Paintings of Terror

Chapter 236: One and a Half Hours

If it was indeed possible to use the cameras to see events from the past and the future, it undoubtedly would provide them with more clues to find the signature.

“Time is limited. It has been two hours since ‘dawn.’ It’s best for us to split up. One group can use the cameras to search for clues, while the other group continues to look for the signature,” Ke Xun suggested, glancing at the burning incense in the corner. Two hours had already passed since the lanterns were lit.

Mai Peng held his camera, “I would want to have Mr. Mu guide me while looking for locations to take photos.”

Cao Youning added, “Finding a signature in this Inn is like finding a needle in a haystack. I don’t have any other special skills, so maybe I should also take photos.”

Mu Yiran thought for a moment and said, “That works. Those of you who are skilled in photography can distribute the film among yourselves. Film is a precious resource now, and we should use it wisely.”

All the new members nodded and took out their cameras.

Ke Xun glanced at Mu Yiran: “How about this, everyone should gather in this room in no more than two hours. We’ll buy some food on the way, so we can have lunch before the lights go off.”

Mu Yiran nodded in agreement, “Finding the signature might be challenging without narrowing down the scope. Let’s try to gather some information first.”

“Sounds good!”

Du Lingyu looked at Ke Xun, hesitating to speak.

Ke Xun said, “Xiao Du, you can talk to Yiran later about the hallucinations you experienced.”

“Okay, sure,” Du Lingyu nodded.

Ke Xun continued, “Brother Qin, you can stay behind and continue researching that medical book. There might be something useful to us in there.”

Qin Ci had no objections to the suggestion. He walked over to the overhead projector and took off the magnifying glass, preparing to use it to read the book later.

Ke Xun glanced at the others and said, “Without further ado, let’s go look for the signature now.”

So, Ke Xun, Wei Dong, Zhu Haowen, Fang Fei, Luo Bu, and Koharu left the room together.

Although they said they were looking for the signature, there wasn’t a clear route.

“I always feel like the signature is hidden in the past and future, not really related to the present,” Wei Dong scratched his head. “Even if we want to look for it, we don’t know where to start.”

Zhu Haowen was expressionless. “Since we can’t determine the time, let’s first determine the location and the people involved.”

“As for the location, aside from our room, there are a few more important places: the square where Xiayu was killed on the second floor, the window by the suspended coffin on the top floor, and the entrance and exit of this Lantern Inn.”

“As for the people, we can only speculate based on our specific roles: people who do business with us, people who use or trade camera-related goods, and the authorities of this world, the esteemed Master Shamans.”

Everyone couldn’t help but glance at Fang Fei when Master Shaman was mentioned.

“I was also thinking about this,” Fang Fei paused in her steps and stood by the staircase railing. Under the candlelight, her high ponytail and upright figure gave off an air of detachment from the world. “Initially, I wanted to try wearing that mask.”

“Absolutely not!” Wei Dong blurted out. “Who knows what the mask does? What if you put it on and can’t take it off…?”

Fang Fei chuckled softly. “That’s not too scary. I’m more concerned about truly becoming a member of the Shamans after putting on the mask and I would lose my true self.”

“Now you’ve made it even more terrifying.” Luo Bu said.

“What Haowen just said reminded me,” Fang Fei said with a serious expression. “I believe I should use my identity to get acquainted with some of the Shamans. Perhaps I can gather some information.”

It indeed was a good idea, but Wei Dong still said, “You are going alone? How about Ke Er go with you?”

Fang Fei replied, “I am the only one with the identity of a Shaman among us, so it would be more appropriate for me to go alone. However, I haven’t figured out a reason for the visit yet.”

Ke Xun had an idea, “How about this? Fang Fei can go visit the Master Shaman of the Fluorite Inn with some gifts to thank them. After all, they lent us a piece of precious fluorite. ”

Fang Fei nodded, “That’s a good suggestion. I’ll go back to prepare. We have some valuable spices among our goods, which can be used as a gift.”

Everyone agreed that it was a good idea, so Fang Fei went back to the room to prepare the gift, while the others continued downstairs.

“Oh? Where’s Brother Shao?” Luo Bu suddenly noticed someone was missing.

“Discussing past, present and future with others.” Wei Dong said, “They research time, we research geography. Where should we go first?”

“Let’s buy food first.” Luo Bu’s suggestion received a nod of agreement from Koharu.

“…You foodie, haven’t we had breakfast?”

“Those dry breads were hard to swallow… shall we get Gulouzi again?” Luo Bu suggested and Koharu nodded once more.

“… ” Ke Xun looked towards downstairs, “Let’s go to the square on the second floor first, where Xiayu was killed according to the photo. Maybe there will be some clues there. If not, we can search elsewhere.”

“Sure, Gulouzi is also on the second floor,” Luo Bu’s stomach growled as if protesting and everyone looked towards him. “Hunger can sometimes sharpen one’s mind. I suddenly feel that the ‘people’ that Brother Haowen mentioned is worth investigating. We should all make use of our connections in this Lantern Inn.”

“What connections do you have here?” Wei Dong asked, thinking that Luo Bu had gone stupid from hunger. “You better not tell me that your family has a business here.”

Luo Bu’s eyes, however, gleamed brightly, just like Koharu’s eyes. “That fat uncle. Wasn’t he asking about Koharu? We even thought about borrowing a magnifying glass from him last night!”

“The ‘none of your business’ fat uncle?” Ke Xun asked.

“Yeah, he’s the only connection I have here,” Luo Bu’s smile suddenly was suddenly filled with strength “But Koharu better not come with me. I’m afraid that guy might have ulterior motives towards Koharu. I’ll go alone.”

“Wait, can you do it?” Wei Dong expressed his concern.

“You can’t just say that to a straight man,” Luo Bu said solemnly.

Ke Xun and Zhu Haowen exchanged a knowing look. Gay guys don’t like hearing this either…

Luo Bu, “If Fang Fei, a girl, can go alone to meet Master Shamans, then as a grown man, can’t I handle a fat normal human?”

Zhu Haowen chimed in, “Let Luo Bu go. He might actually have what it takes.”

Ke Xun: “The fat uncle lives next to us. If there’s really a problem, just call out for people in our room. Besides, it should be fine during the daytime. Luo Bu, be mindful of your language, don’t say anything that is taboo.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t say anything I shouldn’t.” Luo Bu was happy to be entrusted with such an important task. He set off alone after bidding farewell to Koharu.

……

The incense in the room was still the one that Mu Yiran lit last night before going to bed. With its length, it would last twenty hours. The section that burned last night was eight hours, and now two and a half hours had passed since “dawn.”

According to yesterday’s pattern, the duration of daytime here was four hours. There was only an hour and a half left until the lights-off.

They must return to the room before the lights would go out, so everyone needed to complete their tasks as quickly as possible.

Each person had an hour and a half, which added up to three hours for two people, six hours for four people, and a total of eighteen hours for twelve people.

That was how Luo Bu calculated it in his head. This must had been what ‘there is strength in numbers’ meant.

During this one hour, Boss Mu and the members of the photography group would go to several important locations to take photos and investigate the secrets of time in this world. Fang Fei, using her identity as a Shaman, would meet with another Shaman. Qin Ci would focus on studying the medical book. Meanwhile, Ke Xun and the others would go “blindly searching” for the signature like door-to-door salesmen.

What Luo Bu was about to do now was to knock on the door next to their room.

This was his own one and a half hours.

—“Knock, knock.”

The door quickly opened, revealing the same fat, semi-bald smiling uncle from last night. He was also smiling now. It sounded like a cormorant that had swallowed a huge fish.

“You didn’t bring the dog today?” the fat uncle asked, inviting Luo Bu into the room.

“It’s with someone else today.” Luo Bu composed himself and quickly put on a smile.

This room’s layout was similar to their living place, just slightly smaller. There were a few people still in the room, some resting on the bed, some seemed to be counting accounts.

Luo Bu’s arrival didn’t seem to faze anyone. Some didn’t even bother to look, while others just nodded briefly.

“He’s also from the Light Inn,” the fat uncle introduced Luo Bu simply to his companions. “The dog we saw yesterday belongs to him.”

These words caught the attention of a few companions. One of them sat up straight from the bed. “Are you guys dog traders?”

Luo Bu smiled and replied, “We trade spices, the dog is our own.”

That person turned to the fat uncle and asked, “It’s a spirit dog?

“Right, a spirit dog, quite rare.” The fat uncle couldn’t hide his smile.

“Alright, you two go chat,” the ones resting on the bed surprisingly got up and even the person counting accounts stopped. “Go chat go chat, we’re going out to buy some liquor and rations.”

In no time, the few people in the room went out, leaving only the fat uncle and Luo Bu behind.

The fat uncle probably wanted to show more sincerity, but his smile seemed increasingly perverted.

Luo Bu instinctively distanced himself a bit: “My surname is Luo. How should I address you?”

“Just call me Old Li. We sell dried fish and jerky. You can take some dried fish back with you later. It’s a specialty of our Light Inn, you can’t get it at other Inns,” Old Li said enthusiastically.

“Thank you for your kindness. Actually, I came here to borrow a magnifying glass. I wonder if you have any here?” Luo Bu presented his prepared excuse.

The fat uncle awkwardly rubbed his double chin with his meaty hands. “We don’t need that kind of stuff. The merchant group that sells those magnifying glasses has already left. Otherwise, you could have bought from them.”

“They left?” Luo Bu felt a bit nervous, unsure if this kind of conversation would be considered taboo. “Where did they go? Can we catch up with them?” He actually wanted to ask, “when did they leave”, but now he could only use clever ways to phrase his question.

“They went far away, even with a spirit dog, you won’t be able to catch up,” the fat uncle replied. “You can try your luck at the toy store. They might be selling them.”

Luo Bu thought for a moment and added, “I kept my dog as a pet for fun. I didn’t realize it was a spirit dog.”

The fat uncle looked at Luo Bu, and suddenly chuckled in a low voice: “Little brother is lying to me. Without a spirit dog, how did you guys get here?”

Luo Bu asked back, “You guys didn’t bring a dog, so how did you get here?”

The fat uncle stared at Luo Bu with his little mung bean-like eyes and realized that he didn’t seem to be lying: “So you guys rented a carriage too. What a waste to not use such a good dog. Maybe you can even make it to the Cold Night Inn!”

“What’s so good about that place?”? Luo Bu tried to portray himself as someone who was na?ve and inexperienced.

“There are good things there. I’ll give you some later,” the fat uncle appeared generous and asked, “By the way, I heard something happened at your place. Is the dog okay?”

Luo Bu shifted his eyes and replied, “Something happened after lights-off. A sister of ours left.”

“Oh,” the fat uncle tapped the table with his fat fingers. “Think about it positively, it’s also a good thing.”

“Huh?” Luo Bu was confused.

The fat uncle’s voice lowered: “Anyhow, it reaches a consummation. It’s a good thing.”

“I don’t understand,” Luo Bu said frankly.

“It is said that after death, you can meet another version of yourself,” the fat uncle’s voice was drifting, “I heard it from an old Shaman in the Light Inn when I was a child.”

“Then… wouldn’t the other version of yourself also be dead? Else how could you see them?”

“Exactly! It is a consummation!” the fat uncle spread his chubby hands. “Alright, alright, enough of this abstract stuff. How about we travel together? We’ll rent a carriage and let your spirit dog accompany us on the journey! To the Cold Night Inn!”

“Well… I can’t make that decision,” Luo Bu hesitated. He actually couldn’t make that decision.

“I’ll show you some good stuff. The Cold Night Travel has fantastic goods!” the fat uncle said, walking towards the other side of the folding screen in the room. “You all should try them!”

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