Chapter 45 Return to the Real World
According to Ruan Nanzhu, even if they were pulled into the painting, the ghosts could not attack them directly.
But since there was a picture frame embedded behind the glass in front of her, it meant that almost everyone who came here to use the restroom had been framed by a picture frame - it was just unknown why the woman ultimately chose Lin Qiushi.
"Let's look at his appearance," Ruan Nanzhu said casually, "He's cuter."
Tan Zaozao glared when she heard this: "Then why wasn't I pulled in?"
Ruan Nanzhu: "Are you cute?"
Tan Zaozao: "..." Ruan Nanzhu, you know that you will die if you say this outside.
All in all, this castle seemed to be filled with a lot of picture frames. At least after returning to the bedroom, Ruan Nanzhu had already uncovered several more. One was hidden to the right of the mirror, another was hidden inside the bedside table, and Ruan Nanzhu even discovered a secret compartment in the ceiling, which contained a picture frame. No wonder he had been dragged into the painting. And Yang Meishu's actions were merely a cover-up by the mistress. It seems the ghosts in this world are truly intelligent, and quite intelligent.
After digging out all the picture frames in the house, Ruan Nanzhu rudely smashed them all. After that, he told the team about it and asked them to look for them and try to dig out all the picture frames.
Lin Qiushi didn't know if it was just his illusion, but he always felt that the hostess looked at Ruan Nanzhu with particularly vicious eyes that morning, as if she wanted to skin him alive.
Ruan Nanzhu didn't know whether he didn't feel it or didn't care at all. He still sat calmly at the dining table eating delicious steak, not affected at all.
However, even though everyone started looking for the picture frame, it was still a little too late. The next morning, someone disappeared again and turned into a gorgeous painting.
Ruan Nanzhu went to look at the painting, then pulled out a flat frame from under the man's carpet. Lin Qiushi held the frame and sighed, "Is this okay?"
He put the picture frame aside and shook his head, saying, "It's really hard to guard against."
Ruan Nanzhu: "It's really hard to guard against, so we'd better find the key as soon as possible." He said, "I feel like she's becoming more and more unscrupulous."
Lin Qiushi nodded.
Ruan Nanzhu's intuition was obviously correct. That same night, the woman appeared outside their window again.
On a quiet rainy night, a woman stood in the middle of the desolate yard. The rain fell on her body. She raised her head slightly and gave a hideous smile towards the balcony where Ruan Nanzhu was.
Ruan Nanzhu was smoking outside. When he saw the woman, he didn't say anything. His expression was quite indifferent. He just said, "She's standing outside."
Lin Qiushi walked to his side and also saw the scenery outside.
Most people would have been scared when they saw this woman, but Ruan Nanzhu was the only one who could look into her cold eyes without any fear. In the end, the woman disappeared first.
"Aren't you afraid?" Lin Qiushi turned around and asked him.
Ruan Nanzhu exhaled a puff of cigarette and said, "It doesn't matter whether you're afraid or not." He handed one to Lin Qiushi.
Since they were already inside the door, Lin Qiushi took the cigarette, lit it, and looked at the gradually darkening sky outside: "What should I do next?"
Ruan Nanzhu: "Wait."
Ruan Nanzhu didn't explain why or what they were waiting for, and Lin Qiushi didn't ask either. After finishing his cigarette, he and Ruan Nanzhu turned and went back into the house. Tan Zaozao was already asleep on the floor, with her butt sticking out. This girl's image inside was hard to reconcile with the aloof actress outside. She wasn't outstanding in looks, nor was her personality aloof. She even liked to sleep with her butt sticking out like a tapeworm in bed. This posture was truly unsightly. I wonder if her fans would feel their dreams shattered if they saw it.
Lin Qiushi brought a blanket over her and then lay down next to Ruan Nanzhu.
"You stand on the bridge and admire the scenery, while those who admire the scenery look at you from the upper floors. The bright moon decorates your window, and you decorate the dreams of others." Ruan Nanzhu said, "Do you have any new thoughts on this poem?"
Lin Qiushi pondered for a moment: "We stand in the ancient castle and look at the paintings. The people who look at the paintings look at us from upstairs. The picture frames decorate our windows, and we decorate other people's dreams..." The note was written very clearly. With a little thought, he could understand the answer. However, he was a little hesitant now. Did the last line of the poem, "dream", refer to the painting that the woman brought them into, or to something else?
"I think the dream refers to the painting upstairs." Ruan Nanzhu turned sideways and looked at Lin Qiushi's profile.
The two of them were so close that they could even feel each other's breath.
If this happened to someone else, Lin Qiushi might have felt uncomfortable. But perhaps because he and Ruan Nanzhu had laid the groundwork for this, Lin Qiushi didn't see anything wrong with it.
"Are you talking about the dinner party picture?" Lin Qiushi asked.
Ruan Nanzhu: “Yeah.”
Lin Qiushi blinked: "Then let's go burn that painting?"
Ruan Nanzhu was silent for three seconds. Realizing that Lin Qiushi was serious, he asked, "Are you not afraid anymore?"
Lin Qiushi: "Don't we still have you? Besides, if the hostess's dream really was that painting, do we have to wait until she finishes it?"
Ruan Nanzhu: "She will never finish that painting."
Lin Qiushi was stunned for a moment after hearing this, then he understood Ruan Nanzhu's meaning. The hostess truly couldn't complete the painting. There were ten people in the painting, which meant she had to draw all ten of them into the frame. However, according to the rules of the sect, a team wouldn't be completely wiped out, which meant the hostess's painting would always be missing a face—the painting would truly never be complete.
"Let's go up and take a look tomorrow," Ruan Nanzhu said. "We can't stay here any longer. It will only get more dangerous."
Lin Qiushi nodded.
Ruan Nanzhu's guess turned out to be correct, because the next morning, another member of their team was missing. This time, no one reacted too strongly, as they were already used to this kind of thing.
The man's portrait was finally put away by the housekeeper. Lin Qiushi watched him take the portrait to the rooftop.
"Where is he going to put the painting?" Lin Qiushi was a little curious.
Ruan Nanzhu: "I don't know, let's follow and see."
After the two of them finished talking, they put down their knives and forks and walked out tacitly. Before Tan Zaozao understood what was happening, she hurriedly followed him out with a piece of bread in her mouth.
The housekeeper went up to the sixth floor, opened the room where the unfinished product was placed, and came out soon after entering.
Lin Qiushi and the others hid at the corner of the stairs and saw the butler's figure disappear in front of them.
"Let's go in and take a look?" Lin Qiushi asked.
Ruan Nanzhu nodded.
With skillful unlocking, Ruan Nanzhu once again opened the door of the room where the unfinished products were placed. This time, as soon as they entered, they made a new discovery.
"...Are these newly painted?" Tan Zaozao felt a chill run down her spine as she gazed at the paintings before her. She saw that many of the previously blank spaces in the room were now filled. Filling the frames was a woman in black, resembling a woman in the rain. Her figure was everywhere, by the window, in the hallway, on the stairs, in the courtyard. She even appeared in Xiaosu's painting.
This made Lin Qiushi inexplicably feel that the picture was contaminated.
Ruan Nanzhu looked at the hundreds of paintings and fell into deep thought. He paused and said, "Look for it."
Tan Zaozao was in a daze from the beginning, still eating the bread in his hand: "What are you looking for?"
"Look for the door," Ruan Nanzhu said. "The door should be in the painting."
"Is it true?" Although Tan Zaozao was a little skeptical, she still listened to Ruan Nanzhu's words and began to look through the hundreds of scrolls in front of her with him.
About half an hour later, while rummaging through a scroll buried underneath, Lin Qiushi finally found what he was looking for. He called out softly, "Found it—"
It was a painting that looked very ordinary at first glance. It showed the interior of an ancient castle, but there was a very special scene in the scene - a black iron gate.
The black iron gate stands in a dark corner and it is easy to miss it if you don't look carefully.
Ruan Nanzhu took the painting and said, "This is the staircase on the right side of the second floor. Let's go and take a look."
They took the painting and went straight to the second floor, where they soon found the scene in the painting, but it was different from the painting. Where the iron door was, there was a white wall with an ordinary landscape painting hanging on it.
Ruan Nanzhu reached out and took down the painting, and found that there was indeed a switch behind the painting. After seeing the switch, he reached out and pressed it. With a slight rumbling sound, a huge crack appeared in the wall in front of them, and a black door appeared in front of the three of them.
"We found the door!" Tan Zaozao was overjoyed. "Now all we need is the key..."
Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu looked at each other.
Ruan Nanzhu: "Do you want to do it?"
Lin Qiushi: "Let's go."
Tan Zaozao didn't understand what the two were talking about until she saw Ruan Nanzhu pull out a lighter from his pocket. She was shocked and said, "Are you two really going to..."
Ruan Nanzhu: "If you're afraid, just wait here."
Tan Zaozao said forget it, she would rather go together, so that if something happens they can take care of each other, isn't it important for a family to be together?
Lin Qiushi: “…” Are they all set to cool down together neatly?
After making the decision, Ruan Nanzhu was extremely decisive. The three of them headed straight for the hostess's studio on the seventh floor. Of course, they didn't forget to knock on the door before entering. Otherwise, it would be very embarrassing to push the door open and see the hostess sitting inside.
The hostess seemed not to paint during the day, but only at night. This gave Ruan Nanzhu an opportunity. He walked to the painting, turned on the lighter, lowered his head and lit it. The whole action was done in one go, as if he had done it countless times.
Tan Zaozao was watching from the side and was terrified. She rubbed the goose bumps on her arms vigorously.
The flames touched the paper and quickly engulfed the painting in front of him. However, as the flames spread, Lin Qiushi heard a subtle sound, like a person screaming, or the creaking sound of wet wood being ignited.
"Did you hear that?" Lin Qiushi asked without hope.
Sure enough, Ruan Nanzhu and Tan Zaozao both shook their heads, indicating that they heard nothing.
In a moment, the painting in front of him turned into black ashes. As the last corner was ignited, a crisp sound came from the ground, as if something metal had fallen to the floor.
Lin Qiushi lowered his head and saw a bronze key as expected.
"Ahhhhhh!!!" At the same time, a woman's angry roar came from downstairs. The roar almost shocked Lin Qiushi so much that he almost couldn't stand. Without thinking, he knew that it must be the voice of the hostess.
"Let's go!" Ruan Nanzhu grabbed the key and turned to run.
Lin Qiushi and Tan Zaozao followed closely behind.
They went down the stairs, but when they reached the fourth floor, they saw the hostess who had arrived with a crazy look on her face. Her tall body was hunched over, and she was roaring angrily. Her dark eyes were filled with undisguised anger and madness, but what attracted people's attention the most was the huge picture frame in her right hand, which was being swung heavily. No one wanted to be hit by that thing.
"Go up the side stairs!" Ruan Nanzhu was very familiar with the structure of the castle, and immediately changed direction when he saw the woman.
The woman ran towards them, her limbs waving in an uncoordinated manner, just like a giant arthropod, but her speed was extremely fast, and she was behind them in an instant.
Lin Qiushi didn't dare to stop for a moment. If he did, the picture frame would fall on him immediately.
They quickly went down to the fourth floor. Ruan Nanzhu didn't even turn around. "Lin Qiushi, lead her away. Give me some time to open the door—"
Lin Qiushi gritted his teeth and said, "Okay!" He turned his head to look at the huge woman behind him, and without thinking, he grabbed the painting hanging on the wall next to him and threw it at her.
The woman was hit directly by the painting thrown by Lin Qiushi. She let out an almost ferocious roar and pounced towards Lin Qiushi.
Lin Qiushi dodged, just avoiding the picture frame she swung in front of him. He glanced at Ruan Nanzhu and ran downstairs.
As expected, the woman followed him down the stairs. Lin Qiushi felt he had never been so calm. After confirming she was following him, he quickly turned and ran up the stairs at the other end of the corridor. This amount of time was definitely enough for Ruan Nanzhu to open the iron gate!
As expected, when Lin Qiushi returned to the second floor, he saw the iron door had been opened.
A soft light emanated from the iron gate, telling those inside that this was the path to life. Lin Qiushi panted heavily, using up all his remaining strength to run frantically towards the door. However, just as he was about to enter, he felt a pair of large hands firmly grasp his ankles and drag him out of the door.
The woman appeared in front of him with a ferocious expression, looking down at him condescendingly. Lin Qiushi's feet were held in her hands. She raised her right hand and smashed the photo frame in her hand down heavily.
At this moment, Lin Qiushi's breathing almost stopped. The scene before him became extremely slow, like a final revolving lantern before death. He could even see the woman's black hair dancing in the air...
The picture frame fell down, and Lin Qiushi closed his eyes involuntarily.
"Ahhhhhhh!!!" However, the darkness that was supposed to arrive never came. Instead, Lin Qiushi heard a woman's scream. He opened his eyes and found himself soaked in blood, the source of which was his trouser pocket, which was still oozing out. The blood seemed to be an aggression to the woman. She even dropped the picture frame and began to back away.
Lin Qiushi didn't dare to dwell on what was going on. He turned and rushed through the door. After passing through the tunnel stained by light, he paused, finally returning to the world he had left for so long.
"Huff, huff, huff..." Lin Qiushi sat on the bed, his head covered in cold sweat. He raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, stood up, went outside, and knocked on Ruan Nanzhu's room.
With a creaking sound, Ruan Nanzhu appeared at the door. When he saw Lin Qiushi, his expression relaxed slightly: "He's out."
Lin Qiushi nodded. The scene before he left was too terrifying. He now had no strength left in his body. "When I came out, I was caught by that woman."
Ruan Nanzhu frowned: "Are you not hurt?"
Lin Qiushi shook his head. "No." He was a little confused. "I was clearly caught by her, but it seemed like something saved me." He searched his pockets but didn't find anything strange. "There's a lot of blood leaking out of my pocket... Do you know what that is?"
Ruan Nanzhu leaned against the door and shook his head to indicate that he didn't know: "It's fine as long as you can come out. Why bother with so much?"
Lin Qiushi said "oh". He always felt that Ruan Nanzhu was hiding something from him. Of course, he didn't dare to say it in front of Ruan Nanzhu, so he nodded and turned to leave.
Ruan Nanzhu looked at his back and said, "Tan Zaozao invited us to dinner tonight."
"Yeah," Lin Qiushi said, "I'm going to take a shower and calm down."
night.
Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu showed up at the restaurant Tan Zaozao had booked. Lin Qiushi had initially thought Tan Zaozao would treat them to steak or something, but unexpectedly, she had ordered a hot pot restaurant.
As soon as Lin Qiushi entered, he saw Tan Zaozao, wearing a T-shirt with his sleeves rolled up, sipping hot pot and beer. He waved at them without even looking up, "Come on, hurry up! Damn, I've been eating steak for so long! I'm so craving it."
Lin Qiushi: “…” The contrast is too great.
Ruan Nanzhu seemed to be used to it. He sat down next to Tan Zaozao and said, "You can pay the remaining balance now."
Tan Zaozao said unhappily, "It's not like I won't fight. Why are you so anxious? I just got out. Give me a couple of days to relax." She gulped down a glass of ice beer, "So refreshing..."
Looking at the completely unassuming actress in front of him, Lin Qiushi felt dazed. He sat down quietly beside her and began to eat.
Tan Zaozao and Ruan Nanzhu began chatting, mostly about the bargaining over the fourth door. Lin Qiushi then realized that the doors Ruan Nanzhu led were truly expensive. The first four doors were each a million yuan, not a penny less. With the fifth door, the price began to rise, and how much to raise depended entirely on Ruan Nanzhu's mood.
"We have such a good relationship, can't you give us a discount?" Tan Zaozao said, "I'm considered a VIP member, right?"
Ruan Nanzhu said coldly: "Brothers, let's settle accounts clearly."
Tan Zaozao: "You money-grubber." Fortunately, this money-grubber looked so otherworldly that she naively thought he was a sage who didn't care about worldly affairs.
Ruan Nanzhu: "Give it or not?"
Tan Zaozao sadly took out her cell phone to transfer money.
With a ding-dong sound, the sound came from Lin Qiushi's phone after the transfer was completed. He took out his phone and saw that another 200,000 yuan had been transferred. He looked hesitant and said, "Brother Ruan..."
Ruan Nanzhu waved his hand and said, "Just take it if I tell you to. If you don't take the money she paid for her life, you're looking down on her."
Tan Zaozao: "..." She really wanted to be looked down upon...
Lin Qiushi accepted the money anyway. Every industry has its own rules, and as a newbie, it was better for him not to interfere in some matters.
The three of them had just come out of the door and were all a little tired, especially Lin Qiushi, who was grabbed by the woman before he came out. Although he was not injured, it was still scary enough.
Tan Zaozao left after she had almost finished eating, leaving Ruan Nanzhu and Lin Qiushi behind.
"Are you tired?" Ruan Nanzhu asked him.
"A little bit." Lin Qiushi replied.
"Then let's go back." Ruan Nanzhu, "It's getting late."
Lin Qiushi nodded.
The two of them walked out of the hot pot restaurant. The weather was still very hot, but thankfully the sun had already set. The noisy chirping of cicadas and the traffic should have been noisy and bustling, but it strangely made people feel at ease. Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu remained silent all the way until they reached the villa, where Ruan Nanzhu said to Lin Qiushi, "Get some rest."
"You too." Lin Qiushi smiled.
After saying this, Ruan Nanzhu turned and went upstairs, while Lin Qiushi sat in the living room for a while.
Cheng Qianli had just returned from a walk and greeted Lin Qiushi happily when he saw him: "Are you back?"
Lin Qiushi: "I'm back."
"Nothing unexpected happened, right?" Cheng Qianli touched Toast's butt.
"No major surprise." Lin Qiushi replied calmly.
Cheng Qianli tilted his head, as if he felt something was wrong with Lin Qiushi. He asked, "Are you feeling unwell?"
"Not feeling well?" Lin Qiushi shook his head. "No, maybe I'm a little tired."
Cheng Qianli said "oh" and without thinking too much, he told Lin Qiushi to have a good rest.
Lin Qiushi said, "Have you seen the chestnuts?"
"I haven't seen him. I don't know where he went. Maybe he's in Brother Ruan's room." Cheng Qianli said, "Do you want to go and have a look?"
Lin Qiushi thought about it and decided to forget it.
After returning to his room to sleep, Lin Qiushi lay in bed for a long time without falling asleep. He looked at the ceiling, and finally couldn't help but send a message to Ruan Nanzhu: Are you asleep?
It took a while for the other end to reply: No, is there something wrong?
Lin Qiushi: I have something to ask you.
Ruan Nanzhu: What’s the matter?
Lin Qiushi looked at the screen of his mobile phone and typed out what he wanted to say word by word: Was it you who put the thing in my trouser pocket?
Ruan Nanzhu didn't reply.
Lin Qiushi: What is that? Can't you tell me?
Ruan Nanzhu replied with five words: Come to my room.
Lin Qiushi was a little happy. He threw his phone away and ran to Ruan Nanzhu's room. As a result, when he opened the door, he saw Ruan Nanzhu who had just taken a shower and was only wrapped in a bath towel. His hair was still wet and was slowly dripping. The water droplets slid down his collarbone to his strong chest and beautiful mermaid line, and finally fell to the floor.
"Sit down." Ruan Nanzhu raised his chin.
Lin Qiushi sat on the sofa next to Ruan Nanzhu.
Ruan Nanzhu wanted to light a cigarette, but then glanced at Lin Qiushi and put it away. He picked up a towel and wiped his hair: "Yes, I put that thing there."
Lin Qiushi asked directly, "Then why did you lie to me?"
Ruan Nanzhu: "Are you always so direct in your actions?"
Lin Qiushi was a little baffled. "Why can't you just be direct? Is there something shameful about this?"
Ruan Nanzhu looked down at Lin Qiushi with a strange expression, "Have you ever considered what if I actually wanted to harm you?"
Lin Qiushi shook his head honestly: "I haven't thought about it."
Ruan Nanzhu: "..." Lin Qiushi, why are you so cute?
The author has something to say: Ruan Nanzhu: I like to bully honest people (flies rubbing their hands
Lin Qiushi: ???
Lin Qiushi has just entered the Fourth Gate and is just a novice. He shouldn't always compete with experienced masters. He needs to be given some time.
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