Chapter 5: Paintings of Remembrance
After leaving the amusement park, a unique and stylish art gallery appeared before everyone’s eyes. Yue Tiantian and Si Nan, side by side, pushed open the grand doors.
This is an art museum, connected to five smaller galleries through a central hall. The floor is adorned with exquisitely textured marble, and the air is filled with a faint scent of oil paint. The gentle music echoes softly, creating a serene atmosphere.
“I’ve been here before.” After seeing a few paintings, Lin Yiyi exclaimed, “Si Nan, we met each other here. Do you remember?”
“Indeed, it was the exhibition of classic portraiture replicas. I only came to see it out of curiosity,” Si Nan smiled as he looked at Lin Yiyi.
“Look, it’s Margaret’s ‘Child of Humanity’,” Lin Yiyi said, full of emotion. “What we see always obscures each other, and yet we are constantly curious about what is hidden.”
“Hahaha, you were muttering that to yourself back then, and I said to you: Miss, you’re blocking my camera,” Si Nan said.
“Yes, and you also told me your understanding of surrealism. I thought you were quite interesting,” Lin Yiyi said with admiration, reminiscing about the past.
Si Nan smiled as he looked at Yiyi, then looked at the painting. “Oh? This painting seems a bit different.” He carefully compared the frame of “Child of Humanity” with the adjacent painting. “The frame is 5 millimeters thicker, and there’s a small notch at the bottom.”
“You can tell that? Let me see.” Yue Tiantian squeezed over and accidentally placed a palm on the painting, followed by a mechanical click sound as the canvas was pushed into the wall.
“Input error,” the sound of the intercom rang mercilessly. Tiantian quickly let go, and the canvas returned to its original state.
“Ah, I’m so sorry…” Tiantian panicked, she didn’t expect her small mistake to be considered an attempt.
“It’s alright, this attempt revealed that the painting is a button, but it seems there is more than one. Tiantian, you’ve found the right direction,” Si Nan hurriedly comforted.
“Then we need to continue searching, but there are too many paintings. It’s difficult to examine them one by one for millimeter differences or small notches,” Wuhen furrowed her brow, contemplating the returned painting.
“The scroll from the previous level said that companionship is a declaration of enduring love. Since this is where you first met, should we start from this perspective?” Moyu proposed.
“Yes, think about which paintings we saw together that day.” Yiyi joyfully began to recall, listing more than a dozen works, while also showing affection. Based on the range of works, everyone carefully searched and found three more paintings with anomalies in three separate small galleries.
“One painting per gallery, what should we do next, in order?” Yue Tiantian was somewhat confused.
“It’s probably not in order. We were just in Gallery 1, and that painting was the one they first saw. If we follow the order, this should be the first painting,” Wuhen analyzed.
“Perhaps… simultaneously?” Si Nan boldly guessed. “Maybe we should press down on all four paintings at the same time to solve the puzzle.”
“It’s worth a try. Since we don’t have any other clues, it’s better than wasting time here,” Yue Tiantian turned to Captain Moyu.
After discussing, the four of them stood in front of each painting, while Si Nan stood in the center hall and shouted the command.
“3… 2… 1!” With Si Nan’s command, the four of them pressed down on the canvases simultaneously. “Boom!!!” A loud noise rang out, and four metal cages descended from above, trapping the four people in front of the paintings. The intercom sounded again, “Congratulations to the survivors for successfully completing the level. Survivors, please proceed to the exit.”
Si Nan stood still, filled with self-blame and confusion, while the four people inside the cages jumped and laughed joyfully. “Go to the exit, we’ve completed the level!”
“No, no, no, you’re in the cages, I have to save you,” Si Nan said anxiously.
“Why save us? If you leave, you will complete the level, right? The cages will open. Hurry, hurry!”
“Yes, the completion condition didn’t mention that everyone needs to exit. Go quickly, hurry!”
Everyone began urging Si Nan, but he paid no attention. He first checked each cage, finding that they couldn’t be forcefully opened, thankfully, everyone was unharmed.
“Si Nan, we’re fine, you should complete the level first, don’t be so stubborn,” Lin Yiyi also grew impatient.
Si Nan insisted, “No, I have to save you.” After saying that, he started running around the gallery, continuing to search for clues.
In the depths of Gallery 5, a painting caught Si Nan’s attention. The painting depicted a luxurious and elegant bridal sedan, its curtains tightly closed. “The Bride,” Si Nan glanced at the label on the painting and murmured, “This painting is so abrupt, why didn’t I see it just now? Wait… Portrait Exhibition?”
Yes, this exhibition was clearly a portrait exhibition, yet this painting had no figures. Si Nan observed the frame as well, and sure enough, there were anomalies. Without hesitation, he pressed it, and with a loud noise, Si Nan was trapped inside a cage that descended from above.
At the same time, the cages in the other four galleries rose, and the rest of the group was saved.
“Congratulations to the survivors for successfully completing the level. Survivors, please proceed to the exit.” The intercom rang once again.
“Si Nan, we’re out, where are you?”
“I’m in Gallery 5, you should complete the level first!”
No one went to the exit. The four people approached the cage where Si Nan was trapped. Lin Yiyi grabbed Si Nan’s hand through the bars.
“We’re all out, it’s great. You should complete the level first!” Si Nan said happily.
“We can’t leave you alone, and there are suspicions,” Wuhen furrowed her brow. “Both times, the broadcast was exactly the same, only mentioning survivors. But aren’t we detectives? And what about the missing child?” She carefully examined the bridal sedan next to the cage, which seemed incredibly eerie.
“This bridal sedan, is it missing four poles? The kind used to carry a sedan,” Moyu asked Wuhen on the other side of the cage.
“That’s right, the sedan can only be lifted when the poles are attached. Let’s go, let’s find the poles!” Wuhen said, and Tiantian ran out.
After searching around, they only found four flashlights in a corner fire cabinet. They pressed the flashlights against the canvases, but they didn’t look like poles.
As they watched everyone gesturing and discussing, Wuhen and Si Nan simultaneously realized the key. Each of them extended their arms, turned on the flashlights, and the beams of light cast their arm shadows in the shape of poles on the four corners of the bridal sedan.
As they adjusted the angles, Si Nan’s cage finally rose. Immediately after, cries could be heard from the main hall of the art gallery. Everyone rushed out and saw a little girl standing in the center of the hall, crying with tears streaming down her face.