Chapter 22: Clues Revealed in the “History”

Understanding that zero sanity points (san) would lead to his exit and that its effects would reset after leaving, Feng Xue's mind cleared significantly. Noticing the scrutinizing gaze of the patrolling guard, he refrained from further antics. Pretending to have merely experienced a nightmare, he lay back down, but his consciousness delved deeper into organizing the memories from this latest dive.

This time, the session yielded more memories than the abruptly ended previous one. For instance, he remembered rescuing two orphans from a fire at the orphanage and being mistaken for a thief when he found a wallet. Notably, in these memories, he hadn't used Architecture; instead, he had doused himself with water in the bathroom and carried a bucket to help his peers. This suggested that "restoring" memories might not require the exact processes to be replicated as long as the outcomes were consistent.

However, this left Feng Xue puzzled about why there were no memories from the street brawl or the juvenile detention. Was it because his predecessor hadn't been sent to reform school, or because he hadn't won the fight? If it was a loss, how did the node count as a victory? Or perhaps he had won but hadn't inflicted serious enough harm to be sent to juvenile detention?

The fragmentary memories didn't clarify Feng Xue's questions but only multiplied the mysteries in his mind. Fortunately, these memories, like video files, required his active engagement to unpack, so there was no concern about being overwhelmed by restored memories in the future.

After sifting through childhood memories and gaining little new information—other than confirming he had been relatively happy in the orphanage and less so after leaving—Feng Xue muttered to himself, "Isn't this all obvious?" He then detached his consciousness from these past experiences and began to examine his recent acquisitions more closely.

Compared to his first nine items, this time felt like his newbie protection had expired, with a significant reduction in drops. However, upon reflection, this was mostly due to a lack of phantasm (the currency), limiting his purchasing power in the store.

The plain wooden sword warranted little study. The Clever Bird was interesting but not without its summoning abilities, leaving only the book "Modern and Contemporary Popular Art History" as an object of genuine interest.

Not that he expected it to be a secret martial arts manual, but since his predecessor had been imprisoned over a drawing, Feng Xue felt it worthwhile to delve deeper into anything art-related. However, this overview, though containing professional knowledge, was somewhat impenetrable to him.

From the works featured in the book, Feng Xue managed to categorize them using his logical mind. The earliest piece listed was a watercolor called "Girl" from the year 281 of the New Calendar, which Feng Xue decided to describe as "splash-ink style"—at a glance, it appeared as a girl, but a closer look revealed only a blob of ink, which morphed back into a girl upon even closer inspection.

The book praised this painting lavishly, proclaiming it liberated people's imagination—a seemingly ordinary statement in another world, but in this world, where imagination could alter reality, such words carried significant weight.

Subsequent works listed also leaned toward the vague and abstract, with styles like impressionism and abstraction prevalent, while more detailed and realistic techniques like pencil drawing or meticulous brushwork were notably absent.

Not just in painting, but sculpture followed this trend too. One piece, for example, involved mounting a toilet seat on a wall as an exhibit, yet not a single piece paralleled real-life masterpieces like Michelangelo's David or the Venus de Milo.

Perhaps this was because the book focused on "modern and contemporary" art, yet claiming the title of a "history" should imply a comprehensive coverage of all styles.

Even illustrations and figures in a modern anime style appeared toward the book's end, including an image from Rainbow Sakura of a stereotypical big-eyed, pink-haired heroine purportedly symbolizing the dawn of a new era.

The absence of realistic artworks, despite the inclusion of moe anthropomorphized heroes, led Feng Xue to recall a teacher's odd reaction to drawing portraits in his youth. Maybe drawing human likenesses was problematic?

Was this taboo simply a fear of inspiring rebellion among students, or was there another issue at play?

Pondering these questions, Feng Xue continued flipping through the book. The artworks spanned various nations and styles, but a curious pattern emerged regarding nationality—works from Qingyun comprised half of the collection.

This could be explained if the book were published in Qingyun, but a closer look revealed that most Qingyun works were from the first eighty years covered by the book. As time progressed, contributions from Qingyun dwindled, replaced increasingly by those from Xinghuan and Rainbow Sakura. By the year 441, Qingyun's works reappeared but shifted away from their previous aesthetic, now hinting at darker themes, except for one anomaly—the "White Rainbow."

"Modern and contemporary," Feng Xue mused, suspecting these periods were defined by significant events in Qingyun. Given the flourishing art scene indicated by the increase and richness of Qingyun's contributions around 281, something positive must have occurred then.

Conversely, the modern era post-463 might be experiencing a downturn—or was the world still within this so-called "modern" period?

The unsettling realization gnawed at him. Histories were often segmented by major events. If 281 marked a prosperous shift, 463 might have heralded a decline.

Was Qingyun currently undergoing another transformation? Or worse, was something ominous already unfolding?