Chapter 89 A sudden accident
The death of his girlfriend obviously dealt a severe blow to Wu Qi.
Fearing something might happen to him, Lin Qiushi contacted him frequently, but Wu Qi seemed completely absent-minded. He was clearly completely absorbed in his girlfriend's death, and his appearance grew increasingly haggard. Even when Lin Qiushi visited him every few days, he was startled by his appearance.
"Are you okay, Wu Qi?" Lin Qiushi asked him worriedly.
Wu Qi sat on the sofa, staring at the phone in his hand. He remained indifferent to Lin Qiushi's questioning. After a while, he slowly shook his head.
Lin Qiushi said, "Wu Qi..." He didn't know how to comfort this good friend who had lost his loved one.
Back then, Lin Qiushi came to this city alone, practically leaving his hometown behind. He was aloof and had few special friends besides Wu Qi. Lin Qiushi still remembers fainting at home with a high fever. It was Wu Qi who discovered he wasn't at work and personally came to his house to take him to the hospital.
Lin Qiushi kept all these details in mind, and his relationship with Wu Qi grew stronger and stronger. However, he never expected that Wu Qi would encounter such a thing.
Ruan Nanzhu's investigation continued, primarily at the hospital. Normally, people who knew they were dying had serious illnesses, and the sudden recovery of such a patient was a strange occurrence.
However, just as Lin Qiushi was waiting for Ruan Nanzhu's investigation results, he received a call from Wu Qi one night.
Wu Qi's tone on the phone was very excited. He said, "Lin Qiushi, I get it, I get it!"
Lin Qiushi was startled by his tone and asked, "Wu Qi, what do you know?"
Wu Qi said, "I know why she jumped from the building—it was the door, it was the door!" He seemed afraid that Lin Qiushi didn't understand, so he repeated it several times, "As long as I'm dying, I can go in!"
The hairs on Lin Qiushi's back suddenly stood up. He understood Wu Qi's intention and said, "Wu Qi, calm down!!!"
However, it was too late and Wu Qi hung up the phone.
When Lin Qiushi called again, his phone was already turned off.
It was already early morning, and Lin Qiushi was still lying in bed in his pajamas. However, he didn't care about anything else and just got up and ran out. He also called 110 to report that his friend was trying to commit suicide.
The one-hour drive had never felt so long. By the time Lin Qiushi arrived at Wu Qi's house, the police had already arrived. A few neighbors were standing outside, watching the excitement. The hallway was filled with a commotion as Lin Qiushi ran over, panting.
He was panting and rushed into Wu Qi's house without taking a rest and saw what had happened.
Wu Qi's living room was covered in blood, and he lay motionless on the sofa. Lin Qiushi heard someone calling him, but he looked dazed. He walked over to Wu Qi and reached out to check his breath.
It’s gone, Wu Qi is dead.
This realization left Lin Qiushi completely bewildered. He didn't even know how to react. This was the second time Lin Qiushi had witnessed someone close to him die. The first time was Li Dongyuan, whom he wasn't that close to, so he didn't feel much empathy. This time, it was Wu Qi, a longtime friend. Furthermore, it didn't seem like he had died inside the gate, but rather foolishly attempted suicide to get inside.
Lin Qiushi slowly took a few steps back, feeling dizzy.
"Excuse me, who are you?" Someone's voice came into his ears. It seemed that the police who arrived here first was questioning him.
"I'm the one who called the police." Lin Qiushi also heard his own voice, but it seemed so far away that he wasn't even sure if it was his own words. "I'm his friend..."
The scene was then cordoned off and police began investigating the cause of death.
Wu Qi had committed suicide by slitting his wrists. When he called Lin Qiushi, he was already near death. Slitting one's wrists is a very painful way to die; the cuts must be extremely deep, and even while the blood is coagulating, one must stab one's wrists once or twice more.
Lin Qiushi didn't know how long he stood outside the house, but later Ruan Nanzhu also came.
As soon as he arrived, he pressed Lin Qiushi's shoulders. Lin Qiushi turned his head and saw his handsome face.
"Are you okay, Lin Qiushi?" Ruan Nanzhu's voice was filled with worry.
"It's okay, I'm fine." Lin Qiushi shook his head. "I didn't expect he would actually do that."
Ruan Nanzhu said nothing, but gently stroked Lin Qiushi's back with his hand, trying to give him some comfort.
Lin Qiushi lowered his head and smiled bitterly, "I want to smoke."
Ruan Nanzhu was silent for a moment, then took out a candy from his pocket, peeled off the wrapper, and stuffed it into Lin Qiushi's mouth: "Eat candy, it's better than smoking."
The sweet fruity flavor melted in Lin Qiushi's mouth. He let out a long sigh and said, "I think someone must have murdered Wu Qi." Based on his understanding of Wu Qi, Wu Qi would definitely not be someone who would commit suicide casually.
Ruan Nanzhu said: "We will find out."
Lin Qiushi rubbed the corners of his eyes. If Wu Qi's girlfriend's death had only instilled in him a resentment towards those people, then Wu Qi's suicide had transformed that resentment into unspeakable anger.
That day, Lin Qiushi returned home very late, and even after returning home, he tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep.
Finally, he got up and sat in front of the computer, turning it on. Someone in the forum sent him a private message. The person who sent the private message was Gu Longming, the person he had brought with him to the previous door.
Gu Longming said, "Little brother, why are you still not asleep so late?"
When Lin Qiushi saw the words "little brother", he immediately thought of Gu Longming's muscular body, and he sent a string of ellipsis.
Gu Longming said, "Little brother, why don't you say anything?" and added a shy expression at the end.
Lin Qiushi: "Speak human language."
Gu Longming: "What's up, brother? What happened?"
Lin Qiushi: “…” This painting style seems wrong no matter how you look at it.
Gu Longming asked, "How's your wound healing? I was stabbed by that woman inside the door, and I was in the hospital for over a month. I was only discharged a few days ago."
Lin Qiushi said he was recovering well. He had been through more gates than Gu Longming, so his recovery was naturally stronger. Although his injuries seemed more serious than Gu Longming's, he was discharged quickly.
Gu Longming said: "I'm glad you've recovered. I was quite worried about you."
Lin Qiushi: "Just say it if you have something to say."
Gu Longming: "That's it... Can I still find you at the next door?"
Lin Qiushi looked at the words Gu Longming had typed, was silent for a moment, and said, "We'll talk about it when the time comes."
It was good enough that Lin Qiushi didn't refuse directly. Gu Longming was quite funny and talked about some random things. Lin Qiushi chatted with him in this way until about six in the morning, when Ruan Nanzhu came and knocked on his door.
The first thing Ruan Nanzhu said when he opened the door was, "I found out."
Lin Qiushi stood up from his chair: "What's going on?"
Ruan Nanzhu waved at Lin Qiushi: "Come here."
Lin Qiushi followed Ruan Nanzhu into the bedroom, only to discover that Ruan Nanzhu had actually gotten hold of Wu Qi's computer.
Ruan Nanzhu pointed at Wu Qi's computer screen and said, "Look."
Lin Qiushi bent down and saw the scene on the screen.
Lin Qiushi was very familiar with that scene; it was a private message from a forum... He had just used it before. The private message contained a conversation between Wu Qi and another person. The other person had explained the mechanism for entering the door to Wu Qi, adding at the end that even those near death could enter.
Wu Qi said: Really???
The man said: Of course it is true, your girlfriend was killed inside the door.
Wu Qi: Thank you, I understand, thank you.
Under normal circumstances, Wu Qi would never have believed this man, but his girlfriend's death had obviously dealt him such a heavy blow that he didn't even have any doubts and just believed it.
Lin Qiushi looked at the chat records and clenched his fists hanging at his sides. He said in a low voice: "Why would they do this..." Killing Wu Qi's girlfriend was not enough, why did they attack Wu Qi too?
Ruan Nanzhu said, "Human lives are worthless in their hands." He said, "Lin Qiushi, calm down."
Lin Qiushi glanced at Ruan Nanzhu. He was actually quite calm, a level he'd never been before. He said, "I want to know who they are."
Ruan Nanzhu nodded: "It will be soon, but it will still take some time." Although the people in the hospital are easy to check, the people who have contact with the hospital are not so easy to find out.
But Ruan Nanzhu is confident that he can find it as long as he is given enough time.
Lin Qiushi looked at the chat log and asked, "Can I have this computer?"
Ruan Nanzhu: "Take it."
After all, this was the relic of Lin Qiushi’s good friend. Lin Qiushi picked up the computer and turned away.
Ruan Nanzhu looked at Lin Qiushi's back, a hint of worry in his eyes. He had always felt that Lin Qiushi was somewhat different from ordinary people, and with the incident involving Wu Qi, this difference had clearly been fully exposed.
Lin Qiushi was furious, yet also incredibly calm, even managing to control his emotions within a short period of time. Honestly, if Ruan Nanzhu had encountered something like this, he wouldn't necessarily have done any better than Lin Qiushi.
A few days later, Lin Qiushi attended Wu Qi's funeral.
The funeral was ordinary. Lin Qiushi saw his parents weeping bitterly at the funeral. For a moment, he thought of his own death. If he died, would anyone cry like this?
Ruan Nanzhu came with Lin Qiushi. He seemed to see what Lin Qiushi was thinking and reached out to press Lin Qiushi's shoulder. He said, "We are here." His voice was gentle. "Even if I'm gone, there's still Cheng Qianli. Even if Cheng Qianli is gone, there's still Chen Fei..."
"There will always be someone who cries for you." Ruan Nanzhu said.
Lin Qiushi's shoulders relaxed slightly, and he said, "Yeah."
After the funeral, Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu walked out together. When they reached the door, Lin Qiushi suddenly stopped and looked toward the crowd, a puzzled expression on his face.
Ruan Nanzhu asked him, "What's wrong?"
Lin Qiushi: "Just now, there was someone who gave me a very familiar feeling..." His eyes wandered through the crowd, "It seemed like I'd seen him somewhere before."
Ruan Nanzhu frowned: "Is he Wu Qi's friend?"
"Those who come to the funeral are naturally friends." Lin Qiushi couldn't remember the source of this familiar feeling for a moment, until he got in the car, he suddenly realized, "I seem to have seen that man at Wu Qi's girlfriend's birthday party. We even had dinner together. But Wu Qi told me privately that he didn't like this man." Because this man was too close to Wu Qi's girlfriend.
Ruan Nanzhu's expression suddenly became serious: "Are you sure?"
"Yes," Lin Qiushi said, "That's exactly what happened."
Ruan Nanzhu nodded, indicating that he understood. Looking at Lin Qiushi's serious expression, he couldn't help but feel itchy, so he reached out and pinched the tip of Lin Qiushi's ear.
Lin Qiushi was pinched for no apparent reason, and the tip of his ear moved involuntarily. Ruan Nanzhu couldn't help but pinched it several more times until the tip of his ear was almost red. Lin Qiushi said helplessly, "Ruan Nanzhu, what a bad habit you have!" He tried to dodge several times but failed.
Ruan Nanzhu, however, said confidently, "Who told you to have such cute ears?"
Lin Qiushi thought, forget it, don’t bother with this guy.
Lin Qiushi's discovery provided Ruan Nanzhu with new ideas, and the search progress began to accelerate.
Three days later, one afternoon, Ruan Nanzhu walked into Lin Qiushi's room with a stack of information. Lin Qiushi was browsing a forum. Ruan Nanzhu threw the information in front of Lin Qiushi and said, "I found it."
Lin Qiushi's breath caught in his throat. He took the document and quickly flipped through it. He saw an unfamiliar name on it: Cui Xueyi.
The above writes about Cui Xueyi's life, the most important of which is his medical records for a period of time.
Cui Xueyi was diagnosed with lung cancer. When he went for a check-up, the doctor said the situation was very grim. The cancer cells had already metastasized and he only had three months to live.
However, in recent days, Cui Xueyi's physical condition has suddenly improved. It was as if his body had been injected with some medicine that could cure all diseases. His late-stage lung cancer was directly turned into early-stage.
Lin Qiushi had experienced this himself. He stared at the information and said, "He cheated on He Shuangya?" He Shuangya was Wu Qi's girlfriend.
"Not everyone is so lucky," Ruan Nanzhu said. "Some people might still be confused after passing the fifth or sixth door and not understand the rules inside, or even know the forum exists."
Lin Qiushi was able to adapt so quickly because he had Ruan Nanzhu as his guide. Meeting Ruan Nanzhu was Lin Qiushi's good fortune, but He Shuangya was obviously not so lucky.
"For He Shuangya to say something like that means she at least knows about the gate grabbing strategy," Ruan Nanzhu said, "but Cui Xueyi clearly came prepared."
Ruan Nanzhu continued, "We can reasonably speculate that he deceived He Shuangya. When people know that they can't kill people inside the sect, they will lose some of their vigilance towards their own kind. Perhaps Cui Xueyi took advantage of He Shuangya's mentality..."
Lin Qiushi asked, "Did he contact Wu Qi afterwards?"
Ruan Nanzhu: "Killing someone's girlfriend always makes you feel guilty. It's better to cut the grass and wipe it out completely." He laughed sarcastically, "It seems that Cui Xueyi is also a cruel and ruthless person."
Lin Qiushi placed his finger on Cui Xueyi's photo, his eyes nearly staring a hole through it. He asked, "Is there any way..."
Although Lin Qiushi didn't say anything, Ruan Nanzhu already understood what he meant. He said, "Of course there are." He pointed at Lin Qiushi's computer and said, "This forum is the headquarters of the sect's members. When Cui Xueyi's organization needs new recruits, they will look for targets on the forum. We just need to wait and see."
Lin Qiushi exhaled and said, "Okay."
Because of Wu Qi's incident, the atmosphere in the villa has been quite heavy these days. As soon as Lin Qiushi went downstairs, he saw Zhuo Feiquan arguing with Cheng Qianli.
Zhuo Feiquan was the Luo Qianshan who was with his sister in the ninth door of Cheng Yixie. He looked gloomy and glared at Cheng Qianli and said, "I'm asking you something, why don't you say anything!"
Cheng Qianli asked, "What?" He was still chewing toast in his hand and had no mood to care what Zhuo Feiquan said.
Zhuo Feiquan: "Did you steal my customer? What on earth do you want?"
Cheng Qianli: "I told you, I'm not Cheng Yixie, I'm Cheng Qianli!"
Zhuo Feiquan: "Stop pretending, you are obviously Cheng Yixie!"
Cheng Qianli: "..." Why is he here again? It has been a long time since anyone mistaken him for his brother.
Lin Qiushi, watching from the side, found it truly hilarious. He said from a distance, "That is indeed Cheng Qianli."
Zhuo Feiquan looked at him suspiciously when he heard this, obviously still a little unconvinced.
"Really? He's Cheng Qianli," Lin Qiushi said. "Cheng Yixie left this morning and hasn't returned yet."
Zhuo Feiquan said: "Fuck, he said he would wait for me in the villa, what a bastard!"
Lin Qiushi: "There's actually a big difference between them. Can't you tell them apart?"
Zhuo Feiquan muttered, "They look exactly the same."
Lin Qiushi burst out laughing. Cheng Qianli angrily slapped his Corgi's fat butt. Toast turned his head and looked at Cheng Qianli with grievance, as if to say, "Why are you slapping me? It hurts me."
Anyway, after Zhuo Feiquan's identity was exposed by Cheng Yixie, he was tricked by Cheng Yixie many times, and even became a frequent visitor to the villa for a while. In the end, Ruan Nanzhu couldn't stand it anymore and tactfully talked to Cheng Yixie about it, and the situation was finally alleviated.
However, Cheng Yixie seemed to be in a bad mood today, so Zhuo Feiquan was tricked by Cheng Yixie again.
After Zhuo Feiquan left, Cheng Qianli muttered why his brother always had to provoke Zhuo Feiquan. Is there something special about Zhuo Feiquan?
As Lin Qiushi listened to Cheng Qianli's words, he thought of the necklace around Zhuo Feiquan's neck that was inlaid with his sister's photo. He thought that to some extent, Zhuo Feiquan was indeed special.
After finalizing the plan with Lin Qiushi, Ruan Nanzhu began to fish on the forum.
He registered an account and began pretending to be a newcomer on the forum. Of course, pretending to be a newbie is a skill; it's not just about saying you're new and that's it. Ruan Nanzhu's account style was very low-key, occasionally posting simple questions. His words and actions, though awkward, betrayed the fact that he wasn't a seasoned user.
While he was doing these things, Lin Qiushi watched eagerly from the side and asked, "Will this really work?"
"Of course it's useful." Ruan Nanzhu said, "Otherwise, how could Gu Longming trick you in?"
Lin Qiushi: "..." He was silent for a moment, wondering if this was just because he was naive.
"If they notice me, they'll definitely investigate," Ruan Nanzhu said. "But it doesn't matter. I've assigned a real identity to this account, so if they do investigate, it won't have much of an impact."
"Then how are we going to trick them into coming in?" Lin Qiushi asked. He and Ruan Nanzhu were both from high-ranking sects, so their identities would be exposed the moment they entered.
Ruan Nanzhu said: "There's no need to lie to them. When the time comes, we will definitely enter through their door."
Lin Qiushi suddenly realized it. Thinking about it carefully, it made sense. To lure newcomers in, they would have to have a veteran promise to guide them through the door. Even more attractive was a veteran leading them through the door, just like Sister Xia did in the door with the human mirror. Almost all newcomers were tricked into entering.
Ruan Nanzhu was like an experienced hunter, waiting for his prey to take the bait. He was neither impatient nor anxious, and laid out the tempting bait, which soon attracted the attention of some interested parties.
Lin Qiushi was amazed and said, "Ruan Nanzhu, if you become an online scammer, you will definitely become rich."
Ruan Nanzhu replied, "If I hadn't been an online scammer, wouldn't I have become rich?"
Lin Qiushi said, "They didn't suspect you?"
Ruan Nanzhu said, "Of course I'll be suspicious, but I'll still have to take the bait." He said calmly, "No rush, take your time."
Lin Qiushi admired him immensely.
As they chatted slowly, the group seemed to be relieved about Ruan Nanzhu after investigating his true identity and began to reveal some information. For example, they could take Ruan Nanzhu through a door, and as long as they passed that door, they could skip several dangerous doors.
Ruan Nanzhu was very hesitant at first, which was a normal reaction because no one would trust the netizens on the other side of the Internet so easily.
Until the person on the other end listed many examples of himself having been involved in the relationship and tried to ask Ruan Nanzhu to come out for a meeting.
According to Ruan Nanzhu's information, he is a white-collar worker working in a company. He works diligently and timidly all day long and has a very low sense of existence.
Such people are the best targets for that organization.
Lin Qiushi looked at Ruan Nanzhu and said, "You don't look like a white-collar worker with no sense of presence at all." Ruan Nanzhu has a beautiful appearance and attracts people's attention wherever she goes.
Who would have thought that Ruan Nanzhu would give Lin Qiushi a subtle smile and whisper, "Lin Qiushi, how's your falsetto practice going?"
Lin Qiushi: "..." He suddenly had a very bad feeling.
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