Qin Ci, carried on Shao Ling's back, was already vomiting thick blood uncontrollably, accompanied by spasms. Shao Ling was barely able to carry him.
"Brother Qin—Brother Qin, hold on, Brother Qin! We're almost there! Almost there!" Wei Dong and Luo Yu screamed desperately.
Qin Ci struggled to suppress the churning in his stomach, his mouth full of thick blood, and mumbled, "Put...put me down...don't...don't drag...you down...I...it's too late..."
"—It's not too late! We're almost there! Almost there!" Wei Dong's voice was choked with sobs as he ran behind Shao Ling. In the light of his phone, Qin Ci's clothes were soaked with blood, dripping down in a steady stream.
Nothing was more unbearable than watching a comrade who had shared life and death with you struggle and die in agony before your eyes. Wei Dong choked back sobs, while Luo Yu and Wu You beside him were already sobbing uncontrollably.
Qin Ci could no longer utter a single word. Blood gushed from his body as he vomited and convulsed violently, pulling Shao Ling to the side, unable to move forward.
Mu Yiran stopped and looked at Wei Dong: "Can you still hold on?"
"—Yes." Wei Dong nodded forcefully, wiping away tears.
Mu Yiran put Ke Xun down from his back and handed him to him: "I'm entrusting Ke Xun to you. You carry him and keep running forward. Don't wait for us, get out of the painting first."
"Don't worry." Wei Dong didn't say much, and with Ke Xun on his back, he desperately strode forward.
"Wu You, Fang Fei, Luo Yi, follow along." Mu Yiran said, and the three of them didn't linger, continuing to run with Wei Dong. "Shao Ling, put Old Qin down and help him onto my back. Take off your clothes. Hao Wen, help me, tie his limbs to my body with the clothes and secure him. Be quick."
The three of them acted swiftly, quickly binding Qin Ci, now a blood-soaked figure, to Mu Yiran.
Qin Ci convulsed violently and involuntarily, his strength immense. Fortunately, the person carrying him had changed to Mu Yiran, whose every step was as steady as a rock, moving swiftly and with a reassuring strength, rushing towards the Tree of Life ahead.
Just as Qin Ci felt his last shred of consciousness was about to dissipate, a bright white light shone through his already suffocating eyelids onto his retina. The overwhelming pain that had engulfed his entire body vanished instantly, but the lingering afterglow of this unforgettable agony seemed to still cling to his flesh and bones like maggots.
...
The security guard at the Three Lines Poetry Art Museum thought he had gone to the wrong post.
In front of the strange painting depicting a zombie's hand, a group of men and women were behaving even more strangely and bizarrely than the painting itself.
—They were all thinly dressed, as if they had just crossed over from the tropics, and one of them was even shirtless! Several women were still reasonably well-dressed... but the men seemed utterly exhausted, slumped on the ground—and one even appeared to be asleep on the floor!
What the hell were these people doing?!
"What are you doing?!" the security guard shouted, gripping his walkie-talkie tightly, as if some mental hospital patients had collectively "escaped" and were causing a ruckus inside.
"We'll leave right away." Mu Yiran carried the unconscious Ke Xun on his back, turning to look at the group. "Help each other up, go to the restroom and put your clothes on."
Shao Ling, shirtless, thought: "..." I don't want this to happen a third time.
Fortunately, the blood on their bodies turned into water after leaving the painting. Some of the clothes they had taken off inside the painting were still on their bodies, while others remained inside. The clothes they brought out of the painting, however, instantly turned into several small pieces of paper.
Mu Yiran took out two sets of spare clothes that Ke Xun had brought from the locker and gave them to those who had very few clothes left. They barely managed to leave the art museum. Unfortunately, the museum was located inside a park, and taxis couldn't pick people up there. They braved the wind and snow until they reached the park's edge before finally getting a taxi and returning to the hotel.
Wu You wasn't feeling well; she developed a fever as soon as she finished painting and was taken to a nearby hospital by Mu Yiran along with Qin Ci. Although most of the pain would disappear after finishing the painting, some minor effects would remain. For example, Qin Ci was diagnosed with mild stomach bleeding after examination and needed to stay in the hospital for a few days.
Mu Yiran hired caregivers for him and Wu You and then returned to the hotel where everyone was staying. Everyone was exhausted, both mentally and physically stretched to their limits. They went straight to their rooms and slept for two days before finally recovering.
Gu Qingqing's home was in the city; she only stayed at the hotel for one night, added everyone on WeChat, and then went home with a heavy heart.
Ke Xun opened the phone Tian Yang had left him and listened to the message he had left for his wife. The first half was mostly noise; Ke Xun guessed it was because he had revealed Jin Hua's affair in the message, so it had been blocked.
The second half was Tian Yang confessing to his wife that he was gay and that he had run away with his same-sex lover and would never come back. He also left his bank card PIN with his wife.
Perhaps not wanting his wife to grieve for his death for the rest of her life, his tone was cold and ruthless throughout, preferring her to hate him. He didn't even dare to say a single tender word at the end of the message.
As for whether this last message could be kept from his wife, Ke Xun didn't want to delve into it. After handling the aftermath, he returned to Z City with Mu Yiran and Wei Dong.
...
As the New Year approached, the busy members of the Art Discussion Group had little time to think about the holiday. However, reality inevitably kept them occupied. Shao Ling was busy with year-end summaries, Qin Ci, who had recovered and returned to work, was constantly on the operating table, Wei Dong was being forced to work overtime by his boss, and Gu Qingqing was tutoring several children on winter break.
Even Mu Yiran had taken five days off to fly abroad.
The most relaxed were Ke Xun, Luo Yi, and Wu You—meaning they weren't entangled in mundane affairs.
Wu You had taken several days to recover her mental and emotional state after her recent painting assignment. He Tang's tragic death had been a huge blow to her, but fortunately, she had always been an easygoing person. With the various forms of comfort from the Art Discussion Group members over the past few days, she had finally rallied.
The inspection of the museum's surveillance footage before entering the painting "Reboot" had to continue. Ke Xun, Luo Cheng, and Wu You occasionally exchanged their daily findings in the now-quiet art discussion group.
Ximen Wuyou: My eyes are practically blind. Did you guys find anything?
Little Radish Pulling White Rabbit: Not only did I not find anything, but my girlfriend almost caught me and thought I was a peeping tom. [Drama overload in my head.jpg]
Ximen Wuyou: Speaking of your girlfriend, is your family pressuring you to get married, Radish?
Little Radish Pulling White Rabbit: I'm not that old! My family isn't in a rush. My dad said as long as I don't bring him a daughter-in-law his own age, I can get married whenever I want. Ximen Wuyou
: ...
Ximen Wuyou: I envy your open-minded parents. My mom is always pressuring me. Hearing I'm single again, all my aunts and uncles are vying to introduce me to potential partners. I can't even escape it! Soon my mom is dragging me to visit a relative. The old lady there is my great-grandmother's generation. Her three greatest hobbies are: smoking, fortune-telling, and matchmaking. Just thinking about it gives me a headache. I'm practically dead, why would I need a partner? Are we going to have a ghost marriage?
Little Radish Pulling White Rabbit: Oh my god, sister, don't scare me! I can already picture that scene.
Ximen Wuyou: Sigh, what a miserable life. Who can I confide in?
Little Radish Pulling White Rabbit: How about I lend you my bean sprout for a few days? You can confide in it. I tell it everything. It's so worried it's starting to grow white fur on its head.
Ximen Wuyou: ...May I ask what your bean sprout is?
Little Radish Pulling White Rabbit: It's my sugar glider.
Ximen Wuyou: ...What is that...alien creature? [Confused and in a loop.jpg]
Ximen Wuyou: Okay, never mind, my mom's already here, I'm leaving.
Around 8 or 9 pm, Wu You came back.
Ximen Wuyou: Who's here?
Little Radish Pulling White Rabbit: Me, me, me...
Corgi: [A handsome netizen comes to support.jpg]
Ximen Wuyou: ...
Ximen Wuyou: I'll get straight to the point—this afternoon I went to my great-grandmother's house, and as soon as we met, the old lady pulled me into her room. She told me that I had something...bad on me...
Little Radish Pulling White Rabbit: ? ? Bird poop?
Ximen Wuyou: No, not in the real sense. Didn't I say that this great-grandmother can tell fortunes? What she's talking about is probably...that kind of "thing"...
Corgi: Tell me more.
Ximen Wuyou: ...There's nothing more detailed. The old lady looked at me like I was dead. When I asked her, she just shook her head and sighed, telling me to eat something good...
Little Radish Pulling White Rabbit: ...
Corgi: ...
Corgi: Is this old lady's fortune telling accurate?
Ximen Wuyou: Some say she's accurate, some say she's not. Who knows if those accurate predictions were just a coincidence...
Corgi: Didn't you ask her again?
Ximen Wuyou: I did, but she seemed to think I was beyond saving, and that saying anything more was pointless. So no matter how I asked, she didn't want to say anything more, just looking at me with a particularly pitying look... Corgi:
Send me your address, I'll come find you tomorrow.
Ximen Wuyou: Okay, I'll pick you up then. Are you taking the train or a plane?
Corgi: Plane.
Little Radish Pulling White Rabbit: Brother, I'm coming too.
After leaving the group chat, Ke Xun made an overseas call to Mu Yiran, telling him about Wu You's situation. He concluded, "Yiran, I feel this matter once again confirms your previous speculation. The force behind the painting is indeed selectively absorbing those who enter it. And as you said, this force cannot control everything; it does have limitations. Therefore, there are some things it cannot do directly, but can only do indirectly, requiring a certain opportunity, to achieve them indirectly. For example, regarding Wu You's situation, I suspect that the old lady is the real reason Wu You was attracted to the painting. I need to go see her."
"Okay," Mu Yiran replied, "Be careful, and contact me anytime."
Before going to sleep, Ke Xun received two more calls, one from Wei Dong and one from Zhu Haowen.
Wei Dong: "My boss finally went to City B for a meeting, three days in a row. I'm going to skip work! Damn it, I'm so sick of working overtime that I feel nauseous and have morning sickness whenever I see my company logo! Take me with you tomorrow, I need to go somewhere to clear my head!"
Zhu Haowen: "Me too, see you there tomorrow."