The woman nodded vigorously.
Su Xing asked, “So tell me now, how did you get in here? Are there any secrets in this painted world?”
The woman shook her head helplessly, “Sorry, I just touched a painting at that time and was sucked in. I guess you all know what happened next.”
Is the clue broken again?
Su Xing quickly thought about what to do.
Evangel frowned, “Since she doesn’t know, then we’ll break everyone’s happiness, and someone will eventually know.”
This was a good idea.
As the saying goes, extreme joy begets sorrow, and the next moment after happiness is often sadness.
It is definitely easier to break someone’s happiness than to create it.
Apparently, the painted world thought so too.
Seeing that they were really planning to act, it immediately summoned the three of them to a blank space, where the painting that sucked them in stood.
Su Xing was stunned for a moment looking at the suddenly changing scenery around her, and then noticed the painting.
She walked to the painting and tentatively asked, “Are you… the consciousness of this world?”
The painting indeed made a sound, “Yes, since you are unwilling to stay here, then you can leave. As long as you pass through me, you can leave.”
“What about Quinn? Is Quinn leaving with us?”
Kaka asked impatiently.
The painting consciousness rejected him, “That little boy wants to stay here, why do you insist on making him leave?”
Su Xing immediately said, “The four of us came in, and the four of us must go out. Why don’t you let us go back first, and we’ll see how many people actually don’t want to stay here at all.”
Painting consciousness: It obviously didn’t want to lose its dye, so it had to reply, “The rules of this world have been formed. Unless he breaks free from the illusion himself, I have no way to send him out.”
It hoped that if it spoke nicely, the three of them would be reasonable.
However, Su Xing obviously didn’t want to be reasonable with it, “You must have a way, after all, this is your world.”
“Okay………………”
Seeing their persistence, the painting consciousness still compromised, “I can let you enter the world that little boy imagined, but you only have one hour. If you can bring him out, then you can leave together. If not, then I’m sorry, I can’t do anything.”
Su Xing was confident, “It’s okay, if we don’t bring him out this time, we’ll leave on our own.”
Anyway, after going out, she could tell the teachers about this, and she didn’t believe that the teachers of Spirit Domain Academy couldn’t bring Quinn out.
The scene changed, and in a small house, eight-year-old Quinn and his parents huddled together in a disheveled but warm way.
Seeing the three of them appear, his face changed, “How did you get in?”
Kaka said, “Quinn! We’re here to take you out! We’ve found a way back!”
Evangel looked at the obviously wary Quinn mockingly, “He’s probably not willing to go out with us yet!”
Quinn pursed his lips and said to Kaka apologetically, “I’m sorry, Kaka, I… I want to stay here.”
“Why?”
Kaka asked, puzzled, “Don’t you want to study with us anymore?”
Quinn also knew that this was a very irresponsible act towards the three of them, but he really missed his parents, “Sorry, I still want to stay with them more.”
“But they’re all fake, aren’t they?”
Hearing this, Quinn’s face became even uglier, and his tone became stronger, “For me, it’s enough if these are real. You guys hurry up and leave, don’t waste time.”
After he finished speaking, the scene around him changed, and Quinn also shrunk to when he was six years old.
The Raelmina couple were taking him to an amusement park.
Quinn’s face was full of smiles, a happiness that Su Xing and the others had never seen before. Kaka couldn’t bear it anymore, “How about we………………”
Evangel interrupted him and said forcefully, “He must go out.”
Su Xing understood Evangel’s meaning.
It wasn’t that he was heartless, but that after going out, the three of them would inevitably tell the teachers about the existence of this painting.
It was too dangerous to leave it here; an adult needed to watch it.
And by then, Quinn’s situation would certainly not be hidden.
Rather than letting those teachers drag him out and pry into his secrets, it would be better to take him away now.
However, this certainly couldn’t be said now, after all, they were still in the painting, and the painting consciousness could probably hear their every move.
It would be bad if it became enraged.
Facing Kaka’s puzzled gaze, Su Xing explained concisely, “He can’t stay.”
At the same time, Evangel had already walked to Quinn’s side.
Quinn’s expression was full of rejection, but he was still polite, “Evangel, just go, I won’t leave with you.”
Evangel asked sharply, “Are Rael and Mina dead?”
“Of course not!”
Quinn became angry at these words and retorted loudly, causing the Rael couple to look over strangely.
“Then if you indulge here, you’ll never find them, will you? If you come out with us, you still have a chance to find them. Are you coming or not?”
Quinn hesitated, he knew Evangel was right.
Although many people said Raelmina were dead, he firmly believed they were still alive, waiting for him to find them somewhere.
However, looking at Raelmina, who was warmly watching him from the side, Quinn hesitated again.
Wouldn’t it be better to keep these already existing parents rather than spending his entire life searching for that elusive shadow?
He shook his head again, “Sorry, I…”
Su Xing and the other two were once again kicked out of this scene.
In a flash, the scenery around them changed again, and the three of them appeared in a laboratory.
Two people in white coats were busy conducting complex experiments.
The sudden appearance of Su Xing and the others did not attract their attention; instead, it caught the attention of bored little Quinn nearby.
“Who are you? How did you get in?” asked little Quinn, about four years old, with curiosity and vigilance.
This time, he had completely forgotten who they were.
Kaka bore no grudges from before and squatted down, full of curiosity, to look at him, “Quinn, don’t you remember us?”
Quinn shook his head and asked confusedly, “Am I supposed to remember you?”
Su Xing thought for a moment, then squatted down next to Kaka, “Do you feel very happy right now?”
Quinn shook his head again, answering honestly, “No, I feel very bored right now.”
Su Xing stroked his white hair, “But what if you knew this was the last time your parents could be with you?”
No one had ever asked a child such a cruel question.
Quinn’s eyes immediately turned red, “Wuwuwu, are my daddy and mommy abandoning me? Why is this the last time?”
Su Xing hugged him, “No, it’s not that they don’t want you. It’s because for some reason, they have to leave you, even though they want to watch you grow up too.”
Quinn wiped his tears, seeming to understand and yet not,”Then… can I still wait for them?”
“Maybe you can wait for them, or maybe you’ll never be able to.”
Hearing this answer, little Quinn’s tears almost broke down again, but he bravely held them back, “Then… then I’ll keep moving forward. Even if I can’t wait for them, I want to become a child that they can be proud of!”
Evangel scoffed, “A truth known in childhood, but forgotten in adulthood.”
With his words, Quinn’s figure transformed from a child back to his original appearance.
His eyes were still red, and he was in a daze for a while, as if digesting the memories from this period.
After a long moment, Quinn rubbed the corner of his eye apologetically, “Sorry for causing you trouble.”
Kaka immediately shook his head, his eyes also red at some point, “Wuwuwu, Quinn, you’re so miserable. I can’t imagine what I’d do if my parents left.”
Quinn reluctantly glanced at his parents still busy with experiments in the illusion, and finally gritted his teeth and said, “Let’s go! They must still be waiting for me outside!”
The next second, all four of them appeared together in the pure white space.
The painting consciousness asked Quinn, quite puzzled, “Why didn’t you stay?”
Quinn had completely thought things through and answered firmly, “Because they are still waiting for me outside, and besides, I have good friends who have been working hard for me. How can I disappoint them?”
The painting consciousness was still somewhat confused, but it was already eager to send these troublesome guests away, “Alright, you all can leave now.”
Kaka suddenly asked, “By the way, is it because you don’t like dark pigments that you only let us recall happy things?”
“Of course not,” the painting consciousness answered proudly, “I treat all pigments equally. It’s just that I greatly respect life. People do the same things in my world every day, and what they do are their happiest things. They will not die, and they will be happy forever. Isn’t that wonderful? So I would rather abandon dark pigments than let you have happy lives.”
The painting consciousness clearly had its own logic.
It clearly forced people to be trapped here, yet it considered itself to respect life and wished for everyone to be happy.
It was truly contradictory.
Facing these remarks, all four offered their insights. Kaka seriously refuted, “It’s precisely because we know time is limited that we cherish good times. It’s precisely because hardship exists as a foil that happiness becomes even more precious. You have fixed happiness into these few fragments, which is inherently wrong.”
Evangel, as usual, gave a concise answer, “If these memories are all your so-called happiness, then it’s better not to have them.”
Su Xing used herself as an example, “There are too few naturally happy people. We live to create happy memories, not to live on happy memories.”
Finally, Quinn, who had experienced the most temptations and trials in this painted world and almost didn’t make it back, gave the concluding remarks.
After returning to normal, he started to stutter again, but still insisted on finishing this passage, “Our lives are not just about memories. Memories are not just about beauty. If you understand happiness merely as memories, and life merely as happiness, then you are greatly mistaken. Just as dark and light colors are both beautiful, happiness and sadness are equally indispensable to life. I will continue to walk with my companions, filling our lives with countless emotions, to create the life that belongs to us!”