©NovelBuddy
Paintings of Terror-Chapter 228: Film
Chapter 228: Film
âLights offââ đđđđđ°đŁđđ.đđđ
The voice was not loud, but everyone in the Lantern Inn heard it clearly.
Unlike needing a lantern-lighter for lighting the lanterns, it was much easier to put out the lights. All the lanterns seem to have received the command âlights offâ and extinguished one by one from the ground floor to the upper floor.
This ritual-like feeling of sacredness made everyone fall silent. They watched the light gradually disappear from their feet to the top of their heads and experienced the entire process of being shrouded in darkness.
After who knows how long, Luo Bu said with a stammer: âBrother, brother-in-law, are you guys still there?â
Before Ke Xun had time to respond, a warm hand quickly grabbed him: âYou are both here, thatâs great!â He could imagine that this guyâs other hand had already grabbed âbrother-in-lawâ.
The strange thing was that although the surroundings were dark, they were not completely invisible, as if there was a faint light to illuminate.
âKoharuâŠWahâŠAhhhhhhhâŠâ Luo Bu yelled out of control.
Not knowing what was going on, Koharu lay on its masterâs shoulder pitifully, about to fall at any time. Its eyes were shining like jewels.
Ke Xun picked Koharu up and carefully looked at its eyes: âAre the eyes of dogs always so bright at night?â
âThis is not normal.â Mu Yiran also came over to look. One of his hands was still tightly held by Luo Bu. A weak voice appeared: âI thought Koharu had turned into a monsterâŠâ
âLetâs go back to the room first.â Mu Yiran saw that the entire Lantern Inn plunged into darkness. The only two light sources were from Koharu and were extremely eye-catching.
The three of them returned to the room with the aid of the light from the dogâs eyes.
When Ke Xun entered the room, he covered Koharuâs eyes: âEveryone, be prepared, Koharuâs eyes glow at night.â
Even though they were notified in advance, everyone in the room still let out low exclamations when they saw Koharuâs eyes.
Koharu was placed on the table and acted as a dog-shaped night light.
Although the dogâs eyes were bright, they couldnât compare with real lights after all. At present, they were only slightly brighter than everyoneâs phones.
âStrange, why the dogâs eyes werenât so bright when we first arrived here, they were obviously black at that time.â Shao Ling sat at the table, studying Koharuâs eyes, âCould it be like some kind of stone that emits light at night only after it absorbs enough light?â
Everyone was quite convinced by this explanation, and then Zhu Haowen changed the subject without beating around the bush: âThere are two questions now. First, when do the lights go off here and why is the lights-on time so short. Second, how were the lights put out and why were they off by themselves.â
This was exactly where everyone was most confused about. Zhu Haowen continued to ask: âWhat time do you all think it is? Guess it based on your intuition. Everyone has a biological clock in their bodies. We have not been here for a long time, so we shouldnât be assimilated too quickly.â
Assimilatedâthis word made everyone startled. Wei Dong looked around in the dim light, and then touched his stomach: âI think it was about one oâclock in the noon when I ate. Itâs about two oâclock now.â
Qin Ci nodded: âI think so too. We entered the art gallery at 9:10. I looked at my watch at the time. The time we entered the painting was about 9:30 to 9:50. If we calculate according to that time, Itâs almost two oâclock in the afternoon now.â
âBut is the time outside the painting the same as inside the painting?â Du Lingyu asked, âWhat was your previous experience like?â
Qin Ci: âItâs not necessarily the same. We usually enter the painting in the morning, but in the painting, it may be afternoon or even dusk.â
âIt is very necessary for us to figure out the time. Calculating it based on the time outside, if we arrived at the painting at ten oâclock, according to the digestion time of the human body, we almost all felt hungry after twelve oâclock. Lunch was at approximately one oâclock and the lights turned off at no more than one hour after the meal, hence two oâclock.â
âFrom ten oâclock in the morning to two oâclock in the afternoon, a total of four hours, from lights-on to lights-off, a total of only four hours.â
Everyone fell silent for a while.
Koharu blinked, and the whole world flickered.
âWhy is a day in this world so short?â Xi Shengnan sighed. She was sitting leaning against a folding screen, a little listless, âIf a day is less than twenty-four hours, is our time limit here still seven days? Doesnât that mean we have less time to look for the signature?â
After hearing this, everyoneâs nerves were tense.
âAccording to how it usually goes, the passage of time in the painting is the same as outside. A day is also twenty-four hours.â Shao Ling said, âItâs just that if the daytime here is only four hours, it means that the night will be extended. We will experience twenty hours of long night. Whatâs worse, the dangers in the painting all happen at night.â
âTh-this is too difficult.â Du Lingyu turned her face to the dark, and gently wiped away her tears.
Cao Youning yawned untimely: âSorry, sorry, I tend to get sleepy after I get full, and I also have the habit of taking a lunch nap. I really hope that the lights-off this time is just for everyone to take a nap, and maybe it will be turned on again in two hours. â
Mu Yiran lowered his eyes slightly and had no choice but to speak out about his discovery: âThe sky is already dark.â
âSky?â Cao Youning was taken aback.
âCanât you feel that itâs pitch black outside the window?â Shao Ling couldnât help but say, âWhen we first arrived, the sky was slowly getting brighter. Although it was still gray at its brightest, itâs evident that daylight existed. Itâs completely dark now.â
Although Cao Youning was afraid, he couldnât resist and yawned: âIâm sorry, Iâm just like this. When the room gets dark, I get sleepy easily.â
âIf you are sleepy, you can take a nap. We will wake you up in about an hour,â Shao Ling said. âEveryone else, pull yourself together. Itâs two oâclock in the afternoon. Please remember this time. Donât be assimilated by this world.â
Ke Xun: âWe canât just sit still. Itâs not a good time now to go out to find the signature. We canât get a magnifying glass for now, but we can do something else.â
âDevelop films!â It was Mai Peng who spoke. His voice sounded funny because of the bad cold, âWe have water and a kettle now. These are enough for developing films.â
Hearing this, everyone was a little excited, so they started working on it. Lu Heng had already taken out the developing tank from the cabinet: âTurn on your phones so itâll be bright enough. Weâll have to prepare developing and fixing solutions later.â
Mu Yiran asked: âIf using the developing tank, does the film have to be a full roll? How many photos have you all taken in your current cameras?â
Mai Peng hesitated for a moment, obviously forgetting this problem because of his excitement: âMy camera has a display for winding films. I probably only took less than ten pictures. If I take it out now, the remaining twenty or so pieces of film will be rendered useless. Maybe we will still need to take pictures with films in the next few days.â
Lu Heng also went to get his camera: âHow about you guys, who have taken pictures in this world?â
âI didnât dare to take pictures,â Du Lingyu said. âThe roll in my camera is still new, probably because I transferred all the photos in the camera to the computer last night and it becomes new when itâs emptied.â
âI also didnât take any.â Xi Shengnan said, âThe camera has rolled over a dozen shots. They are probably the pictures of the scenery I took at the entrance of the art gallery, along with some works in the gallery.â
Cao Youning yawned and laid down with his clothes on: âI didnât dare to take picturesâŠâ
âThen use my roll.â It was Lu Heng who spoke, âI have taken thirty-three pictures for this roll of film. Itâs good enough.â
âWhat do you mean by thirty-three?â Luo Bu interrupted and asked.
âA roll of film generally has thirty-six sheets. If a roll is taken out and developed after only taking a few shots, the remaining unused films are wasted.â Lu Heng explained, âI have thirty-six sheets in this roll, and I have finished shooting thirty-three. Itâs fine to waste just three pieces.â
âThen why waste it? We can shoot and finish the roll.â Luo Bu admitted that he had the blood of a businessman. Sometimes he was very good at using resources.
Wei Dong nodded after hearing that: âLuo Bu is right, use those three pieces.â
Lu Hengâs voice trembled slightly: âWh-where to shoot?â
Taking pictures was particularly creepy in the middle of the night, as if it was destined that something invisible to the human eye would appear in the lens.
Luo Bu, who had always been timid, said calmly at this time: âWhen I was young, I heard from my grandma that cats and dogs can sense that kind of thing. If there is something in our room, Koharu can definitely feel it and will not be so quiet like a chicken.â
âWooâŠâ Koharu was not very happy with being compared to a chicken.
âOkay, quiet like a maiden.â
Koharu lay down on the table. It looked like it was not in the mood to respond to its master.
Lu Heng seemed to try to embolden himself and said: âOur hometown also has this kind of saying about dogs. It is said that if a dog barks suddenly in the middle of the night, you can tell âwhoâ passed by how fast it barks. I think it was âfast barks are humans, slow barks are gods, in-between are ghosts.â
The more Lu Heng talked, the more afraid he became.
âLetâs shoot. We want to use the camera to capture some clues that are invisible to the naked eyes. If what we capture is just an ordinary night scene, then itâs meaningless.â Mai Peng was much calmer than Lu Heng, âShoot.â
Lu Heng picked up the camera, his hands trembling slightly.
Seeing this, Mai Peng said: âAre you willing to lend me your Ricoh?â
This was exactly what Lu Heng wanted: âYes yes, God Mai, you should shoot!â
Mai Peng took Lu Hengâs camera, stared at the viewfinder first, and adjusted the lens very professionally. He picked several angles in the room, and everyone who was âgazedâ upon by the camera lens turned away their faces unnaturally, seemingly as if they didnât want to be photographed.
âIâm going to use the flash. Everyone, be careful not to blind your eyes.â After Mai Peng reminded them, he took a picture on the spot, and then took another picture from a different angle. The clicking sound seemed to be a little longer than just now.
It took a long time for Mai Peng to reveal his face from behind the camera: âStrange, it seems that the scene in the viewfinder has changed at the moment of shooting just now.â
Everyone was suddenly nervous. Shao Ling asked: âWhat has it changed into? Did you see clearly?â
âI couldnât see clearly. It was already dark, and the flash was too bright, but I feel that the dogâs position seems to have changed.â Mai Peng said.
âWhatâŠâ Luo Bu hugged Koharu tightly in fright.
âObviously it was on the table, but the moment I pressed the shutter just now, I saw that it was on the other side by the window⊠Because its eyes are very bright, I donât think Iâm wrong about that. There were two bright spots by the window.â Mai Peng was very sure.
âCould it be⊠There is also a dog by the window?â Du Lingyu muttered, âOrâŠsomething else.â