Chapter 71 The Eighth Door
Soon, Lin Qiushi had an answer to Ruan Nanzhu's proposal in his mind - he decided to enter Cheng Yixie's ninth door with Ruan Nanzhu.
Ruan Nanzhu wasn't surprised by Lin Qiushi's decision. He simply asked Lin Qiushi, "Have you made up your mind?"
Lin Qiushi nodded: "I've thought it through."
"The ninth door will be more difficult, and I can't guarantee your safe exit." Ruan Nanzhu said bluntly, "This may be your last door."
Lin Qiushi said, "It doesn't matter."
Ruan Nanzhu stared at Lin Qiushi's expression for a moment, then nodded to indicate that he understood.
Lin Qiushi always felt that he seemed to want to say something, although in the end Ruan Nanzhu said nothing.
After confirming that Lin Qiushi was going to enter the ninth door, Ruan Nanzhu told Lin Qiushi the clue to the ninth door. Lin Qiushi took a quick look at the clue and showed a surprised expression: "Is this a clue?"
Ruan Nanzhu: “Yeah.”
There was only one sentence written on the note: Use copper as a mirror to adjust your clothes; use history as a mirror to understand the rise and fall of things; use people as a mirror to understand gains and losses.
"What does this mean?" Lin Qiushi remembered that this was a famous saying by Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty, and it was also included in the textbook. However, placed in the environment inside the door, such clues were almost impossible to find.
"I don't know," Ruan Nanzhu said. "The clues from now on will be vaguer, not as clear-cut as before. So we'll have to wait until we get inside to find out the details."
Lin Qiushi held the clue and looked at it for a while before saying hello.
The specific time of entry is the 15th of next month. This is what Cheng Yixie told Lin Qiushi. After he knew that Lin Qiushi would enter with him, he acted very calmly, as if he had already expected that Ruan Nanzhu would bring Lin Qiushi with him.
Cheng Yixie is probably the least talkative person in the entire villa. He is silent all day long, except when he is teaching his younger brother a lesson.
Although Cheng Qianli and Cheng Yixie are twins, their personalities are very different. Cheng Qianli is noisy all day long like a child who has not grown up, while Cheng Yixie is very mature.
There was still some time before entering the house, so Lin Qiushi continued to rest in the villa.
During this period, Tan Zaozao and the movie star Zhang Yiqing also came over, and with them came the man who brought Zhang Yiqing into the family.
The man's name was Bai Ming. He had a very sunny appearance and temperament. His hair was slightly naturally curly, and he had a cute dimple on his cheek when he smiled.
To be honest, it was difficult for Lin Qiushi to connect such a person with the big guys in the sect. He was really curious about what Bai Ming looked like in the sect.
However, this question felt a bit like an invasion of privacy, so Lin Qiushi didn't ask.
Zhang Yiqing's condition was much better than before, at least he didn't look like he was having a mental breakdown.
Bai Ming was also very interested in Lin Qiushi. Of course, he didn't dare show it too obviously in front of Ruan Nanzhu, but Lin Qiushi still noticed his vague, scrutinizing gaze.
"Yi Qing's movie will be released in May. You must go see it." The first thing Bai Ming did when he arrived at the villa was to distribute tickets for the preview of Zhang Yi Qing's movie. "I've seen the unedited version. It's amazing."
Zhang Yiqing sat nearby, listening to Bai Ming's Amway sales pitch, his expression slightly grim. Lin Qiushi suspected it was because he felt ashamed...
"Yi Qing is truly amazing! I adore him immensely." Bai Ming's confession was like that of a star-chasing lunatic. Normally, that wouldn't be a problem, but now, praising him in front of the person involved, was simply unbearable. Lin Qiushi witnessed Zhang Yi Qing's serious expression, but his ears were already red. He feigned composure as he stood up and said he wanted to go to the balcony for a cigarette.
Lin Qiushi watched this and secretly laughed. Bai Ming had managed to control Zhang Yiqing.
Tan Zaozao also laughed out loud without any politeness.
"Zao Zao, are you going to enter again?" Lin Qiushi calculated the time and felt that Tan Zaozao's next door should be approaching soon.
"Yeah." Tan Zaozao nodded. "This time, Chen Fei took me in... How about you? Which door did you get to?"
Lin Qiushi said, "It's still the sixth door." He did not mention that he and Ruan Nanzhu and the others were going to enter the ninth door.
"Oh..." Tan Zaozao was a little absent-minded, as if thinking about something.
Lin Qiushi asked her, "What's wrong?"
"It's okay." Tan Zaozao sighed, "I'm just thinking about what to do with the next doors." She couldn't completely put aside her work in the real world and concentrate on passing the doors like Ruan Nanzhu and Lin Qiushi, nor did she have the courage to keep brushing the doors. This meant that she would be in danger when facing the high-level doors. Besides, even Ruan Nanzhu would hardly take the doors after the sixth one.
It was said that after the Sixth Gate, the difficulty of the gates would undergo a qualitative change. As for how it would change, Tan Zaozao was not sure, but it was definitely very difficult.
They chatted for a while and had lunch. Lin Qiushi learned from the conversation between Ruan Nanzhu and Bai Ming that they had known each other for four years and were old friends.
Bai Ming has passed the ninth door and is waiting for the arrival of the tenth door.
After dinner, Bai Ming and Ruan Nanzhu went to the study. They seemed to have something they wanted to discuss in private.
Tan Zaozao dragged Lin Qiushi and Zhang Yiqing downstairs to play games.
Lin Qiushi didn't know what the two of them talked about, but when they came down from upstairs, their eyes were on him.
Lin Qiushi was slightly stunned and asked, "What's wrong?"
"It's okay." Bai Ming smiled, "I'm just a little curious about you."
Lin Qiushi: "Curious?"
Bai Ming asked, "Don't you think you have nothing special?"
Lin Qiushi thought for a moment and whispered, "Do you particularly like cats?" As he said this, he was secretly pinching Li Zi's paw pads. Li Zi squinted his eyes and looked at him with an unhappy expression.
Ruan Nanzhu: "..." This can be considered a special feature.
Bai Ming laughed when he heard this and said, "You are really interesting." He did not mention anything about Lin Qiushi anymore. After sitting for a while, he left with Zhang Yiqing and Tan Zaozao.
Lin Qiushi looked at Ruan Nanzhu, who was sitting next to him, and asked quietly, "Is there anything special about me?"
Ruan Nanzhu glanced at him and asked, "What do you think?"
Lin Qiushi shook his head, unable to understand.
Ruan Nanzhu: "Don't you feel that there's something wrong with you?"
Lin Qiushi: “No.”
Ruan Nanzhu stood up and said, "Forget it if you don't have any." He turned and walked away, not giving Lin Qiushi a chance to ask. Lin Qiushi, however, had an inexplicable feeling that Ruan Nanzhu was in a bad mood...
Cheng Qianli also knew that they were going to enter the ninth door. He was very worried and set up an incense table in his room to worship seriously.
Lin Qiushi was dragged by him to light three incense sticks.
"We must bless them to return safely." Cheng Qianli looked very pious.
Lin Qiushi originally didn't believe these things, but the world inside the sect overturned his worldview, so he didn't say anything disrespectful in front of the incense table.
"I'm so scared." After Cheng Qianli finished burning incense, he sat on the bed in his bedroom and muttered to Lin Qiushi, "I'm just so scared."
"Don't be afraid, it'll be fine." Lin Qiushi patted his head. Cheng Qianli was only sixteen years old, just a half-grown child. "Your brother Ruan is here."
"Yeah." Cheng Qianli said, "I want to become more powerful, and then, then I will be able to..." He seemed a little embarrassed when he said this.
Lin Qiushi asked him, "What can you do?"
Cheng Qianli said: "Then I will be the one protecting my brother!" He puffed out his chest, looking very proud.
Lin Qiushi smiled: "Well, then you have to work hard." Cheng Qianli sometimes looked really silly and cute.
Cheng Qianli said: "Although he has a bad temper and despises me, who says he is my brother?" He lay on the bed and muttered to himself, "After all, he looks exactly like me..."
Lin Qiushi was listening quietly beside him.
In reality, he didn't quite understand the brotherly love Cheng Qianli was talking about. He had never experienced a family atmosphere since childhood, nor did he have any siblings. At the age of twenty-six, he didn't even have someone he loved. Thinking of this, Lin Qiushi suddenly felt a sense of regret in his life. If he died inside the gate, it would feel like he had never experienced many things in his life.
The time it took for Cheng Yixie's door to open was gradually increasing.
The atmosphere in the villa also became tense.
Aside from Ruan Nanzhu, Cheng Yixie's gate level was the highest. Lin Qiushi roughly calculated the time Cheng Yixie had opened gates and discovered that he had actually been entering gates since he was only eleven or twelve years old. To be able to exit through so many gates at such a young age, Cheng Yixie was truly remarkable.
His younger brother Cheng Qianli only opened the sixth door, and the time between the two of them opening their first door was at least several years apart.
Ruan Nanzhu didn't let Lin Qiushi wear women's clothing this time. While feeling relieved, Lin Qiushi felt a tinge of regret deep down. He was shocked when he noticed this regret; he hadn't expected dressing in women's clothing to become addictive.
Of course, Lin Qiushi quickly got rid of this regretful feeling and was still quite happy that she didn't have to pretend to be a mute girl - as for the thing called false voice, he still couldn't figure it out.
Time passed quickly and it was almost time to go in.
The weather was gradually getting hotter. After dinner, Lin Qiushi was sitting on the balcony enjoying the cool air when he saw Cheng Yixie standing in the garden downstairs. His expression was serious, and he was actually smoking a cigarette slowly.
Lin Qiushi looked down at him, thought for a moment, and called out, "Cheng Yixie!"
Cheng Yixie looked up.
Lin Qiushi shouted, "Minors are not allowed to smoke—"
Cheng Yixie frowned. He looked 90% similar to Cheng Qianli, the only difference being his aloof demeanor. Although young, his presence gave the distinct impression that he was someone to be reckoned with. Hearing Lin Qiushi's words, he actually put out his cigarette.
Lin Qiushi pulled out a handful of candy from his pocket and threw it down from the second floor: "Eat this."
The colorful candies fell on the green grass, like exploding fireworks, which looked very beautiful.
Cheng Yixie bent down, picked up a candy, peeled off the wrapper and put it in his mouth.
Lin Qiushi looked at him with a smile: "Is it delicious? The purple one is grape flavored--" This candy is the fruit juice hard candy he bought online, and it tastes very good.
Cheng Yixie glanced at him without saying a word. He just carefully picked up all the candies, put them in his pocket, and turned away.
Lin Qiushi was quite happy looking at his back. Although Cheng Yixie got to the door before him, in his eyes, Cheng Yixie was just a child who was not yet eighteen years old.
The day before entering the door, Ruan Nanzhu changed into women's clothes again. The three of them put on the special bracelet and began to wait for the door to open.
Cheng Qianli became very anxious and kept walking around the room.
Finally, Cheng Yixie couldn't stand it anymore and frowned, saying, "Why are you spinning? My eyes are blurry."
Cheng Qianli said innocently: "I can't even turn around."
Cheng Yixie: "No."
Cheng Qianli: "... Humph, I won't. I'm going to turn." Although he said that he wanted to continue turning, he still sat back on the sofa obediently, grabbed the toast next to him and started eating it.
Toast was made dizzy by Cheng Qianli's stroking, staring with his black eyes and howling in grievance.
"Don't bother with it." Cheng Yixie spoke again.
Cheng Qianli: "Wow, you're going too far. You won't let me do this, you won't let me do that—"
Cheng Yixie remained silent, staring at Cheng Qianli expressionlessly. The two of them held their ground for more than ten seconds, and Cheng Qianli was defeated again without a doubt. He let go of Toast's fat butt with regret and watched it run away.
Cheng Yixie looked at his watch.
Cheng Qianli watched Cheng Yixie's actions and became increasingly anxious. He moved his lips for a moment and squeezed out an inaudible word: "You must come back."
Cheng Yixie raised his eyes and glanced at him.
"Hey, I'm talking to you." Cheng Qianli said, "Did you hear me, Cheng Yixie, you must come back." He seemed to have mustered up the courage to say this, "You must come back!"
Cheng Yixie nodded softly.
Cheng Qianli was finally satisfied and muttered some other instructions.
When the two brothers were interacting, Lin Qiushi was sitting next to them. He saw with his own eyes that when Cheng Qianli muttered, the corners of Cheng Yixie's mouth curled up slightly, but the arc was too small and disappeared in a flash, making it easy for people to think it was an illusion.
The introductory time is the evening of the next day.
Lin Qiushi finished his meal and returned to his room.
He sat in front of his computer and just as he pressed the power button, he felt a very strange sensation in his body. This feeling was very familiar to him - the door opened.
Lin Qiushi stood up and opened the bedroom door. Unsurprisingly, he saw twelve iron doors in the hallway. Eight of them were sealed, and the other three were impossible to open.
The only door that can be opened is the ninth door belonging to Cheng Yixie.
Lin Qiushi walked to the door and opened the iron gate. The surrounding scenery changed, and Lin Qiushi appeared on an empty road.
He looked around with a hint of surprise. Instead of a desolate wilderness, he found himself in a bustling commercial district. Colorful signs lined the streets. Although it was late and most shops were closed, he could vaguely imagine the bustling scene of the day.
The road beneath his feet was perfectly flat. Lin Qiushi followed it forward and saw a towering apartment building. Its exterior walls were covered in a special coating, like a mirrored building, absorbing all surrounding light and drawing attention even in the darkness.
When Lin Qiushi saw this apartment building, he inexplicably thought of a word: phototaxis.
Phototaxis is a biological habit that occurs in both animals and plants. The most obvious example is that insects will fly towards light sources at night, even if that light is a flame that could burn them.
Humans are also a kind of living thing, Lin Qiushi thought. In the dark night, when they see a light, they always want to walk towards it, without thinking about what lies at the end of the light.
The apartment door was wide open. Lin Qiushi slowly walked in and saw eight or nine people already standing in the hall. They had already divided into groups, and when they saw Lin Qiushi walk in, most of them had expressions of scrutiny or assessment.
This time, Lin Qiushi did not see any newcomers who were out of the situation.
Given the difficulty of the ninth door, if there really was a newcomer, Lin Qiushi could only suspect that the newcomer was about to die in the next second before being pulled into the door.
Looking around, Lin Qiushi didn't find the person he was looking for, so he sat down on a sofa and began to observe the surrounding situation.
Including him, there were nine people in total, five men and four women, divided into three groups. Probably veterans, they no longer pretended not to know each other, but instead whispered to each other, discussing the matter of the door in low voices.
Lin Qiushi sat on the sofa for a while before he saw two people walk in. One tall, one short. The taller one was a woman in a long skirt, and the shorter one was a young man with an indifferent expression.
Although they looked completely different, Lin Qiushi still recognized their identities from their clothes and expressions - they were Ruan Nanzhu and Cheng Yixie.
They both also saw Lin Qiushi sitting on the sofa and walked towards him.
"Is everyone here?" Lin Qiushi asked.
"Probably not yet." Ruan Nanzhu sat down next to Lin Qiushi. "Someone is still looking outside, probably waiting for their teammates."
Hearing this, Lin Qiushi couldn't help but admire Ruan Nanzhu's observation skills. It seemed that within just a few minutes of entering here, he had already collected almost all the information about the people around him.
Sure enough, about three or four minutes later, two more people came in, also a man and a woman, and walked towards the corner as soon as they came in.
Lin Qiushi was slightly surprised when he saw the direction they were heading: "They... there are five of them in one team?"
Ruan Nanzhu: "It should be."
"Is there a numerical advantage inside the door?" Lin Qiushi thought about it and felt that something seemed wrong.
"To some extent, yes." Ruan Nanzhu leaned against the sofa and said, "If you bring more people, wouldn't you be able to eliminate a few more conditions for death?"
Lin Qiushi: “…”
Ruan Nanzhu glanced at the corner and smiled coldly: "Some people will do anything to survive."
Some people, when passing through the gate, deliberately bring in many newcomers to eliminate the possibility of death. These newcomers are ignorant and could easily encounter accidents within the gate. Of course, their accidents are not a big deal; for the person who brought them in, it's actually a good thing - after all, they take up the quota for death that day. According to the gate's rules, there is a limit on the number of people who can die each day, so this actually makes them safer.
Lin Qiushi hadn't expected this to happen: "Are those newcomers willing to come in?"
"Why wouldn't I?" Ruan Nanzhu said lazily, "Some people always want to become very fat in one bite."
Who wouldn't want to skip all the steps and go straight through the Ninth Gate? Risk and reward are usually equal; if you want to gain something, you have to pay something.
Life is the same.
Everyone had finally arrived, seventeen in total, roughly divided into five or six groups. The largest group consisted of five people, and Lin Qiushi could clearly sense that the unfriendly woman was leading them. She seemed to be the leader of the five.
Everyone gathered in the hall, and the noise grew louder and louder.
Just then, a man in a waiter's uniform came out from the direction of the elevator. He held a handful of door cards in his hand and looked at the people gathered in the lobby with a smile.
"Sorry to have kept you waiting," the waiter said. "Here are the key cards for your rooms."
He began distributing door cards to everyone.
Someone in the crowd asked, "How many people are in this room? A single room or a standard room?"
The waiter said, "It's a standard room." He smiled. "The red door card is for a king-size bed room, the white door card is for a double room, and the green one can accommodate three people, but someone will need to sleep on the sofa." He said softly, "Welcome to visit us. I hope you all enjoy your stay."
It turned out that they were tourists, and Lin Qiushi's heart moved.
"When do we finish our tour?" the leader of the five-member group suddenly asked, "Are there any tourist attractions nearby?"
The waiter smiled and said, "Tomorrow we'll give everyone a travel guide with information about nearby attractions." He handed out the cards in his hand. "Everyone, please get a good night's sleep today."
Lin Qiushi stood up and went to get a green card. The waiter said that green cards allowed three people to sleep together, which was perfect for the three of them.
The room cards were distributed one after another, and everyone dispersed.
Lin Qiushi and his friends' room was on the 34th floor. The floor was covered with thick carpet, and the corridor was filled with a rich scent of incense.
The lights were dim. After they arrived at the room, they inserted the room card into the power supply and the lights in the room came on.
Lin Qiushi walked to the window and looked out through the glass. He saw the city plunged into darkness. The whole city was dead silent, and there was not even a street light to be seen - but when he walked in from outside, he clearly saw that the street lights on the roadside were on.
Ruan Nanzhu said, "This house is really interesting."
Lin Qiushi turned his head: "Hmm?"
Ruan Nanzhu said: "There are mirrors everywhere."
Lin Qiushi looked around and realized that there were indeed many mirrors in the room. The most incredible thing was that there was even one on the floor.
When he saw the mirror, Lin Qiushi couldn't help but think of the clue about using copper as a mirror. He intuitively felt that the key was related to the mirror, but there were too few clues and he couldn't grasp it firmly for the time being.
Cheng Yixie stared at the mirror at his feet for a long time without saying a word. Just as Lin Qiushi was about to leave, he suddenly whispered, "This is a two-way mirror."
Lin Qiushi's expression froze.
Cheng Yixie spoke slowly, "People downstairs can see our house."
When Ruan Nanzhu heard this, she suddenly looked down at her skirt and said, "Then I must be naked."
Cheng Yixie: “…”
Lin Qiushi: “…”
Ruan Nanzhu: "Thinking about it carefully, I feel a little embarrassed."
Lin Qiushi: “…” Why are you lifting your skirt if you’re so embarrassed…
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