Chapter 61 is back
The ghostly figure, upon noticing the hat in Ruan Nanzhu's hand, charged at him. Its tall, nimble frame pounced on him like a wild beast, sending Lin Qiushi into a cold sweat. Fortunately, Ruan Nanzhu's physique was superior to that of an average person. He dodged the ghostly figure's attack with an impossible maneuver.
But at this time, the ghost was only a few meters away from Ruan Nanzhu. If he attacked again, it would be difficult for Ruan Nanzhu to dodge.
Lin Qiushi shouted, "Throw the hat to me—quickly—"
Ruan Nanzhu glanced at Lin Qiushi, then raised his hand, sending the black hat flying toward him. The atmosphere was tense to the extreme, yet Lin Qiushi felt he had never been calmer. He grabbed the hat Ruan Nanzhu had thrown at him, turned, and ran.
The ghost's angry roar came from behind him, accompanied by the sound of running footsteps on the ground. Lin Qiushi did not dare to stop at all, and ran forward with all his strength.
"Here—throw it to me!" Ruan Nanzhu's voice came from a distance. Lin Qiushi turned to see the ghostly figure several meters behind him. In just a few seconds, it would pounce on him. He noticed Ruan Nanzhu's tense expression and imitated his movements, throwing the hat back.
Ruan Nanzhu successfully caught it and attracted the ghost's attention again.
Just as Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu were stalling for time, Dong Tianwei, who was standing under the sign, shouted, "The door is open? Come over here!"
Lin Qiushi looked up and saw that a piece of the wooden board under the sign had been removed, revealing a soft white light from inside. This light was very familiar to Lin Qiushi - it meant departure and rebirth.
"Go to the door—" Ruan Nanzhu gritted his teeth. He seemed unwilling to throw the hat to Lin Qiushi again, choosing instead to carry it himself. But the ghostly figure was clearly much faster than him, and he was about to be caught up.
"Give it to me, quickly!! Give it to me!!!" Lin Qiushi was so scared that he broke out in a cold sweat and shouted loudly at Ruan Nanzhu.
Ruan Nanzhu was still hesitating.
"Don't hesitate any longer, you will die--" Lin Qiushi looked at Ruan Nanzhu's actions and was so anxious that he wanted to swear, "Hurry--" The ghost was already behind Ruan Nanzhu!
Ruan Nanzhu hesitated for a moment, then threw the hat out. This time, after Lin Qiushi caught it, he didn't run with it. Instead, he held it in his hand and threw it with all his might in the direction away from the door.
After the hat appeared, the ghost's full attention was on it. Lin Qiushi threw the hat away. Although he was extremely angry at the two humans who were playing tricks on him, he ultimately chose to chase after the hat. Seeing this, Lin Qiushi breathed a sigh of relief and quickly ran towards the door.
At this time, everyone else in the team had entered the door, leaving only Ruan Nanzhu and Lin Qiushi. Ruan Nanzhu was a little closer to the door, so he arrived at the door first, but after he arrived, he did not rush in, but waited for Lin Qiushi to come over.
Lin Qiushi smiled faintly as he gazed at the faint light just ahead. Just as he was about to say they had finally escaped, he saw Ruan Nanzhu's expression change drastically: "Lin Qiushi—"
No one knew what he saw, and he couldn't even control himself and called out Lin Qiushi's real name.
Lin Qiushi turned his head reflexively, only to see a shadow. The shadow appeared in front of him in an instant, then stopped and grinned at Lin Qiushi.
The afterimage was actually Noodle Man. After he got the hat, his strength increased greatly, and his speed became extremely fast. If he had continued at his previous speed, Lin Qiushi should have been able to reach the door, but now... he seemed to have lost his chance of escape...
The ghost stretched out his hand towards Lin Qiushi.
Everything around him seemed to be moving very slowly. Lin Qiushi felt a pair of cold hands gripping his neck tightly. His vision began to go dark and his body grew cold.
Is he going to die... Lin Qiushi thought calmly, it seemed that death... was not as painful as he had imagined.
Just as darkness was about to cover his eyes, Lin Qiushi's body relaxed and the ghost let out a shrill cry, as if in extreme pain.
Lin Qiushi fell to the ground, coughing non-stop.
Ruan Nanzhu seized the opportunity and rushed to his side, picked him up horizontally, turned around and rushed into the glowing door behind him.
In his final moments before leaving this world, Lin Qiushi saw what was attacking the ghost. It was a black mist shaped like two children holding hands. They stood before the ghost, half-enshrouded by the black mist. The ghost was still struggling. The source of the black mist seemed to be Lin Qiushi himself. He lowered his head slightly and saw that the black mist was flowing from his backpack... So, what exactly was in his backpack?
After being carried inside by Ruan Nanzhu, the icy feeling finally disappeared. However, his body still felt a little limp. Lin Qiushi leaned against Ruan Nanzhu's shoulder, coughing softly.
Ruan Nanzhu asked, "Are you okay?"
Lin Qiushi shook his head, indicating that he was fine. He asked, "What was that black mist just now?"
Ruan Nanzhu: "I don't know."
Lin Qiushi said, "It seems to have come out of my bag..." He opened the bag, revealing the contents.
Every time they came in, they would bring some daily necessities and emergency food. This time, Lin Qiushi also brought some. Besides these things, the only special thing in the bag was a notebook - the diary belonging to his sister that Ruan Nanzhu brought out from the world of Sister Drum and later gave to Lin Qiushi.
"Is this it?" Ruan Nanzhu had always said that this notebook should have a special effect, but Lin Qiushi had never figured it out. He didn't expect it to have such an effect today.
Lin Qiushi took out the notebook and opened it. He found a blood-red word "death" on the first page, and then a huge black cross was crossed out over the word "death".
"It should be." Ruan Nanzhu said, "It's a good thing you brought it with you."
Lin Qiushi smiled bitterly, "I always carry this with me... But how many times can I use this notebook?"
Ruan Nanzhu shook his head: "Not very often. They are a low-level sect. Even if there are props, they are low-level props. It will only happen once or twice at most."
Lin Qiushi sighed, "Thank goodness I got out."
Ruan Nanzhu hummed, "Let's go."
Entering so many doors, encountering life-threatening situations becomes commonplace. Lin Qiushi was lucky to be with Ruan Nanzhu's team, so he didn't feel it was particularly dangerous. However, after passing through this door, Lin Qiushi clearly realized that they could die at any time inside.
The tunnel was very long and neither of them spoke much.
When they were almost at the end, Ruan Nanzhu turned around and asked, "Are you scared?"
Lin Qiushi shook his head.
Ruan Nanzhu: "Not afraid?"
Lin Qiushi said honestly, "I don't think it's as scary as I imagined." He was talking about death.
After listening to this, Ruan Nanzhu frowned slightly. He stared at Lin Qiushi for a moment, his eyes unfamiliar as if he had just met the person for the first time.
Lin Qiushi was a little confused by his gaze: "What?"
Ruan Nanzhu: "It's okay." But he refused to say anything.
After leaving the tunnel and returning to reality, Lin Qiushi appeared on the sofa in the living room. He had stood up to go upstairs to find Ruan Nanzhu, but as soon as he stood up, his whole body went limp and his vision went black, and he collapsed to the ground. When he opened his eyes again, he was lying in the hospital, an IV drip in his arm.
Cheng Qianli was sitting next to him playing with his phone. When he saw him wake up, he sighed and said, "Qiu Shi, why are you so unlucky? Others are getting healthier after coming out of the door, but you end up in the hospital as soon as you come out..."
Lin Qiushi: "I want to know too." There was a black handprint on his neck now, and he looked like he had been mercilessly abused. The hospital even tried to call the police, but in the end it was Ruan Nanzhu who dealt with the doctor.
"How did he explain it?" Lin Qiushi asked Cheng Qianli curiously.
Cheng Qianli's expression twisted: "Do you really want to listen?"
Lin Qiushi: "Listen."
Cheng Qianli: "He said this is a hobby between you..."
Lin Qiushi: “…” Damn, no wonder the nurse had such a strange expression when she came to change his dressing just now.
It was impossible for him to have any reputation. Lin Qiushi looked at the ceiling sadly and thought that he must go to another hospital next time he got injured. Who knew if he would get hurt in some strange place when he came out of the door.
After Cheng Qianli told Ruan Nanzhu that Lin Qiushi had woken up, he came to the hospital shortly afterwards.
After he changed into men's clothes, his expression always looked so cold, even when he was greeting people.
"Does it feel this way?" Ruan Nanzhu asked him.
Lin Qiushi: “It’s… okay.” Actually, it wasn’t very good, and he couldn’t speak smoothly.
Ruan Nanzhu: "It's okay. You're in very good physical condition now. Just three or four days of rest will be enough."
Lin Qiushi nodded.
Ruan Nanzhu then left. As he left, Lin Qiushi saw with his own eyes several young nurses gathered by the door, leaning in with strange eyes and expressions. Lin Qiushi initially thought these young nurses had taken an interest in Ruan Nanzhu, but over the next few days, he faced similar questions.
"Is he your boyfriend?"
"How long have you been together?"
Lin Qiushi: “…”
Cheng Qianli, the bastard, was trying to hold back his laughter, but when Lin Qiushi was discharged from the hospital, the doctor politely told young people not to go too far. He finally couldn't hold it in and pointed at Lin Qiushi and laughed so hard that tears came out.
Lin Qiushi was so angry that he almost hit him on the head.
But even so, Lin Qiushi did not dare to complain to Ruan Nanzhu. After all, Ruan Nanzhu outside the door did not look like someone who was easy to talk to.
After being discharged from the hospital, there was a period of rest. During this time, Lin Qiushi heard some gossip about the industry. It said that something went wrong through the door that Bai Lu members took Tan Zaozao's friend Zhang Yiqing to enter, and the actor almost died in the second door - after all, the second door was the easiest.
Lin Qiushi was a little surprised after hearing this: "He almost died? How could that be? Li Dongyuan should be quite powerful, right?"
Although Cheng Qianli's IQ isn't high, he's quite knowledgeable about these gossips. He said, "This time, Li Dongyuan wasn't leading the team personally. It was just Bai Lu's bad luck. There was a traitor in their team. It would have been fine if it was just a traitor, but they actually came up with a bunch of false clues."
Lin Qiushi: “…” When he mentioned the false clues, he thought of the time when Ruan Nanzhu tricked Li Dongyuan.
Apparently he was not the only one who thought so, because the day after the incident, Li Dongyuan rushed to their villa to ask for an explanation.
"Ruan Nanzhu, you are not a human being!" It must be said that compared with him inside the door, the baby-faced Li Dongyuan outside the door looked like an angry Chihuahua. After he jumped at the door, he attracted a lot of pitying eyes.
Lu Yanxue had been discussing dinner with Lin Qiushi, but upon seeing him, her maternal instincts took over and she said, "Yuanyuan, would you like something to drink?"
Li Dongyuan: "Who the hell is Yuanyuan——"
Lu Yanxue didn't say anything. She walked to the refrigerator, took out a bottle of Wangzai milk, and handed it to Li Dongyuan.
Li Dongyuan originally wanted to refuse, but he was really thirsty after standing at the door and shouting for so long, so he took the drink and drank two sips in a cowardly manner.
Lin Qiushi wanted to laugh when he saw this.
Li Dongyuan saw this smile and angrily shouted, "Lin Qiushi, are you still laughing? You're still laughing! I was almost tricked by Ruan Nanzhu—"
Lin Qiushi calmly retorted, "I'm not laughing."
Li Dongyuan looked at him suspiciously: "You're not laughing? Then why are you shaking?"
Lin Qiushi: "I'm cold." He glanced at the bright sun outside and added, "My heart is cold."
Li Dongyuan: “…” You Obsidian guys are all really talented.
Li Dongyuan argued downstairs for a while before Ruan Nanzhu slowly came down from the second floor. He was wearing a simple white shirt and straight jeans. His outfit, originally ordinary, had somehow transformed into something that looked like a fashion show. He walked up to Li Dongyuan, his 5'9" height looking down at him. He said, "I'll give you three minutes. Either you get out, or I'll throw you out."
Li Dongyuan: "..." He silently took a sip of Wangzai and gave Lin Qiushi a pitiful look.
Lin Qiushi was speechless and thought to himself, why are you looking at me? Can I still persuade him?
Ruan Nanzhu began to roll up his sleeves: "It seems that you chose the latter."
Li Dongyuan drank Wangzai in one breath and turned around and ran away. He knew that Ruan Nanzhu was not joking. This bastard Ruan Nanzhu could do anything.
Lin Qiushi withdrew his gaze from Li Dongyuan's back, only to find Ruan Nanzhu looking at him. A layer of cold sweat broke out on his back for no apparent reason. He laughed dryly, "What's wrong?"
Ruan Nanzhu: "Are you familiar with him?"
Lin Qiushi straightened his back and quickly explained, "I'm not familiar with him. I just know his name, and we haven't even spoken much."
Ruan Nanzhu: "Then what was he looking at you for?"
Lin Qiushi: “…” I want to know too!
Ruan Nanzhu said coldly, "Stay away from him. Li Dongyuan is not as simple as he appears."
Lin Qiushi nodded repeatedly, and with a strong desire to survive, he once again expressed his love for obsidian, his disdain for Bai Lu, and his anger towards Li Dongyuan.
Although Ruan Nanzhu's expression didn't change much, he must have been very happy to hear it. He nodded with satisfaction, turned around and left.
After Ruan Nanzhu left, Lin Qiushi said, "That Li Dongyuan guy is just trying to drive a wedge between Ruan Nanzhu and me, right?"
Cheng Qianli, who was watching the show and eating snacks like a hamster, agreed with Lin Qiushi's speculation: "Yes, he is a shameless bitch."
Lin Qiushi was a little surprised when he heard this word: "Where did you learn this word?"
Cheng Qianli: "TV series."
Lin Qiushi glanced at the TV series that was playing. The title of the TV series was written in the upper left corner: The Domineering Prince’s Runaway Princess.
Lin Qiushi: "...Watch less of these dramas." His IQ is already low, and if he is tortured again, will he become even dumber?
All in all, Bai Lu had been extremely unlucky recently. Internal and external troubles had been a constant, and the worst part was that he had offended Zhang Yiqing.
Lin Qiushi had originally thought this matter had nothing to do with him and that he could just watch the show. But a few days later, he received a call from Tan Zaozao. As soon as the call was connected, Tan Zaozao's tearful voice came over. She said, "Qiushi, I really have no other choice. You must help me."
Lin Qiushi: "What happened?"
Tan Zaozao: "Come out, I'll treat you to a meal, and we'll talk slowly."
Lin Qiushi agreed.
That evening, the two sat in a private room at a restaurant. After ordering their food, Tan Zaozao began discussing something with Lin Qiushi. Lin Qiushi had actually guessed that this matter was related to Zhang Yiqing. Tan Zaozao explained that after coming out of the room, Zhang Yiqing had been deeply traumatized and had been staying indoors, even exhibiting a tendency toward self-harm.
Lin Qiushi took a sip of tea and asked, "What happened to him?"
Tan Zaozao: "I asked him, but he refused to tell me. He is too stubborn. If he hadn't disobeyed me and insisted on looking for Bai Lu, none of this would have happened..." She smiled bitterly, "Now look what happened, I've offended Brother Ruan too."
Lin Qiushi asked, "What do you want to talk to me about this time?"
Tan Zaozao whispered, "I just want to ask, can you help me persuade Brother Ruan..."
Lin Qiushi sighed: "What do you think?"
Tan Zaozao said, "I know Brother Ruan's personality." She had been in the entertainment industry for decades and had met all kinds of people, but she still couldn't do anything about Ruan Nanzhu. So she could only sigh, "But you are indeed special."
Lin Qiushi was stunned.
Tan Zaozao: "Didn't you feel it?"
Lin Qiushi thought for a moment and said, "Nanzhu is indeed very good to me."
Tan Zaozao: "Look, you don't even call him Brother Ruan."
Lin Qiushi: "I wanted to call him that." He said helplessly, "But I'm older than him. I can't call him Brother Ruan, right?"
Tan Zaozao: "..." She didn't expect this.
In fact, Lin Qiushi tried to call Ruan Nanzhu "Brother Ruan", but was stopped by Ruan Nanzhu, who ruthlessly said that he was only 25 years old this year - one year younger than Lin Qiushi, who was 26 years old.
After learning about this, Lin Qiushi deeply felt the cruelty of time to him.
Tan Zaozao wanted to laugh after hearing what Lin Qiushi said, but she felt it was inappropriate, so she had to hold it back. She said, "Anyway, Qiushi, you are the only one who can persuade Brother Ruan. Just help me, please." It has to be said that such a beautiful girl is still very cute when she acts coquettishly, but unfortunately Lin Qiushi has a clear mind and is not the kind of person who would lose his mind because of women - otherwise he would not have been single for twenty-six years.
It’s a sad realization, if you think about it.
Lin Qiushi said, "It's not that I won't help you, but I just don't have the confidence to persuade him. Let me explain this to him. If he doesn't want to, there's nothing I can do."
Tan Zaozao sighed, this was all she could do.
In reality, there were quite a few organizations within the sect that took on this kind of work, but few were as efficient and secure as Ruan Nanzhu. Furthermore, only Obsidian could pull off the job of generating clues; other organizations, even if their own team members entered the sect, wouldn't always have clues to protect themselves.
All in all, obsidian was the best choice. But Zhang Yiqing was persuaded by Bai Lu. When Bai Lu was mentioned, Tan Zaozao became filled with hatred, saying that Li Dongyuan was a piece of shit...
The two talked for a while and then parted ways. Lin Qiushi drove back to the villa, but when he entered, he saw several strangers sitting in the living room, seemingly discussing something with Ruan Nanzhu.
Seeing him come back, Ruan Nanzhu waved at him.
Lin Qiushi walked over obediently.
"Sit down." Ruan Nanzhu pointed to the sofa next to him, "Listen."
Lin Qiushi nodded.
He sat nearby and listened for a while before realizing that these people were actually here to buy clues, and were bargaining with Ruan Nanzhu, hoping to buy the clues at a lower price.
The clues for sale were all low-level doors, mostly the third or fourth door, with a few fifth door clues and only one sixth door clue. And the price was currently in the eight figures.
Because he had been following Ruan Nanzhu for a long time, Lin Qiushi had no idea how precious the clues were. But after seeing this scene, he had an intuitive understanding of what Tan Zaozao said.
"Brother Ruan, it's not that we don't want to, it's just that the price is a bit too high." Someone who looked like the leader of another organization said with a wry smile, "Since we bought so much, can't you give us a discount?"
Ruan Nanzhu: "It's very cheap." He picked up the water on the table, took a sip, and said lightly, "My life is gone, what do I need so much money for?"
Everyone smiled bitterly.
"The price won't change." Ruan Nanzhu said calmly, but everyone knew he was serious. "Whether you buy it or not is up to you."
Finally, after discussing for a while, these people decided to take action.
Then Lin Qiushi saw Ruan Nanzhu take out a POS machine from somewhere and put it in front of them for them to swipe their cards.
Lin Qiushi: “…” He really felt that Ruan Nanzhu’s otherworldly pretty face and the POS machine in front of him were full of incongruity.
Lin Qiushi didn't know how much these clues were bought for, but it was definitely in the eight figures.
After the payment and goods were settled, Ruan Nanzhu waved his hand and said unceremoniously, "Please do as you please, I won't see you off."
Those people smiled bitterly: "Brother Ruan, you are too ruthless. At least send us to the door."
Ruan Nanzhu said ruthlessly: "Will you give me more money?"
So those people turned around and left without saying anything.
After these people left, Ruan Nanzhu turned his gaze to Lin Qiushi and asked indifferently, "Where did you go?"
Lin Qiushi knew he couldn't hide this, so he could only honestly say, "I had dinner with Tan Zaozao."
Ruan Nanzhu: "Oh, it's about Zhang Yiqing."
Lin Qiushi said, "Yes, she wants me to persuade you."
Ruan Nanzhu raised an eyebrow: "Then how do you plan to persuade me?"
Lin Qiushi: “…” What does this mean?
Ruan Nanzhu: "You should show some sincerity, right?"
Lin Qiushi looked at Ruan Nanzhu and the POS machine in front of him, and suddenly understood. "Oh, oh, I get it." He pulled out a bank card from his pocket and said, "Swipe it?"
Ruan Nanzhu: “…”
There was silence between the two for a long time. Finally, Lin Qiushi was frightened by Ruan Nanzhu's eyes and whispered, "Nanzhu...?"
Ruan Nanzhu picked up the POS machine and left.
Lin Qiushi looked at his back, lost in thought. He called out, "If you don't want to pay by card, you can use Alipay. I know there's a fee for paying by card—"
Ruan Nanzhu turned and went upstairs. A moment later, Lin Qiushi heard the sound of a door slamming upstairs.
Then, for the next three days, Ruan Nanzhu didn't say a word to Lin Qiushi and completely ignored him.
Lin Qiushi: “???” What on earth happened?
The author has something to say: Ruan Nanzhu: Lin Qiushi, your emotional intelligence is half of your IQ. Now it’s time for the child to help with cooking.
Lin Qiushi: ...
Did Lin Qiushi finally get his bearings today?
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