Chapter 127 Twins

However, words of comfort are but a drop in the bucket in the face of reality.

Whether it was the Cheng twins or everyone else in the villa, their spirits were somber after this entrance. Ye Niao, a newcomer to Obsidian, didn't quite understand the organization, but even so, he sensed the overwhelming solemnity of the atmosphere. He was usually lively, but during this time, he didn't even dare to speak too loudly.

It wasn't until a few days later that it was finally time for the twins to come in.

It was a nice morning. Lu Yanxue prepared a sumptuous breakfast, which included Cheng Qianli's favorite steamed dumplings. Cheng Qianli ate it happily, almost one at a time, like a hamster hoarding food.

Lin Qiushi's appetite was quite average. He felt that his mentality at the moment was a bit like a parent waiting to see his child's college entrance examination results. Others were probably in a similar mood, but in fact, the price of failure in getting in was much more painful than the college entrance examination.

Just when everyone was eating, Cheng Yixie and Cheng Qianli suddenly stood up and went to the second floor.

When Lin Qiushi saw their backs, he instantly understood what was going to happen next. He became inexplicably nervous and even lost his grip on the chopsticks, which fell onto the table.

Lu Yanxue was the only girl left in Obsidian after Zhuang Rujiao left. She forced a smile and said, "Will they be okay, Brother Ruan?"

Ruan Nanzhu sat next to Lin Qiushi with his eyes lowered. Facing Lu Yanxue's question, he did not give any answer.

Even he himself could not promise that he would come out of the tenth door alive.

Normally, a door only lasts a dozen minutes in reality.

Lin Qiushi had never felt that ten minutes could be so unbearable. He stared at the watch in his hand, watching the second hand move forward bit by bit, and even held his breath involuntarily. It was not until he found that he could not breathe that he took two quick breaths.

"I want to drink some wine. Do you want some?" Chen Fei suddenly stood up and spoke anxiously.

"Yeah." Lin Qiushi nodded.

Ruan Nanzhu glanced at Lin Qiushi but didn't try to persuade him.

So Chen Fei went to get a bottle of Moutai, and then a group of people started drinking early in the morning.

The sunlight cast mottled spots of light through the window, but it felt cold and dull. Lin Qiushi sipped the wine in his glass, and the atmosphere in the whole room was eerily quiet.

However, the judgment they had been waiting for finally arrived.

At 9:18 in the morning, a howling sound was heard from upstairs.

Like everyone else, Lin Qiushi's face changed drastically. They hurried upstairs and saw the twins who were supposed to be sitting on the bed in the bedroom.

But this time, one was holding another, and the one being held kept spitting out bright red blood from his mouth - Lin Qiushi had never seen so much blood, mouthful after mouthful, staining the sheets, the carpet, and everything in front of him red.

“No!! No!!!” The roar was like the wail of a dying person, and the one left behind let out a shrill howl, “Don’t leave me, Qianli, Qianli——”

Cheng Qianli, who was being held, seemed to have no strength left to speak. He opened his eyes wide, but his gaze began to blurt out. He slowly stroked Cheng Yixie's cheek with his fingers, forced a smile, and called out softly, "Brother."

"Ahhhhhhh!!!" Cheng Yixie screamed like crazy, his grief-stricken look as if he was watching a part of his soul slowly dying.

"120, call 120!" Lu Yanxue was already in tears. She called 120 with shaking hands, then rushed to Cheng Qianli, holding Cheng Qianli's hand, and said: "Qianli, Qianli, hold on, Qianli——"

Cheng Qianli didn't say anything. The light in his eyes began to fade, and his aura gradually weakened, like a painting that had faded and turned black and white. A cold breath swept over his body. He opened his mouth with great effort and called out, "Brother," then squeezed out a few words with all his strength: "No...sad."

Looking at this scene, Lin Qiushi covered his face with his hands. He slowly turned around and leaned against the wall, his whole body drooping.

The cries of Lu Yanxue and Cheng Yixie were heard in my ears, like the sound of funeral music.

What good would an ambulance do? They all knew the cost of failure.

Cheng Yixie finally refused the medical staff. When they arrived, Cheng Qianli's breathing had stopped, and he was unwilling to let his beloved brother leave his arms for a moment.

Ruan Nanzhu didn't say anything until he confirmed Cheng Qianli's death. Then he turned and went into the bathroom, took a clean towel, half-knelt in front of Cheng Yixie, and wiped the blood stains on Cheng Qianli's face bit by bit.

Cheng Yixie watched Ruan Nanzhu's actions quietly. The stars in his eyes all fell, leaving only an endless darkness. He finally spoke and said, "Brother Ruan."

Ruan Nanzhu raised his eyes and looked at him.

Cheng Yixie said, "I want to quit Obsidian."

Ruan Nanzhu didn't answer. Their eyes met. He understood Cheng Yixie's expression and said, "I'll give you a vacation."

Cheng Yixie was silent.

Ruan Nanzhu reached out and pressed his shoulder. Words were so powerless at this moment. He stretched out his fingers and gently touched Cheng Qianli's cheek. It was already cold, no longer the warmth it had before.

"I was wrong." Cheng Yixie said, "You are right."

Ruan Nanzhu didn't know what to say, so he just coughed softly, as if trying to suppress some emotions that were surging in his throat.

"This door is too difficult. In the end, there are only two of us left." Cheng Yixie looked down at his brother's cheek and said calmly, "He has been stupid all his life, and he is smart just this once." There was no pain on his face, but tears kept pouring out of his eyes, as if he could no longer control himself.

"You're smart just this once." Cheng Yixie rested his forehead against Cheng Qianli's and said, "It's all my fault."

In his eyes, Cheng Qianli was a child who would never grow up, and now, he finally didn't have to grow up anymore.

Cheng Qianli will never be able to celebrate his eighteenth birthday. His time stops at this moment and cannot move forward even a minute or a second.

No one offered a single word of comfort. No one told Cheng Yixie to persevere, to be patient, and that everything would pass. They all knew in their hearts that this matter would never be resolved. All their words were perfunctory and deceptive. They had completely lost the child who had laughed like a fool.

Lu Yanxue burst into tears, accompanied by Yi Manman's sobs.

Ruan Nanzhu turned and left the house, going downstairs. Lin Qiushi huddled in the corner, like a frozen stone statue.

Having seen too many separations, he still couldn't get used to it. The little Corgi Toast, who was sleeping downstairs, seemed to sense something and ran up the stairs in a panic. However, when he found that his owner would never move again, he let out a rapid roar, trying to wake up Cheng Qianli, who seemed to be awake.

But this is not a dream, or even if it is a dream, it is a nightmare from which one cannot wake up.

Lin Qiushi was breathless, and even he was in such pain, let alone Cheng Yixie, Cheng Qianli's twin. It was a feeling Lin Qiushi didn't dare to imagine.

Lin Qiushi no longer had much recollection of how the day ended.

It was like the body's self-defense mechanism, fading its conditioned reflexes in the face of certain memories. But Cheng Qianli's pale face remained deeply imprinted in Lin Qiushi's mind. He remembered it so clearly, so clearly that he couldn't sleep for a long time.

Then came the funeral.

The twins' parents rushed over. They originally wanted to take Cheng Qianli back to their hometown, but Cheng Yixie refused.

Cheng Yixie said that he wanted Cheng Qianli to stay with him, and his parents saw that they couldn't persuade him, so they let him do it.

In just a few days, Cheng Yixie became extremely thin and even had a patch of white hair on his temples.

He was only seventeen years old at the time, which should have been the age of a flower.

Cheng Yixie held Cheng Qianli's urn and placed it in the small grave.

The tomb was divided into two parts, one with Cheng Yixie inscribed on it, the other with Cheng Qianli. Cheng Yixie had probably thought he would die first, and had even plated his name in gold, but the reality was completely different from what he had expected.

"I am the most selfish one." At the funeral, Cheng Yixie said to the tombstone, "I want to go alone and leave him behind."

However, the one who was left behind was the most miserable. He suddenly laughed and said, "At least he doesn't have to go through all this."

Lin Qiushi looked at his smile and really wanted him to stop laughing, but he couldn't say it. In fact, the number of words he had said in the past few days could be counted on one hand.

After the funeral, Cheng Yixie disappeared.

His room was still the same as before, except for a few clothes and a suitcase.

Lin Qiushi was the first to discover this. He asked Ruan Nanzhu where Cheng Yixie had gone, and Ruan Nanzhu replied, "I don't know."

Lin Qiushi remained silent.

"I don't know where he went, and I don't know where he could go." Ruan Nanzhu said in a calm tone, "He has been at Obsidian since he walked in. Obsidian is where he belongs."

Lin Qiushi looked at Ruan Nanzhu with a hint of confusion in his eyes.

Ruan Nanzhu sighed softly, hugged Lin Qiushi in his arms, and gave him a comforting kiss. He said, "Some things were already expected."

"Does it include death?" Lin Qiushi asked.

"Of course it is included," Ruan Nanzhu said. "Everyone will experience death, sooner or later."

Lin Qiushi said, "But their death came too early." They were still so young and hadn't experienced anything. They should have had more time. They...

Ruan Nanzhu said: "God is unfair."

If Cheng Yixie and Cheng Qianli were born with healthy bodies, they would not have entered the Gate. The Gate was a tribulation, but it gave them more time to see the world properly. However, even gifts have an end. Falling from heaven to hell is the most painful thing.

That night, Ruan Nanzhu and Lin Qiushi slept together. Lin Qiushi asked, "Is that the kind of clue Cheng Yixie has?"

Ruan Nanzhu: “Yes.”

Lin Qiushi remained silent.

"Some things will have to be paid for sooner or later," Ruan Nanzhu said, "and the price will be much more painful than you can imagine."

Lin Qiushi was about to say something when he felt Ruan Nanzhu stuff a candy into his mouth. He held the candy in his mouth and mumbled, "Did you succeed in quitting smoking?"

"Success." Ruan Nanzhu replied.

Lin Qiushi was at a loss for words again. His silences had become more frequent and longer.

Ruan Nanzhu seemed to sense his helplessness, so she reached out and hugged him, saying softly, "Go to sleep."

Lin Qiushi closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

Cheng Qianli's death seemed to have broken the illusion of tranquility in the villa, and a heavy atmosphere began to spread in the villa.

Lu Yanxue often starts wiping away tears while cooking, and I don’t know if it’s because she sees certain ingredients and thinks of people who like to eat them.

After discovering that his owner was missing, Toast was depressed for a long time. Later, he barely recovered after being comforted by Chestnut.

Lin Qiushi had always felt a sense of surrealism about the twins' departure, as if the next moment he would return to the living room and see Cheng Qianli sitting on the sofa, watching TV and laughing foolishly. This illusion was only broken one night.

That day, when he came downstairs, he saw a horror movie playing on the TV in the living room. The person watching it on the sofa was wrapped in a blanket, looking terrified. Seeing this scene, Lin Qiushi blurted out, "Qianli?!"

However, Ye Niao's face appeared from under the quilt. He looked at Lin Qiushi and whispered, "Qiushi?"

The moment he saw Ye Niao's face, Lin Qiushi finally realized that he would never see Cheng Qianli again. It was a feeling that could not be described in words, as if the dream he had been trying to deceive himself was suddenly punctured, and he could only face the cruel and bloody reality.

"It's okay." Lin Qiushi turned around.

Ye Niao called out to Qiushi again, only to see Lin Qiushi turn around and head upstairs. A hint of worry crossed his face, for he clearly saw tears streaming down Lin Qiushi's cheeks after seeing his face. It seemed as if Lin Qiushi had mistaken him for Cheng Qianli... For some reason, Ye Niao felt a tinge of regret. If only he had joined the Obsidian sooner, sharing their joys and sorrows, rather than being isolated from the outside world.

Lin Qiushi only realized that he had been crying after he returned to his room. He hadn't shed a tear when Cheng Qianli left, but he didn't expect that he couldn't control himself at this moment.

He sat on the edge of the bed and suddenly understood why Cheng Yixie had left. Because this villa was full of traces of Cheng Qianli's life, and these traces were like a blunt knife, cutting people's flesh one by one, but no blood could be seen.

Lin Qiushi lay on the bed and let out a long breath. He emptied himself and fell into a drowsy sleep.

Ruan Nanzhu came back in the middle of the night and saw Lin Qiushi curled up in bed. He did not wake him up, but gently put a thin blanket on Lin Qiushi.

"Hmm." Lin Qiushi woke up with a start and called out vaguely, "Nanzhu."

"Yeah." Ruan Nanzhu sat down next to Lin Qiushi. "I'm here."

"I miss Qianli." Lin Qiushi said.

Ruan Nanzhu said, "I miss him too." He admitted it very frankly, "Every time I see toast, I think of Qianli."

I remembered Qianli holding the toast and the little boy’s bright smile.

"What should I do at a time like this?" Lin Qiushi said, "I also thought of Wu Qi and Tan Zaozao..." They were all passers-by in his life, who came and went.

"I can only bear it." Ruan Nanzhu said, "Just bear it and it will be fine."

Hearing Ruan Nanzhu's calm tone, Lin Qiushi suddenly felt distressed. After Cheng Qianli left, almost everyone was in a state of collapse, but only Ruan Nanzhu calmly handled the funeral arrangements. He notified the twins' parents, contacted the funeral home, and selected a time for the burial.

Lin Qiushi didn't know how many such things Ruan Nanzhu had experienced to become so calm.

Ruan Nanzhu understood Lin Qiushi's expression. He sighed slightly, then smiled and said, "Don't feel so bad for me. I'm really not as miserable as you think."

Some things you just have to get used to.

Three months after Cheng Yixie left Obsidian, he sent a letter to Obsidian without an address, saying that he was doing well and asked them not to worry.

Lu Yanxue was the first to receive the letter. Seeing the familiar handwriting on the letter, she burst into tears and almost fainted. She sobbed while holding the envelope. She said, "This bad boy, why did he send the letter back only now? This bad boy——"

"Can you find out where he is?" Chen Fei asked Ruan Nanzhu from the side.

After checking the letter, Ruan Nanzhu took the envelope from Lu Yanxue and shook his head. "No clues. He's very careful."

Chen Fei sighed.

"Will he come back?" Yi Manman actually has an average relationship with Cheng Yixie, but a very good relationship with Cheng Qianli.

"I don't know." Ruan Nanzhu did not give a definite answer.

"Whether he comes back or not, as long as he feels comfortable, that's all that matters." Lu Yanxue said this, but tears fell again. "But how is he going to get through this alone? Can he make it?"

No one knew the answer to this question, but even if they couldn't get through it, they had to endure it. That was time bought with Cheng Qianli's life, and Cheng Yixie couldn't give up.

Lin Qiushi stared at the handwriting on the envelope and remained silent for a long time.

Until Ruan Nanzhu pulled him back to the room, he said: "Qiu Shi, you seem to be in a bad state recently."

Lin Qiushi: "Hmm?"

"You've been in a daze." Ruan Nanzhu said, "Didn't you notice?" He frowned slightly and his eyes fell on Lin Qiushi's face.

"I'm in a daze?" Lin Qiushi was puzzled. "Really?"

Ruan Nanzhu didn't say anything, but his eyes gave Lin Qiushi the answer.

"Oh." Lin Qiushi touched his face and said, "I just feel a little tired."

Ruan Nanzhu said, "Let's go on vacation."

"Hmm?" Lin Qiushi didn't expect Ruan Nanzhu to say that so suddenly. He was stunned for a moment, his mind wandering again until Ruan Nanzhu gently pinched his cheek. "Are you dazed again?"

Lin Qiushi: "Ahem." He then realized he had been distracted again, especially with Ruan Nanzhu staring at him. He coughed dryly twice and said awkwardly, "Sorry."

Ruan Nanzhu sighed.

Noticing that something was not right with Lin Qiushi, Ruan Nanzhu quickly began to prepare for the trip.

Spring should be a season when everything comes back to life and is full of happiness, but because of Qianli's departure, this spring for them is even more difficult than the cold winter.

Lin Qiushi couldn't even remember the scene of the trees sprouting new buds. By the time he came to his senses, it was already midsummer.

The streets were lined with lush, tall trees, and it seemed as if these past few months had been taken away from their lives by some strange force.

But life still had to go on. It was just that during this period, not many people were coming into the villa, so everyone's life was very peaceful. Ruan Nanzhu also broke away from her usual constant comings and goings, and prepared to take Lin Qiushi out to play for a while.

"Where do you want to go?" Ruan Nanzhu asked Lin Qiushi while holding a map.

"Anywhere is fine. I've never been abroad," Lin Qiushi said. "Have you been?"

"I used to go there, but not often now," Ruan Nanzhu replied.

Lin Qiushi: “Before?” He suddenly remembered that Ruan Nanzhu rarely mentioned his family background, and he had hardly ever heard him mention his family.

"Yeah," Ruan Nanzhu said, "I come from a well-off family, but they all thought I was crazy." He spoke softly, as if discussing something unrelated to him, "I haven't contacted them since then."

Lin Qiushi said, "Oh." He felt that Ruan Nanzhu seemed to have little interest in discussing family matters, so he stopped asking.

"If you want to know, I can also take you back." Ruan Nanzhu said.

Lin Qiushi said, "Not really." He smiled, "I just want to understand you."

Ruan Nanzhu looked at Lin Qiushi: "Really?"

Lin Qiushi spread his hands: "What else?"

Finally they decided to go on vacation to an archipelago near the equator.

When Chen Fei knew that they were going out to play, he was very surprised and said, "Brother Ruan, you haven't had a rest in several years. Why do you suddenly want to go out to play this year?"

Ruan Nanzhu asked, "Is it strange to go on vacation when you're tired?"

Chen Fei laughed dryly: "It's not strange, it's not strange, just have fun. If you have any questions, call us."

Ruan Nanzhu hummed, and when he turned to look at Lin Qiushi, he found that he was sitting on the sofa in a daze again. Ruan Nanzhu showed a hint of helplessness. He walked to Lin Qiushi, lowered his head and kissed him on the cheek.

"Ah!" Lin Qiushi was startled awake by Ruan Nanzhu's bite on the cheek. He covered his face in confusion, "Why did you bite me?"

Ruan Nanzhu: "I'm afraid if I don't bite you back, your soul will fly away."

Lin Qiushi said helplessly, "It's not that serious." Ruan Nanzhu had bitten down hard, and his face was not only burning with pain, but also had a neat tooth mark.

"If you're afraid of getting bitten, don't just sit there." Ruan Nanzhu said very seriously.

Lin Qiushi looked embarrassed. He didn't know why he liked to daydream so much recently... Besides, could he really control his distraction?