"We've entered that forest more than once, but we haven't found anything that shows signs of signatures," Shao Ling said, "The forest is too wide, so even if we don't rest or sleep, we keep looking for it. I'm afraid that we won't be able to search the entire forest before the end of the seven days, I think we have to narrow down the scope a bit, and this kind of aimless search is time-consuming and energy-consuming, and it is not necessarily effective."
Everyone pondered after hearing the words, and all the clues had been analyzed and understood, but the last step was still difficult. Looking for a signature that did not know where and in what form in the huge forest was tantamount to looking for a needle in a haystack.
"Speaking of several issues that I want to reveal in this painting," Zhu Haowen said, "environmental pollution, ecological damage, and plague infection, these three situations are the most lethal to us, plague infection.
"It is indeed the case. Our companions are all damaged on this issue. So I think, among the three major problems that destroy the earth, does the artist pay more attention to the problem of plague infection? In other words, he is more concerned about Is destroying the environment an intuitive harm to human beings
"It is arrogant to say that he may be a humanist thinker, so perhaps, under the surface of his fierce and extreme irony and criticism, there is actually a heart of compassion for the fate of mankind's immortality?"
"If this is the case, then we may be more 'people-oriented' when looking for signatures." Shao Ling nodded in agreement with Zhu Haowen's statement, "Maybe, in these houses, we can also find some forest-related items. , a clue to the signature?"
"It's not impossible." Ke Xun glanced at Qin Ci who was lying motionless in the distance, "It's not too late, let's divide our troops into two groups, one group will stay here, continue to search for relevant clues in the house, and the other A group of people went to the forest to find autographs!"
Everyone was quickly divided into two groups. Ke Xun, Mu Yiran, Wei Dong, Luo Yu, and Fang Fei, who had better physical strength, went to the forest. The rest stayed, and Qin Ci got up and joined the rest. Looking for clues in the residential area, the two groups agreed to return to the same place at noon.
Before the forest team set off, Mu Yiran instructed: "Put on thick clothes and cover your head and face. It may have been lucky that we didn't get bitten by mosquitoes when we entered the forest a few times, but now, we have to guard against the power of painting, come here. Use mosquito bites to screen us for the next round of death. After all, this is the world in the picture, not reality, and supernatural forces are always the culprit that kills us."
The four of them hurriedly started to wear them. Ke Xun and Wei Dong also went to the house to collect hats, scarves, masks, gloves, and even sunglasses, so they were fully armed.
This primitive forest is as deep and lush as it was when I first entered the painting. No matter how many generations of human life and death, these ancient creatures have always stood silently and stoically on the earth.
Humans who think they stand at the top of the biological chain are actually in nature, pitifully small and fragile.
The five people were frantically traveling and searching in the forest.
Some people look at the top of the head, some people look at the tree trunks, and some people look at the feet.
But after all, they only have five people and five eyes, and their search with all their strength is just like picking the soil with a needle and moving mountains with their bare hands.
The morning passed in the blink of an eye.
The five returned to the residential area exhausted and brought back watery vines for their companions to quench their thirst.
The Uptown Group also found nothing.
Qin Ci had already started to develop a high fever, accompanied by severe intracranial pain, his whole body was extremely pale and weak, and he was sitting under the porch of a house breathing heavily and staggering.
"I haven't slept much for more than two days, eating less and drinking less water, which made him enter the serious stage of the disease faster than Xiao Kaitianyang and the others." Shao Ling frowned, "We don't have time to rest, drink some water, and then continue."
"I'll change with you," Wu You said to Fang Fei, "I'm looking for a house in the morning and resting. Now that my physical strength is good, I'll change you."
"Okay." Fang Fei was not polite to her. Her current state was indeed approaching the limit of her physical strength. Haste is not enough.
"Then we will switch between the two groups in the afternoon," Shao Ling said. "I'm afraid Dr. Qin... It's more difficult. You keep four, and the other one will enter the forest with us again."
"I'll go." Ke Xun said, "I still have spare energy."
But in fact, including him, the state of everyone has dropped to the bottom, but they really have no time.
After everyone replenished their water, they were ready to work separately again.
"We'll be back before dark." Shao Ling confessed.
Everyone was silent for a while, and they glanced at Qin Ci over there, but couldn't bear to look any more, and quickly took them back.
If you haven't found your signature after dark, it's too late.
Ke Xun took the equipped Shao Ling and the others to the forest again.
This time, a few people rushed to an area that they had not set foot in, and they were still endlessly walking, searching, searching, anxious, and disappointed.
"Painting can't set the process of finding a signature to a dead end..." Ke Xun said to himself, licking his chapped lips, "If the signature is really in this boundless forest, it shouldn't be a no-brainer. Conspicuous form, this is no different from a dead end... So, the signature should be conspicuous... Even if we can't recognize it at a glance, it must be conspicuous... Conspicuous... How to find the conspicuous thing? Green everywhere , there are trees everywhere... prominent green?"
Zhu Haowen, who was next to him, kept looking for and listened to him quietly, and when he heard this, he suddenly interjected: "There are many kinds of green, dark green, light green, turquoise, mint green, olive green, etc., the so-called conspicuous green. Is it the kind of green that can be seen clearly even if it is mixed in with many greens with different color values?"
"What kind of green would that be?" Ke Xun grabbed the hat on his head, the hair under the hat was already soaked with sweat as if it had just been washed, "Could it be—fluorescent green?"
"..." Zhu Haowen was once again convinced by his escaped brain circuit, "How can there be fluorescent green plants?"
"Yes," it was Gu Qingqing who answered, meeting the slightly surprised gazes from Ke Xun and Zhu Haowen, he couldn't help but be a little nervous as he endorsed, "There is a plant called Cuiyuncao, and it comes with a blue The green fluorescent texture is mostly born in the south, and it can also be potted in the north, which is a unique plant in my country.”
"Whether it's this kind of grass, it's probably just as difficult to find," Shao Ling was not optimistic. "There are too many plants and trees in the forest, and our time... is getting less and less."
Ke Xun pursed his lips and thought for a moment: "What if it is a plant that can emit fluorescence? Will it be more conspicuous after dark? Xiao Kai and the three of them died at night. After nine o'clock, if we can find it before nine o'clock, Brother Qin still has hope."
"But we have to go back to the house after dark," Shao Ling said. "If we don't enter the house, maybe all of us will be in danger."
"Mr. Shao, you've put the cart before the horse," Ke Xun said. "Our purpose is to find signatures, not to avoid danger, or to save Brother Qin alone. If you can really see fluorescent green plants after dark, and That fluorescent green is really a signature, so we all have to touch it before we can leave the painting, what's the matter when you go back to the house and hide?"
"..." Shao Ling choked and couldn't help rubbing his temples, "It's because my brain is not enough... You are right, but what if we guessed wrong? There is no or nothing to do with fluorescent green plants at all. , then won't we all die tonight? This has become a life-threatening situation, either all die or all live, do we really dare to gamble like this?"
"..." Ke Xun also choked and rubbed his temples, "It's almost a matter of not sleeping... I've completely lost my mind. In fact, I don't quite understand why this Cuiyuncao can become the key sign of the signature. ... Qing girl, does this green cloud grass have any special properties? Or attributes that can be related to ecology, human beings, diseases, etc.?"
Gu Qingqing recalled for a long time, and finally shook his head: "It seems... it's just an ornamental plant, maybe it has some medicinal value, but I don't think it has anything to do with the Ebola virus..."
"Then I don't think the signature has anything to do with it," Ke Xun said, "Fluorescent green is also temporarily used as an option, but I think as long as there is a slight possibility, it can't be let go. Why don't you just keep looking for it first, and I'll go back to the residential area to take care of the east. Zi brings, he is an art major, he should be more sensitive to color than us, maybe he can distinguish the distinctive green."
Ke Xun, who returned to the residential area, almost vomited after seeing the work being done by the left-behind team.
Several people are using the shovels and even kitchen knives they have found to scrape the walls and roofs in the house... blood and blood-covered lumps, want to check the walls covered by these things Is there a clue.
It can be seen from the lumps that have been shoveled down from the ground that the thick blood is wrapped in pieces of rotten human skin, bones and internal organs, and there are still many in these things. Crawling in and out... uh... children of flies.
The time set for this painting may not be too long after the "blood disaster" occurred, so these things have not been completely corrupted, and they have remained in the most disgusting state between "intact" and "dissolved". As for the relatively complete dead faces that everyone sees at night, they should be the result of "artistic processing" by the behind-the-scenes power of the painting.
Wei Dong, who was shoveling his sore arm and resting for a few seconds, heard a voice behind him, turned his head and saw Ke Xun standing at the door, and said in surprise, "When are you still in the mood to stand there and make faces?!"
Ke Xun: "...What's wrong with me, I almost vomited and I'm holding it back! I'm embarrassed?!"
"Next door." Wei Dong pointed to the side.
Ke Xun turned his head and went to the next door, and saw that his man was mixing with those disgusting things there. He was so distressed that he wished he could set the house on fire. He hurriedly strode over to his side and grabbed the shovel in his hand: "Yan Ran, I'll shovel here, you take Dongzi to the forest to find Shao Ling and the others."
"What did you find?" Mu Yiran rubbed his head.
Ke Xun reiterated the unreliable speculations of the few people in the forest just now, and finally said: "No matter what, try it first and then talk about it, in case it is true, so let Dongzi go and see, you go ahead."
Mu Yiran heard the words thoughtfully, and said: "Fluorescent green plants are unlikely, but I am more concerned about your previous speculation."
"Tell me about it." Ke Xun propped himself on the ground with a shovel, leaning on the handle of the shovel, leaning over to look at him.
The gray sky light came in through the window warmly, making the two people's interlaced and harmonious figures glow with a hazy light.