Paintings of Terror

"According to what you said, at least one person will die every night," Liu Yanlei said. "So it doesn't make any difference whether it burns or not. People will die anyway, right?"

"Death begins at night," Shao Ling said. "It's better to wait and see what happens, and then decide whether to burn or not according to the situation. We might as well hold a rhino horn in each hand, just in case."

No one objected to this proposal, and everyone took out the rhino horns from the box and counted them, exactly thirteen.

"It seems that your suggestion is right," Luo Xie played with the rhino horn in his hand pretending to be relaxed, "It seems that these rhino horns are prepared for us, and the quantity is just right."

"So does this mean that we still need to ignite these rhino horns after all?" Li Yi said vigilantly.

"It's useless to speculate now, we can only wait and continue to ponder the existing clues." Shao Ling said.

"I'm hungry." Xue Ge, a young female painter who seemed to be very distracted, suddenly came back to her senses and said something inexplicably.

"Wow, beauty, we are all dying, are you still in the mood to eat?" Luo Yu looked at her in surprise.

"It's better to be a hungry ghost than a hungry ghost." Xuege's indifferent expression seemed to have completely ignored the bizarre situation of entering the painting, and was about to turn around and go to the kitchen on the first floor. "Is there anyone to help?" ?”

The other two female members, Fang Fei and Chen Xinai, followed her out of the room.

The rest stayed in the captain's cabin, looking through the contents of the box. Unfortunately, despite their best efforts, they couldn't recognize the ancient seal characters on the bamboo slips.

"I think we should first figure out what is the purpose of this ship sailing at sea," Qin Ci said, "If possible, we should also figure out where its destination is."

"Since the flag on the ship says the name of the country, then this ship must be an official ship," Shao Ling said, "With Qin's living standards at that time, it was impossible for ordinary people to build such a ship privately, so this should be An official ship.

"In the Qin Dynasty, there was no such thing as maritime trade. Although this ship contained a lot of grains, clothes, medicines and daily necessities, it should not be used for commercial trade.

"It is said that Qin Shihuang liked to patrol the sea in order to appreciate the territory under his rule and show the national power of Qin Dynasty. Then this ship may be regarded as the patrol ship sent by Qin Shihuang when he patrolled the sea?"

"There is no need to carry jewelry and expensive things on a cruise ship," Zhu Haowen said rigorously.

"This ship gives me the feeling that it is purely for long-distance voyages," Qin Ci continued, "It carries a lot of food, clothing, daily necessities, and medicines to prevent illness, which are obviously prepared for long-distance travel. Yes, what could be the purpose of a long-distance voyage by an official ship sent by the country without the premise of showing force?"

"Cultural exchange?" Yu Long, whose hair was dyed dull green linen, said, "Aren't there a lot of letters in the boat?"

"It's very possible." Shao Ling nodded.

"Long-distance voyage, cultural exchange, the only thing I can think of from these two keywords is Dongdu Island Country." Qin Ci said.

"It may also be the Korean peninsula." Zhu Haowen added calmly.

"Dong Du's words... Ah! I know! This painting tells the story of the eminent monk Jianzhen!" Wei Dong's eyes were full of inspiration.

"...Jian, you have a shocking big head!" Ke Xun put his palm on his head, fanning his aura, "I know that Jianzhen is from the Tang Dynasty, and this painting is from Qin Dynasty. North Korea's story!"

"It's negligent, it's negligent," Wei Dong covered his head, "Qin Chao's words... There are also, Xu Fuji went to the sea to find the immortal medicine, is it Qin Chao's?"

"...Are you sure you went out to sea to find immortal medicine instead of candy?" Ke Xun squinted at him.

"Xu Fu! Xu Fu!" Wei Dong hurriedly changed his words, "It's easy to say—Xu Fu took boys and girls out to sea to find the elixir for Qin Shihuang, isn't that right?"

"It is said that there were indeed several large-scale sea patrols during Qin Shihuang's time," Shao Ling said, "and Xu Fu was the most famous for sending ships on long-distance voyages. I agree with Mr. Wei's guess that this painting, It is very likely that it depicts what happened at sea during Xu Fu's voyage to the east. After all, the navigation technology of the Qin Dynasty was limited by the times, and it was impossible to make frequent long-distance voyages at sea. Only the historical event of Xu Fu's voyage to the east actually happened. "

"It is said that Xu Fu took boys and girls to the sea to search for fairy islands, but he never returned. Could it be that because he encountered these... monsters at sea, his entire army was wiped out and he couldn't go back?" Li Yi guessed .

"But some experts said that Xu Fu actually took people to the island country and then stayed there. Are the island countries all our descendants?" Yu Long said.

Shao Ling shook his head slightly: "This kind of statement is really a bit arrogant. The island country already had aborigines in the Qin Dynasty, but during the Warring States period of our country, the island country was in the Jomon culture of the Stone Age. They lived on gathering, fishing and hunting. That is to say, they are still in the period of primitive clan society.

"But in the Qin Dynasty, bronze and iron production tools suddenly appeared in the island country, and rice planting technology seemed to appear out of nowhere, and it took a short time to transition from the Neolithic Age to the Iron Age—this phenomenon seems to prove that Xu Fu was indeed The advanced technology, culture and products of the Qin Dynasty were brought to the island country.

"If this picture depicts the situation when Xu Fu was sailing east, then at least it proves that the people on this ship were not wiped out, otherwise how would they appear in the island country?

"I remember it is recorded in the history books that Xu Fu went to the sea twice to search for immortals under the order of Qin Shihuang. The first time there was no result, Qin Shihuang ordered him to go to the sea for the second time. He reasoned that when he went out to sea for the first time, there were giant sharks in the sea. On a long voyage, Qin Shihuang sent archers to follow him out to sea, and he shot and killed a mackerel, and then started Xu Fu's second long voyage.

"I think this is the most important point. It was mentioned in "Historical Records: The Chronicles of Qin Shihuang" that Qin Shihuang had a dream in which he fought with the sea god. After waking up, he asked people to interpret the dream. The dream interpreter said that the water god was invisible. Big fish and dragons are scouts—scouts probably mean scouts, but now this kind of evil god comes out to make trouble, as long as you kill it, you can see the real good god.

"Here are the key points: one is that 'the water god can't see it', the other is that it uses the shark as a scout, or we can also understand it as a patrol soldier, such as patrolling in the sea? Third, as long as it kills the Shark dragon, can break through the evil god's block, or in other words, can break through the situation of death and meet the good god-or in other words, escape from birth, clear the customs and leave the painting?

"So, can we think that the killing of this painting lies in the shark dragon that may appear in the sea? If we want to leave the painting, we have to find a way to kill it. But the sea is so vast and so deep, How can I find the Shark Dragon?

"The answer is the rhino horn in our hands. According to the allusion of Niuzhu Xizhao, once we ignite the rhino horn, it will invite creatures from the 'other world' to come to fight the fire, whether it is good gods, evil gods or ghosts. It can be regarded as a creature from another world.

"We used the method of burning the rhinoceros to attract the shark dragon, tried to kill it, and then used the method of burning the rhinoceros to attract the 'originally invisible' water god. I thought, this water god might be the seal. We found it With that, we can leave the painting.

"The above is just my personal opinion. Let's take it as a throwaway. If you have other ideas, you may wish to share them and brainstorm."

After Shao Ling finished speaking, his eyes swept over the faces of everyone present, and finally fell on Mu Yiran's face.

This person said very little, but for some reason, Shao Ling felt that this person could not be ignored.

Shao Ling’s analysis based on the scriptures and evidence seemed to calm down everyone present. Wei Dong and Luo Wei looked at him with admiration. It’s the truth, that’s what happened.”

Yu Long also nodded: "It's impeccable, I think we can only do this, kill that shark fish dragon, and then we can leave the painting."

Liu Yanlei's eyes flickered slightly: "I also think what you said is reasonable, but here comes the question - how do we kill the so-called giant shark?"

"There is a bow and crossbow in the warehouse below the deck, I saw it at that time," Yu Long said, "Since the history books record that the giant fish was shot, let's use that thing."

Li Yi and Liu Yanlei nodded in agreement.

Shao Ling turned to look at the old members who did not make a statement: "What do you mean?"

Qin Ci glanced at his companions, and said cautiously: "Based on the experience and lessons of the previous paintings, all conjectures and conjectures may become the key to the painting, and we try not to let go of any possibility.

"So, we support your inference, but it is necessary to remind you - the unnatural forces in the painting are irresistible.

"Once that power wants, or needs, to kill you, then it will be able to kill you successfully, and you can't make any resistance, let alone counter-kill.

"Of course, the rules of each painting are different. Maybe this painting can kill unnatural forces. I said this just to remind those of you who are entering the painting for the first time. Don't underestimate the enemy. The cruelty of 'painting' is far beyond your imagination.

"In addition, the use of the crossbow is also a problem. It is best to learn to operate it before dark."

Shao Ling nodded: "Thank you for the reminder. Then let's hurry up and move the bow and crossbow to the deck, and get familiar with it first."

Everyone stopped talking and walked towards the stairs leading to the lower deck.

Wei Dong walked last, nudged Ke Xun quietly with his elbow, and lowered his voice: "This Shao Ling has something to do, I seem to have seen another big boss Mu, and even our big boss Mu has been suppressed by him. I didn't say a few words from beginning to end."

"Isn't that good." Ke Xun looked at the straight back of his boyfriend who was walking in front of him, "I hope that everyone who enters the painting can steal his limelight with his own ability, at least that way, there will be no need to worry about his shoulders. Always carrying everyone's expectations and lives. It's too heavy, too heavy."