Chapter 77 What's Inside the Door
In the dark corridor, Ruan Nanzhu kept looking at his watch.
Five minutes is not a long time, especially inside the dangerous door, these few minutes pass by in a flash.
Lin Qiushi had already entered the house. The surroundings were now completely silent, and the only thing he could see was the flickering flames at the end of the corridor.
The hour hand turned slowly, one circle, two circles, three circles... Just as it turned the fourth circle, Cheng Yixie couldn't help but ask softly, "Can he come back?"
Ruan Nanzhu glanced at Cheng Yixie and did not answer, but his eyes told Cheng Yixie the answer - Lin Qiushi would definitely come back.
Cheng Yixie sighed inwardly and stopped talking.
There were still thirty seconds left, and there was still no movement from inside the door.
The movement in the mirror was getting louder and louder, and one could even occasionally see Luo Qianshui moving back and forth in it. It seemed that five minutes was indeed her limit.
Ruan Nanzhu's gaze stopped at the second hand of his watch.
Luo Qianshan, who was standing next to him, suddenly said, "Qianshui, don't force yourself."
Fifteen seconds remained until their agreed time, but Lin Qiushi still hadn't emerged. It looked like he was in grave danger. Luo Qianshan wasn't surprised by this situation. The situation within the sect was already extremely dangerous, and they were hiding something.
The key was indeed hanging on the wall. However, there was more than one key hanging there. Luo Qianshan had great confidence in Zhu Meng. He had a hunch that if it was Zhu Meng who went in, she would definitely find the real key within five minutes. But with the man named Yu Linlin in his place, he was no longer so sure.
However, these matters were decided by Zhu Meng and the others themselves, and Luo Qianshan was too lazy to say anything.
Tick-tock, a few seconds seemed so long at this moment.
Luo Qianshui in the mirror fell out in a mess. She seemed a little injured and asked, "Did you get it?"
When Luo Qianshan saw her appear, he shook his head with a gloomy expression.
But just as they were talking, there was a slight noise in the corridor and something fell on the carpet in the corridor.
Others might not have seen it clearly, but Ruan Nanzhu saw it clearly—the moment the door closed, a bronze key was thrown out from inside. It was obvious who had thrown that bronze key. But even though the key was out, the person was still locked inside.
A deep gloom appeared in Ruan Nanzhu's black eyes.
He slowly walked to Luo Qianshan, who had a happy look on his face. Luo Qianshan was still talking to Luo Qianshui. He seemed to sense something was wrong in the atmosphere beside him. When he was about to turn his head, he felt a cold weapon against his neck.
"Go in." Ruan Nanzhu's cold voice came.
"What?" Luo Qianshui was stunned when she saw this, "What are you doing--" She widened her eyes, as if she had never expected Ruan Nanzhu to suddenly attack.
Ruan Nanzhu glanced at his watch and, without hesitation, increased the force in his hand. The sharp knife cut Luo Qianshan's skin, and bright red blood flowed out. Luo Qianshan said bitterly, "Kill me if you dare!"
Ruan Nanzhu laughed and said, "Do you think I don't dare?"
Luo Qianshui stopped talking. Judging from Ruan Nanzhu's tone, the man in front of her really dared to insert the sharp blade into her brother's neck.
Luo Qianshan was different from her. He was a human who could get hurt and die. Luo Qianshui gritted her teeth and said, "I'll give you another thirty seconds..."
Ruan Nanzhu sneered: "A full minute, even a second less and your brother would have died here."
Luo Qianshui: "You——"
Luo Qianshan was so angry that he was shaking all over. He didn't expect Ruan Nanzhu to do such an unwise thing for the person who entered the room.
"Yixie, you come." Ruan Nanzhu handed the knife in his hand to Cheng Yixie, "If he dares to resist, just stab him." His tone was firm, and he didn't sound like he was joking at all.
Luo Qianshan also knew that Ruan Nanzhu was serious. This man was a lunatic who didn't follow common sense. Most people would have forgotten their teammates after seeing the key. Who would think of going to such a dangerous place to rescue someone!
Luo Qianshan gave Luo Qianshui a look. Luo Qianshui was about to nod slightly when he heard Ruan Nanzhu continue to order: "Watch your watch. One minute. If Luo Qianshui dares to come out even a second early, I will take action immediately."
Cheng Yixie said, "Okay."
Luo Qianshui angrily said, "Zhu Meng, you're a liar who goes back on your word!"
Ruan Nanzhu sneered: "Liar? You have the nerve to call me a liar? You came out five minutes early as agreed. If he dies, you will all be buried with him."
Luo Qianshui said: "It's just five seconds earlier - even if we give him five more seconds -"
Her next words were cut off by Ruan Nanzhu's icy eyes.
Luo Qianshui knew that there was no turning back, so he turned around angrily and entered the mirror in front of him again.
Ruan Nanzhu looked towards the end of the corridor, and after the mother and daughter disappeared again, he ran as fast as he could towards the room that Lin Qiushi had entered.
One minute is just a blink of an eye.
Ruan Nanzhu opened the door and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Lin Qiushi standing not far from the door. He rushed into the room, wanting to take Lin Qiushi away.
However, at this time, the entire house had begun to burn with flames, and the temperature was frighteningly high. Ruan Nanzhu coughed softly, picked up Lin Qiushi with difficulty, and walked towards the door.
The short distance seemed to become a bridge through hell.
The scorching ground and the burning flames burned Ruan Nanzhu's skin. It is said that burns cause the most pain. Ruan Nanzhu was in great pain, but his steps were steady.
Step by step, after more than ten seconds, Ruan Nanzhu finally left the house that was almost deformed by the heat and reached the corridor.
Lin Qiushi was still sleeping in his arms. Ruan Nanzhu could see his sleeping face when he lowered his head. He lowered his eyes and thought to himself that it was a good thing that Lin Qiushi fainted, otherwise what would he do if he saw his appearance now? He was not handsome at all at this moment.
"Zhu Meng!!" Cheng Yixie was watching from the other end of the corridor with fear in his heart.
When Ruan Nanzhu came out of the house, he had turned into a fire man. He fell down in the corridor in a mess and rolled several times before the flames on his body went out.
However, these few movements seemed to have exhausted all his strength, and he did not move for a long time.
The one minute time was about to expire, and just when Cheng Yixie was thinking about whether to go over to help, Ruan Nanzhu struggled to get up from the ground. He found the key on the floor, and then dragged Lin Qiushi back to them with difficulty.
Tick-tock, tick-tock, exactly one minute has passed.
Luo Qianshui emerged from the mirror, half covered in blood. She was also injured. When she looked up, she saw Ruan Nanzhu, who had been burned beyond recognition. Most people with such injuries would have fainted long ago, but Ruan Nanzhu was still conscious. He leaned against the wall, his black eyes glaring coldly at Luo Qianshui. His voice had lost its previous clarity and joy, now hoarse from the smoke. "I've found the key. Find the door."
Luo Qianshui glanced at Luo Qianshan in panic.
Luo Qianshan's expression was also a little complicated. This was the first time he had seen someone like Ruan Nanzhu. He said, "I have no idea where the door is. I have to search layer by layer."
But Ruan Nanzhu was so seriously injured that he didn't know if he could hold on until he found the door.
Ruan Nanzhu fell silent. Just when the others thought he had fainted, he actually spoke again, uttering four words: "Safe passage."
Luo Qianshan was stunned.
"Let's go check the safe passage." Ruan Nanzhu's voice sounded very weak, requiring one to listen very carefully to hear clearly. "The door is most likely there."
As they were talking, the temperature around them began to rise gradually.
Cheng Yixie initially thought it was his illusion, but he soon discovered that it was not his illusion - the entire corridor was burning.
The wallpaper began to turn black and flames came out from the walls.
"There's no time!" Luo Qianshan hadn't expected this. He said, "They're gone!"
Cheng Yixie turned his head and saw, as expected, the mother and daughter at the end of the corridor disappear outside the door, but in the mirrors around them, two charred figures appeared.
The other people in the team also noticed something was wrong and began to come out of the room one after another.
"What's wrong? What's going on..." The noisy discussion makes people feel annoyed.
Ruan Nanzhu suddenly said, "Yixie, stay away from the mirror."
Upon hearing this, Cheng Yixie hurriedly took a step forward. As soon as he took a step forward, the mirror behind him made a crisp sound, and a pair of black arms stretched out from the mirror, trying to grab him in front of the mirror.
"Let's get out of here quickly." Ruan Nanzhu supported himself against the wall and stood up with difficulty. He said, "Take him with you..."
That "he" naturally refers to Lin Qiushi who is still in a coma.
Luo Qianshan looked at the three people, his eyes darkened. Just as he reached into his pocket, his hand was grabbed by Luo Qianshui next to him.
Luo Qianshui looked at him pleadingly and slowly shook her head.
Why... Luo Qianshan's eyes showed doubt. Don't you hate her?
Luo Qianshui stood on tiptoe and whispered into Luo Qianshan's ear: "She reminds me of my past self."
Luo Qianshan stopped moving, his expression showing a bit of pain. He looked at Luo Qianshui, then at Ruan Nanzhu, and finally did nothing.
The safety passage is at the end of the corridor, and the four large green characters are particularly eye-catching in the darkness.
But it is not easy to move from here to the safe passage. Countless pairs of burnt black hands and arms appeared in the mirrors on both sides of the corridor. These arms broke through the mirrors, trying to drag the living people into the world of the dead.
Luo Qianshan supported Ruan Nanzhu.
Ruan Nanzhu glanced at him and said, "You won't kill me?"
Luo Qianshan didn't say anything, but from his expression, it seemed that he really wanted to attack Ruan Nanzhu.
"You should be thankful you didn't do anything." Ruan Nanzhu laughed. His face was burned beyond recognition, but his eyes were frighteningly bright. "Otherwise, right now, it's uncertain who will live and who will die."
Luo Qianshan was silent for a moment: "Have you ever thought that if you go in, you might not be able to get out?"
Ruan Nanzhu: “I haven’t thought about it.”
Luo Qianshan's expression twisted slightly. He felt that for a moment he couldn't say anything more about Ruan Nanzhu's extremely confident attitude. He could only ask, "Is he important?"
Ruan Nanzhu said calmly, "I don't know whether it's important or not. I just know that if I went in, he would also go in to find me." He was confident in this; Lin Qiushi was just that kind of person.
Luo Qianshan stopped talking.
When leaving the corridor, several people in the team were grabbed by black arms and pulled into the world in the mirror.
As soon as these people fell into the mirror, their bodies began to catch fire and they let out shrill screams that were simply unbearable to watch.
Fortunately, Luo Qianshui was by their side. Luo Qianshui could enter the mirror and get rid of the charred arms first.
"I found the door, I found the door!!" Someone suddenly shouted, yelling to the people in the corridor, "It's in this room, come here quickly..."
"Door?" Luo Qianshui was delighted when he heard that and looked at Luo Qianshan.
Before Luo Qianshan could say anything, Cheng Yixie said lightly: "That person is not alive." The person who was shouting was the dead person they had found mixed in with the team before, with his toes pointing backward and his heels forward.
"The key, the key is here!" More dead people began to shout. Their voices were particularly clear among the screams, and as expected, they attracted several living people over.
"What about you? Aren't you coming over?" The man looked at Ruan Nanzhu, Luo Qianshan and the others.
"No." Luo Qianshan said, "You guys can play by yourselves."
The man wanted to say something more after hearing this, but Luo Qianshan said, "Enough is enough."
After hearing this, the man's expression twisted for a moment, and he actually turned around and left. As soon as the two people he had deceived entered the house, the door was locked. Then, shrill screams and the smell of roasted meat were heard from the house.
This place is hell.
After moving with difficulty, they finally reached the door of the safe passage.
Luo Qianshan looked at Ruan Nanzhu: "Is the door really here?"
Ruan Nanzhu was already very weak and kept silent if possible. When he heard Luo Qianshan's question, he just raised his eyes with an expression that said, "Believe it or not."
Luo Qianshan didn't bother asking any more questions and pushed open the fire door. Sure enough, behind the fire door, there was a black iron door. The large lock on the iron door told them that this was the way out.
Luo Qianshui cried with joy.
Ruan Nanzhu handed the key to Cheng Yixie and motioned him to open the door.
After Cheng Yixie opened the door, a tunnel full of light was revealed behind it. He bent down, picked up the clue and put it in his pocket.
"We're leaving first." Luo Qianshan glanced at Ruan Nanzhu and said, "Take care."
Ruan Nanzhu whispered, "Take care."
Luo Qianshan and Luo Qianshui entered the tunnel together. The moment they stepped into the tunnel, Luo Qianshui, who was standing beside him, disappeared. It was obvious that she could only exist in the terrifying world inside the door. As soon as she left the door, she would disappear.
Cheng Yixie was about to ask Ruan Nanzhu to go with him, but found that he had fainted. He sighed softly, put Lin Qiushi, who he was carrying on his back, on the ground, and dragged them out by their legs.
At this time, the flames had already reached the door. If they had walked any slower, they would probably not have been spared - as for the only chance to survive, who knew who it would belong to.
The tunnel came to an end, and the scene around Cheng Yixie changed, and he appeared in the villa.
After he returned to the outside, he quickly walked towards Ruan Nanzhu and Lin Qiushi's room. After knocking on the door without any response, Cheng Yixie opened the door with the spare key and saw two people with weak breath in the room.
One of them was as pale as paper and almost dead, while the other was lying in a pool of blood, looking almost dead.
Cheng Yixie quickly called an ambulance and sent the two to the hospital.
Then, he began to wait for the two to wake up.
Ruan Nanzhu can be said to have saved his life. If it weren't for his extraordinary physical fitness, he would probably have died on the way to the hospital.
Lin Qiushi was slightly better off than Ruan Nanzhu, but he also nearly suffered organ failure due to blood loss.
All in all, these two people were able to survive simply because of good luck.
Cheng Yixie remained silent while watching over the two of them. When Cheng Qianli brought him food, he poked his brother's head with his finger and said, "Little boy, why do you have that expression on your face? What are you thinking about in your little head?"
Cheng Yixie glared at him coldly, and Cheng Qianli immediately backed down: "Okay, okay, think whatever you want, I'll eat first." Then he muttered that he was really fierce.
Cheng Yixie was very rude: "Even if I told you, you wouldn't be able to understand it with your IQ."
Cheng Qianli: "You haven't told me yet, how do you know I can't understand?"
Cheng Yixie showed disdain on his face.
Cheng Qianli felt aggrieved but had no way to refute it. Who could blame him for being so stupid?
The two were in a coma for two days. Lin Qiushi woke up first, and Ruan Nanzhu woke up later. They stayed in the hospital for more than two months before their bodies gradually recovered.
There were no other accidents during that period. The only variable was that Cheng Qianli pushed Lin Qiushi, who was in a wheelchair, on a roller coaster every day, flying from one end of the hospital garden to the other. The nurses and patients around them all looked at them as idiots.
Finally, Lin Qiushi couldn't stand it anymore and said to Cheng Qianli, "Please let me go. I'm just a poor patient. Why do you treat me like this?"
Cheng Qianli shamelessly explained: "Exercise is good for physical recovery!"
Lin Qiushi nearly collapsed upon hearing this: "But it's the wheelchair that's moving, not me—"
Cheng Qianli: "Isn't rounding up in a wheelchair also considered exercise?"
Lin Qiushi had nothing to say. After staring at Cheng Qianli for a while, he stood up from the wheelchair and walked away silently.
Cheng Qianli: "Hey hey hey? Can you walk——"
Lin Qiushi cursed, "My fucking legs aren't broken, so why can't I walk?"
Cheng Qianli showed regret.
In the evening, Lin Qiushi told Ruan Nanzhu about this.
Ruan Nanzhu was still lying on the hospital bed. Although his face looked better, he was still weak. After listening to what he had said, he said, "Only you can play with Cheng Qianli."
Lin Qiushi: “…” Why did he always feel that this sentence was an insult to him?
Ruan Nanzhu couldn't help but smile when he saw Lin Qiushi's expression, which looked like he had eaten shit.
His body was still in an unhealed state. The injuries he suffered inside had a severe impact on his health, to the point where he couldn't even get out of bed. As Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu chatted, his eyes suddenly shifted to his hand.
"Lin Qiushi?" Ruan Nanzhu called out softly when he saw Lin Qiushi suddenly quiet down.
Lin Qiushi finally came back to his senses and smiled apologetically, "Sorry, I was distracted."
"What are you thinking about?" Ruan Nanzhu asked him.
Lin Qiushi: "Nothing." He paused for a moment and pursed his lips.
"Go ahead." Ruan Nanzhu's voice was very gentle.
Lin Qiushi was quiet for a while before he asked, "Does it hurt a lot?"
Ruan Nanzhu looked into Lin Qiushi's eyes and realized that he was asking about the injury he had sustained inside the door. He tilted his head, as if he was recalling something seriously, and only nodded after a long while.
Lin Qiushi reached out and grasped Ruan Nanzhu's wrist. His movements were gentle, clearly fearing to hurt her. He turned her wrist over and saw the gauze wrapped around it.
Lin Qiushi saw the wound when changing the dressing.
The wound was long and bloody, looking out of place against Ruan Nanzhu's fair skin. Lin Qiushi also saw the wounds elsewhere on Ruan Nanzhu's body. They were so densely packed and crisscrossed that even a glance at them could cause a dull pain.
Ruan Nanzhu is not a delicate person. If even he feels pain, it must be extremely painful.
Lin Qiushi's fingers stroked the skin on Ruan Nanzhu's wrist, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.
Ruan Nanzhu didn't ask, and the two of them just looked at each other quietly.
Lin Qiushi's lips moved slightly, and he was about to say something to break the silence when Cheng Qianli came in from outside, holding a huge fruit basket. He said, "Brother Ruan, Tan Zaozao and the others are here to see you."
Tan Zaozao stood behind Cheng Qianli, poked her head out, and said, "Brother Ruan, how are you?"
As soon as she entered, she saw Lin Qiushi holding Ruan Nanzhu's wrist and said with a tut, "Qiushi, why are you taking advantage of Brother Ruan while we're away?" She shamelessly approached and said, "Who doesn't want to touch Brother Ruan's hand..."
Ruan Nanzhu silently pulled his hand out of Lin Qiushi's and stuffed it under the quilt.
Tan Zaozao showed a regretful expression.
Lin Qiushi: “…” Tan Zaozao, can’t you be more reserved?
Cheng Qianli put the fruit basket aside and said, "What do you want to eat? I'll go wash it."
Tan Zaozao said without even turning her head: "Pick out the lychees. Beauties should eat lychees."
Ruan Nanzhu: "Tan Zaozao."
Tan Zaozao: "Huh?"
Ruan Nanzhu: "Do you think I can't cut you just because I'm sick?"
Tan Zaozao said: "I didn't, I'm not." Didn't Ruan Nanzhu, who had never seen him weak, suddenly have a strange feeling.
Ruan Nanzhu: "Just wait for me."
Tan Zaozao was completely timid. She looked at Lin Qiushi with grievance and said, "Brother Lin, please try to persuade Brother Ruan. He wants to cut me."
Lin Qiushi asked, "What kind of knife should I use? Can a fruit knife work?"
Tan Zaozao: “…” You two are a pair of bastards in cahoots.
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