Song t.i.tle: 畫心 (Painted Heart)

Music Composer: 藤原育郎 (Ikuro Fujiwara)

Lyrics Composer: 陳少琪 (Keith Chan)

Performed by: 張靚穎 (Jane Zhang)

Published: Oct 20, 2008

Background: "Painted Heart" is the theme song of the Chinese drama, Painted Skin, which is an oriental ancient era romance and magic movie. I haven't actually watched this movie, but the song is beautiful. The term 'painted skin' implies a disguise that transforms a monster into a beauty.

At the very start, there was no vocalise planned, but Jane Zhang added it of her own initiative after seeing the film when she saw that the movie was about the forbidden love between a human and a fox spirit. It exhibited the desire humans had towards the beauty of the world and their fascination for superficial loveliness. The vocalise was intended to express the misgivings, confusion, and sorrow in the hearts of the characters.

I skimmed over some of the wikipedia summary and it seems to be quite a heart-wrenching story…

Original Music Video:

Sung by the same person, but in a quadruplet(?). I personally prefer this version because the quality sounds a lot better to me:

Lyrics:

kàn bù chuān， shì nǐ shī lùo de hún pò

看不穿，是你失落的魂魄

cāi bù tòu， shì nǐ tóng kǒng de yán sè

猜不透，是你瞳孔的顏色

yī zhèn fēng， yī chǎng mèng， ài rú shēng mìng bān mò cè

一陣風，一場夢，愛如生命般莫測

nǐ de xīn， dào dǐ bèi shén me gǔ hùo

你的心，到底被什麼蠱惑

What I can't see through, is your disappointed soul.

What I can't make out, is the color of your eyes.

A gust of wind, a night's dream, love is as hard to predict as life,

What exactly is keeping your heart bewitched?

nǐ de lún kùo zài hēi yè zhī zhōng yān méi

你的輪廓在黑夜之中淹沒

kàn táo huā， kāi chū zěn yàng de jiē gǔo

看桃花，開出怎樣的結果

kàn zhe nǐ， bào zhe wǒ， mù guāng sì yuè sè jì mò

看着你，抱着我，目光似月色寂寞

jìu ràng nǐ， zài bié rén huái lǐ kuài lè

就讓你，在別人懷裡快樂

Your silhouette is drowned by the night.

Look at the peach flowers, what kind of outcome would they reveal?

As I watch you, hug me, my gaze is as still as the moon,

I can only allow you, to find happiness in another's arms.

ài zhe nǐ， xiàng xīn tiào， nán chù mō

愛着你，像心跳，難觸摸

huà zhe nǐ， huà bù chū nǐ de gǔ gé

畫着你，畫不出你的骨骼

jì zhe nǐ de liǎn sè， shì wǒ děng nǐ de zhí zhúo

記着你的臉色，是我等你的執着

nǐ shì wǒ， yī shǒu chàng bù wán de gē

你是我，一首唱不完的歌

Loving you, is as natural as a heartbeat, despite its intangible nature.

When I try to draw you, I'm unable to draw your bones.

I memorize your features, because I can't give up waiting for you.

You're the song, that I can never finish singing.

kàn bù chuān， shì nǐ shī lùo de hún pò

看不穿，是你失落的魂魄

cāi bù tòu， shì nǐ tóng kǒng de yán sè

猜不透，是你瞳孔的顏色

yī zhèn fēng， yī chǎng mèng， ài rú shēng mìng bān mò cè

一陣風，一場夢，愛如生命般莫測

nǐ de xīn， dào dǐ bèi shén me gǔ hùo

你的心，到底被什麼蠱惑

What I can't see through, is your disappointed soul.

What I can't make out, is the color of your eyes.

A gust of wind, a night's dream, love is as hard to predict as life,

What exactly is keeping your heart bewitched?

nǐ de lún kùo zài hēi yè zhī zhōng yān méi

你的輪廓在黑夜之中淹沒

kàn táo huā， kāi chū zěn yàng de jiē gǔo

看桃花，開出怎樣的結果

kàn zhe nǐ， bào zhe wǒ， mù guāng sì yuè sè jì mò

看着你，抱着我，目光似月色寂寞

jìu ràng nǐ， zài bié rén huái lǐ kuài lè

就讓你，在別人懷裡快樂

Your silhouette is drowned by the night.

Look at the peach flowers, what kind of outcome would they reveal?

As I watch you, hug me, my gaze is as still as the moon,

I can only allow you, to find happiness in another's arms.

ài zhe nǐ， xiàng xīn tiào， nán chù mō

愛着你，像心跳，難觸摸

huà zhe nǐ， huà bù chū nǐ de gǔ gé

畫着你，畫不出你的骨骼

jì zhe nǐ de liǎn sè， shì wǒ děng nǐ de zhí zhúo

記着你的臉色，是我等你的執着

nǐ shì wǒ， yī shǒu chàng bù wán de gē

你是我，一首唱不完的歌

Loving you, is as natural as a heartbeat, despite its intangible nature.

When I try to draw you, I'm unable to draw your bones.

I memorize your features, because I can't give up waiting for you.

You're the song, that I can never finish singing.

nǐ de lún kùo zài hēi yè zhī zhōng yān méi

你的輪廓在黑夜之中淹沒

kàn táo huā， kāi chū zěn yàng de jiē gǔo

看桃花，開出怎樣的結果

kàn zhe nǐ， bào zhe wǒ， mù guāng sì yuè sè jì mò

看着你，抱着我，目光似月色寂寞

jìu ràng nǐ， zài bié rén huái lǐ kuài lè

就讓你，在別人懷裡快樂

Your silhouette is drowned by the night.

Look at the peach flowers, what kind of outcome would they reveal?

As I watch you, hug me, my gaze is as still as the moon,

I can only allow you, to find happiness in another's arms.

ài zhe nǐ， xiàng xīn tiào， nán chù mō

愛着你，像心跳，難觸摸

huà zhe nǐ， huà bù chū nǐ de gǔ gé

畫着你，畫不出你的骨骼

jì zhe nǐ de liǎn sè， shì wǒ děng nǐ de zhí zhúo

記着你的臉色，是我等你的執着

wǒ de xīn， zhǐ yuàn wéi nǐ ér gē shě

我的心，只願爲你而割捨

Loving you, is as natural as a heartbeat, despite its intangible nature.

When I try to draw you, I'm unable to draw your bones.

I memorize your features, because I can't give up waiting for you.

You are the only one, I'm willing to part with (cut out) my heart for.

Happy reading~

Chapter 206: If Only I Could Dissect Some Ability Users

Phoenix's hands were covered with a layer of frost as she watched the school doctor uncle leave with Ning Shu. What was so good about the figureless and useless Daisy?

Ning Shu followed the uncle to the entrance of the base and saw that tons of zombies were swarming towards the base doors. The smell of rot was so strong that it caused people to feel faint.

The walls of the base were filled with cannons, bombs, and all sorts of new weapons. The people handling them shot at the zombies like crazy, but although they did a lot of damage, it wasn't enough to handle this huge amount of zombies.

Even the people without abilities were using wooden stools and hoes to fight the zombies, but the result was very tragic. Most of those ordinary people ended up being torn apart.

These zombies didn't seem to care about eating at this point and would tear apart the corpses instantly. The scene was extremely b.l.o.o.d.y.

The senior commander was currently directing the troops to kill zombies. When he turned around and saw Ning Shu, he shouted with a frown, "What are you doing here?"

The sounds of the cannons were very loud so Ning Shu had to strain her ears to hear what the senior commander was saying. Then she shouted back, "I'm here to fight the zombies!"

The senior commander saw that the school doctor uncle was next to her so he didn't say anything more and turned back to command the troops.

The more dazzling part of this scene was the ability users. As they utilized their various abilities, they made a beautiful scene while killing the zombies with ease. Wolf's lightning ability was especially flashy and powerful. All the zombies immediately died from attacks to the head.

Countless people watched Wolf with amazement and wors.h.i.+p in their eyes.

Wolf sensed their gazes and started attacking even faster with larger attacks. It felt like he was purposefully trying to show off.

Ning Shu retrieved her gaze and started firing at zombie heads. The school doctor uncle stood next to Ning Shu but didn't attack. He said to Ning Shu, "This attack is very organized and on a huge scale, so the zombie behind this definitely isn't weak."

"If that type of zombie comes, run. You won't be able to handle it," said the school doctor uncle mildly. He didn't seem to feel like fleeing from danger was anything to be ashamed of.

Ning Shu knitted her brows as she asked, "Is it a variant zombie?"

The school doctor uncle nodded. "It's a variant zombie, but it's stronger than all the ones we've encountered so far. Zombies evolve much faster than humans."

The school doctor uncle s.h.i.+fted his gaze to the crowd of ability users and muttered, "If only I can dissect a few ability users to study their genes. The gene essence shouldn't be a half-finished product, it should be able to completely awaken a person's special ability…"

As Ning Shu fired, she heard the school doctor uncle muttering to himself about something, so she s.h.i.+fted closer to the uncle and asked, "Uncle, what did you say?"

"Zombies are coming," said the school doctor uncle mildly.

Ning Shu replied 'oh,' then continued shooting at the zombies. When the zombies eventually got closer, she picked up a rod from the ground and used it to hit the zombies' heads. The zombies' heads would immediately explode from her strikes.

Ning Shu had gotten smarter now and would immediately dodge after the strikes to avoid getting splattered by brains.

The school doctor uncle retreated very far back to watch Ning Shu kill the zombies. When some zombies got too close to him, he would casually shoot them.

On the chaotic battlefield, everyone was trying their best to kill the zombies and stay alive.

"Grr grrr…"

An extremely powerful roar arose. Upon hearing this sound, the zombies became even more violent and rushed towards the city entrance with all their strength.

Human casualties were gradually increasing as well. The air become more and more dirty with the stink of blood, rot, and dust…

#comment: Btw, how do you think the relations.h.i.+p between Ning Shu and the school doctor uncle develops in this arc?

Happy reading~

Chapter 207: When the Culprit is Right Next to You

"Grr grr…"

Wave after wave of powerful roaring arrose. This sound messed with the people's heartbeats and caused their heads to spin.

However, it had an energizing effect on the zombies and made them rush forward even more vigorously.

Everyone was becoming very uneasy. The senior commander shouted, "Retreat into the base, hurry!"

"Daisy, hurry and come in," the senior commander shouted towards Ning Shu.

Ning Shu dealt with the zombie in front of her with a strike of the stick, then turned to run into the base before standing next to the school doctor uncle to watch.

The zombies flooded towards the walls and entrance of the base and attempted to break in. Ning Shu felt gooseb.u.mps all over as she took in the scene.

"It's here." The school doctor uncle said softly. Ning Shu turned around and saw a black dot moving rapidly in this direction. Then it hovered in the air above the base.

This was a zombie, but it looked no different from an ordinary person except for the fact that its face was unearthly pale. In addition, its eyes were moving, indicating that unlike other zombie, it could see.

Ning Shu's jaw practically fell off. She stiffly turned around and stammered, "U…uncle. It can fly."

It was completely defying Newton's Law of Gravity. The zombies they had encountered before were only able to jump high and move fast, but being suspended in midair was practically challenging human perception of the world.

The uncle narrowed his eyes as he stared at the zombie floating in midair. Could it be that ti's easier for variant zombies to evolve?"

This human-like zombie immediately caused an uproar in the base. The fact that it could even soar in the sky like a celestial stunned everyone and also made them feel extremely helpless. This zombie was seriously too powerful.

An atmosphere of despair started spreading, causing everyone to become even more panicked.

"f.u.c.k! Get a taste of this!" An ability user shot his golden colored ability towards the zombie, but the zombie didn't even move to dodge.

Ning Shu was surprised. There was no way this zombie was that weak, right? It looked extremely powerful, would it really get hit just like that?

The ability pa.s.sed straight through the zombie's body. It took a moment for everyone to realize that the ability had hit an afterimage. Where did the zombie go?

"Aaah…" There was a scream. Everyone turned around and saw that the zombie had stabbed his arm through the chest of the person who had fired that shot. The heart in the palm of the zombie's b.l.o.o.d.y hand was still pulsing out blood.

The zombie's gaze was very indifferent. It threw the ability user's corpse into the pile of zombies and the corpse was immediately torn apart.

Meanwhile, the variant zombie returned to midair and started eating the b.l.o.o.d.y heart bite by bite. When Ning Shu saw this, she swallowed hard. This scene was seriously b.l.o.o.d.y and disgusting.

Everyone felt like it was their heart that was being chomped by the zombie.

With that person as a precedent example, no one else dared to make a rash move.

Going up against that thing was tantamount to throwing your life away.

The place became completely silent despite the huge amount of people present. It caused the shrieking of the siren to become even more sharp.

After the variant zombie finished eating the heart, it licked away the blood around its mouth before setting its gaze on a crowd of ability users. The way it sized them up like it was considering its next meal option caused people's blood to run cold.

Ning Shu was wondering, did the ability users that were filled with energy taste better to the variant zombie?

"Uncle, what do we do now?" Ning Shu s.h.i.+fted closer to the school doctor uncle. What was he standing here for?

The school doctor uncle continued staring at the zombie even as he said, "What else can we do? Run."

Ning Shu: …

Although that was true, she didn't really dare to move. What if she caught the zombie's attention and got her heart ripped out?

The ability users faced the most pressure since the variant zombie was most focused on them. It was currently scrutinizing them with a heartless gaze as if it was trying to figure out how they would taste.

"There's no choice. Everyone, let's attack together," said Wolf with a grim expression. "Let's attack together!"

Right after Wolf spoke, all the ability users started attacking the variant zombie with their abilities, but this zombie's speed was too fast as it managed to dodge all of their attacks.

Ning Shu: …

This zombie was seriously messed up. How were they supposed to beat such a strong existence?

In addition, the culprit that caused all of this was the school doctor uncle who was standing right next to her. However, she freaking didn't have the nerve to criticize him! This situation sure was a mess.