<h4>Chapter 246: Death</h4>


    The room was unusually quiet. All eyes were fixed on Mu Yiran’s face, awaiting the most crucial revtion.


    In order to express it clearly, Mu Yiran picked up a pen and drew a straight line on a nk piece of paper, “Let’s assume this is a timeline. From point A to point B is the time we are currently experiencing.” Mu Yiranbeled A and B at the ends of the line, and drew a forward arrow, “Now, imagine another timeline, exactly the same length as ours, but moving in the opposite direction. In fact, these two timelines are even ovepping. It’s like a single road divided into twones, with vehicles traveling towards each other on either side. No matter which side you’re on, the other side appears to be moving in the opposite direction.”


    Everyone remained silent, even if they had small doubts, they wanted to wait and hear it all before asking.


    Mu Yiran drew another arrow beneath this line, this arrow pointing from point B back to point A, in the opposite direction of the previous arrow.


    “No matter how chaotic the time within the painting may be, the overall rules of the painting should remain intact. We have seven days in the painting. This has hardly changed, and the same is true in this painting, ‘Inn’.” Mu Yiran drew several vertical lines on the straight line, dividing it evenly into seven segments, “The seven lines on the wall likely represent the seven days, another reminder and emphasis from the other ‘us’.”


    “I’ve always been puzzled by what exactly the intersection point of the two timelines is. Things like lights-off, lights-on, and forced sleep had led me to make incorrect judgments for a long time, until… when Ke Xun brought out these two wooden ducks. It’s likely that these are messages left by the other ‘us’ within their capability!”


    “These two wooden ducks, only one of them can stay on the water’s surface. No matter how you change it, only one can survive.” a hint of sadness appeared in Mu Yiran’s expression, “This discovery led me to find the point where the two timelines intersect: death.”


    “I-I don’t quite understand,” Luo Bu couldn’t help but mutter, “The fat uncle said that you can see another self after death. Is that what he means?”


    Mu Yiran nodded, “Yes, because sooner orter, the ‘us’ from both timelines will meet at the point of their respective deaths. Right now, Xi Shengnan and Lu Heng have bothpleted this matter.”


    “I’m still confused. Even if both sides set off from the two points and go towards each other, is everything happening simultaneously? Why do I feel a lot of things have already happened on their side.” Mai Peng said.


    Mu Yiran looked at Mai Peng, “Have you recovered from your cold?”


    Only then did Mai Peng realize it. He cleared his throat to confirm, “Strange. I was feeling so dizzy on the way to the funeral that I almost fainted. When I handed down the ropes to tie the coffin at the window, the cold wind almost made me lose consciousness… Howe I’m fine now, like nothing happened? What’s going on?”


    “This is the influence of the other timeline on us. The other ‘you’ carried Lu Heng’s coffin and caught a cold from the cold wind at the window as a result, hence your cold progressed in a strange, reversed state.” Mu Yiran exined, “It’s an effect the two timelines have on each other that’s somewhat like a maic field. This influence is not very precise, but we’ve caught a glimpse of it. I believe the ‘them’ on the other timeline are also being influenced by us, but they seem to have be aware of it before us.”


    “This also exins the question Mai Peng raised earlier: You feel that they seemed to have acted earlier than us and that many things on their side have already urred in advance. Actually, there is no such thing as early orte, or fast or slow. It’s all about the position of our timeline.”


    “Let’s continue looking at the diagram. We start from point A. On the first night, the death of Xi Shengnan urred. On the second night, Lu Heng had an incident.” Mu Yiran’s pen stopped at the second grid on the vertical line, “When we reach the second day, the other side is on the fifth day. When we are on the first day, the other side is on the sixth day. When we just entered the painting, the other side has alreadypleted seven days. This is why the photo we took right after entering the painting showed Du Lingyu drawing lines on the wall. Though it’s hard to see, we can deduce that she was drawing the seventh line.”


    Du Lingyu, who was absent just now and didn’t know much about the photo, still nodded at Mu Yiran’s exnation, “Yes, I’ve always felt that the seventh line on the wall resembled my handwriting.”


    Zhu Haowen stood up, his expression somewhatplex. He seemed to want to sit down but opted to pace around the room, “So, everyone’s lifespan in this world is the same, right?”


    Mu Yiran sighed silently, “Yes, Fang Fei heard about lifespans from the Shamans of the Fluorite Inn. Regardless of how long the lifespans of the NPCs in this world may be, the lifespans of those of us from outside the painting are only seven days. Once we exceed those seven days, there’s no turning back.”


    “Death, here, is considered consummation, because people from the two timelines intersect through death. It’s like the two ends of a rope finally meet and form a knot, creating aplete circle of life. ording to this theory, Xi Shengnan and Lu Heng havepleted their circles and reached consummation.”


    Mu Yiran then took out another pen and dipped it in cinnabar, “The red line is our current timeline, the ck line is ‘theirs’. This should be more straightforward.”


    Mu Yiran wrote Xi Shengnan’s name below and drew a straight line divided into seven segments. The red line only had the length of just one segment, while the ck line spanned six.


    Following suit, he wrote Lu Heng’s name, and his line was divided into two-fifths: two segments for red and five for ck.


    “To put it more urately, a timeline is essentially each person’s lifeline,” Mu Yiran said.


    Everyone began toprehend. In truth, this timeline was remarkably fair in a sense. Each person only had seven days in this world. Regardless of how the two timelines operated or how an individual navigated them, no one could escape the fate of seven days. Thebined time of both timelines would always equal seven days.


    Qin Ci couldn’t quite believe it, “So, you’re saying ‘they’ are essentiallypeting with us for time, for lifespan? Lifespan… isn’t lifespan just another term for time?”


    Ke Xun listened for a long time and finally figured it out: “I don’t think so. The ‘us’ on the other timeline aren’t anyone else. They’re not the NPCs in the painting. ‘They’ are us. ‘They’ shouldn’t bepeting with us. They should be able to make the right trade-offs.”


    Mu Yiran looked at Ke Xun with a somewhat sad and pitiful gaze.


    Ke Xun continued, “Why must it be apetition and not apromise?”


    Everyone was clearly taken aback by Ke Xun’s words, looking at him with disbelief.


    Mu Yiran’s voice grew solemn, “‘They’ quickly realized this as well, and unexpectedly,prehended the difference between illusion and reality. At least some of ‘them’ recognized that their timeline is the false line, while the other side’s is the solid line. The ones who can truly find the signature and sessfully leave are only those on the other side! So…”


    Mu Yiran found himself unable to continue for a moment.


    Ke Xun took a deep breath and continued for him: “So, the duck underwater willingly sinks to the bottom, so that the duck above water can swim to the shore with all its might.”


    “And so, they used every means to leave various pieces of evidence for us, hoping to warn us,” Shao Ling understood too, “and they, resolutely and without hesitation, retreated in order to advance to make the final sacrifice.”


    Ke Xun nced at Du Lingyu, who was standing in the corner, and suddenly understood her previous words: the “advance forward with unwavering determination, withoutpromise or hesitation.”; the “we will be all be with you”; the “this step backward is for the sake of moving forward in the long run.: <i>All of us stand united to take this step together. Even if this is a step backward, this step backward is for the sake of moving forward in the long run! Even if that step backward leads to a deep abyss, we will get eternal light in return.</i>


    There were soft sobs in the room; it was from Du Lingyu in the corner. Her eyes were red and swollen as she looked up, “I vaguely remember some things. Yes, it’s like this. I was thest one. I was too timid to face death…… Ke Xun was the first one. After figuring it out, he was the first to sacrifice himself. He told me, ‘Don’t be afraid, we will all be with you.’ That’s what he said to me… But I didn’t listen to him then…”


    Du Lingyu’s voice choked up as she spoke, unable to continue.


    Hearing this, Zhu Haowen’s eyes reddened, looking at Ke Xun, “The first… Ke Xun, you… you’re such a damn bastard!”


    Mu Yiran attempted to regain hisposure, “So, if the ‘other’ Ke Xun keeps his lifespan within two days, he gains five days of life for today’s Ke Xun, and more time to find the signature.”


    All of them suddenly understood the content of the photo from the previous night. Every veteran member of the group had mournful expressions. That time should be when Ke Xun had left.


    “How could we not have been together?” Ke Xun said, looking at Mu Yiran.


    “Perhaps I was too timid,” Mu Yiran replied, hardly able to believe that he could still make a joke at a time like this. He approached Ke Xun and hugged him tightly, as though trying to merge this man into his own heart, so that the two of them would never separate. “Back then, we must have had a strategic n, with different roles for each person… Let’s learn from them, they are truly remarkable.”


    .


    Wei Dong wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, “Let’s get moving. We can’t waste the time they bought for us. Let’s quicklye up with ideas to find the signature! Let’s head to the Cold Night Inn!”


    “Cold Night Inn?” Mai Peng and the others looked puzzled.


    Wei Dong had already begun packing, “We’ll exin as we pack. Let’s make the most of our time.”


    “Brother Dong, we haven’t erged the photo of the white fish yet,” Luo Bu said with a strong nasal tone.


    “Oh, right, let’s look at the photo first!” Wei Dong stopped his packing and swiftly loaded the four negatives into the projector. “Turn off the lights and look at the big screen!”


    The lights in the room were quickly extinguished one by one, and the image on the screen gradually became clear.