Kaleidoscope of Death

Chapter 89: A Sudden Accident

Content Warning: suicide, wrist-cutting

His girlfriends death obviously dealt a serious blow to Wu Qi.

Lin Qiushi was afraid for him, so frequently kept in contact. But Wu Qi remained mostly indifferent to Lin Qiushis attention, heart obviously fixed wholly on his girlfriends death. He looked more and more haggard by the day; even Lin Qiushi, whod seen him only a few days ago on a visit, was startled by his appearance.

Are you okay? Wu Qi? Lin Qiushi asked him in concern.

Wu Qi sat on the sofa, staring at the phone in his hand. Against Lin Qiushis questions he was distant. Only a while later did he slowly shake his head.

Lin Qiushi said, Wu Qi He didnt know how to comfort this friend whod just lost a loved one.

When Lin Qiushi first came to this city all alone, hed pretty much left his past completely behind. He had a distant personality, and there were no especially good friends around him. Only Wu Qi. Lin Qiushi still remembered when hed passed out in his home with a fever. It was Wu Qi whod discovered he hadnt gone to work, personally came over, and took him to the hospital.

All these little things, Lin Qiushi had kept in mind. So his relationship with Wu Qi got better and better. But he didnt ever think Wu Qi would be met with a situation like this.

Ruan Nanzhus side of the investigation had continued as well. The scope was primarily hospitalsnormally, those who knew they were about to die had severe illnesses, and any patient diagnosed with a severe illness experiencing a sudden recovery was odd, anyway you looked at it.

But, as Lin Qiushi waited for the results from Ruan Nanzhus investigations, he received a call from Wu Qi one evening.

Over the phone, Wu Qis voice was very excited. He said, Lin Qiushi, I figured it out, I figured it out!

Hearing his tone, Lin Qiushi was startled. Wu Qi, what did you figure out?

Wu Qi, I figured out why she jumped its the door, the door! He seemed afraid that Lin Qiushi wouldnt understand, and kept repeating himself. If Im near death, I can go in!

A chill instantly went down Lin Qiushis back. He understood Wu Qis meaning, and said, Wu Qi, calm down for a second!!

But it was too late. Wu Qi had hung up.

When Lin Qiushi called him back, his phone was turned off.

It was nearing dawn, and Lin Qiushi was still in his pajamas in bed. But he couldnt care about that at all, getting out of bed and running straight out. He called 110 on the way and said his friend was going to commit suicide.

An hours car ride had never seemed so long. By the time Lin Qiushi got to Wu Qis house, the police were already there. There were even a few rubbernecking neighbors at the door, chattering away in the hall. Lin Qiushi dashed through them, panting.

He was breathing hard, running right into Wu Qis house without rest. And there he saw everything.

In Wu Qis living room, there was blood everywhere. Wu Qi lied on the sofa, completely motionless. Lin Qiushi heard someone calling him, but he seemed as if in a trance. He walked in front of Wu Qi, reached out, and tested under Wu Qis nose for breathing.

There was none. Wu Qi was dead.

Once he knew this, Lin Qiushi became all of a sudden bewildered. He didnt even know what kind of reaction he should be having. This was the second time Lin Qiushi witnessed the death of someone close to him. The first was Li Dongyuan, whom he hadnt known that well, and so didnt feel so close to. This time it was Wu Qi, his good friend of many years. And, he didnt even seem to have died in the doors, but had died in a foolish attempt to enter the doors via suicide.

Lin Qiushi slowly backed up. He felt a rush of dizziness.

Excuse me, but who are you? someones voice came to his ears. It seemed to be the cops, whod gotten here first, asking him something.

Im the one who called the police. Lin Qiushi heard his own voice as well, but it sounded far awayso far away he couldnt even be sure hed been the one who said it. Im his friend

Then the scene was blockaded off, and the police began investigating cause of death.

Wu Qi had slit his wrist. When he called Lin Qiushi, hed already been near death. Wrist-cutting was a painful way to die. The cut had to be deep, and if the blood coagulated, you might even have to add a cut or two.

Lin Qiushi didnt know how long he stood outside that house, just that Ruan Nanzhu came too.

The moment he got there, he had a hand pressed on Lin Qiushis shoulder. Lin Qiushi looked over, and saw that lovely face.

Are you okay? Lin Qiushi? There was a tone of concern in Ruan Nanzhus voice.

Fine, Im fine. Lin Qiushi shook his head. I didnt think hed actually do something like that.

Ruan Nanzhu didnt speak, just lightly rubbed at Lin Qiushis back with his palm, wanting to offer some comfort.

Lin Qiushis head drooped. He laughed bitterly, I want a smoke.

After some silence, Ruan Nanzhu fished a candy out of his pocket, unwrapped it, and popped it in Lin Qiushis mouth. Have a candy. Its better than smoking.

The sweet fruity taste melted apart in Lin Qiushis mouth, and he exhaled long and deep. I think, someone set Wu Qi up. From what he knew of Wu Qi, Wu Qi was not someone whod easily kill himself.

Ruan Nanzhu said, well know.

Lin Qiushi rubbed at the corner of his eye. If the death of Wu Qis girlfriend gave him a distaste for those people, then Wu Qis suicide turned that distaste into an indescribable fury.

That night, Lin Qiushi returned very late. Once he was back he still tossed and turned sleeplessly in bed.

In the end he got up and got in front of his computer. Turned it on. Someone had sent him a DM in the forumit was Gu Longming, whom hed brought through the last door.

Gu Longming: Xiao-gege, up so late at night?

Lin Qiushi read this xiao-gege, and immediately recalled Gu Longming the muscleman. He sent back a string of ellipses.

Gu Longming: Xiao-gege, why arent you speaking? He even added a shy face at the end.

Lin Qiushi: Speak human.

Gu Longming: Wassup tho bro? Whats goin on w you?

Lin Qiushi: Why didnt this scene seem quite right.

Gu Longming wrote: hows the wound healing up? After I got cut by that woman inside, I was in the hospital for a whole month. I only got out a few days ago.

Lin Qiushi said he healed up well enough. Hed passed through more doors than Gu Longming, so his healing was naturally stronger. Though his injury had been more serious than Gu Longmings, hed gotten out of the hospital quite quickly.

Gu Longming: Good thing youre healed, I was pretty worried about you.

Lin Qiushi: Just say what you want to say.

Gu Longming: Well so My next door, can I still come to you?

Lin Qiushi read Gu Longmings words in silence for a bit. Then wrote: Well see when the time comes.

That Lin Qiushi didnt immediately turn him down was already a good thing. Also, Gu Longming was a funny guyhe blathered on about some messy happening or another, with Lin Qiushi replying to him off and on. They kept up chatting until around six in the morning, when Ruan Nanzhu came over and knocked on his door.

When the door opened, Ruan Nanzhus first words were, found it.

Lin Qiushi immediately got up from his chair. What happened?

Ruan Nanzhu waved Lin Qiushi over. Come.

Lin Qiushi followed Ruan Nanzhu to his bedroom, only to find that Ruan Nanzhu had somehow gotten his hands on Wu Qis computer.

Ruan Nanzhu pointed at the screen and said, take a look.

Lin Qiushi bent down and saw what was on the screen.

It was a very familiar sight: the direct messages on a forum Hed just been using it. The DMs themselves was a conversation between Wu Qi and someone else. That person told Wu Qi about the mechanism of the doors, then added at the end, dying people can enter.

Wu Qi wrote: is that true???

That person wrote: Of course its true. Your girlfriend was killed by someone inside the door.

Wu Qi: thank you, I got it. Thank you.

On any other day, Wu Qi wouldnt have believed this person. But the death of his girlfriend had clearly been a huge blowhe hadnt even the slightest suspicions, and believed them just like that.

Lin Qiushi read the chat logs as his hand tightened into a fist at his side. He spoke lowly, why did they do this It wasnt enough to kill Wu Qis girlfriend, they had to come after Wu Qi too?

Ruan Nanzhu, lives arent worth anything in their hands. He added, Lin Qiushi, calm down.

Lin Qiushi glanced at Ruan Nanzhu. The truth was, he was calm. He thought hed never been more calm in his life. He said, I want to know who the hell they are.

Ruan Nanzhu nodded. Nearly there. We just need a bit more time. Though it was easy to sort hospital records, it wasnt so easy to pluck out people with insider connections to the hospital.

But Ruan Nanzhu was confident hed find it. He just needed enough time.

Lin Qiushi looked at the chat logs and said, can I have this computer?

Ruan Nanzhu, take it.

It was left behind by Lin Qiushis good friend after all. Lin Qiushi picked up the laptop, turned, and left.

Ruan Nanzhu watched Lin Qiushis back, concern bleeding into his gaze. Since the beginning hed thought that Lin Qiushi was a bit out of the ordinary. With the Wu Qi situation, the nature of this extraordinariness was completely exposed.

Lin Qiushi was furious, but he was still terrifyingly calm. Hed even gotten a handle on his emotions in very short order. In all honesty, had it been Ruan Nanzhu faced with something like this, he might not be faring as well as Lin Qiushi.

A few days later, Lin Qiushi attended Wu Qis funeral.

The funeral was ordinary. Lin Qiushi saw his parents sobbing their hearts out at the rites. His first thought was suddenly of his own deathif he died, would there be people crying like that?

Ruan Nanzhu was in attendance with Lin Qiushi, and seemed to see through Lin Qiushis thoughts. He pressed a hand on Lin Qiushis shoulder and said, were here. His voice was gentle. Even if Im not, theres Cheng Qianli, and if Cheng Qianlis not, theres Chen Fei

There will be someone to cry for you, was what Ruan Nanzhu declared.

Lin Qiushis shoulders loosened a little. He replied, mh.

After the funeral, Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu left together. At the door, Lin Qiushis footsteps suddenly paused. He looked out over the crowd, expression wary.

Ruan Nanzhu asked, whats wrong?

Lin Qiushi, someone gave me a very familiar feeling just now His gaze sifted through the crowd. Like, Ive seen them before.

Ruan Nanzhu frowned. A friend of Wu Qis?

If theyre at the funeral, they must be friends. Lin Qiushi couldnt recall the source of this familiarity for a while. It wasnt until they were in the car that he realized all of a sudden, I think I met that person at Wu Qis girlfriends birthday party. Weve eaten together as well. But Wu Qi told me in private that he didnt like this person. Because that man had behaved too closely with Wu Qis girlfriend.

Ruan Nanzhus expression went instantly solemn. Are you sure?

Im sure, Lin Qiushi said. It was like that, yes.

Ruan Nanzhu nodded his understanding. Seeing Lin Qiushis solemn face, he couldnt help himselfhe had to reach out and pinched the tip of Lin Qiushis ear.

For no reason at all, Lin Qiushi was pinched, and his ear couldnt help twitching in response. And then Ruan Nanzhu couldnt resist this sight either, and kept pinching. By the time his ear tip was all red, Lin Qiushi, exasperated, Ruan Nanzhu, what kind of bad habit is this! He couldnt dodge no matter how he tried.

But Ruan Nanzhu just self-righteously declared, well your ears just too cute, isnt it.

Lin Qiushi thought never mind, never mind. You cant protest normal things with this person.

Lin Qiushis discovery gave Ruan Nanzhu a new path of thought. Progress with the search too sped up.

One afternoon three days later, Ruan Nanzhu brought a stack of files into Lin Qiushis room. Lin Qiushi was reading the forum when he tossed the stack before Lin Qiushi, and said, found it.

Lin Qiushis breath stalledthen he pulled the files close and began to speedily flip through them. On it he saw an unfamiliar name: Cue Xueyi.

Inside contained Cue Xueyis life records, most important of which was his medical records for a certain period of time.

Cue Xueyi had lung cancer. When he was diagnosed, the doctor said things didnt look goodthe cells had metastasized, and he had at most three months.

But in the past few days, Cue Xueyis physical condition suddenly took a turn for the better. As if his body had been injected with some kind of cure-all, late-stage lung cancer had turned early-stage.

This kind of thing Lin Qiushi had experienced himself. He stared at the file and asked, he lied to He Shuangya? He Shuangya was Wu Qis girlfriend.

Not everybodys lucky enough, Ruan Nanzhu said, to meet an organization that they fit in with. Some people actually muddle their ways through their fifth or sixth doorsthey dont know the rules inside the doors, they dont even know the forum exists.

Lin Qiushi was able to so quickly adjust to the doors because he had Ruan Nanzhu guiding his way. Meeting Ruan Nanzhu was Lin Qiushis good fortune. But as for He Shuangya, her fortune was not so good.

Since He Shuangya could say that much, she at least knows about door-robbing, Ruan Nanzhu said. But Cue Xueyi clearly came prepared.

Ruan Nanzhu continued, we can reasonably guess that he lied to He Shuangya. Normal people, once they know you cant kill inside the doors, will let down their guard around their own kind. Perhaps Cue Xueyi used this kind of psychology against He Shuangya

Lin Qiushi asked, and he got in touch with Wu Qi afterwards?

Ruan Nanzhu, killing someones girlfriend makes the guilty conscience act up. Might as well cut the problem off at the root. He scoffed, seems this Cue Xueyi is a ruthless character as well.

Lin Qiushis fingers were pressed on top of Cue Xueyis photo, his eyes practically glaring a hole through it. He said, is there some way to

Though Lin Qiushi didnt finish, Ruan Nanzhu understood Lin Qiushis meaning. He replied, of course there is. Then he pointed at the computer open before Lin Qiushi. This forum is the insiders home base. If Cue Xueyis org needs newcomers, theyll look for targets on the forum. We only have to lie in wait.

Lin Qiushi exhaled a breath, and said, okay.

Because of what happened with Wu Qi, the atmosphere around the mansion had been heavy for a few days. Lin Qiushi went down stairs and immediately saw Zhuo Feiquan and Cheng Qianli arguing.

Zhuo Feiquan was the one with the sister, Luo Qianshan, from Cheng Yixies ninth door. His expression was dark as he glared at Cheng Qianli: Im asking you a question, why arent you answering!

Cheng Qianli, what do you want me to say? He was still holding Toast in his arms; he had no interest in what Zhuo Feiquan was going on about.

Zhuo Feiquan, did you jack my client! What the hell do you want!

Cheng Qianli, Ive already told you, Im not Cheng Yixie, Im Cheng Qianli!

Zhuo Feiquan, stop fucking pretending, youre obviously Cheng Yixie!

Cheng Qianli, This again? He hadnt been mistaken for his brother in a long while.

Lin Qiushi watched from the side, truly amused. He spoke at a distance, that really is Cheng Qianli.

Zhuo Feiquan peered at him in suspicion, clearly still disbelieving.

Really, hes Cheng Yixie, Lin Qiushi said. Cheng Yixie went out this morning, and he hasnt come back yet.

Zhuo Feiquan said, what the fuck, and he said hed wait for me in the mansion, that bastard!

Lin Qiushi, the two of them really are very different. You really cant tell?

Zhuo Feiquan muttered, theyre identical, arent they.

Lin Qiushi couldnt help a snicker. Cheng Qianli gave his buddy Toasts butt a slap in frustration, and Toast glanced mournfully back at him, as if to say why did you hit me? That hurts you know.

Soafter Cheng Yixie dug up Zhuo Feiquans identity, hed kept up messing with Zhuo Feiquan. Zhuo Feiquan even became a regular at the mansion for a while. In the end even Ruan Nanzhu couldnt take it anymore, and gave Cheng Yixie a sedated talking-to that finally resolved the situation.

But today, it seemed Cheng Yixie was in a bad mood, and so screwed Zhuo Feiquan over again.

After Zhuo Feiquan left, Cheng Qianli was mumbling, wondering why his brother kept messing with Zhuo Feiquan, was there something special about him?

Hearing this, Lin Qiushi recalled the necklace, inlaid with his sisters photo, hanging from Zhuo Feiquans neck. He thought that in some ways, Zhuo Feiquan actually was special.

And after confirming the plan with Lin Qiushi, Ruan Nanzhu began to fish on the forum.

He registered an account, and started pretending on the forum to be a newcomer to the doors. Of course, there was an art to faking a newcomer. It wasnt as easy as a simple statement. The style of Ruan Nanzhus account was low-key, replying sometimes to posts with a few basic questions. There was amateurishness both in his actions and between the lines, all insisting that the person underneath was no old pro.

As he was doing all this, Lin Qiushi could only watch from the sidelines. He asked, will this really work?

Of course itll work, Ruan Nanzhu said. How else do you think Gu Longming pulled one over you?

Lin Qiushi, He was silent for a bit, thinking isnt that just cause he was naive?

If theyve taken notice of me, theyll definitely investigate, Ruan Nanzhu said. But thats alright, Ive arranged a real identity under this account. Even if they really dig in, it wont matter too much.

Then how will we trick them when we enter the door? Lin Qiushi asked. He and Ruan Nanzhu were both at high-level doors; once inside, theyd be immediately exposed.

Ruan Nanzhu, we dont have to trick them. When the time comes, well definitely be going into their door.

Lin Qiushi startled. After careful thought, this was true. In order to hook the newbies, there had to be a pros promise to get them through. And even more attractive was a pros promise to skip doors, like Xia-jies case from the People as Mirrors door. Newbies were by and large all tricked in.

Ruan Nanzhu was just like a seasoned hunter; waiting for his prey to bite, he wasnt impatient or skittish at all. He only set up some tantalizing bait and, very soon, attracted the attention of interested parties.

Lin Qiushi watched on in awe, and sighed, Ruan Nanzhu, if you ever turn to cyber fraud youd seriously make a fortune.

Ruan Nanzhu shot back, didnt I already make a fortune without turning to cyber fraud?

Lin Qiushi asked, they really dont suspect you?

Ruan Nanzhu, of course theyll suspect me, but even so, theyll bite. He evenly continued, theres no rush. Well take it slow.

Lin Qiushi was honestly very impressed.

The conversations continued slowly. The group, it seemed, was assured after they looked into Ruan Nanzhus true identity, and began revealing some information. Such as the fact that they could take Ruan Nanzhu through a door that, once passed, meant hed skipped many more dangerous doors in between.

Ruan Nanzhu behaved with some initial wariness. This was a normal reaction, because nobody so easily believed people they met over the internet.

He kept this up until the person on the other end gave lots of examples of taking people through doors, and even attempted to meet Ruan Nanzhu in person.

In Ruan Nanzhus file, he was a white collar office worker, overly cautious and skittish; he was somebody who utterly lacked presence.

That kind of person was the organizations favorite target.

Lin Qiushi gazed at Ruan Nanzhu, and said, but youre not a white collar wallflower no matter how I look at you. Ruan Nanzhus features were stunning, and attracted attention anywhere.

But Lin Qiushi didnt think Ruan Nanzhu would suddenly fix him with a peculiar smile, then softly part his mouth: Lin Qiushi, hows your falsetto coming along?

Lin Qiushi, He suddenly had a very bad feeling about this.

Authors Note:

After careful thought I edited the last bit, and deleted the part where Lin Qiushi wanted revenge. The plot makes more sense this way. Vengeance must be taken, but it still needs an important catalyst And that catalyst was Wu Qis death! Everybodys brains went too big for this one!

Names in this chapter:

• H Shungy / He(2) Shuang(1) Ya(3) /
• Cu Xuy / Cue(1) Xue(2) Yi(4) /