Chapter 38 Going Out
The monsters that had bolted from the temple soon returned with a familiar figure. Just as Ruan Nanzhu had suspected, Xu Jin had been quietly following them through the jungle.
She was grabbed by several monsters and dragged from the jungle in a horrified manner. Her face was filled with terror, and she kept screaming for help. If Lin Qiushi hadn't seen her horrific skin peeling off at night, he might have tried to rescue her. But now, he didn't move a step, watching the monsters drag Xu Jin up the wooden frame and bring her to the little girl covered in blood.
"Help, help me—" When Xu Jin saw Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu standing next to her, her first reaction was to ask them for help. Her face was full of tears, and she looked like she was about to faint from fear.
Ruan Nanzhu looked at her indifferently, with no emotion on his face.
Xu Jin wanted to run, but her hands and feet were held tightly by the monsters. The little girl on the top of the temple supported herself with her hands and slowly moved in front of her. Then she stretched out her hand and pressed it hard on her face: "Give it back to me—give it back to me—"
"Ahhhhhhhh!!" Xu Jin let out an extremely shrill scream and struggled like crazy. The little girl's hand actually went straight through her skin and pressed into her flesh. Then the girl's two hands were forcefully separated, and a crisp sound like cloth being torn was heard - Xu Jin's skin was actually torn off directly like this.
"Ahhhh!! No no no no - sister, stop it!!" Most people would have died like this long ago, but Xu Jin continued to struggle, and even seemed to have more strength. The fear in her eyes began to gradually subside, turning into another emotion. Lin Qiushi recognized that emotion as unwillingness.
Finally, a complete piece of skin was torn off. The girl let out a sharp laugh and held the skin tightly in her arms as if it were a treasure.
Xu Jin's eyes fell on the broken drum, and his resentment became stronger: "Why did you do this? Didn't you promise to give it to me? You promised to give it to me--"
“Shut up, liar!” The wrapped girl suddenly roared wildly, and the drumhead beneath her also made a loud noise. She seemed to be filled with hatred and anger, wanting to eat the person in front of her alive: “Sister, my dear sister, I have been looking for you for a long time, where have you been, where have you been!”
Xu Jin, who had turned into an identical monster, was unable to answer her sister's questions. She looked much older than the girl, and it was impossible to tell from their appearance that they were twins.
"Thank goodness you're back, you're finally back." As she spoke, she slowly and methodically arranged the skin she had peeled off from Xu Jin, and then carefully put it on herself. Her expression was extremely happy, as if she was wearing a long-awaited new dress. "Sister, did you miss me for a moment after you left me?"
As the skin came into contact with the girl's body, it gradually formed a bond with her. Her form began to change, transforming from a bloody monster into a lovely little girl. Lin Qiushi had seen the little girl's appearance on the piece of paper Xu Jin carried with her. It was exactly the same twins in the picture.
At this moment, Xu Jin and the little girl had almost changed their appearance. She was naked, with a look of resentment and unwillingness in her eyes, but she could not resist the person in front of her.
After putting on her skin, the little girl crawled around Xu Jin with a smile. She forced the monster to make Xu Jin kneel down, raised her hand and gently stroked Xu Jin's hair, and said with a smile: "Don't be afraid, my sister, I have prepared a lot of good things for you. As long as you come back, I will forgive you, you see..." After she said this, she clapped her hands happily.
Lin Qiushi felt a vibration beneath his feet. He lowered his head and was shocked to find that the drumhead made of human skin beneath his feet was actually wriggling. These human skins were sewn together one after another, and each piece of human skin began to groan in pain, as if they were not dead at all, but continued to survive in the form of skin.
"Hehehe..." The girl laughed in satisfaction when she heard the moans. She grabbed Xu Jin's hair and said with a smile, "Thank them quickly. Without them, how could I find you?"
Of course, Xu Jin couldn't say thank you. If Lin Qiushi and the others hadn't taken her drum away, she wouldn't have followed the three of them here and been caught by her own sister.
"Speak, speak." The little girl's smile gradually became ferocious. "Don't you love talking the most? Speak!!" She grabbed Xu Jin's arm angrily, and then pulled it hard, almost pulling Xu Jin's hand off.
Xu Jin screamed, trembling and unwillingly speaking: "Thank you...you."
"Hehehe." The girl started laughing again.
Ruan Nanzhu said, "Now that you've found her, can you tell us where the door is?"
The girl nodded and held out her hand to Ruan Nanzhu. "Give me back the bone flute. It's my bone." She touched the broken part of Xu Jin's leg lovingly. "Sister, where are your bones? Where did you hide them?"
Xu Jin said: "It's gone. Those people took it away."
The little girl stopped smiling instantly. She looked at Xu Jin with an extremely cold expression and said, "In that case, I'll lend you my bones. When they're all dead, I'll chop off their calves and give them to you."
Xu Jin didn't say anything. Her face was devoid of skin, and it was almost impossible to discern any details of her expression. But the only thing Lin Qiushi was certain of was that she was truly filled with fear and hatred.
The little girl took the bone flute and casually swiped it under her body, scratching the groaning drumhead, revealing a black iron door.
"Please come in." The little girl said to them with a smile.
Ruan Nanzhu walked in front, took out the key and opened the door. The moment he opened the door, a small piece of paper fell from the door and was held in Ruan Nanzhu's arms.
"Let's go." Ruan Nanzhu said and stepped into the door.
Cheng Qianli followed behind him. When Lin Qiushi was about to go in third, the little girl suddenly ran to his side and patted him on the back.
Lin Qiushi was stunned by the photo, but then he heard the little girl say, "She likes you, so I don't like you."
Although he felt a chill on his back, Lin Qiushi did not dare to stay any longer and stepped into the door.
After passing through a long tunnel, the three of them finally returned to the real world.
Lin Qiushi felt something was wrong as soon as he arrived in the real world. Just as he was about to say something, he felt dizzy and collapsed to the ground.
…
Darkness, long darkness, after which Lin Qiushi finally saw the light.
As soon as he woke up, he saw Ruan Nanzhu arguing with someone on the phone. Unlike the one inside the door, the one outside the door spoke in a cold tone and with a tricky angle, and soon the person on the other end of the phone was speechless.
"Awake?" After seeing Lin Qiushi wake up, Ruan Nanzhu hung up the phone.
Lin Qiushi nodded: "What's wrong with me..."
Ruan Nanzhu: "Acute pneumonia, almost ended up in the ICU."
Because he was slapped before coming out, Lin Qiushi knew that he would definitely get sick, but he didn't expect it to be so serious.
"That little bastard." Ruan Nanzhu was very unhappy. "Luckily I made back my money."
Lin Qiushi asked, "Did you make back your investment?"
Ruan Nanzhu took something out of his pocket and handed it to Lin Qiushi.
It was a thick book with a familiar cover. Lin Qiushi picked it up and discovered that it was the diary they found on the top of the tower. He didn't expect that Ruan Nanzhu had brought it out.
After Lin Qiushi flipped open the book, he saw vibrantly colored illustrations that seemed to tell a story. The paper had also changed texture, feeling a bit like sheepskin. However, based on what had happened inside, Lin Qiushi felt it might not be sheepskin...
"Generally, you can't take anything out of the door," Ruan Nanzhu said. "But there are some special items that can be taken out, such as the earrings in your ears and the notebook in front of you. These things that can be taken out are all special."
Lin Qiushi took a look and asked, "What's so special about this notebook?"
Ruan Nanzhu: "I don't know yet. I need to study it. You discovered this thing, so keep it for now."
Lin Qiushi was about to decline when Ruan Nanzhu called again. He glanced at the number, then stood up and walked out of the ward to answer the phone.
Lin Qiushi lowered his head and opened the notebook. After reading it carefully, he found that the notebook contained the story of the pair of sisters.
In an isolated mountain village, an important sacrificial ritual takes place. Every so often, the purest of the underage girls is chosen, skinned alive, and her soft skin fashioned into a beautiful red drum. This drum is then placed in the tower where everyone is buried to appease the spirits. The sisters share a close bond: the younger sister is lively and cheerful, the older sister beautiful and intelligent. However, one day, the younger sister becomes the target of a priest.
After she was forcibly taken away, she was made into a drum.
When the elder sister saw her younger sister suddenly disappeared, she began to look for her everywhere - however, this was not the end of the story, but the beginning.
The younger sister didn't die. Not only did she not die, she became a skinless monster. She awoke from the depths of the tower and began wandering the village, seeking out the lonely and detached, skinning them to wear. But the younger sister discovered that those skins didn't fit her. She needed a perfect skin... and naturally, she thought of her older sister, who looked just like her.
Deception and lies, the younger sister turned into a monster and tricked her elder sister into the temple, and easily peeled off her sister's skin. She covered herself with her sister's skin, and was afraid that her sister would catch up, so she cut off her sister's legs.
My sister was left in the temple like this.
The skinned sister did not die, and the deceived sister also survived. Her hatred and resentment turned her into an even more terrifying monster. She even made a bone flute with her severed legs and began to manipulate other sacrifices.
But the temple limited her abilities, and she was trapped inside, waiting day after day, waiting, waiting for the day when she could take her skin back.
As time passed, the younger sister, wearing her older sister's skin, grew up.
And at this moment, Lin Qiushi and the others entered their world.
Lin Qiushi finished reading the entire story and closed the book. His fingers rubbed the pages for a while, but he did not find anything special about the book.
Ruan Nanzhu had just finished his phone call and came in from outside, asking, "How do you feel?"
Lin Qiushi coughed twice and said, "Not bad."
Ruan Nanzhu sat down next to him and analyzed the situation. "You're now in the fifth gate, so the next gate won't be until at least six months later. Take advantage of this time to recuperate." He paused. "Your injury was unexpected. I had other plans, but now it seems I'll have to postpone them."
Lin Qiushi asked, "What arrangements?"
Ruan Nanzhu: "Let's talk about it later. If your body doesn't recover well enough, there's no need to talk about this arrangement."
Lin Qiushi always felt that this arrangement must be a very important matter, but the Ruan Nanzhu in front of him was very different from the one inside the door. Although he was handsome, his brows were cold, like a piece of ice that was freezing.
If this happened inside the door, Lin Qiushi would probably have the nerve to ask again, but outside, facing Ruan Nanzhu in this state, Lin Qiushi had no choice but to nod obediently and did not ask any further questions.
Probably knowing that Lin Qiushi had woken up, Cheng Qianli soon came to the ward with a bag of fruit. He said, "Qiushi, your luck is really bad. Most people would not get hurt in the world inside the gate."
Ruan Nanzhu listened nearby and poured a basin of cold water on him: "Yes, they usually don't get hurt, they just die."
Lin Qiushi: “…”
Cheng Qianli: "...Brother Ruan, you are so bad."
Not long after Cheng Qianli arrived, Ruan Nanzhu received another call and left in a hurry.
Seeing how busy he was, Lin Qiushi asked Cheng Qianli if anything had happened.
"It's not really a problem." Cheng Qianli said, "It's just that Bai Lu has started to inquire about Zhu Meng's identity. Bai Lu's organization is quite large, and they can definitely find her if they really want to. But they definitely don't know that Zhu Meng is our boss."
Lin Qiushi: “…Oh.”
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would never have dreamed that Zhu Meng, who had so many tricks up her sleeve, was actually Ruan Nanzhu dressed as a woman.
Because of the slap from the girl at the door, Lin Qiushi had been bedridden for a whole month and still wasn't fully recovered. When he finally returned to the villa, he rushed over to Li Zi as soon as he saw her.
Li Zi lay on the sofa, showing great disdain towards Lin Qiushi who was pouncing on him like a hungry tiger. He stood up, turned his head, twisted his butt and jumped forward, leaving Lin Qiushi with an indifferent back.
Lin Qiushi almost burst into tears on the spot.
Cheng Qianli came over, holding his own Tusi, and asked Lin Qiushi to touch his butt to calm him down. Tusi offered his chubby, Corgi-like bottom, his dark eyes filled with innocence. Lin Qiushi felt comforted, and finally didn't do anything drastic.
A few days after Lin Qiushi returned to the villa, he received a call from his friend Wu Qi. On the phone, Wu Qi expressed his strong suspicion that Lin Qiushi was controlled by a pyramid scheme organization. He also said that he must come and take a look. If Lin Qiushi disagreed, he would choose to call the police.
Lin Qiushi had no choice but to tell Ruan Nanzhu about this matter.
Ruan Nanzhu actually agreed to Lin Qiushi's request very easily.
"But I don't recommend you tell him these things," Ruan Nanzhu said, "if you don't want to be sent to a mental hospital."
Lin Qiushi: "Has there been such an example before?"
Ruan Nanzhu pointed at Yi Manman who was arguing with Cheng Qianli upstairs and said, "We picked her up ourselves."
Later, Lin Qiushi learned that Yi Manman told her family about this matter not long after she moved into the villa. As a result, her family unanimously believed that Ruan Nanzhu and his team were a soft pyramid scheme organization. In order to prevent Yi Manman from going astray, they actually put him in a mental hospital. Later, it was Ruan Nanzhu who contacted people to release Yi Manman.
Lin Qiushi didn't expect that this could happen, but then again, if someone told him about this, he would not believe it eighty percent of the time.
"Okay then. I'll think about what to say to him," Lin Qiushi replied.
Ruan Nanzhu hummed, and after a moment's silence, he asked again, "Don't you need to explain to your parents?"
Lin Qiushi: "It's okay. My family relationships are pretty weak."
Ruan Nanzhu then nodded and left.
Lin Qiushi's parents divorced when he was in elementary school, each starting their own family. He grew up with his grandmother, who passed away when he was in college, leaving him with virtually no ties to his family. This was one of the reasons he chose to stay in this city, as he had no attachment to his so-called hometown.
A few days later, Wu Qi found a weekend and really came to Lin Qiushi's villa. He seemed to have brought some self-defense equipment with him, and followed Lin Qiushi into the living room with a look of suspicion on his face.
Chen Fei and the others all knew that Lin Qiushi's friends were coming, and when they saw him walk in with a wary look on his face, they couldn't help but want to laugh.
Cheng Qianli was really itching to get involved. As soon as Wu Qi came in, he rushed to the door and closed it, then said to Lin Qiushi, "Why did you bring him here just now?"
Lin Qiushi: “…”
Cheng Qianli said: "Here, we focus on developing downlines. Come, friends, let's learn about it..."
Wu Qi looked suspicious, and Lin Qiushi was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.
Fortunately, Cheng Qianli's brother appeared in time. He walked up to him, grabbed his ear, and walked away expressionlessly. Before leaving, he apologized to Lin Qiushi: "I'm sorry, I forgot to lock up my idiot."
Cheng Qianli cried out in pain, but didn't dare to argue. With tears in his eyes and looking aggrieved, he was carried upstairs by his brother. Tusi joined in the fun and cried happily beside him.
Lin Qiushi: "Wu Qi was my friend at the time. He was just joking. These guys were my roommates. This is my friend Wu Qi."
Chen Fei, Yi Manman, and the others greeted Wu Qi in a friendly manner and then went about their business. Wu Qi looked around the house and didn't seem to find anything suspicious. However, he was still a little worried and insisted on going upstairs to check. He also asked Lin Qiushi and the others if they usually attended classes.
Lin Qiushi: "...If I don't go, how can I have classes? This really isn't a pyramid scheme."
"Really?" Wu Qi, "Then why haven't you contacted me for almost a month?"
"I was sick," Lin Qiushi explained. "I stayed in the ICU for a while..." Under normal circumstances, with his symptoms, he would have been confined to the ward for three to five months. But perhaps the door had changed his physique, and he recovered very quickly. He was discharged in just over a month. Even his attending physician was amazed, saying that Lin Qiushi was a medical miracle and asked if he was interested in participating in medical research.
Lin Qiushi declined firmly. The attending physician expressed great regret and told Lin Qiushi to come back to him if he changed his mind.
Lin Qiushi could only smile bitterly.
"Why didn't you tell me you were sick?" Wu Qi got angry when he heard this. "Lin Qiushi, do you still consider me a friend?"
Lin Qiushi knew he was in the wrong, so he quickly apologized. It took him a long time to calm Wu Qi down.
The two were talking to each other when the door to the living room opened again. Ruan Nanzhu came back from outside, followed by a young man. The man looked to be in his twenties, with a baby face, and looked very cute.
"Brother Ruan, is this a newcomer?" Chen Fei asked.
"Yes." Ruan Nanzhu introduced briefly, "Zhang Mian."
Zhang Mian seemed to have a very cheerful personality and greeted everyone with a smile.
Ruan Nanzhu ordered: "Chen Fei, go up and teach him first."
Chen Fei said hello, stood up and led the newlyweds upstairs.
Lin Qiushi's attention was originally on the newcomer, but he suddenly felt that something was amiss in the conversation between Ruan Nanzhu and Chen Fei. He turned to look at Wu Qi and saw that Wu Qi had the exact same expression. He said quietly, "Didn't you say there aren't classes here?"
Lin Qiushi: “…” How on earth should he explain it clearly?
Just when Lin Qiushi was at a loss for words, Ruan Nanzhu walked towards them. He stopped in front of Wu Qi and extended his hand to him: "Ruan Nanzhu."
Wu Qi was 1.76 meters tall, and in front of Ruan Nanzhu, who was nearly 1.9 meters tall, he felt completely overwhelmed. He shook Ruan Nanzhu's hand and said his name: "Wu Qi."
"I'm Lin Qiushi's friend. I'll take good care of him. Don't worry." After saying this naturally, Ruan Nanzhu raised his chin slightly. "You're welcome to come play here, too."
Wu Qi said hello.
After Ruan Nanzhu finished speaking, he turned to look at Lin Qiushi, nodded, and left. Wu Qi stared at his back for a long moment, then mumbled, "I believe you're not involved in a pyramid scheme."
Lin Qiushi: "You believe it now?"
"Yeah." Wu Qi said, "Does someone who looks like that need to be involved in pyramid schemes?"
Lin Qiushi: "...So you think I'm not good-looking enough?"
Wu Qi: "No matter how good-looking you are, you are just average. Someone like him is a treasure no matter where he is."
Lin Qiushi found himself unable to refute. Ruan Nanzhu's appearance and aura were indeed different from those of ordinary people. If one had to describe it, it would be like a jade sculpture. The corners of her eyes and eyebrows were painted. She was truly a beauty like jade, and her aura like a rainbow.
Although the process was inexplicable, it at least dispelled Wu Qi's doubts. To apologize for his disappearance, Lin Qiushi prepared a sumptuous lunch for Wu Qi and the others in the villa.
The newcomer who came with Ruan Nanzhu also sat at the table. He seemed to be very outgoing. Fortunately, Chen Fei seemed to have greeted him, so he didn't ask any inappropriate questions in front of Wu Qi.
After finishing his meal, Lin Qiushi sent his friends away and breathed a sigh of relief.
He has few close friends, and Wu Qi is one of them. Naturally, he doesn't want to create a rift between him and Wu Qi because of some trivial matter.
After seeing Wu Qi off, Lin Qiushi finally had time to talk to the newcomer Zhang Mian. He learned that this was also Zhang Mian's first time entering the house, and like him, he had met Ruan Nanzhu.
Ruan Nanzhu had obviously taken advantage of the time when he was recuperating to come in a few more times.
It’s just unknown why he goes in and out of the door so frequently. Lin Qiushi guessed that this might have something to do with his eleventh door.
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