Nightmare Assault

Chapter 272: Play

“Mr. An,” Tang Shirou’s voice was small and light. It was shaking from fear. “This painting… is it really alright?” She looked at An Xuan pleadingly. This gentleman was her only reliance in this strange and unfamiliar world.

After they returned from meeting Young Master Huang, there was a new painting in their room. The painting hung in a secluded spot, so no one noticed it at first. It was You Qi, who lay down in bed to rest, who first noticed it. He jumped out of bed. From his angle, the painting was at the spot where the vase should be.

“Are… you sure?” Qin Jian asked nervously. He was more panicked than the others. Even though An Xuan guaranteed him that everything should be fine, he was the one with the problem. In the nightmare realm, guarantees were useless.

“Yes.” You Qi swallowed. He didn’t look like he was joking.

This happened after he met Young Master Huang. He’d be lying to himself if he believed that they were fine. An Xuan narrowed his eyes. He knew that his group had been targeted. What he wanted to know then was whether it was his room that had the extra painting or whether the extra painting had appeared in everyone’s room. That was very important.

The painting featured a beauty in bright red costume who was dancing. Her steps were light and her movement was graceful. The costume could barely hide her voluptuous figure. The painter had impressive skills. Even though only half of her face was exposed, her charm was perfectly captured in the painting.

“Mr… An?” Tang Shirou was so frightened.

An Xuan managed his expressions well. As he turned to Tang Shirou, he had a light smile on his face, as if nothing in this world could worry him. Instantly, Tang Shirou didn’t feel as worried.

“Don’t worry, Miss Tang.” An Xuan smiled, “It’s just a painting. Probably Butler Zhou had people hang this here while we were away. It probably has some clues.”n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Tang Shirou’s interest in the painting rose when she heard the mention of clues. Even though she was scared, it was nothing compared to her desire to leave this place. As she moved to study the painting, Mr. An had already looked away from the painting. It was the same for Qin Jian and You Qi. They looked at the painting and Tang Shirou from the corner of their eyes. Tang Shirou was the last person to notice the painting, but she was also the one who studied it the most.

Tang Shirou looked at the painting and felt like the woman in it was slowly turning her head towards her. She rubbed her eyes and looked again. The feeling disappeared.

“Miss Tang,” Qin Jian’s hollow voice asked, “Have you found the clues?”

“No.” Tang Shirou felt like the red costume was extremely familiar. She strangely yearned for it. She couldn’t explain where this yearning came from.

“Then take a closer look,” Qin Jian’s voice was floaty.

Just as Tang Shirou wanted to lean in closer, a rapid knocking on the door disrupted everything. The guest was very rude. The knocking was loud.

Tang Shirou snapped out of it. She looked at the door blurrily. Eventually, she recovered. As naive as she was, she realised that the painting… was more than just clues.

They opened the door and saw the middle-aged woman from before.

She began in a robotic voice, “After today’s session, the young master had the medicine according to your prescription. He is feeling much better. To thank the Dafu, the young master invites you to act in his show.” After a pause, she added, “Tonight.”

“Acting?” You Qi forced out the words, “Are you serious?”

“We are Dafus. We don’t know how to act,” Qin Jian quickly rejected it. His face was paler than You Qi’s. “We don’t want to create problems for the young master. I’m sure he can act better without us in his way.”

The middle-aged woman turned her unfeeling gaze to Qin Jian. The old man shrunk his neck. Actually, they were not cowards. After all, they were old players. However, this mission was too strange.

“Are you Qin Jian?” The woman asked.

Qin Jian was startled. Then, he nodded carefully, “Yes. It’s me… Why…” Before he finished, the middle-aged woman produced a blue notebook from her chest. Then, she materialised a brush from her sleeves. She licked the brush and wrote something down.

“What… what are you doing?” Qin Jian became nervous.

“Qin Jian said he didn’t like the young master’s show.” The middle-aged woman mumbled robotically as she wrote things down, “He doesn’t give the young master face.”

“The fuck!” Qin Jian panicked, “When did I say that?”

“He cursed the young master.” The woman continued to record it.

The woman’s professionalism was impressive. Her ability to tell on others was at its prime.

“Wait.” An Xuan reached out to hold the woman’s brush. He smiled, “Please return and tell your Young Master that we will definitely support his art tonight.”

The woman moved her gaze away from Qin Jian to the rest. Since no one protested, she revealed an uncomfortable smile. She put away the blue notebook and took out another. She explained naturally, “This is the young master’s request. Just follow them.”

An Xuan accepted it. He noticed it was not a notebook but a folded paper.

He opened the paper. He saw many strange masks, colourful costumes and… caricatures in confusing poses.

It looked like a child’s drawing. The poses were simple, but for some reason, they felt eerie being drawn as such.