The painting was very retro and well preserved. It seemed that the old man had looked at it and caressed it frequently. The scroll felt smooth and oily, without the burrs belonging to paper. Xie Chi spread it out and saw an ugly yet cute creature drawn on it.
The creature was extremely short with a flat and pointed mouth. It had a frog-like emerald green body, extremely long arms, a strong arch of the back and a turtle shell on the back. The top of its head was sunken under a dish that could store water. In the painting was a rain scene. The green creature hid under a lotus lead and waited for the rain to roll down the leaf into the dish on its head. It was laughing in a funny manner and the corners of its mouth were stretched out toward its ears.
The handwriting in the lower right corner of the painting was skewed and was faintly visible. It said ‘kappa’.
Xie Chi knew this creature. This creature was from the mythology of Japan. It had excellent water quality, kindness, closeness to humans and naivety. Xie Chi found out the habits of this legendary creature from his memories and started to recall what the old man said previously. The old man accidentally mentioned the kappa while talking about the random floor system of hell.
Xie Chi lowered his head thoughtfully. Something flashed in his mind. The thing the old man wanted to talk about was the birth of the kappa. Legend had it that the kappa were creatures that could decide whether they were born or not.
In the kappa’s country, when the kappa mother was about to give birth, the kappa father would invite the kappa doctor. The kappa wasn’t in a rush to give birth. It first lay against the kappa mother’s belly and asked the little kappa in the belly if they were willing to be born in such a family.
The doctor would ask if the parents were competent and if the child was satisfied. If the baby kappa didn’t want to be born in such a family and didn’t want to come to the world then the doctor would disregard the parents and induce the kappa into early labor so the baby kappa could reincarnate.
The system of the kappa’s birth was the complete opposite from hell. The layer the prisoner fell on was completely random and the layer he would reappear on after 15 days was random. The kappa could decide its origin but the prisoners couldn’t.
Xie Chi was a bit curious about the history of the painting. He looked through the notebook that the old man had hidden in his pocket.
The notebook was small. It was as long as the index finger, as wide as the thumb and was fluffy on all sides. The old man should’ve obtained paper, cut it to the size of the palm, pierced them one by one and tied the small pieces of paper together with thread.
It was very delicate and boring work but the thing that wasn’t lacking in hell was time.
Xie Chi glanced at the paper and something flashed in his eyes. This was a diary. The old man had the habit of keeping a diary every day. Due to the small area of the paper, the words on the paper were so small that Xie Chi had to work hard to recognize them.
He looked through it page by page. 10 minutes later, he found a record of the kappa painting.
“I killed my cellmate today and found this thing on him. He said he found it in the snow in a certain layer of the eight cold hells. I think it is ironic when comparing it to the random layer placement but I don’t know the use for it. I’ll just put it away first.”
Xie Chi rolled up the painting thoughtfully. This thing was found in hell and it was a bit like… an opportunity.
Xie Chi frowned. Hell was boundless and it took a lot of effort to find this thing. It shouldn’t be useless. He looked again at the date under the man’s diary entry: January 20th. The last page of the diary was March 23rd. Two months had passed and the old man had yet to figure out the usefulness of this thing.
Xie Chi spread out the painting again and touched it carefully from top to bottom without missing any corners. There was still nothing.
[Does Chi Chi think something is wrong with the painting?]
[Impossible. It’s been two months. The old man must’ve touched all of it.]
[Perhaps a special liquid needs to be poured on the painting and words will appear.]
[You have been watching too many TV series. Besides, where will the special liquid come from in this broken place! Shit!]
Xie Chi found the thinnest part of the ice layer and used the knife left by the old man to smash the ice layer. The cold water under the ice layer was exposed and Xie Chi plunged the painting into the water without hesitation.
[What is he doing? Destroying the painting?]
[What the fuck!!!]
Xie Chi heard a plop like a frog jumping into the water. Perhaps it was too quiet in the area. Xie Chi even heard the subtle ripples in the water. Something jumped into the water from the painting. Under the transparent ice, something green was swimming happily. After a few seconds, it went into the deep water and disappeared.
Xie Chi smiled and drew the painting from the water. The kappa in the painting had disappeared. The center of the scroll was blank. Only the word ‘kappa’ in the lower right corner proved that the painting was originally a lifelike kappa.
The old man treated the painting scroll as a treasure and kept it so well. He hid it close to his body and it was impossible to let it get wet. He kept examining it in order to find the hidden secrets. In fact, the kappa’s habits already told the prisoners how to obtain the opportunity. The kappa liked water so just stuff the painting completely into water.
The app that had been silent for too long rang.
[Congratulations, you have obtained an opportunity in hell: the choice of the kappa to be born. Human children can’t choose the type of family they are born in. They can only be forced to accept it. However, the kappa can choose their parents and the environment they want.]
[In the next hell layer change, you can choose the place of birth (except for paradise). It is only one time.]
Xie Chi smiled. Was this an alternative balance? He was unlucky and dropped to the bottom at the start. However, he got this opportunity by chance. This way, he didn’t have to worry about falling to the bottom again the next time he changed layers.
The purpose had been unlocked and the blank scroll was useless. Xie Chi rolled up the scroll and stuffed it back into the icy water. There were others in hell and this couldn’t be seen by later people. It would soon be covered with heavy snow and no one would know that a painting of a cheerful kappa was floating under the ice.
XIe Chi had only been busy for 10 minutes yet his body was covered by a thick layer of snow. Fortunately, he had the energy of the old man and couldn’t feel the cold. It was already dark and he was going to find a cave for the night.
The app sent a message. The time here was five times faster. 15 days was actually only three days. It was very fast.
It was very beautiful here. The sky was as blue as filtered water and there were many snowflakes. Maybe there would be an aurora. If his brother was here then they might be able to watch it together.
Xie Chi felt helpless. He knew the app wasn’t so kind when separating him from his brother. It turned out that he had to act alone. No wonder why it would spontaneously promise to compensate him with 300 points after the shooting.
[Wow, almost all of them killed their cellmates.]
[Two are dead. So fast. How long is it this time?]
[Fortunately, there are more actors this time. There are nearly 20.]
[Wait, Xie Chi got the kappa’s choice of where to be born. Then can’t Xie Chi go to the first layer of the hot hells after 15 days?]
[The first layer of the hot hell isn’t too uncomfortable. It is a warm spring where flowers blossom. Su Qing and this brother are very lucky to land here.]
[I’m distressed for my Xie. One is in the sky and the other is underground. My Xie is almost becoming a caveman. It is difficult to climb up.]
This was the first layer of the hot hells and there were peach blossoms everywhere. The climate here was warm, the rivers were gurgling and the scenery was pleasant. In the distance, there were even small wooden houses for people to live in. The sky was dark and pink petals whirled. It was quiet and beautiful like a paradise on earth.
In this place, two people walked together without saying a word. The atmosphere was dull and depressing.
“Should I help you look at the mark on the back of your neck?” Su Qing hesitated before suggesting.
“No,” Xie Xinglan replied.
Su Qing knew this person didn’t trust him and didn’t force it. After all, they were strangers.
Su Qing cocked his head to look at Xie Xinglan. He noticed that the darker the sky, the gloomier this person’s face became. Su Qing was very sensitive. He could feel that this person’s mood was extremely bad. The feeling of manic depression permeated his bones. Of course, this didn’t affect his judgment. He was still calm and detached. He just obviously wasn’t in the mood to take care of himself.
Xie Xinglan obviously didn’t have a lively character. Su Qing now felt that the person who smiled when communicating with Xie Chi seemed to be his illusion. He sensed something strange.
Xie Xinglan stared at him condescendingly again and Su Qing stopped to express his feelings. “You want to kill me.”
[What?]
[What the fuck??]
Xie Xinglan was too lazy to turn his head as he replied coldly, “You guessed wrong.”
“Why?” Su Qing chased him and asked persistently. “You want to kill me. Why don’t you do it?”
Su Qing couldn’t understand it. This was obviously the most comfortable first layer. He and Xie Xinglan didn’t have a competitive relationship. So why did Xie Xinglan have killing intent? Killing him wasn’t good for Xie Xinglan.
Xie Xinglan sneered. “It has nothing to do with you.”
Su Qing was frozen in place. It had nothing to do with him? It was about someone else. Xie Xinglan wanting to kill him had to do with others.
They had seen the rules of hell on the stone pillars at the entrance of the valley. If Xie Xinglan killed him then he would fall down to the first layer of the cold hell. If he was lucky then the people on the first floor of the cold hell would accept him. If he wasn’t lucky then they would exploit him. They would kill him and drive him to the next hell.
This was completely bad for himself but it wasn’t good for Xie Xinglan. Even so, he was obviously hindering Xie Xinglan’s way. Why would he get in Xie Xinglan’s way? Wanting to kill him was related to others…
A terrible thought suddenly appeared in Su Qing’s mind. He froze in place and his heart shook. One possibility was that Xie Xinglan wanted to open the way to the lower floor by killing him. Kill Su Qing and he would fall, opening the channel to the next floor.
Xie Xinglan wanted to take advantage of Su Qing’s fall to jump to the next level himself. Xie Xinglan wanted to get out of here and go down there. He most likely wanted to… find someone. Xie Chi…? The person he was looking for was… Xie Chi?
Su Qing felt a great sense of absurdity but also a bit of jealousy at his own guess. Was Xie Chi that good? Xie Xinglan was like this and so was Shen Yi. Su Qing shook his head to get rid of these untimely thoughts.
He didn’t know much about Xie Xinglan but Xie Xinglan wasn’t a hesitant person. He might have a reason for not doing anything to Su Qing. There might be other reasons. After all, he previously protected Su Qing.
Su Qing hesitated. He was ready to catch up with Xie Xinglan and let Xie Xinglan kill him. In any case, it was just dropping one layer. He had items and some means so he wouldn’t die. As Su Qing was thinking this, a huge hole suddenly appeared in the ground ahead of him.
Xie Xinglan suddenly stopped.
A rope fell from the hole. Su Qing ran over and looked down at the hole. He saw Ji Xingchen on the first layer of the cold hell. Ji Xingchen saw an acquaintance who was the kindest Su Qing and his eyes flashed with surprise. “Su Qing, you pull me up.”
Ji Xingchen’s sword was stained with blood and the blood still had warmth.
There was a chill in Su Qing’s heart. On the first layer of the comfortable cold hell, Ji Xingchen still killed his fellow inmate for that small amount of energy. Ji Xingchen wanted to get closer to paradise. The first layer of the hot hell was above the cold hell. It was the closest to paradise so he killed his cellmate.
Right now, Su Qing was standing by the edge of the hole with his arms crossed over his chest. Ji Xingchen felt this was enough. Even if Su Qing didn’t help, Su Qing definitely wouldn’t cut the rope.
“Are you alone up there?” Ji Xingchen smiled gently as he grabbed the rope and started climbing up.
“It is okay for the two of you. We don’t have a competitive relationship.” Ji Xingchen tried to persuade the second person on top as he climbed. “One floor can have three people. You should know my strength. I might be able to help you find the entrance of paradise. Our goal is the same…”
Su Qing heard a laugh and turned his head in surprise. He found that the extremely indifferent man was actually laughing.
Xie Xinglan felt strangely grateful to Ji Xingchen. Ji Xingchen’s selfishness opened up his upward path while completely opening up a downward path for Xie Xinglan. Xie Xinglan moved forward and jumped down without hesitation.
Su Qing stared. He had already guessed some of it but once this scene actually happened, he still almost had a heart attack and the tip of his nose was slightly sore. Did Xie Xinglan like Xie Chi?
There was someone in this world willing to give up the warmth and comfort of the topmost layer, giving up abundant energy and readily available information for Xie Chi. He jumped into the dark hell, falling into endless fighting and a harsh environment just to find a person.
Xie Xinglan would go all the way down to find him.
Su Qing was extremely convinced and his smile was full of envy.
[Fuck! Why take the initiative to jump down?]
[Oh my god? I’m not mistaken, right??!]
[Damn! Doesn’t he want to stay on the comfortable first layer of the hot hell?]
[Isn’t the first layer of the cold hell okay too? It is only slightly worse than the first layer of the hot hell.]
[What is this? People can’t climb up even if they want to. Meanwhile, there is someone who is jumping down voluntarily. This hole opening was meant for Ji Xingchen to climb up, hello!]
Proofreader: Purichan