War Painting
Chen Ling nodded slightly.
"'Guernica' is an anti-war themed painting created by an extremely famous painter in the 20th century before the Great Cataclysm, based on a fascist disaster," Eight of Clubs slowly spoke.
"In this painting, the city is invaded by foreign enemies, and innocent residents are frantically massacred... Everything you saw on your way here, whether it was people, cows, or horses, were all victims in this disaster."
Chen Ling was suddenly enlightened.
No wonder those giant objects just now all looked like they were being chased by something, their faces showing panic and despair. Chen Ling initially thought there was some kind of extremely terrifying creature existing in this painting. Now it seemed, the "monster" chasing them was the invisible "war" itself.
"This painting was taken out from the Path of Azure Ancient Vault by Lü Liangren, also known as the Third Hall. The painting forms an independent space of its own, and the emotions of these victims in the painting will spread outwards in a form similar to radiation, making those inside empathize.
You just came in, so the situation isn't serious yet... If you stay here for a long time, even deliberately staying away from those guys is useless. Their area of effect spreads throughout the entire painting. No matter how far away you are, you will still be affected slightly. As time goes by, this effect will also accumulate in your body, completely affecting your mind."
"No wonder..."
This was no longer important to Chen Ling. Let alone staying here for a few months, if he couldn't get out within 24 hours, he would be bored to sudden death, and then the "Audience" would turn everything upside down.
"Then are you... okay now?" Chen Ling looked at the haggard to the extreme Eight of Clubs and couldn't help but ask.
Eight of Clubs squeezed out a bitter smile. He casually tugged at the wall behind him, and the white wall skin fluttered down like a canvas, revealing a wall covered in messy lines and geometric shapes before Chen Ling.
"I haven't slept for over three months." Eight of Clubs pointed at the wall. In the corner was a realistic drawing of a pendulum, the hand constantly turning with the seconds. Next to it were deep pen marks, seemingly used to record the number of days,
"As soon as I close my eyes, the despair and pain of war will drown me... I feel like I'm being hunted by an invisible thing, just like those things outside."
Eight of Clubs sighed deeply,
"In the eyes of the Floating Life Painting, the Dusk Society is the source of the Domain's destruction, the engine of disaster. So, the Second Hall threw both of us in here. On the one hand, he wants to trap us, and on the other hand, he also wants to use the misery of these wars as punishment... This kind of mental torture is far more terrifying than physical torture."
"What an... unexpected disaster," Chen Ling complained.
"It can't be considered an unexpected disaster. After all, I indeed betrayed the Floating Life Painting... They didn't kill me directly, they are already very mindful of past sentiments."
"Then what should we do to escape from here?"
"Escape?"
Eight of Clubs shook his head. "We can't escape... 'Guernica' is said to be transformed from a part of the Path of the Arts' Dao Foundation, almost perfect. It can only be opened from outside the painting. No matter what happens inside the painting, it will not affect the outside world."
"You mean, this cage can't be opened from the inside no matter what? It can only be tackled from the outside?"
"Right, but 'Guernica' has always been personally guarded by the Second Hall. It's absolutely impossible for him to take the initiative to open the painting and let us out."
"..."
Chen Ling glanced at his Audience Expectation Value, his expression somewhat ugly.
If that was the case, Chen Ling's current situation was too passive... He also never expected this situation after entering "Guernica". Fortunately, he and Eight of Clubs weren't without backing.
Chen Ling left Liu Qingyan as a backup. It shouldn't be hard for the Dusk Society to follow the clues and find the Red Dust Base... The only problem was whether they could sneak into the base and snatch back "Guernica" from the hands of the Second Hall.
Chen Ling could only pray silently, hoping they could rescue him within 24 hours...
Otherwise, when the Audience Expectation Value ran out, everyone would be doomed!
...
"The Red Dust Base is actually in the Gray World?"
Jian Changsheng followed behind Liu Qingyan, looking at the grayish-white world around him, his eyes full of shock.
"This is indeed unexpected," Jack of Clubs also felt confused. "I've traveled through several Domains, but I've never heard of separating a base from the Domain... The Red Dust is a special case."
"So why do they want to do this? Is it the decision of the Lord of the Red Dust, or the decision of the other people in the Red Dust Base?"
"Then I don't know... Perhaps, you should ask Eight of Clubs, he was the former Ninth Hall."
"No, he won't say," Nine of Hearts suddenly spoke.
The others looked at him in confusion.
"That kid is very stubborn... or rather, too principled," Nine of Hearts shrugged.
"He's been in the Dusk Society for several years now. He can go through thick and thin to complete missions, but he has never been willing to reveal even a single sentence of the Floating Life Painting's secrets... In his words, the Floating Life Painting recognized his worth and fostered his potential. Regardless of whether the things they do are meaningful, he will not do things that let the Floating Life Painting down."
"He wouldn't even tell you?" Jack of Clubs raised his brows slightly. "You can be considered half a master to him, right? Aren't your relationship the best?"
"It has nothing to do with this... I said, this is his personality," Nine of Hearts said half-jokingly. "Perhaps, this is a stubbornness unique to 'geniuses'."
"Since he is so grateful to the Floating Life Painting, why did he betray them?" Jian Changsheng asked back.
"Betray? No, he didn't betray them... He merely discarded the title of Ninth Hall himself, and then left the Red Dust Base.
Of course, shortly after, he was pulled into the Dusk Society by me. With these two pieces of news spreading out at the same time, naturally there would be a feeling that 'the Ninth Hall was instigated to rebel by the Dusk Society and betrayed the Floating Life Painting'."
"So that's how it is. No wonder when he heard that the next one to be destroyed might be the Red Dust Domain, he suddenly became so nervous and ran to the Red Dust Main City without a word..." Jian Changsheng was thoughtful,
"However, I still don't understand. Eight of Clubs is the dignified number one genius of the Path of the Arts, the youngest Hall Master in history. Why would he leave the Floating Life Painting for no reason?"
"The specifics, I'm not clear either..."
Nine of Hearts pondered for a moment, "However, he seemed to not approve of some things the Floating Life Painting did, so he wanted to come out and find a solution himself."
"...Then did he find it?"
"Whether he found the solution or not, I don't know," Nine of Hearts grinned. "Anyway... he found me."