Thank you ‘jennyisfake’ for the Ko-fi. (1/3)
Changsheng Building
Chapter 233: Prophet
Under the dim light, Wen Jianyan’s expression was impeccable, as if he truly and urgently wanted to know Mu Sen’s opinion.
However, only Mu Sen could see the sinister face hidden beneath that seemingly harmless facade.
It was as if the other person already knew that he was holding back for some reason, and with just a few words, he left him speechless.
“……”
Mu Sen’s expression twisted, but in the end, he could only swallow his anger, gritting his teeth and falling silent.
“So you mean, the items that customers purchased can only be found by entering the paintings to find the key items?” Orange Candy’s gaze fell on Wen Jianyan, tilting her head thoughtfully: “It’s quite an interesting idea.”
She turned her head to look at the painting behind her.
Within the blood-red, mottled frame, the three black shadows remained motionless. Only the figure in the middle gradually became clearer, looking more and more like Wu Ya. However, that stiff and eerie smile seemed increasingly sinister and terrifying.
Wu Ya stood to the side, staring intently at the painting in front of him, his expression tense and his face pale, clearly under considerable psychological pressure.
After all, everyone knew that after the “customer” left, a terrifying curse would appear in the shop.
And now, he had obviously become the first targeted victim.
Orange Candy raised her hand, touching the frame and the uneven surface of the painting, searching for the method Wen Jianyan mentioned to enter the world within the painting.
Wen Jianyan watched her actions in silence.
In such a dangerous instance, any anchor who dared to touch these eerie items directly was either extremely foolish or someone like Zhang Yu, who knew they were cursed and had little time left, thus taking desperate risks. Orange Candy in front of him clearly belonged to the third category.
Someone with a trump card, confident that they wouldn’t lose their life because of this.
A few seconds later, Orange Candy withdrew her hand, having found nothing.
From the touch, she hadn’t discovered anything unusual. The frame was just a frame, and the canvas was just a canvas, no different from ordinary objects. Even after she touched it, nothing supernatural happened.
She turned her head, raising her chin towards Wen Jianyan:
“Hey, tell me, how do we get in?”
“I’m not sure about the specific method,” the slender girl blinked, speaking in a gentle and harmless tone, “I can try, but I can’t guarantee success.”
“Then give it a try.” Orange Candy nodded to her teammates.
With the team leader’s approval, the other team members stepped aside, giving Wen Jianyan space to move freely.
As an anchor from the opposing team, Wen Jianyan hadn’t been bound by ropes or chains, but that didn’t mean he was trusted or free. The team members always ensured that at least two people kept a not-too-close, not-too-far distance from him, ready to act at any moment, subtly restricting his movements.
From their body language and the occasional glances at Wen Jianyan, it was clear that everyone maintained a constant state of alertness, ready to take action at any time.
Wen Jianyan was well aware of this.
So, he remained quiet and obedient the whole time, speaking and moving as little as possible, always displaying the consciousness of a hostage, showing that he posed no threat to the others.
It wasn’t until Orange Candy spoke that he started moving around the shop.
Mu Sen stood aside, his face dark, watching the scene without stepping in to stop it.
He knew that in this situation, since he couldn’t offer any effective suggestions, Orange Candy’s choice to use an anchor from the opposing team who could provide a problem-solving idea was inevitable.
Though he felt reluctant, he couldn’t voice any opposition, only watching as the other party moved around the shop.
The other person first stood still in front of the picture frame, carefully examining it for a few seconds, then turned around and walked around seemingly aimlessly, as if searching for something.
The other team members stood aside, half alert and half puzzled, watching Wen Jianyan’s actions.
At this moment, Wu Ya suddenly felt that something was off. As time passed, he felt his hands hanging by his sides gradually becoming heavier.
It was as if something cold, stiff, and intangible was slowly grabbing his hands, the force gradually increasing. A strong chill spread from his hands up along his arms, making his hair stand on end.
Wu Ya was startled.
He hurriedly lowered his head and looked at his sides.
In the faint light, he could vaguely see two blurry shadows appearing on either side of him, their pitch-black arms raised, gripping his hands tightly.
“Captain,” Wu Ya’s pupils contracted, his forehead covered in cold sweat, and he whispered, “Can you see… the two shadows beside me?”
Orange Candy looked over, her gaze circling around Wu Ya, before she frowned:
“No, what are you talking about?”
The others also shook their heads, indicating they didn’t see anything.
“None of you can see them?” Wu Ya’s face was pale, staring at the eerie shadows on either side of him, “They’re holding my hands—”
Mid-sentence, Wu Ya seemed to realize something. He gasped and quickly looked at the painting.
On the dirty and sinister canvas, three shadows could be seen, hand in hand, standing upright within the painting.
The shadow in the middle had a face increasingly resembling his, with a creepy smile. As time passed, the two shadows tightly holding its hands seemed to be gradually fading.
A terrifying thought surfaced, and a layer of cold sweat instantly formed on Wu Ya’s back.
“This is bad.” Sweat beaded on Wu Ya’s nose, and he quickly recounted what he saw, then whispered, “I think the things in that painting are trying to enter the shop through my body.”
After hearing Wu Ya’s words, Orange Candy frowned deeply.
She knew that Wu Ya’s guess was most likely correct.
Based on previous experiences, the curses brought by the “customers” often had a range effect, not just targeting a single anchor, and this time was probably no exception.
Wu Ya’s being targeted naturally put him in a dangerous situation, but that didn’t mean the others who weren’t targeted were safe.
These two shadows, gradually leaving the painting by holding Wu Ya’s hands and entering the real world, would pose an equally terrifying threat once the infiltration was complete.
She turned her head and looked at Wen Jianyan, not far away: “Hey, do you have any results?”
“Almost,” Wen Jianyan stood still in front of one of the benches in the shop, his gaze fixed on it for a moment, then he looked up and waved to the others: “Do you have any spare oil lamps?”
Orange Candy nodded.
Although their team hadn’t obtained extra ghost money on the first and second floors like Dark Fire, they hadn’t faced many crises in the first two floors. Moreover, with Mu Sen’s prophecies, they almost had a speedy clearance. So, the oil in the movable oil lamp on the first floor hadn’t been used up, and it served as their spare oil lamp.
Orange Candy picked up the oil lamp with half the oil left from the counter and walked towards Wen Jianyan.
“If I’m not mistaken, only three people can enter the painting,” Wen Jianyan said, “Let me know once you’ve decided.”
Orange Candy glanced at him, then turned to call out to a scholarly man wearing glasses: “Wei Cheng, you and I will go in.”
Then she looked at Wen Jianyan:
“Of course, you too,” added Orange Candy.
Wen Jianyan wasn’t surprised by Orange Candy’s choice. After all, no leader would take such a risk without bringing along a member from the opposing team. Since no one knew what might happen inside the painting’s world, it was crucial to bring someone experienced, or at least someone who appeared to know what they were doing, to ensure survival.
This was also a way of mutually binding each other in a crisis. When both sides were in the same boat, they could ensure they wouldn’t betray each other.
He nodded, “Alright, come over here.”
Wei Cheng adjusted his glasses and walked up with Orange Candy.
“Come, sit down.” Wen Jianyan sat in the center of the bench first, then patted the spots beside him.
The two of them sat down on either side of him.
Wen Jianyan said, “Hold my hands.”
Seeing Wen Jianyan extend his hands, Wei Cheng vaguely understood what he intended to do and obediently took the offered hand.
“……”
Orange Candy stared at the hand in front of her.
The pale palm was soft and dry, and the fingers were slender and beautiful. However, she seemed to be facing a great enemy, staring at the hand with disdain, frowning deeply, and not moving for a long time.
Wen Jianyan seemed to think of something and covered his hand with the white fabric of his skirt.
“How about now?”
Orange Candy glanced up at the girl in front of her.
The other person had her head lowered and her amber eyes slightly narrowed, giving a gentle smile that looked almost unreal in the dim light of the oil lamp.
It was clear that she realized Orange Candy’s aversion to physical contact but tactfully avoided any confrontational language, defusing the situation in a nearly soft manner.
“…Tch.”
Orange Candy reluctantly lifted her hand and, through the fabric, took Wen Jianyan’s hand.
The moment the three of them held hands, cold darkness surged from all directions, like viscous black ink flowing out from the corners of the shop. Only the lit oil lamp struggled to emit its dim light, so faint it seemed it could be swallowed up at any moment.
Everyone was startled; a strong sense of danger enveloped them, sending chills down their spines, and they instinctively took a step back—
In almost the blink of an eye, the phenomenon disappeared.
The darkness vanished, and the dim light of the oil lamp filled the entire shop.
Those left in the shop quickly looked towards where they had just been standing.
The bench was now empty.
*
At the same time.
The faint light of the oil lamp dispelled the darkness that had just covered their eyes, and what appeared in front of Wen Jianyan and the other two was no longer the shop but the room from the painting.
It was clear that they had now entered the world within the painting.
This room had a very old-fashioned look.
Gray walls, a wooden bed, old-fashioned curtains, a pockmarked table, and a crimson bench in front of it.
The three of them were still holding hands, sitting on the bench.
Orange Candy was holding the spare oil lamp, which barely lit up the entire room.
“I see.” Wei Cheng looked down at the bench under him, showing a thoughtful expression, “So only through a medium can you travel between the two worlds?”
No wonder there were so many pieces of furniture painted with crimson paint in the shop. Each one likely corresponded to an item in a painting, and through this medium, the streamers in the shop could enter the world within the painting.
He turned his head, somewhat surprised, looking at Wen Jianyan, still sitting on the bench:
“How did you figure it out?”
“Didn’t I say before?” The girl’s amber eyes gleamed in the darkness, her lips curving in a deep smile, “I am indeed a prophet.”