Chapter 26 Back to Reality
"Tang Yaoyao..." Xu Xiaocheng was stunned by this scene. She looked at Tang Yaoyao with horror, "What's that on you?"
Tang Yaoyao lowered her head in confusion when she heard this, and finally saw clearly what was happening to her. She saw that her skin had turned a glaring red, as if blood would flow out of her body in the next moment.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!" Tang Yaoyao screamed miserably and rubbed her body like crazy. However, as she moved, the red color began to spread rapidly, and finally her whole body turned red.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh - help, help -" Tang Yaoyao kept screaming, but her body began to show another change. Her skin began to become stiff, and she fell straight to the ground.
These things happened in just a moment. Before anyone could react, everything was over. Tang Yaoyao fell to the floor with her eyes wide open, no longer breathing. Her whole body was red, even the whites of her eyeballs were dyed a crazy red.
Xu Xiaocheng was frightened by this scene and burst into tears. Lin Qiushi also felt bitter in his mouth and was speechless.
Zhang Xinghuo exhaled and said blankly, "Another one died. Can we really make it through this?"
No one answered his question and everyone fell silent.
Tang Yaoyao's body lay stiffly on the ground. Lin Qiushi didn't dare examine it closely, but he noticed something was amiss with her body. Compared to the previous victims, she wasn't missing any body parts; she had simply died suddenly, before everyone's eyes.
Just when they were at an impasse, the woman who always liked to stay in the kitchen appeared again. She stood by the door, smiled at everyone, and wiped her hands on her apron: "I made something delicious for you, do you want to try it?"
Of course no one responded.
"Oh, oh." The woman laughed, "Why are you not happy? The birthday party is coming soon, and you will definitely be happy then." As she spoke, she giggled, and the laughter was particularly creepy. After saying this, the woman turned back to the kitchen and continued to busy herself with something unknown.
"Wait." After a long silence, Ruan Nanzhu broke it. There was no fear or anxiety in his tone, but more of a calmness. "No one else should die."
"Why?" Xu Xiaocheng asked.
"Intuition." Ruan Nanzhu smiled, "My intuition is always accurate."
Zhang Xinghuo heard this and said, "I hope you're right, but women's intuition is really accurate, especially beautiful women's."
Ruan Nanzhu: "You have good vision."
Lin Qiushi: “…” Why did you respond so calmly?
Although Ruan Nanzhu wasn't a girl, his intuition was correct. For the next two days, no one died. They ate tasteless, dry bread, waiting for the upcoming birthday party like prisoners awaiting their verdict.
On the night before the birthday party, Ruan Nanzhu and Lin Qiushi went to the rooftop again. This time, when they got there, they found something else in a small iron shed on the rooftop.
"What is this?" Lin Qiushi was initially confused when he saw the objects. In front of him lay several large bowls, some filled with white liquid, others with a red, minced meat-like substance. But when he saw the objects nearby, he suddenly understood. Right next to them lay a glass jar filled with a bunch of round balls. Upon closer inspection, he realized they were actually human eyeballs.
Lin Qiushi looked at the eyeballs and immediately thought of the young man who was killed on the fourth floor. Based on this association, it was not difficult to guess that these things all belonged to people in their team.
Zeng Ruguo's brains, Zhong Chengjian's minced meat, and Tang Yaoyao's blood-red bones...
"Could these be..." Lin Qiushi glanced at Ruan Nanzhu.
"It should be." Ruan Nanzhu said.
Lin Qiushi was speechless.
"Let's go," Ruan Nanzhu said, "We'll know the answer tomorrow."
"Yeah." Lin Qiushi nodded.
Another night passed, and the ringing of the alarm clock awoke them from their dreams. When Lin Qiushi woke up, he thought it was still dark because everything around him was completely dark. The already dim morning sun was now shrouded by thick clouds.
Ruan Nanzhu had already woken up and was leaning on the bed, seemingly thinking about something.
"It's morning already?" Lin Qiushi got up from the bed, making sure he hadn't read the time wrong.
"Yeah." Ruan Nanzhu said, "It's still dark."
Although it is usually gloomy, there is always some sunshine. But today there is really no sunshine at all. Everything is immersed in darkness, and only the dim lights can barely provide a weak illumination.
Lin Qiushi put on his clothes and went out with Ruan Nanzhu.
Today at noon was the triplets' birthday party, and according to Ruan Nanzhu's speculation, something was bound to happen. After they left, they saw Xu Xiaocheng and Zhang Xinghuo also got up. The two stood at the doorway and didn't dare to enter the house.
"We're all here now." There were only four people left in the team. Ruan Nanzhu said, "Let's go in now that we're here." As he said that, he was the first to take a step forward.
Only a small wall lamp was on in the room, but Lin Qiushi could still clearly see that all the decorations had changed, as if someone had meticulously decorated it. Streamers hung from the walls, beautiful paper scraps were scattered on the floor, and several giant stuffed toys sat on the sofa. It was a truly celebratory scene.
As soon as they entered the house, they heard singing from the bedroom. It was an English version of "Happy Birthday to You", humming in a stiff tune, which sounded particularly weird.
The remaining triplet sat silently on the corner of the sofa. She was wearing a red dress, holding a doll in her arms, and looked at the four people who entered the room with an expressionless face.
"Who am I?" the little girl suddenly asked.
"You are Xiaotu." Ruan Nanzhu answered calmly.
"Have you seen my sisters?" the little girl said, "They went to a birthday party and haven't come back yet."
"I saw it," Ruan Nanzhu said. "They are dead."
The little girl blinked, her distinct black and white eyes staring silently at the four of them. Lin Qiushi thought she would continue to ask questions, but unexpectedly she nodded and said quietly, "I understand."
While she was asking the question, footsteps were heard from the kitchen, and the sound of a woman humming a song. She seemed to be in a very good mood. While humming, she pushed a huge object towards the living room.
Only after she walked in did Lin Qiushi see clearly what she pushed.
It was a huge cake, which looked very beautiful at first glance. The cake had three layers in total, decorated with snow-white cream, and surrounded by red fruits of unknown material. There were three candles on the top, emitting a dim light.
"Happy birthday." said the woman.
The little girl stood up and looked at her silently.
The woman said, "Hurry up and sing. After the song, it's time to eat cake." She laughed and said, "Remember to give two pieces to your neighbors as well."
The little girl hugged her doll and began to sing "Happy Birthday." The tender voice echoed in the dimly lit room, adding an inexplicable sense of weirdness.
After the birthday song ended, the little girl stood on tiptoe to blow out the candles.
The woman giggled and handed a knife to the girl, saying, "My dear daughter, cut the cake quickly."
The little girl took the knife and cut the cake with all her strength. As the knife fell, behind the white cream was the red cake core.
Xu Xiaocheng seemed to have not eaten a full meal in a long time. Seeing the cake, he swallowed hard and muttered, "It's red velvet..."
Because of what he saw last night, Lin Qiushi had no appetite at all for the cake, even though it did look delicious.
"Share it with them," the woman urged. "Let them taste mother's cooking."
At the woman's urging, the little girl divided the cake into several large pieces, put them on plates, and handed them to everyone.
Zhang Xinghuo and Xu Xiaocheng both accepted it, but they didn't dare to eat it. They just stared at the cake in their hands, and their expressions looked really mouth-watering.
However, when it was handed to Ruan Nanzhu, he did not reach out, but looked at the little girl with cold eyes.
"Eat cake." said the little girl.
"I don't want to eat." Ruan Nanzhu said, "I'm not interested."
The little girl repeated: "Eat cake."
Ruan Nanzhu said, "I don't want to eat." His attitude was very firm, and he had no intention of compromising. Even because of his refusal, the expression of the woman in front of him began to become crazy.
"Why don't you eat?" the woman asked.
"I don't want to eat." Ruan Nanzhu said, "No reason."
The woman said, "You..."
She seemed to be about to say something when Ruan Nanzhu stood up. No one could have guessed his next move. He raised his hand and overturned the table on which the cake was placed.
The snow-white cake fell to the ground and was smashed to pieces. Xu Xiaocheng and Zhang Xinghuo, who were standing nearby and salivating, smelled a strong fishy odor before they could even feel the pain. They looked down and found that the cake in their hands had completely changed.
The bright red cake core turned into minced meat, the snow-white cream was brain matter, the cute round decorations on top were human eyeballs, and the candles that had just been extinguished were three bright red bones.
"Fuck!" Xu Xiaocheng was so scared that he dropped the thing in his hand.
When the woman saw this scene, her expression instantly twisted, but before she could do anything, Ruan Nanzhu stepped forward and stabbed her in the body.
Even Lin Qiushi was stunned by Ruan Nanzhu's actions. He stared at Ruan Nanzhu, who had pulled out a knife from nowhere, and slashed at the woman. His movements were brutal and decisive, showing no mercy at all.
"Hehehe." The little girl standing nearby actually laughed when she saw this scene. She threw the doll in her hand away and stood there clapping her hands and laughing, "Mom is dead, Mom is dead!!"
Ruan Nanzhu dismembered the woman into pieces in an instant, and his body was covered in blood.
Xu Xiaocheng and Zhang Xinghuo both thought he was crazy and ran to the door. Only Lin Qiushi looked at him with concern and asked, "Are you okay—"
Ruan Nanzhu turned his head, his face covered in blood. He spat nonchalantly and smiled, "Aren't you afraid of me?"
Lin Qiushi reached out and wiped the blood off his face: "Don't be afraid."
Ruan Nanzhu: "How dare you get your hands on blood?"
Lin Qiushi: "Aren't you involved too?" Although he knew the fairy tale, he also believed that Ruan Nanzhu would never do such a thing for no reason. So apart from the initial surprise, his emotions quickly calmed down, and he even began to think about why Ruan Nanzhu did this.
"Yeah." Ruan Nanzhu said, "I just checked, the key is not in the cake."
Lin Qiushi frowned: "Not here?"
He had discussed this with Ruan Nanzhu just last night, and they both agreed that the key was most likely to be inside the cake. Ruan Nanzhu's actions just now were clearly intended to confirm their suspicions, but after the cake was smashed, the key was nowhere to be found.
Ruan Nanzhu slowly extended his hand and said, "Here it is." In his palm lay a beautiful bronze key, stained with blood. Based on Ruan Nanzhu's movements, Lin Qiushi instantly guessed the key's origin. His eyes widened slightly, "Is the key inside her body...?"
"Yes." Ruan Nanzhu stood up. "I'll explain it to you in detail later. Let's go."
Lin Qiushi nodded, and the two of them ran out of the house together.
Just as they were leaving, the corpse of the woman on the ground that was chopped into pieces by Ruan Nanzhu began to move on its own and reassembled into the shape of a human at an extremely fast speed. But in a moment, a woman covered in blood and with a crazy look on her face appeared in the middle of the room again. She slowly straightened her head with her hands and said in a hoarse voice: "Where are you going? Why don't you eat my cake? Come back--" She picked up the sharp knife used to cut the cake and rushed out of the house in an awkward posture.
Ruan Nanzhu seemed to have guessed all this and pulled Lin Qiushi upstairs.
Although Xu Xiaocheng and Zhang Xinghuo didn't know what was going on, they both noticed the key in Ruan Nanzhu's hand. The fear on their faces turned into surprise, and they followed Lin Qiushi and the others to the rooftop.
"I'll open the door, you guys delay for a while--" Ruan Nanzhu grabbed the iron lock and started to open it.
Lin Qiushi hummed a sound and stood behind him. He heard footsteps below. The next moment, the woman who had just been dismembered appeared behind them. She held a sharp knife in her hand, her face distorted as she began to climb the stairs. Perhaps because her body had just been put together and her walking wasn't entirely smooth, her posture was extremely contorted and her pace was slow.
Most people would have panicked by this time, but Ruan Nanzhu's hand didn't even tremble as he unlocked the door. He said, "Give me another ten seconds!"
Lin Qiushi knew Ruan Nanzhu absolutely couldn't be disturbed at this moment. He took two steps forward, pulled out his cell phone, and smashed it against the woman's head. The woman's head tilted slightly, and Lin Qiushi seized the opportunity, raising his foot and kicking the woman. He used all his strength in the kick, but it felt like he'd hit a wall, nearly spraining his ankle.
Fortunately, the woman took a small step back. When she was about to move forward, the sound of an iron chain falling to the ground was heard behind Lin Qiushi.
"Let's go!" Ruan Nanzhu opened the door.
Zhang Xinghuo and Xu Xiaocheng ran behind Ruan Nanzhu, and Lin Qiushi also ran wildly, but the woman seemed to know that they were about to leave, and she used all her strength to pounce on Lin Qiushi.
Although Lin Qiushi dodged to the side, his arm was still cut by the knife in her hand.
At this time, the black bags piled up on the roof began to move, and some bags even gradually formed the shape of people, rushing out of the black cloth bags.
Ruan Nanzhu walked in front. When he arrived at the door, he opened the black iron door directly. After pulling it open with force, light shone out from it.
"You go first." Ruan Nanzhu said to Zhang Xinghuo and Xu Xiaocheng.
After hearing this, the two men did not dare to stay here any longer and jumped into the iron gate without hesitation.
Ruan Nanzhu turned around and said to Lin Qiushi, "Come here quickly—"
Lin Qiushi rushed over frantically, and when he was still some distance away from Ruan Nanzhu, Ruan Nanzhu grabbed his hand, hugged him tightly in his arms, and then fell straight towards the door behind him.
Lin Qiushi didn't know if it was an illusion, but the moment he felt himself fall into the door, something scraped across the back of his head.
The two fell into a warm halo, the darkness was expelled, and the bloodstains on Ruan Nanzhu's body began to fade away.
There was a long tunnel at the door. The scene was exactly the same as before. It seemed that they had escaped from the world inside the door.
Ruan Nanzhu held Lin Qiushi's hand and walked forward. The two of them tacitly did not speak until the familiar feeling of dizziness appeared again.
Lin Qiushi saw the front door of his house and the surrounding walls.
Ruan Nanzhu stood beside him, looking at him.
"Are we out?" Lin Qiushi asked with difficulty.
"Yeah." Ruan Nanzhu casually put something into his pocket and said, "Let's go, let's go into the house first."
Lin Qiushi wanted to move his body, but when he took a step, he felt dizzy. He was about to fall to the ground, but finally fell into a warm embrace.
"Were you injured inside the door?" Ruan Nanzhu asked.
"Yeah." Lin Qiushi felt that he had no strength in his body, and he responded softly.
Ruan Nanzhu didn't say anything, but instead picked Lin Qiushi up. The man, over 5'8", weighed over 100 pounds, but Ruan Nanzhu carried him effortlessly. After they entered the house, Ruan Nanzhu placed Lin Qiushi on the bed, "Go get some sleep first."
Lin Qiushi was no longer able to speak. He closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep that was almost coma-like.
Lin Qiushi had no idea how long he'd slept. When he awoke, his vision was a blur of white, and the scent of disinfectant lingered in his nose. He'd had a series of strange dreams, a chaotic jumble of images. Sometimes he heard someone wailing, sometimes he felt like someone was chasing him. Because of these strange dreams, it took Lin Qiushi a while to realize he'd left the world behind the door and was now lying in the hospital, an IV drip hooked to his arm.
Sitting next to him was a young man. It was Cheng Qianli, whom he had met in the villa before. When he saw Lin Qiushi wake up, he came over to greet him: "Lin Qiushi, you're awake. How are you feeling?"
Lin Qiushi felt groggy and drowsy: "How long have I slept..."
Cheng Qianli said: "It's not long now. What's the matter? Is there something urgent?"
Lin Qiushi: "My cat..."
Cheng Qianli: "..." He was convinced. This guy was really a competent cat owner. Cats were on his mind all day long. He didn't forget about it even when he woke up.
"It's okay, you just slept for half a day." Cheng Qianli said, "The cat is fine."
Lin Qiushi breathed a sigh of relief. He asked, "What's wrong with me?"
"I'm sick." Cheng Qianli said, "High fever, not a big problem. Were you injured inside the door?"
"Yeah." Lin Qiushi said, "My arm was scratched."
Cheng Qianli said, "That's okay, it's just a fever. Remember, try not to get hurt inside the door. Even a small wound inside can be very serious to people outside the door."
Lin Qiushi nodded: "Where's Nanzhu?"
Cheng Qianli said, "Brother Ruan has something to do, so he has to go first. Let me stay with you first. How is it? How do you feel about entering the door for the second time?"
Lin Qiushi said honestly, "Not bad." He paused for a moment, "I almost didn't make it out." Now his scalp tingled when he thought of the woman holding the knife.
"Oh, what's the big deal? As long as we can get out, it's fine." Cheng Qianli said, "Besides, Brother Ruan is following you, so generally nothing serious will happen." He said, "Do you want an apple? I'll peel one for you."
Lin Qiushi nodded, accepting Cheng Qianli's kindness.
I have to say, after coming out of the door, I felt like I was reborn. Whether it was the sunshine, the temperature, or the noisy voices, it all made me feel full of happiness.
Lin Qiushi chewed on the sweet apple and felt so happy that he almost flew away. Even the hospital that he usually disliked was not so disgusting anymore.
Cheng Qianli sat next to him and played games, chatting with Lin Qiushi from time to time.
Lin Qiushi began to feel drowsy again as he was chatting. When his eyes were about to close, he heard footsteps beside him. He opened his eyes reflexively, only to see Ruan Nanzhu in front of him.
Ruan Nanzhu couldn't see the expression on his face clearly against the backlight, but his voice was gentle. He called him, "Are you awake?"
Lin Qiushi called his name: "Nanzhu..."
Ruan Nanzhu gently touched his forehead and said, "Sleep peacefully, we are coming out."
When Lin Qiushi heard his voice and words, his heart miraculously calmed down. He closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep again. This time, there were no strange dreams, only tranquility.
The author has something to say: Lin Qiushi: I love cats very much.
Ruan Nanzhu thought for a moment: Meow~
Lin Qiushi: ...You have no hair.
Ruan Nanzhu took off his pants with grievance: I do.
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