Paintings of Terror

Chapter 150: Academic Tyrant Ke Xun

“Then how can it be used as a trigger?” Wei Dong asked hurriedly.

“Perhaps sing along with the mantis?” Qin Ci suggested.

“Uh…Well, let me try.” Wei Dong was a little embarrassed. “I just tend to sing out of tune. This won’t affect my ability to open the hidden world, right?”

“I’ll come with you,” Zhu Haowen said.

“Ah, Haowen’er, you can sing?” Wei Dong asked with relief.

Zhu Haowen looked at him expressionlessly. “I can play the guitar.”

Wei Dong:…His out of tune singing won’t be saved by musical instruments…

Without delay, they quickly rushed into Black Cat Sheriff.

“Then Luo Wei and I will enter Meijian Chi.” Qin Ci took the paper that had the clues that Ke Xun and Mu Yiran had analyzed. “We’ll just follow the key points listed on this paper. With two people, we’ll work faster than if there’s just one person.”

This left only Ke Xun and Mu Yiran in the room. Avoiding the blood and the pile of corpses, they sat in a clean corner with Mu Yiran holding the paper full of clues. Ke Xun leaned his body against him and continued to study with him.

His cat tail swept across Mu Yiran’s thighs, and he opened his mouth wide to let out a yawn.

“Are you sleepy?” Mu Yiran tilted his head to look at him.

“Extremely sleepy,” Ke Xun whispered in cat language. “Maybe my cat’s physique is making me tired in the daytime. It’s a miracle I can survive this long…ha…yawn…”

“Then take a nap. I’ll be here,” Mu Yiran said.

Ke Xun rubbed Mu Yiran’s shoulder with his cheek. “Time waits for no one. I’ll stay awake…ha…yawn…Yiran…think of something to stimulate me, wake my…ha…yawn…brain up.”

Mu Yiran lowered his eyes slightly and was silent for a moment. Then a cold, magnetic voice said, “I’ll give myself a three-day holiday. Ke Xun, I heard that you make very good pasta?”

Ke Xun blinked, then his eyes grew round, his ears shot straight up, and his tail rose as his entire body instantly entered into a state of extreme excitement–”Let’s quickly beat this painting and leave!”

He sat up, grabbed the paper in Mu Yiran’s hand, and stared at it with unprecedented concentration.

Mu Yiran: “…”

Ma Liang’s Divine Brush → Hailibu → Fire Boy → Nezha Roils the Sea → Meijian Chi

Legends of the Book of Heaven → Tiger Learns a Skill → Good Kitty → Black Cat Sheriff

The Fish Child → The world where Zhao Haicui died

Laoshan Taoist

The Snow Child

Ke Xun pointed to the contents listed on the paper. “Brother Qin and Luo Wei entered Meijian Chi, while Dongzi and Haowen entered Black Cat Sheriff. Considering that none of us are familiar with the cartoon in which Zhao Haicui died, we can set it aside for the time being. Then, let’s think about the hidden worlds that Laoshan Taoist and The Snow Child can trigger.”

Mu Yiran, who had never watched any cartoon before, said, “Okay.”

Ke Xun said, “The plot of The Snow Child should be the simplest. The characters in it are only the mother rabbit, the child rabbit, and the snow child. The only settings are the rabbit’s home and the forest. The scene of the forest is also very simple. Because it’s winter, there are only dead branches and snow.”

“I thought that this snowy scene may be something that could trigger a hidden world, such as the snowy one where Zhao Haicui died. But you and the other newcomers had been in that world a few times. However, if it is a trigger point then the newcomers, who had lost their ways in the snow, would have triggered it a long time ago. So, I think the forest and snow shouldn’t be trigger points.”

“Then, removing the snowy scene, the key points should be the rabbits, the rabbits home, and the snow child. The character of the snow child is too special, and it’s also not in other cartoons, so the snow child can be excluded from consideration.”

“I remember that the rabbit’s home has a bed, a fireplace, and maybe chairs, tables, etc. Very simple furnishings. But after a quick consideration, I don’t think they’re trigger points either. They’re too simple. If they could trigger a hidden world, then we would have done it long ago.”

“Excluding the rabbit’s home, this left the pair of rabbits. Rabbits could be found in several cartoons, such as the hidden world Good Kitty, Black Cat Sheriff, Ma Liang’s Divine Brush, and the world where Zhao Haicui died.”

“But Black Cat Sheriff only tells the story of the praying mantises. There are no rabbits in that mantises story, so we can exclude Black Cat Sheriff.”

“Although there are rabbits in the world where Zhao Haicui died, such as Zhao Haicui’s character, the character itself shouldn’t be a trigger point, so we can also exclude this world.”

“Good Kitty was triggered by Tiger Learns a Skill, and at the same time, it also triggered Black Cat Sheriff. A certain world can only be associated if it is triggered by a world and can trigger another world. Since this holds true for Good Kitty, it is impossible for it to trigger another world and so we can exclude Good Kitty.”

“This leaves only Ma Liang’s Divine Brush. In order to trick a hunter, Ma Liang once drew a rabbit on a stone and passed it off as an original. Even though this painting style is more realistic compared to the rabbits in The Snow Child, since we had already excluded the other cartoons, this is the only rabbit left. I think this is the only rabbit that can trigger a hidden world.”

“Therefore, I think that the rabbits in The Snow Child can trigger Ma Liang’s Divine Brush.”

“In this case, there needs to be another world that will trigger The Snow Child. When considering all the characters, items, and scenes in The Snow Child, we would need to exclude the rabbit since two worlds would not have the same trigger point.”

“But, if we exclude the rabbits, there’s nothing else in The Snow Child that could be trigger points…Except for a carrot, which is used as the snowman’s nose, but there’s no such thing as carrots in other cartoons…Let me think…This cartoon The Snow Child is actually very literary and artistic. Its content is primarily composed of the Snow Child and the rabbits playing in circles in ice and snow, dancing lightly to beautiful music…Hey! Music!”

“Yiran! Music! The music in The Snow Child is the most important element of this cartoon. In Black Cat Sheriff, where Dongzi and the others had entered, the praying mantis is also singing–The Snow Child can be triggered by Black Cat Sheriff!”

Ke Xun repeated the connecting worlds that were written on the piece of paper to himself, then he turned his head to look at Mu Yiran with shining eyes, only to see that the big boss was looking at him deeply.

“Yiran?” He opened his cat eyes wide, and his ears moved lightly.

The boss’s gaze shifted slightly and a small smile hooked the corners of his mouth. “You are actually very smart, Ke Xun.”

“Love makes me become an academic tyrant in seconds,” Ke Xun said. “Then do you know how you can turn me into an academic tyrant in seconds, Yiran?”

Before Mu Yiran could answer, Ke Xun leaned forward and gently pressed a kiss to his lips.

“Aiyo–I’m sorry! Excuse me! Leaving!” Wei Dong’s voice came from a certain door. Ke Xun turned his head to look over and saw that Wei Dong was covering his eyes with one hand and dragging Zhu Haowen with the other hand back out the door.

“…Meow!” Ke Xun called out.

Mu Yiran calmly said, “Come back.”

“If you say so!” Wei Dong came back, clutching Zhu Haowen, who promptly pried himself from his grip.

Ke Xun asked, “Meow?”

Mu Yiran translated, “How did it go?”

“We triggered The Snow Child,” Zhu Haowen said with a cold face.

“Sure enough, singing with the male praying mantis triggered it!” Wei Dong said. “Ke’er, do you remember that background music they were skating to in The Snow Child? It’s that…”

Ke Xun looked at Mu Yiran. “Meow, meow–”

Wei Dong said, “…What are you doing, suddenly acting so cute?”

“Yes, your analysis is correct,” Mu Yiran said, lightly patting Ke Xun’s cat head. “Then the rabbit in The Snow Child should trigger Ma Liang’s Divine Brush.”

Zhu Haowen turned his head to leave. “I’ll trigger it.”

Wei Dong looked at Zhu Haowen’s back in surprise. “Haowen’er is so motivated. Have you been stimulated by something?” Suddenly, he shouted in surprise, “Fuck! Haowen’er–”

Before he could complete the rest of the sentence, Ke Xun took a few steps over and slapped his paw over his mouth, blocking the words in his throat.

Wei Dong nodded quickly, saying that he wouldn’t say–At least, he’ll wait until Zhu Haowen had completely left.

Once he saw that he was gone, Wei Dong looked anxiously at Ke Xun and Mu Yiran. “Haowen’er also grew a tail. We must hurry up–What’s the next problem?”

Ke Xun looked at Mu Yiran. “Meow meow?”

Mu Yi nodded. “Yes, Laoshan Taoist.”

Wei Dong picked up the paper. “The important figures in Laoshan Taoist are probably the protagonist’s master, the master’s two friends, and the master’s wife. As for important props…the axe for chopping wood? The mirror used for learning the method of walking through walls? Oh yes, there’s also the chopsticks that changed into Chang’e! There’s a hip flask that can pour wine by itself. The protagonist also has a dog…”

“Of all of these, which one plays an important role?” Mu Yiran looked at him. “What is the story? What drives the story? What marks the turning point of the story? What ends the story?”

Wei Dong’s thinking was anxious and chaotic, but under Mu Yiran’s guidance, he gradually began to calm down and become more clear-headed. While recalling the plot, he said, “The entire story is about the protagonist’s dream. He wanted to go up the mountain and study the Tao. Later, he had no patience and wanted to leave secretly at night. As a result, when he peeked outside the door, he saw that his master and his master’s two closest friends had gathered together to drink. This stopped him in his tracks, and then…”

“Why stopped him?” Mu Yiran keenly grasped the crux of the problem. “Just by seeing his Master drinking, he suddenly no longer wanted to secretly leave right away?”

“Let me think about it, I can’t remember…” Wei Dong tried to recall.

Ke Xun said in cat language, “I remember that the master cut a circle out of a piece of paper, which turned into a moon and was hung high on the wall. This stopped the protagonist in his tracks.”

“So, cutting out the moon is the turning point of the plot,” Mu Yiran said. “If there is no such moon, the protagonist would have left as soon as possible, and the story would have ended there.”

Ke Xun said, “Meow!”

Wei Dong said, “The moon!”

“But the problem is…” Wei Dong scratched his head. “Which cartoon has a moon? It’s too hard to tell. When watching cartoons, who would pay attention to whether there is a moon in it, and whether the moon is round or crescent?”

“The moon in Laoshan Taoist is part of the main plot, which made it a key point,” Mu Yiran said calmly. “The moon in other cartoons won’t be trigger points unless they’re part of the main plot. So, just highlight cartoons where the moon plays an important role.”

Ke Xun and Wei Dong tried to remember.

Seeing them trying to think so hard, Mu Yiran said, “If you can’t remember right now, just let it go. The moon is just a speculation. There may be other critical things. For example, the protagonist saw the master’s immortal power, which changed his mind and so he no longer wanted to leave. This is also a turning point. Then, how did the protagonist learn to walk through walls?”

“Just… orally,” Wei Dong said. “The master taught him to recite a mantra, and when he did it, he was able to pass through walls.”

Ke Xun exclaimed, “Meow!”

Mu Yiran thoughtfully said, “An incantation. Since music can be a trigger point, spells aren’t necessarily impossible. Are there any spells in other cartoons?”

Ke Xun: “…”

Wei Dong: “…”

Ke Xun: “— Meow Ao Ao!”

Wei Dong: “—Legends of the Book of Heaven!”