Chapter 28: First clues
Ruan Nanzhu really liked the noodles made by Lin Qiushi. He ate a whole bowl carefully, even the soup.
Lin Qiushi asked, "Is it really that delicious?"
"It's much better than the food inside." Ruan Nanzhu wiped his mouth and checked the time. "Pack up quickly. I'll pick you up this afternoon."
"Okay." Lin Qiushi nodded.
Ruan Nanzhu said this and stood up to leave. Li Zi, the cat at home, whined and tangled his tail around Ruan Nanzhu's leg, looking reluctant. Lin Qiushi was seething with jealousy. But there was nothing he could do about his jealousy; Li Zi was a cat after all.
Lin Qiushi also rented this house. He had six months left on his lease, and he had no plans to give it up. He wasn't actually from this city, but he went to college here and stayed after graduation, becoming accustomed to the weather and lifestyle.
Lin Qiushi began packing. He didn't have many clothes, so he packed them all quickly. The most troublesome thing was some work books, which were extremely heavy. He looked at them, hesitated for a moment, and then simply went downstairs to call the cleaning lady to take them all out.
My life is almost over, I should do something to make myself happy.
After packing his bags, Lin Qiushi told his friend Wu Qi that he was moving.
When Wu Qi heard that he was moving, he asked to come and help, but Lin Qiushi refused, saying that the tenant had already found a moving company and there was no need to come.
"So where do you plan to move to?" Wu Qi asked.
"Once the suburbs are cleaned up, I'll invite you over to play," Lin Qiushi said. "Just focus on your work."
"Remember to send me the address." Wu Qi said, "It's good to quit your job and have some fun. Who can stand working overtime every day? Although you are young, you have to consider your health."
"Yeah." Lin Qiushi responded.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, Ruan Nanzhu and Cheng Qianli arrived on time and helped him carry the luggage to the car. Meow Meow Meow Chestnut was also packed in an airline box and placed on the back seat.
Lin Qiushi: "Once we get to the villa, will Li Zi really let you touch her?"
Ruan Nanzhu: “Yeah.”
Cheng Qianli: "Lin Qiushi, do you know that your expression right now is like a wife abandoned by her husband?"
Lin Qiushi: "..." I'm not, I didn't.
As the car moved forward, the surrounding scenery became increasingly desolate, and finally it drove out of the ring road and arrived at a villa standing alone in the suburbs.
This was Lin Qiushi's second time here. When he entered with his bags, he saw Cheng Yixie in the living room.
Cheng Yixie was eating something. When he saw them come in, his expressionless face showed no emotion at all. He just greeted them coldly: "Brother Ruan."
Lin Qiushi reflexively glanced at Cheng Qianli beside him.
It has to be said that although they are twins, their styles are very different. Cheng Qianli is lively and outgoing, and his expressions are exaggerated when he says anything. Cheng Yixie, on the other hand, is introverted and cold, and it seems difficult to get along with him at first glance.
Ruan Nanzhu said, "How are the preparations going?"
"Not bad." Cheng Yixie said, "We need to go in and see the details. When are you leaving?"
Ruan Nanzhu said, "A few days later."
Cheng Yixie nodded, turned and left.
Upon hearing this, Lin Qiushi asked quietly, "How many days will you be coming in?"
"Yeah." Ruan Nanzhu responded.
"Isn't it very dangerous?" Lin Qiushi's second door was so terrifying, wouldn't Ruan Nanzhu be even more terrifying?
"It's okay." Ruan Nanzhu said, "Don't worry too much." He looked calm, as if he was talking about going on a trip, without any sign of nervousness.
Seeing how calm he was, Lin Qiushi also calmed down.
Afterwards, Ruan Nanzhu arranged a place for Lin Qiushi to live, at the end of the corridor on the third floor, opposite Ruan Nanzhu's room.
After Lin Qiushi moved his luggage to his room, he couldn't wait to take Li Zi out of the airline box.
Although arriving in an unfamiliar environment, Li Zi was not shy at all. He happily twisted his furry butt and ran towards Ruan Nanzhu. When he got to Ruan Nanzhu, he began to rub and scratch him, asking for a hug.
Ruan Nanzhu bent down and picked up Li Zi, then sat on the sofa and waved to Lin Qiushi, "Come here."
Lin Qiushi, his eyes red with envy, ran over happily, shouting, "Nanzhu, Nanzhu... let me take a sip!"
Cheng Qianli beside him: "..." Lin Qiushi, are you addicted to cats?
Ruan Nanzhu lowered his head and looked at Li Zi: "Go ahead."
Lin Qiushi: "Okay!" He first reached out and touched the chestnut, and found that the chestnut did not protest with its claws. This was already a huge improvement.
Opportunities are rare and will never come again. Lin Qiushi seized the opportunity and pounced, diving into the soft fur of the chestnut.
Li Zi meowed and patted Lin Qiushi's head softly with its pink paws.
Cats bring happiness; it's impossible not to have them. It's impossible to live without them for the rest of your life. Only by having cats can you maintain a semblance of life. Lin Qiushi, who hadn't touched his precious darling for months, finally got his wish. He was so moved he almost burst into tears.
"Fuck, what are you guys doing? This is so exciting, isn't it?" A voice suddenly came from the doorway. Before Lin Qiushi could understand what was going on, he felt Ruan Nanzhu suddenly reach out and gently grab his hair: "Lin Qiushi, don't suck on your knees."
"Fuck! Suck it on your knees!" the man said, "Brother Ruan, you guys are really good at playing!!"
Lin Qiushi: "..." He was silent for three seconds before realizing what had happened. Ruan Nanzhu had Li Zi on his lap, while he half-knelt in front of her, his face buried in Li Zi's body with an intoxicated expression... This posture seemed wrong no matter how you looked at it.
Lin Qiushi stood up silently and turned to look at the person behind him.
This man was Yi Manman, whom he had met in the villa before. Perhaps because Lin Qiushi's eyes were too resentful, Yi Manman felt a little scared and said, "It's okay, you guys continue, I'm just passing by."
Ruan Nanzhu laughed softly.
Li Zi was still in his arms with a confused look on her face, and her fur had become messy because of Lin Qiushi's actions, but even so, she was still very cute.
Lin Qiushi stood up from the ground, changed his posture, exposed the cat in front of him, and pointed with his finger to indicate that he was not doing anything inappropriate for children.
"Oh, I'm playing with the cat." Yi Manman smiled awkwardly, "Sorry, I misunderstood."
"It's okay." Lin Qiushi said, "I shouldn't get too excited..."
Cheng Qianli, who had been watching the whole process, finally couldn't help but burst into laughter, clapping his hands on the table. While laughing, he took out his cell phone and asked Lin Qiushi to come over and look at the photos he had taken.
Lin Qiushi leaned over and saw himself half-kneeling between Ruan Nanzhu's legs. Ruan Nanzhu looked at him tenderly, even reaching out to gently grasp his hair...
Lin Qiushi: "Fuck! When did you take this photo? Delete it for me—"
Cheng Qianli: "Okay, okay, don't get excited, I'll delete it right away." He deleted the photo in front of Lin Qiushi, and the matter was dropped.
After Lin Qiushi finished, he sat back on the sofa with a tired look on his face, saying that it was so difficult to pet a cat these days.
After he said this, he saw Li Zi happily rubbing his head against Ruan Nanzhu's chest, with an expression that said, "Why don't you suck me yet?"
Lin Qiushi: “…” Li Zi, you big traitor!!!
That evening, to celebrate Lin Qiushi's move-in, everyone had a meal together, and Lin Qiushi got to know the people in the villa again.
I had met Yi Manman, Chen Fei, and Lu Yanxue last time. It was said that some of them were elsewhere on business and wouldn't be back for a while. There was also a Corgi named Toast in the villa. He had been sick for the past couple of days and was staying in the hospital. Cheng Qianli said he would take him home tomorrow.
"Will they fight?" Lin Qiushi looked at Li Zi with some worry.
"No way, your Li Zi has a good temper." Cheng Qianli said, "My Toast has a good temper too, but he has one flaw: he likes to smell cat butts."
"Is it male or female?" Lin Qiushi asked.
"It's a male." Cheng Qianli said, "If you take it out for a walk and encounter a wild cat, it will be beaten. Sigh." He glanced at Li Zi.
Lin Qiushi nodded: "The chestnuts at home are also male."
In this case, there shouldn't be any cross-species accidents...
Chen Fei and Yi Manman both toasted Lin Qiushi with a glass of wine and told him to take care of each other in the future. Lu Yanxue, sitting next to them, smiled sweetly and expressed her happiness that Lin Qiushi had joined them.
Lin Qiushi also had two small drinks, but considering his physical condition, he didn't dare drink more.
After the dinner, Lin Qiushi returned to his room and tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. His mind was a bit confused, with strange thoughts running through his mind.
Unable to fall asleep, Lin Qiushi got up from the bed and wanted to go to the corridor to catch his breath.
When he walked to the corridor window, he saw Ruan Nanzhu standing in the garden and talking to Chen Fei through the window.
Both of them had very serious expressions. There was a black notebook in front of them, and they wrote and drew on it with a pen from time to time.
Chen Fei had a gentle demeanor, wore black-framed glasses, and had a soft smile. Lin Qiushi heard Cheng Qianli say he seemed to be a teacher in the past, but he wasn't sure exactly how he joined the group, as Cheng Qianli was actually the last one to enter the villa.
Normally, at such a long distance, Lin Qiushi should not be able to hear anything, but miraculously, he could vaguely hear the content of their conversation. Although it was not particularly clear, he could still guess a little.
They seemed to be discussing Ruan Nanzhu's next door, the background of the clues, and the possible hidden hints...
Lin Qiushi was about to continue listening when Ruan Nanzhu, who was standing downstairs, seemed to have eyes on his back and turned his head to look in his direction.
Their eyes met, and Lin Qiushi waved awkwardly at him.
Ruan Nanzhu turned around and said something to Chen Fei, then headed towards the villa. Lin Qiushi felt it was strange that he couldn't walk or stand, so he had no choice but to open his door and sit at the door waiting.
A moment later, Ruan Nanzhu appeared at his door as expected.
"Can't sleep?" Ruan Nanzhu asked.
"Yeah." Lin Qiushi said, "My mind is a mess."
Ruan Nanzhu said, "Since you can't sleep, I'll show you something." He sat down in front of the computer in the room and pressed the power button.
After a burst of startup music, the computer screen lit up. Ruan Nanzhu moved the mouse and opened the first URL in the saved web page.
The icon of the website was a black door, almost exactly the same as the iron door that Lin Qiushi entered.
Ruan Nanzhu opened the website and entered an account. A moment later, a blood-red forum appeared in front of Lin Qiushi.
"This is a forum, created by someone who's been there before. It's very rich in content and contains some information. If you're free, you can browse around," Ruan Nanzhu said. "You can only use this computer to access this forum. Don't use anything else."
"Will using another address be discovered?" Lin Qiushi asked.
Ruan Nanzhu nodded.
"What will happen if we are discovered?" Lin Qiushi was very confused about this.
Ruan Nanzhu said, "If we're discovered, terrible things will happen." He was silent for a moment, then stated the shocking truth in a calm tone, "The door can be taken away."
"What?" Lin Qiushi's eyes widened.
"I've said it before, the doors aren't a punishment, they're a reward," Ruan Nanzhu said. "A mortal who enters the door, as long as he passes through twelve, will be reborn."
"But how was the door taken away?" Lin Qiushi still couldn't figure it out.
Ruan Nanzhu said, "If someone without a door enters the door with the door's owner and kills the door's owner in the world inside, the door will change hands. Of course, this is difficult to implement, but as long as there's a will, there's always a way."
Lin Qiushi was stunned for a few seconds after hearing this, and then cold sweat formed on his palms. He hadn't expected that he wouldn't just be fighting the hellish horror world inside the gate, but also the covetousness of those outside. It was hard to imagine that if he hadn't met Ruan Nanzhu, even if he had emerged from the gate, he would probably have been confused.
He thought again of Zhang Zishuang who died in the first door. It was not the first time that Zhang Zishuang entered the door, but he did not even change his clothes when he entered. As a result, after he had a car accident, Lin Qiushi directly recognized his identity.
Lin Qiushi looked at the computer screen and found that the forum was surprisingly active. It was two o'clock in the morning and there were still more than six thousand users online.
"We also get our work online," Ruan Nanzhu said, "but not on this website. You don't need to learn too much since you're new here. Just check out this forum first."
"Oh." Lin Qiushi thanked Ruan Nanzhu, "Thank you."
Ruan Nanzhu: "No need to thank me, let's take some practical action."
Lin Qiushi said, "Okay... How do you want me to thank you? How about..." He was about to say he'd treat Ruan Nanzhu to dinner tomorrow, but Ruan Nanzhu interrupted him, "How about finding another time to suck my pussy on my lap?"
Lin Qiushi: "..." Is this guy being a hooligan? This guy is being a hooligan!
Ruan Nanzhu: "Okay, I was just kidding." He stood up and walked towards the door. "You can look at it yourself first. I have something else to do." He paused at the door and turned his head. "Don't eavesdrop."
Lin Qiushi hummed.
Ruan Nanzhu: "So good." He laughed and turned away.
Lin Qiushi looked at his back and always felt that something was wrong. After thinking carefully, he was shocked to realize that Ruan Nanzhu was trying to blast him. They were so far away at the time that no normal person would think that Lin Qiushi had heard their conversation. However, Ruan Nanzhu suddenly said this, and Lin Qiushi did not react and just accepted it.
But what's wrong with his hearing...
With such doubts, Lin Qiushi sat down on the chair and began to browse the forum.
There were a lot of posts on this forum, with a wide variety of content, including some messages about making friends. Of course, after Ruan Nanzhu's reminder, he had no interest in such things at all, and instead clicked on some posts speculating about the door.
This forum existed six years ago, and users on the forum are still discussing what a door is.
Is it future technology? A gift from the gods? An alien experiment? There are countless unanswered speculations, none of which seem plausible.
There were also some discussions about the world inside the gate on the forum. Lin Qiushi took a quick look and didn't find any particularly useful information.
After watching for more than an hour, he gradually felt sleepy, so he turned off the computer and lay back on the bed.
This time, Lin Qiushi did not suffer from insomnia and fell asleep as soon as he closed his eyes.
The next day, a sunny morning
As soon as Lin Qiushi went downstairs in the morning, he saw Cheng Qianli arguing angrily with his brother. It was more like one-sided nagging than a quarrel.
"I already told you I don't eat spicy food, why did you add spicy food to it? You don't care about what I like at all, you only care about yourself..." Cheng Qianli muttered as he looked at the oil tea in front of him.
Cheng Yixie sat across from him with an expressionless face: "If you don't want to eat, get out."
Cheng Qianli began to fake howl, but he still reached out to take the oil tea and began to eat. Lin Qiushi had originally thought that he couldn't handle spicy food, but it turned out that he was just howling. He said he didn't want to eat, but his body was honest. Lin Qiushi brushed his teeth and came out to see that the bowl of oil tea was empty.
"I want another bowl." Cheng Qianli said, "Hey... give me some spicy food."
Lin Qiushi: “…” You’re so funny.
After everyone gathered for breakfast, they each went about their own business. Lin Qiushi had expected the atmosphere in the villa to be tense, but upon observation, he discovered it was actually quite relaxed. The second floor of the villa housed a gym and a game room, and the entire fourth floor was dedicated to a study, providing a place for whatever they wanted to do.
Cheng Qianli asked Lin Qiushi to go with him to take Toast home, and Lin Qiushi agreed.
The two drove indoors, and Lin Qiushi politely asked Ruan Nanzhu what he was busy with and whether he was about to go in.
"Yeah." Cheng Qianli sat in the passenger seat, chewing bubble gum. "Maybe in the next few days. The further you get, the more accurate your premonition of the door will be. You basically know when you will go in... Well... Of course, it's best not to tell anyone the specific time, except the person who will go in with you."
"Is he going in alone this time? Will it be dangerous?" This is what Lin Qiushi is most worried about.
"It's definitely dangerous." Cheng Qianli said, "It seems that someone will accompany Brother Ruan in, but I don't know who it is..."
"Oh." Lin Qiushi said, "I hope I can be of help in the future..."
Cheng Qianli looked at him and smiled, but said nothing.
In the following days, Lin Qiushi rarely saw Ruan Nanzhu. He seemed to be very busy and spent very little time in the villa.
Lin Qiushi was quite familiar with the other people in the villa.
Yi Manman was a 23-year-old boy, just like Cheng Qianli, a chatterbox. Whenever the two of them were together, they could chat for a whole day. However, he was a bit more mature than Cheng Qianli and rarely lost his temper. Lu Yanxue was a bit older than Yi Manman and was the only girl in the villa. She had an ordinary appearance and a low presence, not seeming to be a very courageous person. However, according to Cheng Qianli, Lu Yanxue's performance inside the house was quite impressive.
As for Cheng Qianli's brother Cheng Yixie, Cheng Qianli said: "It's best to stay away from him, he has mental problems..."
However, given their relationship, Lin Qiushi had reservations about this view.
On the fifth day after entering the villa, Ruan Nanzhu, who had been missing for a long time, suddenly appeared. Lin Qiushi was about to go upstairs to sleep when, as he stepped into the hallway, a figure suddenly appeared before him. Startled, Lin Qiushi looked closely and saw it was Ruan Nanzhu.
Ruan Nanzhu's face was extremely grim, and he held onto the wall, looking as if he might collapse at any moment. Lin Qiushi quickly stepped forward to support him, "Nanzhu, are you okay?"
Ruan Nanzhu shook his head: "Help me into the room."
Lin Qiushi nodded and helped Ruan Nanzhu into the bedroom.
Ruan Nanzhu fainted as soon as he touched the bed. Lin Qiushi was so scared that he quickly ran downstairs to call for help. This was the first time he had encountered such a situation, and he didn't know if he could be sent directly to the hospital.
Chen Fei came up and quickly checked Ruan Nanzhu's condition. He said it was nothing serious, just too tired. However, to be on the safe side, he still decided to go to the hospital.
Lin Qiushi breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this.
It was the first time he had seen Ruan Nanzhu so frail, his face as pale as a sheet. Normally, Ruan Nanzhu gave people the impression of being incredibly reliable, as if there was nothing to worry about as long as he was around. Seeing him like this, Lin Qiushi couldn't help but feel a little distressed.
Chen Fei drove Ruan Nanzhu to the hospital, and Lin Qiushi was by his side.
After going to the emergency room, the doctor made a preliminary diagnosis and determined that Ruan Nanzhu had no external injuries and his physiological characteristics were stable, meaning he was just asleep.
"It's okay." Chen Fei sighed, "Nothing serious happened. You keep an eye on him. I'll go out and make a phone call."
Lin Qiushi nodded.
Chen Fei went out for a while, and when he came back his face had darkened. Lin Qiushi asked him what was wrong. He was silent for a moment, then whispered, "The man who went in with Brother Ruan is gone."
Lin Qiushi's eyes widened.
"Just died." Chen Fei said, "He jumped... from the upstairs."
Lin Qiushi shifted his gaze to Ruan Nanzhu and suddenly breathed a sigh of relief... Fortunately, he... was still alive.
The author has something to say: Lin Qiushi: I love petting cats.
Ruan Nanzhu: I love Lin Qiushi’s cat-loving style.
Li Zi: Meow meow meow?
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