Chapter 137 Night Night Night

During the day, Lin Qiushi woke refreshed. After washing up and having a simple breakfast, he sat on the sofa, hugging Li Zi and watching TV. But even though he was sitting at home, his mind had already flown to the school where he and Ruan Nanzhu were together. He began to carefully think about what Ruan Nanzhu had said last night about his seniors and the sect.

But before he could figure out anything, he received a call from Wu Qi, asking if Lin Qiushi was still coming to work. If not, he would really help Lin Qiushi submit his resignation.

Lin Qiushi said directly, "I'm not coming. Please submit my resignation for me."

Wu Qi was a little surprised when he heard this, because Lin Qiushi has always been a very responsible person, and Lin Qiushi still has some work to hand over in the company. He thought that no matter what, Lin Qiushi would hand over the work before resigning. However, he did not expect Lin Qiushi to leave so easily, and he was even too lazy to submit his resignation.

Lin Qiushi simply smiled at Wu Qi's surprise and remained silent. In fact, this world was still full of illusions to him, and because of this illusion, it was difficult for him to develop any sense of responsibility.

After eating and drinking his fill at home and taking a good nap, Lin Qiushi went to school around five or six in the afternoon.

He arrived at the school and slipped in quietly as usual, watching the students, freshly finished, happily walk out with their backpacks on their backs. It was Friday, and most students didn't have classes tomorrow, so the students' faces were even more cheerful than usual. The younger they were, the simpler the reasons for their happiness. Even a short holiday could bring smiles as bright as sunflowers.

Lin Qiushi took a stroll and came to the playground where he and Ruan Nanzhu had met yesterday.

He found a random stone bench to sit on, pulled a candy from his pocket, and popped it into his mouth. A few days ago, before nightfall, he'd always felt a bit anxious, but today, knowing he'd be meeting Ruan Nanzhu, he felt remarkably calm, even vaguely feeling a bit of anticipation.

As soon as twelve o'clock arrived, the atmosphere in the school changed.

Ruan Nanzhu appeared at the other end of the playground. He walked towards Lin Qiushi and waved to him.

Lin Qiushi greeted him with a smile, and their hands shook again.

Tonight is an even more dangerous night. Lin Qiushi's door and Ruan Nanzhu's door are superimposed on each other, which means that the ghosts will appear twice as often.

But to some extent, this was not a particularly bad thing, because the door that Lin Qiushi was very worried about - the hostess in the human oil lamp, and the female ghost in Ruan Nanzhu's door were fighting each other.

This was a fortuitous coincidence. Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu were being chased by the hostess and were running everywhere in a panic. However, they found that the hostess did not catch up with them. When they found a high point and looked down, they saw the hostess fighting with a ball of hair.

"What's going on?" Lin Qiushi, who was standing on the teaching building and looking into the distance, was stunned by the scene before him.

The ball of hair seemed to have life, tightly wrapped around the hostess's body. The long knife in the hostess's hand was useless. She roared angrily and rolled on the ground.

"It seems like the ghost was provoked by my other door." Ruan Nanzhu said, "This ghost is a bit misogynistic and hates me especially."

Lin Qiushi: "Hate you? You're not a man..." He shut up before he finished speaking because he remembered that Ruan Nanzhu was most likely wearing women's clothes when he came in.

Ruan Nanzhu obviously knew what Lin Qiushi wanted to say. He glanced at him and said nothing.

Lin Qiushi spread his hands and said, "It seems her eyesight isn't very good."

Lin Qiushi had no idea who won and who lost between the two ghosts. Ruan Nanzhu had already entered many doors, and now with the addition of more, the entire campus had become a paradise for ghosts. When Lin Qiushi walked on the street, he could see one or two pairs of pale hands reaching out from the ground next to him, trying to pull them down.

Faced with this scene, Lin Qiushi asked Ruan Nanzhu, "How many doors have you entered?"

Ruan Nanzhu said, "Before you came, it was an average of one fan every three days. Can you calculate it?"

Lin Qiushi: “…” Oh, that’s not a lot, just… a few hundred fans.

So it happened, the two of them standing at the crossroads inside the school, with a scary doll in red standing in front of them, a female ghost in white clothes floating behind them, a hand sticking out of the ground on the right, and nothing on the left. However, the tombstone standing in the middle of the road looked suspicious no matter how you looked at it.

In the end, Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu decided not to go any further and just wait for the things ahead to come to them on their own.

At first, Lin Qiushi was a little shocked, but later he was completely numb. He and Ruan Nanzhu were almost out of strength after running for their lives. When they reached the teaching building, they didn't even dare to sit down. They could only lean against a tree to catch their breath. Of course, when they rested, they had to check the tree above their heads to see if there were any hanged ghosts or the like.

Fortunately, although there are a large number of these ghosts, their quality is not very high. It is probably because Ruan Nanzhu has only killed low-level doors. If he had killed high-level doors, Lin Qiushi felt that they would not have to run away and could just sit there and wait to die.

"Are you tired?" Lin Qiushi asked Ruan Nanzhu.

"Not bad." Ruan Nanzhu wiped the sweat from his cheeks and looked at his watch. "Two more hours."

Lin Qiushi was quiet for a moment, then smiled: "Actually... I don't really want the dawn that badly."

As soon as the sun rose, Ruan Nanzhu disappeared.

Ruan Nanzhu also laughed.

Just as they were catching their breath, the lights in the teaching building behind them suddenly lit up, and a voice called out Lin Qiushi's name: "Qiushi——"

The smile on Lin Qiushi's face froze. That voice was the voice of Ruan Nanzhu as an adult, low, hoarse, and very pleasant to hear.

Ruan Nanzhu also heard his own voice. He looked towards the teaching building with a unhappy expression.

"Qiu Shi...Qiu Shi..." Ruan Nanzhu in the teaching building was still calling, "That person is fake, you have to be careful..."

Lin Qiushi looked at the young Ruan Nanzhu beside him. Their eyes met, and Ruan Nanzhu's eyes revealed an evil look. He said, "Lin Qiushi, you didn't realize I was fake?"

Lin Qiushi: “…”

Ruan Nanzhu tiptoed and bit Lin Qiushi's lips gently, saying, "So, you want to go in and save him? What will it cost you?"

Lin Qiushi looked into his eyes and sighed, "Then what do you want?"

Ruan Nanzhu: "Me? Of course I want you..."

Lin Qiushi reached out and picked up Ruan Nanzhu, hugging her like a cute doll. "You have to tiptoe to kiss me? You still want me?"

Ruan Nanzhu gnashed his teeth and said, "Are you going to rebel?! Let me go now—"

"I won't." Lin Qiushi smiled. "Don't you want me to pay the price? I'll pay you right now."

Ruan Nanzhu: "You have changed!"

Lin Qiushi said helplessly, "You're still acting at this time. Aren't you afraid that I'll really doubt your identity?"

Ruan Nanzhu snorted and said, "The voice inside is so unpleasant, how could it be mine? If you really believe it, I will..."

Lin Qiushi: "What about you?"

Ruan Nanzhu leaned close to Lin Qiushi's ear and whispered, "I'm going to fuck you hard."

Lin Qiushi looked at the tiny Ruan Nanzhu in his arms and finally couldn't help laughing. His shoulders started shaking and he had to force himself not to laugh out loud.

Ruan Nanzhu frowned and glared: "What are you laughing at?"

Lin Qiushi said, "Nothing... nothing... Don't say that with such a face. I always feel like I'm committing a crime."

Ruan Nanzhu: “…”

As the two of them talked, the voice imitating Ruan Nanzhu continued, though it had a more exasperated tone. It wasn't clear if it was provoked by Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu.

Lin Qiushi walked to the window and looked inside. He actually saw Ruan Nanzhu - or rather, someone who looked exactly like Ruan Nanzhu.

He sat in the classroom, his body tangled with black hair, struggling fiercely. Seeing Lin Qiushi looking over, he anxiously said, "Qiushi, he's not real! Even if you don't believe me! Stay away from him—"

Lin Qiushi looked at him and said, "Do you know where you've been exposed?"

Ruan Nanzhu asked, "What are you talking about?"

Lin Qiushi said, "The real Ruan Nanzhu wouldn't say 'even if you don't believe me.'"

"Hmph." The young boy standing next to Lin Qiushi puffed up his cheeks unhappily and said, "What a joke! You haven't learned the essence of this at all."

As soon as he finished speaking, the fake Ruan Nanzhu in the room began to melt, letting out a shrill cry. Lin Qiushi was just wondering which door this arm belonged to when he saw a deformed woman crawling through it. Her limbs were all bent into strange shapes, and her eyes were frighteningly large, with pupils a dark blue.

"Box girl?" Ruan Nanzhu recognized their "old friend" and said, "Long time no see."

The box girl climbed to the window, pressed her pale face against the glass, and stared intently at the two people outside. The scene was somewhat horrifying, but Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu had witnessed such bizarre scenes all night, so they felt no emotion at this moment, and even felt a little like laughing.

"Is the teaching building just a box?" Lin Qiushi said, "Then let's go. We're not forced to open the box anyway."

"Let's go." Ruan Nanzhu said.

The two of them left without a trace of reluctance on their faces. Lin Qiushi's own voice was then heard from behind him. Lin Qiushi thought to himself that it was a good thing that he was by Ruan Nanzhu's side, otherwise the two of them would have to struggle for a while.

That night, Lin Qiushi met some familiar faces, such as Xiaomei and her lover who had sacrificed themselves in the box girl's door.

Originally, Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu were almost in danger by the school pond, but Xiaomei and her lover rescued them.

The four of them stood in the pavilion, staring at each other. Xiaomei pointed at Ruan Nanzhu, stunned: "Zhu Meng, you're actually a boy?? And a child at that?"

Ruan Nanzhu said angrily, "Who is the child? I just became smaller!"

"Oh." Xiaomei's tone was perfunctory, and she seemed to not believe what Ruan Nanzhu said.

Ruan Nanzhu was about to retort, but Lin Qiushi, already giving him no face, laughed beside him and said, "Nanzhu, it seems your female disguise is quite effective. Will those ghosts be unable to recognize you?"

"What's there to not recognize?" Ruan Nanzhu said angrily, "You and I are the only two living people here. Whether you recognize us or not, you're going to kill us, right?"

Lin Qiushi: “…” What you said makes so much sense that I can’t even refute it.

Lin Qiushi asked Xiaomei if she was doing well here. Xiaomei smiled and supported her boyfriend, saying that it was pretty good. They were already married and were currently trying to have a baby. They would soon be a family of three...

After hearing this, Ruan Nanzhu looked at Lin Qiushi thoughtfully.

Lin Qiushi was horrified: "Why are you looking at me? I can't have children again?!"

Ruan Nanzhu: "No, it's not your problem. It must be that I didn't work hard enough."

Xiaomei listened to the two people's flirting and said what Lin Qiushi had just said: "Wow, Lin Qiushi, you seem to be committing a crime by dating such a child."

Lin Qiushi: “…” Why was he the one who committed the crime? He was clearly the one being harassed.

The meeting with Xiaomei was just an episode. The main theme of the whole night was still escape, escape, and escape non-stop.

Although they had the help of old friends today, the frequency of ghosts appearing increased a lot. Lin Qiushi was unlucky and was slashed by a ghost. Ruan Nanzhu fell from a high place and broke his leg. Although the injury was a bit serious, the scar would disappear during the day.

When it was almost dawn, even the two people with strong physical fitness felt a little exhausted and sat on the ground, almost unable to move.

"It seems like the dawn comes a little earlier today." Ruan Nanzhu leaned on Lin Qiushi's shoulder and looked at the watch on his wrist.

"Is there?" Lin Qiushi didn't care about this. He gently tidied Ruan Nanzhu's messy hair and responded.

"Yes," Ruan Nanzhu said, "I fell asleep at 6:34 yesterday... and it was dawn the next day."

Lin Qiushi asked, "What about now?"

"It's six twenty-one now," Ruan Nanzhu replied, looking up at the horizon. He saw the gloomy black sky slowly fading away, and a faint light appeared on the horizon. The light began to spread across the clouds, turning the white clouds into a fiery red morning glow.

Ruan Nanzhu continued to speak, but his voice grew fainter. He leaned against Lin Qiushi's shoulder and fell into a deep sleep once more. Lin Qiushi also gazed at his face and fell into a deep sleep.

Many nights passed like this, and Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu had become completely accustomed to the high-intensity pace of the evening.

But they still had no idea where the keys to the eleven doors were, because almost every night there was a different scene, with ghosts swarming towards them, trying every possible way to kill them.

But there is one good thing: the sun rises earlier and earlier.

From half past six, to six o'clock, and then to half past five, the time they had to escape became shorter and shorter, and at the same time, the time they spent together was also shortening.

"What if one day I can't get in?" Lin Qiushi suddenly asked this question when they parted half a month later.

Ruan Nanzhu looked at him: "Can't come in?"

Lin Qiushi said, "Yes, the nights are shortening, right? Is this door almost closing?" He lowered his voice. "What if we still haven't found the key after the trial? Will you remain in that world?"

Ruan Nanzhu remained silent. He had no way of making any promises to Lin Qiushi because he didn't know the answer to the question either.

"Then what should we do?" Lin Qiushi said.

Ruan Nanzhu said: "Don't worry, I will definitely come to find you."

Lin Qiushi looked at him sadly.

Ruan Nanzhu said: "No one can separate us."

In the next few nights, they met some old friends again, including Li Dongyuan and several of Ruan Nanzhu's predecessors in Obsidian.

Li Dongyuan couldn't help but taunt Ruan Nanzhu when he saw him as a teenager, and the two of them almost came to blows. In the end, Lin Qiushi said, "Please, wake up and stop stealing the work done by the ghosts."

"Damn cross-dressing pervert!" Li Dongyuan cursed.

"Haha, then aren't those who like to dress up as women even more perverted?" Ruan Nanzhu counterattacked without any hesitation.

Lin Qiushi: “…” Two childish ghosts.

The seniors at Black Obsidian completely treated Lin Qiushi like a daughter-in-law, asking him if Ruan Nanzhu treated him well. If not, he had to speak up, and they would help him teach Ruan Nanzhu a lesson. Some even lamented that Ruan Nanzhu had finally grown up and understood how to find a partner. They really missed the awkwardness of Ruan Nanzhu when he first joined Black Obsidian.

Lin Qiushi quietly asked, "How awkward is Ruan Nanzhu?"

The female senior who looked at Ruan Nanzhu with such tenderness replied quietly, "I was almost scared to tears the second time I walked in. When I came out, my eyes were wet, like a kitten."

Lin Qiushi secretly glanced at Ruan Nanzhu, who was standing next to him with an expressionless face, and thought that he could no longer see the kitten, but only a big tiger. Alas, time, what have you done to you?

Ruan Nanzhu saw Lin Qiushi's expression and immediately guessed what the two were talking about. He asked, "Sister Zhou, what were you talking about with him?"

The woman Ruan Nanzhu called Sister Zhou covered her mouth and giggled, "Aren't you just reminiscing about your childhood with him?"

Ruan Nanzhu said, "Forget about reminiscing. Can you please take a look at the current situation?" Just now, in order to have an extra ghost, Sister Zhou brought them into the toilet cubicle. Now the two of them and the ghost were huddled in the toilet, it was so crowded. It was a blessing that Sister Zhou had the leisure to reminisce with Lin Qiushi about Ruan Nanzhu's past style.

"What are you doing if you have nothing to do? She hasn't chased me yet... Wait, here it comes, don't talk, remember to lift your feet up, that thing loves to chop feet the most." After saying this, Sister Zhou climbed onto the wall and lay down.

Lin Qiushi looked at this bizarre scene, unsure what to say. But before he could think, he heard a strange noise coming from the bathroom door. At Sister Zhou's suggestion, he sat on the toilet, raised his feet, and let Ruan Nanzhu sit on him.

The ghosts outside came closer and closer and began to check the toilet cubicles. When they reached their cubicle, Lin Qiushi saw a sharp sickle stretched out from the door, and then chopped at the feet. There was no doubt that if they were still standing, their feet would have been gone by now.

Only after the ghost had checked the toilet and found no trace of them did Lin Qiushi breathe a sigh of relief and look away.

He was just too nervous to notice it just now. Only now did Lin Qiushi realize that he and Ruan Nanzhu were very close. If they lowered their heads slightly, their noses would spray against each other.

The ghost's footsteps gradually faded away, and Sister Zhou's laughter rang out. She said, "You two, stop feeding me dog food!"

Lin Qiushi finally realized what was going on and smiled sheepishly. However, Ruan Nanzhu displeasedly reached out and pressed Lin Qiushi's chin. He leaned forward and gave him a kiss. Then, he looked at Sister Zhou provocatively and asked, "Sister Zhou, are you in a relationship?"

Sister Zhou: "You're almost there!"

Ruan Nanzhu: "You're not still single, are you?"

Sister Zhou: “…”

Ruan Nanzhu said, "I met Brother Yu a few days ago. He asked me if I had a partner. He said that the one Obsidian was most worried about was you..."

Sister Zhou: "I have something to do, so I'll leave first." She left as soon as she said that, and climbed out of the bathroom directly along the wall.

Originally, this scene was quite bizarre, but when it happened to someone he knew, it became inexplicably funny. Ruan Nanzhu pressed on, saying, "Don't leave! If you leave like this, how am I going to explain this to Brother Yu when I see him in a few days? It's been so many years, Sister Zhou... Sister Zhou... are you really leaving?"

Lin Qiushi watched the interaction between the two and couldn't help but burst into laughter. After laughing, he felt inexplicably sad.

This is probably Ruan Nanzhu's true character. He had always wondered why Ruan Nanzhu's personality inside the sect was so different from that outside. Now that he thinks about it, he may have slowly worn away his eccentric personality.

As the leader of Obsidian, he must be deep and steady, so Ruan Nanzhu changed himself. He used to be a lively boy, but now all his edges and corners have been worn away, and he finally became the Ruan Nanzhu who is as still as a mountain.

Looking at him, Lin Qiushi couldn't help but kiss the hair on the back of his head and called out, "Nanzhu."

Ruan Nanzhu was still smiling, and the way he curled his lips looked adorable. He asked, "What's wrong?"

Lin Qiushi said, "I don't think this will work."

"Why not?" Ruan Nanzhu was puzzled.

Lin Qiushi hugged him and said, "I think I like you too much. This won't work."

Ruan Nanzhu was stunned.

Lin Qiushi asked, "What should I do? Can you think of a way to stop me from liking you so much?"

Ruan Nanzhu listened to Lin Qiushi's words and actually thought seriously for a moment before saying righteously, "I don't think there's anything we can do." He continued, "I'm such a good person, it's normal for you to like me so much."

"Really?" Lin Qiushi said.

"Yeah." Ruan Nanzhu looked up at the window, his tone a little more lonely, "It's a pity that the day is about to dawn."

When daybreak comes, they have to separate.

Lin Qiushi thought, yes, the daybreak was about to begin, but he still couldn’t bear to let go of the person in his arms, and even wanted this terrifying night to continue.