Am I really hallucinating?

Chapter 631 The Girl Painter
When the sculptures silently appeared in the corner of the living room without anyone noticing, and strangely maintained a posture of facing the wall in contemplation, everyone realized that the guy who seemed to be a cult leader was dead, but there were other cult members present.

However, by the time they realized what was happening, the toast and the sculpture had almost completely devoured the person.

The statue was responsible for collecting the corpses, and Toast was responsible for erasing the evidence. Toast wasn't a bottomless pit; it couldn't eat everyone. Toast ate according to its own preferences, so it could eat anything. However, people get tired of eating too much of anything, so humans were quite restrained when Toast ate humans—the real reason being that under normal circumstances, even if Lin Yilin didn't let it eat people, Zheng Fan couldn't find so many people to feed it.

If you really want to feed someone, Perfect Toast is much more appetizing than the kind of luxurious meal you can have for one person a day.

In short, since Toast couldn't deal with all the corpses, the sculptures made up for this shortcoming well, allowing Toast to simply wipe away the bloodstains and debris scattered everywhere with his own body.

The main targets are the sculptures. Toast's current methods of destruction leave few traces; even when using the power of death, it won't leave any residue for the opponent, focusing on efficient cleanup.

But the sculptures are all very rough, mainly made by smashing.

No wonder they were able to stuff corpses into stones in the studio before, but the bloodstains couldn't be cleaned up.

Now the toast is basically cleaning up their messes.

From the moment the cult stormed the scene to the death of their leader, all the cult members except those who didn't break in from outside were wiped out; the whole process didn't take long.

Mormont and Emily weren't particularly worried, because they were too slow to react and before they could even start to be afraid, the matter was already settled.

However, while they did a good job of destroying the evidence, some property damage inside the house was not within the scope of the toast and sculptures' consideration.

The house is now a complete mess.

Emily looked around the scene, and after a moment of silence, said, "Cress's blood pressure is going to rise."

"Could you say something else?" Mo Mang glanced at her and said.

"What else can I talk about besides this topic? Whether it's cults, superpower battles, or sculpting, I can't get a word in edgewise!" Emily declared vehemently.

It really is.

It's not fair to be too critical of that.

After the battle, the statues returned to their peaceful state.

"But why are they all turned around?" The statues are lined up facing the wall, looking like children being punished and reflecting on their actions, which actually gives off a wronged vibe.

"Perhaps it's not that he feels wronged, but rather that he's afraid," Mo Mang guessed.

Although he couldn't see the battle clearly either, as long as he wasn't as oblivious as Miss Emily beside him and had some understanding of the supernatural, it wasn't hard for him to see that Zheng Fan was beyond reason.

Those sculptures that initially displayed a certain degree of aggression towards toast and Zheng Fan can be perceived in a deeper and more detailed way.

The statue outside might not have seen too much of the world before, or it might have been rather naive. But these statues present witnessed a battle of gods, and naturally, they wouldn't dare to act recklessly again.

Ding ding! Dong!

As the continuous hammering stopped, Chaxilu released his tools, letting them fall to his feet. He stared blankly at the relief in front of him, then slowly stepped back to better appreciate its entirety.

"That's it, this is what it looks like when it's finished," he said, a look of rapture on his face.

However, for laymen, besides feeling that this relief is very impressive and the details are flawless, they are probably more confused about the narrative of the scene.

The final touch that Chassilu added to the sculpture was the vortex at the trunk.

It was clearly just a stone carving of a vortex, but staring at it made it seem as if the vortex was slowly rotating, and visually it even appeared to be subtly expanding, almost like a bottomless pit. In the blink of an eye, what I had just seen seemed to be nothing more than an illusion.

The vortex that appears somewhat incongruous and abrupt on the tree trunk, and has little aesthetic appeal, achieves a kind of unity with the overall picture under such a strange style, becoming the central theme that runs through everything.

Zheng Fan stepped forward and carefully examined the relief. Although at first glance he didn't notice anything particularly unusual, there was something within it that seemed to be trying to convey something.

Reading the basic information doesn't seem to be enough to decipher the meaning carried by this supernatural inspiration.

He reached out and gently touched the vortex in the center of the tree trunk on the wall.

The next moment, colorful light appeared from the vortex and wrapped around Zheng Fan's arm. Zheng Fan calmly watched this scene without resisting. His consciousness wavered for a moment, a feeling somewhat like when he slept under the covers.

He soon realized that he had been drawn into another world.

In the surrounding darkness, a semi-circular building resembling a small mound stands in the center. From its openwork windows, a warm, orange-yellow light shines out, a stark contrast to the surrounding darkness.

With a slight thought, the building that was originally far away was instantly brought closer to his eyes—or perhaps he moved forward to be in front of it?
In this chaotic place of time and space, getting caught up in directions seems pointless.

Zheng Fan raised his hand and gently knocked on the door.

No one came to open the door, but it opened automatically, as if silently welcoming us.

Zheng Fan also stepped into it.

A faint smell of paint wafted through the air. The layout of the house was monotonous, making it difficult to sense any sense of life. However, while lacking a sense of life, the atmosphere of painting was quite strong.

The layout here is somewhat similar to the small art studio that Zheng Fan and Lin Yilin saw together in the Linjiu District.

However, there weren't that many canvases to the point of hindering the activity, and each painting didn't depict those bizarre illusions, but rather truly beautiful scenes that conformed to popular perceptions.

The content is diverse, featuring both pastoral scenery with clear waters and lush mountains, as well as bustling city streets.

The specific subjects range from people to objects. In this small studio, it seems that all things are encompassed by these canvases.

The creators of these paintings have reached an extreme level in their use of color. It is evident that the artists sometimes deliberately use a variety of vibrant colors, yet this does not disrupt the harmony of the composition.

It simply adds a dreamlike quality to these paintings.

“You and I look very alike, sir.” A clear, gentle voice came from the studio. There was a hint of familiarity in the other person’s tone, as if they had known him for a long time.

"Is there a portrait of me here too?" Zheng Fan naturally followed up on the other person's question.

"Of course, but I don't know if you'll be satisfied?"

Under the lamplight, Zheng Fan saw an ordinary girl.

She was very ordinary, wearing a white short-sleeved shirt, a black pleated skirt, and a colorful beret, with no other decorations.

Her appearance isn't exactly stunning; she's more like a gentle, girl-next-door type. Yet, the moment she sits there, she instantly becomes the focus of attention. Her bright, dark brown eyes capture every glimpse of color, and she even possesses a touch of childlike innocence.

The young girl then showed Zheng Fan what appeared to be a portrait she had just finished painting.

Unlike the surrounding paintings, which all use vibrant and diverse colors, this painting depicts a towering tree outlined in black.

(End of this chapter)