No one expected to gain so much from the brigade commander—besides borrowing a precious high-powered magnifying glass, they also borrowed an extremely bright fluorite.
"He said it was because of our lord, a lord from the Fluorite Brigade, who personally provided them," Ke Xun said, placing the two "treasures" on the table.
Wei Dong borrowed some carpentry tools: "Boss, shall we get started?"
Mu Yiran placed a large wooden box on the table, about the size of two shoeboxes: "These things are enough; this fluorite is a pleasant surprise."
Under Mu Yiran's direction, everyone worked together, and after about half an hour, they had used the wooden box to create a simple magnifying projector.
The magnifying glass was cleverly embedded in one side of the box, and the fluorite was embedded in the opposite side. The other two sides had grooves for moving the film.
After all the lights in the room were turned off, the magical projection effect appeared on the wall.
Perhaps due to the fluorite's unusual texture and luster, the projection effect on the wall was comparable to that of a modern projector, especially in this world—it was practically a miracle.
Wei Dong and Luo Jin stood on either side of the projector, one pushing the film and the other gently pulling it back, maintaining a consistent speed and force to avoid scratching the film.
When the wall magically displayed frame after frame of luminous images, everyone couldn't help but gasp in amazement.
The images ranged from landscapes to cities, from dusk to nightscapes. When the image froze on a familiar night view of a city's television tower, everyone's hearts leaped into their throats.
Everyone remembered what the next image would be.
Wei Dong and Luo Jin paused simultaneously. Luo Jin looked at Wei Dong, whose face, illuminated by the projector's light, had an unusual effect, as if he too had become part of the wall's luminous screen.
Wei Dong nodded, as if to say: "Get ready to feed the film."
Luo Yu nodded slightly, gently releasing the film in his hand. He felt a slight pull from Wei Dong's side, and the TV tower on the screen gradually shifted into darkness, replaced by a slightly blurry image.
Because the photo hadn't been developed, the image on the wall remained a negative, black and white, black and white.
The overall negative was gray, with the blurry figure of a woman slightly darker than the background. It seemed the woman was wearing a light-colored dress with large patterns. The most striking color contrast was the woman's hair; on the negative, it appeared almost white.
This suggested a young woman with thick, black hair, seemingly braided into a thick plait that hung down from one side of her ear, the end almost reaching her knees.
"This is…" Du Lingyu stared in surprise at the woman on the wall screen, sharing her astonishment with Lu Heng.
"What, do you know this person?" Shao Ling asked.
"Judging from this woman's hairstyle, she should be Xia Yu," Du Lingyu said.
Lu Heng nodded in agreement: "That's how Sheng Nan described her in the novel: the female protagonist always braids her thick hair into long plaits, hanging down from her shoulders to her knees..."
Ke Xun's gaze remained fixed on the woman's clothes. He slowly took two steps closer, trying to make out something in the dim light: "There seems to be something on her chest. It's very white, so it shouldn't belong to the clothes, nor to the pattern."
Everyone's eyes were fixed on the woman's chest. Finally, Qin Ci said: "That's a vital part of the body. If I'm not mistaken, that white thing on the negative should be a black knife handle."
The light screen on the wall trembled slightly, as Luo Yu's hand trembled: "If that's the case, then that large patch of light color on her chest isn't a pattern on her clothes at all. It should be... a deep red bloodstain."
If it was blood, it was truly shocking, because the woman's body had more than just this one bloodstain; there were many, large and small ones.
"Judging from this woman's movements, she's staggering, almost collapsing at any moment," Ke Xun stated his observation.
No wonder her movements were so slow; it was the slowness of someone on the verge of death, a slowness of dying.
Due to the blurry image, the woman's expression was unclear, but considering her blood-soaked clothes and staggering gait, she must have been in great pain.
"I don't understand, why would the photo capture this?" Mai Peng questioned. "When we came into this world, Xia Yu was already dead. Does that mean we captured something from the past with our camera?
" "The only correct thing about this photo is the location. Could it be that we can use a camera to capture what happened at this location?"
"This is absolutely outrageous and incredibly mysterious."
Mu Yiran stood in a slightly off-center position, her eyes fixed on the light screen on the wall. She finally spoke, "If I remember correctly, Lu Heng took this photo at 1/16 of a second."
Lu Heng was still stunned, but upon hearing his name, he snapped back to reality. He processed Mu Yiran's words and nodded, saying, "Yes, I used far too slow. If I could have reached 1/60 of a second, I should have been able to clearly see the woman's features."
Mu Yiran nodded. "Does anyone else have any thoughts on this picture?"
Luo Cheng also spoke up, "Didn't that official say that Xia Yu had two knives stuck in her body? Why is there only one in the photo? Where did the other one go?"
Ke Xun answered directly, "When I went to get the magnifying glass earlier, I inquired. The other knife should be stuck in her back, but we didn't see it because of the angle."
"I have no more questions." Luo Cheng moved the film in his hand, preparing to show the next negative.
"Let's move on to the next one," Mu Yiran said.
The next photo was already very familiar to everyone, as it depicted the same room, but it was empty except for the mysterious animal by the window, its eyes gleaming.
This was also the first photo that had frightened everyone.
"If the camera could truly capture past events, then the content of these photos would have a reasonable explanation," Mai Peng's voice had completely shed its cold tone, but he felt extremely uncomfortable in his throat and frequently swallowed.
Indeed, if the difference in image quality was due to time zone differences, then these photos seemed less terrifying.
"If I remember correctly, Mai Peng took this photo at 1/250th of a second," Mu Yiran said.
Mai Peng admired Mu Yiran's memory: "Yes, 1/250 of a second is my usual shutter speed."
Zhu Haowen crossed his arms and looked at the photo for a long time: "Judging from the lighting in the photo, it must have been taken at night, and the animal's eyes would only be that bright in the middle of the night. —If the camera only captured the time before the photo was taken, then I really don't remember there being such a scene in this room after the lights were turned off. At least after the lights were turned off and before Mai Peng took the photo, we were all gathered around the table, and some of us were sitting on the beds."
Zhu Haowen's words made a lot of sense. From the angle of the photo, the bed was empty, and it was unclear where everyone had gone.
Qin Ci, standing to the side, was also puzzled: "How about we reconsider this photo and look at the next one?"
Everyone had no choice but to agree, and so the light screen on the wall moved again, revealing the next photo.
This photo had also caused panic among the public last night.
Judging from the lighting, the photo was quite bright, and it was clearly the light from a gauze lamp. The window area also had some brightness, undoubtedly recording the scene "before the lights were turned off."
The reason the content caused discomfort was that the people in the photo were eating, but due to the color contrast of the negative, it was impossible to tell what they were eating. Not only people, but a dog was also squatting on the ground eating, and it was a large pile of food.
"Yesterday, Xin Chun did eat a lot; everyone was feeding it..." Luo Yi frowned as he looked at the black dog in the picture. From its outline and posture, it could be determined that it was Xin Chun.
Perhaps because they felt more confident, everyone dared to rush forward to carefully examine the photo, especially Cao Youning, who looked as if he were searching for himself in a graduation photo: "I see it! I see it! That's me sitting on the bed! Holding a big flatbread! I tore off most of a Gulouzi mutton flatbread! Yes, yes, that's me!"
After examining it, everyone was even more certain that the photo captured the scene of everyone having lunch together yesterday.
Lu Heng also looked at it carefully for a long time, and gradually his gaze shifted from himself to the person next to him: "Sheng Nan was also there."
Because of Xi Sheng Nan's presence in the picture, everyone's hearts tightened. Perhaps Xi Sheng Nan's movements and the speed of the shot were perfectly synchronized, so her image was exceptionally clear—a well-defined half-profile, holding a mutton flatbread rolled into a small tube, which looked particularly white.
"Why is the thing Sister Xi is holding so white? Why is it a different color from ours?" Cao Youning asked carelessly, "In reality, it should be a very dark color, right?"
No one answered him.
The color on the mutton rolls was from a highly poisonous, extra-spicy sauce.
"Was this photo taken at 1/30th of a second?" Mu Yiran asked.
Mai Peng nodded: "That's right."
"The next one is 1/60th of a second, right?" Mu Yiran continued.
"Yes," Mai Peng replied, seemingly understanding something.
Mu Yiran: "Look at the last one."
Although they already knew the photos depicted real events, the eerie effect caused by the time difference still made most people take a few steps back.
When the last half of the photo appeared, some of the more timid members couldn't help but gasp, because the stranger's figure in the picture was so enormous, so close tothe camera, creating an almost intimidating effect.
The screen suddenly trembled, and Wei Dong's voice cracked: "Holy crap, Ke'er!"