Deadly Game: Almighty Boss’s Guide to Making Money

Chapter 1253. The Book at Night (41)

—This painting is quite beautiful.

Is it the painting that's beautiful, or the person who's beautiful?

—Of course it's people, I don't know anything about painting.

—The painting is also very beautiful.

—Even if it's beautiful, we have to burn it, just in case something happens!
—What if it gets burned and angers Sophie?
--Too.

"What should we do?" Xia Jin also noticed the difference in the painting and asked quickly.

Everyone pondered for a moment.

"Let's leave her for now and find Art Rainbow first!" Chu Xue said. "If we touch her and cause unnecessary trouble, it will waste too much time."

After thinking about it, everyone agreed.

“A rainbow is made up of seven colors. Could it be that we’re looking for seven colors?” Lin Xi said.

“It could also be seven different painting styles,” Xiao Qin interjected.

Everyone looked at Xia Jin.

Xia Jin closed her eyes, and after a moment, she opened them.

"You need to find 'rainbow color blocks' in seven different styles of paintings, and once you collect them all, you can form an artistic rainbow."

“Then let’s look for it!” Bai Yueming said.

"If everyone splits up to search, it will be faster, but we must be careful," Chu Xue said.

"It's best not to be alone," Lin Xi interjected.

The group immediately split into several groups.

Lin Xi, Huang Jingjing, and Bai Ye are in the same group.

Guo Yuelang, Bai Yueming, and Quan Quan are in one group.

Xiao Qin, Ouyang Xichen, and Chang Xiaohe are in one group.

First Snow, Gentle Elegance, and Sunny are a group.

Xia Jin and Uncle Zhang followed Chu Xue and the other two.

Before we had gone far, we heard Wenya's excited voice.

"There's orange here!"

Lin Xi and the others looked over.

Wenya and her four companions were standing in front of a painting titled "Bullfighting".

In the lower right corner of the canvas, there is a small patch of orange-red color, like clouds dyed by the setting sun.

Wenya reached out, wanting to confirm whether the colored block could be removed.

Just as her fingertips touched the canvas, she suddenly heard the "rustling" sound of a paintbrush gliding across the canvas behind her.

On the painting they had deliberately ignored, Sophie's brush tip was dripping rose-red paint. The paint fell to the floor and turned into a red thread that snaked around Wenya's ankle.

"What is this!" Wenya tried to lift her foot to break free, but the silk threads tightened more and more, climbing up her calves.

She turned to look at the self-portrait; Sophie's eyes were gleaming with an eerie light, and the corners of her mouth were slightly upturned, as if she were smiling.

"Wenya!" Qingqing rushed over immediately, trying to break the silk thread.

But the silk thread turned into paint as soon as it touched her fingers, sticking to her palms and impossible to wash off.

Chu Xue suddenly had a knife in her hand, and she slashed at the red line.

However, the red line remained completely still.

The others rushed over here.

Bai Yueming's palm ignited with flames, and he was about to throw it onto the self-portrait. Chu Xue suddenly shouted, "Don't burn it! Perhaps, her painting is her domain. Burning the painting will hurt Wen Ya!"

The silk threads had already wrapped around Wenya's waist, and her body began to become transparent, like watercolor diluted with paint.

Sophie's paintbrush moved swiftly across the canvas, and a gentle outline gradually emerged below the originally blank frame.

She was wearing a white coat, and her hand was still pointing at the color block; even the curve of her hair was exactly the same.

"No—" Wenya's voice grew softer and softer, finally turning into a wisp of white smoke and completely merging into the oil painting.

Sophie puts away her paintbrush with satisfaction in the self-portrait, and a line of small text appears below the frame: "New material: Gentle Realism".

Suddenly, the plaster statues in the gallery began to rotate. David's head turned toward the oil painting, and Venus's broken arms pointed toward the depths of the gallery, as if pointing in a new direction.

The live stream chat exploded instantly:

—Holy crap! Wenya's gone just like that?
—I can't accept it yet.

—123 They were too far away to make it back in time.

— Even being close won't work; items can't be used with 1, 2, and 3.

—Teacher Huang and handsome little Xin Xin did teleport over, but they don't have any useful weapons!

—The science and engineering section was just for solving problems, but the art section is just killing people!

—These vegetables are no longer safe, are they?
Where Wenya disappeared, she left behind an orange-red rainbow patch, like a drop of congealed blood.

Xia Jin picked up the colored block; it gleamed warmly in her palm.

"Orange has been collected. Six colors remain: red, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Warning: Sophie needs 'materials' to complete her painting. Those she targets will become part of the next painting." A cold, electronic voice announced.

“We need to find the remaining color blocks as soon as possible.” Ouyang Xichen handed the color blocks to Xia Jin, his eyes fixed on the depths of the corridor. “Sophie’s eyes have been following us; she’s picking out the next ‘material’.”

Beside the elegant oil painting, Sophie's gaze slowly moved, finally landing on Qingqing, whose face had turned pale.

The drawing board in Qingqing's arms crashed to the floor with a "bang," scattering charcoal pencils all over the place.

Her face was as white as the plaster on the roof of the corridor, her fingers gripped the hem of Chuxue's clothes tightly, her knuckles turned white, and her voice trembled.

"Her eyes... were following me..."

Chu Xue immediately shielded her behind her, holding the knife horizontally in front of her. The blade reflected the warm yellow light, but it couldn't penetrate the unfathomable azure eyes in Sophie's self-portrait.

"Don't be afraid, I'm here." Her voice was steady, but her gaze was fixed on Sophie's hand in the painting.

The silver-handled paintbrush was raised again, and the rose-red paint at the tip began to drip down. This time, the paint that dripped onto the floor actually crawled along the wood grain towards Qingqing.

"Everyone, form a circle and protect Qingqing in the middle!" Guo Yuelang quickly stepped forward and pulled Xia Jin and Uncle Zhang into the circle as well.

Quan Quan squatted down to help Qing Qing pick up the drawing board. As soon as his fingertips touched the board, he heard a crisp "crack" sound.

The plaster statues on both sides of the corridor suddenly moved!

David's head slowly turned towards the crowd, his eye sockets empty, yet seemingly able to precisely lock onto a target; Venus's severed arm rose, pointing in Qingqing's direction, the cut still stained with dried white paint, like bloodstains that hadn't been wiped clean.

Xia Jin quickly closed her eyes, and the pale golden light in her palm flickered intensely.

After a few seconds, she managed to speak with difficulty: "The owl said... Sophie absorbs energy through paintings and plaster statues, the color blocks we obtained can form a temporary light shield, and... the next color block in the Impressionist painting 'Water Lilies' is yellow!"

Huang Jingjing looked at the Impressionist exhibition area on the left side of the corridor.

Monet's Water Lilies hangs in the most prominent position, with a small patch of bright yellow light embedded in the heart of the purple water lilies, like the surface of water kissed by sunlight.

"I'll go get the color blocks!"

But just as she teleported to the Water Lilies, the red silk thread in Sophie's self-portrait suddenly flew out with a "whoosh" and went straight for her wrist!
"Watch out!" The flames in Bai Yueming's palm instantly flared up and burned towards the silk thread.

The red thread shrank slightly when it came into contact with the fire, but instead of breaking, it split into two strands.

One group continued to entangle Huang Jingjing, while the other bypassed the crowd and secretly crawled towards Qingqing's ankle.

Chu Xue reacted swiftly, slashing at the second strand of silk with her knife.