Chapter 129 The Fourteenth Door
After entering the door twice, Ruan Nanzhu was certain that the clues to the eleventh door would not change.
The tenth door was too difficult; they couldn't possibly try it a third time. Furthermore, two attempts were enough; they couldn't risk their lives again. If Cheng Yixie hadn't left, they might have obtained a third clue to the eleventh door. But unfortunately, things didn't go as planned, and this unexpected event occurred.
Life is probably like this, full of uncertainty and uncertainty.
Ruan Nanzhu said that Ye Niao also had a light about him, making him a perfect match for the door. And just as Ruan Nanzhu had predicted, Ye Niao quickly integrated into life at Obsidian. His lively and outgoing personality kept the atmosphere in the villa from being too dull.
Two years is neither long nor short.
Since leaving Obsidian, Lin Qiushi has never seen Cheng Yixie again. Cheng Yixie just concealed his traces and disappeared cleanly and neatly in front of everyone, as if he had never appeared.
Disappearing with him was Zhuo Feiquan, who used to come visit often. He came once after Cheng Qianli's accident, but he sat in the living room nonchalantly and said, "Where is that idiot Cheng Qianli? Why isn't he here?" No one answered his question.
Perhaps because the expressions on everyone's faces were so unpleasant at his question, Zhuo Feiquan seemed to have thought of something. He hesitated for a moment, then turned and walked away without saying anything. He was never seen again, and he and Cheng Yixie disappeared from everyone's sight together.
In the past two years, Lin Qiushi has never stopped cleaning the door.
Both high-ranking and low-ranking people went in, and the frequency was about once every two weeks. Sometimes Ruan Nanzhu would go with him, and sometimes he would go alone.
During this period, Lin Qiushi saw Ye Niao dressed as a woman again... Never mind, it's better not to mention it, it's eye-irritating just thinking about it.
The more I go in, the more I meet all kinds of people, strong and weak. The various aspects of life in the face of death always make me feel emotional.
Ruan Nanzhu never gave up contacting Cheng Yixie, but there was no response until one day the following year, when they knew that Cheng Yixie would appear somewhere.
That day was Cheng Qianli's death anniversary.
Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu went to the cemetery where Cheng Qianli was buried, found a corner, and waited for a while. Then they saw a figure appear in front of Cheng Qianli's tombstone.
The man was wearing a mask and a hat, so his face was not very clear, but Lin Qiushi only took a glance and was sure that the person in front of them was Cheng Yixie.
Lin Qiushi asked, "Should we go over there?"
Ruan Nanzhu shook his head and said, "Let him be alone for a while."
Lin Qiushi sighed.
Cheng Yixie stood in front of Cheng Qianli for a long time, finally placing the flowers in front of the tombstone. As he was about to leave, Lin Qiushi couldn't help but call out his name: "Yixie!"
Cheng Yixie paused and turned to look at Lin Qiushi.
Lin Qiushi walked quickly up to him. He had a lot to say to the child in front of him, but he didn't know where to start.
"Long time no see." It was Cheng Yixie who spoke first. His eyes were icy as he looked at Lin Qiushi. Compared to his previous coldness due to his personality, his eyes now were like an icy lake, deep and dark, chilling to the bone, without a trace of warmth.
"Long time no see." Lin Qiushi said.
Ruan Nanzhu also walked up to Cheng Yixie. He looked at Cheng Yixie but said nothing.
"I have something else to do, so I have to leave first." Cheng Yixie looked at his watch with a cold tone.
Lin Qiushi said, "You..." He wanted to ask Cheng Yixie if he was doing well, but he felt that this question was a bit redundant because everyone could see that he was not doing well.
Cheng Yixie was not doing well. His hair had turned a lot whiter, and although it was covered with a hat, it was still very obvious.
"Go ahead." Ruan Nanzhu finally said nothing. He said, "If you have any problems, call me. We're all here."
Cheng Yixie nodded, his face still expressionless, and turned away.
Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu stared at his back, both silent. In truth, they didn't know how to comfort Cheng Yixie. Even after a year, the impact of certain events hadn't diminished in the slightest, and perhaps never would.
Lin Qiushi slowly peeled a candy, put it in his mouth, and felt the sweetness spread across his tongue. He reached out and held Ruan Nanzhu's hand, saying, "Let's go."
The two then left the cemetery.
Lin Qiushi felt relieved to see Cheng Yixie still alive, but he didn't dare to expect too much. But to his surprise, a few days later, they actually received a letter from Cheng Yixie, briefly describing the clue he had obtained about the eleventh door.
"What I got is a special clue." Cheng Yixie said in the letter, "The clue can only be described in two words: life or death."
Lin Qiushi read the contents of the letter and pronounced two special words: "Life...Death?"
Ruan Nanzhu frowned and fell into deep thought.
Their clues were unsolvable, but Cheng Yixie's clues were about life and death. This gave Lin Qiushi some strange suspicions. He asked, "Could it be that everyone's eleventh door is the same?"
Ruan Nanzhu's fingers stroked the letter, looking at the words "life or death" on it: "It's possible."
"Did your predecessor provide any information when he entered the eleventh door?" Lin Qiushi looked at Ruan Nanzhu.
"No, I was still a novice at that time," Ruan Nanzhu replied. "I never imagined that the Eleventh Gate would be such a long time ago."
There was nothing they could do. No one around them had passed the eleventh gate. In fact, Ruan Nanzhu and Lin Qiushi were already outstanding for being able to safely pass the tenth gate.
Life and death, life and death, what exactly does the life and death in the clue refer to? If it were any other door, they could calmly think about analyzing it after entering the door and connecting it to what happened, but this is a difficult door where even a careless move could result in death. Even Ruan Nanzhu didn't dare to be careless.
Although there is still a year to go, they have already started preparing for the entrance.
The two of them consulted a lot of information about the associations between life and death, from Eastern legends to Western mythology, from Yama Palace to Anubis...
Although I don’t know whether these things will work, it’s better to do something than to sit and wait for death.
In two years, Ye Niao passed his seventh gate. Lin Qiushi had asked him if he wanted to skip a grade, but Ye Niao thought about it and declined, saying that skipping a grade was pointless and that he still had to pass what he had to pass.
Lin Qiushi admired his prudence and self-control. After all, not everyone could calmly refuse such temptation.
The exact time of the eleventh door is March 27th. Because the level of the door number is already very high, they can now clearly perceive the specific time of entry.
Ruan Nanzhu drew a circle on March 26 on the calendar with a serious face, and marked a small heart next to it.
After seeing this, Lin Qiushi said to him, "You marked it wrong. The number you enter is number 27."
Ruan Nanzhu said, "There's no mistake in the marking."
Lin Qiushi was baffled.
Ruan Nanzhu said, "We need to do it more times on the 26th."
Lin Qiushi: "..." It took him a few seconds to realize that Ruan Nanzhu was telling a dirty joke. He was speechless for a moment. Ever since he and Ruan Nanzhu confirmed their relationship, Ruan Nanzhu's erratic personality became more and more obvious. Lin Qiushi thought it was good. The only bad thing was that Ruan Nanzhu was often jealous of him.
"Do you like Zhu Meng or Ruan Nanzhu?" Ruan Nanzhu asked Lin Qiushi when they were outside the door.
Lin Qiushi could only say that he liked Ruan Nanzhu.
Once inside, the answer would change. Zhu Meng, in a dramatic mood, said, "But yesterday a man named Ruan Nanzhu contacted me and said you loved him."
Lin Qiushi: "...Can't I love both of them?"
Ruan Nanzhu: "Okay, I allow you to love both of them."
Lin Qiushi: "..." Alas, why do you have so many scripts in your hands?
The time for the eleventh door was approaching, and the atmosphere among the crowd began to become solemn again.
Needless to say, this door would be very difficult to open, so before entering, Lin Qiushi carefully considered how to handle his afterlife. But after thinking about it, he realized that he seemed to have almost no concerns. His only friend, Wu Qi, was gone, and he had hardly contacted his family in a long time. Aside from the group of friends in the villa, there was really no one he needed to say goodbye to.
However, what Lin Qiushi didn't expect was that a month before he entered the house, Ruan Nanzhu actually brought him back to his house.
Lin Qiushi had always thought that Ruan Nanzhu's home would be a rather deserted place, but he didn't expect that as soon as he arrived home, a beautiful middle-aged woman would appear, throw herself on Ruan Nanzhu and start crying.
Ruan Nanzhu remained unmoved. He slowly pushed the woman away and called out, "Mom."
Lin Qiushi stood awkwardly beside him.
Lin Qiushi then gained a general understanding of Ruan Nanzhu's family structure. He came from a well-off family, with a distinguished older brother, a strict father, and a delicate mother. Beyond their better-off circumstances, everything else about this family seemed ordinary, a stark contrast to Ruan Nanzhu's.
Ruan Nanzhu calmly introduced Lin Qiushi's identity and said that he was his lover.
Lin Qiushi had been a bit nervous at first, but he saw that they actually accepted Ruan Nanzhu's explanation quite calmly. Later, Lin Qiushi discovered that their family members were similar to Yi Manman's, believing Ruan Nanzhu had a mental problem...
"My child is good in every way, except for a bit of paranoia." While Ruan Nanzhu was in the restroom, his mother wiped her tears and said to Lin Qiushi, "He's had this disease since he was a child. Thank you. It must be because of you staying by his side that he's recovered..."
Lin Qiushi listened without daring to say anything, figuring he couldn't possibly tell Ruan Nanzhu's mother that he also had delusions. But thinking about it carefully, it was understandable. After all, to someone without a door, the time they spent inside was just a moment of daze.
It's just that the reactions after the daze were a bit intense. Some people cried, some laughed, and some even jumped directly from the building...
It was clear that Ruan Nanzhu's family still had some feelings for him, but these feelings had become a burden to some extent. They couldn't understand what Ruan Nanzhu had done, and couldn't understand why Ruan Nanzhu was avoiding the normal trajectory of life...
There is no such thing as empathy in this world.
After finishing their meal, Ruan Nanzhu took Lin Qiushi away. Sitting in the car, he turned to look at Lin Qiushi and asked, "Nothing you want to say?"
Lin Qiushi asked, "What are you talking about...your mother is so young?"
Ruan Nanzhu: “…”
Lin Qiushi laughed and said, "There's nothing much to say." He paused for a moment and said, "They are all very good people." It's just that some things are destined to be impossible to understand.
Ruan Nanzhu said: "I am actually quite lucky. My family always thought I was crazy and wanted to send me abroad for treatment, but they didn't force me."
Speaking of mental illness, Lin Qiushi thought of Yi Manman. Yi Manman was almost the epitome of Obsidian. His family had always believed he was crazy and mentally ill, and even attempted to force him into a mental hospital. Compared to him, Ruan Nanzhu's family's attitude was in stark contrast.
"Yeah, don't outsiders think we're crazy?" Lin Qiushi said helplessly, "After being in a daze for a while, we started crying and screaming."
Ruan Nanzhu said: "I haven't been home for four or five years."
Lin Qiushi looked at him and understood the hidden meaning behind Ruan Nanzhu's words. As expected, Ruan Nanzhu continued in a slow voice, "The connection wasn't that close. If you really lose her, there's no need to be so sad."
Lin Qiushi laughed dumbly: "That's not necessarily true." He thought of the time when they were about to confirm their relationship, but Ruan Nanzhu suddenly took a step back. Now he thought that it was probably this kind of thinking that was at work.
It's just that at this time they are both firm enough to be the pillars that the other can rely on.
Half a month before moving in, the villa was a party, with a group of people gathering together every day to drink and party until very late.
Some emotions that had been suppressed under this carnival suddenly broke out one night. Everyone in the villa was crying that day, including Chen Fei, Yi Manman, Lu Yanxue, and Ye Niao.
Ye Niao said, "Lin Qiushi, you little bastard, you must come out!!"
Chen Fei said, "Brother Ruan, I'll wait for you to come out."
Yi Manman and Lu Yanxue were crying so hard that they were out of breath and could no longer speak.
Lin Qiushi's eyes were a little moistened by this, but Ruan Nanzhu remained as hard as iron. He said, "He's not dead yet, why are you crying?"
"Woo woo woo woo." But everyone who was drunk completely ignored Ruan Nanzhu's words and continued to vent their uneasy emotions.
Lin Qiushi lay on the sofa, his mind blank due to the alcohol, but even so, he felt an indescribable happiness. Someone cared about his life and death, someone cared about his survival. This feeling of being cared about was so touching that he even couldn't help but burst into tears.
Everyone was crying and making a fuss, and the room was in chaos.
Ruan Nanzhu walked over to Lin Qiushi, sat down, and then held Lin Qiushi in his arms. He pointed his finger at the tip of Lin Qiushi's ear and said, "Your ears are like an elf."
Lin Qiushi looked at Ruan Nanzhu with a silly smile.
Ruan Nanzhu, who had drunk a little wine, also looked particularly good. His cold expression was diluted by a slightly drunk look, his eyes were shining, and his lips were red with some wet stains, looking particularly delicious.
Lin Qiushi reached out and touched Ruan Nanzhu's thick eyelashes, smiling, "So long."
Ruan Nanzhu lowered his eyes and looked at him.
Lin Qiushi leaned in Ruan Nanzhu's arms, feeling the warmth of his skin. He said, "I used to think this was enough, but now..." A hint of sadness etched itself between his brows. "I want to grow old with you. Is that too greedy?"
"No," Ruan Nanzhu said, "Everyone thinks this way. It's normal." He leaned close to Lin Qiushi's ear and kissed the tip of it. His voice was hoarse, "I think so too."
Lin Qiushi smiled brightly upon hearing this. He said, "That's great. Are you scared?"
Ruan Nanzhu said, "I used to be afraid, but now I'm not afraid anymore."
They had each other.
Lin Qiushi's heart also calmed down. He said, "I'm not afraid either."
They stared into each other's eyes, then smiled in tacit understanding. Ruan Nanzhu picked up Lin Qiushi and went straight up to the second floor.
Seeing the two of them about to leave, Ye Niao shouted, "Are you leaving now? You haven't had enough of drinking yet..." As he finished speaking, Chen Fei patted his head. Chen Fei said, "Young man, wake up. We are in love."
Ye Niao: “…” This place is really not friendly to single people.
Those were more than ten days like a doomsday carnival. A week before the 27th, everyone's emotions gradually calmed down.
Ruan Nanzhu found Chen Fei and began to explain some things.
Chen Fei was a little resistant at first, but Ruan Nanzhu calmed him down with a few words. He said, "I can't guarantee that I can get out. If I leave, you have to keep the Obsidian Stone going. They're still here, and you have to protect them."
Only then did Chen Fei reluctantly agree.
Unlike Ruan Nanzhu, Lin Qiushi had nothing to do, so he went to help Lu Yanxue cook.
Lu Yanxue's expression was very depressed. She tried to cheer herself up, but Lin Qiushi could see that even her smile was forced.
Lin Qiushi felt distressed seeing her like this, so he tactfully told her not to laugh if she didn't want to, as he understood how she felt at the moment.
Upon hearing this, Lu Yanxue could no longer hold back and threw herself into Lin Qiushi's arms, bursting into tears. She said, "I can't think about it. I can't think about you and Brother Ruan being gone. I don't dare think about anything happening to you..."
Lin Qiushi stroked her hair, as if comforting a distraught child. He didn't know what to do, so he could only say, "It's okay, everything will be fine."
Lu Yanxue cried uncontrollably.
On March 25th, Cheng Yixie returned. His return made everyone feel a little helpless for a while, and their joy was mixed with deep worry.
Cheng Yixie has grown taller and thinner. In two years, he has grown into a mature man.
He knew the time when Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu came in, so he came this time probably because he was worried that this would be the last time he would see them.
The group didn't dare to talk about the past, but just asked Cheng Yixie how he had been doing in the past two years.
Cheng Yixie's answers were erratic, but Lin Qiushi noticed that he had a necklace around his neck. He had seen this necklace on Zhuo Feiquan's neck before...
"Where is Zhuo Feiquan?" Ruan Nanzhu asked the question Lin Qiushi wanted to ask.
"He's dead." Cheng Yixie's tone was very flat, as if death could no longer bring him any excitement. "He passed away last year. He didn't make it past the tenth door."
Ruan Nanzhu stopped talking.
Cheng Yixie sat here for an hour and then stood up to leave. Lu Yanxue asked him why he didn't come back, but he just smiled and said three words: "I don't deserve it."
When Lin Qiushi heard these three words, his heart felt as if it was being pricked by a needle. He looked at Ruan Nanzhu, but saw that Ruan Nanzhu's lips were pursed into a tight arc, and he didn't say anything to try to keep him.
After Cheng Yixie left, Ruan Nanzhu said, "There's always a price to pay for taking shortcuts."
Lin Qiushi knew what he meant.
Ruan Nanzhu probably wanted to say welcome back to Obsidian to Cheng Yixie, but he remained silent. This was because Cheng Yixie had gone against his principles. Some things were the bottom line, and no matter what the reason, that bottom line could not be broken.
On the 26th, Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu lay in bed all day.
They talked sweet words to each other, their eyes were full of tenderness, and they slept in each other's arms. The sun set and rose again, and the most important day had finally arrived.
March 27th was the day Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu walked in together.
It was a sunny spring day, with a gentle breeze and warm sunshine.
Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu had breakfast together, carried the prepared things on their backs, and sat on the edge of the bed, eating candy and chatting until the atmosphere around them suddenly changed.
The person who was originally sitting opposite Lin Qiushi suddenly disappeared. Lin Qiushi knew that what was coming had finally come. He stood up with his backpack on his back, pushed open a door casually, and saw the corridor that he was already very familiar with.
On the corridor, ten doors have been sealed, leaving only two doors standing at the end of the corridor.
Lin Qiushi walked slowly in and came to a door. After taking a deep breath, he grabbed the door handle and slowly opened it.
The scene twisted, and a powerful suction brought Lin Qiushi into the door. When he saw the surrounding environment clearly, his breathing stopped.
Having passed through so many doors and witnessed so many bizarre scenes, none of them were as terrifying as the one before him. A layer of cold sweat broke out on Lin Qiushi's back, and countless goose bumps appeared on his arms. He appeared in a seemingly ordinary bedroom. Lin Qiushi clearly remembered that it was in this bedroom that he and the real Ruan Nanzhu met for the first time.
That’s right, Lin Qiushi returned to his former residence, the rental house he had given up a long time ago.
Lin Qiushi smiled bitterly and thought, this is simply a nightmare within a nightmare.
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