Rules-related weird stories: 4016.

Chapter 662 Strange Murals
The veteran art students fell silent, and most of the fanatics looked incredulously at those named by Kuai Hongji.

Although the expressions of the fanatical leaders pointed out by Kuai Hongji could not be seen under their cloaks, their slight trembling suggested that they were the most shocked.

Kuai Hongji's approach is no different from first describing their underwear and then revealing it. What's most terrifying is that his description is completely accurate.

"You, you, you... how could you know so clearly?!" The fanatical leader's voice was filled with boundless fear.

Because what you are so proud of is nothing more than the discarded drafts that "Master Craftsman" and Amon threw away while they were tinkering with small toys... Kuai Hongji muttered to himself, but did not waste any more words with the fanatics.

What level are they that they deserve to hear his explanation?

Kuai Hongji then glanced at him indifferently and said, "These things are not for you to consider."

He carried the old kerosene lamp and walked toward the passage behind the fanatics.

All the fanatics along the way parted to the sides, respectfully letting him pass.

"Wait a moment!"

Just as he was about to step into the passage, one of the fanatic leaders, whom he had called out by name, suddenly called out to him.

Kuai Hongji continued walking forward without stopping.

"I said—wait a minute! What did you do to the 'Forest of Corpses'?!"

The figure of the fanatical leader suddenly transformed into a misty phantom, passing over Kuai Hongji and landing in front of him.

Having already detonated the matrix, Kuai Hongji would have been more than a regular soldier who would have rushed to fight this damned "arsonist" without hesitation. Only someone in a high position like him could restrain himself and use his calm mind to extract information from Kuai Hongji.

However, Kuai Hongji ignored it.

The fanatical leader said in a low voice, "Words are meaningless. What makes you think we should believe you?"

Kuai Hongji's face, which was filled with a gloomy and indifferent expression, raised an eyebrow slightly. "Are you an idiot? Do I look like I'm here to be a persuader?"
"Move aside," he said calmly.

"Didn't you hear my question? You think you can shake our faith with just a few words?"

"Step aside."

"You say you'll let me... Pfft—!!"

Before the fanatical leader could finish speaking, an indescribable, powerful force sent him flying, slamming him heavily against a wall not far away.

He lifted his foot and stepped into the passageway.

"Damn...!"

"Stay here and explain yourself!"

The fanatical leader, unwilling to give up, let out a low roar and once again vanished into the darkness, chasing after Kuai Hongji.

“I don’t repeat myself three times…” Kuai Hongji glanced sideways, and beneath his hood, his cold eyes resembled the pale, desolate moon in autumn.

With a single glance, he pierced through the darkness, and a flame suddenly burst forth from the shadows. The next moment, the fanatical leader was completely engulfed in flames.

Before it could even emerge from the darkness, the flame went out, leaving only a wisp of ash...

Kuai Hongji withdrew his gaze and disappeared into the passage under the watchful eyes of countless terrified figures.

……

The hall was deathly silent.

Few people actually saw how the so-called "dormitory manager" made his move. Whether they were veteran art students or other fanatical leaders, they could only vaguely sense the actions of the fanatical leader who made the move.

Then, the fanatical leader, swift as a phantom, spontaneously combusted in a completely incomprehensible way, right before their eyes, until only a small clump of ashes remained...

"This level of power... could it be the legendary 'Supreme Judgment'?!" Yan Jinming, a veteran art student, pondered.

"Supreme Judgment!"

Yan Jinming's words stirred up a huge wave of discussion, directly sparking heated debate.

Whether they were fanatical leaders or veteran art students, they originally had huge differences and constant friction because of their different pursuit of extraordinary paths. Now, after witnessing Kuai Hongji's miraculous skills, they were no longer in a hurry to fight and were able to sit down and have a proper discussion.

As for that fanatical leader who was reduced to ashes? On the path of glorious evolution, there are always pioneers who sacrifice themselves for the cause; let's just say he deserves a place among them…

The fanatics present are not ordinary fanatics, but leaders among fanatics.

It's important to understand that the so-called management, whether among fanatics or elsewhere, are all the same. Call them indifferent or cruel, in their eyes, so-called comrades are nothing more than people competing with them for resources. The death of one as a trial is simply wonderful.

It would be even better if we could recover some of the losses from our mistakes.

The discussion continued and grew increasingly heated until a voice emerged that shattered all conventional assumptions.

"Could he... be a member of the Night's Watch?"

The discussion abruptly ceased.

"The Night Watch...?"

"It seems...maybe...it's not impossible!"

"That night watchman on the cliff... isn't he the one carrying an old kerosene lamp?!"

"Could it be a wisp of his will projected across layers?"

"But... I've never heard of the Night's Watch having such methods before!"

"Idiot, not using it doesn't mean it doesn't exist!"

In an instant, different thoughts arose in everyone's mind...

Finally, a voice appeared in their minds with perfect understanding.

Perhaps it is true.

Just as everyone was pondering these questions, a fanatical leader suddenly shuddered: "Oh no!"

Without saying a word, he dashed into the passage.

He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he almost forgot there were several fanatical leaders in the passage who were completely unaware of what was happening outside!

If they were to run into Kuai Hongji, the consequences would be unimaginable!

It wouldn't matter if it were anyone else, but one of them happened to be someone he was on good terms with, and he didn't want to just watch that friend turn to ashes.

……

Kuai Hongji never expected that these people could imagine things to that extent. Now he had arrived at the iron gate at the end of the passage.

There were a few clumps of cigarette ash on the ground beside him.

These are all traces left after the fanatical leader was burned to death by him.

When Lin Yi entered this place, several fanatical leaders followed closely behind him. Although they did not see the whole process of Lin Yi entering, they did see a fleeting moment of his actions, and then decided to wait for him here.

Now, Kuai Hongji's arrival has conveniently brought them to an end.

Of course, this was mainly because Kuai Hongji felt he had already wasted enough time in the hall, so he only gave the fanatical leader in the passageway two chances to "get out of the way." Adhering to the principle of "not repeating himself three times," Kuai Hongji naturally didn't give them any chance at all.

Upon seeing the iron gate, the light in Kuai Hongji's eyes softened considerably.

He slowly raised the old kerosene lamp, letting its light fall on the iron gate and illuminate all the marks on it.

He reached out and gently touched the door, as if touching memories of the past.

"Is it really only possible to let creation bear the original will...?"

He murmured to himself, lost in thought, and then let out a soft sigh.

"If you are all gone... how long will these creations have to wait before they can welcome their master?"

"...only then can we welcome those who are truly qualified to control them without being corrupted by them?"

"Time may give us the answer, but the 'root cause'... won't give us enough time..."

He gave it a gentle push, and the door that Lin Yi had struggled so hard to crack slowly opened right in front of him...

The iron gate opened a crack, just enough for Kuai Hongji to pass through alone.

Kuai Hongji carried the old kerosene lamp through the iron gate. The dim light slowly expanded the area, casting its glow on the extremely limited space in front of him.

"I hope you're right..." Kuai Hongji murmured, repeating it again, but with a different undertone, "I hope you're all right..."

The iron gate behind him slowly closed, and Kuai Hongji turned his gaze to the scene before him...

……

Not long after the iron gate closed, the fanatical leader who had rushed into the passage finally arrived.

Looking at the ashes on the ground, it remained silent. After letting out a long sigh, it turned and left.

……

Behind the iron gate, Kuai Hongji's gaze fell on the "narrow passage" architectural form in front of him.

The narrow passageway varies in width, exceeding five meters at its widest point and less than three meters at its narrowest. A stone staircase winds its way up, its body embedded in the wall as if it were made of empty space.

At the end of the stone steps, a misty white light source resembles a hanging galaxy, and behind the door is the observatory.

Kuai Hongji resembled an elderly mountain climber, slowly ascending the steps while stroking the "drafts" on the stone walls along the way.

As he stroked the stone wall, at certain moments along the way, the textures emitted a subtle luster, as if responding to him...

"Yes……"

"Wrong..."

"What does it matter?"

Kuai Hongji murmured to himself.

"The right one is best, but the wrong one isn't so bad either..."

"Aren't we all...the same road we came from?"

He climbed the steps one by one, and finally, his figure disappeared into the portal filled with floating white mist.

The narrow passage returned to calm, with only the patterns on the stone walls on both sides of the passage shimmering with a ghostly blue light, slowly dissipating like will-o'-the-wisps...

……

May 12, X023, 2:08 AM, Observatory, a dark place.

A dim candlelight suddenly lit up like a firefly, then grew brighter and brighter, eventually creating a space that was neither too big nor too small. In this space, Kuai Hongji's figure, carrying an old kerosene lamp, slowly emerged.

"The observatory, the observatory..."

Kuai Hongji glanced slowly across the observatory, and finally his gaze fell on the ancient, rusty armillary sphere.

He approached the celestial globe, his deep-set eyes gleaming, as if he were thinking about many things.

But suddenly, as if he had realized something, he stopped approaching the celestial globe and instead walked toward the mural to the side.

The circular stone wall of the observatory is covered with murals of different styles from different periods, but one of these murals immediately caught Kuai Hongji's attention.

It was a mural that wasn't very large, and it wasn't even particularly special among the many abstract paintings, but Kuai Hongji still slowly walked over to it.

The mural is basically just the outline of a human face, with a hand making some kind of mudra gesture to cover half of the face, and it looks quite ordinary.

However, as Kuai Hongji approached, more details on the murals began to be magnified.

The outline of the human figure was not smooth; it was pitted and jagged, as if it had been gnawed by insects. But if you looked more closely, you would find that the border that looked like it had been gnawed by insects was actually built up by countless human corpses the size of grains of rice.

The hand that covered half of the face appeared even more illusory upon closer inspection, as if it didn't exist at all.

Kuai Hongji walked to the mural, slowly raised the old kerosene lamp, and lifted it to the edge of the mural.

The soft, orange-yellow light poured down like ripples on water, but the mural remained largely unchanged.

Kuai Hongji was not in a hurry at all, and just stood there facing the mural.

Time passed quietly. Behind the light, wisps of dark gray mist slowly seeped from Kuai Hongji's body onto the bluestone ground, then, like a viscous liquid, slowly seeped upwards, gradually rising into the stone wall.

As Kuai Hongji raised the old kerosene lamp, part of his shadow was cast onto the point where he touched the stone wall, and the thick, dark gray mist, under the cover of the shadow, seeped into the mural.

The murals remain unchanged.

Kuai Hongji remained unhurried.

Another stalemate ensued, and the time came to 2:23.

The mural finally couldn't hold back any longer and began to slowly writhe, like living flesh.

As it wriggled, the outlines of the faces on the mural became distorted, as if countless scarabs had crawled under the skin.

Then, a fleshy eye connected by many blood vessels suddenly popped out and quickly retreated back into the mural.

Then, as if testing the waters, it tore a crack in the mural and furtively peered at Kuai Hongji.

Seeing that Kuai Hongji's attention was not on it, it endured it again...

Finally, Kuai Hongji finished examining the mural, then slowly turned around, carrying his old kerosene lamp, as if he hadn't noticed anything unusual about it.

But the moment he turned around, the mural seemed unable to maintain its "mural" image, and a lot of undulating patterns appeared on its surface. Soon, like tiny bubbles, it opened one after another with "pop, pop, pop..." sounds.

The mural is covered with countless writhing and twisting eyes, like a lotus seedpod made of rubber that has been squeezed and all the lotus seeds have burst out, with eyeballs peeking out from it.

They stared at Kuai Hongji for a very, very long time…

Suddenly, Kuai Hongji turned around.

All the large eyeballs instantly shrank back, and the mural returned to its original state, just like playing a game of "Red Light, Green Light".

(End of this chapter)