There were many people who made fun of their names. Lin Qiushi didn"t even get to open his mouth before Cheng Qianli hurriedly shouted, "Stop right there! I know what you"re going to say, and don"t you dare say it!"
Lin Qiushi spread out his palms in surrender. "Okay."
"Anyway, that"s my older twin brother." Cheng Qianli stated. "He"s an oddball. It"s best that you don"t get involved with him. You should ignore him and stay as far away from him as possible; in fact, the further away, the better."
Cheng Qianli"s older brother, Cheng Yixie, wasn"t at all offended by his younger brother"s remarks. He merely raised his head and shot an inscrutable side-glance at Cheng Qianli. Cheng Qianli let out a hollow laugh, "Haha, I"m just kidding."
Although these pair of twins were wearing different clothes and also had subtle differences in hairstyles, their appearances were, frankly, exactly the same, at least Lin Qiushi couldn"t spot any differences between the two for the time being.
He and Cheng Qianli bid each other good night once again, and then he returned to the second floor. This time, he walked with great vigilance, for fear that a third brother would appear at the end of the corridor.
Of course, they weren"t actually triplets. After being a.s.sured that another brother wouldn"t pop out of nowhere, Lin Qiushi successfully entered the bedroom Cheng Qianli told him about. A nameplate, which had Lin Qiushi"s name on it, hung on the door to the bedroom; they were probably worried he would lose his way and enter the wrong room.
The ambience of the bedroom was rather pleasant. A soft, comfy bed rested inside the room, beside it was a computer, and a small table with some fruits and snacks on top also sat near the window.
Lin Qiushi turned on the computer and browsed online to search for the news Cheng Qianli showed him during the day. But when he finally looked at a couple of photos, he discovered something odd.
A social news story was talking about a woman surnamed w.a.n.g who committed suicide on a bridge. Her entire death was filmed by bystanders.
This video was probably uploaded recently because it hadn"t been censored yet, which is why Lin Qiushi, who opened it up and played it right now, was able to catch every detail of the incident clearly.
To be honest, in the door world, Lin Qiushi mainly remembered Zhang Zishuang and w.a.n.g Xiaoyi"s clothes, since the two"s attires stood out quite a lot; one of them wore a uniform, while the other wore a cosplay outfit.
The video was high-quality; every detail was distinguishable, even the facial features of the one who committed suicide were captured by the camera. Lin Qiushi maximized the screen. After scrutinizing the person in the video, he exposed a look of doubt.
This person was wearing the same clothes as w.a.n.g Xiaoyi, but her appearance was completely different. The w.a.n.g Xiaoyi inside the door looked ordinary to say the least, but the young lady in the video was quite beautiful.
How could they look so different? Lin Qiushi was extremely confused. But the thing that baffled him the most was that he was well-aware the person in front of him was completely different from the w.a.n.g Xiaoyi he"d met, and yet, he was positive this person was w.a.n.g Xiaoyi.
At the end of the video, the girl ignored everyone"s dissuasion, took a leap, and jumped off the bridge. A description was also written at the bottom of the video, stating that a corpse had been found. The deceased was a first-year student who was attending XX University. She was originally going to partic.i.p.ate in an anime convention today, but she suddenly went missing, only to finally reappear on top of a bridge that was miles away. As for the cause of her suicide, it was still under investigation…
This situation was obviously strange. Cheng Qianli and the others had deliberately concealed this matter. Lin Qiushi wrinkled his brows; he wanted to look for related news in order to examine the specific circ.u.mstances of those who had died. Unfortunately, there were only grainy, blurry, and unclear photographs of the others. Nevertheless, judging from the clothes alone, these people were undoubtedly the ones who died inside the door.
What"s going on? Lin Qiushi was lying down in bed, absorbed in his thoughts. What the h.e.l.l were Cheng Qianli and the others trying to hide in the end…
Lin Qiushi hardly got any sleep that night. He got up early in the morning on the second day.
When he went downstairs at six o"clock, he caught sight of Cheng Qianli sitting in the living room with a dog lying down beside him. The dog"s bottom was very round and full, resembling a loaf of bread; one glance was enough to tell it was a Corgi.
"You guys are even raising a dog?" Lin Qiushi was a bit surprised.
Who would"ve imagined that Cheng Qianli would impa.s.sively glance up at Lin Qiushi then give him the cold shoulder. Only then did Lin Qiushi react. This person wasn"t Cheng Qianli, it was Cheng Qianli"s older brother, Cheng Yixie.
Just great, I got the wrong person. Lin Qiushi was feeling at a bit of a loss.
It was early summer morning, at around six o"clock. At this time, the entire household gradually became active and lively as everyone got up and started their day.
Lin Qiushi heard the sound of a car engine coming from outside. After a while, Ruan Nanzhu strode inside the house. Upon seeing Lin Qiushi sitting in the living room in a daze, he wondered, "So early?"
Lin Qiushi: "I was a bit hungry."
Ruan Nanzhu: "Cheng Yixie, go fix a meal."
Without any changes in expression, the ice-cold and indifferent Cheng Yixie stood up and walked to the kitchen.
Lin Qiushi cast an admiring glance at Ruan Nanzhu. It appeared as though Ruan Nanzhu"s standing in this team was truly different on a whole new level. Ruan Nanzhu took a seat beside Lin Qiushi. "How much do you know?"
Lin Qiushi: "Not much. Why"d you bring me here?"
Ruan Nanzhu fished out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. "You mind?"
Lin Qiushi shook his head, indicating that he didn"t mind.
Ruan Nanzhu pointed out, "Because I plan to enter the door with you next time."
Lin Qiushi blinked dumbly. "It"s possible to go in together?"
Ruan Nanzhu: "Of course it"s possible. How else do you think Xiong Qi and Xiao Ke knew each other? The both of them are also pretty experienced."
Lin Qiushi: "…Hold on a second, Xiong Qi and Xiao Ke?" Coupled with the unimaginable and abnormal circ.u.mstances he discovered yesterday, an inconceivable conjecture popped into Lin Qiushi"s mind. He soon widened his eyes in utter incredulity. "B-B-Baijie?!"
Ruan Nanzhu leisurely puffed on his cigarette. "Mhm."
Lin Qiushi: "You"re s.h.i.tting me!!! I don"t believe it!!!"
Ruan Nanzhu: "What"s so hard to believe? Have you ever seen a girl who"s taller than one hundred eighty centimeters?"
Lin Qiushi: "But how"d you become a woman when you entered the door??"
Ruan Nanzhu corrected Lin Qiushi"s flawed statement. "I didn"t become a woman, I just wore women"s clothing."
Lin Qiushi: "…No wonder your chest was so flat."
Ruan Nanzhu smirked. "Well, I"m especially thick down below."
Lin Qiushi: "…" The other"s smiling expression actually had a touch of Ruan Baijie"s elegance and charm to it. He should"ve known it since the beginning, just how could there be such a giant woman? Though, the other truly was too beautiful. Honestly speaking, if the attractive Ruan Nanzhu before him disguised himself as a female, his appearance probably wouldn"t be any different to or inferior to Ruan Baijie"s.
"So, why exactly do you dress up as a girl?" Lin Qiushi wondered.
Ruan Nanzhu: "Hobby."
Lin Qiushi couldn"t retort.
Ruan Nanzhu: "Besides, women tend to have it easier than men." He grinned. "At least they don"t have to carry trees."
Lin Qiushi: "…" Well, that was certainly true.
"Every door will leave behind a clue of the next door." Ruan Nanzhu took a final drag on his cigarette before removing it from between his lips and putting it out. "Your very next door is Fitcher"s Bird."
Fitcher"s Bird was seriously such a G.o.d-awful, nauseating fairy tale. Lin Qiushi frowned.
Ruan Nanzhu took something out of his breast pocket and casually handed it to Lin Qiushi. "This was a hint regarding the door you just left."
Lin Qiushi took it and discovered it was also a sc.r.a.p of paper; however, the contents written on this note weren"t the same. "One person shouldn"t enter the temple, two people shouldn"t look inside the well, three people shouldn"t hold a tree, and one must never be alone1."
Entering the temple, looking into the well, lifting a tree, everything happened one after the other inside the door. As of this moment, Lin Qiushi clearly understood why the so-called prophetic Ruan Baijie was able to foretell all events within the door world.
"But why were you the only one to have this when you came in?" Lin Qiushi asked.
"It"s a long story." Ruan Nanzhu replied. "I"ll explain it to you sometime in the future. In short, the people living in this villa are all in the same situation; everyone has to enter the door worlds, which is why we look after one another."
Just then, Cheng Yixie finished preparing breakfast and served it on the table. "Brother Ruan, come eat."
Ruan Nanzhu: "Come on, let"s eat something."
Lin Qiushi nodded.
The meal Cheng Yixie made was quite delicious. He cooked some porridge and made two stir-fried dishes as well. While the three were eating, the others also came downstairs one by one. Lin Qiushi received too much information; he was momentarily unable to process everything he"d just learnt, and so, he just ate his meal quietly and didn"t ask any questions.
Cheng Qianli, who had just arrived downstairs, saw his composed appearance. Moved to tears by the other"s silence, he said, "It"s been such a long time since I"ve seen a rookie who doesn"t have any mood swings. Not only did the others who came here before have millions of questions to ask, but they were even so agitated, like a cat whose tail was stepped on…"
Lin Qiushi: "…There are still others who live in this villa?"
Cheng Qianli: "There are two more. They just entered the door; only the devil knows whether they"ll come out alive." He tasted the porridge Cheng Yixie made, then grumbled, "Not enough sugar."
Having heard this, Cheng Yixie expressionlessly stared at his younger brother without uttering a word.
Cheng Qianli quickly made a zipping motion across his lips.
The interactions between these twins are very amusing. Lin Qiushi was just in the middle of thinking this, when he heard Cheng Qianli state, "You"ll probably enter the door again next week, but don"t worry, when the time comes, big brother Ruan will be going in with you, so you shouldn"t have any problems."
Lin Qiushi shot a glance at Ruan Nanzhu and inwardly sighed. He could hardly believe that Ruan Nanzhu inside the door was actually that girl. He said, "Ah, speaking of which, will my appearance look completely different inside and outside the doors?"
Cheng Qianli: "Yup, I can look really ugly inside the doors."
Cheng Yixie: "As if you look good now."
Cheng Qianli: "…"
"So, what do I look like inside the doors?" Lin Qiushi was a bit curious.
Ruan Nanzhu took the last bite of his meal. "When you go in next time, you can just check yourself out in the mirror."
Oh, that"s right. Lin Qiushi felt as though that was quite reasonable.
"Get ready." Ruan Nanzhu stated. "The world of Fitcher"s Bird shouldn"t be too difficult. Usually, the first door you enter isn"t too hard to survive; as long as you get the hint, everything else is easy to deal with."
Lin Qiushi: "But why did my first world feel like it was hard?"
"Because there were three experienced people in that door." Ruan Nanzhu replied. "Excluding me, you still had Xiong Qi and Xiao Ke who were also quite experienced." He wiped his mouth. "They most likely belong to another organization."
Lin Qiushi was shocked. He never expected there would actually be more to such a story.
1一人不入庙，二人不观井，三人不抱树，独自莫凭栏。Chinese saying/folklore. Last part of the saying (独自莫凭栏) is actually: "Don"t sit/lean [on a railing] when alone". No clue if there"s an English equivalent to this entire saying. There"s a backstory/tale to each part and the quote itself is also open to many interpretations, but the most common interpretation will be the only part summarized: A single person shouldn"t enter an ancient temple because if a precious artifact is stolen or damaged, he will be the likely suspect. Two people shouldn"t look inside a well because if one of them has ill intentions, the wicked one might push the other inside. Three people shouldn"t carry a tree, for one of them will be suspected of being lazy. One should never be alone, as there are often unknown dangers lurking about and no one would be around to save said person should he need any help. Story Behind All Four Parts (In Chinese):