Chapter 64 Framed
Under the cover of night, Lin Qiushi finally fell into a deep sleep. His sleep was a little uneasy because due to his hearing, even the slightest noise could wake him up.
Today was no exception. He was originally sleeping when he heard strange noises again.
At first, the sound was faint and difficult to hear clearly. Lin Qiushi was drowsy and kept his eyes closed. However, as time passed, the sound grew louder. If I had to describe it, it would be like the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground.
Just as Lin Qiushi was wondering what the sound was and whether he should get up, he was completely awakened by a loud noise. The sound was so loud that even Ruan Nanzhu on the upper bunk and Feng Yongle on the bed next to him heard it.
"What's wrong?" Feng Yongle's confused voice came.
Ruan Nanzhu knew Lin Qiushi must have woken up. He said, "It came from the window."
Feng Yongle said, "Do you want to go and take a look?"
Ruan Nanzhu said, "Wait a little longer."
So the three of them continued to lie on the bed. A few minutes later, there was another loud noise, and this time the sound was closer to them.
Lin Qiushi heard the sound of Ruan Nanzhu sitting up from the bed. He slowly climbed down from the upper bunk, as if wanting to see what was happening by the window.
Seeing this, Lin Qiushi also straightened up and wanted to get up and go with him to take a look.
Ruan Nanzhu glanced at him and said nothing.
The two men left the bed and walked to the window. They were worried that there was something outside, so they moved very carefully.
"Nothing." Ruan Nanzhu looked out the window to confirm the situation outside.
No? Lin Qiushi began typing: This sound is a bit like a heavy object falling.
Ruan Nanzhu: "A heavy object fell to the ground?"
He looked thoughtful.
Just as Ruan Nanzhu was thinking, Lin Qiushi, who was facing the window, saw a black shadow falling from outside the window, followed by a familiar loud noise - "Bang!"
This time, Lin Qiushi finally knew what the sound was. It was the sound of someone jumping from the building and hitting the ground.
Ruan Nanzhu looked out the window again and saw a shattered body lying on the previously empty ground. The body was difficult to see clearly in the darkness, but Lin Qiushi could clearly see that it was wearing the uniform of a sanatorium nurse. A large amount of blood gushed from her body. She seemed to have landed headfirst, her entire body twisted on the hard concrete floor, her body still twitching slowly.
This was the source of the loud noise. Ruan Nanzhu looked at the corpse in silence for a moment, then whispered, "It turned out to be hers."
Lin Qiushi didn't understand and gave him a puzzled look.
Ruan Nanzhu explained: "She was wearing the same pair of red high heels..."
Lin Qiushi: “…”
As they were talking, the shattered body of the nurse actually began to move slowly. Her legs seemed to be broken, and she used her hands to move, slowly crawling towards the building in front of her...
Feng Yongle also got out of bed. As soon as he reached the bedside, he saw this scene. His face turned pale and he cursed.
The nurse's body soon crawled into the building they were in, and the blood on the ground began to fade.
Lin Qiushi was wondering what would happen next when he vaguely heard rustling sounds coming from the direction of the stairs. Fortunately, the sound did not approach them, but went to the upper level.
Three minutes later, a dark shadow suddenly jumped down from the room above their heads, and there was another loud noise - the nurse actually climbed to the room above them and then jumped down again.
"I heard that people who commit suicide will experience the same scene over and over again." Feng Yongle said as he looked at the scene in front of him, "It's terrifying."
Ruan Nanzhu said slowly: "It is quite scary." Although he said scary, his tone did not sound particularly frightened.
The nurse kept climbing up and down the stairs, jumping from left to right, almost jumping over all the rooms on the upper floor. It was not until the morning light appeared on the horizon that it all ended.
Ruan Nanzhu looked at his watch and said it was almost time for breakfast, so let's go.
Lin Qiushi had hardly slept the entire night and was extremely sleepy. He yawned and rubbed his eyes.
When the three of them went downstairs to the cafeteria, they happened to meet other people. They also looked like they had not slept yet. They probably watched the man jump off the building all night.
"I'm so sleepy." Feng Yongle complained, "Why don't we go back and take a nap together later."
"Sure." Ruan Nanzhu said.
Lin Qiushi agreed inwardly. Dark circles hung under his eyes, and he deliberately tried to look even more haggard. In the cafeteria, Jiang Yingrui, the man who had previously wanted to team up with him, was sitting next to them. Upon seeing them, he smiled at them. Lin Qiushi pretended not to notice, but Ruan Nanzhu smiled back.
"Good morning." Jiang Yingrui walked over to their side. "Did you sleep well last night?"
"Not good." Ruan Nanzhu said, "Didn't you hear that sound?"
"Of course I heard it." Jiang Yingrui spoke to Ruan Nanzhu, but his eyes were fixed on Lin Qiushi. "Did you watch all night?"
"I'm fine. Qiuqiu seems to be a light sleeper and can't sleep well, so I stayed with her." Ruan Nanzhu replied, "Have you all gone to bed?"
Jiang Yingrui: "Of course."
"Oh, that's impressive." Ruan Nanzhu said, "Anything else?"
"No more." Jiang Yingrui smiled. "Is breakfast to your taste?"
"It's just ordinary." Ruan Nanzhu put down the spoon in his hand. "You don't think it's delicious, do you?"
Jiang Yingrui shook his head, took out a piece of chocolate from his pocket and handed it to Ruan Nanzhu: "If you are hungry, you can eat some of this."
When Lin Qiushi saw the chocolate, he looked at Jiang Yingrui calmly.
Jiang Yingrui didn't notice his gaze, straightened up and said, "Then I'll take my leave first."
"Okay." Ruan Nanzhu took the chocolate, put it in his pocket, and smiled: "Goodbye."
Jiang Yingrui turned and left.
"This chocolate looks delicious," Ruan Nanzhu said. "After our nap, let's try it." He said this in a calm tone, as if he was discussing something insignificant. But Lin Qiushi, who knew him well, realized that Ruan Nanzhu was angry.
It was indeed right to be angry, Lin Qiushi wiped his mouth, and he had no idea what Jiang Yingrui was planning.
Inside the door, some key NPCs will give them some clues and also set rules for them. Most of the clues are true, but some of the rules are true and some are false.
For example, they cannot go to the cafeteria to eat and cannot eat food brought from outside. This is one of the rules mentioned by the nurse who led them upstairs.
From the incident yesterday where the patient who was eating noodles pierced his own eyeball with a spear, we can see that the rule of not eating casually is true.
This is the sixth door now, and Jiang Yingrui is not a newcomer either, so even though he knew the rules, he still came over to give Ruan Nanzhu a chocolate. His intention is truly despicable.
If you don't pay attention or take the rules the nurse tells you to heart and eat this chocolate, who knows what will happen.
And even if nothing happens, it just eliminates a false rule for others.
After returning to his residence, Ruan Nanzhu took out the chocolate and examined it carefully. After confirming that it was just an ordinary chocolate, he broke it into pieces and threw it directly into the sewer.
Lin Qiushi was standing next to him when he did this. Lin Qiushi was a little confused and typed: As soon as I arrived, Jiang Yingrui wanted to team up with me.
Ruan Nanzhu: "Come directly to you to form a team?"
"Well," Lin Qiushi said, "very directly, as if... he had locked onto me in the crowd." He couldn't quite understand it: What was so special about me?
Ruan Nanzhu smiled delicately upon hearing this: "You are indeed different from certain people."
Lin Qiushi: Hmm?
Ruan Nanzhu: "It seems that he is somewhat similar to me."
Lin Qiushi looked at Ruan Nanzhu in confusion.
Ruan Nanzhu whispered, "Everyone can see something."
Lin Qiushi was stunned and wanted to ask more, but Ruan Nanzhu had already stopped talking. After careful consideration, Lin Qiushi recalled his first encounter with Ruan Nanzhu. At that time, he had felt that Ruan Nanzhu was special to him. Although Ruan Nanzhu later explained that he had mistakenly identified the wrong customer, Lin Qiushi deeply doubted that Ruan Nanzhu would make such a basic mistake.
Now his question has an answer.
Ruan Nanzhu could see some things, and there was something on his body that attracted Ruan Nanzhu's attention.
Lin Qiushi was wondering what that thing was.
Ruan Nanzhu leaned close to Lin Qiushi's ear and gently nuzzled it: "Of course it's your beauty, little mute girl."
Lin Qiushi shuddered and wanted to take two steps back, but Ruan Nanzhu grabbed his arm.
"Why else do you think you are special?" Ruan Nanzhu laughed softly, his aggressive eyes not at all inconsistent with his handsome face, but rather made people shrink back.
For a moment, Lin Qiushi couldn't tell whether Ruan Nanzhu was serious or just acting.
Fortunately, Feng Yongle knocked on the door at this moment and said, "What are you two doing in there? It's been so long?"
Ruan Nanzhu pushed the door open and walked out, "What's it to you?"
Feng Yongle shrank back at Ruan Nanzhu's rude glare, and said a little aggrievedly, "I... I want to go to the bathroom too."
Ruan Nanzhu: "Your kidneys are so bad at such a young age?"
Feng Yongle: “…”
Ruan Nanzhu: "Is it okay?"
Feng Yongle said angrily: "How about you try it?"
Ruan Nanzhu looked at Feng Yongle with a half-smile on his face: "I really want to try."
As a result, Feng Yongle got scared and went into the bathroom dejectedly, pretending that he had said nothing.
Lin Qiushi looked at Ruan Nanzhu with a smile.
Ruan Nanzhu showed an innocent look: "Baby, don't look at me like that. Don't worry, my heart is still with you."
Lin Qiushi didn't bother to pay attention to Ruan Nanzhu and turned back to bed to rest.
They took an hour's nap and then perked up to continue exploring the sanatorium.
The clue to this door was provided by Feng Yongle. The reason why Ruan Nanzhu chose to take this job was because the background story of this door was relatively detailed and belonged to a world with traces to follow.
After the NPC leading the way gave clues about the door and the key, Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu both thought of a certain background they found in the clues.
It is the Wilford Hill Sanatorium, which has a very special tunnel.
This tunnel was originally used for entering and exiting and transporting supplies, but as more and more patients died in the Mount Wilford Sanatorium, the tunnel began to have another purpose - to transport corpses.
After the bodies were wrapped, they were transported out of the Mount Wilfrid Sanatorium. After that, the original function of this tunnel was downplayed and it even earned the name of the Death Tunnel.
"That tunnel should be the key clue," Ruan Nanzhu said. "There's an 80% chance the door is right there."
The nurse said they only had seven days, and they would receive treatment after seven days, which almost meant that they only had seven days to find a way out of here.
If you haven't left after seven days... there's no telling what will happen.
"If it's a tunnel, it must be in a lower location, right?" Feng Yongle also actively analyzed, "Should we take a look around the sanatorium?"
"It may not be in a low-lying area." Ruan Nanzhu shook his head. "It could also be in a room. After all, this isn't a normal world, and there are no building codes to comply with. Let's go check out where the tunnel originally was."
"Okay." Feng Yongle agreed.
Lin Qiushi now realizes that being mute is actually quite good. He doesn't have to speak and can have more time to think.
The tunnel of the Wilford Hill Sanatorium was originally located on the ground floor of the building. The three of them walked around the ground floor and, as expected, found nothing.
It seems that the location of the tunnel has changed as Ruan Nanzhu said.
"Where is that?" Feng Yongle asked, "This building is so big."
Ruan Nanzhu shook his head and said nothing.
Lin Qiushi typed: Let's go to each floor and look for other clues.
This was the only way, so the three of them began to search for clues to the tunnel from low to high.
During this time, they encountered several other teams. Compared to their calm attitude, the other teams seemed much more anxious. After all, they didn't know the tunnel, nor did they know the background of this sanatorium. If they wanted to find a way out, they had to start with the most basic clues.
Lin Qiushi once again deeply felt the importance of the clue.
After climbing three floors, they found nothing special. They only saw a group of patients in extremely poor mental states.
The environment in the sanatorium is very poor. Some patients are even placed in the aisle. The weather is not hot at this time, and the wind blowing in from outside is very cold, but these patients are placed by the windows to enjoy the cold wind - it is said that this will allow them to breathe more fresh air.
Lin Qiushi saw this scene in the background, but after witnessing it for real, he still felt uncomfortable... This behavior was simply a disregard for human life.
They went up to the fifth floor and first took a look at the legendary room 502.
There was a big lock hanging on the door of the room, but it was useless to Ruan Nanzhu.
So under Feng Yongle's astonished gaze, Ruan Nanzhu easily opened the big lock.
The door was pushed open, revealing a dust-filled room behind it.
The room looked like it hadn't been used for a long time and was probably an office or something like that. There were no beds in it, only some bookcases and desks.
What attracted Lin Qiushi the most was that there were actually books on these bookcases.
The three of them walked into the house.
Lin Qiushi pulled a book from the bookshelf and discovered it was on pathology. In fact, most of the books on the bookshelf were related to medical treatment, but in reality, medicine at the time was plagued by misconceptions. Lin Qiushi remembered that there were treatments like bloodletting, which seem ridiculous today.
"What the hell, what is this!" Feng Yongle was rummaging through the cabinets when he suddenly took a few steps back, as if he was frightened by something.
Lin Qiushi leaned over to take a look and saw that the drawer in front of Feng Yongle was pulled open, revealing a dried skeleton inside. The skeleton was very small and it was obvious that it was a premature baby.
"What's the point of putting it here?" Feng Yongle asked. "And doesn't the clue say... the abortion failed?"
A failed abortion isn't a serious matter today, requiring only a new curettage. But for a sanatorium with limited medical resources at the time, it was a fatal blow. And most importantly, the child was an illegitimate child, an unacknowledged one.
"The abortion failed." Ruan Nanzhu observed for a moment, "Part of the baby's body is missing."
Feng Yongle smiled bitterly: "You are so brave."
Ruan Nanzhu remained silent. Just when Lin Qiushi thought he wouldn't say anything, he suddenly said something shocking: "The baby's skeleton was just put in.
"What?" Feng Yongle was startled.
"There's no dust around," Ruan Nanzhu said. "...it's very clean."
Everything in the room was covered in dust, except for here. The baby's remains were not covered in dust. Instead, they were very clean, as if they had been carefully placed here.
Lin Qiushi walked around the place where the baby's remains were placed twice and found a locked cabinet under the drawer. He waved to Ruan Nanzhu and pointed.
Ruan Nanzhu half-knelt down and opened the cabinet with a hairpin.
After the cabinet was opened, a pair of shoe boxes were revealed. Ruan Nanzhu glanced at Lin Qiushi, reached out and opened the lid of the shoe box. Inside the shoe box, he saw a pair of red high-heeled shoes - exactly the same as the one they saw in the corridor yesterday.
Just as they opened the shoebox, Lin Qiushi suddenly heard a child crying. He stiffened slightly, then realized the crying was coming from inside the drawer...
"Woo-wah, woo-wah." Like a newborn baby, the dried-up baby's skeleton opened its eyes and began to twist its hands and feet.
He tried to climb out of the drawer, but Ruan Nanzhu reacted very quickly and pushed the drawer back into place.
"Let's go." Ruan Nanzhu said.
The three of them turned around and left in tacit understanding, and before leaving, they did not forget to close the big lock again.
As soon as they left the house, the baby's crying stopped.
A thin layer of cold sweat formed on Feng Yongle's forehead. He swallowed hard and asked, "Could that child be related to the key?"
"I don't know," Ruan Nanzhu said, "but I'm sure it has something to do with the red shoes."
The three of them talked and returned to their residence downstairs
Because of yesterday's accident, before entering the house, Lin Qiushi specially confirmed the house number of their residence. Only after making sure that it had not become the strange 502 did he plan to go in.
Although their house number didn't change to 502, the room next to them did. Lin Qiushi was about to go and remind them, but Ruan Nanzhu stopped him: "It's Jiang Yingrui's room."
Lin Qiushi paused.
"Since he likes you so much and even gave me a bar of chocolate," Ruan Nanzhu said with a forced smile, "We should at least give him something in return."
Lin Qiushi nodded, indicating that he understood.
Jiang Yingrui's gift of chocolate to Ruan Nanzhu was definitely malicious. Lin Qiushi was not naive enough to think that he really thought Ruan Nanzhu was not eating well and came to show concern for her.
Feng Yongle didn't care about it, saying that everyone in the group except teammates were competitors, so it didn't matter if one person died.
They returned to the house and discussed the results of today's examination.
While they were talking, Lin Qiushi heard the faint sound of footsteps coming from their door. The sound was very light, and if it weren't for Lin Qiushi's unusually sharp hearing, he would probably have missed it.
Lin Qiushi initially thought it was just a case of running around in high heels like yesterday, but after the footsteps, he heard a sound coming from the door, something like paper rubbing against wood.
Lin Qiushi gestured to stop, interrupting Ruan Nanzhu and Feng Yongle's discussion, and pointed to the door.
Ruan Nanzhu understood what he meant, stood up, walked to the door and opened it.
When the door opened, a girl with an embarrassed expression was standing outside. Lin Qiushi remembered her name. It was Xue Zhiyun who wanted to join them yesterday but was rejected by Ruan Nanzhu.
"Is there something wrong?" Ruan Nanzhu asked coldly.
"No, nothing." Xue Zhiyun looked a little flustered. "I... just wanted to come and say hello to you guys."
Ruan Nanzhu raised his head and looked at their door. He saw that the house number 406 had been taken down and was held in Xue Zhiyun's hand. Her other hand was hidden behind her back, and her whole body was shaking slightly.
"What are you holding in your hand?" Ruan Nanzhu's voice was very soft.
Xue Zhiyun's body was shaking even more violently. The man in front of her didn't speak in a harsh tone, and his eyes weren't fierce, but she felt that he was extremely scary, and even goose bumps appeared on her back.
"What are you holding in your hand?" Ruan Nanzhu asked again.
Lin Qiushi knew that Ruan Nanzhu was about to explode, so he snatched the thing from Xue Zhiyun's hand hidden behind his back before Ruan Nanzhu could do so.
It was a house number plate, and the number 502 on it was so eye-catching that it hurt people's eyes.
Ruan Nanzhu laughed when he saw the house number. He reached out, grabbed Xue Zhiyun's hair, and lifted her face up, forcing her to look him in the eye. "Xue Zhiyun, right? I remember you—no, I should be the one who remembers you all."
Xue Zhiyun was so scared that he was shaking all over, and said sorry to Ruan Nanzhu in a crying voice.
Ruan Nanzhu released his grip on Xue Zhiyun and took the house number from Lin Qiushi. His tone was calm, like the sea before a storm: "I suggest you sleep separately tonight, and preferably in separate rooms." He laughed, "After all, who knows when this number plate will appear at your door?"
As soon as he finished saying this, Xue Zhiyun burst into tears.
Ruan Nanzhu closed the door rudely.
Lin Qiushi frowned as he stared at the closed door. "Why would they do this? Didn't they say that killing someone inside would result in retaliation?"
Ruan Nanzhu said calmly, "There will indeed be revenge, but the prerequisite is that the person who was killed must at least know how he died and who killed him."
How can you talk about revenge if you die without knowing what's going on?
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