Chapter Seven, The Death of the Guardian of the Vigil

Mu Yiran stood by the door, arms crossed over his chest, seemingly lost in thought

Although cremation has long been implemented in the city where he lives, he has seen coffins on television. Upon closer inspection, his gaze suddenly paused, and he pulled the arm of the nearby Mu Yiran, lowering his voice to whisper in his ear: "Look at this coffin—there are actually no nails in it."

"Let me correct that, it is a struggle for survival." Ke Xun curled the corner of his mouth, slightly raising a smile devoid of any warmth, "Being passively beaten is akin to waiting for death; that is not my habit. I must find the answer. If there is no answer, I will identify the problem, and once the problem is identified, I will solve it. I do not wish to die like these three individuals. Do you see? The clothes on these three are still relatively neat, and there are no signs of disturbance among the items in this room. What does this indicate?"

Seeing him about to avert his gaze, Ke Xun stepped forward and suddenly smiled: "Just now, you stopped me from being the first to enter Dongzi and the others' woodshed, fearing that I might suddenly see something I couldn't accept and be shocked, right? This is probably what is called a cold exterior but a warm heart"

Ke Xun: "Go and scatter."

As soon as the words were spoken, everyone couldn't help but turn their gaze towards the coffin in the room

"What are you shouting about?" Ke Xun kicked him again, "How can you sleep so soundly? I've been outside nearly smashing the house down and I still can't wake you up."

The doors and windows of the main house were tightly shut, making it hard to imagine the situation inside at that moment. However, Ke Xun paid no attention to the main house and hurriedly ran towards the woodshed, forcefully banging on the door: "Dongzi! Dongzi! How are you? Dongzi!"

The hemp garments on the three individuals remained intact, without any damage or visible wounds. However, upon looking at their faces, it was evident that the eye sockets of each person had become two gaping blood holes. Dark, thick blood crawled over their muscles, twisting and contorting their pale, ghastly faces. Their mouths, either widened in terror or in a scream, revealed dark, gaping throats and a set of bluish-white teeth, stained with traces of blood.

Ke Xunmei raised her eyebrows slightly and looked at Wei Dong beside her: "Do you want to take a look?"

Mu Yiran ignored him

Then... how about I accompany you inside? Wei Dong had a look of self-sacrifice for the sake of companionship.

Ke Xun quickly glanced at the face of the young boy, and this rough-looking face was identical to the one that had been placed in front of him last night, still bearing that crescent-shaped brow and small red mouth smile, still possessing those lifeless and dull apricot-shaped eyes

The crowd remained silent, quietly dispersing as they carefully and cautiously examined every corner of the mourning hall

It is said to be an autopsy, but without tools, only a simple examination can be conducted. The doctor stood up after a long time, glanced at the few people in the room, then lowered his eyelids, and in a deep, rich voice, he slowly began to speak: "These three individuals died of sheer fright. Their eyes were forcibly gouged out before death, and the instrument used could be a very sharp and narrow dagger, or perhaps... a hard, long fingernail"

Ke Xun felt a surge of fear, shaking off the arm of Mu Yiran, who seemed to be trying to stop him, and raised his foot to kick fiercely at the door of the woodshed

Ke Xun pulled down a curtain and covered the faces of the three deceased.

I also want to go and take a look, " Ke Xun said

Stepping forward, he kicked Wei Dong on the thigh. Wei Dong suddenly opened his eyes in a panic, fumbling for the axe in his arms. Upon focusing his gaze, he saw it was Ke Xun, and only then did he breathe a sigh of relief, exclaiming loudly: "What’s wrong? Why did you come over? Is there an emergency?"

Are you going in to take a look?" Wei Dong was astonished

Ke Xun sighed and said, "If you don't speak, I might just go and lift the coffin lid."

Mu Yiran did not respond, merely gazing at him淡淡地.

Asleep

Ke Xun's attention was focused on that coffin

After all, one still needs to look for the signature or seal of the author of this painting. Even though the current situation is chilling and daunting, one must grit their teeth and continue searching carefully

Most human fears stem from the unknown; the more one knows, the less fear one is likely to have

There is no need for that, "Ke Xun pushed him away, "There are several people inside, so you should step back. Have you gone to relieve yourself early in the morning?"

What did he say to you last night?" Ke Xun asked Wei Dong

Weidong pulled out a cloth ball from each of his ears and said, "What did you say?"

At this moment, they seem as if nothing is wrong, but their behavior last night was quite different

"Hey—are you crazy? There might be something ghostly in that room, and you still want to go take a look?" Wei Dong grabbed him.

Mu Yiran met Ke Xun's gaze directly, and after a moment, he averted his eyes, directing his attention to the man squatting on the ground examining the corpse, and said in a low voice: "He is a doctor, let's wait for his autopsy results first"

Ke Xun nodded: "I must take a look; even if I die, I must die with clarity. Otherwise, I will not be at peace."

Mu Yiran gently shook his head: "I do not know"

"Why are you covering your ears?" Ke Xun was at a loss for words

Weidong shook his head vigorously: "I won't look! I'm afraid of having nightmares"

Ke Xun twitched his lips and said, "Our current situation is not much different from a nightmare. Let's not look at the side effects."

With a loud bang, the door was slammed against the wall inside the room amidst the swirling dust. Ke Xun strode in and saw Wei Dong and the little-braided Liu Yufei, each holding an axe in their arms, huddled together with their heads leaning against each other in the corner of the room, motionless.

There are two or three people nodding, and it is evident that these individuals are not entering this painted world for the first time

Mu Yiran's eyelids flickered slightly as he walked over slowly, maintaining a composed demeanor. He circled the coffin halfway and even reached out to touch it from an angle where the crowd could not see him.

Two or three people were startled into a low growl by such a terrifying face, and one person turned around and directly exited through the main door.

"You are seeking death." Mu Yiran looked at him coldly

He has eaten pancakes at that boss's place several times, and the taste is good with generous portions. It is truly hard to bear the thought of anything happening to this boss

Weidong smacked his lips twice and changed his posture

"... ... makes sense," Wei Dong said thoughtfully, looking at Ke Xun, "What do you think?"

Emerging from the woodshed, I noticed several individuals walking out from the room on the east side. Their expressions were not particularly pleasant as they silently stood in the courtyard, gazing at the mourning hall in front of them

Ke Xun said no more and stood quietly by, waiting.

The tone of his voice abruptly ceased when he saw the situation in the room

"Dongzi—" Ke Xun called out, his voice trembling in a way he himself had not even noticed

It is stated that these three individuals died without any means of resistance, not even putting up a basic fight. Ke Xun's voice turned cold, "They did nothing but scream in despair; I do not wish to die in such a humiliating manner. Even if the one who kills is an entirely irresistible force, I want to know what that force truly is before I die. I must make every effort to resist, and even if I ultimately cannot escape death, at least I can say that I have lived up to my own life."

A man in his thirties, with a deep voice, glanced at everyone and pointed to the main door, saying: "Shall we go in and take a look?"

Weidong: "Oh"

I can't remember at all, I forgot it a long time ago said Wei Dong with a frown

Suddenly collapsing, she turned and rushed out of the yard, disappearing into the gray morning mist

"Let's go in and take a look first," Ke Xun said, pointing to the main house.

Ke Xun only took a glance and did not wish to look again, yet he saw the man in his thirties instead approaching the corpse, crouching down to examine it closely

However, at this time, no one would mock him

"Oh my God, I'm scared!" Wei Dong stood up with a pale face, "Did you not hear it last night? The screams from that room nearly scared me to death. We didn't dare to go out, just listening to those cries made us tremble with fear, so we simply blocked our ears. After all, it's death either way, so it might as well be a quiet one."

As Ke Xun was about to step through the door, he noticed Mu Yiran at the entrance glancing at him and saying, "It doesn't look very good inside; think it over before you enter."

The main hall is indeed the place where the spirit is laid to rest, adorned with draped curtains and paper money offerings, prominently featuring a large black background with white characters, displaying the word "Offering" in bold letters

The pancake stall owner let out a hoarse lament from his throat: "Don't—don't open that door! Are you crazy?! There are ghosts in there! Ghosts! You will release the ghosts! Are you looking for death?! I don't want to die! I don't want to die! Aah—"

Ke Xun : `` ... ... ''

This person is truly carefree

As Wei Dong walked a few steps away, Ke Xun turned back and caught Mu Yiran's gaze fixed on him.

Ke Xun looked at him and, as he walked back, quietly asked, "How is it? Did you find anything?"

"What did I say to you last night?" Liu Yufei impatiently shook off his hand, "Even in the painted world, the anomalies still conform to the logic presented by the artwork. This painting depicts a certain scene of a Chinese folk funeral; under such circumstances, 'ghostly things' typically do not appear during the day"

Weidong: "... ... No."

Ke Xun saw that the pancake stall owner was among them, his face as pale as paper, his legs trembling incessantly. As he approached him, a strong smell of urine wafted over from his body

Mu Yiran did not respond and walked into the room. Ke Xun extended his arm and lightly patted him on the shoulder: "Thank you"

"Please check this room again carefully," the doctor said calmly

What did I say to you last night? Liu Yufei forcefully shook off Wei Dong's hand, completely unwilling to engage with him any further, and followed the man with the deep voice along with the few others who had nodded at him, heading towards the main house.

Ke Xun searched the room but found no signatures or seals. Just as he was about to step out, he caught sight of the young boy and girl at the door, and he retreated, asking Mu Yiran: "What do you think would happen if I burned these two?"

The more I smashed, the more I felt a sense of dread; in this woodshed, there was not even the slightest sound for half a day.

"Go take a look." Liu Yufei threw down the axe and walked outside

As he passed by the pair of paper-made young boys and girls, Ke Xun paused for a moment.

The three individuals, each tied with a cloth strip bearing the character "民" around their waists, lay in different positions within the room

Is he going to be okay?" Wei Dong hurriedly went to pull Liu Yufei again

The black coffin is placed in the center of the room, with incense candles and offerings set before it. In front of the offering table, there are two mats, along with a copper basin for burning paper offerings.

As he spoke, Liu Yufei beside him also woke up, his complexion appearing quite poor, his eyes gazing at Mu Yiran, who was standing at the door: "How many have died?"