Wandering Gods of Day and Night
Chapter 287 - 195 Space Law_3

Chapter 287: Chapter 195 Space Law_3

At first, he thought this painting was an obsession, made of many people,

but now,

he saw that the painting actually consisted of many scenes: infants, children, teenagers, young adults, middle-aged, elderly...

Dozens of paintings combined, each depicting a different stage of the old man’s life.

"It’s not an obsession but rather the many temporal states of a person, overlapping together."

"Young man, why are you back again?"

"Oh, I misspoke earlier—I thought it was a painting of many people forming one. Now I see clearly that this painting represents this old man’s entire life."

Zhou Xuan said, "From infancy to old age, all blended into one painting. The artist is truly remarkable."

"You said you don’t understand painting? To be honest, this painting was done by me. Few people appreciate it—I didn’t expect you would understand it."

The old man looked as if he’d met a kindred spirit he’d waited a lifetime for.

Zhou Xuan sized up the old man briefly, muttering inwardly: So it’s you, you boring old geezer, making something like this!

Some avant-garde painters are highly revered in the field of art history, but to ordinary people, they seem like they’re "just wasting time."

Zhou Xuan was precisely an ordinary person who didn’t understand art.

Since this old man in front of him was an avant-garde painter, Zhou Xuan decided to make him even more avant-garde...

"As for painting, I only understand the basics, but this piece—conceptually—could be taken further."

Zhou Xuan recalled the abstract painting movement from his previous life.

In his previous life working in media, he’d written articles on abstract art—researching while writing them.

When it came to abstract art, he didn’t understand much, but theoretically, he remembered quite a bit.

"How could it go further?"

The old man asked Zhou Xuan.

"Look here: I can draw two ears with their inner folds and outer rims, and next to the nose, I’ll add a sideways nose."

"That wouldn’t be painting anymore."

"It’s still painting. Think about it—two ears with folds and rims. Would you say this painting depicts a person from the front or from the side?

From the side, you can see the folds and rims, but only one ear; from the front, you see two ears but no folds and rims.

And two noses—one upright, one horizontal. We usually determine the orientation of a painting based on the nose’s direction. Now with two perpendicular noses, where’s the orientation of this painting?"

The old man was stumped,

but he only thought of it as a clever trick,

until Zhou Xuan said, "If the surface of the paper shows both the front and the side, doesn’t it mean the paper’s spatial dimension has been expanded?

If the direction can’t be discerned, doesn’t it mean the spatial direction is lost?

This is all academic knowledge—study well, old fellow."

Zhou Xuan’s questions weren’t his own invention—they involved philosophical questions in "abstract art."

These were the kind of issues he hadn’t figured out himself to this day, nor did he want to—it was too mentally exhausting. Better to think about lunch or dinner instead.

However, idle avant-garde painters like the old man needed to be challenged a bit—give them something to deal with when they’re bored.

Seeing the old man already looking dazed and confused, Zhou Xuan was quite satisfied.

He didn’t consider it a prank—the old man would probably thank him instead.

"Alright, old fellow, study up—I’m off to take a bath."

"Thank you, young brother, for your guidance."

See that? That’s how you handle avant-garde painters.

"No problem." Zhou Xuan strode toward the public bathhouse.

The painter stared at Zhou Xuan’s retreating figure. Reflecting deeply, he murmured,

"What he mentioned—could it be the law of space? Zhou Xuan is a Nuo God, and Nuo God is a Fate God. Why would he have insights into spatial laws?

His insights seem quite profound,

brilliant, truly brilliant."

After completing the "Han Lu Song Que" murals for the Bone Elder Temple, the painter had come to the Metropolitan for leisure. Unexpectedly, he saw a young man observing his painting—this very painting being his gift to Gu Ling.

He even recognized that young man.

The people of Bone Elder had delivered Zhou Xuan’s portrait to the temple today.

The painter approached Zhou Xuan to strike up a conversation.

During that conversation,

he actually gained something.

The painter returned to the table in a distracted daze,

"Two ears drawn with folds and rims, two noses...?"

After repeating this phrase countless times, he finally understood Zhou Xuan’s "concept," exclaiming repeatedly, "I’ve figured it out—it’s the overlay of space in a painting, akin to the overlay of time within it."

Understanding that key point, he entered an almost trance-like state—treating the dining table as though it were his study, pacing back and forth, with a burning passion in his heart.

...

On his drive back home,

Zhou Xuan asked Sister Cui whether the Metropolitan was fun to explore?

Sister Cui animatedly replied, "Very fun! Great shows, tasty food—especially the liquor-filled chocolates, sweet and boozy when you chew them. But there was this old man—he was pretty creepy, pacing alone at a dining table, looking like he was having a fit."

"I saw him too. He kept yelling about having figured something out—something about spatial overlays similar to temporal overlays in a painting."

Hearing their descriptions,

Zhou Xuan immediately realized that the "crazy old man" was none other than the avant-garde painter.

"Did he really figure it out?"

Zhou Xuan felt a little skeptical.

The abstract style is so intellectually taxing—how could the old man not be stumped?

"That old man has some talent... Next time, he better not run into me. If he does, I’ll hit him with avant-garde within avant-garde!"

...

Back at the shop, Zhou Xuan found himself with some free time and called Li Chengfeng over.

To discuss the script for tomorrow’s gathering.

At that moment, Zhou Xuan was no longer Zhou Xuan—he was Director Zhou.

Li Chengfeng received the call and hurried over in his car.

"Old Li, where’s tomorrow’s gathering going to be held?"

"Near the Mingjiang Pier, at the Bone Elder Temple."

"What time?"

"Nine tomorrow morning."

"How will the gathering proceed?" Zhou Xuan asked again.

"First, worship the statue at the Bone Elder Temple, then the ’Divine Communication’ will connect with the God to determine the arrival time. Once the communication is finished, the ’Si Chen’ will monitor the timing, while the ’Zhong Guan’ will ring the Bone Chime, awaiting the God’s descent. When the time arrives, the ’Chao Feng’s’ body will channel the God."

"The Heavenly Official will descend?"

"It’s one of the Heavenly Official’s incarnations in the human world," Li Chengfeng explained.

"How strong is this incarnation in terms of incense strength?" Zhou Xuan asked.

"From my perception, not very high, but... it carries an authentic divine aura," said Li Chengfeng.

"Tomorrow, we’ll make him the target," Zhou Xuan declared...