Chapter 69 A Perfect Match

Lin Qiushi guessed that the key was most likely related to the principal's office. Ruan Nanzhu had a similar guess, so they both waited for night to come.

Seeing how calmly they were waiting, Feng Yongle suppressed his anxiety.

The long day finally passed. When the clock struck eight, the sun dipped below the horizon, and the entire sanatorium was once again engulfed in darkness.

Ruan Nanzhu, Lin Qiushi and others were in the room.

At eight o'clock, the sound of high heels did not return. Instead, Lin Qiushi heard a man's scream not far from them. This cry was very familiar to Lin Qiushi; it was the voice of Jiang Yingrui—the dean.

Feng Yongle was standing by the window. When he heard the shout, he tilted his head toward the outside and whispered, "Come and see..."

Lin Qiushi stood over and saw the scene outside.

At the bottom of the building, the nurse reappeared in a distorted manner. She was dragging a body whose shape was no longer clearly visible, and she slowly walked downstairs and finally climbed the stairs.

Although the corpse could not be recognized, it could be determined from the clothes that it was the dean.

Lin Qiushi heard the child crying. He glanced at Ruan Nanzhu and saw that he looked calm, as if he hadn't heard anything.

Lin Qiushi hesitated for a moment, but still told Ruan Nanzhu what he had heard.

Ruan Nanzhu looked at the words he typed and paused for a moment. "I'm going to the rooftop to look for the key. You guys wait for me at the tunnel entrance."

Lin Qiushi shook his head upon hearing this, indicating that he disagreed: I want to go with you.

Feng Yongle said embarrassedly, "Then I'll go with you." Seeing two girls taking risks for him always made people feel a little bit sorry.

Who knew Ruan Nanzhu glanced at him and said, "You'd better go to the tunnel."

Feng Yongle: "..." Was it an illusion? He actually heard a hint of disgust in Ruan Nanzhu's tone.

Feng Yongle struggled and wanted to say something, but saw Ruan Nanzhu wave his hand, grab Lin Qiushi and turn away, leaving Feng Yongle standing there with a helpless expression.

Ruan Nanzhu and Lin Qiushi went up to the sixth floor.

Today was very different from the previous ones. The nurse no longer ran in the corridor or jumped off the building. She seemed to have found what she wanted, and then she calmed down.

Ruan Nanzhu and Lin Qiushi walked to the door of the dean's office.

The dean's office was dark and quiet, seemingly unremarkable. Ruan Nanzhu reached out and grasped the doorknob, gently pulling it. The wooden door in front of him swung open. He walked inside, feeling along the wall, and turned on the light.

The lights came on, revealing the entire room. After Lin Qiushi's eyes adjusted to the light for a few seconds, he saw that the last empty photo frame was indeed filled.

But the picture in this frame shows not just one person, but a man and a woman.

The man was wearing a doctor's uniform and the woman was wearing a nurse's uniform. The man's expression was a little stiff, while the woman had a sweet smile, as if she was very satisfied.

Ruan Nanzhu looked at the photo frame and brought over a chair. Because the photo frame was hung a little high, he had to step on something to take it down.

Lin Qiushi's gaze shifted to other places in the room. He suddenly noticed that a drawer in the room was opened, so he slowly walked over.

The baby's skeleton was still in the open drawer. Lin Qiushi stared at it and suddenly remembered something. He remembered that when the dean escaped yesterday, he seemed to value the skeleton very much. Could it be that it was of some use... He hesitated slightly, then reached out and picked it up.

Lin Qiushi had just picked up the skeleton when Ruan Nanzhu took down the photo frame. He turned it over and saw the key hanging behind it.

Ruan Nanzhu's expression relaxed, knowing that their guess was correct. He quickly took out the key and wanted to hang the photo frame back.

When things got to this point, a huge problem arose - the photo frame could not be hung back.

What was originally an easy thing to do became impossible. The photo frames kept sliding down the wall, and Ruan Nanzhu's expression became serious.

Lin Qiushi noticed the change in the atmosphere in the room. As soon as the frame was removed, the other portraits began to slowly move. First, it was just their eyes, then their expressions, and finally—they stretched out their hands, trying to crawl out of the frames.

In the photo in Ruan Nanzhu's hand, the dean began to smile strangely, and the nurse's expression was somewhat similar to his.

These changes happened in just a moment. Ruan Nanzhu reacted quickly and his expression changed drastically: "Something is wrong, let's go--" He no longer tried to hang the photo frame back, shouted, and turned around and ran away.

Lin Qiushi followed behind him.

The two rushed out of the dean's office and ran towards the stairs.

But Lin Qiushi noticed something strange. The stairs that were originally easy to run down became extremely long. They turned several corners but were still spinning in circles.

Ruan Nanzhu stopped and frowned: "We are trapped."

Before Lin Qiushi could say anything, he saw shadowy figures appear in front of the stairs. At first, he thought it was just one figure, but soon he realized it wasn't just one, but a group—the people in the portraits had all run out of their frames. They stood at the end of the corridor, grinning at Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu. Their dark eyes and mouths made them look more like papier-mâché faces than people.

Lin Qiushi felt a chill on his back.

Ruan Nanzhu took a deep breath and slowly pulled out a blood-red jade bracelet from his pocket. He handed it to Lin Qiushi and said, "Put it on."

Lin Qiushi looked at him: "What is this?"

Ruan Nanzhu said, "Something that can save your life." He looked a little anxious, which was rare, and made Lin Qiushi clearly feel that the situation was very bad.

Lin Qiushi asked, "What about you?"

Ruan Nanzhu said, "I have my own way." He handed the key to Lin Qiushi and said, "We'll rush over later. You just run downstairs."

Lin Qiushi looked at Ruan Nanzhu's face and asked again, "What about you?"

Ruan Nanzhu remained silent, his tone calm: "I don't think he'll die."

He said "should", not "can't die". Lin Qiushi looked at him and said firmly, "No, I don't want to go alone."

Ruan Nanzhu was stunned when he heard this.

"I don't want to go alone," Lin Qiushi said. "If we're going, let's go together."

Ruan Nanzhu: "Stop making trouble—" He wanted to persuade Lin Qiushi again, but the figure in front of him began to move towards them.

They moved swiftly, arriving in front of Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu in a flash. At that moment, Lin Qiushi suddenly made a move. He reached into his bag and pulled out the infant skeleton he had taken out from the dean's office.

This action was very abrupt, and Lin Qiushi didn't know if it would be helpful. He was just relying on his intuition.

The figures that had been moving toward him and Ruan Nanzhu suddenly dispersed. Although their eyes were just black holes, Lin Qiushi could detect a sense of fear in their expressions. These creatures were indeed afraid of this baby... Lin Qiushi felt a surge of joy.

Ruan Nanzhu also saw this scene, but he didn't have time to think about it. He grabbed Lin Qiushi's hand and walked straight through the shadows, continuing to run forward.

This time, the dark shadows did not dare to stop them.

Lin Qiushi breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that they had escaped another disaster.

Although the view from the staircase had returned to normal, the surroundings were actually starting to feel a bit off. The air was thick with the smell of blood. As Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu ran past the fourth floor, they saw the corridor splattered with blood. Ruan Nanzhu and Lin Qiushi exchanged glances, each seeing a wry smile in the other's eyes. They were both thinking the same thing—I hope Feng Yongle is alright.

The sanatorium began to become restless, and the patients who were originally sleeping in their rooms left their rooms and attacked each other.

Lin Qiushi passed by the second floor and saw with his own eyes a patient pushing another patient to the ground, then lowering his head and biting the patient's throat. Hearing their footsteps, the patient raised his blood-covered face and smiled at them.

There were countless similar situations, and it was as if the malice in the entire sanatorium had been released.

Ruan Nanzhu and Lin Qiushi finally arrived at the place they had agreed to meet with Feng Yongle.

Feng Yongle was so happy to see them that he almost jumped up from the ground. He seemed to be injured as well, with some scratches on his cheeks: "You guys are finally here - I'm so fucking scared, what the hell are these patients doing -!"

Ruan Nanzhu said, "Go in quickly!"

Feng Yongle nodded.

During the day, they determined that the iron gate was at the end of the tunnel. It was not far away, but they had to pass through a road full of body bags.

Everything was fine when they came in during the day, but when they stepped into the tunnel, they found that the body bags under their feet were moving. Some corpses even scratched the bags, and pale hands stretched out from inside and groped around - they wanted to catch people passing by.

Ruan Nanzhu walked in front, dodging the hands. Lin Qiushi followed closely behind him. Feng Yongle's face was pale, but at least he hadn't fallen behind. The three of them were extremely careful, trying their best to stay away from the pale hands.

But in fact it is difficult to avoid it completely. After all, the entire tunnel is filled with corpses, and even the corpses under their feet are soft.

This was such a terrible feeling that a little cold sweat broke out on Lin Qiushi's forehead.

"Fuck!" Feng Yongle, who was at the end of the group, suddenly yelled. Lin Qiushi turned around and saw that his foot was grabbed by a hand.

The hand was holding on so tightly that Feng Yongle almost fell down. He said in a trembling voice, "I... was caught..."

He struggled hard, but the hand seemed to be made of iron and he couldn't get it free.

Lin Qiushi glanced at Ruan Nanzhu and saw that his brows were furrowed. He hesitated for three seconds, then revealed a determined expression and pulled a folding knife from his pocket.

This folding knife is very sharp. Ruan Nanzhu helped him choose it. It is said that it can cut through iron like mud...

Lin Qiushi walked up to Feng Yongle with a knife in his hand. Feng Yongle glared at him: "Qiu...Qiuqiu...what are you going to do..." It must be said that seeing such a weak girl looking at you expressionlessly with a knife in her hand gave one an inexplicable sense of horror.

Lin Qiushi ignored him and squatted down.

Feng Yongle said, "Don't—don't cut my feet—" He was screaming when he felt his feet loosen. He looked down and found that the hand holding him was cut off by Lin Qiushi's knife.

Then Lin Qiushi looked at him as if he were mentally retarded.

Feng Yongle was a little embarrassed and laughed dryly: "Haha, I was just joking."

Lin Qiushi thought, if you hadn’t screamed so miserably, I would have believed you were joking.

Over there, Ruan Nanzhu had already opened the iron gate with the key. Once the iron gate opened, a road emitting faint light was revealed behind it.

Ruan Nanzhu waved at them and said, "Come here quickly——"

As the iron gate was opened, the corpses in the tunnel became more agitated. Lin Qiushi and Feng Yongle quickened their pace and finally arrived in front of the tunnel.

Feng Yongle didn't hold back this time. He greeted Ruan Nanzhu and the others and then rushed straight into the back of the door.

Ruan Nanzhu said, "Let's go in."

Lin Qiushi nodded. Before entering, he glanced toward the end of the tunnel and saw the nurse standing at the door, staring at him expressionlessly. The dean stood beside her, his eyes filled with resentment that sent chills down one's spine... One could imagine what would happen to those who hadn't yet arrived if they encountered the two ghosts at the door.

Lin Qiushi withdrew his gaze, turned around and followed Ruan Nanzhu into the door.

After passing through a long tunnel, they returned to the real world.

Lin Qiushi reappeared in the villa and suddenly felt as if he was in another world.

Li Zi happened to pass by him, meowing twice and, for once, rubbing her head against Lin Qiushi's feet. Lin Qiushi finally came back to his senses, a look of delight on his face: "Li Zi! You finally agreed to let Daddy hug you!"

He happily picked up Li Zi, then exposed Li Zi's furry white belly and buried his face in it...

Ruan Nanzhu, who had just come down from upstairs, saw Lin Qiushi in this state as soon as he reached the dining room. His expression froze for a moment, but he quickly recovered and said, "Lin Qiushi."

Lin Qiushi was still obsessed with petting the cat until Ruan Nanzhu called him again.

"Huh? What's the matter?" Lin Qiushi looked up.

It was spring, the season when chestnuts shed their hair. When Lin Qiushi looked up, he saw a strand of white cat hair on his lips.

Ruan Nanzhu walked over, pressed his hand on Lin Qiushi's lips, rubbed them gently, and removed the white cat hair.

Lin Qiushi said, "Finally out." He breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a little tired.

"Well, have a good rest." Ruan Nanzhu said, "Look at your bag."

Lin Qiushi nodded, opened his backpack, and was slightly stunned when he saw the things inside.

He saw that in his bag was the baby skeleton that he had taken from the dean's office. However, after he took the skeleton out, there were some slight changes in the skeleton, and the body became extremely black.

Ruan Nanzhu: "It is indeed a usable tool."

Speaking of props, Lin Qiushi remembered the red bracelet Ruan Nanzhu had given him. He hadn't looked closely enough while inside, but now that he was out, he realized it was made of blood jade. It looked incredibly beautiful, its color translucent and dotted with red mist. It was clearly no ordinary item. He took it off and handed it to Ruan Nanzhu, saying, "Oh, this is back to you. It's quite a beautiful bracelet."

Ruan Nanzhu took it and said calmly, "It's beautiful indeed, but it's something from a dead person. Otherwise, it wouldn't matter if I gave it to you to wear."

Lin Qiushi smiled and said, "I'm not a girl, why should I wear this?" He had no interest in jewelry or anything like that.

Ruan Nanzhu raised an eyebrow: "Really?"

Lin Qiushi: "..." He then remembered that he was still wearing women's clothing. He sighed and said, "Then what should we do with the skeleton? Just keep it at home?"

Ruan Nanzhu said, "There's a study in the house, and there are several safes in the study. You usually lock things like this in the safes and take them with you when you come in."

Lin Qiushi tilted his head: "So what's the use of this thing..."

Ruan Nanzhu shook his head: "I don't know, but it will definitely be useful."

As for its use, you still need to figure it out yourself, just like the previous diary.

Lin Qiushi nodded, indicating that he understood. Then he returned to his room, changed out of his women's clothes, took a shower, and sat in his bedroom to open a forum and surf the Internet.

To be honest, such high-intensity and high-frequency entry is indeed a very tiring task. At least Lin Qiushi feels very tired, and I don’t know how Ruan Nanzhu managed to endure it.

Lin Qiushi felt better after a night's rest.

The next day, Cheng Qianli asked him how he felt about being inside the door this time.

Lin Qiushi said, "It's not bad. I met someone who looks quite like you inside the door."

Cheng Qianli: "Looks a lot like me... What do you mean?"

Lin Qiushi: "Smart and cute?"

Cheng Qianli showed a suspicious look and said, "Is it true? You are not lying to me, even though I am indeed smart and cute."

Lin Qiushi said, "Haha."

Ruan Nanzhu had said before that the further you get to the back doors, the more accurate your premonition of the time you will enter will be. By the time you reach the tenth door, you will even know the exact time you will enter, the minute and the second - this can probably be considered a kind of tolerance of the doors to them, at least they can be adequately prepared before entering.

After Lin Qiushi came out of this door, he thought a lot. On the third day, he found Ruan Nanzhu and expressed his desire to communicate with him.

Ruan Nanzhu seemed to be discussing something with someone online. He raised his chin and motioned for Lin Qiushi to sit down. He said directly, "Go ahead."

Lin Qiushi said, "Actually... I've always wanted to know, has anyone really come out of the Twelve Doors alive?"

Ruan Nanzhu's hands that were tapping on the keyboard paused slightly.

"You're such a formidable person, and you've only passed through ten gates," Lin Qiushi said. "Have you ever seen anyone pass through twelve gates?"

Ruan Nanzhu said, "I haven't seen it."

Lin Qiushi was stunned.

Ruan Nanzhu said, "In fact, no one has ever seen it." His tone was calm, but his words were very surprising. He said, "But this is the only way." He paused for a moment, "This is the only way."

Lin Qiushi fell silent.

"You're strong, which is great," Ruan Nanzhu said. "But not everyone can accept reality as calmly as you do. So, they must have a goal."

So everyone tacitly set the goal to twelve doors.

And they firmly believe that as long as they pass through the twelve doors, they will reach the new life they have been waiting for.

Lin Qiushi asked, "Is there no evidence to prove this?"

Ruan Nanzhu said, "If it were anyone else, I might say yes, but I don't want to lie to you." He closed the laptop in front of him, turned his head, and stared deeply at his teammate in front of him. "You are very much my type."

Facing Ruan Nanzhu's gaze, Lin Qiushi felt a little uncomfortable.

This gaze was too deep, hiding so much that Lin Qiushi couldn't decipher it at all. He asked, "Do they all know?"

Ruan Nanzhu: "Some know, some don't." He spread his hands and made an indifferent gesture, "What does it matter whether you know or not? We have to live like this anyway."

You have to go through so many doors anyway, whether you like it or not.

Lin Qiushi actually didn't expect Ruan Nanzhu to be so straightforward with him. He thought Ruan Nanzhu would at least find some excuses to get by, but who knew he would say it so frankly.

Lin Qiushi smiled bitterly: "You think too highly of me, don't you?"

Ruan Nanzhu blinked: "Did I see it wrong?"

Lin Qiushi remained silent.

Ruan Nanzhu was not mistaken. In fact, the answer to this question was not that important to him. He was just simply curious.

Ruan Nanzhu said, "Cheng Yixie is about to pass through his ninth gate."

Lin Qiushi was stunned when he heard this.

"I have to go in with him." Ruan Nanzhu said, "I'm still thinking about whether to take you with me."

Lin Qiushi has now passed through six doors. If he can get out of Cheng Yixie's ninth door, he can directly skip the seventh and eighth doors.

Lin Qiushi asked, "Have you come up with any conclusions from your thinking?"

"No," Ruan Nanzhu said, "at least not yet. What do you think?"

Lin Qiushi thought for a moment and said honestly, "I don't know."

Ruan Nanzhu looked at him and smiled. He said, "Lin Qiushi, I like you very much. We are very suitable for cooperation. We are a perfect match."

He spoke calmly when he said this, and Lin Qiushi didn't feel there was anything wrong. His cooperation with Ruan Nanzhu was indeed very pleasant.

"Go ahead." Ruan Nanzhu, "have a good rest."

Lin Qiushi nodded, stood up and went out.

Although Ruan Nanzhu had said this many times, Lin Qiushi actually had no idea of ​​his own uniqueness. That was until something unexpected happened to the new member, Qin Budai, who had just joined them.

Lin Qiushi was the first to discover this accident. He suddenly woke up hungry in the middle of the night and wanted to go to the restaurant downstairs to find something to eat.

But when I reached the door, I heard the sound of someone chewing voraciously from inside.

Lin Qiushi paused slightly and walked into the kitchen without turning on the light. In the dim moonlight, he saw Qin Budai squatting in the corner.

Qin Budai was squatting on the ground, holding a large piece of raw meat in his hand, and was gnawing on it with his head buried. He did not hear Lin Qiushi's footsteps and was almost completely immersed in it.

This scene was so bizarre that it even gave Lin Qiushi the illusion that he was still inside the door. Fortunately, the illusion was fleeting. Lin Qiushi spoke hesitantly and called out his name: "Qin Budai..."

Qin Budai paused and his expression froze instantly. He slowly raised his head and saw Lin Qiushi standing at the door.

The moment their eyes met, Lin Qiushi even felt that the person squatting in front of him was not a human, but a wild beast.

But Qin Budai quickly regained consciousness. He slowly stood up from the ground, threw the meat away, and said, "Let me explain..." He walked towards Lin Qiushi.

Lin Qiushi couldn't help but want to step back, but he suppressed the feeling and watched Qin Budai walk in front of him.

Qin Budai said, "I don't want to be like this, but I can't help it." He licked his lips, his eyes gazing at Lin Qiushi's fair, slender neck for a moment before lowering his eyes again, "I really... can't help it."