Chapter 130 Another World
The familiar large bed, the familiar decor—everything before him was exactly the same as the rental apartment Lin Qiushi remembered. Lin Qiushi took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, and tentatively walked toward the living room.
"Meow..." A faint cat's meow suddenly echoed through the living room. Lin Qiushi looked up and saw Li Zi, a remarkably well-behaved figure, squatting on the sofa in the corner. Li Zi tilted her head, her emerald eyes gazing at Lin Qiushi silently as she meowed, as if urging him to do something.
Lin Qiushi was very familiar with Li Zi's cry. He looked at the cat bowl where Li Zi ate. Sure enough, the cat food in the bowl had been eaten up. Li Zi was urging Lin Qiushi to add more food.
If this happened in reality, the first thing Lin Qiushi would have done would have been to pour cat food for Li Zi, but he knew clearly that he had entered the house, so he did not act directly, but instead walked around the house first.
The furnishings in the house were exactly the same as when he moved out. There were even a few freshly washed clothes hanging on the balcony and fresh fruits in the refrigerator. Everything in the house was filled with the breath of life.
Lin Qiushi walked around the room, slowly came to the front door, grasped the door handle, and gently turned it open.
The gap in the door was enough for Lin Qiushi to see the scene behind it.
What caught Lin Qiushi's eyes was a long corridor with house numbers hanging on both sides, which was exactly the same as what Lin Qiushi remembered.
Li Zi started meowing again. It jumped down from the sofa, walked to Lin Qiushi's feet, and began to rub its body against Lin Qiushi's ankles. Lin Qiushi lowered his head and looked at Li Zi for a long time before slowly bending down and reaching out to touch the cat in front of him.
Soft fur, warm skin, it has to be said that the moment Lin Qiushi held Li Zi, he breathed a sigh of relief. He held Li Zi in his arms, scratched its chin with his hand, and called Li Zi's name.
Li Zi made a purring sound with his mouth and looked very happy. Lin Qiushi held him in his arms and went to the kitchen to get cat food and fill the cat bowl.
Li Zi jumped down from Lin Qiushi's arms, stood in front of the cat bowl and began to eat seriously.
Lin Qiushi watched it eat when something struck him. He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed a number, but after the call connected, it showed that the number he had dialed was unavailable. Listening to the voice on the line, Lin Qiushi's palms sweated. He checked his address book, and a host of awful thoughts flooded his mind. He remembered most of the names in the address book, but several key figures were missing... The names of all the members of the Obsidian Group were gone, naturally including Ruan Nanzhu.
Just now, Lin Qiushi called Ruan Nanzhu, but the number showed that this number did not exist at all.
A feeling of suffocation surged in Lin Qiushi's chest, and he had many ominous guesses. Finally, Lin Qiushi changed out of his pajamas, left the room, took the elevator all the way down, and arrived at the gate of the community.
It was the height of summer, and just after six in the evening, people were getting off work, and the place was bustling with people coming and going.
Lin Qiushi stood at the gate of the community, took a taxi, and headed straight to a location in the suburbs.
The taxi driver was a very talkative middle-aged man who kept chattering away. Normally, Lin Qiushi would have responded, but today his mind was extremely confused, so he said nothing from beginning to end, his lips pressed into a tight curve.
An hour later, the taxi arrived at the place Lin Qiushi mentioned.
Lin Qiushi paid and stepped out of the taxi, catching sight of the villa towering over him. It looked just as he remembered it. Orange light streamed from the windows, revealing the activity within. But this didn't reassure Lin Qiushi. In fact, the ominous feeling within him only intensified.
Lin Qiushi took a few steps forward, walked to the door of the villa, and rang the doorbell.
"Who is this?" After a moment, a strange man's voice came from the access control.
"I..." Lin Qiushi said, "It's me, Lin Qiushi. I want to find Ruan Nanzhu."
There was silence for a moment, and then the other end said, "You've got the wrong person. There's no one named Ruan Nanzhu here."
The moment he heard these words, Lin Qiushi's mind exploded with a buzzing sound. He used the last of his self-control to force himself to calm down and said, "Sorry, could you open the door? I have something very important..."
The door opened, and a tall, unfamiliar man appeared in front of Lin Qiushi. He looked at Lin Qiushi and asked, "What can I do for you?"
Lin Qiushi said, "I...my friends used to live here..." He chose his words carefully. "Their names were Ruan Nanzhu, Chen Fei, and Yi Manman..."
"I'm sorry." The man said, "You've come to the wrong place. The person you're talking about isn't here."
Lin Qiushi saw the scene inside the villa through the gap behind the man. What shocked him was that all the furnishings in the villa were exactly the same as he remembered. Even the color of the carpet on the floor was clearly remembered by Lin Qiushi.
But although the scenery was the same, the person Lin Qiushi was looking for was gone.
"Are you okay?" Perhaps because Lin Qiushi's face looked too ugly, the man looked at him and asked.
Lin Qiushi forced a smile and said, "I'm fine... Sorry to bother you." He turned around and left.
The man watched him walk away, frowning slightly, obviously wondering what Lin Qiushi was doing here.
After leaving the villa, Lin Qiushi took a taxi back to the city. He sat in the taxi with a dazed expression, unable to accept what was happening in front of him for a moment.
Ruan Nanzhu, who had entered the door with Lin Qiushi, was gone.
No matter how normal the world seemed, this one incident alone was enough to plunge Lin Qiushi into unspeakable panic.
After returning to the community and standing at the door watching people coming and going, Lin Qiushi felt as if he had been abandoned by the world. The environment that should have been full of urban atmosphere made him feel completely out of tune with his surroundings.
Lin Qiushi reached into his pocket and found a pack of cigarettes with several cigarettes already smoked. He stared at the cigarettes in his hand, then took out one, lit it, and put it in his mouth.
The smell of tobacco spread in his mouth. Unlike the sweetness of candy, it was a bit choking. Lin Qiushi took only one puff and then stopped. He put out the cigarette irritably and threw it into the trash can beside him.
At this moment, Lin Qiushi's cell phone suddenly rang. He took out his phone and looked at it. After seeing the phone number displayed on it clearly, he fell silent.
There was a name on the phone number, a name that shouldn't have appeared - Wu Qi.
Lin Qiushi stared at the name on the phone screen and slowly pressed the call button.
"Hey, Qiushi, where are you?" Wu Qi's carefree voice came over.
Lin Qiushi swallowed and said, "I'm at home, you..." For a moment he didn't know what to say.
"Why are you still at home? Didn't you ask me to have dinner with you? Come down quickly." Wu Qi asked curiously.
Lin Qiushi asked, "I asked you out for dinner?"
Wu Qi said, "Yeah, didn't you say we'd have barbecue tonight? Hey, you didn't forget, did you?"
Lin Qiushi: "...Where are you now?"
"I'm at the gate of your community." Wu Qi said, "What's wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell?"
Lin Qiushi said, "I'm fine. I'll be right...right away." He hung up the phone and looked outside the community. Sure enough, he saw Wu Qi standing at the entrance of the community like a scoundrel, looking down at his phone.
Lin Qiushi put his phone in his pocket and walked quickly towards Wu Qi.
"So fast?" Wu Qi said after meeting Lin Qiushi, "You don't have to run all this way. It's so hot, you're sweating profusely."
Lin Qiushi hummed, his gaze fixed on Wu Qi's face. The same look, the same aura, even the same tone of voice—the man before him was undoubtedly Wu Qi. He walked ahead, discussing what was happening at the company with Lin Qiushi and repeatedly reminding him to get a physical.
A thick layer of sweat appeared on Lin Qiushi's forehead again, but he felt cold all over, and even the sweat was cold sweat.
After walking to the barbecue place outside the community, Wu Qi sat down and ordered some dishes.
Lin Qiushi didn't say much the whole way. Wu Qi noticed something was wrong with him and asked doubtfully, "Qiushi, are you okay?"
Lin Qiushi said, "I... am fine."
"Is it too hot? Or are you feeling unwell?" Wu Qi turned to look at the boss. He ordered a few more bottles of ice beer, opened them expertly, and filled a glass for Lin Qiushi. "Drink this to cool down."
Lin Qiushi asked, "Wu Qi, what day is it today?"
Wu Qi said, "Number 17, what's up?"
Lin Qiushi exhaled: "Nothing."
The ordered dishes were served quickly. Wu Qi also noticed that Lin Qiushi was not in a good state. He asked in confusion, but seeing that Lin Qiushi was unwilling to answer, he had to give up.
Lin Qiushi was in no mood to eat. All his attention was focused on the road next to him. However, until they finished eating and left, nothing that was supposed to happen happened.
That year, when Lin Qiushi first entered, he came out and came to this barbecue restaurant with Wu Qi. Same date, same time, but the car accident that should have occurred on the road didn't happen. Everything was so peaceful, as if Lin Qiushi's memory was deceiving, and he had become a strange dreamer, fabricating things that didn't even exist.
"Wu Qi." On the way back, Lin Qiushi suddenly asked, "How is your girlfriend doing lately?"
"Her? Why are you mentioning her all of a sudden?" Wu Qi was a little confused, but he still answered Lin Qiushi's question honestly. He said, "She's fine. Is there anything wrong?"
Lin Qiushi said, "...It's okay."
Wu Qi: "Hey, you're acting weird tonight. What's wrong?" He frowned and looked at Lin Qiushi, his eyes filled with worry. "Are you really feeling unwell? If anything's wrong, you must tell me."
Lin Qiushi nodded and agreed.
Wu Qi sent Lin Qiushi downstairs and left only after Lin Qiushi went upstairs. Lin Qiushi returned to his home, took out the key and opened the door, but he looked a little dazed.
This was all ridiculous. Wu Qi was still there, and his girlfriend was fine, but why was Ruan Nanzhu missing? Lin Qiushi changed his shoes and entered the house. He saw a backpack on the sofa. An idea struck him, and he quickly walked over to the backpack and took out its contents.
After seeing the contents, Lin Qiushi breathed a sigh of relief. Besides the usual supplies, his backpack contained three very special items: an ancient notebook, the remains of an infant, and a silver gun. Seeing these three items, Lin Qiushi finally felt the reality—he was indeed passing through a door. His surroundings were indeed within the door, but the environment within this door was almost identical to his own.
This is simply terrifying, Lin Qiushi thought. But if this is inside the gate, why are Ruan Nanzhu and the people from Obsidian missing? Where did they go... Why is he the only one inside this gate? And if that's the case, doesn't that mean the gate's rules are invalid?
The only remaining person is not invincible. If he makes a mistake, he will face death.
Li Zi slowly walked over to Lin Qiushi and jumped into his arms. Lin Qiushi stroked Li Zi's soft fur with his hand, looking at Li Zi's well-behaved appearance, and suddenly felt a little dazed.
Ding Dong, Ding Dong, the clock on the wall chimed clearly as it pointed to ten o'clock. It was already dark outside, with only a few sparse lights remaining, and it looked like there was still some life.
Lin Qiushi picked up the remote control, turned on the TV, and prepared to select a channel. As he was changing channels, he saw a familiar face on TV... Tan Zaozao.
In the advertisement, Tan Zaozao is wearing a long red dress, looking elegant and beautiful, like a beautiful flower in full bloom, just like how she looked when Lin Qiushi first saw her.
Wu Qi is alive, Tan Zaozao is alive, and all the people who died around him have come back. Lin Qiushi doesn't know what this means.
Everything seems ordinary, but it is full of a strange sense of incongruity, like the tiny ripples in the deep sea before a storm, as if foreshadowing some horrible truth.
A monotonous sound came from the TV, and the light was projected onto Lin Qiushi's face. It had been a long time since Lin Qiushi had spent a night like this alone.
Ever since he and Ruan Nanzhu confirmed their relationship, they almost always slept together, and as soon as they opened their eyes at night, they could see each other's faces.
However, at this moment, silence returned again.
The only one accompanying Lin Qiushi was a cat named Li Zi.
As the night deepened, the lights outside the house went out one by one. Lin Qiushi sat on the sofa and fell asleep unknowingly.
Ding dong, ding dong, the hour hand and minute hand coincide, it's twelve o'clock.
The TV, which was originally playing a program, suddenly began to flash white snowflakes. The crackling sound from the TV woke Lin Qiushi from his dream. He opened his eyes and found that the TV in front of him had changed the channel. However, this channel had no channel logo, as if it was playing some ancient costume drama. The picture was still on a very old staircase.
This scene felt slightly familiar. Lin Qiushi vaguely felt as if he had seen it somewhere, but for a moment he couldn't remember where. Until the scene changed, a man holding an axe appeared in front of Lin Qiushi.
With a ferocious smile on his face, he walked up the stairs and finally stopped outside a room. He stretched out his hand and slammed the wooden door in front of him: "Wang Xiaoyi, open the door, Wang Xiaoyi, open the door——"
"Help, help--" A woman's terrified cry for help came from inside the house.
When the man heard this, his expression became even more ferocious. He laughed heartily and swung the axe in his hand, smashing it heavily on the wooden door in front of him. A huge gap was created in the door, which was not strong to begin with. On the other side of the gap, the woman's tearful face appeared. She cried, "Help, help—"
The man was about to swing the axe again, but it got stuck in the crack of the door. Seeing this, Wang Xiaoyi quickly pushed the door open and rushed out of the house. The man's attention was all on the axe, and he didn't notice that Wang Xiaoyi escaped.
Wang Xiaoyi staggered in the corridor, desperately calling for help. When the atmosphere reached its peak of tension, a door suddenly opened and rescued Wang Xiaoyi. What appeared behind the door was... Lin Qiushi's own face. Standing next to Lin Qiushi was clearly Ruan Nanzhu, whom he met for the first time.
That’s right, what appeared on the TV was everything that happened in the first door.
At that time, a man in their team went crazy, and it was Lin Qiushi who saved the girl who was being hunted.
However, the scene on the TV suddenly changed, and the girl who had been rescued by Lin Qiushi was suddenly split in half by a shovel. Red and white liquid spilled onto the snow. Her eyes were wide open, and the resentment in them was so chilling that even through the screen, one could feel the chills.
Lin Qiushi tried to change the channel, but the remote control stopped working. He even unplugged the TV, but all the images continued.
The scene on the screen froze at the moment Wang Xiaoyi died. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Lin Qiushi sat on the sofa without moving, but the knocking continued, and finally became more and more intense, as if it was going to smash the door down.
The knocks were incredibly loud. Even if Lin Qiushi didn't open the door, it would undoubtedly have disturbed the others. However, the knocks continued for several minutes, with no one responding. Lin Qiushi looked out the window and saw that all the lights in the complex had gone out, as if the moment midnight struck, the place had transformed into another world.
The person knocking on the door became more and more impatient. Lin Qiushi slowly stood up and walked to the door. He looked through the peephole in the door and saw the person outside... It was a man holding an axe, exactly the same as the one Lin Qiushi had just seen on TV.
He seemed to know that Lin Qiushi on the other side of the door was looking at him, so he began to bang on the door even harder. Lin Qiushi could even see the blood dripping from his axe through the peephole.
Lin Qiushi took a step back, took a deep breath, and turned back into the kitchen. He casually picked up a knife hanging on the wall to defend himself. However, when he returned to the living room, he found the floor soaked in a layer of dark red blood. Lin Qiushi looked around and saw that the TV was turned on full blast, and blood was actually gushing out from inside. Wang Xiaoyi, who had been dead on the screen, began to twitch. Her head, which had been split in half, rose from the ground. Her pale eyes stared straight at Lin Qiushi outside the TV. Her mouth stretched into a strange arc, and she stretched out her hand towards him.
Seeing this scene, Lin Qiushi couldn't help but curse, but the bad situation didn't end there, because Wang Xiaoyi's blood-stained hands actually broke through the barrier of the TV and poked out from inside.
At the same time, the man who was smashing the door with an axe actually started to chop the security door of Lin Qiushi's house. The security door, which should have been very sturdy, was chopped into a huge hole by him. He looked into the house through the gap, and when he caught sight of Lin Qiushi standing in the living room, he let out a strange and creepy laugh.
To be honest, if it were an ordinary person, they would probably be scared to death after seeing such a scene, and would jump off the building out of fear without them having to do anything.
But Lin Qiushi had seen many horrific scenes, so he still seemed very calm at this moment. He stood at a distance from the TV, staring at the door that was about to be smashed. An idea popped up in his mind, but he didn't know whether this idea would be useful.
The murdered Wang Xiaoyi was about to crawl out of the TV, and the man outside the door chopped down with an axe again. However, when he chopped down, the axe in his hand seemed to be stuck on the door. Seeing this, Lin Qiushi directly opened the door in front of him, rushed out of the door, turned around and ran towards the elevator.
The man's movements froze for a moment because his axe was stuck. Lin Qiushi rushed into the elevator and pressed the button for the first floor. The next moment the elevator closed, the man appeared at the elevator door - Lin Qiushi could even see his distorted face through the gap.
"Fuck." Lin Qiushi wiped his face with a knife in his hand. He held his phone and dialed Ruan Nanzhu's number again. However, the number was obviously not in service, but it was connected. Ruan Nanzhu's urgent voice came from the other end of the line. He said, "Qiushi, is that Qiushi?"
"Nanzhu—Nanzhu—" Lin Qiushi was covered in sweat. He asked hurriedly, "Where are you? Where are you?"
"I'm inside the door." Ruan Nanzhu's voice was a little unclear, and he said, "Qiu Shi, how are you doing over there? Are you okay?!" Although he did not explain his situation, Lin Qiushi vaguely heard the woman's resentful cry coming from the other end of the phone. He knew that Ruan Nanzhu's current situation might not be very good, so he hurriedly said, "I'm fine, don't worry about me, I'll hang up first, you have to take care of yourself!" He was worried that Ruan Nanzhu would be distracted by talking to him on the phone, so he hung up the phone directly.
Ding Dong, the elevator reached the first floor. Lin Qiushi held his breath and watched the elevator door in front of him slowly open.
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