The word "urging construction" sent a shiver down Luo Jin's spine.
There must be a mastermind behind this "entering the painting" affair—perhaps an individual, an organization, or some mysterious force. If the mastermind could influence the will of individuals or even groups in reality, that force would be immeasurably powerful.
Shao Ling seemed to read Luo Jin's thoughts: "If the other side truly possessed such power, they wouldn't have gone to such lengths to get people into the painting. I believe the exercise of this power must have significant limitations."
Qin Ci nodded slightly. The older members had discussed these speculations before, but each time they reached the stage of "entering the painting," they couldn't elaborate further.
"Therefore, the geographical location of these art museums is crucial, but what the underlying significance is is hard to say," Qin Ci said.
"How many paintings have you experienced in total?" Luo Jin had already folded up the Polar White motion-sensing vehicle, lifting it with a light, airtight design.
Wei Dong: "Ke'er and I have completed 9 paintings. Haowen has two fewer than us, and Boss Mu and Brother Qin have two more than us."
"So that means my brother-in-law and Brother Qin have completed 12 paintings. Are they almost done?" Luo Cheng stroked his chin. He wasn't wearing a fancy watch on his wrist today, just a sporty Casio. "I think the game planner seems to really like the number 13. They always choose 13 people. Does that mean there are 13 paintings in total?"
Zhu Haowen: "9 + 2 = 11."
"Oh... that means my brother-in-law and Brother Qin have completed 11 paintings. That's quite a lot. They're almost done." Luo Cheng didn't dwell on his arithmetic and immediately got back to the point.
Qin Ci nodded slightly: "We've had this guess about the final number 13 before."
"If there really are 13 paintings in total, will the game be completely over once my brother-in-law and Brother Qin have completed 13 paintings?" Luo Cheng asked innocently. "After it's all over, can we all celebrate our victory together...?"
Wei Dong patted his shoulder. "I'm just worried that if they pass all 13 paintings, it might just be them who finishes, and then we'll have to rely on ourselves. Whoever passes all 13 paintings will be free."
"..." Luo Yiran looked at Mu Yiran, who was like a god in his heart. "Brother-in-law and the others can't just abandon us, right? There's still my brother."
Ke Xun said earnestly in his brother's tone, "I'm afraid that after the thirteen paintings, these successful people will completely forget about entering the paintings. If you want to talk to someone about something, their bodyguards will stop you first."
Mu Yiran tilted his head to look at Ke Xun, not expecting that this guy had actually made such a assumption in his mind.
Ke Xun also looked at Mu Yiran: "It's not impossible. After Luo Wei left, he wouldn't recognize us at all."
Several old members simultaneously recalled the scene from when the eighth painting was completed—Luo Wei's lonely figure leaving alone. When they tried to talk to him, his bewildered and lost expression was exactly like that of someone facing a stranger.
They didn't continue to disturb him, only going to pay their respects as his friends after he truly "left," and taking on all the funeral arrangements and care for Luo Wei's mother.
Mu Yiran narrowed her eyes. She would never allow such an embarrassing and terrible event as "amnesia" to happen between her and Ke Xun; such a thing would never happen. A muffled bell suddenly rang out, and everyone looked towards the source of the sound. It turned out to be the bell tower above the art museum. "This old train station must be at least a hundred years old, and this bell tower looks like it was built before the liberation," Wei Dong said, looking up at the bell tower above the art museum
. Luo Jin's focus, however, wasn't on this: "At this time three days from now, will we be inside the painting...?" Everyone heard this, but didn't know how to answer, and all chose silence. ... Three days later, the group returned to the Old Station Art Museum. Luo Jin felt the stinginess and cunning of time, as if the time outside the painting was infinitely shortening, while the time inside was infinitely extending. Of course, this was just his own psychological illusion, an insurmountable psychological barrier to time. Luo Jin was still carrying his beloved polar white scooter, which, after being folded, looked more like a uniquely shaped bag. The gatekeeper didn't react much; as long as someone passed through the baggage screening and had a ticket, they were allowed in. "Luo Jin, are you planning to ride the scooter into the painting?" Wei Dong asked. "Riding? Don't say that to my heart." Luo Jin was currently hugging his scooter. Wei Dong felt his steps were somewhat heavy; he always had this reaction when entering the art museum, even experiencing chest tightness and nausea—an innate sense of resistance. Wei Dong didn't want to appear inexperienced in front of the newcomers and cause them unnecessary anxiety, so he smiled and said, "I wonder if your Xin Chun is the same Xin Chun I'm thinking of." Luo Cheng nodded seriously, "Yui is at home. I brought Xin Chun out today. It's brand new and very easy to use." "Do you need a servant to take care of the self-driving car?" "I just started using it too. There are only two of us, so we don't need a dedicated caretaker yet." "Oh, I thought you still had Ms. Cang in the storeroom." "Ms. Cang, that's an old lady from the last century..." "So this kind of topic can create a generation gap." The art museum seemed empty, with only the eight members walking around, and only Wei Dong and Luo Cheng were talking. Luo Cheng lowered his voice and said, "I'm still counting on Xin Chun to do us a great service. After all, it's a means of transportation; maybe it can turn into a bicycle or a carriage once it's inside..." The others hadn't taken Luo Cheng's words seriously at first, but upon hearing this, they thought the young man had his own ideas. If the motion-sensing vehicle could be brought into the painting, it might actually be useful. Ke Xun patted Luo Cheng's shoulder, only then noticing that the other was trembling slightly. Before them was the fourth exhibition hall they were about to enter. For the past three days, everyone had come here to scout the location, carefully examining each painting, hoping it would help with their selection. The advantage of this old art museum was that the exhibited works had remained unchanged for 800 years, so there shouldn't be any last-minute changes. The fourth exhibition hall was very large, displaying over 200 works, almost all by different artists. Mu Yiran had specifically consulted the industry's list of painters, finding only five names; the rest were all unknown. Despite this, everyone took photos of all the paintings in the exhibition hall with their phones, examining each one carefully. When they encountered something they didn't understand, they discussed it amongst themselves. Mu Yiran also tried to find as much information as possible, summarizing it into a unified text and image resource, which was then distributed to everyone. Each person carefully reviewed it many times; they felt like they were frantically preparing for the college entrance exam. Now, as they entered the familiar exhibition hall, Luo Yi, still somewhat uncertain, walked towards a large sunset painting: "Do the black eyes in this sun refer to sunspots? And another meaning is that this painting was created for blind children? And yet another meaning..."
Ke Xun stood beside Luo Jin, saying, "Don't be nervous, you're not going in alone."
"Yeah, my brother-in-law is here too," Luo Jin glanced at Ke Xun, "Brother, you didn't remember much either..."
"..."
There were some voices at the far end of the exhibition hall. Had other visitors arrived? The group walked inside and found five or six people standing by the main entrance, talking.
Exhibition halls usually have doors at both ends for the convenience of visitors, but the other door to this hall was closed. They had assumed it was because there weren't many visitors and there was no need to open all the doors.
"We came to City A specifically for photography, and we're taking the train back tomorrow. Could you please let us see the photographic works in the next hall?" The speaker was a young woman carrying a camera bag.
Several other young people carrying camera bags also pleaded, and the staff member surrounded by them was finally persuaded, picking up the key and opening the door: "Okay, this is a one-time exception. This exhibition hall isn't supposed to open until next month, so don't tell anyone, or the boss will blame me."
"Thank you, thank you so much!" the young people said gratefully.
Seeing this, the veteran members were somewhat bewildered.
"Wait, is the exhibition hall next door still part of Hall 4?" Ke Xun asked.
The staff member nodded: "It's also part of Hall 4, but it's been temporarily separated."
"...Okay, thank you."
Everyone was surprised by this turn of events; all their previous research had been for nothing.
"The next hall is all photography, it has nothing to do with painting, right?" Fang Fei, who had been silent for a while, suddenly said.
The veteran members stood by the door, none of them stepping into the next exhibition hall.
"Are you going in to take a look? It's only open for a short while, at most an hour, so if you want to see it, hurry up and do it." The staff member stood by the door with the key.
"We're here to see the paintings, not the photos," Wei Dong said.
"Anyway, they're all just black and white photos, I don't really understand them, but I think there are paintings too." The staff member's words sounded incredibly heavy to everyone.
"Did you guys notice that there were five people who went in just now?" Shao Ling couldn't help but voice his observation.
There were eight of them on their side, plus the five who went in just now, making a total of thirteen.
The staff member nodded, as if delivering a verdict, and said, "Yes, five in total, all photography enthusiasts."
Zhu Haowen went in first; he'd have to go sooner or later anyway.
Qin Ci walked beside Mu Yiran and couldn't help but whisper, "If they want to lure us into the paintings, why go through all these roundabout ways? Is it to prevent us from cheating beforehand?"
Mu Yiran seemed to be pondering something: "It seems like there are two forces at play, one guiding us, the other stopping us."
Qin Ci felt a chill run down his spine upon hearing this.
Mu Yiran continued, "Moreover, these two forces seem to be evenly matched; we are merely pawns in this game."