Chapter 47 Drama Academy
But in reality, Zhu Meng rarely bothered to say anything bad about someone she didn't like, and usually took revenge on the spot. While Li Dongyuan might appear quite affectionate, Lin Qiushi hadn't forgotten how he'd tricked them in the sect. If it weren't for Lin Qiushi's good luck, they might all have fallen prey to Li Dongyuan's tricks.
Anyone who can pass through the eighth door is definitely not a good person, especially Li Dongyuan, whose image inside the door is completely different from his baby-faced and harmless appearance outside the door.
The door they and Li Dongyuan were about to enter was the fourth door belonging to a member of the White Deer clan. The specific identity was unknown, but Ruan Nanzhu had already obtained a clue to the door.
There are only two words on the clue: Sako.
Ruan Nanzhu had almost finished investigating the clues after receiving them. He briefly explained to Lin Qiushi that Saeko was a Japanese folk tale, even turned into a ballad. The story revolved around a girl who was hit by a car on a snowy night, her lower body severed, and she tragically died. A few days later, someone unexpectedly wrote a song based on this story. The lyrics ran: "Saeko has always called herself Saeko since she was little. How ridiculous! She loves bananas but can only eat half a banana at a time. How pitiful! Saeko has gone far away and must have forgotten me. How lonely Saeko." However, the songwriter soon died, his lower body missing...
The song has one last line: I have no legs left, can you give me yours?
It is said that if you sing it, Saeko will appear and take away that person's legs.
After hearing this clue, Lin Qiushi touched the goose bumps on his arms and said, "That's a bit scary."
"Not bad." Ruan Nanzhu always judged whether a clue was scary or not based on its usefulness. "This clue is quite detailed. At least it indicates a very important condition for death."
"Yeah, that's right." Lin Qiushi said, "When will we go in?"
Ruan Nanzhu: "Three days later, are you ready?"
Lin Qiushi nodded: "Almost."
Ruan Nanzhu: "Okay."
So, for the next few days, Lin Qiushi wore a special bracelet and confined himself to the villa. Ruan Nanzhu changed into women's clothing and prepared for the day. He looked perfectly natural in women's clothing. Lin Qiushi had seen her before, so he was almost used to it. He even thought to himself, "A girl like Ruan Nanzhu is really pretty..." Of course, he was just thinking it and didn't dare say it out loud.
Three days passed in a flash. Before entering the house, Lin Qiushi was still watching TV. Suddenly, he felt that the atmosphere around him was not right. After looking carefully, he found that everyone in the villa had disappeared.
He stood up from the sofa and opened a door at random. Sure enough, he saw the twelve familiar doors outside.
Three of the twelve doors had been sealed. Lin Qiushi walked over and opened the fourth.
The iron gate slammed shut, and the scenery before Lin Qiushi shifted, revealing him on a dark path. This path was shaded by dense trees. Lin Qiushi glanced around and quickly determined his location—he was inside a school, surrounded by neatly arranged teaching buildings. It was dawn, and everything was silent. The only sound was the rustling of the trees in the breeze.
Lin Qiushi took a few steps forward and saw a man standing in front of him, looking around. Although the man's face was unfamiliar, his temperament was strangely familiar. Lin Qiushi hesitated for a moment, then removed the bracelet from his wrist and called out to him.
The man turned his head and smiled at Lin Qiushi: "Door?"
Lin Qiushi hummed, then hesitantly uttered the code they had agreed upon: "Friend, would you like some melon-flavored chewing gum?"
"Yes," the man replied, "but my fourth tooth is not in good condition."
"Li Dongyuan?" Lin Qiushi asked.
The man nodded: "Lin Qiushi?"
The two men extended their hands and gently shook hands, confirming each other's identities. Although they already knew each other, it was undeniable that Li Dongyuan's image inside and outside the sect was quite different. Inside, he was much taller and no longer had that cute baby face. Although he was gentle, one could sense his hidden aura.
"Let's go forward. We should gather at the teaching building." Li Dongyuan was already very familiar with these things. He said, "My name in the sect is still Meng Yu, don't call me by the wrong name."
Lin Qiushi: "My name is Yu Linlin."
The two talked as they walked, chatting about some things inside the sect. Of course, both sides were very cautious. After all, they were competitors and were unwilling to reveal too much.
Walking to the teaching building in front of him, Lin Qiushi saw from afar eight or nine people standing under the building.
"Five men and four women, including us, there are eleven of us in total." Li Dongyuan took a glance, "Zhu Meng should be in there too."
Lin Qiushi said, "Let's test it out."
In fact, he recognized Zhu Meng at a glance, because she was the tallest among the four women. In addition, she was wearing a light-colored long dress that Lin Qiushi was familiar with, and there was a white rabbit-shaped crystal brooch hanging on her chest.
When Lin Qiushi walked over, he raised his eyes, with a smile on his face, which made Lin Qiushi's heart move.
Li Dongyuan was not as excited as he was outside. He asked, "Is it her?"
Lin Qiushi nodded.
Li Dongyuan praised: "It is indeed beautiful."
Lin Qiushi thought, I wish you had the same attitude when you were arguing with him outside...
They walked into the middle of the crowd and were not surprised to see someone roaring again. Lin Qiushi had heard the content of the roar several times. It was roughly about suspecting that he had been kidnapped and that everything in front of him was just a bad TV show.
There were two newcomers this time, a man and a woman. The woman was pale, looking like she might faint at any moment. The man's expression wasn't good either, and he was emotionally questioning everyone, asking where exactly this place was, who they were, and why no one had called the police...
"If you don't leave, I'm leaving!" The man yelled for a long time, but no one paid any attention. Finally, he angrily said he was leaving. The others looked at him with either pity or impatience, and no one tried to stop him.
Lin Qiushi wanted to stop him, but Li Dongyuan grabbed his arm and shook his head slightly.
"What's wrong?" Lin Qiushi asked.
Li Dongyuan said: "Don't be afraid, he will come back sooner or later."
Lin Qiushi: "Oh."
Just as Li Dongyuan said, this man came back in less than five minutes after he went out. This time, his face looked even uglier than when he went out. He looked like he might faint at any time. No one knew what he saw outside.
But at least he calmed down and stopped shouting.
Everyone stood on the flat ground below the teaching building, talked quietly with people they liked, and briefly introduced themselves to each other.
Lin Qiushi and his companions successfully met with Ruan Nanzhu.
Ruan Nanzhu smiled and said, "My name is Zhu Meng, what's yours?"
"Meng Yu." Li Dongyuan stretched out his hand towards Ruan Nanzhu.
Ruan Nanzhu didn't answer, but shifted his gaze to Lin Qiushi. Lin Qiushi looked helpless: "Yu Linlin." Under Li Dongyuan's extremely resentful eyes, he held Ruan Nanzhu's hand.
"My name is Xia Rubei." This time, Li Dongyuan was going to bring a girl with him. The girl looked very quiet and delicate. She introduced herself in a soft voice, "It's a pleasure to work with you."
Ruan Nanzhu smiled and said, "Me too."
They stood downstairs for a while before the school bell rang from the teaching building. Students began to walk into the building one after another, showing no surprise when they saw them. Meanwhile, a few windows in the previously dark teaching building began to light up.
Just when everyone was wondering what they were going to do, a middle-aged man came down from upstairs and claimed to be the reception teacher here. He said he would take them to the dormitory.
"Wait a few days until the students finish their final exams, then you can start working." The teacher said as he walked, "But the school has been a bit unstable lately, so please be careful..."
"Not peaceful?" someone asked. "What do you mean by not peaceful? Has something happened?"
The teacher didn't answer the question, but just shook his head silently. Finally, tired of being asked, he said, "This is not something you should know."
Everyone fell silent.
After the conversation, Lin Qiushi learned their identities. They were hired by the school to renovate classrooms. The school wanted to renovate the old school building, so they hired a renovation team and planned to start the work after the students' final exams. However, they didn't know how many days were left until the final exams...
The teacher took them to an old dormitory, which was a very old-fashioned tube-shaped building. There was only one toilet on each floor, and the corridors on each floor were filled with all kinds of sundries.
"Just make do here for now," the teacher said. "You won't be staying here for many days..."
"Is there no one else here?" Li Dongyuan asked, "Are we the only ones living here?"
The teacher replied, "There are many teachers in our school, and the dormitories are not enough. However, this building is going to be demolished soon, so they have all moved out. Since you are only staying here temporarily, you should just make do with it."
This dormitory building really gives people a very bad feeling. There are black mold and stains everywhere on the walls. I don’t know how long it has been used.
The teacher gave them the key to the dormitory and said that the old school building they were going to renovate was at the back of the playground and they could go and see it when they were free.
"You won't take us with you?" Ruan Nanzhu said, "We're not familiar with the school at all."
After hearing Ruan Nanzhu's request, the teacher's expression changed slightly. Finally, he shook his head and said that he still had classes to attend and had no time to take them to the old school building. If they wanted to go, they should go by themselves, and it would be best to go during the day... As for why, although no one said it, everyone knew it.
After saying these words, the teacher left in a hurry. Judging from his back, it was clear that he really didn't want to have anything to do with them.
Li Dongyuan held the railing and chewed gum, saying that this NPC was quite interesting.
Lin Qiushi: "What's so interesting about it?"
Li Dongyuan: "NPCs are generally not afraid of death. Seeing him like this, I feel quite scared."
Lin Qiushi didn't quite understand what Li Dongyuan meant and didn't respond.
"The world is so big, there are all kinds of wonders." Ruan Nanzhu said nonchalantly, "Let's go inside and take a look."
This dormitory room has four people in it, with bunk beds.
It's just right for eleven people to be divided into three rooms.
"This place is so old and smells musty. It makes people feel really uncomfortable." Xia Rubei, the person brought by Li Dongyuan, began to complain softly as soon as she entered the house.
"Just make do with it," Li Dongyuan said. "You won't be staying here for many days anyway."
Ruan Nanzhu didn't choose a room at all. Instead, he climbed onto the bed above Lin Qiushi's. He reached out and touched the quilt. "I don't know how long it's been since anyone has lived here. It's so damp."
Li Dongyuan: "Let me grill it for you."
Xia Rubei curled her lips at this, probably wondering why the two were treated so differently if their salaries were similar. She glanced at Ruan Nanzhu, feeling somewhat unhappy, but she suppressed her emotions.
Ruan Nanzhu was always sensitive to people's emotions, and he saw what was going on with Xia Rubei at a glance. He rolled his eyes, and it was obvious that he had a bad idea. He said, "Linlin, come and help me bake."
Lin Qiushi: "..." He now knew Ruan Nanzhu's expression very well. Although he didn't know what was going on, he knew from one look on Ruan Nanzhu's face that this guy was definitely up to something bad.
"Okay, I'll go make a fire," said Lin Qiushi.
"Linlin, you are so nice." Ruan Nanzhu said.
Lin Qiushi stood up and walked out, but was stopped by Li Dongyuan. Li Dongyuan looked at him deeply and said, "I'll do it."
Lin Qiushi: “…”
Li Dongyuan: "Mengmeng, wait." After saying that, he went to the corridor to get coal to make a fire.
Xia Rubei felt even worse when she saw this. She was obviously not the kind of person who could tolerate others. After seeing Li Dongyuan leave, she sneered and said, "Are you people from Obsidian so pampered? There's nothing wrong with this quilt, but you insist on asking Brother Li to dry it."
After hearing this, Ruan Nanzhu raised his finger and pretended to be scared, saying, "Shh, keep your voice down. It's Mengge, not Lige. You're speaking so loudly. What if others hear you?"
Xia Rubei's face turned blue with anger. Lin Qiushi felt quite sympathetic towards her. When the big boss started to act, who could stop him?
Li Dongyuan built a fire and, while warming Ruan Nanzhu's quilt, said, "When are we going to visit the old school building?"
"In the afternoon," Ruan Nanzhu said, "Let's go have a meal first and see if there are any clues in the teaching building."
"Okay." Li Dongyuan nodded.
While Li Dongyuan was warming his blanket, Lin Qiushi took a walk around the dormitory. It was actually quite spacious, but it was incredibly old. Most of the paint on the ceiling had peeled off, revealing patches of black prefabricated panels.
There is a small balcony in the dormitory. Looking out from the balcony, you can see a barren grassland, and further back is the school wall. It seems that this dormitory is on the edge of the entire campus.
Lin Qiushi looked around the room again. He originally thought he wouldn't find anything, but unexpectedly, he found a strange object in the corner of the cabinet. It was a piece of red talisman paper, stuck to the innermost part of the cabinet. If you didn't look carefully, you wouldn't see it.
"Here is a piece of talisman paper." Lin Qiushi said.
"Talisman paper?" Ruan Nanzhu leaned over and saw what Lin Qiushi saw. "Tsk, what trouble."
Li Dongyuan's expression was not good either: "Just this one?"
Lin Qiushi: "I've only seen this one so far."
After a brief search, they soon discovered that there was indeed more than one piece of talisman paper. Each of them had something similar in their cabinets. These talismans were firmly stuck deep in the cabinets and could not be torn off completely.
"Ah... there are even some under the bed." Xia Rubei's voice was filled with tears. "What on earth are these things? They are so scary."
She lifted the mattress and saw these blood-red talismans densely stuck to the bed, layer upon layer, which made people's scalps tingle. However, the most terrifying thing was that they had to sleep on such talismans at night...
Ruan Nanzhu leaned over to take a look and tilted his head: "This talisman is used to suppress evil spirits, right?"
Li Dongyuan glanced at him and asked, "Have you seen it?"
Ruan Nanzhu: "I think I've seen it before, but I can't remember clearly."
Li Dongyuan: "Then keep it."
Most people would feel creepy when seeing these talismans, and the timid ones would even tear them all up out of fear. Xia Rubei was a timid girl, and if Li Dongyuan hadn't stopped her, she would have probably done something to the talismans long ago.
After checking the entire house, it was almost lunch time. When they came out of the house, they saw people in another room arguing.
"Are you crazy? Why do you keep these things? What if they are used to attract ghosts?" The person who spoke was holding a handful of red talisman paper in his hand. It seemed that they had just found these things in the room.
Another person was also very unhappy: "If you are afraid of ghosts, then tear your own. I am not afraid. You said it attracts ghosts, and I said it is for exorcising ghosts!"
"You're crazy, I can't reason with you, just lie there! I don't want to live in the same room with you! Xiaoqin, let's live next door." The man threw the talisman paper in his hand into the trash can angrily, "Suppress ghosts, you really have no idea, which NPC here wouldn't want us to die sooner than help you suppress ghosts?" After he said that, he took a girl to the next room, leaving the other man to slam the door and leave angrily.
Ruan Nanzhu and the others witnessed this scene. Xia Rubei, who was already a little frightened, became even more frightened. She trembled and said, "Brother Meng, does what they said make sense? What if that thing really is a ghost..."
Before Li Dongyuan could say anything, Ruan Nanzhu leaned over to Lin Qiushi and said, imitating Xia Rubei's tone, "Brother Lin, I'm scared too."
Lin Qiushi: "..." What are you afraid of? Are you afraid that you won't be able to get into the film and television school?
As Ruan Nanzhu approached, Li Dongyuan's eyes flew towards Lin Qiushi like knives.
Lin Qiushi: “…” It’s no use glaring at me, brother.
Seeing Li Dongyuan ignoring her, Xia Rubei bit her lower lip, her expression on the verge of tears. In the previous world, Li Dongyuan would have offered words of comfort, but unfortunately, there was Ruan Nanzhu, who was even more innocent than a white lotus. He simply lowered his eyes, a faint glint in his beautiful eyes. He gently bit his lower lip and said, "I will try my best and not be afraid."
It was clearly the same expression, but Ruan Nanzhu's was ten times more lethal. Even Lin Qiushi, knowing he was the boss, couldn't help but reach out and press his shoulder, gently saying, "I'll take care of everything"—not to mention Li Dongyuan.
Li Dongyuan looked as if he wanted to chop off Lin Qiushi's hand that was on Ruan Nanzhu's shoulder and replace it with his own.
At this time, Ruan Nanzhu and Xia Rubei were secretly exchanging glances.
Xia Rubei: You are cruel, just wait for me.
Ruan Nanzhu: Just wait, I’m so scared of you.
In any case, Lin Qiushi didn't notice the turbulent situation between Ruan Nanzhu and Xia Rubei. He was still wondering what the talisman paper was used for, whether it was to scare away ghosts or for some other purpose, whether he should tear it up, and what the consequences would be if he did.
It was lunch time, so the four of them chatted while preparing to go to the cafeteria to eat.
There were still quite a few students in this school, and the cafeteria was packed. This was the first time Lin Qiushi had seen such a lively scene inside the gate, and it even gave him the illusion that he had not entered some terrifying place.
"I actually find it quite terrifying," Ruan Nanzhu said. "Who knows what these people in front of me are like?"
Li Dongyuan smiled and didn't say anything, but just asked him what he wanted to eat.
Ruan Nanzhu said, "I'll eat whatever Brother Linlin eats."
Li Dongyuan: “…”
Lin Qiushi: “…” Please, brother, stop glaring at me. I’m really innocent.
The last four people each had an extra bowl of noodles. Ruan Nanzhu's bowl of noodles was special because he had two eggs - Li Dongyuan bought them specially for him.
Xia Rubei stared at the egg, her teeth almost breaking. She was indeed interested in Li Dongyuan, but he had never reciprocated. She had thought her persistent pursuit would eventually convince him, but then a woman named Zhu Meng appeared. Not only was she beautiful, but she also had a bitchy personality. After all, Xia Rubei had never met a woman as bitchy as herself in her life.
Ruan Nanzhu slowly ate both eggs and expressed his gratitude to Li Dongyuan.
Li Dongyuan smiled and said, "As long as you are happy."
Ruan Nanzhu said, "I'd be even happier if I could eat Brother Linlin's balls."
Li Dongyuan: “…”
Lin Qiushi's expression was numb. He knew that he couldn't escape Ruan Nanzhu's script. And what was going on with his balls? Ruan Nanzhu, could you please speak more clearly and not cause any misunderstanding?
While they were eating, they asked the students next to them if anything special had happened in the school recently.
Most of the students who were asked looked confused, until they asked a senior high school student. His expression immediately changed, and he said he didn't know, then picked up his plate and was about to leave.
But he was stopped by Li Dongyuan.
"Classmate, we haven't finished asking questions yet." Li Dongyuan smiled. His expression looked very harmless, but the aura he exuded didn't make people think he was a very gentle person. "It's not polite to just leave like this, right?"
The senior student said, "It's no use asking me. If you really want to know, go to the school library and look for the newspaper from a few days ago."
Ruan Nanzhu raised his eyebrows: "What are you afraid of?"
The senior high school student shook his head and refused to answer.
Lin Qiushi noticed that his hands holding the plate were shaking slightly as he spoke. Although he pretended to be calm, anyone could see that he was in extreme fear at the moment.
"Forget it, let him go." Ruan Nanzhu waved his hand, "See you later."
Li Dongyuan frowned, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he said nothing, let go of the hand that was blocking the student and let him go.
"A student from Class 3 of Senior 3." Ruan Nanzhu said, "I don't know his name, but I'll be able to find him later."
"How did you know?" Xia Rubai looked at Ruan Nanzhu in surprise.
Ruan Nanzhu pointed to his chest and said, "Doesn't he have a school ID card on his chest? It's all written on it."
Xia Rubei: “…”
Ruan Nanzhu: "Oh, you didn't see this?"
Xia Rubei: “…”
Ruan Nanzhu: "It's okay, as long as I see it." He deliberately gave Xia Rubai a hypocritical smile.
Xia Rubei was almost driven to tears by Ruan Nanzhu's actions...
The author has something to say: Ruan Nanzhu: Acting makes me happy.
Lin Qiushi: You are truly a great loss to the entertainment industry...
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