Paintings of Terror

Chapter 138: Auntie Cat, Fish Child, and Ma Liang

Ke Xun’s message on the paper told everyone what he had seen in that anthropomorphic animal world.

On the bulletin board of the Forest Public Security Bureau, there was a wanted notice. The photo on the wanted notice was of a mouse with a missing ear.

One Ear.

Ke Xun understood the moment he saw this photo. After all, the image of that missing ear was too deeply rooted in the hearts of many people. Even if he had just looked at the photo and couldn’t remember who the mouse was, the notice had also said “One Ear Arrested and Brought to Justice.”

Ke Xun also mentioned in the note that the red and white striped T-shirt and the black bell bottoms prop should also correspond to this world. This was because the animal’s clothing in the world of Black Cat Sheriff was exactly the same.

“So, as Xiao Ke said, the props we get may all correspond to the world behind these doors,” Qin Ci said. “The two-dimensional paper-cut world I entered was a fishing village and the prop I have is a fishing rod. This reminds me of an old paper-cut cartoon called The Fish Child. I wonder if you young people have seen it.”

The others looked at each other. Some had seen it and some hadn’t. Mu Yiran was one of those people who hadn’t seen it.

“It shouldn’t be…” Wei Dong looked at the big boss with a look of disbelief. The big boss in his mind was omniscient. He didn’t expect that the boss would have a blind spot in his knowledge.

Mu Yiran ignored him and asked Qin Ci, “Can you infer which old animated cartoons are related to the other props?”

Qin Ci took out the paper with the list of props and worlds. After looking at it for a while, he gave his head a slight shake. “Just looking at these props, it’s difficult to guess which old cartoon belongs to which prop. For example, the cat ears and the rabbit ears. There are a lot of cats and rabbits in cartoons. I’ll have to take a look at the other worlds and combine all the settings of these worlds to make more accurate guesses.”

“But if you go to the wrong world, your body will change.” Zhu Haowen looked at him. “You’re the only one who has entered the right world from the very beginning, so now you’re safe. I don’t think you should enter another world. I suspect that once the body starts to change, it will be irreversible.”

“So, what should I do?” Li Yaqing cried. “I can’t hold onto this copper pot…”

Her copper pot was now bigger than it had been last night, and since she could no longer fit it in her backpack, she had to hug it in her arms.

“Hey! Tell me–” Qi Qiang suddenly pointed his sword at Qin Ci’s throat, “which cartoon has a sword?! Hurry up and tell me!”

“There are many cartoons with swords.” Qin Ci looked at him calmly. “We need to calm down and think carefully. Please calm down. Anxiety won’t solve the problem; it would only waste precious time.”

Qi Qiang pulled his sword back angrily and kicked the door closest to him fiercely. No one had time to pay him any mind and were all looking at Qin Ci eagerly.

Mu Yiran didn’t blindly wait. He informed Wei Dong and Zhu Haowen, and entered the world that Ke Xun was in.

He found himself in a mountain forest filled with gurgling water, birdsongs, and fragrant flowers. The scene everywhere was full of peace, and there seemed to be something whispering somewhere. He walked along the flow of water toward the depths of the mountain forest and carefully looked for the marks Ke Xun must have left behind.

Ke Xun’s marks were clearly made, and so he followed the path of these marks. But suddenly, he stopped. There were no more markings.

Mu Yiran calmly studied the scene around him and saw that there was no trace of any man-made changes. There were no people anywhere, but for some reason, he always seemed to hear someone talking in the darkness.

He stood unmoving for a long time, listening carefully to the sound. Then, having discovered the direction where it was coming from, he quietly walked over toward it.

It wasn’t until he was nearly upon it that he realized it was a monkey and squirrel talking from the branch of a tree!

“It’s terrible. Awu is such a bully!” said the monkey.

“I was scared to death just now. Will Awu eat Auntie Cat?” the squirrel said.

“Let’s hurry up and go take a look!” the monkey said.

The monkey and the squirrel quickly scampered through the branches and ran deep into the forest.

Mu Yiran’s eyebrows rose slightly. He thought: Cat…Could it be Ke Xun?

But what was with the “Auntie”…?

Regardless, Mu Yiran quickly followed in the direction where the monkey and the squirrel had run off to.

It was unknown how long he’d been walking through the woods, but as he was looking around for signs that Ke Xun might have left behind, he heard a familiar voice say above his head, “Meow! What a surprise! Why are you here, meow? Hurry! There are tigers here, meow!”

Mu Yiran looked up and saw Ke Xun climbing a tree like a big cat, his face that was full of happiness and surprise looked a bit worse for the wear.

Mu Yiran walked over and slowly climbed up the tree. But Ke Xun couldn’t wait, and so he stretched out a hand to grip his arm and forcefully pull him between the branches.

“Yiran, you–How are you? Is your body breaking down yet?” Ke Xun looked at him worriedly, pinching his face with his thumb and forefinger.

Mu Yiran let him squeeze and asked in a deep voice, “How are you?”

Ke Xun meowed with a bitter face, “I was almost eaten by a tiger. Fortunately, I remembered the plot of this cartoon; otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to escape.”

“Which cartoon is this?” Mu Yiran asked.

“Tiger Learns a Skill,” Ke Xun said. “I nearly forgot the specific plot, meow. I remember that the cat and the tiger had a race. In the end, the tiger couldn’t climb trees, and the cat was able to climb a tree and escape catastrophe. I remember a line from this film very clearly. Meow, just the line that the crow shouted, ‘Awu is a bully.’ When I was a kid, I learned this line while beating up a kid, meow.”

“So your prop belongs to this Tiger Learns a Skill world.” Mu Yiran looked at the cat ears on his head.

“Have you found a world that fits you yet,” Ke Xun asked in a hurry.

“I don’t know which old cartoon my prop came from,” Mu Yiran said calmly.

“Hailibu!” Ke Xun meowed. “Remember, meow?”

Mu Yiran lowered his eyes. “I haven’t seen it.”

“Meow?” Ke Xun scratched his cat’s ears. “After eating a fruit given by the gods, Hailibu can understand the words of animals, but he is forbidden to tell others what the animals are saying; otherwise, he will turn into a rock, meow. Yiran…are you petrifying, meow?”

Mu Yiran gave a slight nod. Ke Xun scratched his head anxiously. “We need to hurry up and find the signature! But how to find it? How to find it? Even if you enter the world that matches your prop, what will happen afterwards?”

“It’s not urgent. Let’s go back to the room first. It’s getting late,” Mu Yiran answered.

When they both came down from the tree, Ke Xun was about to carry Mu Yiran but he shook his head and said, “My joints are just a bit stiff. Right now, it has no effect on my movements.”

Ke Xun had to give up. After carefully observing their surroundings, listening with his cat ears erect, and sniffing with his nose to confirm that the tiger was not nearby for the time being, he pulled Mu Yiran and they quickly rushed back.

When they returned to the room, they found that Zhao Haicui and the other three newcomers still had not come back. Everyone was quietly watching Qin Ci listed the names of the old cartoons he remembered one by one on a sheet of paper. Ke Xun went over and looked at it. Pointing to one of the names, he said, “Ma Liang’s Divine Brush. I think this is Dongzi’s world.”

Wei Dong hurriedly said, “I know this cartoon! It’s a classic! Wait, then, my brush is a magical brush?”

After speaking, he rushed to the wall and drew an egg on the wall with the brush.

However, they had no use for an egg, and there was no real egg on the wall.

“Maybe only in the world of Ma Liang’s Divine Brush will your brush work,” Zhu Haowen said.

“Which one is Ma Liang’s world?” Wei Dong asked hurriedly.

“The first world we entered, meow!” Ke Xun said. “Ma Liang is a cattle herd child so the county magistrate would say that line that told me to go home and herd cattle honestly!”

Wei Dong clapped his hands. “Very good. We now know four corresponding worlds, The Fish Child, Ma Liang’s Divine Brush, Tiger Learns a Skill, and Black Cat Sheriff, and there’s still the speaking monkey in that snow world, and the world that the big boss entered today.”

After he said this, everyone looked toward Mu Yiran.

“The world we entered today is also an ancient world,” Mu Yiran said. “But unlike the world of Ma Liang’s Divine Brush, this ancient world is in a completely different hue and style. The world has an ocean, and there seems to be a city far in the distance. We only had time to look for clues in the village near the ocean and hadn’t gone to the city in the distance.”

In fact, it was because the copper pot engraved with flowers in Li Yaqing’s arms was getting heavier and heavier, and it became difficult for her to travel long distances. Therefore, they had to temporarily turn back.

“An ancient period cartoon with an ocean…” Everyone looked at the paper Qin Ci was writing on, trying to think of the right cartoon but couldn’t determine what it was.

“Now we are faced with three problems.” Although Mu Yiran didn’t know anything about these cartoons, it didn’t prevent him from making analysis and judgements. “Dr. Qin is the one who knows these cartoons the best, and Ke Xun can also be regarded as the same…But the two of them have already found the worlds that match their props. Entering other worlds to confirm which cartoon these worlds belong to will only aggravate their physical changes. This is the first problem.”

“The second problem is that there are currently six worlds, and we have 13 people with 13 props. We need to determine whether props can belong to the same world.”

“The third problem is the most critical one. Even if all 13 of us found the right world, what do we do next? What role will our props play? And which world will have the signature?”

“Another thing to note is that, according to the rules of the painting, someone will die each night. It’s very likely that someone had already encountered an accident last night. What is the effect of losing the prop owned by this person? Can this prop be transferred to someone else? These are things we need to verify.”

“There are also the newcomers who have disappeared. We still need to find them. Time is very tight.”

After Mu Yiran said this, they all felt as if the pressure had suddenly doubled. Qi Qiang said anxiously, “Then what the fuck are we still waiting for?! Hurry up–”

He didn’t know what to do, so he stared at Mu Yiran, waiting for him to point out a clear path for everyone as usual.

Mu Yiran didn’t disappoint him. “Since these worlds are stories from old cartoons, Dr. Qin, Ke Xun, and Wei Dong will enter their worlds again. In their respective worlds, they will try to complete the story being told. Even if it’s only a cartoon, the story being told should have a beginning and an end. Try to advance the story and see if you can get any clues.”

“What about you, meow?” Ke Xun asked hurriedly.

“I’m going to find the four missing people,” Mu Yiran said calmly.

“No.” Ke Xun’s cat ears were flipping back and forth, expressing his anger. “If you don’t hurry and find Hailibu’s world, you’ll turn into stone. I don’t agree–Meow! Wait, in these six worlds, there’s none that matches Hailibu’s world.