Paintings of Terror

Chapter 42: What You See is a Reflection of Your Heart

Translated by Eve

Edited by EB

The offerings the middle-aged man had told them to prepare with the five tribute meats, the five Dews of Wisdom, libation wine, duomu, a sacrificial cup, a lantern, gala and dangka.

Mu Yiran had gotten the five tribute meats and five Dews of Wisdom from a practitioner at a temple who had processed the plants he and Ke Xun had collected.

The five tribute meats were the five types of vegetation Mu Yiran had listed before. Regarding the five Dews of Wisdom, nutmeg replaced feces, costus root replaced urine, cardamom replaced brain tissue, tabasheer replaced male essence and red sandalwood replaced female blood.

Qin Ci had brought back five types of wine: nutsedge wine, rice wine, white wine, millet wine and horse milk wine. These would be used to make the libation wine they had previously assumed was made out of brains, blood and bile.

Duomu referred to sacrificial cakes. Mrs. Geng had found five types of flour: millet, rice, barley, wheat and peas. She had used them to make sacrificial cakes. This was the substitute for the ‘dough’ they had thought was supposed to be made from human brains, blood, viscera and guts.

The lantern was the ordinary oil lamp Mu Yiran had brought back in the beginning. The oil used to light the lamp was the butter Wei Dong had found. This was used in place of the human hair and fat they had previously considered using.

As for gala and dangka, no one knew what these were. However, Mu Yiran raked through his knowledge of rituals from other religions and guessed that they likely referred to clothing and equipment for the god.

The equipment likely referred to the god’s characteristic weapon.

Many benevolent gods would hold flowers, spices or jewels in their hand in place of weaponry. Mu Yiran considered the environment and deduced that jewels were out of question. Therefore, he used the scented oils Sha Liu had collected (the camphor, sandalwood and pine) and the plants gathered to represent the props they had thought were made of human bones and human facial parts.

As for the clothes, the wrathful side wore human skin. The benevolent side wore a garment made of eagle feathers or silk. Mu Yiran thought that the person who had pointed him north had been referring to the bald eagles and plants in the valley, not the corpse on the sky burial platform.

The answer had been in front of them this whole time. It was just that there was a thin line between good and evil. As Buddha once said, what you see is a reflection of your own heart.

It was the same with worship. Some people saw blood and flesh while others saw plants and fragrances.

“No wonder this painting is called ‘Faith.’” After all preparations were made, Ke Xun and Mu Yiran stood next to each other by the small tents while waiting for night to fall. Ke Xun felt enlightened. “Looks like the painter was testing whether our beliefs are evil or good. If we had found the correct items from the start, we might have had fewer casualties. It feels like certain people have been seeking death this whole time.”

“Actually, for a moment, I had also thought that the painter was trying to force us to give into the dark side. I thought the painter wanted to gradually destroy our humanity and kindness. I had nearly thought that this painting depicted an evil cult that believed that worshipping a demonic god could grant eternal life.” Mu Yiran said in a heavy tone. “There are two reasons why cults manage to rope in so many followers. The first way is by brainwashing people by taking advantage of their desires, the other way is by encouraging and indulging a person’s own wicked thoughts. This painting is a trap pertaining to human nature. We had fallen into this trap and only managed to break free today.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself.” Ke Xun patted him on the shoulder. “Even if you’re evil inside, I still like you.”

Mu Yiran clenched his hand against the other’s wrist, expressionless, and threw his arm off.

Night finally fell. The light reflected off of the snowy mountains, bringing with it a chilly breeze.

Everyone stood outside the flipped tents and tried to use the light to find the right angle to view the pattern.

The weird thing was, regardless of whether the tent was flipped or right-side up, they could not use the light to see the design like Mu Yiran had done yesterday.

Everyone exchanged glances. mother Geng was worried. “What if it doesn’t work anymore? What should we do? Doesn’t that mean…someone will die tonight?”

Sha Liu’s face paled. She quietly said, “Maybe it’s because of the offerings…. Maybe that’s why we can’t see the design?”

“Tsk.” Ke Xun heard her and looked at her with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Sounds like you’re trying to shift the blame onto someone. Miss Sha Liu, if you’re still clinging onto those bloody offerings, you can go into a tent by yourself with them. We won’t stop you.”

“Don’t misunderstand me…” Sha Liu said at once, “I didn’t mean that. I was just offering an idea. Everyone should brainstorm together. After all, there isn’t much time left. Heishitian will arrive soon….”

Ke Xun ignored her and walked over to Mu Yiran. He whispered, “I think that the light might only shine at an appropriate angle after Heishitian’s descent.”

Mu Yiran gazed at the light shining down from the mountains and made a sound of agreement.

Mother Geng shouted in despair. “Doesn’t that mean that someone will have to die today? That thing will kill as soon as it arrives. Where will we find the time to look for a design? We also have to put the pieces together. This is nonsense!”

Father Geng stared at Mu Yiran with bloodshot eyes. “Didn’t you say that these offerings are for the benevolent side? Won’t the benevolent side appear tonight? It wouldn’t kill people, right?”

“I wouldn’t place your hopes on that.” Mu Yiran replied calmly. “After all, everyone’s personally prepared offerings for the wrathful side before. We can’t erase this fact. The wrathful side has already been summoned. I don’t think it will be willing to let its other face replace it. The struggle between good and evil is eternal, with the tides ever-shifting.”

“Then what should we do? Do we have to wait for death out here? As soon as Heishitian arrives, it will definitely grab someone not in a tent….” Sha Liu stared at Mu Yiran anxiously.

Mu Yiran looked down and mulled over this issue. He then looked up and addressed the group, whose gazes were all on him, waiting for him to make a decision. “I have a foolish idea we could give a try. Tonight, the middle-aged man said that there must be two to a tent. There are eight of us, so we will divide into four teams of two. There are seven tents in total. One person has to look at all seven designs and put them in their proper places as quickly as possible. We would then have to turn them all over to complete the picture.”

“Only you would be able to do it, Mu xiao ge,” Father Geng said.

Mu Yiran nodded. “I’ll do my best. Then let’s number the tents right now. Everyone, try your best to remember them. We will then assign tents. Mrs. Geng and the boy will be in tent one. I’ve already seen the design so I won’t have to look at it again tonight. You two don’t have to do anything. Just wait for my command. When all the tents are in place, I will shout ‘flip the tents.’ At that moment, Mrs. Geng, please flip the tent over. It’s not heavy so you should be able to do it on your own.”

Mother Geng tried to flip it. As expected, it was light. She nodded to Mu Yiran.

Mu Yiran continued: “Sha Liu will be in the second tent. I’ve also seen the design on this tent already. But it’s not connected to tent one. I don’t think they’ll be next to each other. You’ll be in this tent alone, but don’t worry. If Heishitian heads towards you, someone will enter your tent so that you will meet the quota. Although this move lost halfway into the night last night, I think that it will still work for as long as it did yesterday tonight. It will buy us some time.”

Sha Liu bit down on her lips. She looked like she was hesitating. “What if it doesn’t work? Heishitian learned of this move yesterday. Why would it work today?”

“Even so,” Mu Yiran said, “Heishitian’s first choice is always a tent that fails to meet the quota. Furthermore, you won’t be the only tent that fails to meet the quota.”

Before Sha Liu spoke up again, Mu Yiran already turned to the remaining guys. “Each of us will take one of the five remaining tents. Dr. Qin and Mr. Geng will be in tents opposite to each other. The same goes for Wei Dong and Ke Xun. I will be opposite of Sha Liu. If Heishitian approaches someone’s tent, the other person will run into that tent.”

Everyone’s eyes widened in understanding. The plan was to save each other. As soon as Heishitian approached a tent, it would immediately fulfil the quota. Like this, Heishitian will be forced to change its target. This would postpone someone getting picked.

“During this,” Mu Yiran saw that everyone was following so he continued on, “I will be constantly moving. I will enter each of the remaining five tents in sequence and examine the designs. Before I enter your tent, try to find the right angle and turn the tent so that I’ll be able to see the design as soon as I enter. This will allow me to memorize all the designs more quickly.”

“Got it.” Everyone agreed.

“Lastly,” Mu Yiran said, “You must remember your tent number and listen to my commands. As soon as I’ve figured out where each tent is supposed to go, I will immediately inform everyone of where their tent has to be. Tent number one will be the reference point. That will not move. Everyone else will move their tents in reference to tent one. Once all the tents are in the right place, I will command everyone to flip the tent at once. At that time, we flip yours at once. Does everyone understand the plan?”

“Yes.” Everyone replied.

“There is something I need to warn everyone about.” Mu Yiran regarded everyone with a solemn gaze. “We don’t know how many people fulfill Heishitian’s choosing criteria. But if one person gets caught, it’s very likely that at least one more person will die.

“What I want to say is that we are all parts of a whole tonight. All eight of us must work together to succeed. We cannot afford to lose a single person. If even one person screws up, everything will crumble.

“Therefore, I hope that everyone will gather their courage and endure the pressure of death. Do not run away. Do not panic. Do not fall apart or give up.

“Every single one of us holds the lives of the other seven in our hands. I hope that everyone will do everything they can and remain calm and hopeful until the very last second.”

Everyone nodded.

“It’s almost time.” Mu Yiran looked up into the sky and saw that the dense darkness was about to descend. “Everyone, head to your respective tents. Position the entrance towards the inside of the circle for easier movement.”

There was inevitable nervousness on everyone’s faces. Everyone entered their tents with fear.

But Ke Xun felt as calm as Mu Yiran. Before entering his tent, he even grinned at the other and said, “Do you know how sexy you were just now commanding the troops?”

Mu Yiran stared at him, expressionless. In the end, he simply went: “Mn.”

Eve: I was actually getting hyped up from Yiran’s speech. It was indeed very sexy haha. Also very empowering. He’s got good pep talk skills.

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