Ke Xun mentally flipped through the four negatives one by one. According to Mu Yiran, if the last negative showed him, then the other negatives should also depict the people in the room: "The one showing them eating should be a scene of everyone eating. I remember Xin Chun was in that spot, and everyone was feeding it a lot of food; it looked like a huge pile."
This explanation eliminated most of the horror and even added a slightly strange amusement.
Perhaps because of the sudden relaxation, Ke Xun felt sleepy. Listening to Mu Yiran's breathing beside him, the other seemed to be on the verge of falling asleep as well.
Everything in the dark room was completely silent, as if only the wisps of cigarette smoke in the corner were alive.
This night seemed very, very long, so long that it gave the illusion that seven days and seven nights had passed.
When Du Lingyu opened her eyes, the room was no longer as dark as it had been before she went to sleep; instead, it was a dim, gray light.
The room was still the same as before: a high wooden ceiling, a large wooden cabinet against the wall, a large table, and the large communal bed where she was lying.
She had actually woken up alive! Du Lingyu was secretly relieved, yet also secretly hoping it would all end soon. If she woke up in this terrifying room every day, she figured she would eventually be mentally tortured to death. She
didn't know how long she had slept, but Du Lingyu felt her body stiffen, perhaps from the cold. Enduring the stiffness and pain, she turned over, sensing something was wrong with her surroundings, as if everything had fallen into an inexplicable stillness.
For no reason, Du Lingyu felt an overwhelming sense of panic, even afraid to move her gaze. She let her eyes linger on the wooden cabinet in the room, where faint smoke swirled—was it the incense Mu Yiran had lit to keep track of time? What time was it? Was she still safe and sound in the world inside or outside the painting?
Du Lingyu smelled a different fragrance, different from the previous one. Although faint, it had an alluring quality, making her want to continue smelling it.
"You're awake?" a voice sounded beside her. It was Fang Fei.
Du Lingyu felt that this voice was a lifesaver. She stretched her muscles and slowly sat up, saying, "That was a really long sleep."
"Get up, get ready to wash up and have breakfast," Fang Fei's voice was slightly cold.
Du Lingyu sensed something was wrong. Fang Fei was sleeping on her left, so why was the voice coming from her right? Du Lingyu instinctively looked towards the direction of the voice and saw Fang Fei already dressed and sitting a short distance away on her right.
"You're already washed up?" Du Lingyu's gaze slowly moved from Fang Fei to herself, and she was shocked to find Xi Shengnan lying motionless beside her—Xi Shengnan was lying there silently, a cloth covering her face; she wasn't asleep.
Du Lingyu was so surprised she forgot to scream. She quickly moved away from Xi Shengnan. Judging from Fang Fei's expression, the cloth covering Xi Shengnan's face must have been put there by her.
Du Lingyu admired Fang Fei's composure and tried her best to stop trembling: "What, what happened? Sister Xi, she..."
"Something happened to her," Fang Fei's task seemed to be guarding the body. "They've already gone to call for help."
Only then did Du Lingyu remember to look at her other companions and realize that only Cao Youning was asleep on the bed. Lu Heng and Mai Peng were also in the room, standing by the bed with grim expressions.
Du Lingyu slowly moved to her two companions' side and said very softly, "Why didn't you wake everyone up? Cao Youning is... should we wake him up?"
Mai Peng: "Absolutely not! Lu Heng woke me up just now, and I almost died."
"What?"
"I can't describe the feeling, it was like being pulled back from another world. My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to jump out of my chest. It took me a while to calm down, and I still feel uncomfortable." "
Oh, then let's wait for him to wake up on his own..." Du Lingyu felt like she was intentionally talking about something unrelated because she was really afraid to discuss Xi Shengnan's death, as if this "death" was a secret, and as long as she covered her ears and closed her eyes, she would be safe.
Du Lingyu suddenly remembered something: "Hey? Mai Peng, your voice, your voice is completely back? Your cold is all better?"
Just yesterday it was a terrible cold, how come it's all gone today?
Lu Heng seemed to have just realized this too, but he just glanced at Mai Peng blankly, saying nothing, his gaze returning to Xi Shengnan lying there, his eyes filled with despair and lifelessness.
Mai Peng: "I'm wondering too, my voice suddenly recovered, and my stuffy nose is gone, but my throat hurts so much, like it's being cut with a knife."
Du Lingyu was puzzled, but couldn't explain it. Besides, her biggest concern right now was Xi Shengnan's death. How did she die? What did she experience last night? She had slept next to her last night, so did that mean she had brushed shoulders with death?
Du Lingyu felt a chill run through her body, almost as if she were frozen solid.
"Where is this? This room?" There were noisy voices outside.
Ke Xun opened the door: "Yes, we didn't move it after we found it; it's still the same."
Besides a few veteran members, there was a middle-aged man who looked like the manager. His expression was very calm as he slowly approached the bed. Upon seeing Fang Fei, he nodded slightly: "Lord Wu."
Fang Fei could only nod in return, her gaze falling on Xi Shengnan's body: "Everyone was asleep; no one heard a sound. She just..."
"I heard she died of poisoning?" The manager had already reached the bed.
Fang Fei nodded and personally lifted the cloth covering Xi Shengnan's face.
Du Lingyu instinctively closed her eyes, but she heard Fang Fei's voice clearly: "Because her face is completely black and blue, and black blood is flowing from her seven orifices, we deduce that she has been poisoned."
Du Lingyu shuddered. Although she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, the image of "black and blue face, blood flowing from her seven orifices" was enough to fill her mind. She felt both fear and sorrow—Sister Xi was leaving everyone forever…
The manager seemed to observe for a while before finally saying, "It really looks like she's been poisoned. Does she have any enemies in the Lantern Brigade?"
"Absolutely not!" Lu Heng's voice was somewhat agitated. "She just arrived and doesn't know anyone here yet."
"Then, what about the people inside your organization?"
"No! We have no reason to kill her!" Lu Heng's voice was almost choked with sobs. "Sheng Nan is like a confidante to all of us. We would never do anything to her…"
The manager's voice was cold and ruthless: "Can I take a closer look?"
"Please do." It seemed to be Fang Fei speaking.
A long time passed until the room suddenly lit up. Du Lingyu couldn't help but open her eyes and look elsewhere, only to find that the person who lit the lanterns yesterday had come in and lit every single one of the gauze lanterns.
"Old Jing, come take a look," the steward called to the lamplighter.
The lamplighter walked over with steady steps, showing no panic upon seeing the dead body on the bed: "Any arrangements, sir?"
"Look at the hairpin on this deceased's head, isn't it the one Xia Yu lost?" the steward said.
This remark clearly angered many, especially Lu Heng: "We came here dressed like this! Sheng Nan has always worn this hairpin! Sheng Nan would never take someone else's things!"
The lamplighter took the hairpin from the steward and examined it carefully: "It is indeed flawed jade. All Chu family jewelry has markings. The character 'Chu' is engraved inside this hairpin; no other family can imitate it."
The steward, whom the lamplighter referred to as the 'Lord of the Army,' said, "We need to check her other jewelry."
No one had expected things to escalate to this point, but given the current situation, simply stopping them wasn't the best option.
So, everyone offered Xi Shengnan's package. Fortunately, the developing tank and photography-related items had already been placed in the communal locker.
The Lord of the Army quickly found the jewelry box in the package, opened it, and held the jewelry up to the light: "Most of these pieces have the character 'Chu' marked on them. There's also a box here; what's this box for?"
The Lord of the Army quickly discovered a strangely shaped, long, narrow box. Opening it, he found some knives inside.
"These were brought by Sister Xi from outside… from the Lantern Brigade! These have nothing to do with the Chu family," Du Lingyu explained. This box contained ceramic knives that Xi Shengnan had brought from the outside world, but here the painting "defaulted" to them being metal knives.
The brigade commander remained unmoved, carefully examining each knife in the box: "Why are two missing? There are clearly grooves for holding knives here, but there are no knives."
This… Lu Heng couldn't explain it either. The two knives probably weren't recognized by the painting, so they couldn't appear.
Shao Ling, however, was startled: Xi Shengnan hadn't discussed this matter with everyone. She had only mentioned the ceramic knives briefly, but she hadn't publicly mentioned the missing knives, at least not to everyone.
In the world of the painting, very few things disappear simply because they can't be recognized. Even the most taboo thing in this world—time—everyone's phones only lost their clock, calendar, and other timekeeping functions, as well as other smart features, but at least they could still provide light and retained their appearance as phones; even the most taboo thing in this world—watches—didn't disappear into thin air, but instead became bracelets or other ornaments.
Two knives were missing from a set of knives, which was definitely not normal, and yet no one knew about it.
Mai Peng's voice was a little weak as she quietly explained to the older members, "Sister Xi said something was missing, two new-style knives were missing, and we thought it was possible that the drawing hadn't been recognized..."
The brigade commander's voice grew increasingly serious: "These knives all have the character 'Xi' on them. Was the deceased woman's surname Xi?"
Mai Peng remembered what the set of props originally looked like: a set of ceramic knives in a resin box, with the character "Xi" written on the resin box by Xi Shengnan.
Qin Ci answered the brigade commander's question: "Yes, our companion's surname is indeed Xi. Sir, is there a problem with this?"
The brigade commander's words reached everyone's ears: "Xia Yu was stabbed to death. She was stabbed many times all over her body, and the last two knives were still on her body. Both of those knives were engraved with the character 'Xi'." Perhaps the
reversal of events was too sudden and caught everyone off guard; no one said anything, only expressing their confusion.
The lamplighter's voice slowly rang out: "Master Wu is right, the murderer is a woman, and this woman will get her comeuppance."