Chapter 1957

Looking intently at the position indicated by Jin Niu, everyone couldn't help but become alert; not knowing if it was a psychological effect, even that ever-present chill around them grew noticeably stronger.

Go! Don't speak after entering! If the clue can move, then take it to an open area to study!

Qing Kai took a deep breath, decisively issued an order in his capacity as captain, and after speaking he glanced at the last troll and Lin An; his gaze seemed to say, don't let the troll blocking the road cause them trouble.

Seeing Qing Kai mock his earlier 'blocking the door' incident, the troll's face darkened as he clenched his fists.

It's fine, I'll bring you along running, keep up.

Lin An spoke softly, saying nothing much, and had no objection to Qing Kai's opinion.

Although Qing Kai was arrogant, his thinking was correct. For some reason, from the moment they entered here, Lin An felt as if something was watching them.

Taking three steps at a time, within a few seconds everyone formed a triangular formation and carefully reached the front of 604.

Unlike only seeing the side from the corner, upon reaching the main door everyone instantly saw the full view of the Light Studio. The walls were snow‑white, the outermost a grayish glass door; looking in from outside, one could faintly feel that many photos hung inside.

As the best‑eyed Divine Archer, he nervously pressed himself against the glass door to look; when he turned his head again, his expression grew even uglier.

"That kid hit the nail on the head."

"There's nothing abnormal inside; not even a trace of fire can be seen."

No abnormality is the greatest abnormality; in the Divine Archer's careful observation, he even saw a pile of photos scattered on the studio's corridor.

What a joke—the whole building was burned out, yet here even the plastic film rolls are intact.

"Go, once inside you must be careful! Don't overlook the ceiling!"

Without further ado, with a creak of the door being pushed, the whole squad filed in.

Qing Kai and the Divine Archer led, Jin Niu and Hai Yao walked in the middle, with many walls on either side, while Lin An and the troll brought up the rear.

"They're all landscape photos... not a single portrait."

They walked extremely slowly, afraid to miss any detail.

Hai Yao looked dubiously at the colored photos on the wall—some were huge landscapes, others as small as a palm‑sized still. There were no portrait photos as imagined; at a glance, the tension in everyone's hearts eased considerably.

"They're not badly shot, but..."

Hai Yao instinctively felt something was off; before he could finish speaking, he heard Lin An, walking at the rear, speak softly.

"There are no building photos, no traces of man‑made objects—all are natural landscape shots; this might be a clue."

"That's right; normal landscape photos usually include some buildings as background, yet here there isn't a single one—perhaps..."

"Perhaps only this city exists, or perhaps something here prevents us from seeing an aerial view of the whole city."

In this exchange, Qing Kai blinked slightly, then turned his head toward Lin An a second time, somewhat surprised.

What a quick reaction—even without the Fifth Stage's mental power boost, this kid is faster at thinking through problems than he is!

He had barely thought of the problem when Lin An picked it up, and it was almost exactly what he had in mind?

Without paying attention to Qing Kai noticing him, Lin An bent down and picked up a photo from the ground.

On this palm‑sized photo, a blood‑red sun loomed; no mountains appeared in the scene, meaning the photographer must have been standing on a high‑rise building. Yet no matter how Lin An looked, he could not discern the outline of a city cluster in the picture.

(There's a problem....)

(It's not just the lack of buildings and portraits; according to its location, this photography studio should be in the city center. Studios normally opened here focus on wedding dresses and personal artistic portraits.)

(And...)

Frowning slightly, Lin An flipped the photo back and forth, then lifted his head to scan the studio interior; a doubt instantly rose in his heart.

He also thought of other things, but his train of thought was vague, leaving him unsure what exactly it was.

"Nothing abnormal, except that this place itself is abnormal—just normal landscape photos; I checked behind the frames, including inside them, and found nothing."

"Me too, Captain Qing Kai; why don't we go inside? It seems to be an office, possibly holding some textual clues."

After about a minute, Hai Yao and the Divine Archer each confirmed that this corridor had no issues.

Even the ceiling was thoroughly felt over by Jin Niu. Lin An and the troll also found no clues, leaving only that sealed office door.

"Looks like the thing is inside. Remember, still that saying—don't make arbitrary judgments! Behind that door should be the broken window area; who knows what could be in there!"

Qing Kai's expression turned grave; he simply grabbed the staff behind him with his backhand, but as soon as he finished speaking he blinked slightly.

Damn, it seemed he had just started chatting with that kid? Oh well, what the kid said wasn't wrong either, and it was close to what he had in mind.

Not minding the possible loss of face, Qing Kai cautiously approached the door, then, using a tactical move he hadn't employed in years, he opened the door sideways and instantly took up a gun‑ready stance.

"Bang!"

Contrary to everyone's expectations, the wooden door flung open with a bang revealed merely a somewhat cluttered ordinary room with a diary lying on the desk.

"Whoosh!"

Gusts of cold wind blew in through the broken window, making everyone shiver involuntarily.

"Nothing at all?"

"No... that diary must be the clue!"

"Is it really that simple? Or is the diary dangerous?"

The room isn't large; one glance takes it all in. In the middle is a desk, behind it a chair and window; on the right side stands a shelf holding boxes of various sizes.

Looking at the diary almost openly placed on the desk, in the draft it even began to turn its own pages.

"Captain Qing Kai, should we read it here, or leave the diary untouched and look elsewhere first?"

Anxious, the Divine Archer quietly asked Qing Kai, wondering if, since no imagined horror had appeared yet, he actually felt a bit safe.

If they were to take the diary outside to read, just thinking about having to pass through the dark fire escape made him uneasy.

"Why not read it here? The diary's clues might be linked to these photos. Running back and forth would be too risky."

Feeling the same as the Divine Archer, Jin Niu couldn't help but walk over to the diary and ask Qing Kai.

Seeing that the whole squad shared the same thought, Qing Kai hesitated a moment, then also felt it might be better to look here. Thinking of something in general, he lifted his chin at the Divine Archer, signaling him to open the outer door as well.

"Then let's read it here; if there's a problem, we'll withdraw immediately!"

The words fell, and Qing Kai carefully opened the diary, seeing a line of large characters on the first page instantly before his eyes.

I really like taking photos with various lenses.

Fisheye lens, wide-angle lens, telephoto, short focus...

The world seen through different lenses is different; each lens is like a different eye observing this world. I've heard that the world seen through a fish's eyes, a dog's eyes, is also different from ours.

Some are black and white, some are yellow-green, some are distorted, some are overlaid.

So I think...

Are human eyes also all the same? Are they all the same kind of lens?

For example.

Dead person.