Chapter 134 Another Night
After sitting at Cheng Qianli's house for a while, Lin Qiushi stood up and said goodbye.
Cheng Qianli looked at him eagerly, feeling a little reluctant. He said, "Are you leaving now? Why don't you stay at my house for dinner? My mother will be back soon..."
Lin Qiushi looked at his expression with some helplessness: "If your mother comes back and sees me, won't she kick me out directly?" No parent would be happy to have such a strange person suddenly appear in the family. Only Cheng Qianli, a little fool with an empty mind, would so easily welcome a stranger into the house and let him stay for dinner.
"But I don't think you're a bad person." Cheng Qianli's expression was sincere. "You didn't steal anything..."
Lin Qiushi looked at him, reached out and pinched his face, leaving a bright red mark on Cheng Qianli's skin.
Cheng Qianli was bewildered by the pinching and looked aggrieved: "Why are you pinching me?"
Lin Qiushi said, "I want you to be more sober. Don't bring anyone home so casually." He glanced at his watch and walked to the door. "I'm leaving."
Cheng Qianli felt that he and the person in front of him hit it off right away. Seeing him leave, he felt quite sad: "Where do you live? I'll go out to play with you when I have time."
Lin Qiushi smiled and said, "No, if there's a chance, I'll come find you again..." If there's no chance, perhaps he would forget about Cheng Qianli.
Cheng Qianli wanted to say something, but saw Lin Qiushi pushing the door open and walking out. He seemed to be in a hurry. Although he looked reluctant, his steps did not stop for a moment.
Lin Qiushi also wanted to chat more with Cheng Qianli, but his flight was almost over. He didn't want to experience what it was like to spend the night in a strange city.
He had already been delayed here with Cheng Qianli for a while. If he stayed any longer, he would definitely not be able to get on the plane.
Lin Qiushi hurried out to take a taxi and headed all the way to the airport.
But when he arrived at the airport, he received terrible news - the plane was delayed due to weather reasons.
Flight delays are normal, but Lin Qiushi cannot afford the cost of the delay at this moment.
The flight he booked was at around seven in the evening. According to the plan, he should arrive in his original city at around ten o'clock. It would take an hour to go back, and it would be exactly twelve o'clock when he got home. Time was very tight.
But at this time, the airport informed us that the plane was delayed and it seemed that it would not be able to take off for a while.
Lin Qiushi sat in the terminal, anxiously watching the time pass by.
After confirming that he couldn't prepare to go back, Lin Qiushi stood up from his chair. It was already past five o'clock, and there was still no news about the plane. It seemed that he was destined to spend the night in this city.
Lin Qiushi sighed, dragged his luggage out of the airport and returned to the city, wanting to find a suitable hotel.
The hotel floors should not be too high so that you can go down without taking the elevator. It is best if the floor you stay on has many passages leading to the downstairs, and the room structure should be as simple as possible.
After searching for over an hour, Lin Qiushi checked into a budget hotel near the airport around ten o'clock. The hotel's surroundings weren't particularly good, but it had three floors, allowing him to use the fire escape to get down. Lin Qiushi took his room card, checked his luggage in the room, and then simply packed his backpack.
In the following time, Lin Qiushi edited several text messages that he wanted to send to Ruan Nanzhu. The content of the text messages was basically to tell Ruan Nanzhu that he was fine, asked about his current situation, and mentioned about Cheng Qianli, Tan Zaozao and others. Of course, he did not forget Li Dongyuan - although Li Dongyuan and Ruan Nanzhu did not get along well when he was alive.
After editing the text message, Lin Qiushi quietly waited for nightfall.
He sat in a strange city, watching the sky gradually darken. The bright sun set into the horizon, leaving only the brilliant sunset glow. Stars and the moon appeared in the dark sky, and the air was still filled with the hot breath of summer.
Lin Qiushi went downstairs to buy a popsicle and sat by the window, eating while watching the crowds coming and going outside. He knew that as midnight approached, the people outside would all disappear, and he would enter another world. The bustling scene before him at this moment made him particularly nostalgic.
The sweet taste spread across his tongue, reminding Lin Qiushi of the candy Ruan Nanzhu had once stuffed into his mouth. He lowered his head, thinking of the text message Ruan Nanzhu had sent him yesterday, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
Tick-tock, the hour hand and minute hand coincide with each other, and it's twelve o'clock.
The world seemed to quiet down in an instant and enter another dimension.
As soon as midnight struck, Lin Qiushi sent a message to Ruan Nanzhu. At the same time, he also received a text from Ruan Nanzhu. This made Lin Qiushi feel relieved. He quickly flipped through the message from Ruan Nanzhu and saw that Ruan Nanzhu had reported that he was safe.
Just as Lin Qiushi lowered his head to read the text messages on his mobile phone, a knock on the door sounded like the signal gun for the start of a game, making a shrill sound.
Knock, knock, knock, knock. The person knocking on the door seemed to want to smash it down, making the whole door bang loudly.
Lin Qiushi peered through the peephole and saw the man standing outside. Through the distorted glass, he saw the man standing outside. He looked ordinary, human. He looked up at Lin Qiushi, his eyes thick with malice. Although the man's face looked unfamiliar at first glance, Lin Qiushi recognized him. This was the man Ruan Nanzhu had killed at the Wilford Hill Sanatorium—Jiang Yingrui.
At that time, Lin Qiushi helped Ruan Nanzhu hide the means of murder, so that Jiang Yingrui could not figure out what had happened to him. Therefore, Jiang Yingrui could not even avenge himself in the sect.
"Open the door, open the door!" Jiang Yingrui said fiercely, "Open the door quickly!"
Lin Qiushi naturally couldn't open the door for him. He turned around and looked at the window behind him.
After the window was opened, there was an awning below. If he wanted to leave here, he just needed to climb from the window to the awning, and then jump down from the awning to reach the first floor.
Seeing Lin Qiushi refuse to open the door, Jiang Yingrui let out a strange laugh. He turned and left for a moment. When he returned, he had a house number in his hand. Lin Qiushi was all too familiar with the numbers on that house number—502, the cursed house number that condemned anyone who lived inside to death.
Seeing this, Lin Qiushi did not hesitate and directly climbed out the window.
At the same time, Jiang Yingrui seemed to have hung the house number in Lin Qiushi's house. The house began to undergo strange changes, and bright red blood began to seep out of the walls...
Lin Qiushi leaped from the window onto the awning and was about to continue down when he felt something tug at his clothes. The tug made him pause, but that tiny pause saved his life. A battered corpse fell directly onto the spot where he should have jumped. The corpse, wearing a nurse's uniform, was shattered from the fall, but it still twitched and stood up. Lin Qiushi gasped and turned to look behind him. Surprisingly, he saw a pale little girl sitting on the window, smiling at him.
Lin Qiushi instantly recognized the little girl's identity... She was one of the ghosts he had helped before, Miss Sako.
"Thank you." Lin Qiushi thanked her.
Zuozi didn't say anything, but pointed at the wall. A row of bloody words appeared on the wall. It was clearly the ballad that threatened people's lives. Lin Qiushi glanced at the ballad and said calmly, "I'm sorry, I really can't read."
Zuo Zi: "..."
Lin Qiushi said, "Why don't you go find the guy inside? He's a top student." He pointed at Jiang Yingrui, who seemed to be waiting at the door for something to happen to him.
When Saeko heard this, she actually turned around with a thoughtful expression.
Lin Qiushi looked at her and thought that some of the ghosts here were indeed conscious and could even think.
While the nurse was still struggling to stand up, he jumped from the other side of the awning and left the hotel.
After two nights of experience, Lin Qiushi felt that the attacks of the ghosts also had intervals and would not appear continuously. For example, if he dodged the first wave of attacks, he would have a brief respite. However, he didn't know if the same was true for Ruan Nanzhu.
Although Ruan Nanzhu has experienced many ghosts and monsters, he also has many partners around him who can help him. Lin Qiushi firmly believes that he will be able to survive.
Lin Qiushi walked along the road and felt a layer of fog rising around him. The fog was very thin and light at first, but it gradually began to thicken, and the surrounding scenery became blurred because of the fog.
In the center of the fog, a tall figure began to emerge. His arms and legs were as slender as a long snake, and he wore that iconic top hat on his head. Lin Qiushi recognized his identity at once—it was the slender ghost figure he had seen before.
It stood in the thick fog, following Lin Qiushi from a distance, like a beast lurking in the shadows, ready to attack him at any moment. All Lin Qiushi could do was flee in panic.
The fog enveloped Lin Qiushi like a maze. Worst of all, Lin Qiushi was unfamiliar with his surroundings, and unsurprisingly, the fog interfered with his navigation. The road ahead was suddenly blocked by rows of low buildings, blocking Lin Qiushi's path.
These buildings cut the road into narrow alleys. Lin Qiushi looked at the tall, thin black figure still following him and had the illusion that he was a sheep being chased by wolves.
There was no other way to go, so Lin Qiushi looked at the alley in front of him, gritted his teeth, and walked in.
The alley was narrow, barely wide enough for one person to walk. The road beneath his feet was dilapidated, and water stains accumulated at the base of the wall. Lin Qiushi didn't want to linger here any longer, so he quickened his pace. He glanced behind him and discovered that the dark shadow that had been following him had disappeared after he entered the alley.
Why didn't he continue to follow him? Lin Qiushi was just wondering when he felt a chilling presence. His hurried steps paused instantly. With a stiff expression, he slowly raised his head and saw that above him, instead of the dark starry sky, there was a blank face.
That long face had no eyes, only a gaping mouth and a row of tiny, densely packed white teeth. This was the face of the slender ghost. Its long, snake-like legs stood on the houses on either side of the alley, looking down at the pale-faced Lin Qiushi standing in the alley. It extended its hand toward Lin Qiushi...
Lin Qiushi's breathing paused for a moment, and he turned around to escape, but the ghost moved extremely fast. The next moment, Lin Qiushi was grabbed by the pair of dry arms like tree trunks. He was grabbed by the neck and lifted up. Like a captured doll, he struggled weakly in the ghost's hands.
The ghost grinned with a satisfied smile. He pinched Lin Qiushi's neck with one hand and slowly reached towards his head with the other hand. Then he took off the black top hat and covered Lin Qiushi's head with it.
Lin Qiushi was completely unable to move. Human strength was like an ant trying to shake a tree in front of ghosts. Even though he knew clearly what would happen when the black top hat was placed on his head - he would become the next successor of the slender ghost, he had no way to stop it.
As he watched the top hat about to cover his head, Lin Qiushi felt a bone-chilling chill emanating from his backpack. He almost thought it was a hallucination before his death. But the next moment, the ghost before him let out a shrill scream. Lin Qiushi's neck was released, and he fell to the ground. He clutched his neck and coughed violently. Two puffs of black smoke in the shape of children rose beside him, completely enveloping the ghost. He heard the ghost's roar and the silvery laughter of a girl.
Lin Qiushi didn't have time to think. He quickly jumped into the alley and fled in panic. After reaching a relatively safe place, he regained his composure and realized that the scene before him was indeed somewhat familiar. Thinking carefully... Wasn't this what had happened in the world of black ghosts before?
Lin Qiushi opened his backpack and, as expected, saw the word "death" written in bright red on the second page of the notebook. This word was also marked with a large black cross. The notebook had saved his life again. Lin Qiushi felt a little exhausted, but he didn't dare to stay where he was. He held on to the wall and continued forward with difficulty.
"Cough, cough, cough, cough." Lin Qiushi couldn't stop coughing because his neck was pinched so hard. His cell phone vibrated. Lin Qiushi was delighted and took it out to see the text message from Ruan Nanzhu.
In the text message, Ruan Nanzhu also included a photo and answered Lin Qiushi's question - Lin Qiushi asked him what the situation was like during the day.
The photo showed a beautiful boy whose appearance was indistinguishable from his male or female. His eyes still wore the coldness of adulthood, and he looked at the camera with a hint of a smile. This was actually the young Ruan Nanzhu. Lin Qiushi, holding his phone, couldn't help but smile, stroking the screen with his fingers, and even couldn't help but place a gentle kiss on it.
During the day, Ruan Nanzhu seemed to have returned to the time when he first entered the door, when he was still a child. In this case, it made sense that he entered the door at school.
Lin Qiushi looked at the text attached to the photo, and Ruan Nanzhu asked him if he liked it.
Lin Qiushi quickly replied to the text message: I love it so much. Are you busy over there now?
It’s a little better tonight, Ruan Nanzhu replied, I saw the senior who brought me into Obsidian, how about you?
Lin Qiushi replied, "Since I can spare the time to text you, I'm naturally not particularly busy." After replying, he put away his phone. Although talking to Ruan Nanzhu was pleasant, he couldn't afford to lose his life over it—he heard some terrible noises again.
That was the sound of heavy objects falling continuously. Lin Qiushi stood in the fog and saw nurses jumping down from a tall building not far away.
Her body shattered into pieces as it hit the ground, then slowly recovered and reappeared on the roof of the next building. Logically, this should have had nothing to do with Lin Qiushi, but the location where she jumped was getting closer and closer to him.
Lin Qiushi had no doubt that if she had the chance, she would fall directly on him and smash him open like a watermelon.
The ghostly figure reappeared behind Lin Qiushi, but this time, Lin Qiushi had learned his lesson and didn't go down the alley. He walked on the street, feeling like a traveler searching for an oasis in the desert. All he saw was endless yellow sand and despair, with no sign of water.
The ballad belonging to Saeko came and went, adding a touch of ghostliness to the already dark night.
But Lin Qiushi didn't want to give up. He still had a lot of things he wanted to do, and Ruan Nanzhu was waiting for him. Looking at the nurses who kept jumping from the building, an idea came to his mind.
Lin Qiushi changed direction and walked towards the place where the nurse jumped from the building.
"Bang, bang, bang." The nurse continued to fall. Through the darkness, Lin Qiushi saw her shattered body. They say jumping from a building is the most tragic way to die, and Lin Qiushi felt deeply.
The nurse's head was shattered, her body like a deformed piece of plasticine, a mixture of white and red. One could even see the pale bones protruding from the flesh. But Lin Qiushi had become completely numb to it. He had witnessed such horrific scenes so many times that even the sight of the nurse's corpse didn't change his expression.
Lin Qiushi stopped at the foot of a tall building. He looked back at the ghost that was still following him and roughly calculated the distance.
He didn't know if his plan would succeed, but with daybreak still a long time away, he couldn't continue to tangle with the ghost. Furthermore, Lin Qiushi had a vague feeling that even though each situation seemed like a dead end, there was still hope hidden within.
Lin Qiushi continued to move forward. The nurse was still trying to jump off the building, but this time, she also began to move closer to Lin Qiushi's position.
The shadow was getting closer and closer to Lin Qiushi. He stopped and looked towards the shadow's location. An interesting math problem had already begun to play out in his mind.
The distance between them was currently shrinking at a fixed distance, and the order in which the nurses jumped off the building was also fixed. The question in Lin Qiushi's mind had an answer, and his steps forward suddenly stopped.
The black shadow had no idea what Lin Qiushi's pause meant. He continued to approach Lin Qiushi. The badly-fallen nurse turned around and climbed onto the rooftop again, then leaped down.
Lin Qiushi held the bag in his arms, waiting for the final result.
A shadow fell on the ghost's head, and he seemed to have not yet reacted to what the shadow meant before he was hit head-on.
The two ghosts collided head-on, and the scene Lin Qiushi had been waiting for appeared. The ghost was directly smashed through, its entire body drooping to the ground. The nurse's flesh and blood mingled with his body, along with the white bones.
Lin Qiushi heard the ghost roar angrily. It did not die so easily. Its body began to recover slowly, but the speed of recovery was much slower than that of the nurse. One of its hands tightly grasped the nurse's head, preventing the nurse's head from returning to her body.
The nurse seemed to be angry too. She began to scream and cry, and her body was huddled together with the ghost.
The scene was bizarre and absurd. Lin Qiushi felt that he should smile, but when he pulled the corners of his mouth, he found that he couldn't smile at all.
The ghost kept grabbing the nurse's head, but the nurse seemed to give up. She turned around again, went back to the stairs, and jumped down - and fell on the ghost for the second time.
The two ghosts started fighting fiercely. Lin Qiushi patted his butt and turned away.
He found a quiet corner and opened his cell phone while listening to Zuozi's singing. He did not see any new message from Ruan Nanzhu.
Lin Qiushi felt tired, his shoulders still aching slightly after not sleeping well for days. Sitting on the side of the road, he stared at his phone screen, wanting to call Ruan Nanzhu, to hear his voice, but he didn't dare. He was afraid that this call would cost Ruan Nanzhu his life.
When would this night end? Was there really a door here? Could he really get out? Countless thoughts flooded into Lin Qiushi's mind, and for a moment, he was overwhelmed.
There was still more than an hour before dawn, but the fog in the sky had dissipated and the sound of the nurse jumping off the building had stopped. Lin Qiushi raised his head and saw Zuozi standing in front of him, smiling at him.
Lin Qiushi looked at Zuozi, asking about the situation with his eyes.
Zuozi smiled sweetly, and her originally terrifying face became cute because of her smile. She walked in front of Lin Qiushi and handed him something.
Lin Qiushi took it. It was a photo of a smiling Saeko and her classmates. This was Saeko's most cherished photo, and Lin Qiushi remembered it very clearly.
Lin Qiushi vaguely understood what Zuozi meant. He smiled bitterly. He never thought that there would be a day when he would be comforted by a ghost.
Saeko smiled again and her figure gradually faded away.
Lin Qiushi covered his face. All he wanted now was to see Ruan Nanzhu, embrace her, and have a good sleep. He had never imagined that something so ordinary would become so difficult behind this door.
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