the illusions, just like the night before, and entered some kind of parallel space."
Shao Ling picked up his pen and wrote on the bamboo slip: "Four, Illusions can simulate touch and realistic human voices and scenes, using psychological suggestion and mental effects to lure people into the sea."
The first three points are:
1. Being isolated and entering a parallel space.
2. The hallucinations are of people we know.
3. Using acquaintances to deceive people into the sea, and having the ability to read memories.
After writing, Shao Ling put down his pen, pondered for a while in front of the bamboo slip, and then looked up at everyone: "Based on the experiences of the past two nights, I have a hypothesis.
"The first night, the illusions created the voices of people we knew. Although the illusions wanted to lure us into the sea, no matter how much we refused to be fooled, it did not force us by touching us."
"On the second night, the illusion again used the trick of luring us into falling into the sea, and again created sound as an aid. However, on top of the sound, the illusion created touch, becoming a second aid.
"So, my speculation is that the illusion is created based on the five senses, and it is superimposed each night.
"The first night was a single auditory illusion, and the second night it became a superposition of auditory and tactile illusions.
"If my speculation is correct, then in the following nights, there will likely be more olfactory, visual, and gustatory illusions, and we can prepare in advance to deal with any possible illusion traps. Does anyone have anything to add, or any different opinions?"
His gaze fell on Mu Yiran, who was only deep in thought. Just as he was about to speak, Yu Long said, "No, you're right, that's exactly it. Now that we've seen through the illusion's trick, let's quickly think of a way to deal with it. Earplugs, life jackets, and tying ourselves up with ropes—none of these methods worked." "
After everyone came up from the lower deck, they had already searched the sea but found no body of Liu Yanlei, nor in the lower deck.
Looking at the few people who hadn't slept for almost two days and two nights and were drowsy, Shao Ling said, 'Let's rest for a few hours. Being mentally unstable can make us more susceptible to illusions.'
No one objected, and they dragged their tired bodies to their rooms to rest.
Ke Xun closed the door, pulled Mu Yiran close, and lay down on the mat, nuzzling his fluffy head against him and yawning: 'Mental and psychological attacks are harder to deal with than physical and visual attacks. I barely slept for days while working on *Pure Land*, but I couldn't keep up with this painting for two nights.'
Mu Yiran reached out and ruffled the back of his head: 'Sleep. I think we don't need to search this ship anymore. There's nothing to do during the day; the key to breaking this deadlock lies in the night.'"
Ke Xun wrapped his arms around his waist, draped one leg over his, and gently patted him. "You sleep too, Yi Ran. Put all the problems aside for now, get some rest before we talk about anything else, otherwise I'll feel bad, okay?" "
Okay." Mu Yi Ran smiled slightly, stretched out his arm and pulled his dog's head into his embrace, stroking it gently for a while until he heard the dog's breathing gradually become steady. He then stopped, looked down at Mu Yi Ran's face for a moment, and then closed his eyes as well.
The warm, soft touch on his lips woke Mu Yi Ran from his light sleep, but he didn't open his eyes immediately. He reached out and cupped the back of Mu Yi Ran's head, which was almost touching his lips, pulled him closer, deepened the kiss, and then separated them.
"I've made lunch, get up and eat something." Ke Xun was still holding a glass of water, which he handed to him.
Mu Yiran took it, drank a few sips, and then went out with Ke Xun.
The others also seemed to have just woken up, and only regained their energy after lunch. They sat around in the central hall to discuss their plans for the evening.
"First of all, I don't think we need to hide below deck anymore. Last night's experience proves that no matter where we are, illusions will affect us." Shao Ling continued to act as the team's "host." "Secondly, there's the issue of the burning rhinoceros horn.
Since the rhinoceros horn was lit using a mobile phone last night, it's impossible to prove for now whether whoever lit the horn will die. But what is certain is that the chosen ones are indiscriminate. So tonight, we need to find a way to see that so-called behind-the-scenes force through the burning rhinoceros horn—which is very likely only visible to the person who lit the horn."
"So this time we won't use the phone to light the rhinoceros horn. Someone has to light it by hand. This is an unavoidable problem. We must decide who will light the rhinoceros horn. This is probably the only way to find the seal and leave the painting. Let's decide now."
After saying this, Yu Long frowned and said, "How do we decide? By drawing lots or by voting? Why? Why should my life and death be decided by others? Can't I not light the rhinoceros horn? I have absolute autonomy over my survival. I don't accept any coercion or moral blackmail. Fang Fei and I have already gone to sea to check the bottom of the ship. Before going to sea, no one knows whether they will die. Under this premise, we are essentially risking our lives. We have done everything we could. Now I tell you clearly, neither Fang Fei nor I will light the rhinoceros horn!"
"Okay." Shao Ling readily agreed to his statement and looked at the others. "As I just said, firstly, the death selection rules in the painting are not based on the act of lighting the rhinoceros horn. So whether you light the rhinoceros horn or not, you may die."
"Secondly, according to some veteran members, the painting only gives us seven days. Even if some of us are lucky enough to survive the first six days, we'll still die if we can't find the seal.
Thirdly, without lighting the rhinoceros horn, we'll definitely find no clues and will certainly die; lighting the rhinoceros horn will definitely provide clues, but there's a 50% chance of dying.
So, let's vote on whether or not to have someone light the rhinoceros horn. Does anyone have any objections?"
"No objections, I agree to light the rhinoceros horn." Ke Xun was the first to speak.
Then everyone else followed suit, and everyone agreed to light the rhinoceros horn except for Yu Long and Chen Xin'ai.
"Since everyone agrees to light the rhinoceros horn, I suggest we draw lots to select the person responsible for lighting it. I don't think anyone will object, right?" Shao Ling looked at everyone.
"We two won't participate." Yu Long reiterated.
"No need for that," Xue Ge suddenly spoke up, a faint smile on her face, "I volunteer to light the rhinoceros horn."
"I'll light it," Ke Xun said, "There's no reason to let a girl take such a risk."
Xuege chuckled, "Just because you're gay doesn't mean you can look down on women. In the face of life and death, everyone is equal." Ke
Xun retorted, "That's a huge accusation. Since you say everyone is equal, let's draw lots. Nobody should give way, okay?"
Xuege thought for a moment, "Okay, let's draw, but I have a request: let me draw first."
Everyone nodded in agreement. Xuege personally retrieved a blank bamboo scroll, separated nine bamboo strips, and had Yu Long, who wasn't participating in the draw, mark one of them. Then, the marked end was placed in a cup, and everyone drew in turn.
Xuege drew first, carefully examining the exposed end of the slip before choosing one.
Ke Xun drew second, also carefully examining the remaining slips for a long time, seemingly hesitant, before finally drawing randomly.
The others drew in turn, and everyone revealed their slips.
It turned out that Xuege had won.
Ke Xun scratched his head, "My intuition seems to be malfunctioning today." "
Sherlock laughed: "Intuition can't compare to real skill. The reason I was able to pick the right lot is that what you might see as several bamboo slips of similar color that are hard to distinguish, I saw as distinctly different colors—I remembered the color of the lot with the mark. Don't forget I'm a painter, and a pretty good one at that."
"…Alright, great painter, you pick it." Ke Xun knew he couldn't persuade someone who was already determined to die, so he stopped arguing with her. "Anyway, people will be found by illusions no matter where they are. You can pick the rhinoceros horn, and we'll be there to support you."
"No need," Sherry smiled. "If the person touched by the rhinoceros horn's light will die, you'll be implicated if you're too close to me. You can stay in the central hall, and I'll go to the deck." "Just in case—please
forgive my rudeness," Shao Ling said to Sherry, "you'd better have a bamboo slip and a pen in your hand. If you see anything, I hope you can write it down as much as possible, even if it's brief, even if it's just a few keywords. And…please don't carry the bamboo slip with you." "
The point of this is to prevent Xuege from being chosen by death and taking the bamboo scroll with her when she falls into the sea, which would render all her efforts futile.
While the words may seem harsh, it's the most rational and useful arrangement.
" Xuege agreed, glancing at the various expressions on the faces of the crowd, and slightly raised the corners of her lips: "My life is already short. If I can save a few lives before I die, I'll ha
ve died a worthy death. Actually, there's nothing wrong with movies about individual heroism. Being your own hero in your own world, isn't that pretty cool?"