Paintings of Terror

Chapter 113: Ke Xun’s Life-Saving Method

By the time dinner ended, it was already dark.

They hadn’t finished looking through the mountain of documents, but everyone had given up checking today. The battery on their mobile phone needed to be saved, so they could only wait for daytime tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Ke Xun and Wei Dong went to the warehouse to find a few old-fashioned flashlights and distributed them to the others. Perhaps, because the battery had been left for too long, the lights from the flashlights were as dim as the light from their mobile phones.

Everyone entered the underground experimental laboratories. Taking advantage of the fact that it wasn’t 11 o’clock yet, they used the flashlights to search every corner of the underground basement once more.

“Maybe there’s a brick in this basement that will activate something, like some kind of mechanism or something.” Li Yaqing looked at the bricks that were revealed through the crumbling wall.

“Yes, maybe there is such a possibility. Isn’t it often like this in novels and on TV?” Zhang Hanrui nodded quickly, and she and Li Yaqing both looked eagerly at Ke Xun for approval.

“Then let’s check every brick.” Ke Xun nodded his head as expected and took the two of them to start the inspection from the far side of the wall.

“What about the bricks at high places?” Zhang Hanrui raised her head and pointed up to the bricks above.

Ke Xun squatted at the base of the wall and patted his shoulders with his backhand. “Come on. You step on my shoulders and hold on to the wall. I’ll stand up slowly so that you can go up and check those bricks.”

“Will that work?” Zhang Hanrui looked at him hesitantly.

“…Sister, what kind of question is that?” Ke Xun said dryly. “Never question a man’s competency. Hurry and come up.”

“Oh, oh.” Zhang Hanrui carefully stepped on Ke Xun’s shoulders, not daring to day that she was treating him as a little shou.

It didn’t take much effort for Ke Xun to lift up the slender Zhang Hanrui, and so the three of them checked every brick little by little.

Meanwhile, Mu Yiran used a flashlight to continue checking the documents in Laboratory D.

Qin Ci looked at what appeared to be a stack of personal files in his hands and couldn’t help but ask, “Do you have any ideas?”

Without raising his head, Mu Yiran said while reading, “Since this research institute had set up this experimental research area underground, it means that these experiments weren’t officially approved. Or, these unethical experimentations might be completed under the guise of legal research. If this is the case, these experiments must require confidentiality. Not every person in the research institute can be involved in handling core secrets. This would be problematic.”

He raised his gaze to look at Qin Ci. “How did the painter know that this research institute undertook these projects?”

Qin Ci’s eyes flashed. “That’s right! Unless someone leaked the secret and publicized what happened here.”

“This research institute touched upon topics that were both important and sensitive,” Mu Yiran said. “In that time period, even if it leaks, it would have been suppressed by the relevant departments to prevent the news from spreading and causing public shock. So, even if there was a leak, the public wouldn’t be allowed to know much about it in detail. But, judging from the content of this painting, the artist knew the details of these experiments very well, which shows that the artist is probably an insider in the institute.”

“Yes, and he should be a core member.” Qin Ci nodded. “He knows the detail of the four experimental research projects, so he might not just be a core member, but someone on the level of a leader.”

“Before I entered the painting, I remembered the name of the artist. It was Kang Lai,” Zhu Haowen suddenly said. “Is he famous in the art world?”

Mu Yiran flipped through the files in his hands. “The Square Box Art Gallery was just built two years ago. They only have a few masterpieces, and the rest are from novice or unknown artists that could be bought at a low price. Therefore, this Kang Lai has no reputation in the industry. At least, I’ve never heard of him. If he really was an insider in this research institute, he might be an art enthusiast.”

“Then he is very contradictory,” Zhu Haowen said. “While participating or managing the research as a core member, he also painted this inside story as a critique.”

Qin Ci’s thoughts moved. “This kind of behavior does look a bit fractured. Is it possible that he has a dual personality?”

“It is also possible that, years later, he felt guilty for the things he’d done,” Zhu Haowen said, “so he confessed about his participation.”

“This is also very possible.” Qin Ci walked over and looked through the files with Mu Yiran. “Anyway, let’s find this person’s work information first. Maybe we’ll get a clue.”

They looked until past ten at night.

“Today, we’re staying here,” Qin Ci said calmly, looking at Mu Yiran. “Xiao Mu, do you have any suggestions about Laboratory D?”

Mu Yiran looked down and thought for a moment. “Cai Xiaoyan fainted last night. I don’t know if it was for this reason that she was lucky enough to escape. If you’re willing to try this method, I can help knock you out.”

Not everyone dared to be knocked out in this situation, because it was equivalent to taking away one’s precaution and self-protection, thus completely exposing one’s most vulnerable and helpless self to danger.

.

Qin Ci hesitated for a long time and finally nodded with difficulties. “I shouldn’t hide from misfortune, nor can I lose consciousness. I ought to keep my head, but why not give it a try?”

Mu Yiran didn’t say much, Seeing that Ke Xun was sending in Zhang Hanrui, who was already crying from fright, he asked her if she wanted him to make her lose consciousness. With a face full of suffering, Zhang Hanrui said, sobbing, “I don’t know…Maybe it’s useless to me…I have a special physique that makes it difficult for me to lose consciousness even after anesthesia injections. Even last night…I didn’t faint. I don’t know…Why do I have this physique? I would rather faint and die unconsciously instead of dying from torture…”

The more experienced members tacitly remained silent. Even if she did lose consciousness, she might still be awakened and then tortured to death.

In the end, Zhang Hanrui finally decided to give it a try, in case she got lucky.

When Ke Xun was about to leave Laboratory D, Zhang Hanrui couldn’t resist chasing after him and clinging to him. “Brother Ke…if I die, you…take my mobile phone back to my parents. I wrote something on it. Show it to them. It has my…last words. The screen password is XXXXXX. Please.”

“Mmn, rest assured. I’ll take it to them.” Ke Xun patted her on the shoulder. He turned and walked out. When he was out the door, he turned back and told her, “Hanrui, don’t be afraid.”

Zhang Hanrui burst into tears and nodded, choked.

After pinching Qin Ci and Zhang Hanrui unconscious, they placed them in the corner of the laboratory. Mu Yiran closed the door and entered Laboratory B with Ke Xun.

Wei Dong and Zhu Haowen didn’t hesitate about being knocked out, so Mu Yiran did the same to them.

Finally, they entered Laboratory A and asked Xu Zhen, Qi Qiang, and Huang Pi if they wanted to try this method.

Huang Pi didn’t say anything; this was a person of very few words. From the time of entering the painting to now, he had hardly said more than a few words. Qi Qiang also refused. Only Xu Zhen hesitated and asked, “Even if I’m unconscious, would I still be awakened by the harsh noise you mentioned previously?”

“To be honest,” Ke Xun said, “I think it’s very possible. But even if you’re passed out, there won’t be any danger aside from the noise. At least, nothing had moved us last night. It was just a noise attack.”

Xu Zhen thought for a moment. “In that case, I already prepared some things to plug my ears. So, let me plug them in first and then you can knock me out. Please put me in the corner and cover my head with the bedding on the crib.”

Ke Xun looked at her and said, “Are you sure you want to use what’s in the crib?”

“I have already used it.” Xu Zhen said coldly, showing the cotton wool in her hand to Ke Xun. “These are taken out of the bedding.”

Using some of the sticky rice from the porridge, she kneaded the cotton wool into a ball and stuffed it in her ear. Outside the cotton balls was a layer of rice paste, and her two ears were tightly covered with a wide strip of cloth folded over several times. Once she wrapped the little quilt over her head, she made an OK gesture to Mu Yiran.

Mu Yiran knocked her out and placed her in the corner of the laboratory. He was about to wrap the bedding on the baby crib over her, but Qi Qiang snatched it over to himself and put it over his own head.

Mu Yiran and Ke Xun didn’t say anything and left Laboratory A.

Even if they had forcibly taken the bedding back from Qi Qiang and put it over Xu Zhen, Qi Qiang would just snatch it back after they left. Maybe, it might even cause Qi Qiang to hurt the unconscious Xu Zhen in a fit of anger.

Back in Laboratory C, Li Yaqing and Cai Xiaoyan were holding each other, crying and shaking. Seeing them enter the door, Li Yaqing cried hoarsely and asked Ke Xun, “Brother Ke, what shall we do? I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die! Wooo…”

Ke Xun used the flashlight to illuminate the ground and saw that Deng Guang and Zhao Youyi’s bodies were still lying in the corner of the room. They had removed their sweaters this morning and used it to cover the corpses’ faces. This way, they would only see the stiff and cold bodies and not the face.

Ke Xun asked Li Yaqing, “Last night, after you felt the current pass through the palm of your hands, how long were you able to hold it before letting go?”

Li Yaqing cried bitterly. “I don’t know…I don’t know…It hurted. It really hurted. I felt like I was dying. I really couldn’t hold on to the wire head…I really tried my best. I endured it hard…but I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t hold on and let go…I don’t…I really don’t want Youyi to die…”

“Don’t cry, don’t cry. I wasn’t blaming you.” Ke Xun quickly tried to calm her down. “I think the outcome will be the same even if you change with someone else. The pain caused by the painting isn’t something that can be tolerated under normal circumstances. This isn’t your fault, this is the malice of the painting.”

Li Yaqing cried and glanced at the three of them. Then she choked up and said, “Then what should I do tonight…I’m afraid I;ll hurt you again…and I don’t want to die…”

Ke Xun couldn’t do anything about this.

In the experimental nature of Laboratory C, two people were destined to indirectly kill the other. The willpower of humanity will be subjected to the cruelest test here. Even he himself didn’t know whether he would survive this.

After thinking about it, he suddenly smiled and said, “How about we make a desperate move?”

Seeing three people looking at him, Ke Xun turned on his phone, pulled up the stopwatch function, and placed it in front of them. “I’ll turn on the phone in constant light mode and place it in front of the machine. When we’re connected to a current, everyone can stare at the stopwatch together. Every five seconds, we’ll all let go. Tell me, what would happen if we do this?”