"Maybe it's the wind or the echo?" Wu You deliberately guessed in a less frightening direction.
"Whatever it is, everyone be alert tonight." Ke Xun didn't even bother guessing, waving his hand dismissively, "Eat first, we need strength to work."
Everyone managed to eat some yak jerky and dry rations in their respective cars to fill their stomachs. It was only a little past seven in the evening, but outside it was already as dark as midnight. The blizzard continued unabated, sometimes unleashing towering, overwhelming snow waves, sometimes whipping up countless massive pillars of snow like tornadoes. Sharp howls roared from all directions, making the entire valley seem filled with a hundred thousand ghosts, raging wildly before their eyes.
Hua Jiqiu suffered from a terrible headache due to altitude sickness. After taking the medicine Qin had given her, she wrapped herself in a thick blanket and fell asleep in her seat. Shao Ling, who had been driving for most of the day, was also quite tired. He leaned back in his seat and soon fell asleep, breathing evenly.
Luo Jin couldn't sleep, so he slumped over the steering wheel, looking at his phone. Although there was no signal, it didn't stop him from watching videos stored on the device. Zhu Haowen glanced at them and saw that he was watching videos of his and his girlfriend's everyday life at home.
In the videos, a pretty and lovely girl and a handsome and sunny boy were holding their beloved pet cat and dog, laughing and cuddling together. The background was a homey room, and through the bright windows, one could see a meticulously maintained, lush little garden.
The warm, golden sunlight streamed into the room, onto the soft bodies of the cat and dog, and into the carefree eyes of the young couple.
Zhu Haowen couldn't fathom how Luo Jin had said his final goodbye to his girlfriend—perhaps laughing and crying, perhaps laughing and crying at the same time, perhaps simply waving goodbye and telling her he wanted a bowl of her homemade fried rice when he returned.
And what about all his companions? Weren't they all like that?
"Luo Bo, get some rest," Zhu Haowen looked away from Luo Bo's red nose. "You've been driving all day, take a break. I'm on the first night shift."
Luo Bo rubbed his eyes and agreed, about to wrap himself in a blanket to rest, when suddenly he pointed to the swirling snow in front of the car window, his voice trembling with fear: "Brother Wen—who—who is that—"
Zhu Haowen saw it too—in the swirling snow in front of the car, there were about a dozen black figures moving rapidly towards the depths of the canyon!
In such heavy snow, normal people would find it impossible to move an inch, but those black figures seemed to be unimpeded. They moved like ghosts, their upper bodies stiff, without exchanging any words, looking around, or making any unnecessary movements. They just silently moved forward and quickly disappeared into the chaotic snowstorm.
"What—what is this—" Luo Yu stared at Zhu Haowen in horror. "Is it my imagination? It must be my imagination!"
"It's not an imagination," Zhu Haowen picked up his gun and reached for the car door. "You stay in the car and lock it. I'm going to discuss things with Ke Xun and the others in their car."
Hua Jiqiu and Shao Ling in the back seat were fast asleep and didn't move at all.
"Brother Wen—I'm scared—" Luo Yu grabbed his sleeve.
Zhu Haowen casually handed him the iPad that came with the car: "Watch some porn, Ke Xun downloaded it." Then he opened the door and went out.
Luo Yu: "..." No, I'd rather be scared to death than watch porn...
Zhu Haowen braved the wind and snow to walk to Mu Yiran's car. Before he could even knock on the window, the door opened from the inside, and a hand reached out and quickly pulled him into the car.
"You guys saw it too?" Zhu Haowen wiped the sand and snow off his face and looked at the people who were still awake in the car.
"Holy crap, that was a ghost!" Wei Dong, still shaken, wrapped himself tightly in the blanket.
Li Xiaochun stared wide-eyed at Zhu Haowen: "Haowen, you're really brave! You dared to get out of the car like that!"
"What do you guys think?" Zhu Haowen asked Ke Xun and Mu Yiran.
"We want to follow them and see," Ke Xun said.
"What if it's a trap to lure us in?" Zhu Haowen asked.
Ke Xun smiled: "Wen'er, have you forgotten why we came here? We know there are tigers in the mountains, but we have no choice but to go. If we wanted to protect ourselves, why would we come here? We came here knowing there are traps, but we still have to jump in. If those dark figures were bait, then at most they want to lure us back into the paintings, or find the final answer. If they want to kill us halfway, that's too absurd. We've entered so many paintings, only to die in this desolate wilderness? What's the point?"
Zhu Haowen was speechless for a moment.
He found that Ke Xun was becoming increasingly uncontrollable.
A long time ago, he was a naive and innocent boy, but in just a few months, he spoke with reason and logic, acted with restraint, thought systematically, and possessed both keen insight and boundless imagination, exuding both domineering charisma and flamboyant charm… it was almost impossible to contain him all.
"But those shadows have already disappeared. Is it too late for us to chase them now?" Li Xiaochun asked.
"If it was bait, there should be a backup plan," Mu Yiran said. "If it's just this once, then there's no need for us to follow."
Zhu Haowen nodded, not in a hurry to go back, but sat in the back seat, quietly staring out the window with the four of them.
Gusts of wind continued to sweep in from all directions, and the group had to constantly wipe the condensation off the side windows. Outside, the sky was a mix of black, gray, and white, with wind, snow, sand, and grass swirling together, almost distorting the entire canyon.
The distant mountains appeared and disappeared amidst the distorted wind and snow, sometimes seeming far away, sometimes suddenly appearing right in front of us. The once majestic and powerful mountain ranges appeared ferocious and sharp, the continuous mountain peaks flanking the canyon like the fangs of a vengeful ghost, and the winding canyon like a cold, sticky, ghostly tongue, wrapping the group around its back, ready to devour these small, fragile humans with a gentle downward thrust.
The howling wind outside the car window roared, sometimes like the howls of a hundred beasts, sometimes like the wailing of ten thousand ghosts, its sharpness seemingly about to pierce the thick car body, its mournful wail sending chills down one's spine.
After what seemed like an eternity of torment, Zhu Haowen, worried about Luo Jin, greeted the others and was about to return to the car when Ke Xun suddenly pointed out the window and whispered, "They're here!"
The group jolted, immediately looking in the direction he was pointing. Amidst the swirling snow and wind, a group of black figures moved swiftly and silently deeper into the canyon.
"Sure enough!" Ke Xun narrowed his eyes. "If we don't follow, these things will likely reappear again and again."
"Looks like we have no choice but to follow," Wei Dong said, gripping his gun tightly.
"Did you notice?" Mu Yiran suddenly asked, his voice slightly strange. "These two appearances both times there were thirteen black figures."
The group was startled. After a moment, Zhu Haowen also spoke with a strange tone: "You mean, these figures might... be the previous 'Painting' figures?"
Wei Dong and Li Xiaochun shuddered again at this.
"They...they're still alive?" Even though Li Xiaochun was usually bold, he felt a little uneasy at this moment.
"Uncertain," Mu Yiran pondered. "Even if the previous group of people who entered the painting survived, they would all be at least 110 or 120 years old now. At that age, walking in such a fierce snowstorm, it's impossible for them to be as steady, or even light as we just saw. I'm more inclined to believe that those shadows are a kind of reflection, perhaps a reflection of a previous group of people who entered the painting, or perhaps…"
He looked up at the few people staring at him expectantly, and vaguely heard someone swallowing nervously. He then softly uttered the rest of his sentence: "…it's our own reflection."
Li Xiaochun gasped heavily, Wei Dong swayed slightly in a daze, and Zhu Haowen remained silent for a long time.
"Whatever it is," Ke Xun's calm and steady voice rang out, "we'll follow them. Haowen, go back to your car and wake up President Shao. Tell him to go to the girls' car and get back to his positions according to the daytime groupings. When the shadows appear again, follow Yiran's car. I'll go and use the tow rope to link the three cars together."
"I'll go with you." Wei Dong rubbed his face vigorously to rouse himself.
"Me too." Li Xiaochun also regained his courage.
The group jumped out of the car, woke up everyone who was sleeping, and then linked and switched cars, making tense preparations.
When the group of thirteen shadows reappeared in the blizzard, the three cars started their engines simultaneously with remarkable coordination. Mu Yiran led the way, Luo Yi was in the middle, and Shao Ling brought up the rear, forming a line and following the group of shadows into the depths of the canyon.
The shadows' speed was neither fast nor slow, but it was definitely not a speed that a human could travel. They always stayed ahead of the vehicles, but even with binoculars, their true forms could not be seen.
They moved forward silently, unmoved by the wind or the snow, displaying an unyielding momentum, yet shrouded in a profound stillness and despondency.
Ke Xun lowered the binoculars he had been holding and tugged at his hair.
"What's wrong?" Mu Yiran, though focused on driving, didn't ignore him sitting beside her.
"You can't keep staring at them like that," Ke Xun's voice was hoarse. "Staring at them for too long will fill your mind with a particularly oppressive sense of despair, and... it's really uncomfortable, a kind of indescribable pain and sorrow..."
Mu Yiran reached out and gently squeezed the back of his neck, saying, "Take a deep breath, don't look at them anymore, they won't get lost."
"Okay." Ke Xun took a few deep breaths as instructed. Yue Cen handed him a thermos from the back seat: "Ginseng oolong tea, good for replenishing qi and calming the mind, a few sips will make you feel better."
"Thank you, Sister Cen." Ke Xun took it and drank a couple of sips, then lowered his gaze to his knees, not looking up again.
After driving for an unknown amount of time, Ke Xun suddenly noticed that the wind outside the car seemed to have subsided considerably. Looking out again, he saw that the gale had weakened into a strong gust, the blizzard had shrunk to a light snowfall, and sand and gravel were gradually falling from the sky to the ground. However, the dark figures remained indistinct and indistinct.
As they continued driving, the wind and snow lessened and became calmer until everything returned to normal. The dark figures, as if faded away, completely disappeared into the dark canyon.
Mu Yiran stopped the car and looked at his mechanical watch, which he had specifically brought for this mission. All the electronic instruments in the car had malfunctioned; even the time and mileage could no longer be displayed. "We've probably reached the center of the canyon," he said, mentally calculating the speed and time to arrive at a rough estimate of the distance traveled.
"Is this the destination they're trying to lead us to?" Wu You, who had been too frightened to utter a sound, finally managed to utter a complete sentence through gritted teeth.
"It should be." Mu Yiran unbuckled her seatbelt and grabbed a flashlight. "I'll go down and take a look."
Ke Xun also opened the car door and turned to instruct the two ladies, "Sister Cen, hold onto your gun and keep an eye on the outside."
"Okay." Yue Cen held her gun.
Zhu Haowen, Shao Ling, and Qin Ci also got out of the car, while the others stayed inside to keep watch. The three of them, each carrying a gun and flashlight, joined Mu Yiran and Ke Xun.
"Strange, it's been snowing for half a day, but where's the snow on the ground?" Qin Ci looked at the withered grass and dry stones under his feet with slight surprise. Although there were some snow stains in the distance, given the amount of snow that had fallen just now, there shouldn't have been so few traces on the ground.
"It might have been blown away by the wind." Zhu Haowen didn't care about the snow. "Or it might all be an illusion."
"Look." Ke Xun suddenly raised his chin at the group and pointed to the desolate, cold ground not far away.
The flashlight beam illuminated a jagged, uneven rock formation, its grotesque appearance created by the interplay of light and shadow.
Around this rock formation, and even further in, lay scattered animal carcasses and skeletons. Some appeared recent, others were in varying degrees of decay, some were mere skeletons, and some were reduced to tattered hides.
Several people shone their flashlights in all directions, turning the brightness to its highest setting, but the sight was horrifying. A chill instantly ran through them, rising from their feet and spreading throughout their bodies.
Author's Note:
Luo Jin: Brother Wen'er, I'm scared!
Hao Wen: Let's watch a movie, Ke Xun downloaded it.
Luo Jin (clicks on a movie): *The Ring*, *Ju-on*
Luo Jin: --(0Д0)!!
Luo Jin, dead.
Cause of death: Japanese adult films.