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Kaleidoscope of Death, Ch. 132

Kaleidoscope of Death by Xi Zixu Link to Chinese / Novel Updates

Chapter 132: By Day, By Night

After hanging up, Lin Qiushi got out of bed. He went to the living room to check on the door and television, making sure both those things were still the same as they had been during daytime yesterday.

After that, Lin Qiushi left the apartment in a hurry. Halfway out he even got a call from Wu Qi, asking why he wasn't at work.

"There's something I have to do." Lin Qiushi was already in a car and had honestly completely forgotten about going to work. He tried to wheedle: "Ask for time off for me."

Wu Qi, "okay, how long should I ask for?"

Lin Qiushi, "half a year?"

Wu Qi, shocked, "…half a year?? Are you planning on resigning?"

Lin Qiushi glanced at his watch, not thinking of work at all.

"Or yeah, you can just resign for me."

Wu Qi seemed like he had something to say, but whatever words were on the tip of his tongue never made it out—he only sighed: "Fine, I'll get time off for you. If there's something going on you've got to tell me, alright? Don't carry it all on your own."

Lin Qiushi made a noise of agreement, expression still pensive.

The car continued on, and over an hour later, it arrived at where Lin Qiushi wanted to go. Lin Qiushi got off, went upstairs, and knocked on the door—every motion done in a single smooth breath. The truth was, however, that these few simple motions were only possible after extensive emotional preparation done during the car ride.

The door he knocked on opened after a bit, revealing a beautiful middle-age woman—it was Ruan Nanzhu's mother.

Because before they'd entered the door, Ruan Nanzhu had taken Lin Qiushi home. Now Lin Qiushi had a clear memory of where Ruan Nanzhu's old house was. Coming here this time was simply to confirm one thing…

"Hi Auntie," Lin Qiushi greeted politely.

"Hello." The woman watched Lin Qiushi with curiosity and asked, "is there something I can help you with?"

"I wanted to ask, do you know who Ruan Nanzhu is?" Lin Qiushi asked carefully.

"Ruan Nanzhu?" The woman's tone of doubt sent Lin Qiushi's heart sinking, and the question on her face only grew stronger. "Sorry, I don't know who that is."

"Then do you know Ruan Baiye?" Lin Qiushi brought up another name—this was the name of Ruan Nanzhu's older bother.

"Baiye? He's my son…" Mama Ruan said. "He's not home right now, but he'll be back later tonight. Are you looking for him?"

Lin Qiushi, "ma'am you…only have one son?"

Mama Ruan nodded as the way she looked at Lin Qiushi got stranger and stranger. Which was fair. Suddenly coming to her house and asking questions like these, Lin Qiushi didn't seem like a normal person at all.

Lin Qiushi had no idea what else to say either. After bidding Mama Ruan goodbye, he rushed back downstairs and hurried off to another location.

Ruan Nanzhu's existence had been completely wiped. There was nobody in this world named Ruan Nanzhu, not even to his parents, and even Obsidian, the organization that he led, had stopped existing…

This time, Lin Qiushi's destination was Li Dongyuan's White Deer.

When he arrived at White Deer headquarters, Lin Qiushi discovered that the building that once belonged to White Deer was now commercial offices, labeled with the name of XX Bank. Lin Qiushi was standing in the doorway contemplating how to sneak upstairs when he saw a familiar face leave the building. That person was wearing a suit and speaking to someone beside him; judging by appearance alone, he was that baby-faced Li Dongyuan that Lin Qiushi knew.

Seeing this Lin Qiushi hurried forward and called, "Li Dongyuan!"

Li Dongyuan's feet stalled, and he glanced in Lin Qiushi's direction. With eyes both cautious and distant, he asked, "who might you be? If you'd like to discuss something please book an appointment with my secretary first."

"I—" Lin Qiushi said. "Do you know me?"

Lin Qiushi lifted an eyebrow and didn't speak. His expression though, gave Lin Qiushi an answer—he did not know Lin Qiushi, and even thought Lin Qiushi's question odd.

"You don't recognize me?" Lin Qiushi also couldn't quite convey how he was feeling just then.

"Should I recognize you?" Li Dongyuan smiled a smile that wasn't quite a smile as he scanned Lin Qiushi up and down.

Lin Qiushi suddenly recalled something else. He said, "then do you know Zhuang Rujiao?"

Li Dongyuan didn't answer, and still seemed unfamiliar with the name.

"What about Jin Yurui?" Lin Qiushi tried again.

"You know her?" Li Dongyuan's smile, however, faded. "You're one of hers, then?"

Lin Qiushi could finally be sure why some people didn't exist in this world—because they were still alive. If they still survived in the world outside the door, then they did not exist inside this door. Both Li Dongyuan and Jin Yurui were dead, so they had new identities inside this door.

And, those who had died inside the doors aside, the people who were competely unrelated to the doors did not seem affected by this rule at all. They existed both inside this door and outside it, and had nothing to do with living or dying.

"Is there anything else?" Eyeing Lin Qiushi, who was deep in thought, Li Dongyuan lifted his chin with a cold expression. "If there's nothing else why don't you take your leave? This is a place of work."

Lin Qiushi took one last look at him before turning to go.

"Who is that?" the person standing beside Li Dongyuan asked as they watched Lin Qiushi leave.

"I don't know," Li Dongyuan said. "Looks kind of familiar though. Never mind, bring me that data and let me confirm…"

Lin Qiushi left White Deer headquarters and glanced at his watch. It was already twelve noon. An idea surfaced in his mind, and Lin Qiushi got out his phone to book a roundtrip flight for C City the next morning.

There were some matters he wanted to confirm in C City; it was already too late to go today, so he could only hurry there tomorrow morning and try to make it back in one day.

Fact of the matter was, Lin Qiushi didn't want to try spending the night on an airplane. Hell knows how terrifying that would be.

After taking care of lunch at a random spot in town, Lin Qiushi returned home and took a nap. As he thought about what would happen later that evening, Lin Qiushi thought he wouldn't be able to sleep. But in fact he slept quite well, passing out the moment he hit the bed. When he woke it was already five in the afternoon. Chestnut sat by his side, meowing, looking to be hungry again.

Lin Qiushi got up and, after fixing up some food for Chestnut, called some delivery for himself. He ate while watching TV.

He saw the trailer for Tan Zaozao's new movie. From the language of the advertisement, Lin Qiushi figured out that Tan Zaozao had already won the award. The award-winning movie was exactly the same as it had been on the outside, only the director was a different person this time and not Zhang Yiqing.

This world was so very similar to the world that Lin Qiushi lived in, but there was one fundamental difference—Ruan Nanzhu, the person Lin Qiushi most wanted to see, was not here.

Good thing that was so, actually. This door, for a lot of other people, would likely be of insurmountable difficulty. Like Zhuang Rujiao. Or Cheng Yixie for that matter. That was because here, they could once again see their most beloved person…

The night deepened, and Lin Qiushi got everything ready.

Around ten in the evening, it suddenly began to rain outside.

Water came down as if tossed from a ladle, washing clean the earth scorched dry by the sun. Lin Qiushi stood by the window, watching as passersby scampered home along the sidewalks until only streetlamps were left on the empty streets, with only the occasional car passing by.

Chestnut fell asleep sprawled out on the couch. The atmosphere grew quiet. Some senseless program played on TV as a queer sort of silence began to crawl out inside the house.

Lin Qiushi smelled petrichor. He used to be quite a fan of this smell, until he encountered a particular door. After that, this tainted scent of rainwater became something a lot more unpleasant.

The hour hand turned bit by bit, and twelve o'clock was nearly here.

Lin Qiushi sat in the living room, as if a spirit waiting for the death god's verdict. The switch from day to night came, and the clock hanging on the wall finally began to ring: ding dong, ding dong, ding dong…Twelve chimes heralded in another world.

The moment it became twelve, someone was immediately knocking at his door once more. Backpack on, Lin Qiushi came to the door, and through the peephole saw a woman standing on the other side, smiling at him.

He remembered the woman's name. It was the NPC hidden among the crowd in the Sister's Drum door, Xu Jin.

"Hurry up and come out already," Xu Jin told Lin Qiushi. "Come out already, my sister's coming to find you."

Lin Qiushi didn't open the door. He heard a soft noise from the window, however, and when Lin Qiushi turned, he saw a figure pressed against the glass.

It was a person with all her skin stripped off, her body a mess of blood and flesh from head to toe. The bloody face pressed against Lin Qiushi's glass and her mouth split open, showing Lin Qiushi her stark white teeth. It looked like she was trying to open up the locked window, and judging from her motions, she seemed close to succeeding.

Opening the door looked to be the only option right now. Gritting his teeth, Lin Qiushi twisted open the door handle and faced Xu Jin, standing on the outside.

Xu Jin clearly knew what Lin Qiushi was worried about, and began to chuckle.

"How could I bear to hurt you?" A pause, as her gaze lingered on Lin Qiushi's backpack. "My diary is still in your hands. Did you give it a good read yet?"

Lin Qiushi, "…" Why did he feel like he was being teased?

But there wasn't time for him to worry about that, because Xu Jin's sister was about to come in though the window. Xu Jin grabbed Lin Qiushi by the arm and ran. The two made their way down the hall and came to the elevator.

"Go on inside, but watch out," Xu Jin said. "There are other things that want you dead."

Lin Qiushi asked, "what about you?" He recalled that Xu Jin didn't have a very good relationship with her sister.

"Me?" Xu Jin’s eyes curved up in a sudden smile. "How do you know that I don't want you dead?"

As soon as she said this, the skin on her body began to fall off patch by patch. The startled Lin Qiushi rushed into the elevator and pressed a number.

Xu Jin was chuckling again, and though her laugh was bright like silver bells, her terrifying appearance struck a sharp contrast.

Even though she now looked scarier, she didn't seem keen on pursuing Lin Qiushi.

The elevator started. In theory, Lin Qiushi ought to be safe, but that weird sense of danger once again assaulted the top of his head.

Lin Qiushi looked all around him, and when he spotted a certain something hanging in the elevator, goosebumps appeared all over his body. He'd spotted behind him, on what should have been an empty elevator wall, a huge black picture frame. There was nothing inside the frame, but the frame was pointed at exactly where he was standing.

Lin Qiushi reacted swiftly, hitting the button for the floor closest to him. At the exact same time, black water stains began appearing on the white paper inside that frame. First there was only one drop. Then it began spreading on the canvas paper.

He watched as the shape of that stain began to look more and more like a woman. It dispersed across the canvas and, in a short amount of time, managed to coat the entire large canvas.

Luckily it was then that the elevator reached the nearest floor. Lin Qiushi immediately took off, and the moment he cleared the elevator, a pair of pale white hands burst out of that canvas paper, searching around like it was looking for something to grab hold of.

Lin Qiushi was currently on the sixth floor. The moment he was out of the elevator he turned for the emergency exit right next door, bounding quickly down the stairs.

It was dim in the stairwell, with just enough light to see the path beneath his feet. Lin Qiushi ran down two stories before feeling something was off. He took a closer look, and discovered that he'd been turning round and round on floor six.

The stairs seemed to have become a mobius strip—up, down, backward, forward, it all came back to the sixth floor.

Lin Qiushi's feet screeched to a halt. He took in his surroundings, and noticed, on the white stairwell ceilings, little black spots of water appearing. That chilling stench of rain too was spreading through the air.

The thing had found him. Lin Qiushi made an executive decision and left the stairwell, stepping out onto the hallway. But back in the hall, Lin Qiushi discovered that the corridor had underwent a terrifying change: black frames hung on both sides, and inside each frame was a human head with its expression all twisted up. As for the ceramic tile floor, there was now a new carpet, thick and black—the pattern on it looked the same as in a door they'd encountered before.

Lin Qiushi looked up and saw, on the other other end of the hallway, another painting hanging. That painting was a woman in black with a long, sharp hat. Her eyes were half closed, but it felt like she was staring right down the hall and meeting Lin Qiushi's eyes.

Lin Qiushi wanted to leave the hallway, but when he glanced back, he found that the stairwell he had just came from had disappeared. The length of the hallway too seemed to be slowly shortening; Lin Qiushi could sense the painting of the woman getting closer and closer, closer and closer…

At that moment, a drop of water fell onto Lin Qiushi's forehead. Lin Qiushi gave it a wipe, and realized that it was blood. On reflex he looked up—a black hole had appeared above his head without him noticing, and blood was dripping from its edge onto his head. A pair of black eyes glimmered faintly in the dark, and then right after, a pair of pulpy, bloody hands reached out of the hole for Lin Qiushi.

Lin Qiushi's instincts were to back away, but the strange thing was, the hands stopped when they got to him. As if a miracle, he sensed no animosity from this pair of hands.

The hallway was still getting shorter and shorter, as if it were becoming a cage keen on trapping Lin Qiushi inside. With a clench of his teeth, Lin Qiushi reached up and grabbed the fleshy mess of those hands, and then felt a sudden force as he was brought out of that shrinking hallway.

"Aiya, looks like you can't manage without me after all."

The voice belonged to Xu Jin, but from appearance alone, he couldn't tell it was her at all. The skin on her body was completely gone, leaving only scarlet flesh and blood. She was grinning brightly at Lin Qiushi, and the contrast between her smile and appearance was strange, but Lin Qiushi didn't find it scary at all.

"Thank you," Lin Qiushi said to her.

Xu Jin didn't speak. Her gaze instead leaped over Lin Qiushi to look behind him.

Sensing something, Lin Qiushi too twisted around, and spotted on the other end of the darkness a pair of glowing red eyes.

"Meimei, my sister."

The owner of those eyes was also a skinless monster. She didn't have any legs and could only walk on her hands, but that didn't mean she was slow. She glared at Lin Qiushi with vitriol and bared her teeth; like a hyena hunting its prey, the sheer amount of hatred in her eyes was strong enough to materialize.

"Why did you betray me?" she said. "Do you like him that much? Since you like him so much, why don't I keep him here for you?"

Xu Jin tilted her head, and also smiled.

"But Jiejie, even if you did that, I still won't like you."

After that, she told Lin Qiushi to run, and threw herself at her sister. The two monsters clashed and tangled together.

Lin Qiushi got up and sprinted in the direction of the light. By the time he reached its source, he found that he'd already escaped from the apartment building, and was standing in the yard of the residential block.

It was still raining outside. Lin Qiushi pulled an umbrella out of his backpack and slowly pushed it open, stepping out into the curtaining rain.

The rain came down in sluicing torrents, and the streets were completely empty, with only water splashing along the ground. The rain ought to have been noisy; but at a time like this the loudness of the rain only made the world sound more silent in comparison.

"Help me—help me—"

There was a sudden cry for help. A silhouette came stumbling out of the rain, and Lin Qiushi could just make it out: she was a pitiful-looking young woman, staggering through the rain in a long dress. It looked like she was being pursued by something, and when she spotted Lin Qiushi standing not too far away, it was like she'd found an oasis in the middle of a desert—she came running immediately.

"Help, help!! Please, I'm begging you please help me, something wants to kill me…" She fell to the ground, looking up pathetically at Lin Qiushi. "You're also someone going through the doors, right? So am I, this door is so scary—"

Had this been reality, Lin Qiushi would've definitely helped the young woman up by now. But at this stage he wasn't moving, and a light furrow had appeared between his brows. The truth was, he found the person before him a bit familiar—more specifically, everything that appeared at night now was familiar, and he was certain he'd seen this person somewhere before.

"Mister, mister." The woman collapsed in the rain saw Lin Qiushi unmoved, and slowly crawled forward. She wiped at the rainwater on her face and said, shakily, "I know a safe place, and I can bring you there. Do you want to come with me?"

Lin Qiushi said, "do I know you?"

The woman said, "we met once in the door, and you even helped me out." Her lashes lightly trembled, looking vulnerable as anything. "But I didn't deserve that mercy, I still didn't make it."

"We met inside a door?" Lin Qiushi now found the shape of her eyes familiar. "Which door?"

The woman approached Lin Qiushi, saying, "you know, that one."

As Lin Qiushi watched her, he suddenly spoke: "There's something behind you."

The woman halted.

"A giant picture frame," Lin Qiushi said. "She's here."

The woman wheeled around in fright, but when she didn't see anything behind her, she suddenly realized that Lin Qiushi had recognized her. What had been a pitiful expression immediately went cold.

"It's been a while," Lin Qiushi said, "Yang Meishu."

The woman chuckled coolly.

"You still recognized me?"

Lin Qiushi shrugged. "I didn't want to, but I can count the people who wanted me dead on one hand. Since you're not a ghost, you must be somebody who hates me…"

He paused, and quickly announced, "she really is here."

But Yang Meishu didn't believe him. She said, "do you really think I'm that dumb? You've fooled me once already, you think you can do it again? I—"

As she spoke, getting more and more agitated, she felt a sudden breeze behind her. Yang Meishu glanced back, and found the woman in black standing right behind her. The woman's white face was impassive, and in her hands was a black picture frame that she swung right at Yang Meishu.

Yang Meishu knew this was likely it for her, and a terrible scream came out of her mouth. Right after she screamed, she became a portrait in the hands of the woman; soaked from head to toe, her expression bore both fright and a lively, vivid resentment.

Lin Qiushi took the opportunity to run further away. The woman didn't seem intent on chasing after him either, only watched him go with an icy gaze.

The rain came down in torrents, and Lin Qiushi was completely soaked. In such a strong rain, the umbrella was practically useless. As he ran, he fished out his cell phone and sent Ruan Nanzhu a text.

How are things on your end? After some thought, Lin Qiushi added: I'm fine over here, don't worry about me.

After the text was sent, he didn't get a reply for the longest time. It wasn't until Lin Qiushi found a place to hide from the rain that the message notification dinged, displaying four simple words: I'm good, don't worry.

Seeing the message, Lin Qiushi huffed a bitter laugh. Because how could he not know? Had Ruan Nanzhu truly been alright, the text would not have been so short. Ruan Nanzhu had trained his way through so many doors, so god only knew how many malicious NPCs and dead people from the inside he would meet at night. From what Lin Qiushi understood of him, if he had everything under control, he would've definitely sent a message first asking about Lin Qiushi's situation. Now, even his text message was so short. The situation on his end could not be good.

He wanted so badly just to be by his side—Lin Qiushi clenched his phone and thought bitterly. Whatever he had to experience would be fine, as long as he could be by Ruan Nanzhu's side.

[Ch. 131] | [Ch. 133]

#kaleidoscope of death #xi zixu #cnovel #chinese translation #死亡萬花筒

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zintranslations · 3 years

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Kaleidoscope of Death, Ch. 119

Kaleidoscope of Death by Xi Zixu Link to Chinese / Novel Updates

Chapter 119: Real Life

There were a total of eight chests in the kitchen. Xiao Ji had opened three, and Xiao Mei had opened three. There were two left.

Lin Qiushi went and gave these two chests a listen, confirming that one chest had something inside and the other was empty.

After the contents of the chests were confirmed, things got a lot easier. Lin Qiushi opened the empty chest and made sure the tunnel wasn't inside. Then beside him, Ruan Nanzhu used the wooden stake in his hands on the other chest. He stabbed the stake straight through the top of the chest and then used a dining room stool as a hammer, pounding the stake in inch by inch.

Following the stake's puncturing, an awful scream came from inside the chest. Large quantities of bright red blood seeped forth from the top, soaking the black wood through.

This was a cry they'd heard many times before—the cry of the Hako Onna. It was just that this time, her crying felt somewhat more wretched. Those standing around the chest listened on, silent and numb.

They were already used to death. Facing the Hako Onna once more, their senses of fright had already been sanded down flat. Luck was too large a component of this game; had they not been able to find the wooden stake, or had they not met the self-sacrificing Xiao Mei, this matter likely would've involved a lot more twists and turns, as well as several more victims.

Compared to when they first came in, there was more exhaustion on everybody's faces.

Ruan Nanzhu held Lin Qiushi's hand and stood in front of the wooden chest, listening as the cries inside got weaker and weaker.

"Who's opening it?" Sun Yuanzhou's companion asked once the crying died down.

"I'll do it," Sun Yuanzhou said. "We've been under your care these past few days."

He obviously had some lifesaver item as well. Had Ruan Nanzhu not expended the Hako Onna's power cards, more people likely would've died.

He took a step forward and grabbed hold of the chest. With a light application of force, he lifted the lid.

When he did so everybody held their breaths, but it was about as they expected—the Hako Onna inside the chest had disappeared, leaving behind only a puddle of blood. Behind the blood was a dark cavity, and at the bottom of that cavity there was a long set of stairs leading off into the distance.

The group entered the tunnel and followed the stairs all the way down.

Finally, at the end of the stairs, they saw a black metal door.

Ruan Nanzhu brought out the key, stepped forward, and opened the door. After it opened, he picked up the fallen hint slip.

And so the tenth door ended just like that. Both Ruan Nanzhu and Lin Qiushi got out safely and took the tenth door's hint slip with them.

Before taking off, Sun Yuanzhou tactfully expressed to Ruan Nanzhu a desire to work with them again.

Ruan Nanzhu was noncommittal and only took down his contact information. After that, he and Lin Qiushi followed that glowing tunnel into the real world.

Coming back to reality and getting to breathe this air again, Lin Qiushi once again felt the beauty of being alive. He rushed up the stairs, only to find Ruan Nanzhu standing at the other end like he'd just been ready to come down.

Then the two wordlessly caught each other in a hug, taking in the heat that emanated from each other's bodies. Only this way could they be certain that they'd survived the door.

Cheng Qianli just happened to be passing by, and when he saw the two wrapped around each other, he could only swallow the dog food and mutter about how it was the middle of the day, and he was a minor, could you guys please check yourselves.

Ruan Nanzhu shot him a glare and Cheng Qianli scampered away.

"Did you get the hint?" Lin Qiushi asked Ruan Nanzhu.

"I got it," Ruan Nanzhu answered.

"How does it compare to the one you got last time?"

Ruan Nanzhu thought for a moment and, without answering, took the hint slip from his pocket to hand to Lin Qiushi. Lin Qiushi took the hint and read the words on it, expression turning into one of consternation. On the tiny paper hint slip, there were only two words written: No Solution.

"How could this be?!" Lin Qiushi asked, stunned.

From the first through tenth door, the hint that each door offered provided them with some information. But the hint to the eleventh door was somehow "no solution."

He glanced up at Ruan Nanzhu. "The one you got before is the same?"

"Mh," Ruan Nanzhu nodded.

This was why he went through the tenth door again, because the hint he'd gotten last time was utterly useless and wasn't of any help at all.

The eleventh door did not provide them with a hint for use; the hint slip this time proved it hadn't been an anomaly.

Looking at the hint, Lin Qiushi's heart sank. But after some thought, he told Ruan Nanzhu: "That's okay. As long as I'm with you, I don’t feel so scared."

Ruan Nanzhu couldn't help but grin, pressing a kiss to Lin Qiushi's forehead.

Though the eleventh door's hint slip was a heavy weight to bear, they had to go on living.

That night, Lin Qiushi saw a piece of news on the television. It said that there had been a serious car accident downtown, and that a bus carrying more than a dozen people drove right off the bridge, resulting in six deaths and over twenty injuries.

In the list of fatalities, Lin Qiushi saw a young man named Li Bomei. It reminded him of something, and he let out a soft breath.

At least Xiao Mei and her lover had one last chance to say goodbye. In reality, they could hold each other and die happy. They might have even been able to give each other one gentle kiss, and make promises for the next life.

Ruan Nanzhu understood as well, but he picked up the remote and changed the channel.

"It's always worse to be the one left behind," Lin Qiushi said. "It's much better if they could leave together."

"It's hard to let that happen though," Ruan Nanzhu said. It was hard to let a lover die; you only hoped he could live on happily.

Lin Qiushi turned around to look at him.

"Then have you thought of the fact that once you come out, you have to face your lover leaving a second time?" And you had to see him die right in front of you. That was surely a bit too cruel.

"True."

Though Ruan Nanzhu's voice was faint, he agreed with what Lin Qiushi said.

There was a long time still between the tenth and the eleventh doors. They didn't have to be in a hurry.

But in a few more months, Cheng Yixie and Cheng Qianli would be going into their tenth door.

That was why in this period of time, Lin Qiushi basically didn't see the twins at all. It seemed that Cheng Yixie was taking Cheng Qianli through a crazy amount of doors, so many that Cheng Yixie nearly lost his mind.

"Uwaaa why me," Cheng Qianli wept in complaint to Lin Qiushi. "My brother's taking me through a door every three days, I really can't take it anymore!"

Lin Qiushi watched him in sympathy.

"Go on, don't worry about it. I'll take care of Toast for you," he said while he petted Toast's fat little butt.

Cheng Qianli had more to say, but Cheng Yixie came and whisked him away. Watching these brothers, Lin Qiushi thought this was quite funny.

Due to Ruan Nanzhu's presence, Obsidian had always commanded high prices and huge quantities of commissions. Countless people wanted to hire Ruan Nanzhu to take them through their doors.

Gu Longming contacted Lin Qiushi over the internet with a tactful message about how he would like to join Obsidian.

Once Lin Qiushi received Gu Longming's intentions, he went and spoke to Ruan Nanzhu about it.

"What are your thoughts?" Ruan Nanzhu asked Lin Qiushi.

"I think he's got a lot of potential." Lin Qiushi spoke his assessment of Gu Longming. "He's a good seed."

Ruan Nanzhu gave it some thought.

"When's his sixth door?"

"The beginning of next year, I think." Lin Qiushi made some simple calculations. "It should be around new years exactly."

"Don't give him an answer yet," Ruan Nanzhu said. "I want to meet him inside the doors first."

It wouldn't be too late to bring Gu Longming into Obsidian after he made certain Gu Longming had the qualifications. Not just anyone could join Obsidian, after all.

For a while, the mansion stayed busy. Those who did gigs did their gigs and those who trained trained. Only Lin Qiushi had absolutely nothing to do. At first he'd wanted to take some jobs from the forum, but Ruan Nanzhu had stopped him, telling him to wait until after the new year to take jobs. He ought to take this time to rest and replenish his spirits.

When December came, the weather grew cold. A snowstorm came about ten days in.

The heater was on inside the mansion, and Lin Qiushi was curled up on the couch, nodding off.

He didn't know where Ruan Nanzhu had gone off too. Ruan Nanzhu had been busy recently. It seemed to have something to do with White Deer.

Zhuang Rujiao returned to the mansion with snowflakes on her shoulders and hair. When Lin Qiushi heard noise, he looked up, saw her covered in snow, and asked, "you didn't bring an umbrella?"

"I didn't think it'd snow," Zhuang Rujiao said.

At this point, Lin Qiushi could see no hint of Xia Rubei on Zhuang Rujiao still. That cute, innocent scaredy-cat of a girl seemed to have been an illusion; only the woman before him now with the distant eyes was real.

"Something's happened at White Deer," Zhuang Rujiao spoke as she wiped her hair with a towel. "Jin Yurui is dead."

She announced Jin Yurui's death like she was talking about a matter of no importance at all.

Jin Yurui was the one who took over as White Deer's leader after Li Dongyuan's death. Lin Qiushi had only met her once before, and didn't think that she'd be gone not so long after.

"Because of a door?" Lin Qiushi asked.

"Mh," Zhuang Rujiao said. "I'm leaving." She picked up the hot tea on the table, taking a slow and neat sip. "I'll be the leader over at White Deer."

Lin Qiushi: "Can you do it?"

Zhuang Rujiao laughed: "I've got to, even if I can't. You have Ruan Nanzhu to protect you. The one protecting me is gone."

Lin Qiushi was silent.

"I really do envy you two. If I'd been able to become like you sooner, then he might not be dead." Zhuang Rujiao was talking about Li Dongyuan. "But the world never does sell medicine for regrets. I've been in your care these past months, thank you."

Though she'd lived at Obsidian for a while, she'd never truly become part of the group. Clearly, she'd anticipated leaving one day.

Lin Qiushi: "I hope everything goes well."

"Mh," Zhuang Rujiao said. "I'll take your well wishes."

After that, she went upstairs to pack up her stuff. Lin Qiushi went to the doorway and saw through the french windows that Ruan Nanzhu was back as well. Ruan Nanzhu wasn't coming inside though, only stood silently by the car at the front door.

White snowflakes fell on his raven-black hair, and his dark eyes were looking slightly down. His pretty lips were pressed together in a thin, taut line.

Lin Qiushi called out: "Ruan Nanzhu."

Ruan Nanzhu glanced up, and the corners of his mouth flicked up just for Lin Qiushi. Smiling sentiment tinted his eyes—nothing too strong, but plenty enough to warm Lin Qiushi's chest.

Lin Qiushi fetched an umbrella from the side of the door and went outside, opening it beside Ruan Nanzhu.

"Why don't you have an umbrella?"

Snow in the south was different from snow in the north; once fallen, it melted easily on a person. Ruan Nanzhu's shoulders and hair, therefore, all bore traces of wetness.

Ruan Nanzhu: "I forgot."

Lin Qiushi: "Are you driving her there?"

"Mh," Ruan Nanzhu nodded.

"What's the situation like at White Deer?" Lin Qiushi felt that things weren't actually so simple.

"Not great," Ruan Nanzhu said. "I'm not sure if she'll be able to hold it down."

Changing leaders twice in a row was not a good thing for White Deer. Had it been the Zhuang Rujiao of the past, then Ruan Nanzhu would definitely have not agreed to let her go. Now, however, Ruan Nanzhu chose to respect Zhuang Rujiao's wishes. Though Li Dongyuan wanted Zhuang Rujiao to live on well, did this sort of living at some point become a kind of torment?

This was a lesson that Lin Qiushi had taught Ruan Nanzhu, at least.

Zhuang Rujiao quickly packed up her stuff and came out. She did not have much with her; whether coming or going, she seemed like just a passerby.

"Safe travels," Lin Qiushi said to her.

"Thank you," Zhuang Rujiao replied, getting into Ruan Nanzhu's car.

So Lin Qiushi stood under the umbrella and watched as the car disappeared into the snowy distance.

This was the last time he'd see Zhuang Rujiao. Later, he'd learn from Ruan Nanzhu that Zhuang Rujiao did manage to hold White Deer down. She'd perfectly inherit Li Dongyuan's legacy.

"Did she kill Jin Yurui?" Lin Qiushi would ask Ruan Nanzhu when the time came.

"I don't know," Ruan Nanzhu would say. "I'm not sure, so I can't say either way. However, Jin Yurui did fail in a door that she and Zhuang Rujiao were passing together."

"Oh," Lin Qiushi said. "Then how did Li Dongyuan die?"

"Zhuang Rujiao says it has something to do with Jin Yurui. As for the truth, I don't know that either."

"Oh."

Not long after Zhuang Rujiao left, the new year came around. But because Cheng Yixie and Cheng Qianli were entering a door after the new year, they didn't go very over-the-top with this year's celebrations. The twins who usually headed home didn't go this time either, instead seizing the time to train on more doors.

Gu Longming's sixth door would be after the new year, around the tenth or so. When he learned that Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu were going into his sixth door with him, he was naturally ecstatic.

But Ruan Nanzhu still made it clear to him that they could not be protecting Gu Longming this time, nor could they make any guarantees about Gu Longming's survival, so Gu Longming should prepare himself for any incidents. Reading between the lines, he was basically telling Gu Longming to prepare a will, in case when the time came he’d come out the door, die, and have nothing arranged.

Gu Longming was shocked by how blunt this girl Zhu Meng was, and said Linlin ah, is this your girlfriend?

Lin Qiushi thought for a bit before answering yeah.

Gu Longming: "She's going in with us this time?"

Lin Qiushi: "Yes."

Gu Longming: "Is she good then?"

Lin Qiushi: "Better than me."

Gu Longming nodded, thinking that if she was better than Lin Qiushi, then she really must be amazing. And so he grew much happier.

As for the sixth door's hint, Ruan Nanzhu would be providing it. It was still being selected, and Lin Qiushi wasn't too worried.

The few days around the new year, the mansion was particularly lively.

Cheng Qianli finally got a couple of days off from Cheng Yixie, brazenly dragging Lin Qiushi with him to buy a bunch of fireworks in secret.

Lin Qiushi said, "but isn't it illegal to set off fireworks in this city?"

"We're the suburbs, sub-urban! Nobody cares."

Lin Qiushi looked at him in doubt.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." Cheng Qianli put on a pitiful face. "I've only got this one hobby, can't you indulge me a little bit?"

"Fine fine fine, I'll indulge you."

Then the two found a clearing to start lighting fireworks. Everybody else from the mansion watched from afar, and Lin Qiushi called, "come over and join us."

"That’s for kids," Chen Fei said. "Us adults couldn't possibly join you."

Lin Qiushi, "…"

Forget Chen Fei. Even Cheng Yixie beside him had the same sort of expression, the you guys are so childish I don't even want to speak to you kind of look.

Lin Qiushi glanced at Cheng Qianli grinning like a fool beside him and didn't know what to say for a whole minute.

But foolish Cheng Qianli didn't seem to know he was being judged, cackling with his butt stuck out as he lit the fireworks. He watched the fireworks shoot up off the ground and explode open in the night sky, bursting out into laughter.

"It's so pretty." His eyes curved up, grinning like a kid, pupils dyed the fireworks' rich colors.

Lin Qiushi looked over at Ruan Nanzhu, standing far away. Their gazes met, and saw a smile in each other's eyes.

But these smiles only lasted a few seconds before disappearing, because there came the sound of police sirens from the distance.

"Oh shit, run!!" Yi Manman roared. "If we're caught we'll be fined!"

So the group took off, Cheng Qianli darting and leaping like a rabbit. Lu Yanxue, who ran the slowest, was stomping her feet by the end, cursing, "if I'd known I wouldn't have worn heels today!"

They were quick to escape, and luckily did not get caught. They all got back into the mansion, laughing in living room, and Cheng Qianli still had the nerve to pout, complaining that the police came too quickly, he still had a bunch he hadn't lit yet!

"I told you not to get the rocket fireworks, but you wouldn't listen," Chen Fei said. "And look what's happened now."

Cheng Qianli's dream of beautiful fireworks was completely destroyed. The group cooked up the dumplings they’d prepared before and ate while they chatted, passing this lively new year's eve together.

After the countdown, Lin Qiushi snuck into Ruan Nanzhu's room, and the two slept in the same bed all evening.

This was the happiest new year's eve that Lin Qiushi had ever had. Last year, he hadn't been too familiar with Obsidian, but this year, he'd basically made it his home.

Ruan Nanzhu slept on his side with a hand on Lin Qiushi's waist, breaths hitting Lin Qiushi's neck.

It didn't take long for Lin Qiushi to grow sleepy, the two sinking into deep slumber.

The next morning, there were new guests at the mansion. Lin Qiushi first thought it was another organization, but when he went downstairs to look, he found that it was Cheng Yixie and Cheng Qianli's parents.

They'd brought with them a bunch of local specialties, and were passing them out with big smiles.

Lin Qiushi had heard about his parents from Cheng Qianli before, and that they didn't really know what their sons were doing. Cheng Yixie had lied and told them that they treated hereditary diseases here, but as for how they did so, he'd never told them in detail.

But for a once-hopeless family, the method no longer mattered. Tacitly, the parents didn't ask more questions—as long as their kids could survive, whatever the method, it didn't matter at all.

Cheng Qianli spotted Lin Qiushi standing in the second-floor hallway and waved him over, calling, "Qiushi, come down! My parents brought you a present!"

Lin Qiushi went downstairs and greeted Cheng Qianli's parents. Cheng Qianli stuffed a giant bag of candy into his arms.

"You like candy, don't you? My parents got these just for you."

Lin Qiushi thanked them with sincerity, but the father only gave him a smile filled with gratitude, saying his son's been in their care.

After that they all ate lunch together. Chen Fei had wanted to keep them here for a few more days, but the parents were staunch about still having things to do, so they had to leave first.

Cheng Yixie wanted to say something, but in the end, didn't try to keep them.

"Do they know?"

After they left, Lin Qiushi asked Cheng Yixie this.

"Probably not," Cheng Yixie said. "They seem to think we're doing something bad." Then, after a beat of silence, "but they also don't stop me or anything."

To a mother and father, the survival of their children was the biggest blessing, particularly for a pair of terminally ill twins. It was hard to imagine the sort of difficulty they’d faced when they thought they were losing both of their kids at once.

"Mh," Lin Qiushi said. "Maybe you can explain it to them."

"I have. They don't really believe it." Cheng Yixie glanced at the mansion. "But they should be less worried this time."

"Do they come often?" Lin Qiushi asked.

"Rarely," Cheng Yixie said. "This is the second time."

The first time was when Cheng Yixie brought Cheng Qianli over. Cheng Qianli had been just a kid then, passing his first door on luck and calling his brother in tears. Cheng Yixie rushed home overnight to take his little brother away with him. When his mother had learned what he wanted to do, her gaze had been filled with melancholy. But she hadn't stopped him, asking only: "Can Qianli really survive?"

Cheng Yixie had answered: "I'll do my best."

After that, she never asked again.

Cheng Qianli, who should've died years ago, was still alive and well; Cheng Yixie had kept his promise. He'd gotten that foolish brother of his past the torment of their sickness and made sure he lived on in health.

[Ch. 118] | [Ch. 120]

#kaleidoscope of death #xi zixu #cnovel #chinese translation #死亡萬花筒 #skjdfnsd the first time i read the novel and i got to this chapter ending i was like #UM UH OH EXCUSE ME DON'T YOU DARE MA'AM DON'T YOU DARE #but listen #my son's back next chapter so we're all winners here #get ready for rotten fish seasickness and claustrophobia #also badass LQS #also RNZ meeting GLM hahahahahahahahhahaa #but i'm being sent offsite for work for two days so there might not be a chapter update tomorrow #TTTT

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zintranslations · 3 years

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IDEALLY IT WOULD BE KINDA HOT IF QIUSHI AND NANZHU RETURNED BACK TO THE DOOR WORLD AND BECAME THE BOSSES OF THE 12TH DOOR AGAIN. at least they wouldn't be bored? and also i just imagine people going through the door and seeing those two being lovey dovey, force fed dog food eheheheh

One brisk autumn day, the doors forum went nuts again, because the twelfth door was apparently back open for business.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE," "Was it a scheduled maintenance or what," "Okay but did anyone actually manage to pass 11 when 12 was still closed"—were just some of the fun topics of conversation.

Ever since Ruan Nanzhu's return, he'd stopped keeping tabs on the forum, happily casting it aside in favor of retirement. Lin Qiushi, however, was different. In the year he'd spent lonely and alone, he'd made a habit of scouring the forums for any potential mention of Ruan Nanzhu's name, and had never stopped accessing the forum every, oh, three days or so, to check out the latest community news.

Plus, he had extra reason to check the forum that morning. The situation was kind of his fault after all.

It took Ruan Nanzhu another four days to hear the news, and of course it was Ye Niao's loudmouth that clued him into it. Lin Qiushi had been having such a mischievous, fun time thanks to Ruan Nanzhu not knowing. But it was also good that Ruan Nanzhu found out, because there was a veteran trio coming out of White Deer—Zhuang Rujiao included—scheduled to enter their eleventh door, and Lin Qiushi knew he and Ruan Nanzhu ought to have a conversation before that happened.

So, after Ye Niao was neatly sent on his way ("R-Ruan-ge—Wait, Lin-ge—huh? Uh, oh, okay okay, I'll just be, off then."), Lin Qiushi stayed seated on the couch, settled his hands in his lap, and let Ruan Nanzhu wheel around on him.

"Qiushi." His tone wasn't suspicious, because there was nothing to be suspicious about—he'd already figured everything out. That Lin Qiushi checked the forum on the regular was a fact, therefore Lin Qiushi's deliberate failure to tell Ruan Nanzhu the news was also a fact. And why would Lin Qiushi intentionally not tell Ruan Nanzhu such a potentially critical development?

So he could sit there and look endearingly smug about it, apparently. Which meant a) it was likely not a critical development, at least not one that may jeopardize Ruan Nanzhu in any way, and b) it was likely Lin Qiushi's doing.

"Nanzhu," Lin Qiushi replied, all pleasant smiling.

"Qiushi," Ruan Nanzhu repeated, taking deliberate and interested steps forward. Lin Qiushi had called this his prowl several times in the past, and Ruan Nanzhu circled Lin Qiushi like so. Neither of them looked at all unhappy about this dynamic. "What have you done?"

Lin Qiushi's gaze slipped upward to the left, and his lips were parted as if a laugh was perched just on the brink of them, waiting to jump. Ruan Nanzhu would much rather be the one perched on those lips instead.

"I...accepted an invitation, that's all."

"An invitation from whom?"

"From...the doors, I guess?" An elegant finger pointed at Ruan Nanzhu. Did he honestly have no idea what that upturned wrist did to Ruan Nanzhu? Had he no clue the invitation that sent? "It came to me in a dream."

Ever since coming out of the doors, Lin Qiushi's personality too had gotten livelier. Your bad influence, Bai Ming had accused of Ruan Nanzhu once. Ruan Nanzhu had stonily returned something about him not knowing the Chinese language if he thought anything about Lin Qiushi could be anywhere close to "bad," and then something like just because your dick game isn't strong enough to please your lover...

Yeah, Ruan Nanzhu was a bitch, but there was nothing he delighted in more than the fact that his darling, his sweetheart, his universally beloved Good Guy Lin Qiushi stooped to his level sometimes, too. And actually kind of loved it.

So Ruan Nanzhu pouted.

"You dreamt of something other than Mengmeng? Mengmeng's hurt."

Lin Qiushi laughed and got to his feet, looking as sweet on Ruan Nanzhu as he always did.

"But it was of you though. I saw the twelfth door open in my dream."

When Lin Qiushi took his hands, Ruan Nanzhu was actually keen on a more extensive answer this time. The twelfth door? He was the twelfth door, so what fake motherfucker-twelfth door was opening itself to Lin Qiushi now?? And if the twelfth door was powerful enough to insert Ruan Nanzhu into reality, then did it also have the power to, say, take Lin Qiushi out?

"Don't worry so hard, babe," Lin Qiushi said quietly, pressing his lips to Ruan Nanzhu's furrowed brow. "You have permission to come with me."

A tension that Ruan Nanzhu hadn't been aware of dissolved along his back and shoulders.

"Go where?" He sounded plaintive enough to earn another warm kiss; Lin Qiushi liked to tease, but could never do it for long if Ruan Nanzhu broke out the whining.

Lin Qiushi's eyes, though, were still sparkling.

"Hey, I just figured fair's fair, right?" Their fingers danced together in midair between them, skimming and climbing as if each other's fingers were piano keys, all at once. "You get my past life, and I get yours."

Ruan Nanzhu blinked.

"It's less than a part-time gig, really," Lin Qiushi continued, "considering how few people make it to the eleventh door."

Ruan Nanzhu squinted, concentrating real hard on the halo of light that always surrounded his lover—at least to his eyes. Did it seem a bit different now?

...It did. Holy shit.

"Are you telling me..."

Lin Qiushi nodded. His eyes were shy but his lips were smug.

Holy shit. Ruan Nanzhu clasped Lin Qiushi's fingers. Firmly.

"What powers do you have?!" And, when the answer wasn't immediately forthcoming, Ruan Nanzhu shook his lover. "Qiushi. What powers do you have!"

Lin Qiushi stared at him some more, before grimacing. Oh, this perceptive darling of his knew him so very well.

"Yes, I can give you a female form again," Lin Qiushi sighed, not out of exasperation for drag (he loved Baijie and Mengmeng—he couldn't deny that), but out of exasperation for Ruan Nanzhu's one-track mind. Ruan Nazhu could've howled in joy. "And yes, we can visit the twelfth door dimension any time for...practice."

It seemed he wasn't the only one with a one-track mind. Or a creative one.

"Well." With the very tip of a single, seductive finger, Ruan Nanzhu traced a long, winding S-pattern across and down Lin Qiushi's chest. Lin Qiushi shivered. "As the last being to occupy that position, I'm duty-bound to help you transition into your new role, aren't I?"

A quiet, loving grin slipped onto Lin Qiushi's lips.

"But you don't remember shit," he chuckled. Ruan Nanzhu tapped at his own temple.

"Maybe not up here, but—" If Lin Qiushi wasn't going to shove his hand down Ruan Nanzhu's pants, Ruan Nanzhu would just have to do it for him. "—you're welcome to extract all the muscle memory you can from my body."

#kod #kod spoilers #ALKSJDNFLASD SORRY I JUST OPENED THIS ASK AND WAS LIKE 'AHAH! A FIC!'#this is a fic #i'm gonna...post this on ao3 maybe

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