Chapter 93 Shrine
After confirming the umbrella's function, Ruan Nanzhu hid it in a closet in the house and slid into the same bed with Lin Qiushi. He felt a bit cold after entering, perhaps from the aftereffects of his injury. Lin Qiushi let him squeeze into his arms, half-closing his eyes as he drifted into a light sleep.
The sound of rain outside was incredibly loud, but Lin Qiushi didn't dare stuff paper balls into his ears for fear of missing anything. As a result, his sleep quality wasn't very good, and he spent most of the night half asleep and half awake.
Tonight was no exception. Ruan Nanzhu, curled up in Lin Qiushi's arms, fell asleep quickly. When Lin Qiushi felt that he was about to fall asleep, he was awakened by a shrill scream.
"What's wrong?" Ruan Nanzhu, who was in Lin Qiushi's arms, opened his eyes. He had obviously heard the screams coming from outside and asked.
"Someone's in trouble." Lin Qiushi said. In fact, he not only heard screams, but also heard the sound of something rolling along the corridor. At first glance, the sound was a bit like the basketball that hit their door yesterday, but it seemed a little heavier than the basketball.
Ruan Nanzhu stood up, walked to the door, and quietly opened it a crack.
Lin Qiushi followed beside him, looking out through the gap, and finally saw the source of the screams in a corner of the corridor.
It was a sunny doll. The rope tying it to the ceiling had somehow snapped, and it fell to the ground, rolling forward. Its stick-drawn features were strangely contorted, its mouth wide open, and it let out a pitiful cry: "It hurts! Help, help, help... Someone, please save me..." Lin Qiushi felt the voice was familiar. Upon closer inspection, he realized it belonged to the person from their team who had disappeared the next day. That was the victim who had been beheaded the previous day and turned into a sunny doll.
"Help, help..." The Sunny Doll was still rolling around in the corridor, but the sound of a ballad echoed again in the yard. The children, emerging from the darkness, held hands and sang the creepy ballad again: "The bamboo cracks, the bamboo cracks, the bird in the cage, always wants to escape, on the night before dawn, the crane and the turtle slipped..."
They circled around the person in the center, and the childish voices made the rainy night even more terrifying.
It seemed that other people were woken up by the screams. In any case, Lin Qiushi heard the subtle sound of the door being opened at least three or four times.
The sunny doll kept rolling forward and was about to roll in front of them. Ruan Nanzhu was quick to close the door. Soon, a miserable cry was heard from outside: "Help, help, where is my body, where is my body..."
Lin Qiushi really wanted to answer him, your body is in the yard, but he didn't dare to say it because no one knew what would happen if he said it.
The Sunny Doll rolled and rolled all the way until it seemed to hit something, and then all the sounds disappeared. When Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu carefully opened the door again, his shadow was no longer in the corridor. Only the children were left in the yard, happily playing games in the rain.
Lin Qiushi said, "Someone was walking in the corridor just now." He clearly heard the sound of footsteps in the corridor after the crying of the Sunny Doll disappeared.
Ruan Nanzhu asked, "Which way did you go?"
Lin Qiushi said, "Towards the master's room." Fortunately, he was extremely sensitive to sound, so he could know more information than others without even looking.
"Oh, I understand." Ruan Nanzhu said, "Go to sleep."
Although he said he was going to sleep, he couldn't really fall asleep. Lin Qiushi was thinking about the relationship between the sunny doll and this yard, as well as the umbrella and the children playing games outside.
It was almost dawn when he took another short nap until he heard Ruan Nanzhu getting up.
"Are you not asleep?" Ruan Nanzhu asked him.
"Yeah," Lin Qiushi said. "I didn't sleep much." But he was still in good spirits. After washing his face with cold water in the bathroom, he felt almost recovered. "Should we go to the bamboo forest today?"
"Do you remember how the ballad goes?" Ruan Nanzhu said, "Bamboo sewing, bamboo sewing..." He tilted his head. "Actually, in the original ballad, the first line wasn't 'Bamboo sewing', but 'Bird in a cage.'" He said, "But there are so many ways to translate this ballad. I thought it was just a difference in translation. Now I think it might not be a difference..."
"Is it a hint?" Lin Qiushi continued what Ruan Nanzhu wanted to say.
"Yes, that's a hint," Ruan Nanzhu said. "That's the only bamboo forest in the whole town. We have to go check it out today." He pointed at the umbrella in his hand. "Since we have an umbrella, it doesn't matter if we come back a little later."
Lin Qiushi nodded in agreement: "Let's go together."
He saw yesterday that the vacuum area formed by the umbrella was enough to accommodate two people. He was also worried about Ruan Nanzhu going alone, so if the two of them went together, they could take care of each other if they really encountered any accidents.
"Okay." Ruan Nanzhu nodded and agreed to Lin Qiushi's proposal.
The two went to the restaurant for a simple meal, but when they left the corridor, they saw a new sunny doll hanging in the corridor... Why did they say it was a new person? Because the facial features of the stick figure were different, as if it was specifically telling them that the sunny doll had been replaced.
The noise last night was so loud that obviously everyone heard it, so the atmosphere in the restaurant was frighteningly solemn.
Lin Xingping greeted them enthusiastically as always.
Lin Qiushi responded casually.
"Has a new sunny doll been replaced? Who will be the next one? Will anyone who gets wet by the rain become a sacrifice inside the sunny doll?" Everyone in the crowd was discussing this topic. Ruan Nanzhu and Lin Qiushi had no intention of talking at all. With their ugly faces on, they contentedly fed each other, happily disgusting others.
Of course, the focus among these others is Lin Xingping and the others.
"Oh, dear, there's a grain of rice on the corner of your mouth." Ruan Nanzhu leaned over and kissed the corner of Lin Qiushi's mouth, saying, "You're so careless."
Lin Qiushi said, "Yes, baby. Without you to take care of me, I don't know how to survive."
Lin Xingping probably couldn't bear to watch it any longer, so she changed the subject and asked, "Did you hear any noises last night?"
"I heard it." Ruan Nanzhu looked terrified. "What was that scream? It was so scary... I couldn't sleep well the rest of the night."
In fact, in the second half of the night, Ruan Nanzhu continued to maintain his pig-like sleeping quality.
"We opened the door a crack and saw the sunny doll fall into the corridor, screaming and rolling around. We didn't know where it ended up," Lin Xingping said. "You must be careful and stay away from that thing..."
"Okay, okay, thank you Sister Lin for the reminder." Ruan Nanzhu thanked her gratefully.
"Also, we're going to continue searching for clues today. Do you want to come with us, or go to the bamboo forest?" Lin Xingping had just finished saying this when Cui Xueyi said, "Why ask them to come with us? They haven't done anything wrong. I will never bring people like them along again. They're complete losers. Sister Lin, stop trying to persuade me. You're pretty much a good person, and you can't always protect them."
This makes sense. If an ordinary newcomer heard it, he would probably feel a little ashamed and then agree to go to the bamboo forest to explore.
Lin Qiushi couldn't help but admire their methods.
"Okay, my dear and I will go to the bamboo forest to take a look." Ruan Nanzhu whispered, trying to please Lin Xingping, "Sister Lin, don't be angry, we will definitely work hard, and you must take me with you to the next door."
Lin Xingping smiled and said, "As long as you work hard enough, we will not give up on you."
Ruan Nanzhu smiled contentedly.
Lin Qiushi didn't say anything and continued to eat breakfast with an embarrassed expression.
Xiaocha, who stood up for someone yesterday, seemed to have heard their conversation. She looked at Lin Xingping and seemed to be hesitant to speak, but in the end she said nothing and just sighed softly.
That’s right, the world of Door is full of dangers. It’s already difficult for you to survive, so how can you have so much time to care about others?
After dinner, several people went out together. Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu agreed to go to the bamboo forest to take a look. Under the gaze of Lin Xingping, they carried their backpacks and followed the path into the bamboo forest.
"Oh, I hope they will never come back." Cui Xueyi looked at the backs of the two people and said this with disgust.
"Yeah, I hope they don't come back." Lin Xingping turned her head to look at Gu Yuansi, who had been scared like a quail since entering the sect. "You need to adapt to the life inside the sect as soon as possible. People can help you in the lower levels, but you have to rely on yourself in the higher levels."
Upon hearing this, Gu Yuansi chuckled twice, nodded but said nothing.
Lin Xingping stopped trying to persuade her. After all, she didn't believe that everyone who took over the door would join their organization. People like Gu Yuansi were just employers.
Then Ruan Nanzhu and Lin Qiushi continued walking along the path, surrounded by dense bamboo forests.
The path went up all the time, and they followed it, seemingly climbing to the top of the mountain.
Ruan Nanzhu was frail and tired after walking for a while, so Lin Qiushi carried him on his back and continued walking. Ruan Nanzhu rested his chin on Lin Qiushi's shoulder and asked, "Am I heavy?"
"Not heavy." Lin Qiushi looked up ahead. "As light as a feather. I'm really worried a gust of wind will blow you away."
Ruan Nanzhu laughed when he heard this.
The path seemed endless, and the scenery along the way was almost identical, making Lin Qiushi almost think they were going in circles. However, Ruan Nanzhu's observations were quite sharp, and he was absolutely certain: "We're not going in circles. We're definitely moving forward, even though the scenery is similar..."
"How long will it take to get there?" Lin Qiushi looked up at the sky. The sun had already risen to the middle of the sky. They had been walking for at least the whole morning.
"I don't know." Ruan Nanzhu said, "Anyway, we have an umbrella, so we're not afraid."
Fortunately, after passing through several doors, Lin Qiushi's physical fitness has become different from that of ordinary people, otherwise walking such a long mountain road would be really tiring. But now, even with Ruan Nanzhu on his back, he didn't feel that tired.
The two of them walked and walked, chatting as they walked, until they were about to run out of topics. Ruan Nanzhu began to complain that he couldn't walk any further before he could start telling his kindergarten story. Finally, they saw a different scenery - the path under their feet turned a corner.
"It's finally here!" Ruan Nanzhu sighed and said, "Otherwise I'd have started telling you about how I got scolded by the teacher in kindergarten for snatching candy."
Lin Qiushi thought to himself, “Well, I really want to hear that…” But he didn’t say it out loud. He turned a corner along the path and saw a dilapidated shrine.
Judging from the appearance of this shrine, it has not been used for a long time and is in a dilapidated state. There is also a well next to it, which looks like it has not been used for many years and must have dried up.
Lin Qiushi walked to the entrance of the shrine and gently pushed open the door.
With a creak, the door opened, revealing the dim scene inside. Lin Qiushi looked up and couldn't help but gasp.
The ceiling of the shrine was covered with densely packed sunny dolls. When the wind blew, these sunny dolls swayed, and they looked like countless heads hanging on the ceiling, with their mouths drawn with simple strokes showing a strange smile to Lin Qiushi.
Lin Qiushi really wanted to deceive himself that these were ordinary sunny dolls. However, judging from their size, these sunny dolls could not be ordinary dolls. They should be the same type as the ones in their yard - all made of human heads.
"Tsk." Ruan Nanzhu stood beside Lin Qiushi and slowly walked into the house. He said, "With so many sunny dolls, will it continue to rain?"
Lin Qiushi said, "Maybe the doll can only be used for one day? After use... it loses its effectiveness..." This can also explain why there is no time limit inside the door. In fact, there is one, but it is hidden.
Inside this door, every sunny doll represents a human life. If they want the weather to clear up, they have to use dead people's heads to make sunny dolls. If they can't find an umbrella and the weather can't clear up, doesn't it mean that they will never be able to reach this shrine... until there is a last survivor who will not be killed left inside the door.
Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu walked to the depths of the shrine and saw a statue placed on a platform.
The statue was already dilapidated, but it had no head.
Lin Qiushi observed the statue and found that there was a trough in front of it specifically for offering incense. The statue was dressed somewhat like an ancient monk and looked very ordinary at first glance.
Ruan Nanzhu said, "The head is missing."
Lin Qiushi asked, "Maybe it's in the shrine?"
Ruan Nanzhu said, "Let's look for it."
The shrine wasn't very big, and Ruan Nanzhu and Lin Qiushi searched everywhere but couldn't find the missing head. Ruan Nanzhu looked at the statue and suddenly said, "How about we just put a random head on it?"
Lin Qiushi: "...Are you serious?" He said this, then added, "Okay, I know you're joking."
Lin Qiushi interrupted Ruan Nanzhu before he could finish his words. He glared at him with a resentful look in his eyes.
Lin Qiushi spread his hands, indicating that he didn't mean it.
Ruan Nanzhu said quietly, "Linlin, you've become bad."
Lin Qiushi: “…”
Ruan Nanzhu: "But even though you're so naughty, I still like you."
Lin Qiushi: "..." He looked at Ruan Nanzhu's face and actually began to miss his appearance outside the door...
The two men walked outside the shrine and continued to inspect the surroundings. Lin Qiushi noticed the dry well beside the shrine. He walked closer, but didn't dare get too close. Instead, he tilted his head to peer inside.
However, the dry well was too dark and nothing could be seen. Lin Qiushi looked at it for a while, then turned on the flashlight on his mobile phone and shone it inside.
As a result, when the light from the mobile phone shone inside and Lin Qiushi saw the scene at the bottom of the well clearly, he was so shocked by the scene inside that his hand almost shook and the phone fell into it.
"Fuck!" Lin Qiushi cursed softly and turned to Ruan Nanzhu, "Come and see!"
Ruan Nanzhu asked, "What's wrong?" He walked over to Lin Qiushi's side and peered into the well. Then, he exclaimed the same way Lin Qiushi did: "Holy shit."
I saw that the entire bottom of the well was covered with densely packed corpses. These corpses had all turned into bones, but without exception, they all had no heads.
What shocked Lin Qiushi the most was the postures of these corpses.
Normally, a corpse thrown into a well would fall to the ground, but these skeletons were almost all clinging to the wall, their hands reaching upwards, as if ready to crawl out at any moment. Undoubtedly, these skeletons were still able to move when they were thrown into the well...
Lin Qiushi laughed dryly, "They won't be resurrected again."
Ruan Nanzhu stroked his chin and analyzed calmly, "It's okay. Even if it's resurrected, it won't have much fighting power. It's just a pile of bones. One kick will make it fall apart."
As soon as he finished speaking, there was a loud noise coming from the well. Lin Qiushi saw with his own eyes that the skeleton lying on the wall of the well scattered to the bottom of the well.
Lin Qiushi: "...Stop talking, everyone heard it."
Ruan Nanzhu: "If they heard it, then they heard it. If they had the ability, they would have avenged themselves long ago. Why would they dare to scare us?"
Lin Qiushi truly admired Ruan Nanzhu's logic...it was perfect, and there was nothing wrong with it.
Lin Qiushi looked up at the sky and asked, "Are we going back today?"
"We definitely have to go back. We don't know what will happen if we stay here overnight. It's not safe," Ruan Nanzhu said. "Give me your phone."
Lin Qiushi handed him the phone. Before he understood what he was going to do, he saw Ruan Nanzhu turn on the camera and take a few pictures of the shrine.
"Why are you taking pictures?" Lin Qiushi didn't understand.
"Of course, it's to find a few more sunny dolls for us." Ruan Nanzhu laughed and said, "Let's go home."
"Okay." Lin Qiushi nodded.
The two of them walked back along the path.
Just as Ruan Nanzhu had guessed, by the time they were halfway there, it was already dark. They both opened their umbrellas, and soon, raindrops as big as beans began to fall from the sky, landing on the oil-paper umbrellas. The umbrellas created a vacuum around them. Ruan Nanzhu lay on Lin Qiushi's back, holding the umbrella. Lin Qiushi walked forward step by step.
At about eight o'clock, the two returned to the yard.
There is no doubt that Lin Xingping was overjoyed to see that Lin Qiushi and the others had not returned. However, she did not know whether they would be shocked to see Ruan Nanzhu and Lin Qiushi safe and sound tomorrow morning.
Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu returned to their room, washed up briefly, and went to bed, waiting for the next day.
That night they heard the screams of Sunny Doll again, but they were not too surprised because they were mentally prepared from the previous day.
The next day, before going to the restaurant, Ruan Nanzhu took out a notebook from his bag, tore one of the pages into many small strips, and wrote a few words on the strips - it will rain during the day, don't leave the yard.
Lin Qiushi was a little confused at first, but after considering the photo Ruan Nanzhu had taken yesterday, he understood and praised, "Amazing."
Ruan Nanzhu said, "It's just average, third in the world. Won't you give me some reward?"
Lin Qiushi: "What reward?"
Ruan Nanzhu: "A kiss or something?"
Lin Qiushi looked at Ruan Nanzhu, then pointed at his face: "Are you sure I want to kiss you with this face?"
Ruan Nanzhu glanced at Lin Qiushi's face and fell silent. Finally, he said helplessly, "Okay, forget it. I'll make it up to you when I get out."
The two took the note and went to the restaurant. Lin Xingping saw that they both smiled, while Gu Yuansi looked a little nervous. Lin Xingping said, "You're here. How was it yesterday?"
"That's great! We've made a great discovery." Ruan Nanzhu said, "I'll tell you later!"
Then Ruan Nanzhu ate happily, went to the toilet several times, and chatted with others.
When Ruan Nanzhu came back, the notes in his pocket seemed to have disappeared. In any case, Lin Qiushi didn't understand how he did it.
After dinner, they found a secluded place. Ruan Nanzhu acted impatient and said, "We actually found something at the end of that road yesterday!"
Lin Xingping's eyes showed a hint of surprise, but she quickly hid it. She said, "Yes, we've said there's something over there in the bamboo forest!"
"Yes, we even took photos." Ruan Nanzhu said with relief, "It's a good thing you told us about this. You are really kind people."
Lin Qiushi clearly noticed that when Ruan Nanzhu said this, Cui Xueyi's expression twisted.
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