People said eating eyes sharpened the sight, eating liver nourished the liver.
You became what you ate.
But what if you wanted to become someone above others?
Then you had to eat people.
In a world where people ate people, if you didn't want to be eaten—
You had to make yourself toothy enough.
When this seemingly courteous but profoundly neurotic one-eared killer said he wanted to invite Bai Zhou to use his life to complete a great painting, Bai Zhou knew he, too, was skilled at "eating people."
Though the way he "ate people" was different—
This masked man, with his mouth full of nonsense about "fire" and "art," and that burning gaze whenever he looked at him, reminded Bai Zhou of Deputy Han.
"No, no, no. You needn't fear. How could death be such an inconvenient thing!"
Seeing the mockery on Bai Zhou's face, the man wearing the [Vincent van Gogh] mask realized he had misunderstood and hastily waved his hands.
"Do you know the stars?"
"The stars are the souls of departed Poets, but if you want to become a star, you must die!"
"It is like traveling by train—we board death to arrive among the stars. The unchangeable fact is that the living cannot reach the stars, just as the dead can no longer catch the train."
"So to me, cholera, rockslides, tuberculosis, and cancer are conveyances to heaven; just as steamships, buses, and trains are conveyances in the human world."
"So—do you understand now, young man?"
"I wish to make a painting with your life because only you possess such potential."
"Death is not the end of life. If we can create an immortal painting, you and I can both become eternal together!"
As he spoke, [Vincent van Gogh] threw up his arms and shouted,