Chapter 36 Midnight
Ruan Nanzhu, always sensitive to his surroundings, would have noticed Xu Jin's unusual behavior, but he remained completely indifferent, his expression remaining unchanged throughout. After dinner, Ruan Nanzhu waved to Lin Qiushi and called him to a secluded corner.
"What's wrong?" Lin Qiushi asked him.
"Something might happen tonight, so be careful," Ruan Nanzhu said. "If I sleep too deeply, be sure to wake me up."
"What's going to happen?" Lin Qiushi asked. "Is it related to Xu Jin?"
Ruan Nanzhu couldn't give a complete answer either. He said, "It's just a guess."
"Yeah." Lin Qiushi nodded and didn't ask any more questions. "I'll pay attention."
That night, the atmosphere in the room was particularly strange. Cheng Qianli huddled in bed like a coward, daring not to act rashly. Ruan Nanzhu had fallen asleep early, leaving Lin Qiushi alone, unable to sleep.
He closed his eyes, but his mind remained clear. He could hear the movement of every blade of grass and tree around him. He could hear the gentle breeze, the grass, even the bright moonlight. It was a state difficult to describe in words, but through hearing, complete images appeared in his mind.
However, this quiet state was soon broken by something else.
Lin Qiushi heard a rustling sound.
Hearing noises at night always made one feel uneasy. He clearly heard someone rise from the bed and quietly push the door open. Lin Qiushi opened his eyes a crack and saw that the person leaving was Xu Jin.
"Nanzhu, Nanzhu." Lin Qiushi pushed Ruan Nanzhu, trying to wake him from his dream. However, Ruan Nanzhu remained motionless, as if he had fainted rather than fallen asleep. He pushed him several times, but Ruan Nanzhu showed no response. Lin Qiushi had no choice but to call Cheng Qianli, but Cheng Qianli also looked like he couldn't be awakened.
If they delayed any longer, Xu Jin might have disappeared. Lin Qiushi hesitated for a moment, then stood up and decided to go out and take a look alone.
He quickly put on his shoes and followed the footsteps in front of him.
Xu Jin walked down the long corridor, left the bamboo building where they lived, and apparently headed deeper into the dense forest. Lin Qiushi didn't dare follow him into the forest, but just watched from afar.
When Xu Jin was about to enter the jungle, she suddenly stopped, looked up at the bright moon in the sky, and suddenly began to take off her clothes.
This scene made Lin Qiushi stunned for a moment. He didn't expect Xu Jin to do such a thing.
First the jacket, then the T-shirt, and finally the underwear. Xu Jin stripped herself completely, her fair skin, shimmering in the moonlight like ivory, faintly radiating an alluring glow. Of course, Lin Qiushi didn't dare to finish the look. He only read halfway before looking away—until another voice rang out.
It was the sound of cloth being torn. Lin Qiushi was momentarily stunned, then carefully shifted his peripheral vision back. But the glimpse he caught made his body tremble violently.
Xu Jin was still taking off his clothes. After taking them off, he began to peel off his skin.
She grabbed her hair tightly, and then began to tear off her skin piece by piece, from her head to her neck, to her body. The originally smooth skin turned into a bloody mess. Lin Qiushi could see the red muscles and the white bones.
She had skinned herself into a bloody mess, and as if noticing Lin Qiushi's gaze, she turned her head and grinned. Her enormous mouth formed an utterly impossible shape, and Lin Qiushi could even see the white teeth and blood-red tongue within.
If it were before, seeing such a scene, Lin Qiushi would probably be paralyzed with fear, but after all, he had gone through several experiences and his ability to withstand such situations was strong enough. But even so, his hands and feet were slightly numb due to the huge fear.
"Sister, sister." A giggle came from the monster in front of her. She tilted her head and walked towards where Lin Qiushi was hiding. "Where are you? Where are you?"
Lin Qiushi didn't dare to stay and turned around and ran.
He ran all the way back to the bamboo building and slapped Ruan Nanzhu's body hard, but Ruan Nanzhu seemed to be fast asleep and did not respond at all.
At this time, the sticky footsteps had already reached the corridor.
"Knock, knock, knock." The monster was knocking heavily on the door. She lay on the ground and looked inside through the crack in the door. "Open the door, open the door."
Lin Qiushi had already begun to regret his damn curiosity.
Fortunately, the knocking sound at the door stopped after a while. Lin Qiushi was about to breathe a sigh of relief when he heard a devastating sound coming from the window. He turned his head and saw the thing crawling in through the window.
"Fuck!" Lin Qiushi couldn't help cursing and took a few steps back, trying to move away from the window.
The bloody monster easily climbed in through the window. She lay on the ground and began to feel around with her hands.
When Lin Qiushi saw her posture, he suddenly remembered something and quickly got on the bed.
"Where are you, where are you..." The voice belonging to Xu Jin made people feel cold all over. The monster crawled on the ground and groped around. She crawled to the side of Lin Qiushi's bed, but seemed unable to stand up. She could only use her blood-red hands to keep feeling under the bed.
Lin Qiushi felt relieved, knowing his guess was correct. He and Cheng Qianli had slept in bed before, but there were bloody handprints everywhere under the bed. This wasn't because the monster had softened, but because she simply couldn't stand up.
The bed board was being banged hard. The monster's voice was only separated from Lin Qiushi by a bed. She scratched the fragile wooden board with her nails, making a crunching sound, as if she would dig a hole in it in the next moment.
Lin Qiushi closed his eyes and pretended not to hear.
I don’t know how long these sounds lasted, but when everything quieted down again, the morning light had already appeared on the horizon.
Xu Jin, who had gone out, returned to the room again. Of course, this time she was already wearing her white clothes.
Ruan Nanzhu was awakened by the sunlight. He rubbed his eyes with his hand and greeted Lin Qiushi.
"Good morning." Lin Qiushi responded with a difficult tone.
"Okay." Ruan Nanzhu woke up from his drowsiness and noticed that Lin Qiushi's face looked very strange. "What's wrong with you?" He quickly understood what was going on. "Did something happen last night?"
Lin Qiushi glanced at Xu Jin, who was still sleeping, and whispered, "Let's talk outside later."
Ruan Nanzhu nodded.
After they quietly got up, they found a secluded corner. Lin Qiushi told Ruan Nanzhu what he had seen and heard last night.
Ruan Nanzhu frowned after hearing this: "Why didn't you wake me up?"
Lin Qiushi: "I called you, but you couldn't wake up."
"Oh." Ruan Nanzhu said, "It seems our guess is correct."
Xu Jin is the younger sister who is looking for her elder sister. Now she has obtained the bronze key. Following the prompts, bring her younger sister to her elder sister, and the exit door should appear.
"So which type is she? Does she know her identity?" Lin Qiushi was a little confused. He felt that if Xu Jin knew that she was not human, then her acting was too good. But if she didn't know, then what happened last night?
"Perhaps she will only become my sister under certain conditions." Ruan Nanzhu pondered, "For example, at night. Can you recall what was special about last night?"
Lin Qiushi pondered for a moment, finally noticing something unusual: "...It seemed like there was a full moon yesterday." He noticed this detail because the moonlight was so bright last night. It was almost like daylight. Walking outside, he didn't even need any lighting; he could take in the entire scenery.
"Yeah." Ruan Nanzhu nodded, "I understand."
The two discussed some more details before returning to the restaurant.
At this time, some people had already gotten out of bed and started eating breakfast. After Lin Qiushi sat in the restaurant for a while, he saw Cheng Qianli and Xu Jin also coming over.
Cheng Qianli ignored it, but Xu Jin looked like she had had a good sleep. No one could imagine that she was the monster that crawled around the house all night last night.
"I found another bloody handprint." Cheng Qianli said fearfully while drinking his porridge, "Did you see it too?"
"I see." Lin Qiushi responded
Cheng Qianli: "But I didn't hear any sound. What on earth could it be? Will that thing crawl onto our bed?" As soon as he got up, he saw blood-red handprints all over the floor. It looked like something had crawled all over it carefully. It was so creepy that he didn't dare to think about what happened in the room after they fell asleep last night.
"I don't know." Ruan Nanzhu said, "How about you keep watch tomorrow night?"
"No, no." Cheng Qianli immediately backed down.
Although Lin Qiushi knew what was going on, he couldn't say it. He glanced at Xu Jin and found that when Cheng Qianli said these things, there was nothing unusual on Xu Jin's face. On the contrary, she seemed very scared and her body began to tremble again.
"We're going to the temple again today." Ruan Nanzhu, "I hope nothing unexpected happens."
"Yeah." Lin Qiushi nodded.
The tour guide appeared again and led everyone to their destination.
This was the third time we came here. The initial fear and curiosity were gone from everyone's faces. Instead, they were filled with a hint of irritation. Everyone wanted to leave as soon as possible.
The only difference this time was that the music had stopped. The others didn't know why, but Lin Qiushi and the other four knew it very well, because the bone flute that could play music was in their backpacks.
"Should we take Xu Jin to the roof and try it out?" Lin Qiushi was a little hesitant when he made this suggestion.
"I think it's okay." Ruan Nanzhu said.
So they began to discuss going up to the roof again. Xu Jin listened quietly, but when he heard that all four of them were planning to go up, he showed strong resistance.
"I don't want to go. I'm scared." Xu Jin shook her head, tears almost falling. "I really don't want to go. Please don't let me go..."
"Why don't you want to go?" Facing Xu Jin's strong resistance, Ruan Nanzhu did not show a tough attitude. On the contrary, his tone was even gentle.
"I'm scared," Xu Jin replied. "I think if I go up there... I'll die."
Lin Qiushi was about to say something when he saw Ruan Nanzhu actually nodded: "If that's the case, then let's not go up."
Xu Jin breathed a sigh of relief.
Lin Qiushi didn't expect Ruan Nanzhu to compromise so easily. He was a little puzzled and found an opportunity to ask.
"Under normal circumstances, she would have wanted to go up. Since she doesn't want to go up, there must be some other reason," said Ruan Nanzhu.
"Any other reason?" Lin Qiushi couldn't figure it out.
Ruan Nanzhu said, "I haven't thought of it yet."
They sat in the temple and began to think about what went wrong, while Cheng Qianli took Xu Jin to wander around the temple.
After walking around for a while, Cheng Qianli suddenly ran over mysteriously and said that he had discovered something.
"What's the matter?" Ruan Nanzhu glanced at him.
Cheng Qianli said: "Didn't we see statues locked in many small rooms before? The door of one small room is open..."
Ruan Nanzhu: "Did you go in and take a look?"
Cheng Qianli smiled embarrassedly: "I didn't dare."
Ruan Nanzhu: "Then lock the door."
Cheng Qianli: "Why don't we go in and take a look?" He lowered his voice, not wanting Xu Jin to hear his conversation with Ruan Nanzhu. "I noticed that there seemed to be murals on the backs of the statues in those small rooms."
Murals seem to be an important means for this religion to record events. If we can really find other murals, we may be able to discover why Xu Jin was reluctant to go upstairs.
Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu exchanged a glance, then stood up and patted their buttocks: "Let's go take a look."
Ruan Nanzhu nodded.
So they walked towards the place Cheng Qianli said.
The small room was small, only able to accommodate about five or six people. It was too crowded for them to go in together, so Cheng Qianli and Xu Jin stayed outside while Ruan Nanzhu and Lin Qiushi went in. In the middle of the room was a statue covered with red cloth. Judging from its outline, it was probably a Buddha statue. After entering the room, Ruan Nanzhu walked around the statue and went to the back wall.
Indeed, there were murals, but they were painted like ghostly symbols, making them completely incomprehensible. Lin Qiushi was completely bewildered, and Ruan Nanzhu also frowned.
Lin Qiushi didn't dare disturb him and observed the room.
The room was small and there was nothing much to see. The only thing that caught one's eye was a statue covered with red envelopes. The statue was about the height of a person and stood upright in the center of the room.
Lin Qiushi was about to look away when he was stunned. At first he thought he had seen it wrong and rubbed his eyes vigorously, but after rubbing, he found that he was not mistaken - the statue in front of him was indeed moving, although the movement was very subtle.
"Nanzhu." Lin Qiushi calmly tugged at Ruan Nanzhu's hand, "Let's go out."
Ruan Nanzhu's attention was still on the mural. He said, "I want to take another look."
Lin Qiushi suddenly had an idea: "I'll take a picture with my phone, and you can go back and take a look at it slowly, okay?" As he spoke, he noticed that the red cloth began to tremble, as if something was about to emerge from it.
Ruan Nanzhu also noticed something strange about Lin Qiushi. He scanned the room and immediately found something wrong. He nodded and said, "Let's go."
Lin Qiushi breathed a sigh of relief.
As soon as the two left the room, the sculpture began to shake violently. Lin Qiushi closed the door and the red cloth happened to fall down.
Under the red cloth, they saw the skinned monster they had seen in the hall before. The monster was holding a sharp long knife in his hand, and his originally stiff body began to become flexible.
"Shit, luckily I got out quickly." Lin Qiushi was so scared that he broke out in a cold sweat.
"Wait..." Cheng Qianli seemed to have discovered something, and his tone became full of fear. "How come all the locks of the small rooms in the corridor have been opened?"
Lin Qiushi was startled, then looked up and discovered that the locks in the entire corridor had fallen off, and it looked like someone had deliberately opened them. He quickly stepped forward to pick up a lock, twisted it briefly twice, and his face darkened. "Someone had violently broken into it."
The sounds of curtains falling to the ground became more and more frequent. Lin Qiushi looked around and found that three or four curtains had fallen to the ground where they were, revealing the bloody monsters behind them. Of course, the most eye-catching thing were the long swords in the monsters' hands.
If he were to chop people, it would be like threading a candied haws stick, killing two or three people with one stab.
The four of them turned around and ran, wanting to leave. On the way, they greeted other people in the team they met, and soon everyone gathered in the hall. Someone narrated the whole incident in a collapsed voice, pointing at the corridor and trembling.
"Are we still going to wait to die in there?" Someone wanted to go out.
"But have you forgotten what happened to those who ran away before?" someone retorted.
"But it's not raining now..." someone else said.
Noisy discussions filled the entire hall.
But soon, they didn't have any extra time to think about this, because those monsters slowly appeared in front of everyone, dragging long swords. Ruan Nanzhu saw that the situation was not right and said, "Let's go, leave the temple!"
Lin Qiushi followed behind him, and the four of them hurriedly ran out of the temple.
Some people around them followed them and dug out one after another, but some people were still hesitating in the temple, probably because they remembered the blond young man who was tortured by the heavy rain.
After just a moment of hesitation, someone in the temple was captured by the monsters.
At this moment, the people outside finally understood the use of the sharp knife in the monster's hand - it was actually an excellent tool for skinning.
The sharp knife pierced into the head, and the skin was opened with a prick and a tear. Along with a miserable scream, the tender skin of the human body split apart from both sides, revealing the red texture inside.
"Ah ...
Because of this horrifying scene, there was only dead silence among the crowd.
"Skin... give me the skin... give it to me... my sister..." A girl's voice came from the roof. In the darkness that no one could see, a pair of blood-red hands appeared. The hands picked up the freshly peeled skin, smelled it carefully, and then threw it heavily to the ground as if they had discovered something. "It's not mine, it's not mine--" The voice became sharper and sharper, piercing people's ears and hurting them.
After the two remaining people in the temple were skinned, their bodies were chopped into pieces. At this moment, Lin Qiushi finally understood where the minced meat on the wooden platform came from.
The monsters killed two people and turned their attention to them outside the door.
Everyone's breath was held in their grasp by those dark eyes. Lin Qiushi even smelled a stench of urine—someone had peed themselves out of fear.
"Squeak, squeak..." The sound of the sharp blade dragging on the ground was so harsh that finally, someone couldn't stand the horrible atmosphere and ran into the jungle screaming.
Although the rest of the people didn't move, the fear in their eyes was evident.
Cheng Qianli asked tremblingly, "Are they going to kill us too?"
Ruan Nanzhu said, "Calm down. They can't kill everyone."
But what they didn't expect was that the monsters finally stopped at the edge of the temple. They seemed to be stopped by something and began to wander around the door.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they saw this scene.
"It seems they can't leave the temple," Lin Qiushi said, "unless... it's raining."
"Hmm." Ruan Nanzhu's brows didn't relax. He glanced at Xu Jin and said, "We seem to have missed something important."
"Important things?" Lin Qiushi repeated. "Important things..." A thought flashed through his mind, and he asked in astonishment, "Did we forget to take that drum with us?"
If the one in the temple was the elder sister, then her skin was made into a drum, and her drum was in her younger sister's hands, so while she was looking for her younger sister, was she also looking for her own skin?
"Tsk, I actually forgot the drum." Ruan Nanzhu said, "I'm really not in good shape." He actually forgot such an important thing, or when they left there, no one thought of taking the drum away.
"No, I don't blame you," Lin Qiushi said. "After all, no one knows what the conditions are that trigger death. What if you move the drum and end up dying?"
Ruan Nanzhu shook his head and said nothing.
After witnessing the people around them being skinned alive, no one wanted to enter the temple again. Besides, no one knew whether the monster was still there.
Everyone sat in front of the temple with a depressed look, silently waiting for the tour guide to arrive.
The people who had run into the jungle before came back. They were in a trance and one of them even kept muttering to himself, as if he had gone crazy.
This accident was a huge blow to everyone.
Lin Qiushi's mental state was okay, and he occasionally chatted with Cheng Qianli to ease the tension. Xu Jin remained silent, staring blankly in front of her, seemingly unable to hear even Cheng Qianli's calls.
If this had happened before, Lin Qiushi would probably have thought she was afraid, but after what happened last night, he had other thoughts.
Is Xu Jin really scared? Is she afraid of ghosts, or something else?
Of course, none of these questions have answers yet.
The tour guide arrived on time as usual. When he saw that there were two people missing from the crowd, he did not comment and led everyone back with a smile.
Almost no one ate this dinner, as most people went to bed early.
Li Dongyuan didn't seem to be affected much. He ate his food quietly and asked Ruan Nanzhu to go out and chat for a while.
No one knew what the two talked about, but when they came back, the gloom on their faces was much less.
"Have a good rest." Ruan Nanzhu said this before going to sleep. "It's best not to wake up tonight."
Lin Qiushi nodded.
"Good night." Cheng Qianli yawned and closed his eyes.
"Good night." Lin Qiushi turned off the lights, plunging the room into darkness.
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