Paintings of Terror

"The signature should be conspicuous. Even if we don’t recognize it at a glance, or don’t attract our attention, it must be conspicuous—" Mu Yiran repeated Ke Xun’s initial guess, "In the forest. There are many vegetation, whether it is flowers, grass or trees, no matter how conspicuous they are placed outside, once they are submerged in a huge jungle of this magnitude, no matter how conspicuous they are, they will not show their particularity.

"So I think that this kind of ‘conspicuous’ should not refer to color or shape, nor is it likely to be a special species. After all, the forests are now chaotic in species, there are both north and south, and it is no longer special what kind of plants grow inside.

"Then there is another possibility, which is high and low. But the tallest house here is only three floors. Even if you stand on the roof, it is difficult to look at the entire forest from a bird's-eye view to find the tallest tree.

"According to the basic rule that painting will not give us a dead end, if this kind of'conspicuous' is difficult to distinguish only from the appearance, then I think the location of the signature will not be too far away from us. Because it is'difficult to distinguish'. It's quite difficult. If you put the signature far and hard to reach, it's not much different from a dead end.

"To sum up, the signature should be in a place closer to the periphery of the forest, not too deep. It is probably a place we have already walked, but because we are still short of the light that finally pierced the window paper, so even The signature is right in front of our eyes, and it is difficult for us to find it.

"And this signature will not have conspicuous colors and special shapes, nor will it have obvious thickness and height. It may be a tree, a flower, a grass, a moss, or a vine, but I think it It must be very old, able to represent the long history of the entire planet, and must be very tough, able to represent the tenacious vitality of all living things."

"Vitality..." Ke Xun put his chin on the shovel and looked down and thought, "You said the name Abel, which means life in Hebrew, so it seems that if you choose from flowers, trees, and vines For one, I think the tree should be the most vital thing, right? Its leaves can store water, its roots can store soil, its body can provide birds, animals and even humans to inhabit, and its fruits can feed many creatures. , It can produce oxygen for living creatures to breathe... Doesn’t Abel also mean to breathe, so would the form of signature be a tree? A tree full of vitality?"

"--The tree of life." An epiphany flashed in Mu Yiran's eyes, thinking and analyzing, "There is a saying that the tree of life exists in various countries or sects. The tree of life in ancient Egypt is platanus. On the sacred mountain, the two worlds of life and death are separated, which symbolizes the beginning of the founding... Yin Suo believes that wood is the primitive substance that constitutes everything in the world, and the Bodhi tree is known as the tree of life...

"When it comes to Hebrew, Kamal’s esoteric teaching relies on the secret oral inheritance of Hebrew between teachers and students. There is also a tree of life in this sect, but it is not a real tree, but a tree. Schematic diagram of the shape structure, use it to analyze the different levels that make up the universe and everything in the world...

"And the peach trees in our country, the fig trees in Egypt, the apricot trees in Iran, and the olive trees, palm trees and pomegranate trees in other parts of the Middle East or in Semitic traditions... these deciduous plants with many seeds and fruits have all been Known as the tree of life, it is the incarnation of the mother of the earth. To have many children and to be fruitful means that the attributes of descendants to reproduce, flowering and fruiting and falling leaves, also represent the four seasons and the cycle of life..."

Ke Xun blinked and looked at him quietly, feeling that he could hear the buzzing of the search engine in his brain.

Mu Yiran listed many alternatives for himself, but which one seemed to be still being analyzed and judged. Ke Xun did not disturb his thoughts, walked aside and seized the time to get rid of the blood on the wall, and continued to search. Whether the blood is covered with relevant clues.

The wall of this room, pasted with European-style wallpaper, is now worn and peeled off, revealing the powder-painted wall below.

Ke Xun was a little heavy. These old-fashioned wallpapers reminded him of the home he had lived in when he was a child.

At that time, the father and mother were still there, and the family was not very wealthy, but the husband and wife lived very seriously and exquisitely. Even if limited by income, they were still within their ability to make the family live comfortably.

At that time, his family lived in a small house with two bedrooms and one living room. Dad posted wallpapers to each room. The color that my mother picked was a warm rice paper color, and the texture was a bit like that of vertical trees. Dermatoglyph. At that time, his classmates also posted wallpapers in several homes, most of which were geometric patterns or flower patterns. Only his family had this kind of tree pattern. He liked it very much. He felt that his home was different. He felt that his parents had special patterns. Artistic vision.

Every time he thinks about that home, his memory always seems to stay on the day he moved in after the renovation is completed. He is so happy that he is about to fly, running around the house with joy, and keeps his hands full of texture. Stroking on the wallpaper.

Yes, the memory of childhood, every time I think back, it will freeze in that scene of that day.

It's like right now.

All the people here are fixed on this day of the year, and their homes still retain the way they were before they died, and their lives and memories have stayed on this day.

...No, even if they are all infected with Ebola, they will not die on the same day, so it is not this day, but only this year.

This year is 2012, which is clearly indicated in the Hebrew essay deciphered by Tian Yang. Although its role is only to extend everyone's thinking and let the focus fall on the end of mankind, this "2012" year may not have other directing effects.

In 2012, the end of the world, the end of the world is a Mayan prophecy (rumor), Mayan prophecy comes from the Mayan civilization, it is said that many countries have the tree of life in the traditional civilization.

"Yan Ran," Ke Xun stopped, turning his head to look at Mu Yi Ran, who had come over from the prestige. "Is there a tree of life in Mayan civilization?"

"Jibei tree," Mu Yiran's eyes gleamed, "It is American kapok, a tropical tree species. In Maya civilization, it symbolizes life and is located in the center of the universe, so it is called the world tree or the tree of life. But Mayan The World Tree is more than one tree. It is composed of multiple trees. The middle one is seen as a pillar connecting heaven, earth, and the underworld. Around it, there is a tree in each of the four directions. I think it should be what we are looking for."

"--It is indeed both conspicuous and inconspicuous!" Ke Xun dropped the shovel. "The five trees distributed in this way are indeed inconspicuous in the big forest, but when we pierced the window paper of the last clue , It becomes quite conspicuous!-we immediately all went to find these five kapok trees!"

Calling Weidong Luo Er and Fang Fei in other rooms, Ke Xun rushed out to find Qin Ci who was in a semi-drowsy and semi-conscious state under the porch, and put him on his back without any explanation.

Qin Ci woke up and quickly endured the headache and eye pain and pushed Ke Xun hard: "Xiao Ke, let me go! The droplets in the painting are likely to be contagious too!"

"Then you close your mouth and don't talk," Ke Xun was unmoved, and asked Weidong to find a mask for Qin Ci to put on. "Let’s go find a signature now, Qin brother, hold on, we’ll be fine. Get out!"

Qin Ci didn't know the previous situation, thought Ke Xun was anxious, and he was ready to go to the forest to look around like a headless fly, and hurriedly shouted at him behind the mask: "Xiao Ke, calm down! You are now I’m not alone, and I can’t cherish my life so much! If you have a case, how would you let Xiaomu bear it?! You let me--"

Before he finished speaking, he let Xiao Mu in his mouth catch up from behind, pinched his neck and fainted.

A few people rushed towards the forest, but Shao Ling and the others did not stop searching during this time. At this moment, they did not know where they went. They could only chase after them by relying on the signs that they had left on the tree.

"Pay attention to whether there is kapok on the road, the kapok surrounded by five trees!" Ke Xun said to Weidong Luo and Fang Fei.

"The key-we northerners don't know much about kapok!" Wei Dong was so anxious that he turned to ask Fang Fei next to him, "How about you Fei?"

Fang Fei shook his head: "I have only been working in the south for a while. I only know that the kapok flowers are red, but the season is not certain. Although the weather is hot, if it is the end of the weather, it may not be the midwinter. Kapok seems to bloom in spring, I can’t recognize it without flowers."

"Kapok leaves are longer..." Luo Ling said, and then shut his mouth.

Because only with the attribute of "long", there is no way to easily find kapok trees in a large forest with many species.

"Just find five trees that are the same." Ke found out his idea.

"Big brother, open your eyes and see, there are a lot of five similar trees in the densely wooded area over there, okay?" Wei Dong pointed out to Ke Xun.

"Moreover, we can't determine how far the four trees grow in the four directions," Fang Fei said. "If they are more than ten meters away from each other and there are other tree species growing in them, it would be even worse. Judged."

"...In short, we are short of people who know kapok trees." Ke Xun said, "Anyway, please observe first, find Shao Ling and talk to them."

Several people followed the mark for dozens of minutes before finally catching up with the people of Shao Ling. After all, the speed of those people was not slow, they were always racing against time.

When the two parties met, Mu Yiran quickly said the speculation, and finally said: "Since the location of the speculated signature will not be too deep, then we will now use this place as the center and divide it into four groups and look in four directions. Who knows? Out of the kapok tree?"

"I can recognize it." Shao Ling said.

Luo Wei and Gu Qingqing, who was so tired and panting, also raised their hands.

"Then the four of us will take one person in each of the four directions," Mu Yiran said, "Lao Qin is here, leaving one person to guard him."

Finally, Wu You and Qin Ci were left in place, Mu Yiran with Fang Fei, Shao Ling with Weidong, Luo Ge with Zhu Haowen, Gu Qingqing with Ke Xun, and the four groups each chose a direction. Continue to search for kapok trees non-stop.

As a girl, Gu Qingqing has been able to persevere until now and it has been extraordinary. At this moment, he walked deep and shallow in the woods, stunned. Ke Xun stepped forward to support her and walked for a while. Seeing that Gu Qingqing was really panting, he said, "Or come up, I'll carry you."

"You are also very tired," Gu Qingqing was very careful. Although Ke Xun's performance was not obvious, she was still observed by her. After thinking about it, she took out the pen and paper from her bag. "Why don't I draw the outline of the kapok leaf Look, then let's find them separately, lest I hold you back."

"No, the forest is too dangerous to let you go alone," Ke Xun also thought for a while, "No need to paint, I will show you up to the tree, stand tall and see far."

Gu Qingqing shuddered when she heard that she was going to go up the tree, and said quickly: "But...but...we can't stand on the top of the tree. Standing on the trunk will be blocked by branches and leaves."

Ke Xun rolled his eyes and came up with a new idea: "Don't worry, I have a way, you don't need to go up the tree." Then he climbed up the tree.