Trapped in the Artist's Nightmare Chapter 3

Nathan Ke believed that since he had no idea about the current situation, the only way was to stick with one of them and then act according to circumstances.

Through observing this group of people before, Nathan Ke felt that this cool and handsome guy seemed more reliable than the others, so, he was the one chosen.

While they were talking, the last three people who came followed with surprise and cursing. In fact, they had no other choice. Apart from this small village, there was only wilderness everywhere. Where else could they go if not follow everyone into the village?

What's more, everyone has a herd mentality. In this weird and incomprehensible situation, most people choose to stick together for courage.

A group of people entered this strange and weird little village with different thoughts.

Nathan Ke was unsure what time it was in this "painting". It was still morning in the real world, but the sky here was gloomy and dark. The village was also pitch black. The doors and windows of all the houses were made of wood. Some of the window sashes were covered with tattered window paper, while others were nailed shut with wooden boards.

Regardless of whether you looked in through the window or the crack in the door, all you could see was pitch black.

He didn't know if it was an illusion, but Nathan Ke always felt that there seemed to be something looking out from the dark gaps in the doors and windows.

Following these people through twists and turns in this small village, a dim light suddenly appeared in front of us, and we saw that there was a room with a light on.

"That's it." someone in the team said.

"Go in." Someone else said with a sigh.

Everyone walked over, and the middle-aged man with a big belly who was walking in front knocked on the door.

The wooden door creaked open from the inside, revealing a gray, wrinkled face of an old man.

"Are you all here? Come in." The old man said as he opened the door.

They filed in and saw that the walls and the ground were made of a mixture of mud and grass. There was only a broken table and a few long benches in the room, and an oil lamp was lit on the table.

It would be most appropriate to describe this family as penniless and destitute.

The old man stood in the middle of the room, and his cloudy eyes slowly scanned everyone in the room. When Owen Wei met his gaze, he couldn't help but shudder.

The old man's pupils had no warmth or focus at all, they were as scattered as... a dead person's.

Owen Wei quickly lowered his eyelids, fearing that something bad might happen if he looked into his eyes, and just listened to what the old man said: "Now that everyone is here, we will arrange the work for everyone."

As he spoke, he took out a roll of cloth from his bosom and held it out in front of everyone: "Let's tie this, one for each person."

Nathan Ke and Owen Wei were confused, but they saw that the people who had arrived earlier seemed to be used to it. They reached out one by one and pulled out a strip of cloth from the roll of cloth. The two of them had no choice but to follow suit.

The cloth ribbon was about an arm's length and two fingers wide, made of grayish-white coarse linen. In the middle, there was a dark red word written with cinnabar or some other pigment.

The word "Yang" was written on Nathan Ke's line, and the word "Gu" was written on Owen Wei's line.

Before I could figure out what the words on the cloth meant, the old man continued, "Whoever gets the cloth with the word 'Min' on it will be responsible for keeping watch at the Li family tonight. Whoever gets the cloth with the word 'Qie' on it will go to the northern outskirts of the village five miles to dig a pit six feet long, four feet wide, and two feet high. Whoever gets the cloth with the word 'Gu' on it will go to the Li family's firewood room to chop firewood. Whoever gets the cloth with the word 'Yang' on it will guard the Li family's granary. Whoever gets the cloth with the word 'Dai' on it... whoever gets the cloth with the word 'Qu' on it..."

As the old man spoke, Nathan Ke pondered secretly in his mind.

What is the purpose of these words: Min, Qie, Gu, Yang, Dai, Qu...? Obviously, the purpose of asking everyone to choose strips of cloth is to group the thirteen people, but just looking at the literal meaning, it is difficult to connect it with the current situation.

After the old man divided the groups, he finally said, "The Li family is just under the three old locust trees in the north of the village. Everyone, you can start working. Remember: those who stay at the Li family to work should not go out at night. Okay, everyone, come to my place to gather at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning."

After hearing this, everyone turned around and walked out. Owen Wei couldn't help it, so he walked up to the old man and asked him, "Grandpa, can you explain to us what's going on?"

The old man said in a serious tone, "The Li family is located under the three old locust trees in the north of the village. Everyone, you can start working now. Remember: those who stay at the Li family to work should not go out at night. Okay, everyone, gather here at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning."

Owen Wei: "...No, can you tell us where this is?"

Old man: "The Li family is just under the three old locust trees in the north of the village. Everyone, you can start working. Remember..."

Owen Wei: "...Did I accidentally activate your ghost function? Can you say something else?"

Old man: "The Li family is just under the three old locust trees in the north of the village. Everyone, you can start working. Remember..."

Owen Wei turned to look at Nathan Ke: "Is it illegal to beat up an uncivilized old man in a painting?"

Before Nathan Ke could answer, the braided boy suddenly laughed, walked up to him and looked at him: "Don't waste your energy, he is not a human being."

"What the hell is this if not a human?!" Owen Wei was shocked, "A repeater?!"

"You can think of him as an NPC in the game. He is only responsible for explaining the plot or the rules of the 'game', as well as some specific questions that he can answer. He will not answer any other unnecessary questions." The pigtailed man tilted his mouth in a mocking manner.

Nathan Ke and Owen Wei looked at each other in bewilderment. Nathan Ke asked Xiao Bian Zi: "Is this a painting or a game?"

"Painting." Pigtail sneered, "It's just that the rules in the painting are strictly and precisely set. There is only one result for violating the rules, and that is death."

"Death?" Owen Wei stared. "Are you talking about real death or fake death? What happens after death? Can you leave the painting and return to the real world?"

"What good things are you thinking?" Pigtail sneered, "If you die in a painting, you are really dead. You can never leave here and return to reality. Do you understand?"

"---Is this true or false?!" Owen Wei was shocked.

"Believe it or not, I've already made it clear to you. Don't blame others if you die." The pigtailed girl looked at the cloth strip in Owen Wei's hand impatiently, "Why am I assigned to the same group with a newcomer like you? It's so unlucky! Do you want to leave or not?"

"Go? Where to?" Owen Wei looked confused. He looked at the pigtail and then at Nathan Ke.

The pigtail rolled his eyes and took a deep breath, seeming to be trying to control his temper: "I also got the cloth strip with the word 'Gu' written on it, which proves that the two of us are assigned to the same group, so now you and I have to follow what this old man said and go to the so-called 'Li family', do you understand?"

Owen Wei asked him: "What will happen if you don't do what the village chief says?"

"Didn't you hear me?" said Little Pigtail angrily. "If you break the rules, you will die! Die!"

"Then, can we form groups freely? For example, I won't go to Li's house with you to chop firewood, and I will go with him to guard the granary?" Owen Wei pointed at Nathan Ke.

"Die!" the pigtailed boy roared ferociously.

"Sh!t." Owen Wei looked at Nathan Ke, "What should I do?"

Nathan Ke stroked his chin and thought for a while: "I think we have really encountered something strange that cannot be explained by common sense. The reason here is probably not clear for a while, so why not listen to him for the time being? He seems to know something. It is better to believe it than not. Life safety comes first."

"Okay." Owen Wei asked him, "What about you? Who are you in a group with?"

When the three of them came out of the old man's house, Nathan Ke saw a man standing at the bottom of the stairs. He was tall, had a stern look, and an incredibly handsome face.

Tied loosely around his waist was a strip of linen that he had drawn, with the word "Yang" written on it.

Owen Wei looked at the man, then at the braid beside him: "By the way, what would happen if I exchanged the cloth strip with someone else?"

"Die!" Pigtail gritted his teeth.

"Be careful, be vigilant, safety first." Nathan Ke instructed Owen Wei.

This guy has been a very stupid kid since he was young. Nathan Ke was afraid that he would not know what was good for him and would really lose his life in this weird place.

"Got it. You should pay attention too." Owen Wei patted him on the shoulder worriedly.

According to the old man's arrangement, most people's destination was "Li's House". The others had already walked ahead, so the four of them walked together.

Not long after walking, Nathan Ke turned back and found that the lights in the old man's house had been turned off at some point, and like other houses around it, it fell into silence and darkness.

In the village without lights, the road is difficult to walk on. The dirt road in the countryside is not flat, with one foot hard and the other soft. The soles of the straw sandals under your feet are very thin, making the touch even more sensitive when you step on them.

Nathan Ke put down his foot and suddenly felt like he was stepping on a hand. The outline of the bony, pointed, and stiff fingers was clearly pressing against the sole of his foot.

Nathan Ke reacted extremely quickly and jumped up, bumping into the tall man. When he landed, he could almost hear his heart pounding against his chest wildly and violently. He had to put his hand on his chest, as if if he took his hand away, his heart would be ripped out of his chest along with blood and flesh.

"---What's wrong? I was almost scared to death by you!" Owen Wei said in surprise.

Nathan Ke's heart was beating so fast that he couldn't even make a sound for a while.

Just as I felt my palms and lips getting cold from the shock, I heard the tall man's voice faintly come into my ears: "Don't worry about anything, just keep going."

It was as if he had guessed what Nathan Kewei was doing and suddenly jumped up.

Nathan Ke hummed, trying not to look at his feet and looking into the distance, only to see that the small village had been shrouded in thick grey night fog at some point, making the already low visibility even more chaotic and unclear.

"Well, by the way, since we are all teammates in the future, why don't we get to know each other?" Owen Wei seemed to have noticed something, and he spoke to build up his courage, and stretched out his hand to the pigtailed boy first, "I'm Owen Wei, this is my buddy Nathan Ke."

The pigtailed boy refused to shake his hand and only snorted: "Tristan Liu."

Owen Wei turned around and stretched out his hand to the tall man again: "How about you, buddy?"

The tall man glanced at him coldly and did not shake hands with him: "Adrian Mu."

Owen Wei had no choice but to grab Nathan Ke's hand and shake it: "Nice to meet you."

Nathan Ke felt the cold sweat on Owen Wei's palm, squeezed his hand hard, then let go, turned around and asked the handsome guy named Adrian Mu beside him: "In order to avoid being a pig teammate who holds you back, brother, can you tell us the whole story?"

If you like horror paintings, please collect them.