Chapter 91 Sunny Doll
Ruan Nanzhu's expression was serious, not a joke at all. He slowly placed the sunny doll in his hand on the stone bench beside him, then untied the cotton string wrapped around the white cloth. Once the cotton string was untied, the object wrapped in the white cloth was revealed—Lin Qiushi saw a head that had turned white from blisters.
The head seemed to have been soaked in water for a long time. Its skin had turned as pale as a dead fish. Its eyes were wide open, revealing fear and disbelief. Its eyeballs were bulging as if they were about to fall out of their sockets.
As soon as Ruan Nanzhu let go, the head rolled from the stone bench to the wall and stopped with a thud.
Lin Qiushi looked at the head and asked, "Did someone die?"
"Maybe," Ruan Nanzhu said, "Have you heard of the legend of the Sunny Doll?"
Lin Qiushi said, "I've heard of it, but not much." He knew that both Japanese and Chinese folk legends had legends about this kind of thing, but the Chinese sunny doll was called "Sweeping Sunshine Girl" and the Japanese sunny doll seemed to be different.
Ruan Nanzhu spoke slowly, "In Japan, there's a legend about a sunny doll. It's about a monk who passed through a village and claimed he could stop the rain. But after chanting some sutra, the rain didn't stop. The angry villagers chopped off his head, wrapped it in white cloth, and hung it high...and then the rain stopped."
Lin Qiushi looked at the water-soaked head and fell silent.
"There's a folk song in Japan about a sunny doll..." Ruan Nanzhu said softly, "Sunny doll, please make it sunny tomorrow. Just like the sky in my dreams. If it's sunny, I'll give you a golden bell. Sunny doll, please make it sunny tomorrow. If you obey my wish, I'll give you sweet wine. Sunny doll, please make it sunny tomorrow. If it's still cloudy and rainy tomorrow, I'll chop off your head."
After Ruan Nanzhu finished reciting the nursery rhyme, Lin Qiushi heard a crackling sound. He looked toward the courtyard and saw bean-sized raindrops falling from the sky. The rain was like a curtain, completely separating the courtyard from the rest of the world.
"So this is the function of this human head." Ruan Nanzhu said, "It really is a sunny doll."
Because the sunny doll had been taken down, the sunny weather suddenly turned rainy again. Lin Qiushi looked helpless and said, "Can we save it by hanging it up again?"
Ruan Nanzhu said, "Let's try." Then, Ruan Nanzhu wrapped the head in white cloth, tied it with cotton string, and hung it back in its original position. As they had expected, the weather outside cleared up soon after the head was hung back. The dense dark clouds disappeared in an instant.
"Interesting." Ruan Nanzhu said while staring at the sunny doll made of a human head.
"Let's go see who's dead first." Lin Qiushi looked at his watch and said.
"Okay." Ruan Nanzhu nodded.
Then the two went to the restaurant.
Most people in the restaurant were eating at the moment, and Lin Qiushi saw Lin Xingping and a few of her friends. In less than a day, she had become close friends with Wang Ronghua, a newcomer she had just met inside. Wang Ronghua seemed to have completely regarded Lin Xingping as the most trusted person in the world.
When Lin Xingping saw them coming, she greeted them warmly and said, "Come over here and have something to eat."
Ruan Nanzhu naturally slid closer to Lin Qiushi and said coquettishly, "Linlin, I'm hungry." Given his height outside the door, this coquettish attitude would have been quite awkward. However, since he was smaller inside, it wasn't particularly annoying.
Lin Qiushi stroked his hair and said, "Be good, come and eat."
Ruan Nanzhu nodded with a smile.
Cui Xueyi watched their interaction with disgust, thinking they were truly ugly and full of mischief. Anyway, the makeup Lin Qiushi had put on outside didn't disappear after he entered, so at this moment, he was still the shabby man who made Cheng Qianli lose his appetite.
The two of them found a place to sit down, and while eating, they counted the number of people. Sure enough, they found that the original fourteen people had become thirteen.
"Why is there one person missing?" Others noticed this as well. "Is there anyone missing? Still sleeping?"
"The one who lived with me is missing..." A man in the corner said timidly, "He went out in the middle of the night last night and hasn't come back since..."
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" The person who asked the question was a girl. After hearing the answer, she said angrily, "Why are you hanging around in the middle of the night? You must be dead now."
"I... I don't know either. I tried to persuade him, but he said he heard some noise." The man replied, "Who knew he would never come back after he left..."
The girl sneered and stopped talking.
The restaurant also became quiet and everyone fell into silence.
"Alright, alright, stop arguing." Lin Xingping said, "The NPC didn't give us a time limit this time, so the conditions should be quite relaxed. Don't be too nervous, everything will be fine." She is actually quite good-looking, with a gentle voice and a calm and capable temperament. When everyone is in panic, she regards herself as a leader and easily gains dominance in the team.
Of course, this is only the case in a low-level sect. If it were a high-level sect, those veterans would definitely not take Lin Xingping seriously.
"Why don't we take advantage of the good weather and go look somewhere else," Lin Xingping said. "We haven't even been to the area near the courtyard yet."
"Okay, let's go together after dinner." Cui Xueyi said from the side, "The right thing to do is for everyone to unite and find the clues and the door as soon as possible."
So everyone decided to go out after dinner.
But when they walked into the corridor, someone discovered the large and somewhat strange sunny doll at the end of the corridor.
"What is that?" someone in the crowd asked.
"Is it a Sunny Day doll?" Lin Xingping walked over to the Sunny Day doll and said, "It's so big..."
She stood on tiptoe, pretending to want to take it off, but seemed not to be tall enough, "Someone take it down and let me see."
Someone came over and helped her take the doll off.
Lin Qiushi couldn't help but raise his eyebrows as he watched this scene. This Lin Xingping was indeed smart. She didn't know the specific function of the doll, nor did she know if anything would happen if she touched the doll with her hands. However, her gesture was so natural that she easily deceived these inexperienced people next door.
The man who took down the sunny doll noticed the weight was off. His expression changed immediately, and he mumbled, "There seems to be a head inside..."
"Head?" Everyone's expression changed drastically, and Lin Xingping also acted frightened. "You, you open it and take a look?"
The person who took off the sunny doll carefully opened the white cloth again, revealing the swollen human head inside.
Everyone gasped when they saw this scene.
The person who claimed that his roommate was missing immediately identified the deceased: "Yes, it's him. He went out at night and never came back." And it seemed that he would never come back.
"The dead are gone. Let's bury him." Lin Xingping said sadly, "Although his head and body are separated, we can't just let his body hang here, right?"
Some people in the crowd agreed, while others remained silent, but in the end everyone dug a hole in the yard and buried the head.
But what Lin Qiushi found strange was that after these people took down the sunny doll, he thought it would rain outside, but the sky was still sunny and there was no sign of rain.
Lin Qiushi was a little surprised, but he immediately realized that Ruan Nanzhu seemed to be reciting a long nursery rhyme when he took off the sunny doll. He looked at Ruan Nanzhu and his eyes met Ruan Nanzhu's.
Ruan Nanzhu leaned into Lin Qiushi's arms, his body as light as a soft feather. He pressed his cheek against Lin Qiushi's chest and said softly, "Do you think it would be interesting if I read it out loud now?"
The sunny doll was taken down. If Ruan Nanzhu recited the nursery rhyme again at this time, there might be a heavy rain hitting the entire yard, and no one in the yard would be spared, including Cui Xueyi and his two accomplices, whom Lin Qiushi wanted to take revenge on.
Lin Qiushi's fingers slid through Ruan Nanzhu's hair. He looked at the other people in the yard who were bending over to dig a pit for their dead companions, and finally shook his head.
After receiving Lin Qiushi's answer, Ruan Nanzhu laughed and said, "I like Linlin the most."
Lin Qiushi said, "I like you too." He asked for his thoughts and respected his opinion.
After burying their heads, everyone walked around the town for a few rounds.
The town wasn't big, and you could see some residents walking around. The environment was quite nice, with cherry blossom trees planted everywhere. There was also a small park and a clear river. All in all, if this wasn't the world inside the gate, I'd probably find it quite comfortable to live here.
Lin Qiushi originally wanted to visit a few more places, but who knew that the sky would start to darken in the evening.
Because they were afraid of rain, he and Ruan Nanzhu returned to the yard early and stood in the corridor.
Sure enough, after a while, bean-sized raindrops fell from the sky, making a loud noise, and the whole world was shrouded in rain again.
Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu came back early and didn't get wet at all, but a few people who came back later got soaked.
Lin Xingping originally wanted to act with Lin Qiushi and the others, but she couldn't stand the sticky look of these two ugly guys, so she found an excuse to slip away halfway.
Ruan Nanzhu said in a very understanding tone, "Sister Lin, you have never been in love, right? If you meet someone you like, you will not be able to control yourself at all." After he said this, he came over and kissed Lin Qiushi on the chin.
Lin Qiushi cooperated very well and looked agreeable.
Lin Xingping's expression distorted, but after a long while, she managed not to curse and said, "I have other places I want to go. You guys can chat first."
"Okay then." Ruan Nanzhu said, "I want to talk to my Linlin for a while."
Lin Qiushi said, "Baby, let's find a small park..."
Then the two of them watched Lin Xingping being forced to leave in disgust.
Lin Qiushi watched Lin Xingping walk away and couldn't help but burst out laughing. He said, "You have such a bad taste."
Ruan Nanzhu said disdainfully, "I thought she could endure it for a long time. To be honest, I kind of regret making you look so ugly. It's really disgusting to say such things to your face."
Lin Qiushi thought innocently, "Didn't you do all this yourself? Why are you blaming me?"
Not long after the two returned to the yard, it started to rain heavily. Lin Qiushi saw several people who came back late hurried back from outside, their bodies soaked by the rain.
"Why does it rain so suddenly?" Someone was still complaining as he entered the house. He went up to the corridor, and his water-soaked body left a series of footprints on the wooden floor of the corridor.
Lin Qiushi suddenly noticed that when these people entered the house, the old man who had led them there on the first day stood quietly in a corner. His eyes seemed to be fixed on the footprints on the floor, and they didn't move away for a long time. Lin Qiushi inexplicably felt that his eyes made him feel a little uneasy.
"They asked us to bring umbrellas, but where can we find them? Really..." The man muttered as he went into the house, and his voice gradually faded away.
However, when they left the house, they did look for an umbrella, but there was no sign of one. Seeing the good weather, everyone thought it would not rain, so they went out directly. Who knew that the rain would come so suddenly, and those who were not prepared were soaked to the skin.
After finishing their meal, Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu also returned to the house.
It started raining heavily outside again. Lin Qiushi sat on the bed, lowered his head and played Sudoku for a while. Ruan Nanzhu was beside him, seemingly thinking about something.
Suddenly, he said, "I always feel like something is wrong."
"What?" Lin Qiushi turned his head and looked at him.
"Normally, there wouldn't be a time limit inside a door. This door is too peaceful." Ruan Nanzhu said, "Something is wrong."
Lin Qiushi thought about it carefully. It was indeed true. Normally, there would be a clear time limit inside a door, but this time the NPC hadn't stated a final deadline. This was highly unusual. He asked, "Is there something we haven't noticed?"
"It should be." Ruan Nanzhu said, "But it's only the first day, there's no need to be too anxious." Some rules must be verified over time. He now has a guess, but it's just a guess.
Lin Qiushi thought of the nursery rhyme he had heard in the rain yesterday. He said, "I... want to take a look outside tonight..."
Ruan Nanzhu blinked: "Aren't you afraid? What if seeing them means death?"
Lin Qiushi shook his head. "That shouldn't be the case. Since someone left the house last night, there must have been others who heard the nursery rhyme, but nothing happened to them."
"That's true." Ruan Nanzhu said lazily, "Wake me up when the time comes, and we'll watch it together. If anything unexpected happens, we can take care of each other."
"Okay." Lin Qiushi accepted Ruan Nanzhu's kindness.
The clattering sound of the rain was a real annoyance to Lin Qiushi, who had keen hearing. Even with Ruan Nanzhu lying beside him, the noise kept him awake. Ruan Nanzhu suggested he plug his ears with a ball of paper, but Lin Qiushi refused.
"Let's talk about it after tonight," Lin Qiushi said. "It would be troublesome if he fell asleep in the middle of the night."
"Okay." Ruan Nanzhu didn't force it.
The two of them snuggled into bed, and Ruan Nanzhu quickly fell asleep, while Lin Qiushi, half asleep and half awake, had all kinds of bizarre dreams.
These dreams were a chaotic mess, devoid of logic. Lin Qiushi even inexplicably dreamed of himself getting married, only to uncover Ruan Nanzhu's face beneath the bride's red veil. The sight of Ruan Nanzhu's face instantly jolted Lin Qiushi awake. He gasped slightly, staring wide-eyed at the ceiling, plunged into darkness. The faint sound of the children's rhyme reached his ears again: "Bamboo creases... Bamboo creases... Bird in a cage..."
Lin Qiushi sat up from the bed and woke Ruan Nanzhu.
Ruan Nanzhu opened his eyes, still somewhat hazy with sleepiness, but the sleepiness soon disappeared. He lowered his voice and asked, "Are you here?"
Lin Qiushi nodded and pointed to the door.
Ruan Nanzhu said, "Let's go."
The two of them slowly moved to the door, opened the wooden door a crack, and saw the scene outside.
Because it was very dark, Lin Qiushi could not see clearly. He could only vaguely see several children holding hands and circling around something in the yard. After careful identification, Lin Qiushi found that the person they were surrounding was actually a shivering person.
"The bamboo cracks, the bamboo cracks. The bird in the cage wants to be thrown out at any moment. On that night before dawn, the crane and the turtle slip. Who is facing you from behind?"... When the ballad reached the last line, the children stopped, their faces pale, their cheeks swollen from blisters, and repeated the line: "Who is facing you from behind?"
The man who was surrounded didn't speak, or perhaps he said something that Lin Qiushi didn't hear.
Then he heard a soft gurgling sound, and the man's head and body were separated.
"Chuckling, chuckling," the children's clear voices rang out. They seemed very happy and said, "It's your turn to be a ghost. It's your turn to be a ghost."
The headless corpse slowly stood up, turned around slowly, and took the place of the child behind him.
It was only then that Lin Qiushi discovered that there was another headless corpse among them, holding hands with the two children.
The person who was killed became a ghost in place of the child.
Lin Qiushi finally understood at this moment.
The singing began again, and the creatures in the yard happily spun around outside. The heavy rain blurred their figures, making it difficult for Lin Qiushi to see clearly. But Ruan Nanzhu, who had been leaning against Lin Qiushi, suddenly felt his breathing quicken. He asked, "Did you see that?"
"What?" Lin Qiushi didn't understand.
"There." Ruan Nanzhu pointed to the corner of the yard.
Lin Qiushi looked around, but couldn't see anything. The corner was too dark. Although his eyesight was good, it was only that of an ordinary person, not Ruan Nanzhu's. "I can't see..."
Ruan Nanzhu asked, "Can't see it?" He raised an eyebrow, "Okay, forget it if you can't see it."
"What is it?" Lin Qiushi asked.
Ruan Nanzhu: "There was a man standing there holding an umbrella." He said, "He seemed to be looking at us."
Lin Qiushi: “…”
Ruan Nanzhu: "Forget it, leave them alone, let's go to sleep, otherwise it will be dawn soon."
"Okay." Lin Qiushi nodded.
After they closed the door, they lay back on the bed and were about to fall asleep when they heard banging sounds coming from outside the house.
Lin Qiushi was very familiar with this sound, and his expression immediately changed: "It's the sound of a ball."
Ruan Nanzhu sat up from the bed.
The ball hit their door frame with a thud. Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu stood there motionless, but saw the door in front of them being opened a little by a pair of small hands, and then a black eye appeared on the other side of the gap.
A little girl's tender voice rang out, and she asked, "Have you seen my ball?"
Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu remained silent.
So the little girl asked again: "Have you seen my ball?" She opened the door a little, and Lin Qiushi saw her face. It was a half-rotten cheek, revealing white teeth. Her body was covered in water, leaving a black stain on the ground.
"You see..." the little girl tried to repeat it for the third time.
Ruan Nanzhu spoke up, saying, "You wet the floor."
The girl's movements suddenly stopped, as if she had heard something terrifying. She turned and disappeared through the door. Lin Qiushi heard the thud, thud, thud again. The ball, as if alive, stopped at their door. Then, a pair of small hands took the ball away from their door.
Everything fell silent.
"It's time to sleep." Ruan Nanzhu said, "Go to sleep."
Lin Qiushi hummed, then stood up and pulled the door closed. There was no lock on the door, so it was easy to open. But there was no safer place to sleep.
"Go to sleep." Ruan Nanzhu snuggled into Lin Qiushi's arms.
Lin Qiushi hugged him and felt inexplicably at ease. He stuffed the paper ball into his ears, and his breathing soon became even. The two of them fell into a deep sleep.
The next day, Lin Qiushi slept until noon.
When he woke up, he saw Ruan Nanzhu playing with his phone with his head down. He got up and asked blankly, "What time is it?"
"Eleven o'clock." Ruan Nanzhu said, "Are you awake?"
Lin Qiushi shuddered: "It's so late, why didn't you call me?"
"You're too sleepy. It would be good to sleep a little longer." Ruan Nanzhu said, "Get up."
Lin Qiushi nodded and was getting dressed when he heard Ruan Nanzhu add, "They found a new sunny doll containing the head of someone who died last night."
Lin Qiushi had already anticipated this, and after hearing it, he just sighed softly.
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