Paintings of Terror

In the eyes of ordinary people, homosexuals themselves were mentally unsound, and they weren’t qualified to be psychologists to treat others.
And indeed, it seemed that most people really thought so.”

“After I came out of the closet, Chi Lei suddenly stopped coming to our counseling center, and the prestigious psychologist also went abroad for further studies.
I later learned that the psychologist had sexually assaulted Chi Lei for two years.
Because he had some evidence that I am a lesbian, if Chi Lei didn’t satisfy him, these materials would be spread out, making me ‘unable to move in the psychology world for a lifetime’…” 

A thick darkness was surging outside the window.
The sound of thunder split the sky, and a torrential rain suddenly fell.

“That night, we both hugged each other and cried bitterly in the dark.
She said that she had some evidence that the beast had sexually assaulted her, but the other party had immigrated to another country already, and she didn’t want to worry about a lawsuit.
When it got out, she feared it would just end up hurting herself.
I didn’t understand it at the time.
I thought we should stop everything we were doing to win the lawsuit.
The one who really shouldn’t be able to move in the field of psychology should be that beast.”

“Chi Lei told me to calm down and even said that her life wasn’t good.
Later, she talked about living in her aunt’s house while studying in technical school.
She had been sexually assaulted by her uncle and cousin one after another…She told her mother and aunt, but those two people didn’t believe her.
Or maybe it wasn’t that they didn’t believe her but that they were just pretending to be deaf instead.”

The rain was pouring down outside, and the wind had ravaged the half-bright world into a crumpled black-and-white photo, as if attempting to shred it. 

“We decided to be together as partners and to spend the rest of our lives together.”

“Even though we took harbor in one another, Chi Lei had never been able to release the bondage on her body, a bondage of the male-dominated world on women.
The pain caused by her original family had continued to escalate in adulthood and she could not escape it.”

Zhao Yanbao gently stroked the glass bottle in front of her, and softly looked at the female beast.
“Women don’t have much voice in this unjust world.
They are told ‘keep your hair long and your knowledge short’, and they said ‘women pondering over God is laughable’.
They are told this is normal, this isn’t malicious, and it even has a hint of doting in it…In fact, the truth is the women are being excluded from the social class, both explicitly and implicitly.
In the past, every year during the Spring Festival Gala, there would be a few sketches about henpecked husbands, but I have never seen such a thing in real life.
The people I’ve met in my profession are many, and I have never seen it.
I don’t know if this is something that society had created to deceive unmarried women?”

Several men in the room were silent, and they didn’t know what to say. 

Su Benxin was a little moved.
She seemed to feel the same way.

Now, Zhao Yanbao seemed to be talking to the female beast, “Look at you, you have beautiful eyebrows and eyes, but no mouth.
Is it because you have no right to speak? Look at you, such a good person, but you have to be naked.
Is it because you had no choice but to expose yourself to be exhilarated and flogged by those who coveted you? Look at you, you have obviously strong limbs, but you have no hands or feet.
No hands to grasp anything nor feet to travel the world.
You are so stiff and are standing upright, as if alert to the dangers around you.
Or is it because of the rope that binds you? If that damn rope is broken, you will get better.
You will be better.”

Zhao Yanbao’s tears fell on the outside of the glass bottle.
“I know you can’t love me.
Have I ever blamed you? For us, love was the least thing worth mentioning.”

Su Benxin lowered her head, unable to bear looking at those tears. 

Qin Ci seemed to have discovered something suddenly.
He hurried over to observe the glass bottle.
“The beast has changed! It is slowly softening!”

Mu Yiran didn’t look over.
He slowly got up and prepared to leave.
“Let them be alone for a while.”

…….

The beast from Chi Lei’s body finally softened into a round thing.
Zhao Yanbao said that this may be a different kind of relief. 

The weight of the beast had not changed.
It was still 1974 grams.
Combined with Zhi Chun’s beast that was 26 grams, the final total came to 2000 grams.

Yu Ji was still panicking, but Wei Dong was relieved.
“This painting we entered can be panic-inducing, but it’s a good thing you’re a painter.”

Meanwhile, Ke Xun tried to use Qin Ci’s computer to conduct some research, only to find out that this city had no internet.
When he asked the nurse, the nurse doubtfully said, “Sir, do you want to send a fax?”

Ke Xun said, “No, I just wanted to order takeout…” 

“Then you can call for takeout.”

“Thank you.”

In this world without internet, the painting must be trying to hide something.
What was it so afraid that might be discovered on the internet?

“What do you want to check?” Mu Yiran came to Ke Xun at one point later. 

“In the book The Crimson Beast, what exactly is written on the title page.” Ke Xun sorted out the questions in his mind one by one, and this was the first thing he wanted to solve.

“Su Benxin and Xiao Qinxian, these two people who have read this book, there must be someone who can remember.” Mu Yiran looked at Su Benxin who also entered the room.

Su Benxin was pulling back the curtains in the office, and revealing an outside world the color of glazed glass.

“There is indeed a sentence on the title page: I saw a woman riding on a crimson beast – Chapter 17 of the Book of Revelation.” Su Benxin turned back from the window. 

——————

Xida: I find it ironic that the author is talking about the suppression of women and women equality, and yet there is no representation of strong, intelligent, and likeable female characters in our protagonist’s main group.