Paintings of Terror

Chapter 54: Yafen

Translated by Eve

Edited by EB

By the time everyone made their way down to the atrium, the naked corpse had already been covered with a white cloth.

Everyone looked like a statue. Even their fear had been swept away.

Only Wei Dong ran over to Ke Xun, dazed. He whispered, “Ke er, did you see that last night? I feel wrecked!”

“Don’t you guys go to bed really early?” Ke Xun asked.

Wei Dong smacked his chest. “I don’t know why, but I woke up in the middle of the night. They were so loud….At that time, I saw Haowen er by the window. I also recklessly went over to take a peek. In the end, I couldn’t look away. I had to watch the entire performance…. I thought I was going to go blind….”

Ke Xun patted his friend in comfort. “Just pretend you didn’t see it.”

Pretend he didn’t see it? Even if he reincarnated and lived through eight hundred lifetimes, he wouldn’t be able to forget it! Wei Dong looked at the corpse on the ground, covered by the white cloth. He sighed. Suddenly, he felt like this person was really pitiful. He had died from excessive ejaculation…. Dying was one thing, but his privates were also exposed in front of everyone before he kicked the bucket. It had even been greatly magnified.

Qin Ci and Old Man Li Taiyong had just come down the stairs. Both their expressions were dark. Qin Ci turned around and said, “Bring him down. Make sure he’s covered with the white cloth.”

Everyone snapped out of their petrified states. Qiu Lu rushed over, clearly agitated. “Who died? Who else died?!”

Very quickly, they saw two people carry down another corpse covered by a white cloth. This body was placed next to Shou Zhu’s corpse.

“Is that Zhi Shao?” Ke Xun asked.

Qin Ci nodded.

The frenzied Qiu Lu turned to ask Ke Xun: “It’s Zhi Shao? How do you know its him? How do you know?”

Xin Miao, who was white as a sheet, spoke up. “I saw it. I saw the lady in red knock on 309’s door. After the woman entered, Zhi Shao rushed out.”

She then looked towards Qin Ci: “I think he entered your room.”

Qin Ci nodded. “He was scared out of his mind. In a panic, he knocked on our door. Uncle Li couldn’t bear to leave him outside so he let him in.”

“Was his death related to the woman in red?” Zhu Haowen suddenly asked.

Qin Ci shook his head, helpless. “I don’t know what happened either. Last night, he entered our room in a fluster. He said that the woman wasn’t Xiao Sang, that it was actually a demon who was white all over. He then complained about Shou Zhu letting her in…. In any case, he kept mumbling about these things for about an hour before he strangled himself to death.”

Qin Ci obviously hadn’t slept well last night. His dark circles gave him a sullen tint. “I don’t know if it had anything to do with that woman.”

“What?! He strangled himself to death?!” Qiu Lu’s eyes widened. “Why would he do that? How can a person strangle themselves to death?!”

Qiu Lu sprinted over to the corpse covered by white cloths frantically. No one could stop her in time. She lifted the cloth up. Zhi Shao was still wearing the clothes he had on yesterday. Both his hands were tightly wrapped around his neck and his face was a dark purple. His eyes bulged out of their sockets, bloodshot. His dark purple tongue was also extended….

“Ah!!!” Someone shouted in fear.

.

Very quickly, someone else reached over to cover the corpse back up. Zhi Shao and Shou Zhu’s bodies were then mercilessly sent out through the main entrance.

Qiu Lu went completely soft. She leaned against the wall, paralyzed. “Zhi Shao…he said that he was going to marry me….He said that he’d marry me once he finalized his divorce! He said that he’d marry me!”

This surprised everyone because there had been no indication that there was anything going on between these two people in the past. But then again, this secret no longer mattered considering one of them was now dead.

Sha Liu thought that Qiu Lu’s state would negatively impact everyone’s ability to discuss. She thus walked over to pat on the other’s shoulder. “He can’t come back to life. All we can do now is to think of a way to escape. We have to live!”

Qiu Lu didn’t react. She continued to mumble the same things over and over again. No one had the time to comfort her. They all nervously started to talk about their situation.

Sha Liu was the first to speak. “The situation is a mess. Two people died at once. Shou Zhu’s cause of death is obvious—he was…killed…by the woman in red last night. As for Zhi Shao, his death was strange.”

“Zhi Shao broke a rule. He knocked on the door of another unit.” Zhu Haowen was the one who spoke.

Ke Xun nodded. “Zhi Shao’s death is similar to the two girls. It was a punishment for visiting after lights out. The two girls died in a fire, much like the previous tenant of their room had. That means that Zhi Shao’s death likely has something to do with Room 309.”

“But Zhi Shao didn’t die in Room 309!” Xin Miao was skeptical.

“This is what we were talking about before. Death is not constrained to our respective apartments. As long as you break a rule, there is no escaping the punishment, regardless of where you run off to.” Ke Xun explained.

Xin Miao wanted to ask another question, but Zhu Haowen ruthlessly interrupted her. “Let’s leave it at that and continue to talk about the woman in red.”

Mu Yiran looked at Sha Liu: “Where did she come from?”

Sha Liu forced herself to stay calm: “From our room—Room 410.”

Everyone had expected that. Their gazes all gathered on Sha Liu.

“The snow-white woman appeared in our room last night. I saw her change into a red dress in the darkness. She also put on makeup, a wig, and high heels before leaving the room….”

Sha Liu felt afraid just from thinking about it.

Qin Ci went ‘ah ha.’ “No wonder she didn’t knock on Room 410’s door.”

It seemed like he had also noticed this peculiarity.

“If the same rules governing death applied to both Room 309 and 402, then Room 410’s snow-white woman must be related to another rule.” Zhu Haowen said, “Furthermore, it is up to us to figure out exactly what the rule is.”

Everyone nodded pensively. They seemed to agree.

The familiar jingle of keys sounded in the air as the gatekeeper uncle walked over to the entrance of the restaurant.

Everyone walked over in small groups. They heard the gatekeeper uncle say something similar to what he had said yesterday. “Everyone’s here. There are two things we need to talk about today.”

Everyone pricked their ears, including Qiu Lu, who was wiping away her tears.

“Let’s talk about Room 309 first. Grandma Sun used to live there. I heard that she had plenty of children and grandchildren but not one of them was filial. None of her children were willing to take care of her. In the end, Grandma Sun fell into a depression and then hung herself.”

The gatekeeper uncle sighed after saying this.

Zhi Shao had strangled himself to death last night. It was similar to death by hanging, in that the cause of death was asphyxiation. It seems like this was indeed the retaliation of Room 309.

“Now let’s talk about Room 410. This story’s a bit longer.” The gatekeeper uncle sat down on the chair Ke Xun had brought over. He nodded, a smile on his face. He then cleared his voice and continued: “In the very beginning, Room 410 was the home of our factory’s most learned family. The couple, Chen Gong and Doctor Zhou lived there with their three children. The eldest child, Yafen, has a congenital disorder. We old people call it, Tianlaor. The scientific name for it is albinism. Her skin and eyes were white. Her eyes were also bad. She had photophobia.

“All three children were smart—Yafen included. Unfortunately, when she was in high school, her classmates always called her names. In the end, she simply quit school. Yafen had a big ego and didn’t like to go outside. She was also afraid of being exposed to the sun. As such, she spent all her time squirrelled away in her room, reading. Chen Gong and them eventually bought a new house. A while back, they moved out with their children. Only Yafen stayed here in the dormitory. She didn’t want to live in an unfamiliar place. In any case, the people in this neighbourhood all knew her. At the very least, they wouldn’t jump in fright when they saw her.”

“Her parents lived far away. Doctor Zhou would come by once a week, bringing food to her. Most of the time, Yafen spent her time holed away in her room. She was afraid of light. She even relieved herself in her room and only dared to venture out to the communal washrooms at night. The washroom on the west side was for her personal use. People didn’t like bumping into her in the middle of the night.

“Yafen was talented. She loved to read and learn. She would frequently write poems and novels. Sometimes, she’d send them to the newspapers and would end up published. Later on, she made a penpal. The two of them sent letters to each other back and forth for several years. In the end, they met in person. The other party wasn’t pleased.”

“After that, Yafen changed. She acted erratic for some time. She was completely lovestruck. All day long, she thought about how to win her target over. She said that she wanted to see the sun, to see the light. She said that she wanted to have family and be friends with the person she liked. She wanted everyone to give them their blessings. We also played along. After all, that child was so pitiful.

“Her parents only cared about her younger siblings. Their family was well off and would go on vacation every year. Only she didn’t go. When her parents moved out, they didn’t bother to convince her when she said that she didn’t want to go. Even three days after that brute surrounded our building with that cement wall, her parents still didn’t know what was happening. They didn’t care for her all that much.

“Later on, Yafen stopped trapping herself in her dark room. She would frequently come out under the sun without hats or sunglasses. But those with albinism have to be careful of the sun. In the end, Yafen died an early death. It might have been related to all that sun exposure. Furthermore, she was unhappy.

“Many people don’t know that Yafen died. They think her parents took her to live a happy life with them downtown. Actually, she died in Room 410. Her parents hastily arranged her funeral and didn’t let any of the neighbours attend.”

After the gatekeeper uncle finished telling his story, no one talked for a long time.

The Yafen in the gatekeeper uncle’s story was the abnormal phenomenon that appeared last night—the giant snow-white woman who had been drowning in ecstasy. They didn’t seem like the same person at all.

“She had wanted to see the light all her life. Perhaps what happened last night had stemmed from her desire for everyone to bear witness.” Xin Miao tried to think from Yafen’s point of view.

“But she shouldn’t hurt others,” Qiu Lu murmured, “She killed two people.”

“It was because of her resentment.” Mu Yiran’s expression was still that of indifference. “Her resentment is a suitable catalyst for the creation of a death condition.”

“Actually, all three cases are related to resentment.” Ke Xun assed, “As Grandpa Li has said, everything happens for a reason.”

“Time to eat!” Wu Mei called out.

Everyone filed into the restaurant. No one wanted to eat in the courtyard today. The scent of the two covered corpses seemed to still linger in the air.

“These three things have been settled. Where should we search for the signature now?” Sha Liu had no appetite.

“410’s issue hasn’t been resolved yet.” Zhu Haowen said, “We know what caused the death, but the death condition itself is still unclear.”

Qin Ci sunk into his thoughts. “Indeed. The other two deaths happened because people broke the rules—they visited another room when after lights out. As a result, they were killed by the resentful ghosts of their rooms. But Yafen of 410 is an exception. Why is she able to appear at will? The people living in 410 didn’t break any rules.”

“That’s why Yafen didn’t attack the people in her room,” Sha Liu said, “She walked around the building in search of prey. Shou Zhu let her in. This was the result of his actions.”

This was the result of him courting death—was what Sha Liu didn’t say.

“But why was it Yafen of Room 410? Why wasn’t it the former tenant of 411 or 307?” Ke Xun said while peeling his egg.

“Because…” Sha Liu thought that she had solved the problem, “Because Shou Zhu responded to her during the day! Shou Zhu was the first person to discover the poems Yafen had written on the washroom walls! He had also called her poems romantic. He praised and validated her!”

“If that was the case, Yafen wouldn’t need to search for prey. She could have gone straight for Shou Zhu’s door,” Zhu Haowen said.

Sha Liu couldn’t rebuke his words.

Everyone was at their wits end when Mu Yiran spoke up. “The reason it was Yafen of Room 410 is because someone released her the night before.”

Eve: Yafen is pretty pitiful. People can be mean.