《Killing Doors》


 1.The Mysterious Village

    It was a small village nestled within the mountains, hidden by layers of lush trees.


    There was only one path leading to the village, and because of the recent rain, it was muddy and required extra caution.


    Lin and a tall girl were walking on the path.


    The girl seemed to be of mixed race, with deep eyebrows and wide eyes, making her very beautiful.


    She was very tall, even taller than Lin, and she was wearing an anachronistic long dress.


    Her eyes were filled with tears, and she was softly sobbing, whispering:


    "Where he hell are we?"


    Lin asked, "Where were you before?"


    The girl replied, "My bathroom."


    Lin said, "I was in my house hallway."


    The girl said, "Hallway...?"


    Lin looked up at the gloomy sky, "Did you open a door?"


    The girl seemed to remember something, her expression shifting slightly, "Yes."


    Lin turned to look at her, "Me too."


    A gust of wind blew, rustling the leaves on the treetops, making the atmosphere even more serene.


    Suddenly, snow began to fall from the sky, as if urging them to hurry up, to reach the village enveloped by dense trees before nightfall.


    Through their conversation, Lin learned that the girl''s name was Ruan,.


    Lin was stunned for three seconds when he heard the name, then he insincerely complimented, "Good name."


    Ruan glared at him with her watery eyes, "All men are liars."


    Lin said, "Ah?"


    Ruan said, "Don''t think I haven''t read erotica."


    "..."


    It seemed this girl wasn''t as vulnerable as he imagined.


    As they walked towards the village, they exchanged information and learned that they both appeared in this wilderness after opening a door.


    Ruan opened the one in her bathroom, and Lin opened the one in his hallway.


    "It was a black iron door," Ruan said softly, "Without any decoration. I was wondering why my house suddenly had this door, and without thinking much, I just pulled it open..."


    The next second, they found themselves in this wilderness.


    Lin said, "I also opened a black iron door..."


    As he spoke, he saw a shadowy figure appearing on the path ahead.


    The figure was tall, likely an adult male.


    "Hey, bro in front!" Lin called out from afar.


    The person stopped, seemingly hearing Lin''s voice.


    Lin quickly ran forward, reaching out to pat the man''s shoulder, "Hello, do you know where this is?"


    The man turned around, revealing a face covered in a full beard.


    Paired with his tall, strong physique, he looked like a bear at first glance, "Are you new here?"


    Lin said, "What new..."


    The man didn''t say anything, looked at him, then looked at Ruan, who was looking scared behind him, "Come on, we''ll explain to you when we get to the village."


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    Lin said good, and the three of them continued walking towards the village.


    The season here seemed to be winter, and the sky darkened very early.


    Just before they arrived, the sun was still hanging in the sky, but in the blink of an eye, only dark clouds and falling snowflakes remained.


    Lin chatted with the man while observing the surroundings.


    Besides the village, there were no other light sources.


    The surrounding area was a vast expanse of forest, with no roads and no other human beings.


    Lin took out a cigarette from his pocket and offered it to the man, but he waved it off.


    "Bro, where are we?" Lin asked.


    The man said, "Just call me Chi."


    Lin thought, this was truly a name that fit his appearance.


    He was about to ask further, but saw Chi gesturing for him to stop, "Don''t ask, you''ll know when we get to the village."


    "Oh." Lin said, "Okay."


    Thus, they walked in silence, hurrying forward, finally reaching the path leading to the village just before nightfall.


    Chi visibly relaxed, glancing back into the darkness, "Good thing we made it. Let''s go, let''s meet up with them."


    Newcomers, they, Lin caught these keywords.


    Although he had a bad feeling when he arrived, now that feeling was becoming increasingly strong.


    Ruan seemed to feel it too, she stopped crying, her beautiful face was pale, and her eyes were filled with fear.


    Chi continued forward, soon leading them to a three-story building near the entrance of the village.


    He stood at the door and knocked.


    He heard a young girl''s voice inside, "Who is it?"


    "It''s me, Chi." Chi said.


    "Oh,, come in." The girl said, "We''ve been waiting for you."


    Chi reached out and pushed the door open, a creaking sound followed by the view of the doorway.


    The doorway led to a spacious living room, where about ten people were sitting around a blazing fire, seemingly discussing something.


    "Newcomers?" Someone noticed Chi behind him, Lin and Ruan.


    "Newcomers." Chi slowly walked into the house, found a place to sit, "Sit down, Xiao, you explain to them."


    Xiao was the girl who opened the door for Chi.


    She looked only fifteen or sixteen years old, with delicate features, "You guys sit down too, I''ll give you a brief explanation."


    Lin and Ruan exchanged glances, and they sat down near the door.


    "Actually, there''s not much to explain," Xiao''s attitude was not enthusiastic, "We need to stay in the village for a while to solve some problems, then we''ll be fine."


    Lin said, "What kind of problems?"


    Xiao said, "We don''t know yet, we need to go find the village headman tomorrow..." She said, "Do any of you have materialistic beliefs?"


    Lin raised his hand, "Me."


    Xiao said, "Then you need to change your beliefs."


    Lin: "..." "What do you mean?"


    Xiao said, "It means that supernatural events will happen here."


    Lin: "..."


    The group was indifferent to Lin and Ruan, the two newcomers.


    Apart from Xiao, no one else even greeted them.


    Before entering, Lin thought they were discussing matters, but after sitting there for a while, he realized they weren''t saying anything.


    They sat quietly in the living room, staring at the flames in front of them.


    Some people were playing games on their phones.


    There was no signal for phones here, so they couldn''t contact the outside world, but they could still play offline games.


    Lin simply counted, there were thirteen people in the room, including him, nine men and four women.


    Most of them looked young, the oldest probably not over forty.


    The wood in the fire crackled, Ruan sat for a while, seemingly a little sleepy.


    She looked around, seeing that no one was about to leave, she softly asked, "Uh...excuse me, are there any rooms to sleep in here? I''m a little sleepy."


    Lin wasn''t sure if it was his imagination, but after Ruan asked this question, the air in the room seemed to freeze.


    "Forget it, we should go to sleep too," Chi stood up, "Otherwise, we''ll be sleeping in the living room again. Let''s divide the rooms." He looked at Lin, "You and her share a room, be careful at night, don''t wander around..."


    Ruan said, "Share a room with him? But..."


    Chi sighed, " What? You''ll know after you spend the first night here that this place doesn''t care about that. "


    Ruan wanted to say something else, but seeing the awkward atmosphere among the group, she could only give up and agree to share a room with Lin.


    Lin saw her worried expression, so he tried to comfort her, "Don''t worry, I won''t do anything to you."


    Ruan nodded.


    There were three floors, nine rooms, but judging by their appearance, they didn''t intend to live separately.


    At the very least, two people shared a room, and one room even with three people.


    "Let''s go." Chi said, "See you tomorrow."


    The group dispersed.


    Before leaving, Xiao suddenly walked to Lin''s side and quietly said, "Don''t trust anyone too much, as long as you can survive this..."


    Lin was about to ask, but saw her rush away, seemingly not wanting to talk to him anymore.


    "Let''s go." Ruan said, "Let''s go to sleep."


    Lin nodded.


    Their room was on the right side of the second floor corridor.


    There was only one bed in the room, and a picture of a person hung by the bedside.


    There was no electricity here, so they could only light a kerosene lamp.


    Because the light wasn''t very bright, the whole room was in a vintage tone, and the air was filled with a musty smell.


    Lin thought Ruan would complain about the environment, but unexpectedly, she adapted faster than him, quickly washed up and went to lie on the bed.


    It was Lin who felt uncomfortable sitting by the bed.


    "Sleep." Ruan buried her head in the covers, her voice muffled, "Aren''t you tired?"


    Lin said, "A little bit."


    "Yeah, everything today was so weird," Ruan said, "I even doubted if you guys were hired by the program team to prank us, but there''s no way a prank could be this elaborate..."


    Lin took off his coat and climbed into bed.


    To avoid suspicion, he and Ruan were on the same bed, but covered by two different blankets, "It was really weird."


    Ruan said, "Definitely, did you notice their eyes?"

 2.The Woman in the Well

    Lin said, "They''re scared."


    "Right," Ruan said, "They''re scared... So what are they scared of?"


    Lin thought for a moment, about to speak, but then he heard even breaths coming from beside him.


    He turned his head and saw Ruan already fast asleep.


    Lin stared at the ceiling above him, lost in thought under the dim light.


    He actually admired Ruan, suddenly appearing in an unfamiliar place, suddenly encountering so many strange people, and she could just close her eyes and sleep.


    But as Lin thought about it, sleepiness gradually crept over him.


    He closed his eyes and fell asleep.


    In the middle of the night, Lin woke up.


    He lay in bed, hearing a faint bumping sound.


    The sound seemed like the howling wind blowing against the old windows, making a creaking sound, but also like someone walking barefoot on the floor, making the floor groan under the weight.


    Lin opened his eyes and saw the room shrouded in a hazy darkness.


    The snow outside had stopped sometime, and the giant moon hung high in the sky.


    Cold light shone in from the bedside, falling like a thin veil on the floor.


    When Lin''s gaze slowly shifted towards the bedside, his breath caught in his throat.


    A woman''s figure appeared at the head of the bed, her back to Lin, her long black hair covering her features.


    She seemed to sense Lin''s awakening and slowly turned her head.


    This scene was too much like a horror movie, causing Lin to freeze for a moment.


    Fortunately, he had a pretty strong stomach, so he gritted his teeth, sat up from the bed, and cursed, "What the hell, who are you!! What are you doing in my room!!"


    The woman''s movements paused, and then a voice came, "What are you yelling for, it''s me."


    It was Ruan''s voice.


    Lin breathed a sigh of relief, "Why are you sitting at the head of the bed so late, you''re not sleeping?"


    "Did you see the well in front of the house?" Ruan said, "The one in the courtyard."


    Lin said, "Well? What well?"


    He was about to climb out of bed, but accidentally glanced to his right, and this glance instantly froze his blood - Ruan was still sleeping on his right side, she hadn''t moved at all.


    "That well," the woman''s voice, exactly the same as Ruan''s, said, "Let''s go take a look."


    "..."


    The woman said, "Why aren''t you talking?"


    Lin said, "I was just awarded Outstanding Party Cadre last month."


    The woman: "..."


    Lin: "I''m a staunch materialist."


    The woman: "..."


    Lin said, "So can you pick someone else to scare?


    The woman slowly turned her head, and by the moonlight, Lin saw her face.


    It was a face that was difficult to describe with words, pale and swollen, with eyeballs almost bulging out of their sockets.


    Her appearance was unfamiliar, but her voice was so familiar.


    She said, "Aren''t you scared of me?"


    Lin remained silent for three seconds, then looked down at his covers, "Don''t do this, I only brought one pair of pants with me when I came here."


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    The woman: "..."


    Lin wiped his face, "If you scare me again, I''ll really pee myself."


    After saying that, he reached out to pat Ruan, "Get up!!!"


    Ruan was woken up by Lin''s patting, rubbing her eyes, she said, "What are you doing."


    As soon as she opened her eyes, she also saw the woman sitting at the head of the bed, "Who is this? Lin, you''re not sleeping in the middle of the night, where did you find a woman? You''re so shameless. How am I not as good as her?"


    Lin: "..."


    Is that the point??


    After Ruan quietly cursed for a while, she suddenly felt something was wrong.


    She widened her beautiful black eyes, "Why is her neck getting longer..."


    Lin took another look and found that the woman had already stood up from the head of the bed, her head tilting to one side, her neck getting longer and longer, almost like a mutated snake.


    This scene stunned both of them, and finally, Lin couldn''t take it anymore, he shouted, "Damn it, run!"


    Then he grabbed Ruan''s hand and ran wildly towards the door.


    As a result, Ruan, who had been gentle and weak during the day, ran faster than Lin, disappearing outside like a gust of wind.


    Lin: "Damn it, slow down!"


    Ruan: "If I slow down, I''ll be done for!"


    Lin: "...Heh, women."


    The two of them ran like rabbits all the way to the first floor.


    They only relaxed after confirming that the thing hadn''t followed.


    Ruan cried harder than anyone else, running faster than a dog.


    While Lin was catching his breath, she was already holding back tears, ready for another round.


    "Don''t cry, don''t cry." Lin said, "You''re going to attract that thing if you''re so loud."


    Ruan: "You''re only thinking about yourself, you don''t care about me."


    Lin: "..."


    Probably because Lin''s expression was too disdainful, Ruan managed to hold back her tears, sitting softly on a stool on the first floor, gently wiping her wet eyes.


    At this time, they were standing in the living room on the first floor, the whole house was empty.


    They had made such a fuss, but no one came out to watch the show, and besides their panting, there were no other sounds at all.


    Lin stood there for a while, hesitating, "What should we do?"


    He and Ruan had no experience with these kinds of things at all, they didn''t know how to deal with it.


    They just stood there in the living room like two wooden stakes.


    "It''s snowing outside," Ruan suddenly said, slowly walking to the door and looking out at the courtyard.


    "It started snowing in the middle of the night."


    Lin stood by the door, seeing that a thin layer of snow had already accumulated in the courtyard, and he also saw the well that the female ghost had mentioned earlier.


    As she said, there was a well in the middle of the courtyard.


    The location of the well was a little abrupt, right in the center of the entire courtyard, blocking the door.


    This wasn''t a good sign in terms of feng shui.


    "There''s a stone entrance, there are words that cannot be spoken." Ruan suddenly said, "This well is well-built."


    She laughed, her eyes curved into a particularly beautiful shape.


    "What?" Lin said, "You know feng shui?"


    Ruan said, "My family does this, I learned a little." She looked at Lin sideways, "What do you do?"


    Lin: "I''m a designer..."


    Ruan: "Oh, your head hasn''t gone bald yet, you haven''t been doing it for long?"


    Lin: "...You really know how to talk."


    "Guess what I do?" Ruan flipped her hair.


    Lin: "Model?"


    He rarely saw girls as tall as Ruan, her figure was tall and her temperament was good.


    Besides her small chest, there didn''t seem to be any other flaws.


    "No." Ruan said with a smile, "I''m a fortune teller."


    Lin was stunned.


    "Let me see." Ruan''s fingers quickly calculated, "The moon is so round today, I think someone is going to die."


    Lin couldn''t help but laugh, "What logic is that, why does a full moon mean someone is going to die?"


    Ruan didn''t pay any attention to Lin, she walked towards the courtyard and waved to Lin.


    Lin was startled by her action, "What are you going to do? It''s so late..."


    Ruan said, "I want to see this well."


    "Let''s look at it tomorrow during the day, it''s too dangerous now."


    Although Lin said this, he was still worried that something would happen to Ruan, so he followed her towards the courtyard.


    Ruan was wearing a white long dress, and her steps were as light as an elf''s in the snow.


    She slowly approached the well, but didn''t get close, instead waiting for Lin to come over too.


    Lin said, "What''s wrong?"


    Ruan said, "Nothing, I suddenly don''t want to look anymore, let''s go back."


    Lin was confused, "Why are we going back?"


    "It''s too cold." Ruan said, "I''m going to freeze."


    After saying that, she naturally hooked her arm around Lin''s, then forcefully pulled him back into the house.


    Lin was being pulled by Ruan, he found that she had extraordinary strength, and he couldn''t break free for a while.


    "Ruan?" Lin was taken aback by Ruan''s strength.


    Ruan finally let go, "Let''s go, it''s so cold, let''s go back, we can sleep a little longer..."


    After saying that, she ignored Lin and went upstairs to her room on her own.


    Lin had to follow her back to the room on the second floor.


    Fortunately, the scary woman from earlier was gone, but the window was open, and the cold wind was howling into the room.


    Ruan got into bed and closed her eyes, ready to sleep.


    Lin really couldn''t sleep, so he lit the kerosene lamp again and stayed up all night.


    The night here was terrifyingly long, with howling wind and snow outside, and a sleeping beauty inside.


    Ruan and a man she had just met were sleeping on the same bed, but she was completely unguarded, her breathing was even, and her white cheeks were flushed, making her look particularly alluring.


    Lin took a look and then looked away.


    He wasn''t a gentleman who could sit without being tempted, nor was he a villain who would take advantage of someone.


    The next day, around eight o''clock, the shadow of the sun finally appeared on the horizon.


    It had been snowing all night, and the outside was covered in white.


    Ruan hummed and hawed as she opened her eyes, first stretching out an arm, then quickly retracting it, "It''s so cold..."


    Lin saw her expression and thought to himself, that''s not what you said last night.


    "Li." Ruan said, "Can you go find me some clothing? I''m only wearing a skirt... It''s too cold."


    Lin agreed, he also intended to find some clothing for himself to wear.

 3.The Scent of Blood

    After daybreak, the horror of the previous night dissipated somewhat.


    Lin was about to head downstairs from the second floor corridor when he heard a commotion from the third floor, like a lot of people discussing something.


    He didn''t intend to go, but then he heard a woman''s wail, a heart-wrenching wail, as if she had encountered something extremely tragic.


    Lin hesitated for a moment, then turned back towards the stairs on the third floor to see what had happened upstairs.


    The building here was made of wood, and the planks on the stairs were old and creaky.


    Every step made a creaking sound, and some parts even swayed a little, as if they couldn''t bear the weight of a human body.


    Lin reached the third floor and saw several people standing in the corridor.


    But what caught his attention was the strong smell of blood in the air.


    The smell of blood was so strong, it made his nostrils sting.


    Lin felt a sense of foreboding, he moved cautiously, getting behind the group.


    "I knew it," Chi, the tall man who had brought Lin and the others here yesterday, said in a low voice, discussing something with others, "Something definitely happened yesterday..."


    Xiao was also speaking, "I thought so too, I thought..."


    She paused, turning to look at Lin who was behind her, "Forget it."


    Lin thought, what do you mean by that, who did you think it was?


    Did you think it was me and Ruan?


    He looked up and saw a door behind Xiao.


    The door was half-closed, and a pool of blood flowed on the floor.


    Because the weather was too cold, the blood had solidified.


    But it was still clear that there was a lot of blood.


    "What happened?" Lin asked.


    "Someone died." Chi''s tone was flat.


    "Someone died?"


    If it had been yesterday, he would have thought it was unbelievable, why could these people say such a thing with such a calm tone.


    But after last night''s experience, he had realized clearly that the place he was in now was no longer a world that could be explained by common sense.


    "Yes," Chi said.


    Lin changed his angle and took a look inside the door.


    This glimpse caused him to gasp involuntarily.


    The room was full of congealed blood, two corpses lay in a disarray on the floor, the flesh was so badly mangled that it was impossible to recognize their original form.


    They were more like two pieces of meat without skin, rather than human beings.


    The blood flowed down the floor of the room, out the door, from the floor to the walls, almost every inch of the third floor was stained.


    Although Lin was mentally prepared, he was still disgusted by this scene.


    He covered his mouth and turned away, Xiao, understandingly, said, "There''s a toilet in the room next door."


    Lin rushed into the toilet and vomited.


    After he finished vomiting, Xiao said, "I thought you wouldn''t vomit."


    Lin: "Ah?"


    Xiao said calmly, "You and Ruan are already good newcomers, generally newcomers have a really bad first door state, survival rate is probably 20%."


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    Lin: "..."


    Xiao said, "Let''s go, let''s go downstairs for breakfast."


    Lin said, "What about the two corpses?"


    Xiao''s expression was strange when she heard this, "What do you want to do about them?"


    Lin was speechless.


    He was following the others downstairs, and then he suddenly remembered something and asked in confusion:


    "Wait, I heard a woman crying on the third floor when I was on the second floor..."


    He looked around, confirming that there was only Xiao, a girl, among them, and seeing her calm look, there was no way she would be wailing.


    "A woman crying?" Xiao said, "We didn''t hear anything, you must have heard wrong."


    "...Okay."


    Breakfast on the first floor was ready, steaming hot on the table.


    The person who cooked the food was said to be a villager, they looked no different from normal people.


    After eating breakfast, Lin borrowed some thick clothes from them and inquired about the village.


    "Our village has nothing going on." The villager seemed unable to provide any useful information, "It''s just that a few tourists come every winter."


    Lin: "Oh... What about your daily necessities?"


    The villager said, "We buy them outside the mountain, the mountain road is bad, but we have to find a way. But as soon as it snows, we can''t go out, the mountain road is blocked, and we have to stay here for the whole winter."


    Lin thought for a while and then suddenly asked, "Are all the wells in your village built in the middle of the courtyard?"


    Lin was not sure if it was his imagination, but when he mentioned the word "well," the villager''s expression seemed to become tense, but they didn''t give any special information.


    They just nodded and said yes, then turned and left.


    Lin thought about it for a while, but couldn''t figure out anything, so he decided to give the clothes to Ruan first, and then talk about anything else.


    When he entered the room, Ruan was lying in bed playing with her phone.


    When she saw him enter, she hummed softly, "You''re so slow."


    Lin handed the borrowed clothes to the bed, "Get up, there''s breakfast on the first floor."


    Ruan hummed in response.


    Lin said, "I''ll go out and wait for you."


    "Wait." Ruan suddenly called out, "What''s on your head?"


    "What?" Lin was confused.


    Ruan beckoned him over, so Lin went closer.


    "It''s all red..." Ruan reached out to touch Lin''s head, then turned her palm over, "What''s this?"


    Lin felt bad when he saw what Ruan was holding, because what Ruan was holding looked like frozen blood.


    "I''ll go take a look." Lin quickly went to the toilet.


    As Ruan said, he noticed that his hair was covered in small pieces of ice, the ice was dark red, hidden in the hair, it was hard to see at a glance.


    He didn''t know when it got on his head.


    "Damn it," Lin muttered, wiping his head with a towel.


    The more he wiped, the more shocking it became, almost a whole hot towel was dyed red, and his hair hadn''t even been wiped clean.


    Ruan, who had changed into thick clothes, walked over and said , "Is this blood?"


    Lin sighed and briefly explained what happened on the third floor.


    When he said that someone had died, Ruan started crying softly again, saying, "Lin, I''m so scared, are we going to be next?"


    She was such a beautiful girl, crying so miserably, it was heartbreaking.


    Lin turned around, cleaning his hair while thinking about where all this blood came from.


    Finally, he had a terrifying idea...


    Could it be from the ceiling of the third floor... dripping down?


    "I want to go to the third floor and take a look." Lin said, "You go downstairs to eat first."


    "Are you going alone?" Ruan said, "Let''s go together."


    "Aren''t you scared?" Lin asked suspiciously, Ruan was still crying her eyes out just now.


    "Isn''t that because you''re here?" Ruan flipped her hair, smiling softly, "With you here, what am I afraid of?"


    Lin thought, that''s right, you were running faster than me last night, after all.


    So the two of them went back to the third floor along the corridor.


    The blood was still all over the floor, and the bodies were still uncleaned, but this time, Lin focused on the ceiling.


    He looked up, and sure enough, he saw traces of blood on the ceiling, but these traces made people feel very uncomfortable, it looked like something was sticking to the ceiling and slowly crawling.


    Perhaps because of the long time, the bloodstains on the ceiling were also frozen, but the bloodstains that dripped onto the floor were still visible.


    Lin''s scalp tingled, he really didn''t want to think about what was hanging from the ceiling when he first appeared on the third floor... and they still hadn''t noticed it all this time.


    Ruan looked at the ceiling for a long time.


    Lin asked what she saw.


    "I saw the ceiling," Ruan said, "What else could I see, the stars and dreams?"


    Lin: "..."


    She was really bold, after looking at the ceiling, she also went to take a look at the two bloody and mangled corpses.


    She didn''t show any discomfort at all, she even seemed a little excited.


    Until Lin looked at her suspiciously, "Aren''t you scared?"


    Then she looked as if she had remembered something, and started to whine.


    "Stop whining, are you going to eat breakfast or not?"


    "I''m going to eat." Ruan said, "I''m hungry too."


    The two of them went downstairs, and saw that everyone had already finished breakfast and seemed to be waiting for them.


    "Where did you two go?" Chi said, "We''ve been waiting for you."


    Ruan didn''t seem nervous in the face of everyone''s gaze, she gracefully sat down at the table and picked up her bowl, ready to eat breakfast.


    Lin  talked about the blood on his hair and the strange traces he saw on the ceiling of the third floor.


    Everyone''s faces were not good-looking after hearing this, and some people reflexively looked up at the ceiling.


    They were still discussing the person who died last night and those strange traces, when a middle-aged man in his forties walked in from outside.


    The man was wearing a thick army-green padded jacket, carrying an oil lamp in his hand, and he slowly walked into the hall.


    "Hello," the man said, "I''m the headman of this village, you must be the people I invited to help, right?"


    As soon as he spoke, everyone in the room became quiet.


    "It''s getting cold, our village wants to build some coffins for next year," the man said in a hoarse voice, "We asked you to help the carpenter."


    No one answered the headman, and he didn''t seem to expect an answer from them either.

 4.Pray

    After saying that, he coughed a few times, then lifted the swaying kerosene lamp again and walked outside.


    The snow had stopped, but the wind was still blowing.


    The howling wind slammed against the door and the treetops, sounding like human wails.


    "It''s begun," Chi said softly.


    As soon as he finished speaking, a strong wind blew outside, slamming the half-closed door against the wall with a loud bang.


    With a crack, the seemingly sturdy wooden door was directly smashed into pieces.


    Everyone in the room was silent, and finally Chi spoke first, "It must be about making coffins."


    "How could this be, how could this be!!" A cry of despair rang out in the room.


    Lin turned his head and saw that a man in their group was having a breakdown, "This is a crazy world - how can we possibly survive, who knows how to make coffins, we''re going to die, we''re going to die here!!"


    Chi seemed to have seen this kind of scene countless times, and his expression remained unmoved.


    The man who was having a breakdown roared, smashing everything on the table onto the floor, tears and snot streaming down his face.


    "There were thirteen people when we first arrived, and two died on the first day... ,I''ve never encountered anything like this before!!"


    "Alright!" Chi said impatiently, "Are you going to die just because you''re crying? What are you freaking out about, do you think you''re the newcomer? "


    But the man''s mental breakdown wasn''t really a strange thing.


    It was an alien space different from the normal world, with all sorts of terrifying omens, making it hard for anyone to remain calm.


    "Let''s first discuss what to do," Chi said, "The village headman said he wants to make coffins, that must be the key."


    Lin said, "Excuse me, what do you mean by key?"


    Chi glanced at him, "It''s the thing used to open the door, after we come in, we need to find the key to get out based on the clues provided by the people inside, and then find an iron door to leave here."


    Lin said, "Is there a time limit?"


    Chi sneered, "Of course, before everyone dies."


    So that''s it, Lin felt a little relieved, at least there was a way to get out.


    What he was most afraid of was that kind of unsolvable horror.


    Unable to escape, unable to shake it off, no matter what you did, it was all in vain.


    "The clue is the coffin," Chi looked at the weather outside, "Let''s go find the people in the village who do woodworking and ask around."


    "Okay," Xiao said, "I''ll go with you."


    Lin raised his hand, "I want to go too."


    Chi nodded indifferently, "Alright."


    Unknowingly, he had become the leader of the entire team.


    He instructed, "You guys check the building, see if there are any useful clues."


    At this time, Ruan came forward and gently pulled on Lin''s sleeve, whispering, "I''m scared, I want to stay with you."


    Although this girl was indeed quite tall,  but she was so beautiful that it made people feel a bit pity for her.


    Lin nodded, "Alright, but I can''t guarantee I can protect you."


    Ruan smiled, "It''s okay."


    She flipped her hair back, "It''s reassuring to be with you."


    Lin thought, this girl knows how to flirt.


    So the four of them took advantage of the early daylight and quickly went out.


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    Along the way, Lin asked Chi about some details of this world, learning that the ghosts and monsters here don''t generally kill people indiscriminately.


    But there are exceptions, if you encounter a high-difficulty world, the ghosts and monsters will be uninhibited, and they can act whenever they want.


    If you encounter such a situation, it will be a nine-out-of-ten chance of death.


    "What is the meaning of this world''s existence?" Lin asked the question he was most curious about.


    Chi looked at him deeply after hearing this question, "You''ll know when you''re alive and back home."


    "Oh."


    They learned the address of the carpenter in the village from the villagers.


    The snowy road was really too difficult to walk on, and it took them almost an hour to get there.


    Lin took the opportunity to observe the village.


    The village wasn''t big, surrounded by dense forests.


    It was fine during the day, but as soon as it snowed, the roads out were basically cut off.


    There weren''t many people in the village either, you could occasionally see two or three people walking on the roadside.


    Logically speaking, it would be special to encounter strangers in a place like this, but judging from the villagers'' expressions, they didn''t seem curious at all about Lin and his companions'' arrival.


    The carpenter''s house was at the east end of the village.


    When they arrived outside, they saw a faint light from an oil lamp inside.


    Chi stepped forward and knocked on the door.


    After a moment, a short old man appeared behind the door.


    He was probably in his sixties or seventies, with sparse hair, wearing a tattered gray padded jacket.


    His face was covered in wrinkles, his eyes were cloudy, he said, "Do you have any business here?"


    "It''s too cold outside, can we talk inside?" Chi asked.


    The old man didn''t say anything, but turned around and opened the door.


    The four of them outside filed in.


    The house wasn''t big, and it was very messy.


    Lin observed the surroundings and noticed that the window had a broken hole.


    Someone had roughly nailed a wooden board to the window frame, simply blocking the wind.


    "Old man, we were invited by the village head to make coffins." Chi said, "But we don''t know much about this, I heard you''re the most famous carpenter in the village, can you give me some advice?"


    The old man gave Chi a cold look, "To make a coffin, first you need to chop down a tree,, send the wood to me, then go to the temple to pray, and then you can start making it."


    Chi caught the keyword, "Go to the temple to pray?"


    The old man nodded, "There''s an ancient temple beside the village, here, making coffins is bad luck, you have to pray first, pray, pray."


    He repeated the word "pray" countless times, making people uncomfortably uneasy.


    "What about after you pray?" Chi said.


    The old man didn''t say anything.


    Chi said, "hey?"


    The old man still didn''t speak.


    After repeated questioning by Chi, the old man smiled.


    The smile looked extremely sinister in the reflection of the firelight.


    He lowered his voice and said, "When you''re still alive, come back and ask me then."


    Chi''s face turned green.


    Ruan didn''t hold back at all, she said, "Don''t be like that, old man, it''s so cold out, what if you die before we''re done?"


    The old man sneered, "This old man has a tough life."


    Ruan: "I think you''ll only be tough when you''re dead."


    The old man: "..."


    Everyone else: "..."


    Lin thought, why are you so proficient at this, is it really okay to be so disrespectful to NPCs?


    Normally, people would be a little scared when they encounter someone with such a terrifying aura, but looking at Ruan, she rolled her eyes without any problem at all.


    "Alright, alright." Lin said, "Don''t force him if he doesn''t want to talk..."


    Ruan said, "How can we not force him? If we''re the ones who die first, we''ll just accept it, but what if he dies first?"


    As she said this, she rolled up her sleeves and looked around the room, finally stopping at a stick as thick as her arm.


    Lin cursed in his heart, thinking, are you really going to use violence?


    This is a horror world, is it really okay to use violence against NPCs?


    Who knew that before Ruan picked up the stick, the old man caved first.


    He said angrily, "After you pray, go fill a well, and then the coffin will be done!"


    Ruan: " Li, he''s glaring at me~"


    Lin: "... You were much scarier than him just now."


    Chi didn''t expect this kind of operation either, he and Xiao were both stunned for a moment.


    They had been polite to everyone they had met in this world, afraid of offending them, who knew that Ruan wasn''t playing by the rules at all.


    And she got the final answer so easily - although this answer might not be entirely correct.


    They had been here for almost a day, and Chi had only just learned Ruan''s name.


    Yesterday, he saw Ruan crying her eyes out, and he thought that Ruan wouldn''t be able to survive in this world for long, so he didn''t even ask her name.


    But after Ruan''s impressive performance just now, Chi felt that she wasn''t as vulnerable as she seemed.


    "Weren''t you scared just now?" Chi asked her.


    Ruan''s answer was convincing, she said, "Scared? Why be scared? It''s one thing to be afraid of ghosts, but being afraid of people is too pathetic. ¡¡Besides, this kind of person is clearly a key NPC, if he really dies, our information will be cut off, then how can we survive until the end?"


    The three of them were speechless, they actually felt she had a point.


    At least they had gotten crucial information from the carpenter, everyone felt a little more at ease, so they decided to go back and tell everyone.


    Although it was daytime, the sky was covered with a thick layer of clouds.


    It wasn''t snowing, but a biting wind was howling.


    Ruan was wearing her long dress, with two thick padded jackets over it.


    She followed behind Lin, her frail and thin appearance seemed like she could be blown away by the wind at any moment.


    Lin felt sorry for her, so he reached out and pulled her, letting her walk in front of him, and blocking the wind for her.


    Ruan was touched, she blinked her beautiful eyes and asked Lin, "You''re so nice."


    Lin said, "You''re welcome."


    Ruan said, "Are you nice to everyone?"


    "...Have I ever been this nice to Chi? It''s because you''re pretty." He joked, "You''re just pretty."


    Chi, who was walking in front, said, "I heard that."


    Ruan, hearing this, showed a thoughtful expression, "So as long as I''m pretty?"


    Lin thought she was just playing around, so he said randomly, "Of course you also have to be tall."


    "Oh..."

 5.The Missing Corpse

    The four of them trudged through the long road, braving the wind and snow, thankfully encountering no strange events along the way.


    They successfully returned to their lodging.


    However, upon their return, they sensed an unsettling atmosphere in the house.


    Several people sat motionless in the living room, their faces pale.


    A deathly silence hung in the air, an atmosphere even more dreadful than when they first arrived.


    Lin scanned the faces of those present, swiftly confirming that no one was missing, which offered a slight relief.


    "What happened?" Chi asked.


    One of the men sitting there, trembling, said, "Upstairs, the corpse... it''s gone."


    "Just the corpse is gone?" Chi said, "Are you all newcomers? What''s there to be afraid of, a corpse going missing?"


    "It was eaten," a girl beside him whimpered, tears streaming down her face, "There was blood everywhere..."


    Chi exchanged glances with Xiao, realizing that they couldn''t get any useful information from these people.


    Thus, the four decided to check out the situation on the third floor.


    As they climbed the stairs, reaching the second floor, Lin noticed something amiss¡ªbloodstains appeared on the wall.


    The house was made of wood, so the walls were also a brownish color.


    Lin saw some black spots clinging to the wall, like something had splattered against it.


    "Be careful, there might be something up there," Chi, leading the way, warned.


    Finally, they reached the third floor, and Lin finally understood what they meant by "eaten."


    The spot where the corpse had been lay empty.


    If that was all, it wouldn''t have been a problem.


    But the corpse was gone, replaced by something else.


    The floor was covered in shredded flesh and bones, as if the corpse had been savagely torn apart and devoured, leaving only scattered fragments.


    Lin, upon witnessing this scene, couldn''t help but turn pale, feeling a churning unease in his stomach.


    "It ate pretty clean," Xiao said, accustomed to such sights, "I wonder what kind of thing it is."


    "Sigh," Chi sighed, "Let''s go. Lock the third floor, we''ll all stay on the second floor tonight."


    "Alright," Xiao nodded, "I''ll go ask them about what happened."


    They returned to the first floor and questioned them further about what had happened.


    The people downstairs finally told them about what occurred in the house.


    After Chi and the others left, the group searched the house.


    While searching the second floor, they heard a very strange sound coming from the third floor.


    It sounded like someone chewing on something, accompanied by the sound of gulping down food.


    They then counted their numbers, confirming that no one from their group was on the third floor, and began to sweat cold.


    They dared not go upstairs and froze on the second floor, observing the situation.


    When the chewing sound ceased, they mustered their courage to go up to the third floor¡ªonly to find the floor covered in shredded flesh and bones.


    "It''s terrifying," a senior girl in the group, her expression already dazed, said, "This is only my third time entering this place. Why am I encountering such a world? Can we get out of here alive? What is that thing..."


    No one could answer her question, and the room fell silent.


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    Chi sighed softly, stating that he was hungry and wanted to find something to eat.


    He asked if anyone wanted to join him in the kitchen.


    Lin said, "I''ll go with you."


    Ruan sat beside Lin, her voice soft and gentle, "Lin, I''m hungry too. I want to eat noodles."


    Lin replied, "I''ll see if we have any. If we do, I''ll cook  for you."


    "Okay," Ruan smiled, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Lin, "Be careful, okay?"


    Lin nodded.


    The kitchen was on the left side of the living room.


    They didn''t have gas, only a primitive wood-burning stove.


    Chi and Lin didn''t speak much along the way, only after Chi had lit the fire in the kitchen did he say, "I''m not going to tell them everything."


    "What do you mean?" Lin was taken aback.


    Chi glanced silently towards the doorway, ensuring no one was outside, before whispering, "I can''t be sure that everyone in our team is human."


    Lin felt goosebumps rise on his back at those words.


    "This has happened before," Chi said, "We thought our teammates were actually teammates, but they were those things."


    Lin asked, "Then why do you believe me? What if I''m one of those things too?"


    Chi glanced at him, "You don''t look like it."


    Lin was speechless.


    Chi continued, "And they don''t act like people who''ve experienced this several times. They''re all too panicked, even more than you."


    Lin felt a little embarrassed at being praised like that, "Actually, I''m pretty scared too."


    Chi chuckled self-deprecatingly at his words, "What kind of scared is that? The first night I entered this place, I peed my pants three times."


    Lin thought of the terrifying woman from last night, silently glancing down at his own pants, thinking to himself that he had luckily managed to hold it in...


    Chi said, "I suggest you keep some clues to yourself too, don''t reveal everything."


    Lin nodded, "I understand. Thanks for reminding me. Can I ask, how many times have you entered this place?"


    Chi replied, "Six times."


    "Oh..." Lin tried to process the information Chi had given him, about the door, the team, and some hidden clues.


    "Thinking about it won''t help, just try to survive," Chi chuckled wryly, "Though I think this world is a lost cause."


    The fire in the stove was ignited, heating the water in the iron pot to a boil.


    Lin found a basket filled with ingredients nearby, containing noodles, eggs, and even some green vegetables.


    He put the noodles in the pot, then fried an egg.


    The aroma of food filled the kitchen, dispelling the chilling fear.


    Chi complimented him, "You have good skills."


    "It''s alright," Lin smiled.


    He cooked four bowls of noodles, for Chi, Xiao, Lin, and Ruan.


    He couldn''t be bothered with the others.


    Ruan was also hungry and began to eat her noodles.


    Most people make some noise when eating noodles, but she ate the entire bowl silently, not leaving a drop of soup.


    After finishing two bowls of noodles, the coldness from being outside finally subsided.


    Chi ate while sharing the information they got from the woodcarver, but he didn''t reveal everything, keeping the final clue about filling the well a secret.


    "Could the key be in the coffin?" A man named Zhang, one of the calmer individuals in the team, suggested, "Since the coffin is the key clue, I think it''s highly likely..."


    "Sigh, I hope so," Chi said, "I''m planning to go to the mountain to cut down trees tomorrow morning. All the men will go, the women can accompany them. If it''s too cold, they can stay inside the house. But if something happens inside the house, we won''t be able to help."


    After discussion, everyone agreed to Chi''s suggestion.


    Though some found it too dangerous to go up the mountain in such stormy weather, the real danger in this world wasn''t the weather, but those elusive dirty things.


    Finishing the coffin and leaving this place as soon as possible was obviously the best option.


    As they lingered, darkness fell once again.


    After nightfall, everyone washed up briefly, having no heart for other activities.


    They went to their rooms early.


    Lin asked why they couldn''t all gather together.


    Chi explained, "Because if we gather together, everyone will fall asleep at a cirtain time."


    "What do you mean?" Lin was confused, "You mean everyone will fall asleep at a certain time if they''re in the same room?"


    "Yeah," Chi said, "Maybe it''s the mechanism of this world. If the number of people in the same room exceeds a certain threshold, everyone will fall asleep at a fixed time. By then, no matter what happens, we''ll be helpless."


    "Then won''t we be at their mercy?" Lin frowned.


    "Actually, those things can''t kill people at will," Chi said, "They need specific conditions to kill people. The higher the difficulty of the door world, the more lenient the conditions, and some conditions are very¡­unintelligible."


    Lin asked, "For example?"


    Chi said, "For example, they can kill people who are wearing shoes."


    Lin was speechless.


    He silently looked down at the shoes on his feet.


    Seeing his expression, Chi laughed, "I was just giving an example. What if the condition of this world is that they can kill people who aren''t wearing shoes? You take off your shoes and die instead. Besides, these conditions aren''t singular, some require multiple conditions to be met. Therefore, after summarizing the patterns, it''s actually safer to sleep from nightfall to dawn." He paused and continued, "Of course, this is assuming you can actually sleep."


    Lin''s words triggered memories of last night''s events.


    He glanced at Ruan, who was casually cracking sunflower seeds while sitting beside him, feeling like he had just narrowly escaped death.


    It felt like one wrong move, and he would become one of those two cold corpses on the third floor.


    "Go to sleep," Chi said, "Goodnight."


    Lin nodded, "Goodnight."


    He then called out to Ruan, asking her to go to bed.


    Ruan yawned, casually putting the remaining sunflower seeds on the table.


    She rubbed her eyes, muttering, "I''m so sleepy. Let''s go to bed early tonight."


    Lin said, "Alright, let''s go to bed early."


    The third floor, due to last night''s incident, was completely unusable, so everyone moved to the second floor.


    Lin continued to sleep in the same bed with Ruan.


    This time, he was prepared and decided to lock the window first.


    He also planned to draw the curtains, but they seemed to have been untouched for a long time, and he couldn''t move them no matter how hard he tried.


    Ruan, wearing her pajamas, lay in bed, humming softly, "Lin, it''s so cold."

 6.The Sound from Above

    Lin was still fiddling with the curtains, not turning around as he replied, "If you''re cold, put on more clothes."


    Ruan said, "¡­You don''t have a girlfriend, do you?"


    Lin was confused, "Girlfriend? Why should I have a girlfriend?"


    Ruan fell silent.


    By the time Lin finished with the curtains and turned back, she was lying on the bed, stiff as a board, like a dead fish.


    Lin was still puzzled, "What''s wrong with you?"


    Ruan spoke softly, "You¡­isn''t there anything you want to say to me?"


    Lin fell into thought, looking at Ruan''s beautiful face, and finally had an idea, "There is."


    Ruan smiled contentedly, "What do you want to say?"


    Lin said, "That, you know¡­if we encounter a ghost today, can you please run a little slower?"


    Ruan''s face turned cold, "No."


    Lin was furious, "Then why the hell did you ask what I wanted to say? Go to sleep!"


    Thus, they each went to their own beds, turning their backs to each other, preparing to sleep.


    According to Chi, the best way to spend the night was to sleep peacefully.


    However, Lin''s mind was filled with various thoughts, and he couldn''t fall asleep at all.


    Ruan, on the other hand, was like a pig, falling asleep as soon as she closed her eyes.


    It made Lin''s teeth itch with anger.


    As night deepened, the temperature dropped.


    Fortunately, the blankets were thick, and there was a warm, living person sleeping beside him, so it wasn''t too unbearable.


    Lin closed his eyes, reviewing the clues from the day, his consciousness gradually becoming blurry.


    He was about to fall asleep when he faintly heard a strange sound.


    Unlike the knocking sound from yesterday, this sound came from the ceiling above them.


    It was a slow, dragging sound, like a sticky, heavy object moving across the ceiling from the third floor.


    Lin''s hearing was sharp, and his drowsiness vanished instantly.


    His breath hitched, and he slowly opened his eyes, looking at the ceiling above them.


    There was nothing there, just  wood.


    However, Lin''s body began to chill.


    He clearly heard the sound stopping above his head.


    "Thud, thud," the sticky knocking sound pierced his eardrums, growing louder and causing goosebumps to erupt all over Lin''s body.


    He gritted his teeth, about to sit up from the bed, when a hand reached out from beside him, wrapping around his waist.


    "What are you doing?" It was Ruan''s voice, drowsy and sleepy.


    "Did you hear any strange sounds?" Lin lowered his voice, "From the ceiling."


    "Sounds? What sounds?" Ruan said, "I didn''t hear anything. Don''t move, I''m cold."


    Her breath, carrying the scent of ice and snow, gently brushed against Lin''s ear.


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    "You¡­" Lin was about to say something else, but he felt Ruan tighten her grip around his waist.


    "Go to sleep." Ruan said.


    Lin had no choice but to close his eyes.


    Ruan''s fingers slowly traced Lin''s waist.


    This action, which should have been somewhat ambiguous, now had a soothing effect.


    The knocking sound from the ceiling continued, but Lin didn''t seem as scared as before.


    Drowsiness began to creep back into his mind, and he finally drifted off to sleep.


    The next morning.


    Lin woke up in Ruan''s arms.


    Ruan stretched her arm, holding him completely in her embrace, her chin resting on his head.


    After being woken up, she mumbled drowsily, "Don''t make a fuss, sleep a little longer."


    Lin was speechless.


    He lay there for a while, seeing that Ruan didn''t have any plans to get up, so he said, "I need to get up."


    After getting dressed, he went downstairs.


    The others were already sitting in the living room, eating breakfast provided by the villagers.


    As usual, Lin counted the number of people and found that three people were missing besides Ruan.


    Chi saw him and gestured for him to sit down.


    "Did anything happen last night?" Lin asked.


    "No," Chi said, "No one died."


    Good, Lin breathed a sigh of relief.


    In fact, last night was extremely peaceful, they didn''t even hear any extra noise.


    Lin tentatively asked if they had heard any sounds from the ceiling, but everyone''s response was the same¡ªit was a quiet night, with only the wind outside, no other sounds.


    "After we finish eating, we''ll go cut down trees and deliver the wood to the carpenter. We need to hurry," Chi said, "The weather is only going to get colder. And the fact that nothing happened last night¡­" he sounded a little puzzled.


    "Yeah, that''s true," Lin replied casually.


    The other three people also came downstairs one after another.


    Ruan was the last one.


    She was still wearing her beautiful long dress, but had added two relatively heavy coats and a pair of heavy cotton pants on top.


    Because the dress was very long, she walked slowly, with a very elegant posture.


    Lin saw her coming and unconsciously averted his gaze.


    "Lin," Ruan called his name.


    Lin helplessly nodded.


    "Why aren''t you paying attention to me?" Ruan said, "I want to eat the noodles you cooked."


    Lin replied, "I''ll make them for you at noon, it''s too late now."


    Ruan said, "You didn''t say that last night when you were in bed."


    Xiao, who was drinking porridge, almost choked on his food.


    Chi''s expression became subtle, his gaze lingering between Lin and Ruan.


    Lin chuckled helplessly, "Alright, alright, stop messing around. I really do thank you for last night. I''ll make you noodles at noon, and fry two extra eggs for you."


    "Alright," Ruan compromised, "Sigh, how good it would be if we had some  green onions."


    In such cold weather, it was already fortunate to have green vegetables to eat.


    As for green onions, it was a pipe dream.


    Everyone ate breakfast in a hurried manner, put on warm clothes, and a group of them, carrying axes, prepared to set out.


    The place where they were going to cut down trees was in the forest on the edge of the village, accessible by a small path.


    Because of the snow, the path became even narrower, only wide enough for one person.


    Going uphill was fine, but going downhill with the lumber would be a lot more trouble.


    Lin thought to himself as he walked on the path.


    Out of the eleven of them, luckily, there was someone who knew how to do carpentry.


    He was a middle-aged man in his thirties, claiming to be a carpenter, capable of chopping trees and making simple furniture, but he wasn''t very familiar with things like coffins.


    He walked in front, chose a few trees, and began to teach everyone how to chop trees.


    Most of them had never done this before.


    Although they had an instructor, it was quite clumsy for them to try it for the first time.


    Lin swung his axe a couple of times, leaving a faint mark on the tree trunk after his first chop.


    "Your technique is still wrong," Ruan stood beside him, her hands in her pockets, puffing out white breath, "You need to put your strength downwards, otherwise, how can you lift such a heavy axe?"


    Lin asked, "Have you chopped trees before?"


    Ruan replied, "I''ve watched others chop trees."


    Lin said "Oh."


    Ruan said, "Be careful, don''t hurt yourself."


    Lin nodded and continued swinging his axe.


    This task was more challenging than they had anticipated.


    It took the whole morning for several big men, taking turns to rest, to chop down a single tree.


    "What should we do, Chi?" Someone asked, "What should we do?"


    Chi looked at the weather and gritted his teeth, "Let''s go, carry this tree back. We''ll continue tomorrow."


    Although it was only a little past three in the afternoon, the sky had already darkened, and large flakes of snow began to fall again.


    It looked like it might snow heavily at night.


    Lin asked, "How many logs do we need for a coffin?"


    "The village head said three," Chi replied, "We''ll be done in two days. Come on, who wants to give me a hand."


    Lin was about to step forward to carry the tree, but he heard Ruan say, "Oh, I seem to have twisted my ankle. Lin, carry me down the mountain."


    Lin said, "What?"


    Ruan said, "What are you ''what''ing about? Hurry up. There are so many people here, why are you trying to be a hero?"


    Lin was about to speak, but Chi patted him on the shoulder, "Go ahead."


    Lin was speechless.


    He glanced at Ruan''s expression and didn''t notice anything unusual in her pitiful demeanor.


    But he sensed a hint of something, as if Ruan''s sudden request was not as simple as it seemed.

 7.A Desperate Escape

    Lin carried Ruan on his back, while the rest of the group, divided into three, carried the heavy log.


    The snow made the road slippery, and everyone walked with extra care.


    Chi, holding an oil lamp, led the way, urging everyone to take it slow.


    Initially, the snow was falling in a light drizzle, but as they walked back, the snow suddenly intensified, like goose feathers, swirling and blanketing the entire sky.


    Ruan wasn''t heavy, so Lin carried her quite comfortably.


    He kept his head down, carefully watching the path beneath his feet, placing each step with precision.


    The wind howled louder, almost piercingly, and the falling snow obscured most of Lin''s vision.


    He began to have trouble seeing the people in front of him.


    This feeling was awful.


    Lin paused briefly, about to stop, but then heard Ruan''s voice beside his ear, "Don''t stop, keep going."


    Lin had no choice but to continue forward.


    However, the further he walked, the more he felt something was wrong.


    At first, Lin thought it was the cold making him dizzy, but as they traveled farther, he finally realized the source of the discordant feeling.


    It was too light.


    The person on his back was too light, as if they had lost all weight.


    Lin swallowed, tentatively shifting the person on his back upwards.


    ¡ªIt wasn''t an illusion after all.


    The person on his back was very light, like a paper doll.


    They had form but no weight.


    A thin layer of sweat formed on Lin''s forehead. He called out, "Ruan."


    No response.


    "Ruan," Lin called again.


    "What?" Ruan pressed her face against Lin''s neck.


    Her face was ice-cold, her skin damp and soft, giving Lin an uneasy feeling.


    She said, "What do you want?"


    "Nothing," Lin said, "Just asking if you''re cold."


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    "I''m not cold," Ruan said, "Not at all."


    Lin dared not stop.


    Earlier, he had been walking with his head down, but now, lifting his gaze to observe the surroundings, he realized that he was a considerable distance from the people in front.


    In the heavy snow, he could only vaguely see the blurry oil lamp and the silhouettes of several figures walking in the wind and snow.


    The thing he was carrying on his back didn''t seem to be Ruan anymore, but something else.


    Lin gritted his teeth slightly.


    "You''re shivering," the thing on his back, with the same voice as Ruan, said softly and gently, "Are you cold?"


    "It''s okay," Lin said, "Just a little cold."


    "Do you want to go to a place where it''s not cold?" she asked, "A warm place where it doesn''t snow, where it doesn''t get dark?"


    Lin thought to himself that he should probably ask what kind of place it was, but he didn''t want to ask at all.


    So, he simply remained silent.


    "Why aren''t you talking?" she asked.


    "Because I''m thinking," Lin replied dryly.


    She asked, "What are you thinking about?"


    Lin paused for a moment, then shouted loudly, "I''m thinking about how to throw you off!"


    After saying this, he instantly let go, without looking back, and sprinted towards the front.


    His choice was clearly right, because after he let go, he didn''t hear any sounds of something hitting the ground.


    ¡ªIt definitely wasn''t a person.


    Lin sprinted as fast as he could, grabbing a glimpse behind him.


    This glimpse almost scared the heart out of him.


    The thing he had thrown off, lifeless and limp, lay on the snow, but its neck was stretching longer and longer, extending towards him, its head with black hair trailing on the snow, tilting its head and asking,


    "Why did you throw me away? Don''t you like me the most?"


    Lin roared, "Go to hell¡ª"


    The increasingly long head: "¡­"


    Lin didn''t dare stop, only hoping to catch up with his companions ahead.


    But to his despair, no matter how fast he ran, the figures and lights in front of him didn''t get any closer.


    It was as if he were chasing a mirage in a dream.


    The thing behind him was getting closer.


    It''s over.


    As that thing was about to catch up, Lin felt despair.


    But just then, his foot seemed to trip on something, and his entire body fell heavily to the ground.


    "Damn!" Lin stumbled, eating a mouthful of snow, but this action made him feel something leave his body, and then he felt someone pick him up directly from the snow.


    "Lin, Lin, can you even walk? Am I that heavy?" It was Ruan''s voice.


    Lin struggled to get up, turned his head, and saw the girl squatting beside him, poking his cheek with her finger.


    Chi was the one who had lifted Lin from the snow.


    He asked, "Are you alright?"


    Lin let out a long sigh, "I thought I was dead for sure."


    Ruan tilted her head, "Why?"


    Lin briefly recounted what had just happened, saying that luckily he had tripped, otherwise he would have been finished.


    "Oh," Ruan said, "I was wondering why you tripped. I thought it was because I was too heavy."


    Lin said, "It''s okay, you''re not particularly heavy."


    Ruan smiled.


    Chi said, "Get up quickly, they''re almost down the slope. It''s going to get dark, we need to hurry."


    Lin nodded, got up, and felt a pain in his knee.


    It must have been injured when he fell earlier.


    But he didn''t mention it.


    Instead, he followed Chi and the others forward.


    He wanted to carry Ruan again, but she refused, saying that Lin was too thin and that carrying her would make his chest ache.


    After hearing this, Lin quietly and wistfully asked, "Do you even have breasts¡­"


    Earlier, when carrying Ruan, he had felt that her chest was flat, with no softness at all.


    Ruan was furious when she heard this, and retorted, "Fine, fine, you have big breasts, you go ahead and say it!"


    Lin: "¡­"


    The three of them quickened their pace, trying to catch up with the people in front.


    But just then, Lin heard a piercing scream.


    "Did you hear that?" Lin asked, worried that it was just his imagination.


    "I heard it," Chi''s face turned black, "Hurry up, something''s wrong."


    The three of them started running.


    When they reached the front, they saw a terrifying sight.

 8.The Unseen Hand

    The three people who had been carrying the log, two of them were dead.


    Their bodies had been split in half by the log, and the most terrifying part was that although their bodies were broken, they still had consciousness, with blood gushing from their mouths, constantly screaming and pleading for help.


    The remaining one collapsed on the ground, his pants wet, his mouth filled with desperate sobs, "Help! Help!"


    "What happened? What the hell is going on!" Chi asked.


    Xiao said, "They were walking, and suddenly they all let go. The log slid down and slammed into the two in front."


    Before Chi could speak, the remaining survivor crawled up from the ground and started running wildly, crying, "There''s a ghost! Help! There''s a ghost!"


    Before everyone could react, they watched him disappear into the snowstorm as he ran.


    The two left on the ground also lay dying, their breath fading.


    "What should we do¡­" A woman in the group began to cry, her sobs endless, "Are we all going to die here?"


    Snowflakes clung to Chi''s beard.


    He sighed, his expression calm, "Let''s go, carry the wood ."


    No one dared to carry the log after it killed someone.


    Everyone refused, and finally, Lin stepped forward and, together with Chi, carried the blood-stained wood.


    Everyone was silent on the way back, thankfully, nothing else happened.


    The two of them delivered the log to the carpenter.


    The old carpenter was not surprised at all by the blood on the log, he didn''t even ask a question, just croaked, "Two more to go."


    Chi and Lin didn''t say anything.


    They turned around and went back to their lodging.


    The way the log fell was too strange, something must have been at work.


    Lin felt like he had escaped another disaster.


    He looked at the fire in front of him, lost in thought, his whole being in a state of confusion.


    Ruan sat beside him and suddenly said, "I want to eat noodles."


    "Okay," Lin said, "I''ll rest for a while first."


    Ruan said, "What''s wrong? Are you tired?"


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    "No, I''m just thinking about the meaning of my existence in this world," Lin said, "I was living a good life in my original place. Then one day, I walked out of my house and found twelve iron doors in the corridor. I opened one of them¡­"


    Ruan listened quietly.


    "Then I ended up here," Lin said, "Does the iron door just mean fear and torment?"


    Ruan chuckled, "I think it''s meaningless to think about these things now. But maybe this experience isn''t torment."


    Lin asked, "Then what is it?"


    "Maybe," Ruan said softly, "It means rebirth."


    Lin frowned.


    At this moment, only the two of them remained in the living room.


    The others had gone back to their rooms to rest.


    After today''s events, everyone was exhausted.


    Chi decided to rest for an hour before discussing what to do next.


    They called it discussing, but everyone knew that if they wanted to leave this place quickly, they still had to go chop down trees.


    Even if they might encounter more terrifying events next time they chop down trees.


    "Go on," Ruan said, "I''m hungry."


    Lin stood up and went to the kitchen.


    Ruan watched his back, a smile of unclear meaning on her face.


    The noodles were delicious.


    After finishing their meal, everyone had rested for a while.


    They gathered again in the living room to discuss their next steps.


    "They were probably enchanted while going down the mountain," said Zhang, a teammate who was more level-headed than the others, "I saw the two in front stop for a moment."


    "The ways of death here are bizarre, there''s no need to worry about how they died," Chi said rudely, "The problem now is the conditions of death."


    Was it chopping trees, carrying wood, or traveling in snowy weather, any of these could be conditions for the ghosts to kill people.


    "Let''s use the process of elimination," Xiao said, "Everyone chopped trees, but only the three of them carried wood."


    "Then why was it fine for Chi and me to carry wood?" Lin asked.


    "There are two possibilities, either it''s carrying wood, or there are other conditions," Chi said, "Because the ghosts have a daily kill limit, they can''t kill us all at once."


    This was also the reason why he had the courage to carry the wood back with Lin.


    "But how do we verify that?" Xiao asked.


    "Why verify?" Ruan played with her hair, saying rudely, "Just avoid these conditions, the cost of verification is something none of us can afford."


    "Oh," Xiao replied coldly.


    She had always been indifferent towards Ruan, mostly ignoring her.


    It was understandable, Ruan was a beautiful girl who liked to act charming sometimes, so she was not very popular among women.


    "Then tomorrow we won''t let anyone carry the wood," Chi said, "We''ll get a tool to drag the wood down the mountain."


    The others agreed.


    "What about the person who ran away?" someone else asked, worried about their teammate who had broken down, "Should we just leave him?"


    "How can we manage that?" Zhang said, "Look at the weather outside, it''s about to get dark. Who knows what will happen after dark? Are you going to risk your life for that?"


    Everyone fell silent, accepting his words.


    In this kind of world, no one''s life was guaranteed, survival was already a luxury, let alone saving someone else''s life.


    "Let''s go, get some rest, we have to continue tomorrow," Chi said, standing up to go back to his room.


    Ruan, however, looked at the weather outside and said, "I wonder if the snow will stop tomorrow."


    Her words turned out to be prophetic.


    The snow fell all night and showed no sign of stopping in the morning.


    Perhaps because of the deaths yesterday, there were no terrifying incidents last night, and everyone successfully survived another night.


    The snow was so heavy that even going outside became difficult, let alone chopping down trees in such weather and transporting them back.


    But compared to the bad weather, the ghosts lurking in the shadows were more frightening.


    So, even though the weather was terrible, no one suggested delaying for a day.


    A silent morning, a silent departure.


    Everyone seemed to have lost their ability to converse because of what happened yesterday.


    The only one who maintained her composure was Ruan.


    She walked in the snow, humming a tune, as if this trip was just a mundane outing.

 9.The Well of Whispers

    The snow was falling heavily, making it nearly impossible to walk on the narrow mountain path.


    Lin was worried that Ruan couldn''t handle the weather, so he kept protecting her.


    Xiao, standing nearby, said casually, "You two have such a good relationship."


    "She''s a girl," Lin said, "It''s only natural to take better care of her."


    Ruan, looking delicate, leaned against Lin, glancing at Xiao with a look of helplessness.


    Xiao, expressionless, averted his gaze, seemingly uninterested in her.


    Finally reaching the place where they were to cut down trees, the group resumed their work.


    They chose two trees that weren''t as thick this time, hoping to finish them both in one day.


    Despite the cold weather, Lin felt his body warming up after chopping for a while.


    He unbuttoned his coat and stood to rest for a moment.


    Ruan leaned against a nearby tree, her eyes fixed on Lin, deep in thought.


    Lin glanced at her, "What are you looking at?"


    Ruan, "Your butt is quite perky..."


    Lin almost dropped his axe, his hand shaking.


    He turned to Ruan, "What did you say?"


    Ruan, "I didn''t say anything. You must have heard wrong."


    Lin was full of suspicion.


    Ruan, "Go ahead and repeat what I just said."


    Lin, "..."


    This girl must have known he wouldn''t say it out loud, right?


    They chatted and chopped wood, taking turns to rest with the other men in the group.


    Before the sun completely set, they had cut down the two trees.


    Chopping the trees was one thing, but transporting them became a nightmare for everyone.


    The two teammates who had been crushed by the trees yesterday were buried under a thick layer of snow.


    Even though their bodies were hidden, the gruesome images were still vividly in everyone''s mind.


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    "We can''t carry them anymore," Chi said, "We should use ropes to tie them up and drag them."


    "Then who''s going to drag them?" Zhang asked.


    Chi said, "The men will split into two groups and take turns."


    This method seemed fair.


    Everyone was doing the same thing, so if anyone died, it would be pure bad luck and not anyone''s fault.


    Lin didn''t say much.


    He took the rope from Chi and, along with another teammate who rarely spoke, began dragging the heavy logs.


    It was more difficult to drag them on the narrow mountain path than to carry them, but at least it was safer and prevented accidents like the one that happened before.


    With the previous incident in mind, everyone was extra cautious.


    Finally leaving the mountain path and arriving at the carpenter''s house, they all breathed a sigh of relief.


    "Old man," Chi called out, "We''ve brought the wood."


    The sound of wood being processed from within the house stopped.


    A moment later, a wrinkled, aged face appeared in the doorway.


    The carpenter slowly opened the door, motioning for them to bring the wood inside.


    "Old man," Chi wiped the white snow off his face, "We''ve brought the wood. We''re going to visit the temple later. Is there anything we need to bring?"


    The old man took a puff from his long pipe, exhaling thick white smoke, and mumbled, "Bring your people."


    Chi frowned at this reply.


    "You have to go at night," the old man said, "After dark, go into the temple one by one. Pray and then come out."


    Ruan''s expression changed slightly when she heard this request.


    Lin thought she would say something, but she remained silent.


    Instead, she simply smiled with a strange look in her eyes.


    "One by one?" Chi seemed to find the request odd, "Can''t we all go in together?"


    "All together?" The old man scoffed, "You can try."


    "Thank you." Chi didn''t ask any further questions.


    He turned around and called out to everyone, leaving the carpenter''s house.


    Lin felt something was wrong about the old man.


    He said, "The people in the village wouldn''t lie to us, would they?"


    "Some might," Chi said, "But the key figures usually don''t lie. If the clues they gave us about the key are wrong, then what''s left for us to do?"


    Just wait for death, basically.


    Lin responded with an "oh."


    After delivering the wood to the carpenter, the group returned to their lodgings, lit a fire to warm themselves, and discussed their next steps.


    Ruan said she wanted to use the toilet and went out for a while, but she didn''t come back for a long time.


    Lin waited for a while, but he became worried about her.


    He went out to look for her, but he didn''t find her in the toilet.


    He searched around the house and finally saw Ruan sitting alone by the well.


    She seemed to have been sitting there for a while, covered in a layer of white snow.


    Lin tried calling her name, but Ruan didn''t seem to hear him.


    She didn''t turn around.


    "Ruan?" Lin walked towards her, "What are you doing? It''s so cold outside."


    "Don''t move," Ruan suddenly said.


    Lin stopped in his tracks.


    Ruan said, "Stay away from me."


    Her voice was cold, completely different from her usual gentle tone, "Stay far away."


    Lin said, "What''s wrong?"


    He sensed that Ruan''s sudden change in attitude was somehow related to the well beside her.


    Ruan shook her head, refusing to answer.


    Lin took a chance and walked two more steps towards Ruan, getting closer to the well.


    He regretted it the moment he got a clear look.


    His whole body erupted in goosebumps.


    Inside the well, a black mass covered everything.


    At first, he thought it was water, but then he noticed the mass was slowly moving.


    He realized he wasn''t mistaken - the well was filled with black hair.


    Ruan''s feet seemed to be tangled in the hair, preventing her from moving.


    "Don''t come any closer, Lin," Ruan said, "You''ll be pulled down with me."

 10.The Burning Hair

    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Lin said softly.


    He was afraid that if he spoke too loudly, he would startle the black strands of hair. "It¡¯s okay, don''t be afraid, I''ll help you."


    Ruan turned to look at Lin.


    Her eyes no longer held the gentle tenderness they had before.


    Now, they were like a bottomless lake, dark and murky, causing a strange sense of fear.


    She said, "Why bother."


    Lin said, "Wait for me, hang on."


    He remembered something and ran towards the house.


    Chi, sitting in the living room, saw Lin running frantically and asked in confusion what was wrong.


    But Lin ignored him and headed straight for the kitchen.


    He grabbed a few pieces of firewood, quickly lit them with a flint and steel, and rushed back outside.


    A few short minutes felt like centuries.


    Lin''s hand trembled as he lit the torch.


    He was afraid, afraid that when he returned to the well, there would only be an empty well.


    Fortunately, when he returned with the torch, Ruan was still there.


    "I''m back," Lin said breathlessly. "I''ll be over there in a moment. I''ll throw the torch into the well. Grab my hand... Don''t let go."


    Ruan said, "Aren''t you afraid?"


    Lin was stunned. "Afraid of what?"


    Ruan said, "Of course  of dying."


    Lin laughed. "Who isn''t afraid of dying? But there are always things that are more terrifying than death."


    Although he still had questions about this world, he could feel that Ruan had saved him several times.


    If not for Ruan, he might have been one of the bloody corpses on the first night.


    "Okay, I''m coming over," Lin said, afraid that if he delayed any longer, Ruan would lose her strength.


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    He moved slowly, walking towards Ruan.


    When he was close enough, he grabbed Ruan''s hand and threw the torch into the writhing hair.


    ¡°Ah!¡± A piercing shriek, a woman¡¯s voice, came from the well.


    The hair was ignited by the fire, moving violently.


    For a moment, Lin thought he saw a pale face in the well.


    Although it was only a fleeting glimpse, Lin recognized the face.


    He had seen it in the house.


    It was the ghost who had pretended to be Ruan that night.


    "Run!!" The hair around Ruan''s feet broke.


    Lin pulled her and they ran frantically.


    Ruan didn''t resist.


    She allowed Lin to pull her, and they burst into the house, panting heavily.


    "What happened?" Everyone in the house was surprised.


    "There''s something in the well¡­" Lin said breathlessly, "Stay away from the well. Ruan was almost pulled down." After he finished speaking, he turned to Ruan and asked if she was hurt.


    "No," Ruan said, "I''m fine."


    Lin looked down at her feet and saw a bloody mark around her ankle, with blood slowly dripping down.


    He said, "Is that what you call fine? Sit down, I''ll bandage you."


    Ruan seemed to realize then that she was injured.


    She tilted her head, but in the end, she listened to Lin and sat down on the chair.


    Lin found some medicine in the house.


    He knelt half-way down in front of Ruan, letting her put her foot on his knee, and began to slowly treat her wound.


    His movements were gentle and careful, as if he was afraid of hurting Ruan.


    ¡°Are you always so gentle with girls?¡± Ruan suddenly asked.


    ¡°What does that have to do with girls?¡± Lin answered casually, "Even if you were a guy, would I be rough with you?"


    Ruan, "Hmm..."


    Lin blurted out, ¡°You wouldn''t be a guy, would you? You''re so tall, and your chest is so flat.¡±


    But Ruan was truly beautiful.


    Lin didn''t believe there were men in the world who looked like her.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Ruan sighed, ¡°My chest isn¡¯t even as big as yours.¡±


    Lin, "..."


    Ruan added, ¡°My butt isn¡¯t as perky, either.¡±


    Lin, ¡°¡­¡­ You talk too much.¡±


    Ruan giggled.


    Lin finished bandaging Ruan¡¯s wound before telling Chi and the others what happened.


    The others'' reactions were alright, but Chi and Xiao''s faces were not good.


    They clearly remembered the old man''s instructions about the final step of making the coffin ¨C filling the well.


    What did the coffin have to do with the well?


    Was it a unique custom of this village, or was it a trap set by the carpenter?


    As if Ruan knew what Chi was thinking, she smiled slightly and said, "Don''t worry about it. Do what you have to do. Fate is predetermined."


    Chi sighed softly. ¡°We¡¯re planning to visit the temple tonight. Are you coming?¡±


    "Me?" Ruan said, "My foot is injured. I can''t walk. Lin, carry me."


    Lin nodded.


    Xiao said from the side, "A little injury like that, and you can''t walk?"


    Ruan didn''t get angry.


    She just smiled sweetly and said, "You have to be more understanding. I''m used to being pampered at home. Of course, I''m going to be a little spoiled when I''m out."


    Xiao said, "You just continue to take advantage of Lin¡¯s good nature. We''re all strangers in this world. Why should you be pampered?"


    ¡°Oh, I thought you and Chi knew each other,¡± Ruan said casually.


    Who knew, but as soon as she said that, Xiao and Chi¡¯s expressions changed.


    They both looked alert.


    Lin immediately sensed the change in the atmosphere.


    "What do you mean by that?" Xiao asked.


    "Nothing," Ruan said, "I just thought you two were close. ... Are you two really acquainted?"


    "How could that be?" Xiao looked uncomfortable.


    Ruan smiled and didn''t continue the conversation.


    Of course, Xiao didn''t stop Ruan from being carried by Lin to the temple.


    She turned around with a gloomy expression and walked away.

 11.The Silent Sanctuary

    The night was dark, and the group, holding torches, walked through the biting cold wind.


    The heavy snow that had been falling had stopped, but the wind was still chillingly cold.


    Lin¡¯s feet crunched on the ground.


    He was wearing heavy clothes, his hat pulled down to cover his ears and the lower half of his face, his body slightly bent as he carried the beautiful girl on his back


    The entire group walked in silence, the atmosphere eerily quiet.


    Finally, someone broke the silence when the temple mentioned by the carpenter appeared before them.


    ¡°Is this the temple?¡± Zhang Zishuang said, "This temple looks... too strange."


    The temple in the night truly seemed strange.


    At first glance, it looked ancient, but upon closer inspection, you realized it was quite exquisite.


    Just the carvings on the two pillars at the entrance were extraordinary.


    Lin put Ruan down and, holding the torch, looked at the details of the carvings on the pillars.


    He noticed that the carvings depicted scenes from the Eighteen Levels of Hell.


    The evil spirits and the souls suffering in torment were all depicted vividly on the pillars.


    ¡°These pillars are so beautiful,¡± Ruan suddenly remarked.


    "They are pretty," Lin agreed.


    These carvings were completely unlike anything you''d expect to see in this backward mountain village.


    They were almost on par with works of art.


    If they didn''t have a more important matter at hand, Lin would have spent some time studying them.


    ¡°Who goes first?¡± Chi asked.


    He was asking who would go in first, but no one responded.


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    It was too dangerous. If entering the temple triggered death, wouldn''t the first person to go in be a sacrifice?


    "Why do we have to go in one by one?" Ruan said suddenly. "What if that old man lied to us?"


    Chi said, "But it''s better to listen to him than to defy him."


    Ruan said, "Not necessarily."


    She turned her head to look at Lin, "Lin, I¡¯m scared. Let¡¯s go in together."


    Lin hesitated slightly. ¡°But what if going in as a pair triggers something?"


    Ruan said, "We don''t know the answers to anything right now. I¡¯d rather take a gamble. After all, if one person goes in and something happens, no one will know."


    She looked at the dark temple in front of them.


    "After all, ¡­ whoever goes in might not be the same thing that comes out."


    Her words sent a shiver down everyone''s spines, including Lin.


    He rubbed his arms and looked at Ruan''s expression.


    Finally, he gritted his teeth and said, "Okay."


    Chi frowned. "Do you know what you¡¯re doing? What if going in as a pair..."


    He seemed about to continue his warnings, but Ruan cut him off.


    " Who knows for sure?"


    It was true. Chi fell silent.


    "We don¡¯t care how you arrange the order," Ruan said softly. "It''s too cold. Lin, let''s go in first, and go home to sleep early."


    The mention of sleep reminded everyone of the terrifying night that was about to begin.


    If they lingered here any longer, they might waste the entire night.


    Who knew what would happen to them then.


    "Let''s go." Ruan held Lin¡¯s hand, leaning against him.


    Lin was used to Ruan¡¯s clinginess.


    He nodded and gritted his teeth, saying, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    They walked towards the temple.


    The others looked at their backs and fell into a brief silence.


    The temple had a wooden door that was half-open.


    It was pitch black inside, and you couldn''t see anything.


    Ruan reached out and gently pushed open the door.


    With a creak, the door opened, and the air from inside rushed out.


    Lin smelled a faint fragrance.


    It was very subtle, but it was completely out of place in this environment.


    Using the faint light from the torch, Lin could see the temple¡¯s decor.


    The temple wasn¡¯t large and its structure was very simple.


    In the middle, there was an incense table and some statues of gods, and beside it, a large donation box.


    There seemed to be some writing on the donation box, but Lin couldn¡¯t make it out because he was too far away.


    ¡°Let''s go,¡± Ruan said.


    They continued forward, walking towards the cushions in front of the statues.


    The statue was a Buddha, a Buddha that Lin didn''t recognize, but it had a benevolent face that radiated an aura of saving all living beings.


    Ruan¡¯s expression was calm.


    She knelt down on the cushion and bowed to the Buddha.


    Lin stood beside her, holding his breath.


    After a quiet wait, nothing happened.


    The Buddha remained compassionate, his half-closed eyes silently gazing at the believer in front of him.


    Apart from the howling wind, the temple was serenely quiet.


    Lin breathed a sigh of relief.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Ruan stood up, brushing the dust off her knees. "Your turn."


    Lin nodded, handed the torch to Ruan, and knelt down on the cushion to bow.


    He didn¡¯t know what Ruan had been thinking while she was bowing, but when he bowed, he was very sincere, praying for the protection of the god in front of him.

 12.The Shifting Statues

    ¡°Okay.¡± The few simple movements seemed to have drained him of all his energy.


    When nothing happened after he finished bowing, Lin let out a sigh of relief.


    "Let''s go," Ruan turned around. "We should leave."


    So they slowly left the temple.


    The people outside were surprised to see them emerge unscathed.


    Chi said, "Did anything happen?"


    Lin shook his head. "No."


    Although everyone remained silent, their expressions were strange, and some were hesitant.


    ¡°How about we go in two by two?¡± Chi suggested, "Since the people who went in before are fine..."


    ¡°Are you sure they''re fine?¡± One of the group members looked at Ruan and Lin with suspicion, ¡°She just said that whoever goes in might not be the same thing that comes out. How can you be sure they¡¯re still human?¡±


    Lin was about to explain when Ruan waved her hand, stopping him from speaking.


    She said nonchalantly, ¡°We¡¯re not going to persuade you. Do what you want.¡±


    "Chi, I''m scared too," Xiao said, "Let''s go in together?"


    Chi seemed hesitant.


    The braver members started finding partners, while others stubbornly refused to disobey the old carpenter''s instructions.


    ¡°Then do what you think is right,¡± Chi finally made a decision. "Xiao, we''ll go in together."


    Xiao nodded excitedly.


    According to their previous arrangement, the second group to enter the temple was a man traveling alone.


    He went in alone and came out alone.


    There were no incidents.


    However, he looked confused when he came out, as if he wanted to say something.


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    But before he could speak, the third group went in.


    "What did you see in the temple?" The man who went in alone asked Lin quietly.


    "I didn''t see anything," Lin said. "Just the statues and the cushions."


    "Don''t you think the statue was a bit strange¡­" the man said, "I''ve never seen a statue like that before."


    Lin was stunned. He didn¡¯t understand what the man meant.


    The man said softly, ¡°Did you see it? The statue looked so strange¡­¡±


    Lin shook his head.


    He didn¡¯t understand what the man meant, but then he thought about it, and a chilling thought popped into his head. "What... what did the statue look like?"


    ¡°It was a woman,¡± As soon as he said this, the smile on Lin¡¯s face disappeared.


    The man continued speaking softly, not noticing the change in Lin''s expression.


    "It wasn''t a goddess. She was just smiling at me. She was holding something , It looked more like..."


    "Like what?" Lin asked dryly.


    "It looked more like, an axe used for chopping trees," The man finished his sentence, glancing at the temple. "And when I finished bowing, she seemed to move..."


    He finally realized that Lin looked upset.


    "Did you see that too? Did you see the same thing?"


    ¡°No.¡± Although it was cruel, Lin told the man the truth. ¡°We saw a different Buddha statue than you did.¡±


    "What do you mean? How was it different?" The man''s face instantly changed. "What kind of statue did you see?"


    "A Buddha statue," Lin said, "A male one."


    The man¡¯s face turned as white as a sheet.


    His eyes looked at the temple with fear and despair.


    He trembled and muttered, "No, no, it can''t be. It couldn''t be like this. Something must be wrong with you. You must be wrong..."


    After saying this, he looked around cautiously, as if afraid of being overheard.


    The third group consisted of Chi and Xiao.


    When they came out, their expressions were also calm, as if nothing strange had happened.


    Next came the fourth group¡­ the fifth group¡­


    These groups were made up of both men and women.


    Some went in alone, and some went in as a pair.


    But Lin quickly noticed a pattern.


    Whenever someone went in alone, they came out with strange expressions.


    When the last person came out, everyone was finally certain of a pattern.


    Those who went in alone saw a completely different statue than those who went in together.


    Lin and the others saw a Buddha statue, while those who went in alone all saw a woman, a woman with a strange smile, holding an axe.


    ¡°They must be wrong. We followed the carpenter''s instructions¡­¡±


    Someone started to panic after discovering this.


    They kept muttering, "It can¡¯t be wrong. We¡¯re not wrong. The statue must be that woman... Yes, it''s a woman."


    Lin could only comfort them.


    ¡°It''s not certain yet. Don¡¯t be so nervous."


    In truth, everyone knew that the woman couldn¡¯t possibly be the temple¡¯s statue.


    What temple would worship something like that?


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s not certain yet,¡± Ruan laughed.


    She brushed her hair with her hand and said softly, ¡°Besides, so many people have gone into the temple. Even if we¡¯re going to die, we might not be the ones who die."


    ¡°Can you stop laughing?¡± Xiao said rudely.


    ¡°Why not ?¡± Ruan retorted coldly, "It¡¯s better to die laughing than crying."


    As soon as she said this, someone cried out, "Look at the pillars!!!"


    Lin looked up and saw that the carvings on the pillars had started to wriggle slowly.

 13.Terror in the Snow

    The scene in the darkness was not clear, but it was so horrifying that everyone focused their attention on it.


    The relief on the pillar began to twist and deform, as if something was trying to break free from it.


    This continued for only a moment, and then everyone saw a pale hand, forcefully squeezed out of the relief.


    The hand was enormous, painted with bright red nails, and it fumbled around in the air before grabbing the wooden railing next to it.


    Once it grabbed the railing, the hand seemed to find a fulcrum and began to pull, slowly dragging its body and head out of the pillar.


    The whole scene was strange and terrifying, making everyone''s breath catch in their throats.


    "What are you still looking at! Run!" Ruan''s voice startled everyone who seemed to be in a trance.


    Lin also came to his senses.


    When he looked again, he found that the creature had already squeezed itself out of the pillar.


    "Run!!" Ruan shouted, "Run!!"


    At her command, everyone ran as fast as they could.


    Lin didn''t dare to waste any more time and ran towards home with all his might.


    But the sound from behind grew louder.


    The creature seemed to have successfully broken free from the pillar and was now pursuing them.


    Lin heard a scraping sound on the snow.


    He knew he shouldn''t look back, but he couldn''t resist.


    He glanced behind him.


    This glance made him stumble.


    The monster had indeed squeezed itself out of the pillar.


    It looked like a woman, naked and with long black hair.


    But her body was several times larger than a normal person, her long limbs like those of an arthropod, moving in a strange way on the ground.


    Her face was unclear, but what was most striking was the long-handled axe in her hand, stained with red liquid.


    "Damn it!!!" Lin finally couldn''t help but curse.


    The previous encounters had felt somewhat like hallucinations.


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    This time, everyone had seen this thing so clearly, finally giving them a real sense of being in a different dimension.


    Others in the group also turned their heads. Anyone who saw this thing was terrified.


    The urge to survive made everyone speed up their pace, but the snow was slippery and the path at the head of the village was narrow.


    No matter how fast they ran, they wouldn''t be able to outrun it.


    In just a blink of an eye, they were about to be caught.


    "Help¡ª" Xiao seemed to have stumbled and fallen in the snow while running too fast.


    She wanted to get back up, but fear made her weak and unable to muster the strength. " Chi¡ª help me¡ª"


    Everyone thought Xiao was done for.


    At this critical moment, it was a question of whether they could even save themselves, let alone worry about others.


    But after Xiao''s desperate call, Chi, gritting his teeth, stopped in his tracks and turned back to pull Xiao up from the snow. "Go!"


    "Chi." Xiao cried, tears streaming down her face.


    She was about to thank Chi when she felt a shadow looming over her.


    The woman with the axe was here.


    She looked down at the two people in front of her, who were frozen like stones with fear.


    She grinned, revealing a gaping mouth full of densely packed teeth.


    Her extremely long hands gripped a rusty axe.


    She raised her arm and swung the axe down at the two in front of her.


    "Ahhhhh!!!" Xiao screamed, clinging tightly to Chi, not daring to look at the scene in front of her.


    Chi gritted his teeth and closed his eyes as well, seemingly giving up on resisting.


    But just as the axe fell, a faint golden light appeared around the two of them.


    The axe struck the golden light, making a crisp sound of metal hitting metal.


    The tall woman let out an indignant roar and, without bothering with Xiao and Chi, continued to chase after the others.


    Xiao and Chi had escaped death.


    Both of them collapsed in the snow.


    "Chi, what was that?" Xiao asked in a trembling voice.


    Chi remained silent for a moment before saying hoarsely, "Do you remember the Buddha statue we prayed to when we first entered the temple?"


    Xiao nodded.


    "Maybe he protected us." Chi looked up in the direction the woman ran.


    "So those who went into the temple alone..." Xiao apparently understood what Chi meant.


    She remembered that those who had gone into the temple alone had not seen the benevolent Buddha statue they had seen, but instead had seen the woman with the axe in front of them.


    "They''re dead." Chi chuckled wryly.


    Lin and Ruan ran frantically, eventually going through a similar experience to Xiao and Chi.


    This time, however, Ruan protected the exhausted Lin in her arms.


    She didn''t seem to have much fear in the face of the monstrous creature, and even took the time to gently kiss Lin on the head, saying, "Don''t be afraid."


    Lin wanted to help Ruan block the monster, but Ruan held him tightly, almost preventing him from moving.


    He watched helplessly as the axe swung towards them, then was stopped by the golden light in front of them.


    "Heh." Ruan laughed.


    Lin was stunned, and then saw the woman quickly turn and rush towards the people beside them.


    The person saw what happened to Lin and Ruan, but they were only stunned for a few seconds before realizing that the woman was standing in front of them.


    "Are we, are we saved?" The person asked Lin, "The light on us..."


    "Pshhh"¡ª the sound of a sharp object piercing flesh.


    His words were cut short.


    He was split in half by the sharp axe. Even as he died, his face was filled with disbelief, as if he couldn''t understand why the same thing had a different outcome when it happened to him.


    Lin sat in the snow, watching the blood flow on the ground.


    The woman laughed and, axe in hand, continued to search for other people, leaving behind a trail of blood-red remains.


    He pursed his lips, trying to suppress his urge to vomit.


    "It''s over." Ruan patted his back, "It''s over."


    "Was it because the number of people who entered the temple was wrong?" Lin asked.

 14.Dawn After Darkness

    Ruan didn''t say anything.


    Lin: "There were two people who went into the temple alone. Are they... both dead?"


    Ruan said, "I don''t know."


    Right, who knows the answer to this kind of question?


    Lin stood up in the snow and extended his hand to Ruan: "Let''s go home."


    Ruan smiled and took Lin''s hand.


    About an hour later, when everyone gathered at the house, the number of people had decreased again.


    As Lin had predicted, none of the people who had entered the temple alone had survived.


    The woman with the axe had taken their lives.


    "She took all the bodies back." Someone described what they had seen. "The bodies were cut in half. She was laughing as she picked them up and dragged them into the temple."


    "So the carpenter tricked us?" Xiao whispered hoarsely. "If we had really done what he said and entered the temple, wouldn''t we all have died?"


    "We wouldn''t have died." Chi said wearily. "At least half of us would have survived. Things like this don''t usually lead to complete annihilation. At least half would have survived."


    "It doesn''t matter if half of us survive. Who knows if she''ll come back?" Ruan recovered quickly.


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    She was already leaning back in a chair, leisurely cracking sunflower seeds.


    She was even beautiful cracking seeds; it could even be considered elegant.


    "Even if she killed one person a day, we''d be in trouble."


    Everyone fell silent.


    "Now that we''ve prayed at the temple, can we start making coffins?" someone asked.


    Chi nodded.


    "I''ll talk to the carpenter tomorrow. But I have a feeling things aren''t that simple."


    Of course, it wasn''t that simple.


    The well still wasn''t filled.


    Filling a well might not be difficult in the real world, but in this world, it was dangerous enough to be fatal.


    Who knows what might come out when we fill the well?


    But that was for tomorrow.


    Today, everyone had been chased by that thing all night and had witnessed their companions'' deaths.


    Both mentally and physically, they were at their limit.


    So everyone left early, preparing to get a good night''s rest.


    At least tonight, they didn''t have to worry about dying.


    Lin lay in bed and saw Ruan lying beside him.


    "Thank you today," Lin said. "You''re so amazing. I actually have less stamina than you."


    When they ran for their lives today, Lin was the first to run out of energy.


    Looking at Ruan''s state, he even suspected that she could have hopped all the way home.


    "A man with poor stamina won''t do." Ruan said in a deep voice.


    Lin: "..."


    Ruan: "Don''t you agree?"


    Lin: "..." Agree with your head.


    Ruan turned her head and looked at Lin with a smile: "Do you think we''ll be able to get out of here alive?"


    Lin shook his head to indicate that he didn''t know.


    Ruan said, "What will you do first if you get out alive?"


    Lin thought for a moment:


    "If I get out alive, I''ll go back to my hometown and get married?"


    Ruan: "Do you have a girlfriend?"


    Lin laughed: "Where would a designer who works overtime get a girlfriend?"


    They chatted for a while and slowly fell asleep.


    That night, Lin didn''t have a single dream.


    He seemed to have become accustomed to the cruelty and ruthlessness of this world.


    The next day was a sunny and bright day.

 15. Deadly Secret

    Lin hadn''t seen such good weather in a long time.


    The wind had stopped and the snow had stopped.


    The warm sun hung in the sky, bringing warmth back to the earth, making the events of the previous night seem like nothing more than a trivial nightmare.


    Lin, for once, lingered in bed with Ruan, chatting about poetry and philosophy, about life.


    Finally, Ruan got hungry and urged Lin to find something to eat.


    Lin went to the kitchen and saw that everyone was already up, eating breakfast and discussing the trip to the carpenter''s later.


    Chi saw Lin and greeted him. He then asked about Ruan.


    "She''s still in bed," Lin said. "She said it was too cold and didn''t want to get up. I''m going to bring her some food."


    Chi said "oh" and said they were planning to leave soon.


    He suggested Lin come along.


    If this were any other day, people might suspect that Lin and Ruan had done something, but after last night, if they still had the interest and energy for such things, it would be a testament to their incredible resilience.


    Today''s trip to the carpenter''s was mainly to ask about filling the well.


    They didn''t know how to do it or when to do it.


    But the most important thing was probably to find out why they needed to fill the well.


    They had been here for a while, and Lin had confirmed that almost every household had a well.


    Most of the wells were in the center of the yard, just blocking the way out.


    This was structurally illogical, as if hiding some strange custom.


    Yesterday, the carpenter''s wrong information led to the deaths of two people, and everyone''s mood towards him was not good.


    Even the usually kind-hearted Chi''s expression was colder, but the old man didn''t seem to care.


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    He still held his pipe, squinting his eyes and puffing away.


    "Old man, what do we need to do after we''ve prayed?" Chi asked.


    "Naturally, you fill the well," the carpenter said. "Choose a night, put the dead things in the well, and that''s it."


    "Dead things? What kind of dead things? What do you mean?" Xiao felt that something was amiss.


    Her tone suddenly became heavy. "What do you mean?"


    The carpenter said, "The literal meaning."


    "Any dead creature will do?" Chi quickly confirmed.


    "Yes, any dead thing will do." The carpenter said. "Chickens, ducks, dogs, geese, anything you can find. Throw it into the well within three days, cover it with dirt, and the coffin can be made."


    Hearing that any dead thing would do, Chi sighed with relief.


    But before he could finish, Ruan, standing beside him, said: "We''ve been in this village for so long, and we''ve never seen any living creatures here. Where are we going to find any chickens, ducks, dogs, or geese?"


    "But we ate eggs, didn''t we?" Lin recalled the basket in their house.


    "If there are eggs, there should be chickens."


    "You didn''t look closely at the basket, did you?" Ruan said. "No one from outside has come into our house, and no villagers have been here. The things in that basket appeared on their own."


    Lin: "...So what laid those eggs?"


    Ruan: "Who cares what laid them, they tasted good anyway."


    Lin: "..."


    He felt his stomach churning.


    Reminded by Ruan, everyone seemed to recall that there were indeed no living creatures in this village.


    It was the middle of winter, and there was no way there would be anything in the mountains.


    Chi was smart and quickly caught onto a key point.


    The blood drained from his face, and he started to turn pale.


    "Old man, what exactly do you mean?"


    The carpenter said, "I''m just a coffin maker. I can only say and do so much. I wouldn''t intentionally harm you."


    After he said that, someone couldn''t help but slam his fist on the table and yell:


    "What do you mean you wouldn''t intentionally harm us? You made us go into the temple one by one to pray, and now anyone who went in alone is dead¡ª"


    The carpenter said coldly, "What are coffins used for?"


    Everyone was stunned.


    "They''re used for dead people, aren''t they? What would you do with a coffin if there were no dead people?" The carpenter laughed.


    His wrinkled face looked very strange. "Besides, why didn''t you listen to me...?"


    Ruan: "Listen to what?"


    The carpenter pointed at them.


    "There are still so many of you left. She''s not full yet."


    "Full... ?" When Lin heard the word "full," he immediately thought of the body on the third floor that had been chewed into pieces.


    He also remembered the details everyone had mentioned yesterday: the people who had been killed by the terrifying ghost seemed to have been dragged back into the temple.


    Now he finally knew what happened to those bodies.


    "What kind of thing is it?" Chi couldn''t help but ask. "That woman..."


    The carpenter waved his hand, unwilling to say more.


    Ruan''s eyes began to wander, finally settling on an empty corner.


    She mumbled, "Why did you put the stick away?"


    The carpenter almost laughed.


    He thought to himself, "If I didn''t put it away, would you threaten me with it like you did last time?"

 16.The Ghost Within

    Ruan: "Even though the stick is gone, I still have other things prepared."


    She said, taking out a folding pocket knife from behind.


    "Old man, let''s get to the bottom of this. If you don''t tell us clearly, we''re all going to die here. Taking you with us as company before we die isn''t a bad idea."


    The carpenter: "..."


    The carpenter, and even Lin, were speechless.


    A strange silence fell over the group, and most people were thinking, "Is there really such a thing?"


    The carpenter was furious but couldn''t do anything about Ruan, so he gritted his teeth and explained about "the woman."


    It turned out that the woman was a god they worshipped in their village.


    Although she was a god, she was an evil god.


    While she protected the village, she also had a strong craving for raw flesh.


    Every winter, the villagers would sacrifice live animals to her.


    But this year, something went wrong in the village, and there were no live animals left...


    Fortunately, a few outsiders came who were willing to help them make coffins.


    At this point, everyone understood.


    They were the live animals in the eyes of the villagers.


    "Does she need to be fed full? What will happen if she''s not?" Chi asked.


    The carpenter said, "If she''s not fed full... she''ll come looking for you. Everyone who makes coffins has to serve her, so this year, besides you, no one else has made coffins."


    He took a drag of his pipe. "That''s all I can say. As soon as you fill the well, I''ll start making coffins."


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    Ruan didn''t say anything.


    She lowered her head and played with the pocket knife in her hand.


    Her fingers were long, and the sharp blade flew quickly across her fingertips, blurring the vision.


    The carpenter also fell silent.


    He seemed to be quite wary of Ruan, and often glanced at her as he spoke.


    Just when everyone thought Ruan was going to say something else, she sighed and said, "Let''s go."


    "Leaving now?" Chi said.


    "What else?" Ruan said impatiently. "That''s all he knows. We won''t get anything more out of him."


    She turned and pushed open the door, her attitude extremely resolute.


    Seeing this, everyone also began to leave one after another.


    Lin felt that Ruan didn''t seem to be in a good mood.


    He chased after her and asked what was wrong.


    Ruan said, "Be careful tonight."


    "What do you mean? Do you mean that thing might come after us again?"


    Lin could only think of that as a reason to be careful.


    "Heh." Ruan laughed.


    She suddenly turned her head and leaned close to Lin''s ear, whispering, "Sometimes, people are much more terrifying than ghosts."


    Lin was stunned.


    "Let''s go back." Ruan turned and walked forward.


    Lin looked at her back and suddenly felt that he couldn''t understand this girl at all.


    If people had occasionally exchanged a few words before going to the carpenter''s, then after returning, the atmosphere among them had completely become like a stagnant pool of water.


    Lin didn''t understand why.


    Ruan ate a baked potato, explaining slowly: "You''re stupid. It''s because before, everyone was still thinking about working together to survive, but now..."


    "Now?" Lin was confused.


    "Now, everyone is hoping that the others will die sooner." Ruan leaned back in her chair. "As long as someone dies, we''ll have a dead thing to fill the well, and the coffin will be made. Everyone can leave alive..."


    Lin: "..."


    He hadn''t thought about this at all.


    He was a little dazed after hearing it.


    "Is the world within the door always like this?"


    Ruan continued, "This is actually a good thing. Tonight, you absolutely can''t go out. Otherwise..."


    Lin: "You''ll encounter the female ghost?"


    Ruan shook her head.


    "You might encounter something even scarier than the female ghost."


    Lin actually guessed what she meant, but he was still reluctant to admit it.


    After all, he was born in a society governed by law, and his thinking hadn''t yet escaped its framework.


    Ruan hinted that someone would kill their companions to get a dead thing to fill the well, but he didn''t want to believe that anyone would actually do that.


    That night, Lin couldn''t sleep.


    Ruan lay beside him, still sleeping like a carefree pig.


    Lin looked at the ceiling, thinking about the things that had happened that day.


    He had closed the windows and doors, and he was even going to use a chair to block the door.


    But Ruan said beside him, "Aren''t you afraid that thing might suddenly appear in our room... ?"


    Lin: "....!!"


    Makes sense.


    So he obediently moved the chair away.


    But what was going to happen would happen sooner or later.


    At two in the morning, Lin, who was plagued by insomnia, heard a  scream again.

 17.Sanctuary

    Lin had heard screams before, but tonight''s scream seemed different from the previous ones.


    Along with the scream, there were sounds of something heavy falling and a roar of anger.


    He could even hear someone running hurriedly in the hallway, constantly calling for help in a pitiful tone.


    "Help me! Help me! Someone is trying to kill me, help me!"


    The voice was slightly familiar, and Lin was sure it came from one of the girls in their team.


    She screamed with all her might, as if she was using every ounce of her strength.


    Lin couldn''t tell if the sound was real or just a figment of his imagination.


    His breathing became slightly disordered as the scream drew closer to him.


    "Help me!" The rescuer seemed to be on the second floor, running in the corridor, vigorously pounding on every door she passed, "Someone is trying to kill me, please open the door!! Please open the door, I beg you!"


    But there was no sound of any doors opening.


    Everyone seemed to be fast asleep, completely oblivious to the piercing cries for help.


    Lin stayed in bed without moving, until the person seeking help reached his door.


    "Help me, help me!" The girl cried, pounding on the door with all her might. "Please open the door, he''s crazy, he''s trying to kill me, please, I beg you - I don''t want to die, please save me!!"


    Lin slowly sat up from the bed, but he didn''t move.


    He silently contemplated whether he should open the door.


    Ruan, who should have been sleeping beside him, quietly spoke, "Do you want to save her?"


    Lin replied, "Can I save her?"


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    Ruan blinked her eyes. After a while, she said, "If you want to."


    Lin felt that the sound outside was most likely a human.


    Seeing that Ruan wasn''t stopping him, he quickly stood up, walked to the door, gritted his teeth, and pulled open the latch.


    As the door opened, the scene outside startled him.


    The girl who was calling for help was covered in blood from head to toe.


    Her arm seemed to be injured, and she was clutching it with her other hand while crying.


    Seeing that Lin had opened the door, she rushed in like a madman, "Save me! Save me!"


    Lin said, "What happened?"


    "He tried to kill me!" The girl cried, "He tried to kill me!"


    Lin stepped back, letting her enter the room first.


    "Who tried to kill you?"


    The girl said, "Cheng!"


    Lin remembered the name.


    It seemed like a man in their group.


    He was about to ask more questions, but he heard banging sounds coming from the stairs.


    There was an old wooden door between the first and second floor. Usually, everyone would close it when they were sleeping.


    This door likely saved the girl in front of him.


    Lin gestured for her to come in, then casually locked the door.


    The girl sobbed, her whole body trembling, looking completely frightened.


    Bang!


    The wooden door between the first and second floor couldn''t withstand the violent force and finally gave way.


    Soon, hurried footsteps echoed from the hallway outside.


    The man the girl called Cheng was clearly searching for her.


    Cheng said, "Where did she run? Quickly hand over Wang, don''t let her enter!"


    Wang whimpered softly because of her fear.


    Ruan also got out of bed.


    She seemed unfazed by the situation, calmly arranging her hair.


    Cheng''s footsteps stopped outside Lin''s room.


    The trail of blood in the corridor ended at Lin''s doorway.


    The trace was too obvious, immediately revealing Wang''s location.


    "Open the door! Lin!" Cheng shouted, "Is Wang in your room?"


    Lin didn''t speak.


    Ruan spoke in a delicate tone, "What are you guys doing making so much noise this late at night?"


    Cheng said, "Hurry up and hand her over - she''s not human! Don''t be fooled by her!"


    Lin asked, "What do you mean?"


    Cheng seemed quite irritable, filled with impatience and ruthlessness.


    "She''s really not human. Trust me!"


    He started to bang on the door hard, as if determined to break through.


    The door was already quite old, and with the strength of an adult man, it wouldn''t last long if he really wanted to break it down.


    Lin stood at the door and cursed, "If you kill Wang, even if you get out alive, you''ll still be a murderer!"


    Cheng said, "Lin, mind your own business!"


    Lin replied, "If you dare to come in, I''ll make sure you don''t walk out of here alive!"


    He was furious, rolled up his sleeves, and began searching the room for weapons to fight back.


    Cheng sensed Lin''s anger and paused slightly in his efforts to break the door down.


    Finally, he said hoarsely, "Lin, I''ll be the bad guy today. Get her out, and as long as someone dies, we can go back."

 18.A Deadly Game of Wait

    Lin: "You''re dreaming."


    Cheng: "You-"


    Lin: "Leave. I won''t let you kill her."


    Silence fell outside for a moment, then the sound of departing footsteps reached their ears.


    Lin hadn''t expected Cheng to give up so easily.


    He was stunned for a moment before turning to Wang and saying, "He''s gone."


    Wang started crying again.


    For the rest of the night, the three people in the room didn''t sleep much.


    As Lin helped Wang treat her wound, Ruan sat by the window, silently watching the outside.


    Lin asked what she was looking at, and Ruan replied, "I''m looking at the well outside."


    "What''s so interesting about that?" Lin didn''t have a good impression of the well.


    Ruan said softly, "It''s good to look at it more. Maybe I''ll end up in the well too."


    Lin said, "I won''t let you go into the well."


    He slowly wiped away the bloodstains on the floor and said seriously, "If I have to, I''ll go first."


    Ruan laughed and finally said, "You''re a very interesting person."


    Wang survived, though her right hand was injured, it was a miracle that she escaped with her life.


    Lin had thought Cheng would be ashamed to show his face the next day, but to his surprise, he appeared in the downstairs hall in the morning as if nothing had happened, eating breakfast.


    When Wang saw him, she ducked behind Lin, almost bursting into tears again.


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    Lin said coldly, "Cheng, how dare you show your face?"


    Cheng glanced at Lin indifferently, "Why can''t I appear?"


    "You tried to kill Wang." Lin couldn''t understand his audacity, "She''s a living person!"


    Cheng sneered and didn''t say anything.


    The other members of the team heard their conversation.


    Some looked at Cheng with disgust, while others were numb, completely unmoved, as if killing a teammate was insignificant.


    Chi seemed unhappy as well. He said, "If you''re so good at killing, go kill the ghost. Why are you attacking your own teammate?"


    Cheng stuffed food into his mouth, not responding at all.


    Lin was afraid that he would suddenly attack, so he kept a watchful eye on him.


    He had a feeling that Cheng was acting strangely, but couldn''t pinpoint the discrepancy.


    After they finished eating, Lin and Ruan returned to their room, Ruan suddenly asked, "Do you think the monster will kill anyone else in the next three days?"


    "What do you mean?" Lin was taken aback.


    "That thing is clearly intelligent," Ruan said, "If I were it, I wouldn''t kill anyone for the next three days."


    Lin: "..."


    Ruan''s slender fingers slowly peeled the skin off a sweet potato. Her lips parted, leaving a row of neat teeth marks on the soft sweet potato, "If we haven''t filled the well with dead bodies in three days, guess what will happen?"


    Lin understood what Ruan meant.


    His throat tightened, "There will be more than one Cheng in the team."


    Ruan nodded.


    Lin suddenly began to yearn for the phrase "If you have any problems, call the police..."


    Cheng would definitely be arrested for attempted murder, sentenced to three to ten years in prison.


    Lin sighed, "What do we do?"


    Ruan said, "Just wait. Things will eventually end." For better or for worse.


    Everyone was waiting for nightfall.


    Though they didn''t say it, most people secretly hoped that the first victim would appear.


    But things went against their expectations.


    For two nights in a row, nothing happened.


    The normally dangerous nights became incredibly peaceful, as if there was nothing left except the wind and snow.


    Lin found a time to ask the carpenter what would happen if they didn''t fill the well within three days.


    The carpenter said that they would have to chop down a tree and pray at the temple again.


    This answer made everyone feel even more heavy-hearted.


    They didn''t have that much time left.


    If they had to repeat what they did before, the entire team might be wiped out.


    "It''s not necessary to be too nervous," Xiao said. "In every scenario, at least one person survives." She laughed self-deprecatingly, "What if that person is me."


    However, the others didn''t say anything.


    Everyone knew deep down that the price of this gamble was too high, and no one could afford to bet that they were the final survivor.

 19.A Dig for Hope

    Because of the three-day deadline, the atmosphere within the team started to deteriorate.


    By the afternoon of the second day, another conflict erupted within the team.


    Chi and Xiao had a heated argument, all because of a meal that didn''t suit his taste.


    Chi angrily threw his food out the door, and Xiao stormed out in a fit of rage.


    An air of suspicion permeated the atmosphere.


    Teammates who could once rely on each other were now seen as potential threats.


    A single conversation, a gesture, even a glance, could feel like the trigger for a landslide.


    This was the first time Lin had felt so clearly that they were nearing their end.


    The pressure and suspicion brought by the impending death was almost enough to break them.


    Ruan, who seemed to have foreseen this situation, didn''t seem surprised.


    She casually found a corner to sit down, watching the increasing nervousness of everyone in the living room.


    Suddenly, she spoke softly, "Have you forgotten? There''s another place with a corpse?"


    This sentence was like rain falling on parched earth, instantly revitalizing the completely dried-up atmosphere.


    Chi asked, "What place?"


    Lin replied, "The graveyard? But I went looking before, and I haven''t been able to find the graves in this village. I couldn''t find them."


    "It''s not the graveyard, of course," Ruan said. "This world probably doesn''t bury people as simply as we imagine."


    "Where is it?" Lin asked.


    Ruan said, "Remember those few people who were crushed by the tree when you were carrying it a few days ago?"


    Lin suddenly realized, "Oh, yeah, aren''t those people considered dead things...?"


    "Let''s go. Find a time to dig up their bodies. Then the well-filling problem is solved, right?" Ruan said. "Everyone doesn''t have to be like this anymore."


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    After these words, the atmosphere instantly eased, though it wasn''t completely relaxed because no one knew for sure if they could find the bodies.


    It had been snowing constantly outside since the day they carried the tree.


    The bodies were already buried under the deep snow.


    Digging them out wouldn''t be easy.


    But no matter how difficult, it was definitely simpler than killing someone.


    Knowing that time was of the essence, after having this idea, everyone expressed their desire to dig up the corpse as soon as possible to prevent any unforeseen circumstances.


    Lin hadn''t expected everyone to accept this so readily.


    No one objected from beginning to end.


    Thinking about it carefully, this was indeed the best option available at the moment.


    Although digging up corpses in the snow wouldn''t be easy, at least they had a direction to work towards.


    Besides, even if someone died while digging up the bodies, it would have been convenient - they wouldn''t have to kill anyone, and they would still have the necessary dead things to fill the well.


    Half an hour later, everyone gathered at the entrance of the house, each man holding a shovel.


    "Let''s go." Chi held a cigarette in his mouth.


    It was his last one brought into this world, so he smoked it meticulously, "We have to dig it up today."


    Cheng, the one who chased Wang yesterday, had red eyes with bloodshot whites.


    He seemed very neurotic, "If we can''t dig it up, we''ll all die." He glared fiercely at Wang and Lin.


    Lin didn''t give him any face and glared back rudely.


    "Let''s go," Ruan called out.


    Chi led everyone toward the mountain path.


    It had been snowing at night and sunny during the day for the past few days, creating a thick layer of snow on the ground.


    Their footsteps left soft impressions on the snow.


    After about ten minutes, they reached the familiar mountain path.


    Going further up would lead them to the forest.


    "I think it''s around here," Chi said. There were no landmarks, so he could only pinpoint the approximate area, "Everyone start digging here."


    Lin nodded, clenched his shovel, and dug up a pile of snow.


    The path, though narrow, was wide.


    Searching for corpses in such a large area was quite tedious.


    But everyone worked hard, not a single person slacked off.


    Ruan sat on a nearby stone, leisurely cracking sunflower seeds.


    Her relaxed demeanor was in stark contrast to Xiao''s nervous expression.


    Perhaps unable to bear Ruan''s indifferent attitude, Xiao suddenly spoke, "Aren''t you afraid of dying? If you die in this world, you''ll die in the real world as well."


    Ruan languidly said, "Of course I''m scared."


    Xiao said, "If you''re scared, why are you acting like that?"


    Ruan couldn''t even be bothered to look at her, treating her like air.


    It was pure disdain, "Everyone''s reactions to fear are different. Some cry, some laugh. I like to crack sunflower seeds."


    She stretched out her hand and scattered the seed shells onto the snow-covered path, "And I like to litter."


    Xiao: "..."


    She clearly felt that Ruan was mocking her, but couldn''t find the words to retort.


    She could only grumble angrily and turn to leave.


    Ruan had a smirk on her face.


    Since arriving here, her gaze hadn''t left Lin for a moment, as if there was something extremely interesting about him that drew her attention.

 20.The Two Shadows

    Lin didn''t look at Ruan.


    He kept his head down, diligently shoveling the snow, praying that they would find the two bodies soon.


    But sometimes, fate just doesn''t cooperate.


    They set out when the day was already late, and after an hour of digging, night fell.


    Snow began to fall again, swirling softly from the sky.


    Lin blew into his frozen hands, glancing up at the sky.


    The moon was quite bright tonight.


    A huge moon hung in the sky, reflecting on the white snow, preventing the forest from becoming too dark.


    Chi stood beside him, shoveling snow while talking to Xiao.


    Cheng, with his volatile temper, hadn''t stopped.


    He cursed as he worked, though his movements were still fast.


    The remaining three girls stood on the side of the path.


    They didn''t speak, just quietly observing Lin.


    Lin dug for a while, suddenly feeling something was off.


    He looked up towards where Ruan was, confirming that there were indeed three people there.


    One tall, two short, with the two shorter ones standing side by side, seemingly holding hands amicably.


    Seeing this, Lin''s hand stopped.


    "What''s wrong?" Chi, who was not far away, noticed Lin''s strangeness. "Lin?"


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    Lin said, "Something seems a little strange..."


    "What''s strange?" It was Xiao''s voice.


    Hearing her voice, Lin finally noticed what was off.


    They were six people left: Chi, Xiao, Wang, Cheng, Ruan, and himself.


    Xiao stood next to Chi, so how could there be two people holding hands next to Ruan?


    Lin''s Adam''s apple bobbed up and down.


    He pretended to continue working with the shovel, nonchalantly saying, "Ruan, come here for a moment. I need to talk to you."


    Ruan got up from the rock and walked toward Lin.


    She asked, "What''s wrong?"


    Lin didn''t respond.


    He kept his eyes on the two people holding hands, noticing that they were standing in the shadow of the trees, their faces were barely visible.


    They were almost the same height, with their hands intertwined, as if they were deeply in love.


    But right now, it was truly sending shivers down their spines.


    "Lin?" Ruan asked, "What''s wrong?"


    Lin still didn''t speak.


    He was about to wait for Ruan to get closer before saying anything, but then he felt his shovel stop slightly, as if it had hit something hard.


    Ruan just reached in front of Lin.


    She looked down and saw the frozen corpse by the side of his shovel, "You found it?"


    "What?" Lin couldn''t understand what Ruan meant.


    "You dug up a body?" Ruan''s tone lightened, "Wow, good luck..."


    Only then did Lin realize what his shovel had dug up.


    He looked down and saw a frozen body in the snow.


    Only two pale hands were exposed, but it could be confirmed to be one of their companions who had been crushed by the tree and buried under the snow.


    "I found it!" Lin shouted.


    After he shouted, he looked towards the place where he had seen the two figures, but instead of two people, there was one.


    That shadow slowly moved towards them.


    When it reached the moonlight, Lin recognized it as Wang.


    Wang walked next to Lin, seeming a little puzzled by his gaze, "Why are you looking at me?"


    Lin shook his head, "Nothing."


    Wang said, "Thank you. You''re amazing."


    She looked down at the body in the snow pit, her eyes filled with tenderness, "If it weren''t for you, I might have died yesterday. You actually managed to find the body..."


    Lin replied, "It was just good luck."


    He suddenly reached out and took Ruan''s hand. "Come closer."


    Ruan sensed Lin''s movement and slightly raised her eyebrows, just about to speak, but she felt Lin''s fingers drawing gently on her palm.


    He drew four strokes, forming the character "Wang."


    Understanding instantly, Ruan tightened her grip, indicating she understood.


    She looked at the corpse, "Since we found it, let''s quickly bring the body back."


    "Okay," Wang smiled. "Let''s go back quickly."

 21.Black Hair

    The others didn''t seem to notice Wang''s strange behavior, instead focusing on the corpse before them.


    "Great, didn''t expect to find the body so soon." Chi praised Lin''s luck, "I thought we were going to spend the night out here."


    "Let''s go, get the body back." Cheng calmed down a little upon seeing the body.


    He spat on the ground, glaring fiercely at Wang, "Lucky you."


    Wang showed a look of fear and tried to hide behind Lin.


    This time, Lin didn''t let her do so.


    He grabbed Wang''s wrist, saying, "Don''t be afraid of him, we''re here. Cheng, are you sick? Why are you scaring the girl?"


    Cheng said, "She''s not a human, I saw it all!"


    He seemed to be a bit mentally unstable, his emotions were always agitated.


    But after being reprimanded by Lin, he at least stopped threatening Wang, instead, lowering his head and working with Chi to dig the body out of the snow pit.


    The corpse had been frozen in the snow for a few days and remained the same, even the broken part of the waist and abdomen could clearly see the internal organs and spine, making one''s scalp tingle.


    If this were when Lin first arrived in this world, seeing this scene might have made him want to vomit.


    But after these few days of training, Lin now saw the corpse with no inner fluctuations, even wanting to study it further.


    "How do we get it back?" Xiao asked, "Carry it?"


    "Drag it back." Chi said, "Though it''s not respectful to the deceased, it''s better than having two more living people die."


    If this were the real world, carrying a dead person might be nothing, but the world within the gate was too bizarre.


    Who knows if the dead person on your back would suddenly come alive?


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    "Okay." Lin agreed.


    So, they used ropes to tie up the body, then placed the wooden boards they had brought on the body, making a makeshift sled for easy dragging on the snow.


    "Let''s go." After they finished, Chi and Lin each pulled one side, dragging the body along the path.


    The girls walked in front, Lin pulled while keeping an eye on Wang.


    He had intentionally grabbed Wang''s wrist just now, feeling nothing unusual.


    The human temperature and skin texture were normal.


    Could it have been his illusion in the forest?


    No... Lin immediately denied his own doubts.


    In this world, even illusions should be taken seriously.


    After all, one wrong step, and you might lose your life.


    They walked forward, with Ruan following Lin closely.


    She whispered, "Did you see something?"


    Lin said, "Two shadows."


    Ruan nodded knowingly.


    Lin asked, "Were they human?"


    Ruan chuckled lightly at his question, "Should I just say they''re human because you ask? Why do you believe me so much?"


    Lin thought for a moment, "Maybe it''s because you''re pretty?"


    Ruan: "I love to hear that." She paused, then added, "Not too sure, but most likely human, but don''t relax. Even though the main body is human, who knows what strange things they might bring with them."


    Lin felt it made sense.


    The mountain path was narrow, but thankfully the body wasn''t too heavy.


    They all felt a sense of relief when they left the mountain path.


    At least nothing strange happened on the way.


    "Let''s hurry back." Chi looked at the sky with a worried expression, "It''s almost completely dark."


    "Yeah." Lin replied.


    As night fell, the entire village fell into a deathly silence.


    The sound of snowflakes falling only made the surrounding area feel more tranquil.


    As everyone continued forward, Wang, who was walking in front, suddenly let out a violent coughing fit.


    She seemed to be choked by something, her body bent over.


    "Wang, are you alright?" Xiao, standing beside her, asked.


    Wang didn''t speak, just lightly waved her hand to indicate she was fine.


    But the next moment, Cheng, who had already calmed down, suddenly exploded, grabbed the iron shovel in his hand, and lunged toward Wang, ready to strike.


    "What are you doing!" Lin quickly stopped Cheng, shouting, "Cheng, are you crazy!"


    Cheng''s eyes were bloodshot, like a madman with no reason left, his voice hoarse as he yelled, "She''s a monster!! Don''t stop me!!"


    Wang coughed even harder, she half-knelt on the ground, the violent coughing even started to make her vomit uncontrollably.


    Xiao was close to her, and when she saw what she was vomiting, she couldn''t help but gasp in surprise.


    Lin turned around and saw that Wang''s mouth was filled with black hair.


    She was clutching her neck, her face contorted in pain.


    The black hair poured out of her mouth, wriggling on the ground as if alive.


    "I''m going to kill her!! Or she will kill us!!" Cheng had completely lost control.


    The strength that a person can unleash under pressure is terrifying.


    In a moment, he forcibly threw Lin away.


    Lin fell hard to the ground, unable to stop Cheng as he swung the iron shovel, bringing it down on Wang''s head.

 22.Unholy Feast

    ¡°Aaaaaah!!!¡± Wang screamed in agony, her head cleaved in half.


    Fresh blood splattered onto the white snow, creating wisps of white smoke.


    Her vomiting stopped, she slowly slumped to the ground, her expression still frozen in pain.


    "Haha, haha, she''s dead." Cheng let out a satisfied smile.


    He kicked Wang''s body, still chuckling, "Haha, we''re going to live."


    No one spoke, the remaining four people watched the horrifying scene in silence.


    The hair Wang had vomited out gradually faded and disappeared.


    Her eyes remained wide open, as if she couldn''t understand why she had died in such a way.


    "Haha, haha." Cheng loosened his grip, the blood-stained iron shovel fell to the ground.


    He looked around, seeing fear and disgust in their expressions.


    "What are you all looking at me for? I saved you!"


    "Shhh shhh¡­"


    Just as the atmosphere froze, the sound of rustling in the snow broke the silence.


    Lin turned, clearly hearing the strange sound coming from the mountains¡ªas if something was dragging itself across the ground towards them.


    "What sound is that?" Lin felt a bad premonition, "Let''s go!"


    "Yeah." Chi''s face changed slightly, no longer concerned about Cheng, who had killed Wang.


    Lin and he, in tacit understanding, grabbed the rope and ran towards home.


    This time, everyone ran with all their might, but the soft snow and heavy clothes hindered their progress.


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    Lin panted heavily, not daring to stop.


    He could clearly hear the sound getting closer.


    Cheng also ran along, leading the way. He was the first to reach the residence.


    "Cheng, quickly open the door!" Chi yelled in a panic.


    Cheng frantically opened the door.


    Normally, he would immediately rush inside, but for some unknown reason, he saw something within the door.


    He grabbed his iron shovel and began wildly slashing at the air,  continuously yelling, "There''s a ghost! There''s a ghost!"


    Lin initially thought he was having a breakdown, but upon closer observation, he was startled to find that Cheng really had a problem.


    His shadow, illuminated by the moonlight, had split into two.


    One was his own, while the other was a long-haired woman.


    The woman reached out her hand, pulling Cheng.


    The two shadows stood side by side on the ground, seemingly separated from Cheng.


    "There''s a ghost!! There''s a ghost!!" Cheng screamed miserably.


    His fear was about to break his last nerve.


    In the end, Lin couldn''t stand it anymore, he gave him a chop to the back of the neck, knocking him unconscious before he could continue his howling.


    "Hurry inside!!!" Ruan yelled from inside, "It''s coming!"


    Lin and Chi worked together, one carrying the corpse, the other carrying the unconscious Cheng, just managing to carry both inside before the sharp rustling reached the door.


    "Bang, bang, bang." Someone knocked on the door.


    The four people left inside were all panting, none responded.


    "Bang, bang, bang." The knocking continued.


    Sensing they wouldn''t open, a woman''s voice rang out, "Open the door. I''m so hungry. Give me something to eat."


    Upon hearing the word "hungry", Lin immediately thought of the evil god mentioned by the carpenter.


    "I''m so hungry." The woman murmured, her voice getting louder, "Please, give me something to eat."


    "Shit." Xiao suddenly cursed, "Look at the wall!"


    Upon hearing this, Lin looked towards the wall and saw a half-emerging head and a pair of black eyes on top of it.


    The courtyard wall was at least 2 meters high, normal humans could not stick their head out from behind it.


    "I''m so hungry." The black eyes slowly moved, noticing them standing in the courtyard, "I''m so hungry. If you don''t give me food, I''ll have to find it myself."


    "What do we do?" Lin''s mouth went dry.


    Ruan said, "Let''s go, don''t mind her, let''s throw the body down the well first."


    "Okay." Lin agreed with Ruan and along with Chi, he carried the body toward the well.


    Ruan stayed by their side, even daring to look down into the well.


    "Throw it." Ruan said.


    Lin and Chi let go at the same time.


    The mutilated body slid down the well, but for a long time, they couldn''t hear it landing.


    However, even though they didn''t hear it land, other sounds soon came from within the well... an unpleasant chewing sound.


    "So delicious." The woman outside the wall suddenly said, "So delicious..."


    Lin took a deep breath of relief.

 23.The Blood-Stained Key

    The chewing sound lasted for a long time, as if meticulously chewing every bone.


    The sound of crunching through bone was physiologically unsettling, but everyone silently endured.


    Finally, as dawn began to break in the sky, the chewing stopped, along with the silent woman outside the wall who had been staring at them.


    Lin wasn''t sure if it was his imagination, but he felt that before the woman disappeared, he heard a faint burp... as if something had just finished eating.


    The sky finally turned bright. Lin, having sat in the courtyard all night, felt like he had been through a different world.


    He said, "Is it over?"


    Ruan didn''t give a definite answer, she only said, "Maybe."


    They had cut down the tree, prayed at the temple, and filled the well.


    All that remained was to get the coffin from the carpenter.


    Everyone looked weary, but beneath the fatigue was a glimmer of excitement.


    This should be the last step.


    As long as they got the key, found the iron gate, they could leave this terrifying world.


    Everyone thought so, their steps became lighter.


    The village in daylight didn''t have the chilling terror of the night, it seemed like an ordinary mountain village with simple villagers.


    No ghosts, no death.


    When they went to the carpenter''s, they just happened to be passing by the spot where Wang died.


    But Lin didn''t see anything there.


    Only white snow remained on the ground, leaving no trace of the previous night''s events.


    "Was her body eaten?" Lin asked.


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    "Probably." Ruan, "That thing has quite an appetite."


    They arrived at the carpenter''s house, seeing the carpenter sitting by the door slowly smoking.


    Lin arrived first, greeted him, saying, "Old man, we''re here to get the coffin."


    The carpenter didn''t say anything, just pointed inside the house.


    They entered the house one after another and saw a beautiful red coffin standing in the small room.


    The coffin was exquisite, made with meticulous craftsmanship, every detail was perfectly fitted, not at all like something that was hastily crafted.


    Lin felt the varnish on the coffin was odd.


    He reached out and touched it, finding it oily and slightly sticky.


    He detected a fishy smell.


    Ruan was much faster than him. She blurted out, "It''s blood soaked, isn''t it?"


    "Probably." Chi said, "What varnish looks like this?"


    "Whatever it''s soaked in, let''s just take it back." Ruan said, "Let''s go."


    Lin originally thought the coffin would be heavy, but when he lifted it, it felt surprisingly light.


    Two people could easily carry it.


    Cheng was completely useless, leaving Lin and Chi as the only ones capable of physical labor in the group.


    They lifted the coffin, one in front and one behind, heading towards the residence.


    "What do we do next?" Lin asked as he carried the coffin.


    "Let''s go back and see if there''s anything in the coffin." Ruan said, "I guess the key is in the coffin. Once we get the key, everything will be easy."


    Lin silently hoped it was so.


    Back home, Cheng, who had been knocked unconscious, woke up.


    He sat in the hall, looking vacant.


    When he saw everyone carrying the coffin back, he didn''t even greet them.


    His expression was like a simpleton.


    Lin felt a little worried, whispering, "Did I make him stupid?"


    Ruan: "Uh¡­"


    Lin: "Shit, I just hit him casually¡­"


    Ruan reassured him, "If he''s stupid, so be it. Nobody is going to hold you responsible anyway. And stupid people aren''t afraid of ghosts, isn''t this just helping him out? You''re his benefactor!"


    Lin: "..."


    Ruan, how did you get so used to this?


    Because of Cheng''s performance yesterday, everyone was reluctant to talk to him.


    Chi and Xiao pretended not to see him.


    "Open the coffin." Chi announced, placing the coffin down.


    "Okay." Lin nodded. He and Chi lifted each side and pushed open the lid.


    With a creak, the lid opened.


    A damp smell of wood hit their faces.


    Xiao was the most anxious, as soon as the lid opened, she stuck her head inside, looking for what they were hoping to find.


    "I found it!!! The key!!!" A moment later, Xiao''s excited voice came, almost crying with joy.


    Her emotions were completely out of control. "It''s here, it''s here!!"


    Lin saw Xiao holding an old bronze key, it had an antique design, simple and exuding an aura of time.


    Red liquid stained the handle, earlier Lin would have thought it was paint, but now he thought it was human blood.


    "We have the key! We have the key!!" Xiao held the key, her tears streaming down.


    Her emotions were clearly nearing their breaking point.


    It seemed like even though she had been acting calm, she couldn''t bear the pressure of death.

 24.The Gate Lies Near

    "The gate should be out too, we can start looking for it now." Chi''s voice was tired. "We have to hurry, there aren''t many of us left."


    "Where are gates usually found?" Lin had no experience in this area.


    "They are usually near our residence, not that hard to find." Chi said, "But I''ve never experienced a world with thirteen people, so... I don''t know either."


    "Okay." Lin looked at the key in Xiao''s hand and thought, at least we have the key.


    Ruan didn''t seem too excited. She said, "The key, who''s going to keep it? I don''t trust her with it."


    Xiao, challenged, was furious, "What do you mean? Why don''t you trust me? Are you saying we can trust you with it?"


    Ruan smiled subtly, "This isn''t just about me. If you lose the key, we all die inside the gate. Are you sure you want to keep it? Think twice."


    Xiao''s face went pale then flushed, seemingly about to say something.


    But Chi put a hand on her shoulder, "Lin, you take it."


    Lin was startled. He didn''t expect this responsibility to suddenly fall on him.


    He was about to refuse, but Ruan agreed, leaning into Lin''s ear and whispering, "Take it."


    Lin furrowed his brows, "But I''m entering a gate for the first time, I have no experience..."


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    "It''s okay." Chi said, "We trust you."


    "Alright then." Lin agreed.


    He reached out to take the key, examined it carefully.


    If he didn''t say anything, it was just a normal bronze key to him.


    Chi suggested they eat something first as they were all tired from last night, then discuss the gate''s location.


    Lin agreed.


    So Chi and Xiao went to the kitchen to cook, while Lin and Ruan stayed in the living room to watch over Cheng.


    "Why did they give the key to me?" Lin still couldn''t understand.


    "Because it''s not a good thing to have." Ruan said, "Those who have it, die quickly." She smiled, and tapped Lin''s forehead with a finger, "Of course, don''t worry."


    Lin: "Huh?"


    Ruan suddenly lowered her head and lightly bit Lin''s earlobe.


    She whispered, "I found the gate."


    Lin''s eyes widened, "What?"


    Ruan: "Shhh, be quiet."


    Lin quickly quieted down, whispering, "What did you say? You found the gate?"


    "Yeah." Ruan smiled.


    She seemed to have developed a keen interest in Lin''s ear, her finger tracing along it, making him itchy, "Want to know where it is?"


    If it was any other day, Lin would have been completely focused on Ruan''s hand playing with his ear, but what she said was so shocking that it distracted him.


    "You know where it is, why didn''t you say it? Ah?"


    A sudden stinging pain on his earlobe made Lin gasp.


    "What are you doing?" He reached out to touch it and found that Ruan had forcefully pierced his right ear with a stud.


    "Nothing." Ruan looked innocent, "I thought you would look nice with this earring."


    Lin, touched by the earring, was stunned for a moment, not sure whether to chase the gate or the earring.


    Before he had a chance to react, Ruan continued, "The gate is very close to us, we can go back tonight."


    "What about Xiao and Chi?" Lin asked.


    "They?" Ruan didn''t seem to like those two, "We''ll see how I feel."


    Lin said, "If possible... bring them along."


    Xiao was irritable, but Chi treated them well.


    Plus they had experienced so much together.


    "You''re so kind." Ruan said, "But that''s what I like about you."


    Lin felt a little embarrassed at her words.


    He said, "Don''t tease me."


    Ruan just smiled and didn''t say anything.


    After that interruption, Lin completely forgot about the earring.

 25.Midnight Escape

    Ruan only had to whine, and Lin would have no choice but to give in.


    As the two were talking, Xiao and Chi came out of the kitchen with food.


    Ruan temporarily paused the topic and started chatting with Lin about other things with a smile.


    Dinner was simple, and no one was really focused on it.


    They discussed the possible location of the door while eating.


    ¡°I think we should also search the carpenter''s house,¡± Chi said, ¡°He doesn''t seem like an ordinary villager.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Xiao¡¯s mood seemed to have improved a lot since her biggest worry was solved.


    She actively suggested various possible locations for the door.


    Cheng sat silently beside them as they talked.


    Compared to when he first woke up, his eyes were no longer as dull, but they still looked gloomy.


    He didn''t blame Lin for knocking him out, or to be more precise, he hadn''t said a word to Lin since he woke up.


    Seeing that everyone had almost finished their discussion, Cheng slowly opened his mouth: ¡°Lin.¡±


    Lin looked at him vigilantly: ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Cheng asked, ¡°Was Wang a monster?¡±


    Lin shook his head, indicating that he didn¡¯t know either, but since Cheng could ask this question, it meant that his mental state was not optimistic.


    Cheng said: ¡°She must be a monster, I saw it all.¡±


    He tilted his head and asked everyone neurotically, ¡°You all saw it, right? Her shadow, and the things she spat out¡­¡±


    Everyone was silent.


    In fact, Lin felt that Wang was most likely still human, otherwise she wouldn¡¯t have been killed so easily by Cheng¡¯s shovel.


    But now that she was dead, there was no point in talking about it anymore.


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    However, Cheng seemed to be entangled in this matter, repeatedly asking if Wang was a monster.


    Finally, Xiao got annoyed and said, ¡°Whether she was a monster or not, she¡¯s already dead. What''s the point of dwelling on this? Or are you afraid that you killed the wrong person?¡±


    As soon as these words came out, Cheng''s face changed drastically, he hurriedly stood up from the chair and turned to leave.


    Xiao continued to mock: ¡°Why, you were so decisive when you killed her, but now you¡¯re afraid? You don''t dare to face the consequences, coward.¡±


    "Is it serious to kill teammates here?" Lin had always wanted to ask this question before.


    "The world inside the door is a world where everything has a spirit. To put it bluntly, anything that dies may become a ghost.¡± Chi''s expression was complicated, "So never kill indiscriminately."


    Lin responded and thought for a moment, "But isn''t there a loophole? You said that at least one person has to get out of here alive. If that person kills everyone else, wouldn¡¯t he have achieved the condition of only one person remaining?"


    "In your dreams," Xiao said, "No one will just wait for him to kill them. If he can''t kill everyone at once and run away as fast as he can, he¡¯ll definitely die here."


    ¡°He might get attacked by what he killed in the morning by noon." Chi said, "I''ve seen it."


    He gestured with his eyes in the direction Cheng had left and shook his head.


    So that was it, Lin suddenly understood.


    They went to move the coffin in the morning, and in the afternoon everyone was looking for the door everywhere.


    Until dark, they hadn¡¯t found any clues about the door.


    Lin and Ruan went to the carpenter¡¯s house.


    On the way, Ruan told Lin to stay alert tonight and that they would leave at night.


    At the thought of finally being able to leave this place, Lin¡¯s pace quickened.


    He reached out and touched his earlobe, where there was now a red gemstone earring that looked like glass.


    He didn''t know where Ruan learned the craft.


    He didn¡¯t feel anything when she put it on him, and his mind was on the door, so he didn¡¯t ask Ruan what the earring was until now.


    "It¡¯s a small gift for you," Ruan said. "Fate brought us together inside the door, cherish this bond¡­"


    Upon hearing this, Lin stopped fussing over the details.


    After all, once they left, they might never see each other again.


    He secretly glanced at Ruan''s beautiful side face and sighed with regret in his heart.


    If only he hadn¡¯t met her in such a special place¡­


    At four o''clock in the afternoon, night fell.


    It wasn''t snowing today, but the weather was gloomy.


    The wind felt like needles on their faces.


    When Lin and Ruan returned, Chi and Xiao were already home.


    ¡°Did you find it?¡± They asked each other.


    After receiving the answers, Chi sighed and said that this matter couldn¡¯t be rushed.


    It seemed that they would have to spend another night here.


    Everyone should rest early and continue searching tomorrow.


    Ruan and Lin agreed.


    So the two went back to their room early, but instead of going to bed as usual, they sat by the bed and waited for it to get dark.


    Ruan leaned against the oil lamp and ate melon seeds to kill the time.


    Lin thought they would be able to leave when it got dark, but unexpectedly something happened.


    Cheng, who lived next door to them, let out a shrill scream.


    The scream sounded extremely ear-piercing, as if his throat was about to be torn.

 26.Plunge into Darkness

    ¡°Help¡ªHelp¡ª¡± Cheng pounded on the wall. ¡°Save me, somebody¡ª¡±


    ¡°Wuwuwu, wuwuwu.¡± Along with his screams, came the sound of a woman¡¯s cry.


    Lin had heard this voice many times, it belonged to Wang.


    Before it was Wang who needed rescuing, this time it was Cheng.


    But within a short while, Cheng¡¯s screams became weak.


    They were followed by a puffing sound, like a sharp weapon chopping into flesh, again and again, as if the person wielding it would never tire.


    Cheng¡¯s cries ceased, but Wang was still crying.


    Ruan¡¯s expression gradually became serious.


    She looked at Lin and asked him, ¡°Are you scared?¡±


    Lin replied, ¡°I¡¯m alright.¡±


    Ruan said, ¡°Things might have changed, we can¡¯t wait any longer, let¡¯s go.¡±


    Lin nodded and followed Ruan out of the room.


    When he went out, he saw a pool of blood seeping from under the door of the room to the right.


    It seemed Cheng¡¯s life had come to an end.


    Although he didn¡¯t personally witness the death, Lin was well aware that some things he was powerless to change.


    He was just an ordinary person, powerless in the face of these ghosts.


    Ruan naturally took Lin¡¯s hand, and the two went straight downstairs.


    Lin was about to ask Ruan where they were going, when she led him to the yard downstairs.


    There was nothing in the yard, only an empty well.


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    Ruan led Lin to the well and looked down.


    Seeing this, Lin followed her lead and glanced into the well.


    The well was pitch black and nothing could be seen.


    It emitted a musty smell of mud, making people feel very uncomfortable.


    Lin was looking carefully when he suddenly felt a strong push on his back.


    He staggered and tried to regain his footing, but the person behind him pressed him down.


    Ruan said, ¡°Go.¡±


    As her words fell, a powerful force hit him, and Lin was directly pushed into the well by her.


    The sudden turn of events caught Lin completely off guard.


    He fell into the well, his hands reaching out randomly trying to grab something.


    But the well wall was slippery, giving him no chance to struggle.


    Just when Lin thought he would fall hard, he felt himself land on something soft.


    It was so soft, like a silk cushion, Lin wasn¡¯t hurt at all.


    He struggled to stand up from the cushion.


    In the faint moonlight coming from the opening of the well, he could finally see what he had landed on.


    It was no cushion. It was a pile of wriggling black hair.


    Lin¡¯s face changed slightly.


    He didn¡¯t expect the well to be like this.


    Fortunately, he quickly calmed down.


    After looking around, he found an inconspicuous path at the bottom of the well.


    Lin wanted to call out to Ruan, but he was worried that his calls would alert the strange hair below.


    So in the end he gave up and slowly moved his feet, walking towards the path.


    The path was narrow, but it was clearly built for this purpose.


    Lin had to keep his head down as he walked.


    The black hair extended all the way forward, like a laid out carpet.


    He didn¡¯t know how long he had been walking for, but Lin finally reached the end of the path.


    He also discovered the source of the hair.


    They seemed to be growing from the wall.


    At the end of the wall stood a tall black iron gate.


    On the iron gate hung a conspicuous bronze lock.


    Lin had seen this gate before, in the corridor of his house, the only difference being that the one there had no lock.


    He took out the key from his pocket and slowly walked forward.


    A bronze key, a bronze lock.


    Lin inserted the key into the keyhole and twisted it gently.


    With a click, the lock opened.


    As he pulled the lock open, he saw something fall from behind it to the ground.


    It was a white paper strip.


    Lin bent over to pick it up and saw four words written on it: Fairchild Bird.


    Lin didn¡¯t understand the meaning of these four words, but he didn¡¯t want to waste time here.


    He casually stuffed the paper strip into his pocket, then grasped the handle of the bronze gate and pulled hard.


    The door opened, and there was a soft light outside.


    Although no other scenery could be seen, it gave a feeling of exceptional peace of mind.


    Lin turned his head to look behind him.


    Those black hairs seemed to be stimulated by the light and became somewhat agitated.


    Lin dared not stay any longer.


    He quickened his pace and walked into the halo.


    "Ruan must come out alive¡­" This was Lin¡¯s last thought as he left.

 27.Back to Life

    Lin continued walking forward.


    The light grew stronger and stronger, stinging his eyes until he could hardly keep them open.


    Fortunately, the road beneath his feet was flat enough that he didn¡¯t trip.


    As Lin wondered how much longer he had to walk, he felt a sudden wave of dizziness.


    He instinctively closed his eyes and reached out to steady himself against the wall.


    To his surprise, his hand met with a cold, solid surface.


    The chill jolted him fully awake.


    An ordinary hallway, ordinary apartment doors, a pale light spilling from the small lampshade overhead¡ªit was all so familiar.


    He was back in the hallway of his own apartment building.


    He was back?


    Lin stood there for a moment, disoriented, unsure of what to do next.


    He thought for a moment and then pulled out his phone.


    July 17th, Friday, 8:00 PM. He had returned to the exact point in time when he¡¯d left this world.


    Lin remembered it clearly.


    On the evening of the 17th, he made plans to have a late-night snack with a friend.


    Just as he was about to head out, he had opened his door to an indescribable sight.


    The familiar apartment doors in his hallway had been replaced by twelve black iron doors.


    The sight had terrified Lin at the time.


    He stood frozen in the hallway for a long time, thinking he was hallucinating.


    But the chilling touch of the iron doors had told him this was no hallucination.


    He had looked around and noticed that all other exits from the hallway, including his own apartment door, had vanished.


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    The dark hallway stretched endlessly before him, silence pressing down like a suffocating weight.


    Lin had tentatively tried to open the iron doors, one after another, but they wouldn¡¯t budge.


    Just as he was about to give up, he pulled on the very last door¡­and it swung open easily.


    The moment the door opened, Lin had felt himself being pulled by an irresistible force.


    He tumbled forward, falling through the doorway.


    And in the next instant, he had found himself in that terrifying little mountain village.


    And now, Lin was back, back in the corridor of his own home.


    He stood there for a long time, wondering if he had just had a bizarre dream.


    He suddenly remembered something and reached up to touch his earlobe and pocket... There, he found a small earring and a white paper strip.


    At that moment, the realization hit Lin with full force: He had not been dreaming.


    He had experienced something far more terrifying than any nightmare.


    His phone suddenly rang.


    Lin picked it up and saw it was a call from his friend.


    ¡°Hello, Lin, what are you doing?¡± His friend¡¯s name was Wu, and they were colleagues. ¡°Why aren''t you downstairs yet?¡±


    Lin was stunned for a moment before he remembered.


    Wu was waiting for him downstairs.


    They were going to have dinner together.


    He glanced at their chat history and saw that only fifteen minutes had passed ¨C which meant he had only spent fifteen minutes in that village.


    ¡°Lin?¡± Wu sounded puzzled. ¡°Why aren''t you saying anything?"


    "Oh, nothing." Lin said, "Something came up just now, I''ll be right down."


    "Okay," Wu said and hung up the phone.


    Lin hurriedly went downstairs.


    It was the height of summer, and the air was hot and stifling.


    Although it was already eight o''clock, the sun hadn''t set yet.


    The fiery glow painted the horizon in hues of red.


    Pedestrians ambled by, some fanning themselves leisurely.


    Everything was full of life.


    Lin felt the tension ease out of his body.


    Wu, who was waiting at the entrance of the complex, spotted him and waved, ¡°What took you so long? I thought you were getting a makeover or something!¡±


    Lin just smiled without replying.


    They chatted as they walked toward a barbecue restaurant near their apartment complex.


    Wu complained about the mosquitos being unbearable and showed off his legs, covered in bites from waiting for Lin.


    Lin glanced at him. "Too much leg hair, can''t see the bites."


    "What the hell, you''re complaining about my leg hair? You know I only waited this long because I¡¯m a good friend.¡±


    ¡° ¡­Yeah, yeah, you suffered enough, alright? I''ll treat you tonight.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good.¡±


    The barbecue restaurant was bustling.


    The two ordered some skewers and a case of beer and started chatting as they ate.


    "Are you really going to quit your job and go back to your hometown?" Wu asked.


    "Huh?" Lin looked at him blankly.


    "What''s with you tonight? You''re totally out of it." Wu looked at him, confused, "Didn¡¯t you ask me out to talk about this?"


    Lin took a sip of his beer, "It''s nothing, just a bad dream this afternoon. I haven''t quite recovered yet."


    His mind was still replaying the events in the village.


    He had a nagging feeling that things weren¡¯t over.


    "Oh," Wu said, "You haven''t been yourself lately. Did you see a doctor?"


    "Yes," Lin replied, "The results aren''t back yet."

 28.Unease Lingers

    Wu sighed. ¡°Our line of work¡­ things can go wrong easily. You know the head of our department resigned a few months ago? Apparently, it was because he almost died from overwork."


    "Yeah¡­" Lin mumbled, his mind elsewhere.


    As they were chatting, a loud crash sounded from outside, like a car accident.


    The barbecue restaurant was located right on the street, and diners turned their heads to look or even got up to see what had happened.


    Wu, whose seat was by the window, glanced outside and exclaimed, ¡°Woah, there¡¯s been an accident.¡±


    Lin got up and followed the others to the door.


    They saw a mangled car crashed into a tree.


    It wasn¡¯t hard to imagine how fast it had been going.


    The front of the car was completely crushed.


    The people in the driver¡¯s seat were probably in bad shape.


    Someone had called 120.


    Soon, police cars and an ambulance arrived.


    Wu, seemingly unfazed by the scene, continued to munch on grilled pork skewers.


    "That guy must have been speeding,¡± he said through a mouthful of food. "For the car to be that smashed up¡­ he must have been going at least 100.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible.¡± Lin disagreed. ¡°We¡¯re in a busy area, how could he go that fast?¡±


    It was Friday evening rush hour; the streets were packed with cars.


    "Who knows?" Wu shrugged. "Anyway, come on, let¡¯s sit down. The grilled fish we ordered is here."


    Lin nodded.


    Before turning away, he took one last look at the accident scene.


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    The sight made him doubt his own eyes.


    The police were just pulling the driver from the wreckage.


    The person was a bloody mess, but their clothing seemed¡­ familiar.


    He thought hard for a moment and then it clicked.


    He had seen those clothes before.


    When they had first arrived in the village, back when they were still wearing their fall attire, one of them had been wearing a similar outfit¡­


    Lin racked his brains, trying to remember the name¡­. Zhang, that was it.


    A chill ran down Lin¡¯s spine.


    He couldn''t bear to look any longer and quickly turned back.


    He''d completely lost his appetite.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you tonight?¡± Wu asked, noticing Lin¡¯s distracted state. ¡°You¡¯ve been a million miles away all night.¡±


    Lin simply shook his head, not knowing what to say.


    ¡°And when did you get your ear pierced?¡± Wu reached out to touch the earring, but Lin instinctively dodged his hand.


    ¡°Hey! What¡¯s the big deal? You used to let me touch it all the time.¡±


    ¡°Like hell I did!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you remember that night¡­¡±


    Lin knew Wu was about to launch into another one of his embellished stories and quickly cut him off.


    He told him he just got it pierced and it was still a little sore; he didn¡¯t want it to get infected.


    Wu let it go, but couldn''t resist asking, ¡°So, why¡¯d you get your ear pierced anyway? Seeing someone special?¡±


    ¡°I live with a bunch of guys, who am I supposed to be seeing? You?¡±


    The two of them joked around some more as the sky darkened.


    Normally, Lin wouldn''t think twice about nightfall, but after what he had just experienced, darkness now filled him with a sense of unease. T


    he words on the paper strip also lingered in his mind.


    He told Wu he wasn''t feeling well and wanted to head home early.


    Wu didn''t object.


    He told Lin to get some rest and commented that he was looking a bit under the weather.


    They parted ways at the entrance of the complex, and Lin hurried back to his apartment.


    Unlocking the door and stepping inside, Lin heaved a sigh of relief.


    He flipped on the lights and saw his cat, Chestnut, sitting obediently by the door, mewing at him.


    ¡°Chestnut!¡± Lin rushed over for a cuddle, but Chestnut swiftly turned away, giving him a look of disdain before strutting off.


    ¡°Chestnut¡­ Come give daddy a hug!¡± Lin pleaded.


    ¡°Meow~¡± The cat gracefully leaped onto its cat tree and looked down at its owner, seemingly indifferent to his pleas.


    Lin sighed dramatically.


    Chestnut was a two-year-old Maine Coon.


    Despite his imposing appearance, he was a gentle and affectionate cat.


    At least, he usually was.


    Lately, something had changed.


    For reasons unbeknownst to Lin, Chestnut had become distant and even hostile towards him.


    Not only did he refuse to cuddle, he would hiss and flatten his ears.


    Attempts to pick him up would result in a flurry of claws.


    Lin couldn''t for the life of him figure out why.


    Today, at least, Chestnut¡¯s attitude seemed to have softened a bit.


    At least he hadn¡¯t been subjected to a swatting.


    With a sigh, Lin decided a hot shower might help him make sense of everything.

 29.Welcome to the Other Side

    The warm water washed away the sweat and heat from his body. After his shower, Lin sat down at his computer, his fingers drumming on the keyboard as he typed four words: ¡°Fairchild Bird.¡±


    Unable to decipher their meaning, he decided to seek answers online.


    Within milliseconds, the search engine presented him with numerous results.


    Clicking on the first link, he was directed to a forum discussing Grimm¡¯s Fairy Tales.


    It told the story of three siblings and a sorcerer disguised as a beggar.


    The story went that the sorcerer, disguised as a beggar, went around kidnapping young brides.


    After capturing a bride, he would give her a key and an egg, telling her he would be away for a few days and forbidding her from entering a particular room.


    However, driven by curiosity, the young girl would always use the key to open the forbidden door after the sorcerer''s departure.


    Inside, she would find a gruesome scene: the floor littered with dismembered bodies.


    In her horror, the egg would slip from her grasp and shatter.


    Stained with the crimson blood, the egg became impossible to clean.


    Upon his return, the sorcerer, noticing the bloodstains, would drag the girl into the room and hack her to pieces.


    Of the three sisters in the story, only the youngest survived.


    Using her wit, she not only saved her sisters but also brought about the sorcerer''s demise.


    Though fairy tales were meant for children, Lin found this particular story utterly chilling.


    The image of the youngest sister piecing her siblings'' bodies back together, watching their resurrection with delight, sent shivers down his spine.


    The story bore a resemblance to Bluebeard but felt even more gruesome.


    But what did "Fairchild Bird" on the note imply?


    Lin fell into deep thought, trying to connect the words to his own experiences, but finding it far-fetched.


    But if it wasn''t about the past, could it be a premonition of the future?


    Lin recalled the twelve pitch-black doors, a sense of unease washing over him.


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    Finding no answers, he lay back on his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.


    He had planned to quit his job and return to his hometown soon, but this incident had disrupted everything.


    The events that transpired behind the door were beyond his comprehension, defying all logic and reason.


    Overwhelmed by the inexplicable, his thoughts were in disarray.


    As he drifted into a light sleep, his mind still a whirlwind of unanswered questions, a faint sound broke through his slumber.


    Lin, a light sleeper easily disturbed, mumbled, "Chestnut..." assuming it was his pet.


    There was no response.


    The sound ceased, but a delicate, peculiar fragrance wafted into his nostrils.


    It was an unusual scent, reminiscent of ice and snow.


    At the same time, though his eyes remained closed, he felt a strange gaze upon him.


    It was an inexplicable sensation.


    Despite his closed eyelids, Lin could distinctly sense someone observing him.


    The gaze was intense, almost scorching, sending goosebumps prickling across his skin, rousing him from his near-slumber.


    Someone was in his apartment.


    Lin''s mind snapped fully awake, the realization hitting him with chilling certainty.


    "So easy to wake," a deep, unfamiliar voice suddenly broke the silence.


    It was incredibly close, the speaker''s warm breath practically caressing Lin''s ear.


    Caught feigning sleep, Lin had no choice but to open his eyes.


    The room was shrouded in darkness, the only illumination coming from the faint moonlight filtering through the window.


    He could barely make out the intruder''s features.


    He was strikingly handsome, with an undeniable masculine aura despite his delicate features.


    He tilted his head slightly, a playful smile gracing his lips as his dark eyes, hidden in the shadows, made it impossible for Lin to decipher his true emotions.


    "Awake now?" the man purred, his fingers gently tracing the curve of Lin''s lips.


    His touch was icy, devoid of any human warmth, yet surprisingly smooth, like polished jade.


    Lin instinctively tried to pull away but was stopped by the man''s grip on his wrist.


    The man''s strength was astonishing, his hand like an iron shackle.


    Even the slightest struggle sent throbbing pain through Lin''s wrist, a clear indication that any further resistance would result in a broken bone.


    "Who are you?" Lin demanded. "Breaking in is a crime¡ª"


    His words were met with a chuckle.


    The man leaned closer, studying Lin''s features with an almost predatory gaze, before whispering, "Just as lovely as I imagined."


    A wave of fear washed over Lin.


    Just as he braced himself for the worst, the man unexpectedly released his grip and switched on the bedside lamp.


    Light flooded the room, dispelling the darkness and the fear it held.


    Lin could finally see the man clearly.


    He was even more handsome than Lin had initially thought, but his face was unfamiliar.


    Their eyes met, and the man, perhaps sensing the alarm and faint terror in Lin''s gaze, smiled again.


    He extended a hand towards Lin, his voice a soothing balm, "Welcome to the world behind the door."


    Lin didn''t reciprocate the gesture, his expression guarded. "Who are you? Why are you in my home?"


    Unfazed by Lin''s coldness, the man replied, "Hello, Lin. My name is ARuan Nan. I know you have many questions, but I''m afraid I don''t have the time to answer them all right now."


    Lin pressed his lips together, a stubborn glint in his eyes.


    Nan glanced at his watch.


    "You have ten minutes to get dressed. Then, I''ll be taking you somewhere."


    Before Lin could speak, Nan cut him off.


    Despite his harmless appearance, the man exuded an undeniable aura of dominance.


    He smiled, but his words held a chilling undertone, "You don''t have a choice."


    Lin could only offer a helpless look.


    He had experienced Nan''s strength firsthand and knew that resistance was futile.

 30.Car Ride

    The atmosphere grew tense. As Lin pondered whether to obey the man''s command, Chestnut, his cat, who had been lounging in the living room, suddenly padded into the bedroom.


    Meowing softly, it rubbed its head against Nan''s leg.


    Nan''s intimidating aura vanished in an instant.


    He bent down, effortlessly scooping up Chestnut and scratching its chin with practiced ease. "You have a cat?"


    "Yes... You..." Lin wanted to inquire about Nan''s identity but stopped himself, sensing that the man wouldn''t offer a straight answer.


    However, something else came to mind. Hesitantly, he asked, "How are you acquainted with Ruan?"


    The surname Ruan wasn''t common, and coupled with the man''s earlier remark about the world behind the door, it was clear that this was connected to the twelve iron doors.


    Nan didn''t respond directly. "You have seven minutes left."


    Lin sighed internally.


    This man might be easy on the eyes, but his stubbornness rivaled a mule''s.


    Resigned to his fate, he began to dress.


    Thankfully, it was summer, and getting dressed took mere minutes.


    Seven minutes later, the two arrived downstairs, right on time.


    As they exited the apartment building, Lin cast a suspicious glance at his front door, confirming that the lock was intact, with no signs of forced entry.


    Seemingly reading his thoughts, Nan casually pointed to the window. "I came in through there."


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    "Ha...ha...very funny," Lin deadpanned.


    His apartment was on the sixteenth floor with no external fire escapes.


    Was Nan suggesting he flew in?


    Nan offered no further explanation, turning to leave.


    Trailing behind, Lin muttered under his breath about breaking and entering being a criminal offense.


    "Why don''t you call the police and find out?" Nan shot back.


    Lin fell silent.


    They descended into the parking garage.


    To Lin''s surprise, another person was already in the car, slumped in the driver''s seat, on the verge of falling asleep.


    Nan rapped his knuckles against the window. "Cheng."


    The teenager jolted awake, rubbing his eyes. "You''re done already?"


    "Let''s go," Nan commanded.


    Cheng mumbled in affirmation, turning to size up Lin. "He really is cute."


    "...", Lin was far from pleased to be called "cute" by a teenager.


    Honestly, if Nan hadn''t mentioned the doors, he would have suspected they were human traffickers.


    While being scrutinized by Cheng, Lin was also observing him.


    The teenager appeared to be around sixteen or seventeen, his voice still cracking with puberty, his face youthful.


    A thought struck Lin, and he sat up straight in the back seat.


    "What is it?" Nan asked, noticing his sudden apprehension.


    "Excuse my asking, but how old is your friend?"


    Nan raised an eyebrow.


    "I''m sixteen," piped up Cheng from the front seat.


    He''d assumed Lin was going to comment on his young age, ready to launch into a boastful explanation.


    However, Lin only murmured, "Sixteen... you don''t have a driver''s license, do you?"


    "...", Cheng thought, "No wonder Brother Nan took a liking to him. This guy''s thought process is something else."


    Nan chuckled. "Of all the people I''ve met, you''re the first to ask that question."


    "So, do you have a license?" Lin pressed. "I just saw someone who died in a car accident today. How about I drive? My driving skills are excellent."


    An awkward silence descended upon the car.


    Cheng let out a long sigh.


    "Don''t worry, I''ve been driving for three years. As long as we don''t run into any traffic cops..."


    As if on cue, the moment they drove out of the parking garage, they were greeted by the sight of a traffic police officer conducting a random sobriety check just ahead.


    "Crap," Cheng swore.


    Lin couldn''t help but wear an "I told you so" expression.


    Without a word, Cheng switched places with Nan, shooting Lin a dirty look as he settled into the back seat.


    Lin could only offer an innocent shrug.


    It was just a casual remark; he hadn''t expected it to manifest so immediately.

 31.Twelve Doors to Live

    The car sped away from the apartment complex.


    Lin and Cheng sat in the back seat, their silence amplifying the quiet hum of the engine.


    It wasn''t until they reached the highway that Lin finally broke the silence, "Where exactly are you taking me?"


    "I thought you''d never ask," Cheng quipped.


    "And if I ask, will you tell me?"


    "Nope," came the blunt reply.


    "...You guys are something else," Lin muttered under his breath.


    Half an hour later, the car pulled up outside a lone villa in the suburbs.


    Stepping out, Lin surveyed the building.


    The villa stood isolated, surrounded by nothing but wilderness, an eerie silence hanging in the air.


    Lush vegetation encroached upon the property, the air thick with the drone of insects.


    Nan parked the car, and the trio made their way up the path leading to the villa.


    Lin glanced at his phone.  It was one am.


    The signal here was weak, down to a single bar, probably due to their remote location.


    Nan, in the lead, reached the front door and pushed it open.


    Light spilled out from within, illuminating the lavishly furnished interior.


    Three people were seated in the living room, seemingly engrossed in a discussion - two men and a woman.


    All eyes turned to Lin as he entered.


    "Brother Nan," one of the men addressed Nan with deference, "You''re back."


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    Nan offered a curt nod, settling onto a nearby sofa.


    With a gesture, he indicated for Lin to sit beside him.


    After a moment''s hesitation, Lin complied.


    "You just came back from behind the door, right?"  Nan turned to him, extending his hand. "The note."


    Lin was taken aback by the man''s directness. No explanations, no preamble, just a demand for the note.


    "Don''t you think you owe me an explanation first?" Lin retorted. "You break into my home, drag me out here, and now you want something from me?"


    "Cheng, explain," Nan instructed.


    Cheng shrugged, a helpless look on his face.  He got up, grabbed his laptop, and after a few keystrokes, handed it to Lin.


    Confused, Lin accepted the laptop.


    The screen displayed several open tabs, all news websites.  "What''s this?"


    "Take a look," Cheng urged.


    Lin scrolled through the pages.


    They were all recent news articles, most reporting on accidental deaths.


    One headline seemed familiar: "Driver Killed in High-Speed Collision in X City."


    The surname initial and photo in the article confirmed Lin''s suspicions.


    Every single death reported in these articles was linked to the people he had encountered behind the door.


    They had all died on the same night, albeit through various means - accidents, suicides, even homicides.


    "So...if you die behind the door, you die in the real world too?" Lin asked, his voice barely a whisper.


    Cheng nodded.  "We wanted to prepare you for this. Those doors are not a joke, not a dream. Whatever happens behind those doors has real-world consequences."


    "I understand that, but what are they?"


    "It''s hard to explain scientifically. They defy all logic and reason," Cheng said, glancing at Nan.  "You need to give us that note.  It''s important."


    "I don''t have it on me," Lin replied.


    "That''s fine.  What did it say?"


    Lin hesitated for a moment, then, under the weight of everyone''s gaze, he spoke, "Fairchild Bird."


    "Find it," Nan commanded.  The others sprang into action.


    The urgency in their demeanor was contagious, and Lin felt a knot of anxiety tightening in his stomach.


    "What''s going on? I don''t understand¡­"


    "Have you experienced anything strange lately?" Nan asked, eyes glued to his phone.  "Any...omens?"


    "Omens?"


    "Yes, omens," Nan clarified. "Seeing things you haven''t seen before, minor accidents, or..." He paused, his gaze sharp.  "Your pet suddenly avoiding your touch?"


    "Yes! Yes! Yes! My cat won''t let me hold him anymore. Do you think there''s a cure for this?"


    "Nope.  Time for a vasectomy," Cheng quipped.


    "..." Lin was speechless.


    Nan shot Cheng a warning look, silencing him.


    "You''re going to die," he stated bluntly to Lin.


    "What? What do you mean?" Lin was stunned.


    "Exactly what I said."  Nan''s voice was calm, measured.  "But if you can survive the twelve doors, you''ll live.  You''ll be free from their control."


    "Their control?" Lin felt like his head was spinning.


    Questions bombarded him, but he hesitated to voice them.


    Nan didn''t strike him as a man overflowing with patience.

 32.Meeting the Family

    As expected, Nan said, "Don''t worry about questions now. You have a week to figure out what''s going on. Cheng, he''s your responsibility."


    Cheng groaned, "I swear, this is the part of newbie orientation I hate the most."


    "..."


    Lin could only offer a sympathetic grimace.


    "Can I ask one last question for now?" he asked, deciding that this particular query couldn''t wait.


    "Shoot," Cheng replied.


    "Well... what''s the deal with Ruan?" Lin inquired. "She must be connected to you guys, right?"


    A strange silence filled the room.


    Cheng''s expression became a mixture of bewilderment and amusement¡ªLin finally realized he was holding back laughter.


    "You''ll find out eventually," Nan interjected smoothly. "Don''t rush it."


    "..."


    Lin was increasingly convinced that everyone here was utterly bizarre.


    While they were talking, the others in the room had already gathered information about Fairchild Bird.


    After listening to their reports, Nan announced, "Cheng, introduce him to everyone. I need to step out for a bit."


    "Got it."


    With that, Nan departed, the roar of a car engine soon following.


    Lin and Cheng exchanged uneasy glances.


    Finally, Cheng stood. "Let''s get the introductions out of the way. This is Lu, the only woman on our team. Braver and tougher than most men."


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    "Hey! What''s that supposed to mean, Cheng?" Lu protested.


    Ignoring her, Cheng moved on to the other two. "This is Fei," he said, pointing to the one wearing glasses, "and this ball of energy over here is Yim. He never shuts up, so best to keep your distance."


    Fei offered Lin a polite nod.


    Yim, however, was not pleased with Cheng''s introduction. "Are you itching for a fight?"


    "And this is Lin," Cheng continued, gesturing to the newcomer. "Brother Nan brought him."


    The trio seemed friendly enough, but their greetings were curt, lacking any real warmth.


    They clearly weren''t interested in getting to know him.


    Cheng, sensing Lin''s confusion, offered a frank explanation.


    "Don''t take it personally. We...don''t know how long you''ll be around. It''s hard to get attached when..." He trailed off.


    "When you don''t know if I''ll be alive tomorrow?" Lin finished his sentence.


    "You need to survive at least the next door," Cheng said. "But Brother Nan will probably take you through it, so it shouldn''t be a problem."


    "What about Ruan?" Lin persisted.


    "Are you hungry? Want something to eat?" Cheng deftly changed the subject.


    "..."


    Lin was now convinced that Cheng was intentionally dodging any questions about Ruan.


    Lin wasn''t hungry, and the adrenaline from being whisked away in the middle of the night kept sleep at bay.


    He sat in the living room, observing as the others worked.


    They were still researching Fairchild Bird, the fairy tale taking on a sinister new meaning.


    Fei and Yim were discussing a trip to the library the next day.


    Cheng told Lin that he could go upstairs to sleep if he was tired.


    A room had been prepared for him¡ªthe one on the far right at the end of the hall.


    "I think I''ll take a nap," Lin said, getting to his feet.


    "Goodnight," Cheng replied.


    Lin climbed the stairs and turned right, heading down the hallway.


    He spotted a figure standing at the far end and assumed it was one of the others.


    As he got closer, intending to say hello, his blood ran cold.


    It was Cheng.


    The same Cheng who should have been downstairs in the living room was now standing right in front of him, his face an emotionless mask, his eyes cold and distant.


    "Cheng?" Lin took an instinctive step back. "What are you doing up here?"


    The figure continued to approach, his gaze unwavering. "I''m not Cheng," he said, his voice flat, devoid of any familiarity.


    "Then who are you?"


    "I''m Cheng''s older brother," the figure replied.


    "Huh?" Lin was utterly bewildered.


    "Xie," the figure stated simply.


    Lin stared at him, speechless.


    He spun around and hurried back downstairs, his mind racing.


    Sure enough, Cheng was in the living room, chatting with Lu.


    He looked up in surprise as Lin practically flew back into the room.


    "What''s wrong?"


    "You...you have a twin brother?" Lin stammered.


    "Oh, yeah. I forgot to mention," Cheng said casually.

 33.The Mystery Deepens

    "That''s my twin brother," Cheng explained. "He''s got a weird personality, you''d best ignore him. The further away you stay from him, the better."


    Xie, Cheng''s older brother, didn''t seem offended by his brother''s words.


    He merely glanced at Cheng with an indifferent look.


    Cheng let out a dry laugh. "Haha, just kidding."


    Although the twins were dressed differently and had subtle differences in their hairstyles, their faces were truly identical.


    At least, for now, Lin couldn''t tell them apart.


    He said goodnight to Cheng again and returned to the second floor.


    This time, he walked extra carefully, afraid that another triplet would pop out from the end of the corridor.


    Of course, there was no triplet.


    Lin successfully entered the bedroom that Cheng had pointed out to him.


    There was even a nameplate hanging on the door with "Lin" written on it, probably to prevent him from going to the wrong room.


    The bedroom was very pleasant.


    A soft bed occupied the center, with a computer desk beside it.


    There was also a small table by the window, laden with fruits and snacks.


    Lin turned on the computer and used the web to search for the news Cheng had shown him earlier.


    However, when he saw a particular photo, he noticed something amiss.


    It was a piece of social news about a woman surnamed Wang who had committed suicide by jumping off a bridge.


    The entire process had been filmed by a passerby.


    The video seemed to have been uploaded recently and hadn''t been taken down yet.


    Lin clicked on it and watched the entire scene unfold.


    In the world inside the door, Lin only remembered what Zhang and Wang were wearing.


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    Their clothes were quite distinctive: one was in a uniform, while the other was dressed in cosplay.


    The video was very clear, even capturing the face of the suicide victim.


    Lin zoomed in on the screen, his expression turning puzzled as he stared at the person in the video.


    This person was dressed identically to Wang, but their appearance was completely different.


    The Wang inside the door was very ordinary-looking, but the girl in the video was incredibly beautiful.


    How could they look so different?


    Lin was extremely confused.


    The strangest thing was, he had a feeling that even though the person in front of him differed from Wang, she was indeed Wang.


    As the video reached its end, the girl, ignoring everyone''s pleas, took a leap of faith and jumped off the bridge.


    There was a text description below the video stating that the body had been found and the deceased was a freshman at XX University.


    She was supposed to attend an anime convention that day but suddenly went missing, only to appear on a distant bridge.


    The reason for her suicide was still under investigation¡­


    This situation was obviously very strange.


    Cheng and the others were deliberately hiding something.


    Lin frowned, wanting to find related news to learn more about the deceased.


    Unfortunately, there were no frontal photos of the others, but judging from their clothing, they were indeed the same people who had died inside the door.


    What was going on?


    Lin lay in bed, lost in thought.


    What exactly were Cheng and the others hiding...?


    Lin couldn''t sleep that night. He got up very early the next day.


    As he went downstairs at around six o''clock, he saw Cheng sitting in the living room with a dog by his side.


    The dog had a round butt that looked like a loaf of bread, clearly a corgi.


    "You even have a dog?" Lin was a little surprised.


    To his surprise, Cheng looked up at him with an emotionless expression and ignored him.


    It was then that Lin realized that this person wasn''t Cheng, but his brother, Xie.


    Right, he had mistaken them again.


    Lin felt a little helpless.


    Summer days dawned early.


    At around six o''clock, the entire villa gradually came alive with activity.


    Lin heard the sound of a car engine from outside.


    A moment later, Nan walked in from outside.


    He saw Lin sitting in the living room, lost in thought.


    "Up so early?"


    "A little hungry," Lin replied.


    Nan turned towards Xie. "Xie, go make breakfast."


    To Lin''s surprise, Xie, who had been indifferent to everyone, actually stood up and headed towards the kitchen without a word.


    Lin looked at Nan with admiration.


    It seemed that Nan''s status in this team was indeed extraordinary.


    Nan sat down next to Lin.


    "How much do you know?"


    "Not much. Why did you bring me here?"


    Nan pulled out a cigarette from his pocket.


    "You don''t mind, do you?"


    Lin shook his head, indicating that he didn''t mind.


    Nan lit his cigarette.


    "Because I plan to enter the door with you next time."


    Lin was taken aback.


    "We can go in together?"


    "Of course. Why else do you think Chi and Xiao know each other? They''re veterans too," Nan explained.


    "...Wait, Chi and Xiao?" Combined with the abnormalities he had discovered yesterday, a thought suddenly occurred to Lin.


    He widened his eyes in disbelief. "Ru¡­ Ruan?"


    Nan exhaled a puff of smoke. "Yes."


    "No way!! I don''t believe it!!" Lin exclaimed.


    "What''s there not to believe? Have you ever seen a girl six feet girl?" Nan said pointedly.

 34.Allies and Adversaries

    "But why do you become a woman when you go inside the door?" Lin asked, bewildered.


    Nan corrected him, "Not become a woman, but dress as one."


    Lin glanced at his chest. "...No wonder you''re so flat there."


    Nan chuckled, a hint of amusement in his eyes.


    "And I''m quite well-endowed down below."


    Lin was speechless.


    The smile did have a bit of Ruan''s charm.


    He should have known; how could there be such a tall girl?


    Although she was indeed quite beautiful.


    But honestly, Nan in front of him, if dressed as a woman, probably wouldn''t be that far off from Ruan.


    "So why do you dress up as a woman?" Lin asked.


    "Hobby," Nan replied casually.


    Lin had no retort to that.


    "It''s easier being a woman than a man, sometimes," Nan elaborated, a smirk playing on his lips. "At least I don''t have to carry trees."


    Lin had to agree with that.


    "Every door leaves a clue to the next one." Nan finished his cigarette and extinguished it. "Your next door is the ''Fairchild Bird''."


    The Fairchild Bird, a fairy tale that always left a bad taste in his mouth. Lin frowned.


    Nan fished something out of his pocket and casually tossed it to Lin.


    "This is the clue from the door you just left."


    Lin caught it and saw that it was another slip of paper, this time with a different message:


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    "One person doesn''t enter a temple, two don''t look down a well, three don''t hug a tree, and one doesn''t lean alone on a railing."


    Entering the temple, looking down the well, hugging the tree ¡ª everything that happened inside the door aligned perfectly.


    It was only then that Lin understood how Ruan had known everything in advance in that world.


    "But why were you the only one who came in?" Lin asked.


    "It''s a long story," Nan said. "I''ll explain it to you another time. In short, everyone living in this villa is the same. We all have to enter the world inside the door, so we look out for each other."


    At that moment, Xie finished preparing breakfast and brought it to the table.


    "Brother Ruan, breakfast is ready."


    "Let''s go, let''s eat something," Nan said.


    Lin nodded and followed.


    Xie was a surprisingly good cook.


    He had made porridge and stir-fried two simple dishes.


    As the three of them ate, the others came downstairs one after another.


    Lin was overwhelmed with information and couldn''t process it all at once, so he ate quietly throughout the meal and didn''t ask any more questions.


    Cheng, who had just come downstairs, was touched by his silence.


    "It''s been a long time since I''ve seen a newcomer with such stable emotions. The last few who came were not only full of questions but also as jumpy as cats whose tails had been stepped on¡­"


    "There... are others in the villa?" Lin asked.


    "There are two more who went into the door. Who knows if they''ll be able to come out," Cheng replied.


    Then, he took a sip of the porridge Xie made and muttered, "Couldn''t you have added a little more sugar?"


    Xie, hearing this, looked at his brother with an impassive face.


    Cheng quickly zipped his mouth shut with a gesture.


    The interaction between the twins was quite interesting.


    As Lin was thinking this, he heard Cheng say, "You''ll probably be entering the door again next week. But don''t worry, Brother Ruan will be going in with you. It shouldn''t be a problem."


    Lin glanced at Nan beside him and sighed inwardly.


    He couldn''t imagine that Nan inside the door was actually that kind of girl.


    "By the way, do our appearances change inside and outside the door?" he asked.


    "Yeah," Cheng replied. "I was so ugly inside the door."


    "You''re not exactly handsome now either," Xie commented, flatly.


    Cheng fell silent.


    "Then what do I look like inside the door?" Lin asked, curious.


    Nan took his last bite of food.


    "You can just look in a mirror when you get inside next time."


    That''s true, Lin thought. It made sense.


    "Get ready," Nan instructed, getting up from the table. "The world of the Fairchild Bird shouldn''t be too difficult. Usually, the first time you enter the door, it won''t be too hard. As long as you get the clue, everything will fall into place."


    "But why did my first world feel so difficult?" Lin asked.


    "Because there were three veterans inside the door." Nan wiped his mouth. "Besides me, Chi and Xiao are also veterans. They should belong to another organization."


    Lin was taken aback.


    He hadn''t expected there to be such an internal conflict.

 35.The Woman at the Door

    Though many questions lingered in his mind, it seemed they wouldn¡¯t be answered anytime soon.


    After finishing breakfast, Lin subtly hinted that he wanted to go home - his cat still needed to be fed.


    ¡°Go ahead," Nan said, unexpectedly agreeing to Lin¡¯s request.


    He added that he would visit Lin on Friday and told him to be prepared.


    "By prepared, do you mean I''ll be entering those iron gates again on Friday?" Lin asked cautiously.


    Nan calmly hummed in affirmation.


    The thought of the scene within the door made the food in front of him lose its flavor.


    After the meal, Nan drove Lin home as promised.


    They barely spoke during the drive.


    Only when Lin got out of the car did Nan say, "See you on Friday."


    Lin nodded at him and expressed his thanks warmly.


    As Nan drove away, Lin turned and entered his apartment.


    Seeing him return, Chestnut, his cat, remained sprawled lazily on the sofa.


    It didn''t budge even when Lin called its name, merely flicking its tail languidly, acknowledging his presence.


    Lin seized this opportunity to quickly pet Chestnut a couple of times.


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    The cat, for once, didn¡¯t try to escape, though its attitude remained aloof.


    "Chestnut, let Daddy hold you for a bit," Lin cooed, reaching out.


    His hand had barely extended when Chestnut''s hind leg shot out, landing a swift kick on his arm.


    Nursing his wounded limb and his wounded pride, Lin resigned himself to the fact that he wouldn''t be enjoying his cat''s affection any time soon.


    The next day was Monday.


    Lin went to work as usual and, once again, brought up his resignation with his boss.


    Upon hearing Lin''s intention to quit, the boss tried his best to convince him to stay, even offering him an immediate raise and promotion.


    However, Lin''s resolve was firm.


    If he had harbored any hesitation or reluctance towards leaving his job before, there was none now.


    Faced with his own mortality, all he desired was to do what he truly wanted.


    He didn''t know if he would survive his next trip through the door, and he refused to waste precious time on a job that no longer held meaning.


    Seeing that his efforts were futile, the boss could only agree to Lin''s resignation with a regretful expression.


    Finally free from the shackles of his job, Lin breathed a sigh of relief.


    He was determined to savor every moment of his remaining freedom.


    The difference in people''s mindsets was starkly evident at this moment.


    Some faced their impending doom with anxiety and fear, while others chose to embrace their remaining time.


    Five days flew by in the blink of an eye, and soon, it was Friday evening.


    Over the past few days, Lin had visited the library and researched everything he could find about the Fairchild Bird.


    However, no matter how hard he searched, it remained a somewhat gruesome fairy tale, offering no valuable clues.


    At eight o''clock on Friday night, a knock came at Lin''s door.


    He walked over and opened the door, only to freeze in astonishment.


    Standing outside was a woman of exceptional beauty.


    She wore an elegant long dress, her face adorned with light makeup.


    Her features were classically beautiful, and she looked at Lin with an indifferent expression.


    "Lin?" she asked.


    "Holy crap! Nan?!" Lin exclaimed.


    "Call me Ruan, thank you very much," she corrected him, her voice calm and steady.


    Lin''s eyes widened.


    "Why are you¡­ dressed like a woman?!"


    "Hobby," Ruan replied, with a hint of amusement in her eyes.

 36.New Arrivals

    Lin was speechless.


    Though Nan had mentioned it was a hobby before, actually seeing him dressed like this was still a huge shock.


    As an honest man who was addicted to overtime work and completely clueless about the concept of crossdressing, Lin opened the door for Nan with a devastated expression.


    "What''s with that look?" Nan observed. "Did you find out you''re dying?"


    "N-nothing..." Lin stammered, his sadness so profound that he couldn''t control his expression.


    Whoever did Nan''s makeup had transformed his normally unfeminine features into something delicate and alluring.


    Every smile and glance oozed charm.


    Apart from his height and voice, anyone would mistake him for a woman.


    "Compared to life, dignity isn''t that important," Nan said, settling down on Lin''s sofa.


    Chestnut hopped onto his lap instantly.


    "Of course, I don''t always dress like this. It''s for a job this time."


    "What kind of job?" Lin asked, watching with envy as Nan stroked Chestnut. He wanted to pet the cat too!


    "Your eyes look pretty creepy," Nan commented.


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    "Do they¡­?" Lin mumbled, embarrassed.


    "They do."


    Lin wanted to cry again.


    Nan checked his watch.


    "Go change your clothes. Something you don''t usually wear," he instructed.


    Lin didn''t question him and obediently went to change.


    When he returned, Nan explained, "It''s best not to be recognized in the real world by people from inside the game."


    "What do you mean?" Lin frowned. "What happens if they recognize me?"


    "You''ll find out eventually," Nan said cryptically.


    He then stood up, putting Chestnut down.


    "It''s about time, let''s go." He walked to the door.


    Lin followed behind.


    As Nan opened the door, the scenery beyond it shifted.


    The ordinary hallway vanished, replaced by twelve cold, imposing iron gates.


    One of the gates was sealed with a blood-red talisman.


    That must be the door Lin had entered before.


    Although he was mentally prepared this time, Lin''s heart couldn''t help but pound in his chest at the sight.


    Nan gestured for him to proceed.


    Lin reached out and started trying to open the gates.


    One, two... It wasn''t until he was almost at the end that he felt a handle loosen.


    He pulled with all his might, and the seemingly heavy door creaked open.


    Just like last time, the moment the door opened, a powerful force slammed into Lin, dragging him inside.


    The scenery around him warped and twisted, and when he could see clearly again, a solitary high-rise stood before him.


    The building was surrounded by darkness, the only source of light emanating from its windows, beckoning him closer.


    Lin scanned his surroundings, but Nan was nowhere to be seen.


    He seemed to be completely alone.


    After a moment''s hesitation, he started walking towards the building.


    As he approached the entrance, he noticed a group of six or seven people gathered at the foot of the stairs.


    Some looked calm, while others seemed on the verge of collapse, shouting and questioning everything.


    Lin moved closer and heard a man roar, "Where are we?! Who are you people?! I''m calling the police!!"


    It instantly clicked for Lin.


    This man, yelling his head off, must be experiencing the world inside the door for the very first time.

 37.Beyond the Fog

    "You can''t fool me! What world behind the door? Are you making a show or trying to scam me?" The roaring man was in his forties or fifties, dressed expensively.


    Just from the Patek Philippe watch on his wrist, one could tell he was worth a fortune.


    But perhaps it was precisely because of his privileged upbringing that he couldn''t accept something so beyond common sense.


    "I''ll never believe it. I''m leaving right now," the man declared. "Don''t try to stop me!"


    Beside him, a slender young woman sobbed sorrowfully, seemingly terrified by the situation.


    The faces of the others reflected a mixture of bewilderment and indifference.


    A younger man scoffed, "Go ahead and leave. As if anyone''s stopping you."


    The middle-aged man sneered and actually turned to leave the house.


    Except for the lone building in front of them, all other structures were hidden in darkness, as if a thick fog had enveloped the entire world.


    The man was bold, venturing into the black mist without a second glance.


    Lin was about to comment on his temper when, less than a minute later, a blood-curdling scream pierced the air from within the fog.


    A figure stumbled out of the black mist, covered in blood, their features indistinguishable.


    Judging by their height and build, it was the same man who had just walked in.


    "Lucky bastard," a tall woman with a cold, indifferent voice remarked from the crowd. "He''s still alive."


    Lin''s gaze fell upon the woman.


    She was tall, with beautiful, wavy black hair and delicate features, her expression aloof.


    He hadn''t gotten a good look at her while she was standing amidst the group, but as she took two steps forward, he noticed her clothes ¨C identical to what Nan had been wearing before they entered.


    Holy crap¡ª Lin instantly understood.


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    He cursed inwardly, maintaining a facade of confusion and bewilderment.


    "Where are we?" the crying girl sobbed, her tears intensifying after witnessing the scene. "I''m scared..."


    "The world behind the door," the disguised Nan stated. "My name is Zhu. This is my second time here. What about you?"


    "I''m Yu Lin," Lin replied, inventing a name on the spot. "It''s my second time too."


    "Oh." Nan nodded understandingly. "Don''t cry. It''s scary here, but we can get out alive. What''s your name?"


    The girl choked back sobs, "My name is Xu." She had probably been crying since they entered, her eyes now red and swollen. "It''s so scary here."


    One by one, the others introduced themselves. Including the middle-aged man outside, there were seven of them in total, three of whom were newcomers.


    Xu and another young man were both experiencing the "door" for the first time.


    While Xu was in tears, the young man looked pale, as if he might faint at any moment.


    Nan naturally took on a leadership role within the group.


    Like Chi in the previous scenario, he briefly explained their objective and suggested they go inside the building to assess the situation.


    "What about him?" An elderly couple stood among them, the woman a young lady with ordinary features named Yao.


    She had introduced herself as being on her third time entering the "door."


    She gestured towards the blood-soaked middle-aged man who had just fled back.


    "Aren''t we going to help him?"


    Nan glanced at the man, his tone indifferent, "I''m not bothering with him. You can if you want."


    "Alright, we''ll leave him be then," Yao conceded.


    The middle-aged man, gasping for breath, hurried to catch up as the others prepared to leave.


    His eyes were filled with terror, as though he had seen something horrifying in the fog.


    The building was an old residential one, equipped with only a rickety elevator.


    It could fit a maximum of five people at a time, forcing them to split into two groups.


    Everyone wanted to stay with the experienced Nan, causing a bottleneck at the elevator entrance.


    "How about this?" Nan suggested gently. "I''ll take a few experienced ones up first to check things out. You guys wait here, and I''ll come back down to get you."


    "Okay." Xu, finally stopping her tears, looked pleadingly at Nan. "Sister, you have to come back down. I''m scared."


    "Yes, I will," Nan assured her.


    And so, Lin, Nan, and the remaining two veterans entered the elevator.


    The elevator was clearly past its prime, the walls covered in graffiti: advertisements, insults, and inexplicable drawings.


    The buttons indicated floors one to fourteen.


    Nan wanted to check each floor but discovered that only the fourteenth-floor button could be lit.


    "Looks like it''s only going to the fourteenth floor," he stated. "Let''s go."


    Lin nodded.


    Based on Nan''s assessment, this scenario shouldn''t be too difficult.


    He had also mentioned taking on a "job" but hadn''t elaborated on what it entailed.


    The elevator creaked and groaned as it slowly ascended.


    None of the four spoke, their expressions serious, even tense.


    When the elevator doors finally opened, Lin instinctively took a step back, bracing himself for something to appear.


    But there was nothing.


    In front of them was an old corridor, at the end of which stood a half-open door.


    The sound of a television emanated from within, suggesting the residents were watching a program.

 38.A Birthday Party

    Nan, his expression calm, walked directly to the door and knocked.


    ¡°You¡¯ve arrived.¡± A middle-aged woman in an apron appeared, seemingly in the middle of cooking.


    She smiled at the four figures outside. ¡°Come in.¡±


    Nan stepped inside, followed closely by Lin and Yao.


    It was an old, somewhat dilapidated house, with three bedrooms and a living room¡ªfairly spacious.


    Though worn, the house was spotlessly clean, not a speck of dust even in the less-trafficked corners.


    Lin made his way to the living room, drawn to the old television set that was emitting a cacophony of sounds from an animated program.


    But it wasn¡¯t the TV that truly captured his attention.


    It was the three little girls sitting on the sofa, their eyes glued to the screen.


    They were identical triplets.


    Not just their faces, but their clothes and hairstyles were exactly the same.


    They barely acknowledged the arrival of the strangers, their gazes shifting momentarily before returning to the cartoon.


    ¡°These are my daughters,¡± the woman said. ¡°Thank you for coming to their birthday in seven days.¡±


    Having learned from his previous experience, Lin immediately latched onto the key information embedded within the woman¡¯s words: seven days, birthday¡ªthis seemed to be the purpose of their arrival.


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    Relief washed over Lin.


    Attending a birthday party was definitely preferable to, say, building coffins.


    Having delivered her piece, the woman excused herself to continue cooking, leaving them with a set of keys and informing them that the adjacent rooms were all available.


    Nan pocketed the keys and instructed the others to wait upstairs, explaining that he needed to fetch the remaining newcomers from downstairs.


    Lin and Yao nodded, watching as Nan re-entered the elevator.


    ¡°Is this your second time entering the ¡®door¡¯?¡± Yao inquired.


    Lin nodded, his gaze fixed on the triplets.


    He couldn¡¯t help but recall the tale of the three sisters from the Fairchild Bird.


    Noticing Lin¡¯s distraction, Yao fell silent, turning her attention to the television program.


    A few minutes later, Nan returned with the rest of the group, including, much to everyone¡¯s surprise, the blood-soaked middle-aged man.


    Whatever he had encountered in the black mist had left him visibly shaken, his eyes vacant and haunted.


    The dried blood on his face had darkened to an unpleasant, almost black, hue.


    ¡°The objective has been revealed,¡± Nan announced. ¡°We¡¯re to stay here for seven days and attend the triplets¡¯ birthday party.¡±


    He pulled out the keys given to him by the woman. ¡°We have four keys, one for each room. Choose amongst yourselves.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t we stay together?¡± Xu, though no longer in tears, still trembled with fear. ¡°We¡¯d feel safer with more people.¡±


    Nan simply glanced at her before making his way to the nearest room, key in hand.


    With a click and a creak, the door swung open.


    ¡°What kind of room is this?¡± Xu gasped, taking in the sight beyond the threshold.


    It wasn¡¯t a normal room at all but a small, single cell, with only a door and a window.


    In the center sat a wooden bed.


    At a glance, it resembled nothing more than a meticulously crafted coffin.


    ¡°The rooms are too small to accommodate more than one person,¡± Nan stated. ¡°We¡¯ll have to split up.¡±


    ¡°I want to be with you,¡± Xu pleaded, raising her hand. ¡°Big Sister, let me stay with you, I¡¯m scared.¡±


    Nan ignored her plea and instead turned to Lin, pointing at him. ¡°You¡¯re with me.¡±


    ¡°M-me?¡± Lin stammered.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Nan affirmed.


    The others looked at Lin with envy¡­

 39.Settling In

    To the others, sharing a room with a stunning beauty like Nan seemed like a stroke of good fortune.


    Lin, however, knew better.


    Nan was far from the gentle and amiable persona she presented in this world.


    "Let''s take a look at the other rooms first," Nan suggested. "We need to figure out where everyone''s staying."


    The rest agreed.


    The woman had given them four keys, corresponding to four apartments on the fourteenth floor.


    Nan led them on a quick tour, unlocking each door.


    As expected, the layouts were identical: a single cell-like room with a door, a window, and a solitary bed.


    The low ceilings only amplified the feeling of being trapped inside a coffin.


    "I want to take a shower," the volatile middle-aged man suddenly announced. "Is there even a bathroom in this place?"


    He still bore the remnants of his bloody encounter, his eyes filled with a lingering fear.


    He seemed to have calmed down, however, no longer clinging to the naive belief that this was all an elaborate prank.


    "There is one, I think it''s at the end of the hallway," Lin replied. "I saw a communal bathroom earlier. We can check it out later."


    He couldn''t deny the discomfort of being around someone covered in dried blood, the metallic scent heavy in the air.


    "Alright," the man nodded, finally introducing himself as Zeng, a jewelry businessman.


    His tone held a hint of arrogance, suggesting a man accustomed to a certain level of self-importance in the real world.


    Unfortunately for him, reality had taken a backseat here, replaced by a world where money held no sway over vengeful spirits.


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    "Let''s decide on the rooms," Nan interjected. "Yu Lin will be with me. The rest of you can work it out."


    The others exchanged glances, eventually forming their own pairings.


    Xu would room with Yao, the remaining two men decided to stick together, leaving Zeng predictably ostracized.


    His face flushed with anger, but no one seemed inclined to cater to his bruised ego.


    Nan, though not overtly unkind, merely advised him to clean himself up as soon as possible.


    "Am I going to be alone?" Zeng, despite not fully grasping the implications of death within this world, seemed to sense the danger.


    His voice trembled, "What if something happens?"


    Yao, her tone sharp, retorted, "Don''t worry. When it''s your time, it''s your time. Doesn''t matter who you''re with."


    Zeng, sensing the futility of arguing, fell silent.


    Once the rooms were allocated, Nan proposed they investigate the rooftop for any clues.


    Yao agreed.


    The fourteenth floor led to a door secured with a heavy, rusted padlock, seemingly untouched for years.


    Peeking through a gap, Lin saw nothing of note.


    "Let''s check downstairs. Doesn''t seem like there''s anything up here."


    "We can check again tomorrow morning," Yao suggested. "It''s getting dark soon. We should wash up and get some sleep."


    "Can''t we stay together and keep watch?" the young man, experiencing the "door" for the first time, voiced a concern Lin had also harbored. "Wouldn''t we be safer together? At least we''d know if something happened."


    "No," Nan stated firmly. "If we''re all together, we''ll inevitably fall asleep at some point. As someone who''s been here before, my advice is to sleep as early as possible. And if you hear or see anything strange during the night, stay put."


    The young man, convinced, nodded in understanding.


    "Let''s go freshen up then," Nan declared. "While there''s still time."


    It was six in the evening.


    Though technically still afternoon, the sky was shrouded in a thick blanket of dark clouds, as if night were about to descend prematurely.


    The four men headed towards the communal bathroom first.


    Zeng, having retrieved a change of clothes from his solitary room, seemed determined to scrub himself clean.


    Lin, finding the prospect of a full shower daunting, decided to wash up quickly and return to his room.


    The others seemed to share his sentiment, their movements rushed.


    As Lin washed his face, he took in his surroundings. T


    he bathroom was grimy and unsettling, with slick, unidentifiable stains coating the floor.


    The walls and even the squat toilets exuded an aura of grime.


    The fading light had triggered the ceiling lamp, casting a sickly yellow glow that made everything resemble a faded, filtered photograph.


    The two men who¡¯d paired up were ready to leave.


    ¡°Yu Lin,¡± one of them called out, ¡°we¡¯re heading back.¡±


    Lin, almost finished, nodded in acknowledgement.


    He grabbed his towel, intending to join them.


    ¡°Yu Lin,¡± Zeng¡¯s voice suddenly rang out from the shower stalls. ¡°You¡¯re leaving already?¡±


    "Yes," Lin replied, sensing the man¡¯s fear. "How long will you be? I can wait a bit.¡±

 40.Bathroom Horror

    Zeng thanked him profusely.


    Lin stood by the bathroom entrance, waiting for Zeng to finish.


    Each stall had a thin shower curtain providing a semblance of privacy.


    The only sound in the bathroom was the steady drumming of water hitting the floor.


    "Why won''t it come off?" Zeng''s voice suddenly broke the silence, laced with panic. "The blood... it won''t come off."


    "What''s wrong?" Lin asked, a knot of unease forming in his stomach.


    "It won''t wash off..." Zeng repeated, his voice tight with terror. "It''s covered in blood."


    Lin peered towards Zeng''s stall.


    Despite the dim lighting, he could clearly see a steady stream of bloody water flowing from under the curtain, swirling down the drain.


    Even if Zeng had been covered in blood, it shouldn''t have taken this long to wash off.


    Something felt wrong.


    "It just keeps coming..." Zeng''s voice grew more desperate.


    "Don''t worry about washing anymore," Lin urged. "Just come out."


    Zeng fell silent.


    A beat of silence, then the shower curtain was suddenly pulled aside.


    Lin saw Zeng standing there, and in an instant, he understood why the blood wasn''t washing off.


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    Clinging to the showerhead above Zeng''s head was a mangled, fleshy lump.


    It resembled the corpse of an infant, blood trickling down its  limbs, a gruesome, macabre showerhead raining gore onto Zeng.


    No wonder he couldn''t wash the blood off.


    "Stop washing, get out here now!" Lin yelled, his voice laced with urgency.


    Zeng, seeing the horror etched on Lin''s face, scrambled out of the stall, grabbing his towel but forgetting to even dress.


    As he darted out, the fleshy mass on the showerhead slowly lifted its head.


    Lin, not daring to look any longer, spun around and fled the bathroom.


    They ran straight into Nan, who was standing outside in the hallway.


    Zeng, still naked and dripping with blood, presented a rather disturbing sight.


    "What were you two doing in there for so long?" Nan asked, his voice a mixture of amusement and confusion.


    "I was watching him bathe!" Lin blurted out, his mind still reeling from the gruesome scene he''d just witnessed.


    Nan''s expression turned strange.


    "...You certainly have some kinks."


    "That''s not what I¡ª" Lin stopped himself, sighing in exasperation.


    He quickly relayed the bathroom incident to Nan.


    Nan glanced at the shivering, traumatized Zeng and said, "Go get changed. Don''t  catch a cold."


    Zeng, still reeling, nodded and scurried off to his room.


    Nan watched him go, his expression unreadable.


    Lin, thinking he was deep in thought about the implications of the incident, was about to speak when Nan suddenly blurted out, "That was... underwhelming."


    "Huh?" Lin looked at him, confused.


    "Nothing. Let''s go to sleep." Nan turned and headed towards their room.


    It took Lin a moment to process Nan''s words, and when he did, his face contorted in disgust.


    "You''re a girl! Why were you staring at his..."


    "Exactly," Nan said in a low voice, "And for the record, this girl packs more than you. You should be ashamed."


    Lin: "..."


    He had to admit, hearing such crass words coming from Nan''s beautiful face was a uniquely unsettling experience.


    Nan, seemingly unfazed by his own words, simply shrugged. "Come on, let''s go. It''s getting late, we need to sleep."


    They entered their assigned room and lay down on the cramped wooden bed.


    The room was oppressively small, the walls seeming to close in with every breath.


    Lin could practically touch both sides just by stretching out his arms.


    The grimy ceiling felt like it could cave in at any moment.


    Nan, as always, fell asleep easily.


    He often described it as closing his eyes and it being nighttime.


    Lin closed his eyes, eventually succumbing to a restless sleep.

 41.Remember Our Names

    It¡¯s quite a skill to be able to fall asleep without any psychological burden in such an environment.


    Lin had a dreamless night.


    He had thought something would happen on the first night, but he didn''t expect to get through it so peacefully.


    When he got up in the morning, the triplets'' family had already prepared breakfast for them.


    The triplets¡¯ mother was very gentle and the food she made tasted good.


    Although everyone sat at the table at first, no one moved their chopsticks until Nan took the first bite.


    ¡°It''s not bad.¡± Nan said, ¡°What are you looking at me for? Why aren''t you eating?¡±


    ¡°Is this edible?¡± Xu had dark circles under her eyes and looked like she hadn¡¯t slept all night.


    She said, ¡°Is there something wrong with the food here?¡±


    Nan smiled and said, ¡°Even if there was, you''d still have to eat it. You can''t just drink water for seven days, can you?¡±


    That''s true, there was no other source of food in this building.


    After thinking it through, everyone picked up their chopsticks and began to taste their breakfast.


    As they were eating, the three triplets came out of the house.


    All three of them were wearing identical red dresses, with two pigtails tied behind their heads and no expression on their faces.


    The triplets showed no emotion towards the sudden arrival of strangers, as if they were just facing a pile of air.


    Yao was a little uncomfortable being stared at like that and whispered, ¡°Kids, what are your names?¡±


    As soon as she said this, three pairs of eyes looked at Yao.


    Their eyes were black and white, without a trace of emotion, making people feel inexplicably scared.


    ¡°You can''t just tell others my name.¡± The little girl in the middle spoke, ¡°Besides, even if I told you, you wouldn''t be able to recognize me.¡±


    Yao was a little embarrassed by these words, ¡°Okay¡­¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t tell me, how do you know we can¡¯t recognize you?¡± Nan, who was sitting next to her, suddenly spoke.


    He didn¡¯t seem to be afraid of the three children with their somewhat strange temperament.


    He elegantly put down the chopsticks in his hand and said in a cold tone, ¡°There are guests at home, you should be polite.¡±


    Hearing this, the three little girls exchanged glances, and finally the one in the middle spoke, ¡°My name is Yi, she is Shi, and she is Tu.¡±


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    Lin almost spat out the food in his mouth when he heard the names, thinking to himself that their mother was really perfunctory to be able to come up with such names.


    The others also smiled faintly after hearing this.


    Yi said, ¡°Since we¡¯ve told you, you must remember.¡±


    Nan observed their appearance, suddenly reached out and touched Yi¡¯s head and smiled: ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll remember.¡±


    He then patted the girl closest to him on the shoulder, ¡°Go on, your mother made breakfast.¡±


    The three little girls skipped away.


    Lin always felt that the last sentence the little girl said was a bit wrong.


    What did she mean by telling them to remember?


    Could something happen if they didn''t remember?


    But seeing Nan¡¯s confident appearance, could it be that he could really tell the difference between these three almost identical girls?


    Facing Lin¡¯s questioning gaze, Nan didn¡¯t explain. He finished the last of his milk and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go downstairs and take a look.¡±


    It was already too late when they got here last night, so they didn¡¯t dare to go far and only investigated this floor and the floor above.


    Taking advantage of the early morning, Nan suggested that they go downstairs to see if there were any other residents in the fourteen-story building.


    The blood that Zeng had gotten on him yesterday had not yet been cleaned off.


    Seeing his exhausted face, he probably hadn''t slept all night.


    Hearing Nan¡¯s words, he quietly asked Lin if he could accompany him to the public bathroom, he wanted to take a shower.


    Lin expressed his admiration: ¡°You still dare to go after what you saw yesterday? Just wash your face with some hot water and make do, life is more important than being clean.¡±


    ¡°What did you see?¡± Yao asked.


    Lin said, ¡°When Zeng was taking a shower yesterday, there was something lying on the shower head. I¡¯m not sure what it was, it looked a bit like a baby¡¯s corpse.¡±


    Yao gave an ¡°oh¡±.


    Hearing Lin¡¯s words, Xu began to sob again, saying that she would never dare to take a bath again.


    As she cried, she glanced at Yao, seemingly shocked by her calmness.


    Yao said in a nonchalant tone, ¡°You won¡¯t be afraid after being scared too many times. Anyway, as long as no one dies, it means that thing is not threatening. What¡¯s so scary about it.¡±


    These words did make sense. Lin took a bite of his biscuit and clapped his hands clean of crumbs.


    ¡°Anyway, try not to go there.¡±


    Zeng was a life-saving person after all.


    After hesitating, he still didn''t go to the bathroom to take a shower, but filled a basin with hot water in the house and made do with washing his face.


    ¡°Let''s go, let''s go downstairs and have a look.¡± Nan got up and walked out of the room.


    The others followed close behind.


    Every household in this building used the same color iron gate.


    The iron gates were vermilion, and the paint on them was mottled.


    They don¡¯t know how many years they have been used.


    Coal blocks and some sundries were piled up in the stairwell corridor, which looked like someone lived there.


    But after a simple observation, Nan concluded that there was no one there.


    ¡°How did you tell?¡± Yao said, ¡°Although I haven¡¯t heard any sound.¡±


    ¡°Because the most crucial thing is missing here.¡± Nan said.


    ¡°What?¡± Yao asked.


    ¡°Trash.¡± Nan said, ¡°The trash cans on every floor here are clean.¡±


    So that¡¯s how it is.


    Yao nodded: ¡°Then in this building, only the family on the top floor is left? That¡¯s not possible, is it?¡±


    Nan looked towards the upstairs:


    ¡°It¡¯s not very possible. The existence of every world is logical and reasonable. It¡¯s impossible for empty buildings to appear at will. There must be some reason why this building is empty.¡±


    Just like the mountain village in the previous world, although the environment was harsh, there were still villagers living there.


    These seemingly insignificant people may even provide key information.


    ¡°Let¡¯s keep going down.¡± Lin said, ¡°There are still six floors left, right?¡±


    Although the lighting on the stairs was very dim, at least everyone was moving together, so it wasn¡¯t too scary.


    The group continued down, and when they reached the fourth floor, they finally found some traces of human life - Lin saw a half-eaten apple in the corner.

 42.Blood Mark

    ¡°Is this an apple core?¡± Lin thought he had read it wrong at first, but after walking over there, he was sure that it was indeed an apple, although the apple looked thin and small, and it didn¡¯t look appetizing at all.


    ¡°It really is.¡± Xu whispered, ¡°Someone lives on this floor?¡±


    The floor they were on was the fourth floor, and at first glance, it was no different from the other floors.


    But the apple core exposed its uniqueness.


    Nan immediately decided to knock on the door of every household to see if anyone lived here.


    So Lin knocked on the doors all the way, and when he knocked on a house near the window, he heard the sound of movement inside.


    It was also fortunate that the old building had poor sound insulation, if it was a new building, Lin would definitely have missed it.


    ¡°It seems like someone is here.¡± Lin stopped and said, ¡°I heard a noise in the house.¡±


    Hearing this, everyone gathered around, Yao raised her hand and knocked on the door:


    ¡°Is anyone inside?¡±


    There was silence inside, as if the sound Lin heard was just an illusion.


    ¡°Is anyone inside?¡± Yao asked loudly, ¡°We are new residents here, and we would like to ask you something-¡±


    she knocked for a long time, but no one answered, ¡°Yu Lin, are you sure you heard correctly?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Lin said, ¡°This is the last household. Could the sound be coming from outside the window?¡±


    There was nothing blocking the outside, only a dark fog.


    Nan studied the lock: ¡°It¡¯s an old lock, it¡¯s easy to open.¡±


    Lin was surprised:


    ¡°You have this skill?¡±


    Nan said: ¡°Life forced me to.¡±


    Lin: ¡°¡­¡±


    What has life done to you?


    After he finished speaking, he casually took out a hairpin from his hair and began to fiddle with the lock while squatting down.


    But before he could get any results, the door creaked open, and a terrified face appeared behind the door:


    ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    Caught red-handed, Nan didn''t panic at all.


    He stood up and smiled sweetly, "Hello, sir, we just moved in and wanted to ask you something, is that okay?"


    It was a young man behind the door, his hair was messy, and his eyes were full of vigilance and fear at first, but after seeing Nan''s deceptive face, he relaxed, "I don''t know anything, you don''t need to ask me. ."


    "Sir." Nan looked pitiful, "Can''t you even help us with such a small favor?"


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    The man hesitated for a moment:


    "What do you want to know?"


    Nan said:


    "Why is there no one in this building?"


    The man whispered:


    "Are you new here? Move out quickly, this building is cursed, and the people who live here don''t live long..."


    Nan:


    "What about the household on the top floor?"


    They don''t know which point of this sentence touched the man, he suddenly became hysterical:


    "I told you to move out, there are ghosts here!! There are ghosts!!"


    He gasped, trying to close the door, but The two men in the team stopped him.


    "What kind of ghost?" Nan continued to ask.


    "Don''t you know?" the man said, "The family on the top floor are ghosts!!!"


    Everyone was a little surprised when they heard this, but the man took advantage of their daze and slammed the door shut.


    "What does he mean?" Yao said in surprise, "Could it be that the one who gave us the task this time is not human?"


    Nan shook his head without speaking.


    However, Lin suddenly noticed something:


    "What did he sprinkle at his door...? Is it blood?"


    Everyone looked down and found that there seemed to be a layer of black stuff at the door of this man, like dried blood, sticking to the black ground stickyly, if you don''t look carefully, you really can''t see it.


    "It really is blood." After squatting down and observing carefully, Yao concluded, "But I don''t know if it''s human blood or some other kind of blood. It''s been a while..."


    Lin: "This blood was sprinkled on purpose, right?"


    Yao: "How do you say that?"


    "If it wasn''t sprinkled on purpose, it would have been cleaned up long ago. Look, there are no small advertisements next to it." Lin said his opinion, "The owner must love cleanliness."


    "That''s right." Yao said, "Then what''s the use of this blood? To ward off evil spirits?"


    Lin didn''t speak, in fact, he immediately thought of the fairy tale on the note after seeing the blood-Philthea.


    Then they went downstairs and found that there was actually another resident on the first floor.


    This resident was an elderly grandmother who had severe hearing problems.


    They knocked on the door for a long time before the grandmother came to open it, and then a group of people communicated with each other like chickens talking to ducks for a long time, and finally everyone chose to give up.


    After all, the content of the conversation on both sides was similar to them asking "Grandma, do you know why there is no one in the building? ¡±, and then the old grandma replied: ¡°I have eaten.¡±


    After so many conversations like this, everyone showed helplessness.


    There are a total of fourteen floors in this building, but there are only two households, one on the fourth floor and one on the first floor.


    But they still gained something, that is, there were traces of blood sprayed outside the doors of these two families.


    "I think this is a hint for us." Yao whispered to everyone while eating lunch, "Should we try sprinkling some blood at the door?"


    "Where are you going to get the blood?" Nan asked suddenly.


    Yao: "Find any animal or something."


    Nan: "Then whose door do you want to sprinkle it on? Your door?"


    Faced with Nan''s aggressiveness, Yao stopped talking.


    Obviously, she didn''t dare to sprinkle blood on her own door, after all, no one knew whether it was to ward off evil spirits or the trigger for death.


    "You don''t have to be so fierce if you don''t agree." Yao was a little unhappy, "Or do you have any good ideas?"


    Nan said in a neither salty nor bland tone, "No."


    Yao gritted her teeth angrily.


    Sitting there doing nothing made people feel extra at ease.


    "Then what should we do now?" Yao asked.


    Nan said: "Wait."


    Yao said: "Wait for what?"


    Nan said: "Naturally, I am waiting for something to happen." She said, "Of course, if you are willing to try first to see if it works, I don''t mind."


    Yao stopped talking and expressed her refusal with silence.


    Xu looked like she wanted to cry again, but in the end, she met Nan''s gaze, held back her tears abruptly, and said weakly:


    "Are the triplets really human? They look so scary. "


    "I don''t know." Nan said, "I''m not sure yet."


    Just as they were discussing the triplets, the three girls appeared behind them like ghosts.


    Lin was the first to see them, and seeing the three of them standing by the door hand in hand, he was startled: "When did you come?"


    The three girls didn''t speak, Lin asked again, one of them spoke, but instead of answering Lin''s question, she asked: "Do you know who I am?"


    "What?" Lin didn''t react for a while.


    "Do you know who I am?" Another girl also said the same.


    The atmosphere fell silent for a moment, and everyone obviously felt something was wrong.


    Yao smiled reluctantly and said, "Little sister, we are discussing matters, don''t make trouble."


    "Don''t you know who I am?" the last little girl said.


    "I know." Nan''s voice broke the silence.


    He stood up, walked up to the little girls, squatted down, and pinched one of their cheeks:


    "You are Yi."

 43.First Blood

    Yi blinked.


    ¡°You are Shi.¡± Nan pointed to the one on the right.


    Shi smiled.


    ¡°You are Tu.¡± Nan said, ¡°We recognize you now, is there a reward?¡±


    ¡°Our reward is that you can play with us for a while longer.¡± Yi grinned, revealing white teeth behind her bright red lips.


    Her teeth were very neat, looking dense and compact, making people feel a chill for no reason, ¡°Sister, I like you very much.¡±


    ¡°I like you too.¡± Nan stood up, ¡°Go play now, sister still has other things to do.¡±


    As soon as she finished speaking, the three triplets in front of her actually turned around and left obediently.


    Everyone was dumbfounded watching this scene, not knowing how Nan could distinguish the three little girls.


    Facing everyone''s gaze, Nan sat back at the table calmly, and spat out :


    "Guessed."


    Everyone: "..."


    Lin thought to himself, I wouldn''t believe you even if you swore it was true.


    He didn¡¯t believe that Nan would give an answer so easily without any basis.


    He must have his own identification method, but he just didn''t want to say it.


    ¡°I always feel that something is wrong with those triplets.¡± Xu whispered, ¡°They look so scary.¡±


    ¡°They are quite scary.¡± Nan pondered, ¡°But they should be human now.¡± He said, ¡°At least they feel warm to the touch.¡±


    ¡ª He had just pinched the little girl¡¯s face, just to confirm this.


    ¡°There are six more days.¡± Yao said, ¡°What will happen at their birthday party?¡±


    This feeling of waiting was not pleasant, it was like a year.


    Lin also had a general understanding of the entire team members.


    Xu, Yao, and Zeng had been introduced.


    The remaining two, one old and one new, were named Xing  and Jian.


    Xing  was entering the world inside the door for the third time, and Jian was the first time.


    Both of them were very introverted, and hardly spoke during discussions.


    Everyone spent two days peacefully in the building, and just when Lin was wondering if nothing terrifying would happen until the birthday, an accident broke the peace.


    Someone died.


    He died at the top of the stairs, his body chopped into several pieces by a sharp weapon, blood flowed down the stairs, forming black stains on the ground.


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    After hearing Xu''s scream, Lin rushed over, and before he arrived, he heard Xu''s shrill cry: "Someone is dead, someone is dead¡ª"


    Hearing this, Lin¡¯s first reaction was to look for Nan, but when he turned his head, he saw Nan standing beside him, looking at him with a smile, and asked softly, ¡°What are you looking for?¡±


    His face and smile were so deceptive that even though Lin knew he was a man, facing his gaze still made his heart beat a little faster.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± Lin said, ¡°Just looking for you.¡±


    Nan smiled and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much about me.¡±


    The two walked to the stairs together and saw the mess and Xu, who was lying limply on the stairs.


    ¡°Sob, sob, sob, it¡¯s so scary.¡± Seeing someone coming, Xu crawled over immediately, ¡°Chopped into several pieces¡ª¡±


    Because of the experience in the previous world, Lin didn¡¯t appear too flustered.


    He walked to the stairs and saw the dead person Xu was talking about.


    But with just one glance, he was taken aback: ¡°This is¡­¡±


    Nan frowned.


    They all thought that the person who died would be someone from their team, but they didn''t expect to see the body of a young girl.


    Although she had been chopped up beyond recognition, her identity could still be recognized from her clothes ¡ª she was actually one of the triplets.


    The little girl''s body had been chopped up beyond recognition, and it was no exaggeration to say that her limbs were flying horizontally.


    The ground was covered with blood and various human tissues, making one''s scalp tingle.


    "Ugh..." Zeng, who came later, couldn''t bear it better than Xu.


    He couldn''t help but vomit after just one glance.


    Lin was very calm.


    He glanced over the messy corpses and found the deceased''s head in the corner.


    Sure enough, as he expected, the deceased was indeed one of the triplets.


    ¡°How could this happen?¡± Yao felt absurd, ¡°How could the first one to die be an NPC?¡±


    ¡°Who killed her?¡± Xu¡¯s voice was full of fear, ¡°We didn¡¯t hear a thing¡­¡±


    A person was chopped up like this, but everyone on the same floor didn''t hear any movement.


    "Ah!!!" A shrill scream sounded behind them, Lin turned his head, and saw the girl''s mother, who was still wearing an apron, seemed to be preparing lunch for them, after seeing her daughter''s dismembered body , Her emotions collapsed directly, her whole body went limp on the ground, and she burst into tears, "My daughter¡ªmy poor daughter¡ªyou died so miserably¡ªwho killed you¡ª"


    Lin was about to step forward, but Nan stretched out his hand and stopped him.


    "Wait a minute," Nan said, "Don''t go there."


    Lin looked puzzled.


    Nan whispered: ¡°Look at her shoes.¡±


    Lin lowered his head and looked at the girl''s mother''s shoes, only to find that the soles of the girl''s mother''s shoes seemed to be soaked by something, and judging from the color, it seemed to be blood...


    Seeing this, Lin''s expression changed slightly.


    And the others didn¡¯t notice this detail, they all cast pity on the mother who lost her daughter who was crying loudly.


    Yao stepped forward to comfort her, but the mother grabbed her arm:


    ¡°It¡¯s you, it must be you, you are the only outsiders here, you must have killed my daughter!!¡±


    Her strength seemed to be extremely strong, Yao screamed in pain when she grabbed her, and wanted to pull her hand back, but found that she was no match for her strength at all.


    ¡°It has nothing to do with us, you are hurting me, let go¡ª¡ª¡± Yao screamed.


    Seeing this, the others hurried forward to help, Xing  pushed the girl''s mother away forcefully, and rescued Yao from her hands.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Xing  asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± Yao was terrified, and after rolling up her sleeves, she saw five black and blue marks on her arm, ¡°She is so strong¡­¡±


    "Ooooh, my poor daughter, my poor daughter." The woman continued to cry on the ground.


    And just as she was crying, two shadowy figures appeared at the door behind her.


    Lin took a closer look and found that it was the remaining two twins.


    The two stood at the door from a distance, looking this way through the crack of the door with indifferent expressions.


    Their own sister died so tragically, but there was no emotion on their faces, and they didn''t even intend to come over and persuade them mother''s meaning.


    The two stood there for a moment, then disappeared.


    If Nan hadn''t seen it, Lin would have thought it was just his own dazzling.


    The woman lay on the ground and cried for a long time, just when everyone¡¯s patience was about to wear off, she silently stood up from the ground, then turned and went back to the house, a moment later,she went out with a mop and a bag .

 44.Delicious Fear

    ¡°Daughter, my poor daughter, mother will take you home now.¡± The woman said so, and gently put all the broken limbs into the bag, and then began to mop up the blood on the ground with her head down.


    Her hair was disheveled, but she didn''t have the slightest adverse reaction when facing the severed limbs and broken bones, so she slowly cleaned up the mess.


    Everyone''s expressions changed slightly when they saw this scene, and those with weak endurance began to feel like vomiting again.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s eat something.¡± Nan was very calm, ¡°I¡¯m hungry.¡±


    ¡°How can you still eat?¡± Yao looked at Nan in disbelief, as if she was looking at a monster, ¡°After seeing something like that¡­¡±


    Nan said: ¡°This kind of thing happens a lot, if I can¡¯t eat after seeing it, wouldn¡¯t I starve to death?¡±


    Yao wanted to say something more, but Nan didn¡¯t want to listen anymore, so he pulled Lin into the house.


    The two sat at the table, eating the dry bread on the table, Lin had no appetite, and whispered, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with their mother?¡±


    ¡°I guess she hacked her daughter to death.¡± Nan said, ¡°Her soles are covered in blood, and it¡¯s fortunate that no one else noticed.¡±


    ¡°Then why did she do this?¡± Lin was a little surprised, ¡°And the way she cleaned up the corpse, it''s like not her first time doing this¡­¡±


    Nan rested his chin on his hand and didn¡¯t speak.


    The woman did look very skilled when she did these things.


    She put the large pieces of corpses into bags first, and then swept the small pieces of meat together, as if she was doing some insignificant housework.


    The two were discussing, when there were footsteps at the door, Lin took a look, and found that it was Xu who was trembling.


    It was the first time she had seen such a terrifying scene, her face was as pale as paper, she walked weakly to Nan''s side and sat down, covering her mouth and saying nothing.


    Lin was about to say something when he saw Nan turn his head and say gently to Xu, ¡°Good girl, don¡¯t be afraid, I won¡¯t let you die.¡±


    Xu nodded like a chicken pecking at rice, she wished she could shrink into Nan¡¯s arms, she said: ¡°Sister, is this person also your client?¡±


    Client? Lin was taken aback when he heard this word.


    ¡°No, he¡¯s not.¡± Nan said, ¡°He¡¯s my boyfriend and he¡¯s here to protect you with me.¡±


    Xu breathed a sigh of relief when she heard this, and looked at Lin with more dependence in her eyes.


    Lin, who was called her boyfriend, suddenly felt a little embarrassed.


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    He looked at Nan¡¯s beautiful face, and for some reason felt like he really had a girlfriend.


    Of course, this feeling was only for a moment, because he remembered something very important ¡ª what did he look like in the world inside the door?


    Nan was still comforting Xu, Lin made an excuse and went to the toilet, then in the mirror in the toilet, he saw a completely unfamiliar face.


    It was a young man with a pair of peach blossom eyes, the corners of his eyes were slightly drooping, which made him look gentler when he smiled, his nose bridge was straight, his lips were slightly hooked, and he had a warm smile¡ªthis was a face without any aggression.


    Well, at least he is not ugly.


    After seeing his own appearance, Lin came out of the toilet and saw that Xu''s face had improved a lot, and he didn''t know how Nan comforted her.


    ¡°By the way, let me tell you something.¡± Nan said, ¡°If those three girls come to ask you their names, I left some marks on them.¡±


    ¡°What mark?¡± Lin was taken aback.


    ¡°A very fine glitter powder that can be seen with the help of light.¡± Nan said, ¡°The one with glitter powder on her shoulders is Shi, the one with glitter powder on her hair is Tu, and the one with nothing on her is Yi.¡± He shrugged after speaking, ¡°Of course it¡¯s easier to recognize them now that there¡¯s one less.¡±


    ¡°When did you leave it?¡± Lin asked.


    Nan: ¡°The first time they introduced themselves, this should be very important information, don¡¯t get it wrong when they ask questions.¡±


    ¡°Then should we tell the others?¡± Lin asked again.


    Nan shook his head:


    ¡°Not for now, if you¡¯re not sure whether they are enemies or friends, treat them as enemies.¡±


    Xu went to the bathroom in the middle, during which Lin asked Nan what a "client" was.


    Nan said: "Someone paid me to protect them."


    He pointed to the direction of the toilet, "She, looks ordinary, right? She is a big star in reality, you must have seen her movies. "


    Lin: "..."


    ¡°This is not her first time entering the door.¡± Nan said, ¡°So while guarding against ghosts, you must also guard against your own teammates.¡±


    He stopped talking because someone else came in from outside.


    Lin saw Yao and the others.


    ¡°You guys can still eat?¡± Yao said coldly, ¡°You are really big hearted.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s better to be a full-fledged ghost than a starving ghost.¡± Nan¡¯s slender fingers grabbed the bread and took another bite.


    The tasteless food seemed to become delicious after he ate it like this.


    "Would you like a bite?"


    Before Yao could speak, Xing  beside her nodded and said, "Okay, I''m hungry too."


    So everyone started to sit around the table and eat bread.


    ¡°Something will definitely happen tonight.¡± Yao rubbed her arm.


    The marks on her arm from being grabbed just now looked quite serious, ¡°Everyone be careful, try not to go out.¡±


    ¡°Who killed that girl?¡± Zeng said tremblingly, ¡°It can¡¯t really be someone among us, right?¡±


    After he finished speaking, he breathed a sigh of relief, and whispered, "Fortunately, I live alone."


    The faces of the other two who lived there turned ugly, especially Xing  and Jian, who looked at each other vigilantly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t think too much about it, it definitely wasn¡¯t done by humans.¡± Nan said, ¡°If it was killed by humans, would the girl not call for help? Besides, we were all upstairs,, how could we not hear a sound .¡±


    This made sense, and everyone calmed down a bit.


    Yao glanced at Zeng, and suddenly asked, "By the way, I forgot to ask you, what did you see in the thick fog?"


    Hearing this question, Zeng''s expression became terribly ugly.


    After his lips twitched for a long time, he said in a hoarse voice, "It''s all...moving corpses."


    As soon as these words came out, everyone stopped talking.


    Lin secretly rejoiced that he didn''t dare to challenge the thick fog.


    Although Zeng only said a few words, they could also imagine the hellish scene.


    Just as they were discussing, the mother of the triplets appeared again.


    They didn''t know when she came back.


    She changed into a dark dress and was holding a large bowl in her hand.


    The basin was steaming hot.


    She said, "Are you hungry? I made you something delicious."


    She walked to the table and put the bowl down, "Try it now."


    In the bowl was a pot of soup, in which fresh meatballs were floating, giving off a strong aroma.


    However, looking at this pot of meatballs, everyone didn''t move their chopsticks, and the expressions on their faces became ugly.

 45.A Question of Meat

    After arriving here, they had already eaten several meals prepared by the mother of the triplets.


    Every meal had one thing in common: the ingredients were almost entirely vegetarian, with no sign of meat.


    An egg was considered a luxury.


    Xu had even complained about it, expressing her dissatisfaction.


    However, today''s meal was different.


    Bright red meatballs floated in the pale soup.


    The meatballs had a beautiful, alluring deep red color.


    A rich aroma wafted into everyone''s noses.


    If they hadn''t just witnessed such a horrific crime scene, they would probably all have a strong appetite.


    "Eat," the woman said. "Why aren''t you eating? I made this especially for you."


    Her hair was a little messy, and she had an unsettling smile on her face as she stood beside them and whispered, "It''s delicious."


    No one moved their chopsticks.


    Although the meatballs in front of them were tempting, everyone couldn''t help but think of a rather unpleasant question:


    what kind of meat were these meatballs made of?


    "Why aren''t you eating?" the woman continued to ask, puzzled.


    She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, picked up her chopsticks, and grabbed a meatball.


    "It''s delicious."


    She put the meatball in her mouth, her white teeth chewing on the red meat, looking extremely delicious.


    Xu covered her mouth again, her expression suggesting that the scene was making her feel nauseous.


    The others didn''t look too good either.


    But the woman didn''t seem to notice, picking up the second meatball with her chopsticks and stuffing it into her mouth with a satisfied expression, swallowing it in large bites.


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    "Crunch, crunch." As the woman ate the meatballs, a sound similar to chewing on brittle bones came from her mouth.


    Xu couldn''t take it anymore and rushed to the bathroom.


    The others also left the table one after another, wanting to get away from the woman and the steaming pot of meatballs.


    The woman saw their frightened expressions but didn''t seem to understand why.


    She muttered to herself, "Is the food I made not to their liking? They all love to eat it."


    No one spoke.


    At this moment, everyone missed the dry bread.


    At least there wouldn''t be any problems with that.


    The remaining two triplets reappeared during the meal.


    They stood hand in hand at the door, silently watching their mother devour the food.


    Lin was closer to them and observed them for a while out of the corner of his eye.


    He found that, as Nan had said, one of them had shimmering powder on her shoulder, and the other had it in her hair.


    Lin remembered that Nan had said that the one with the powder on her shoulder was Shi and the one with it in her hair was Tu.


    So, the girl who was killed must be their elder sister, Yi.


    The twins were still elusive, appearing and disappearing.


    After standing at the door for a while, they vanished without a trace.


    The lunch had made everyone extremely uncomfortable.


    They had thought dinner would be better, but to their surprise, the woman brought out another pot of steaming bone soup at dinnertime.


    The bones in the soup were stewed with radishes, and the rich aroma once again filled their nostrils.


    They hadn''t eaten anything all day, but their faces turned pale at the sight of the bone soup.


    Xing couldn''t help but curse under his breath, "I was craving meat so badly the past few days, and now it''s all meat."


    "You dare eat this meat?" Yao was also irritated. "Who knows what it''s made of."


    Seeing that they were still not moving their chopsticks, the woman didn''t urge them anymore.


    Instead, she picked up a spoon and started drinking the soup herself.


    Although no one had tasted the soup, they couldn''t help but feel that it was delicious.


    "It''s so good," the woman praised. "It''s a pity you''re not eating it."


    So, they went without food for the rest of the day, watching the woman eat a whole pot of meat and drink a large bowl of soup.


    After the woman finished eating, they gathered together and silently ate their tasteless dry bread.


    "That soup looked so good," Zeng said, feeling a bit nostalgic for the food on the table earlier. "Are you sure we can''t drink it?"


    "Who knows what that soup is made of." Yao said impatiently. "Is it that hard to hold on for a few days? When we get back to our own world, no one will stop you from eating and drinking whatever you want."


    "Where''s that little girl''s body? Where did her mother take it?" Xu asked softly.


    She sniffed the air and glanced at the meat soup on the table as if unintentionally. "If we find the body, we can drink the soup, right?"


    Lin looked helpless, thinking to himself that this girl was really something.


    Even if they found the body, he wouldn''t want to taste the soup.


    No matter how good it smelled, who knows what the ingredients really were.


    "Should we look for it?" Yao said. "I thought the triplets were the problem before, but now I feel like it''s their mother."


    "Why don''t we look for the body first?" Nan suddenly suggested. "This house isn''t that big anyway."

 46.Hunger and Fear

    After the girl''s body was cleaned up, they had no idea where it was taken.


    Fortunately, the house was not big, and it should be easy to find it.


    "Let''s look for it then," Yao agreed with Nan''s suggestion. "We haven''t searched this room yet, so we can see if there are any new clues."


    So the group began to search the house.


    The house was not big, with three bedrooms and two living rooms.


    The kitchen was the focus of their search.


    Lin saw some ingredients in the kitchen.


    The ingredients were almost all vegetarian and didn''t look fresh, which explained why the food tasted so bad.


    Next to the kitchen was the bathroom.


    There was nothing special about the bathroom except for the huge bathtub.


    There were some black stains in the bathtub, which looked like they hadn''t been used in a long time.


    Lin looked closely and felt that the black stains looked a bit like blood, but he wasn''t sure.


    They searched everywhere, almost every corner of the house, but they still couldn''t find the bag with the body.


    "Where did they put it?" Yao wondered. "Is there another room here?"


    Nan pondered for a moment, then suddenly got up and went to the kitchen.


    Yao said, "What are you doing in the kitchen? We already searched there..."


    However, shortly after Nan entered the kitchen, they heard him say, "Found it."


    Lin quickly followed, finding Nan standing by the refrigerator.


    The door was wide open, revealing a black bag inside.


    The bag was the same body bag the woman had used to hold the little girl¡¯s corpse the day before.


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    Now, it filled the entire fridge.


    ¡°She actually put it in the fridge,¡± Yao said with disgust. ¡°I don¡¯t ever want to eat her cooking again.¡±


    Nan reached out and dragged the black bag out of the fridge.


    Seeing this, Lin asked, ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Checking it,¡± Nan replied, looking down. ¡°Didn¡¯t you all say you wanted to eat meat?¡±


    Zeng, who had mentioned wanting to eat meat earlier, awkwardly chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s not like I *have* to eat¡­¡±


    Nan ignored him and untied the bag, revealing what was inside.


    Sure enough, it was the little girl¡¯s corpse.


    The body was chopped into pieces, so much so that some parts were unrecognizable.


    Seeing the bloody remains, Nan¡¯s expression remained calm.


    He carefully examined the bag, then looked up and said, ¡°None of the key parts are missing¡ªat least the bone soup wasn¡¯t made from her daughter.¡±


    Everyone was speechless.


    Yao forced a laugh. ¡°Zhu, you¡¯re way too calm about this.¡±


    Nan responded, ¡°Those who aren¡¯t calm are already dead.¡±


    He paused for a moment before continuing, ¡°If the mother really did kill her daughter, the question is: why?¡±


    ¡°Who knows? Maybe she¡¯s just gone crazy,¡± Yao said irritably. ¡°We should keep our distance from her.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Nan casually agreed.


    That day, none of them ate much, only nibbling on a few pieces of bread.


    By evening, everyone was tired and weak from hunger, and the worst part was that the pot of meat soup sat on the table, its rich aroma filling the air.


    As they thought of the woman happily drinking the soup, everyone felt a bit uneasy and started saying they were sleepy and would go to bed early.


    Lin was also hungry.


    After finishing a tasteless piece of bread, he went back to his room and lay down, ready to sleep.


    Nan lay next to him and asked, ¡°Do you know why every family used to have so many kids?¡±


    Lin replied, ¡°No¡­¡±


    Nan turned his head and whispered into Lin¡¯s ear, ¡°Because back then, there were no electronic devices, and people didn¡¯t have much to do at night.¡±


    Lin: ¡°¡­¡±


    Nan continued, ¡°Look at us now¡­¡±


    Lin calmly took out his phone, indicating that he still had electronics to keep him entertained.


    Nan:


    ¡°Your phone still has power?¡±


    Lin:


    ¡°I brought a charger¡­¡±


    Nan fell silent, then after a moment, he said, sounding wronged, ¡°All you do is play with your phone, you don¡¯t even talk to me.¡±


    Lin felt dazed by Nan¡¯s behavior, as if he really had a cute girlfriend who was currently pouting and complaining about not getting enough attention.


    ¡°Fine, what do you want to talk about?¡± Lin put his phone away.


    Nan said, ¡°Do you think someone will die tonight?¡±


    Lin was stunned, not expecting Nan to say something like that.


    ¡°I think so,¡± Nan whispered as he wrapped an arm around Lin¡¯s waist. ¡°Because there¡¯s already blood on the eggs.¡±


    Lin fell silent, trying to figure out the meaning behind Nan¡¯s words.


    Nan didn¡¯t explain further, only saying softly, ¡°Sleep now, see you tomorrow.¡±


    With that, he closed his eyes and quickly fell into a deep sleep.


    Nan slept, but Lin couldn¡¯t.


    The narrow room felt suffocating, like a coffin.


    If someone with claustrophobia were inside, they would surely feel like they couldn¡¯t breathe.

 47.Walls Have Eyes

    Fortunately, Lin didn''t have claustrophobia, but he still felt a strong sense of unease.


    Night had fallen, and the fog had grown thicker, obscuring the surroundings completely.


    The buildings, usually towering over everything, now stood isolated, cut off from the world.


    The night was silent, a silence that brought with it a sense of security.


    Lin hoped that this silence would last until dawn.


    However, Nan''s words seemed to have become a prophecy.


    Around three o''clock in the morning, Lin woke up from his dream.


    A very unpleasant sound drilled into his ears.


    It sounded like a sharp tool chiseling away at the wall, dull but piercing.


    One strike, two strikes, the sound was so close; Lin felt like he was only separated from the source of the sound by a single wall.


    He opened his eyes and took a moment to realize that he wasn''t dreaming.


    Nan was still asleep.


    Lin hesitated whether to wake him up, but while he hesitated, the frequency of the sound began to accelerate, as if the person outside had lost patience.


    "Thump," "thump," "thump,"


    One after another.


    Lin reached out and gently pushed Nan.


    "Nan, wake up."


    Nan opened his eyes.


    His eyes were clear, as if he hadn''t been the one sound asleep just moments ago.


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    "What''s wrong?"


    "There''s a noise outside," Lin said. "It sounds like someone is chiseling the wall."


    Nan looked at the wall beside them.


    Because it was an old building, the walls were not thick, and sound traveled easily.


    He reached out and gently pressed his palm against the wall.


    Then his expression changed slightly. "Move back a little, further away from the wall."


    Lin nodded. "What''s wrong?"


    "There''s something outside," Nan said. "I don''t know what it is."


    They turned on the light and looked at the wall that was still making noises in the dim light of the room.


    The knocking continued without stopping.


    If it had only been knocking, it wouldn''t have been so bad.


    Soon, however, Lin understood why Nan had told him to stay away from the wall.


    A small hole gradually appeared in the not-so-thick wall, and a sharp awl slowly poked out from the hole...


    Because the room was so small, Lin''s bed was right next to the wall.


    The awl was long and sharp, and it stabbed towards the spot where his head would have been if he had been lying down.


    Lin''s expression changed slightly when he saw this.


    If he had still been sleeping on the bed, he would probably be dead by now.


    After the awl poked in, it retreated again.


    It seemed that because it didn''t see any blood, it stabbed several more times.


    After seeing no blood, it finally gave up and retracted the sharp awl.


    The sound quieted down.


    Lin said, "It''s gone?"


    Nan frowned. "Wait a little longer."


    "Let me see." Lin suddenly thought of something.


    He bent down and glanced at the hole that had been chiseled out.


    This one glance almost scared the soul out of him. Outside the hole, a black eye was staring back at him.


    The eye was filled with red bloodshot veins and held a look of madness.


    The eye also saw Lin.


    After realizing that it couldn''t kill him, it disappeared in the next second.


    Lin broke out in a cold sweat from the sight.


    He cursed under his breath, "What the hell was that, a person or a ghost?"


    Nan said, "I don''t know. Don''t go out yet. Let''s wait until daybreak."


    Lin wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.


    "Yeah..." This was just like a scene out of a horror movie.


    He never thought he would see an eye through a hole in the wall, and even make eye contact with it.


    "How did you wake up so easily?" Nan asked. "The noise wasn''t even that loud."


    "I have really good hearing," Lin said.


    "That seems to be true," Nan said. "You''re always the first one to wake up."


    Lin sighed and looked at the hole again.


    "Good thing I woke up."


    Otherwise, there might be a hole in his head right now.


    However, as soon as he relaxed, he heard the thumping sound again.


    This time, though, the sound was coming from further away, as if it was now chiseling at someone else''s wall.


    "Shit, it hasn''t given up yet." Lin cursed. "What should we do? Should we go and warn the others?"


    Nan glanced at Lin. "You wait here. I''ll go see what that thing is."