61 The Returning Journey

The slenderman rushed over to Ruan Nanzhu at the sight of the top hat. His tall and imposing posture made him incredibly agile, just like an overly playful beast as he threw himself at Ruan Nanzhu. Lin Qiushi watched as a layer of cold sweat broke out from his body. Thankfully, Ruan Nanzhu had a stamina that surpassed that of normal people. He twisted and turned his body, averting the slenderman's attacks in almost impossible stances.

At that moment, the slenderman was only a few meters away from Ruan Nanzhu. As long as he continued to attack, it would be very difficult for Ruan Nanzhu to avoid him.

Lin Qiushi shouted loudly from the side, "Quick, toss the top hat to me—quickly—"

Ruan Nanzhu eyed Lin Qiushi and with a toss, that black top hat soared towards Lin Qiushi's direction. The tension in the air had reached its peak, Lin Qiushi had never felt so calm. He caught the top hat that Ruan Nanzhu had tossed over to him before he turned and ran.

The slenderman howled angrily from his back. And what followed was the sound of sprinting behind him. Lin Qiushi dared not stop. He ran towards the front with all the might he was capable of.

"This side—throw it to me!" Ruan Nanzhu's voice came from afar. Lin Qiushi turned around and looked, only to see that the slenderman was only a few meters behind him. In a few more seconds, he would be caught by that creature. As he saw a very anxious Ruan Nanzhu, he mimicked his actions and threw the top hat over.

Ruan Nanzhu successfully received it and once again he attracted the attention of the slenderman.

As Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu were stalling for time. Dong Tianwen who was standing under the billboard called out, "The door is opened! Come here quick!"

Lin Qiushi raised his head to look into that direction and saw that a piece of the board at the bottom of the billboard had come loose. A gentle white light seeped out from the small opening, and this white light was something Lin Qiushi was most familiar with—the pathway to departure and a life wrought anew.

"Go to the door—" Ruan Nanzhu gritted his teeth and said. He looked unwilling to throw the top hat to Lin Qiushi again and had chosen to carry it himself. Though, that slenderman was obviously a lot quicker than him. The slenderman almost caught up to him.

"Give it to me!! Quick!!! Give it to me!!" A layer of cold sweat had beaded all over Lin Qiushi's body as he loudly shouted at Ruan Nanzhu.

Ruan Nanzhu was still hesitating.

"Don't hesitate anymore! You'll die—" As he watched Ruan Nanzhu's movements, Lin Qiushi had an urge to cuss, "Quick—"

The slenderman had already caught up to just behind Ruan Nanzhu!

After a moment of hesitation, Ruan Nanzhu tossed the top hat in the end. This time, Lin Qiushi didn't run away after he caught it, and instead he tossed it into the opposite direction with all his might after he'd caught it—

Since the top hat came into sight, the slenderman's attention had all been on it. After Lin Qiushi tossed the top hat, although the slenderman was very furious with the both of them for trolling him, he still chose to head into the direction of the top hat. Lin Qiushi let out a breath of air and quickly ran towards the door.

At that moment, the entire group had already entered the door. The only ones left were Ruan Nanzhu and Lin Qiushi. Ruan Nanzhu was a little closer to the door and he had arrived first. But he hadn't rushed into the door and was instead waiting for Lin Qiushi outside of it.

Lin Qiushi watched the slenderman in front of him giving them a sinister smile. Just as he wanted to say that they had finally made it, he saw Ruan Nanzhu's expression turned into a horrified sight, "Lin Qiushi—"

He didn't know what Ruan Nanzhu had seen that he'd been unable to stop himself from calling out Lin Qiushi's real name.

Lin Qiushi turned his head around and saw a crippled shadow. That crippled shadow had reached up to him and then stopped his steps, breaking into an eerie smile.

The crippled shadow belonged to the slenderman, who had an incredible boost of strength after he acquired the hat. His speed had also drastically increased; had it been for his previous speed, Lin Qiushi should have been able to make it to the door, but now… he appeared to have forfeited the chance to escape…

The slenderman reached out a hand towards Lin Qiushi.

Time seemed to have stopped for him. Lin Qiushi could feel a pair of ice-cold hands gripping tightly on his neck. His sight began to fade and his body began to turn cold.

Was he going to die? ….These peaceful thoughts rang in his head, as if… as if death wasn't as painful as he'd thought.

And just as the darkness enveloped his sights, Lin Qiushi felt his body was free. The slenderman let out a heart-wrenching cry as if he was in great pain.

Lin Qiushi fell to the ground, coughing.

Ruan Nanzhu's chance came. He rushed forward to his side and carried him horizontally into his arms before rushing towards the iron door radiating with light.

At the last moment of leaving this world, Lin Qiushi saw the entity who attacked the slenderman. It was black fog shaped like two children who were holding hands. They were standing in front of the slenderman, covering up half of him. The slenderman was still struggling in it. The source of the black fog appeared to be from Lin Qiushi himself. He slightly lowered his head and saw that it had come out of his backpack…. And so, that begged the question of what was in his backpack?

After Ruan Nanzhu carried him into the door, that cold had faded away from his body. Though, he still felt a little wobbly. Leaning against Ruan Nanzhu's shoulder, Lin Qiushi lightly coughed.

Ruan Nanzhu said, "Are you alright?"

Lin Qiushi shook his head, implying that he was fine. He said, "What was the black fog from just now?"

Ruan Nanzhu, "I don't know."

Lin Qiushi said, "It seems to have come from my backpack…" He opened his backpage to reveal the item inside of it.

Each time they entered doors, they would bring a few necessities and food in case of emergency. Other than these items, Lin Qiushi would also bring something else special—it was a diary, the one he'd obtained from the world of Sister's Drum. The little sister's diary that Ruan Nanzhu had brought out and given to Lin Qiushi.

"Is this it?" Before this, Ruan Nanzhu had mentioned before that the diary might have some special effect, but Lin Qiushi had never examined it closely. He could not have guessed that he'd see it work wonders here.

After Lin Qiushi took the diary out and flipped it open, he saw that there was a word: 'Die' in red that was never there before. And then, this word was crossed out with an extremely large 'X'.

"It should be," Ruan Nanzhu said, "Thankfully you've brought it on you."

Lin Qiushi bitterly laughed, "I bring it with me every time… However, how many times could this notebook be used?"

Ruan Nanzhu shook his head, "Not many times. That was a low-level door. Even if they have use in them, they could only be used once or twice."

Lin Qiushi sighed, "Thankfully, I still managed to come out."

Ruan Nanzhu replied with an "En," then added, "Let us go."

To a person who has experienced many doors, being in life-threatening situations would eventually become the norm for them. Lin Qiushi had quite good luck as he'd joined Ruan Nanzhu's team, so he hadn't truly experienced the feeling of danger. But after this door, Lin Qiushi clearly realized that their lives would be forfeited at any time within the doors.

The path was very long as neither of them spoke.

Upon reaching the end, Ruan Nanzhu turned his head and asked, "Were you afraid?"

Lin Qiushi shook his head.

Ruan Nanzhu, "Not afraid?"

Lin Qiushi very honestly answered, "It's not as terrifying as I thought it would be." He was referring to the feeling of death.

Ruan Nanzhu frowned every so slightly. His gaze froze on Lin Qiushi, turning into a very unfamiliar look as if this was the first day he's known Lin Qiushi.

Lin Qiushi felt his skin crawl and asked, "Why?"

Ruan Nanzhu, "Nothing." and yet he refused to say anything further.

As they left the path and returned to reality, Lin Qiushi appeared on the sofa in the living hall. He originally wanted to jump to his feet to search for Ruan Nanzhu upstairs, but as he leapt to his feet, his vision darkened and he immediately fell back to the ground. When he opened his eyes again, he was already lying in the hospital and his arm was being injected with saline water.

Chen Qianli was next to him, playing with his phone. At the sight of him waking up, he sighed, and said, "Qiushi ah, how could you be so unlucky? Other people come out of doors healthier than before, and yet here you are, in the hospital…"

Lin Qiushi, "I too wanted to know why." There was a black handprint on his neck even until now. It made him look like he had been tortured. The hospital had intended to call the police but Ruan Nanzhu managed to talk them out of it.

"How did he explain it?" Curiously, Lin Qiushi asked Cheng Qianli.

Cheng Qianli's expression twisted into an ugly look. "Do you really want to know?"

Lin Qiushi, "Of course."

Cheng Qianli, "He said that these were kinks of the both of you…"

Lin Qiushi, "…" Fuck. No wonder the nurse had a strange expression on her just now when she came to change his medicine.

There was no more hope for his reputation. Lin Qiushi looked at the ceiling as he made a mental note to be admitted into a different hospital the next time he happened to be injured. God knows whether the doors would injure some strange part of him!

Ever since Ruan Nanzhu knew from Cheng Qianli that Lin Qiushi had woken up, he came to the hospital almost immediately.

A cold and distant air always seemed to hang around him after he changed into his male form. Even when he was asking after Lin Qiushi, his mannerism didn't change.

"How does it feel?" asked Ruan Nanzhu.

Lin Qiushi, "Still… manageable." In reality, he didn't feel very good. It interfered in his speech.

Ruan Nanzhi, "Everything's alright. Your body is in a good condition. You'll be good in three to four days."

Lin Qiushi nodded his head.

And then Ruan Nanzhu turned and left. Upon his departure, Lin Qiushi saw a few nurses crowding around the door with interested gazes as they took their chances at peeking. At first Lin Qiushi thought that these nurses were interested in Ruan Nanzhu but at the end of the day, the questions being tossed at his direction were these:

"Is he your boyfriend?"

"How long have you guys been together?"

Lin Qiushi, "…"

That dog Cheng Qianli only laughed at his misery in those few days. Later on, even when Lin Qiushi left the hospital, the doctor had euphemistically advised him against going overboard as young people. Cheng Qianli finally couldn't hold it back and laughed loudly at Lin Qiushi with tears threatening to fall from his eyes.

A long period of rest awaited him after he was out of the hospital. During his rest, Lin Qiushi heard some gossip about their line of work. Something about members of White Deer bringing Tan Zaozao's friend, Zhang Yiqing into the door and ran into some trouble. This King of Silver Screens only barely escaped the second door with his life—one should know that the second door was the easiest.

The news astonished Lin Qiushi. "He almost died? How could they be? Li Dongyuan should have been quite adept, isn't it?"

Although Cheng Qianli had a low IQ, he was quite skilled at these gossips. He said, "It wasn't Li Dongyuan himself who led the campaign. White Deer was unlucky. A traitor appeared among them and not only that, they had even given them a false hint!"

Lin Qiushi, "…" Speaking of false hints, he recalled the time when Li Dongyuan pitted him and Ruan Nanzhu.

Obviously, he wasn't the only one with that thought. Because on the second day of the incident, Li Dongyuan rushed to their villa to demand an explanation.

"Ruan Nanzhu! You scoundrel!" One cannot afford to miss that compared to the version of him inside the door, the baby-faced Li Dongyuan outside the world of doors was nothing different from an angry chihuahua. He stood at the door and leapt to and fro, drawing many gazes.

Lu Yanxue originally wanted to discuss dinner with his Lin Qiushi, but when she saw him, the motherly part of her was invoked, "Yuanyuan, what do you want to drink?"

Li Dongyuan, "Who the fuck is Yuanyuan—"

Lu Yanxue said nothing. She walked towards the refrigerator and took out a bottle of Wangzi Hot Kid Milk and passed it to Li Dongyuan.

Originally, Li Dongyuan wanted to decline it, but standing at the door for so long did indeed make him a little thirsty, and so he shamelessly accepted it and took two sips.

Lin Qiushi truly wanted to laugh at the sight of this as he watched from the side.

Li Dongyuan saw him laughing, and angrily he said, "Lin Qiushi, how dare you laugh? How dare you laugh! I almost died thanks to Ruan Nanzhu—"

Lin Qiushi calmly rebuked, "I didn't laugh."

Li Dongyuan looked at him in disbelief. "Weren't you laughing? Then why are you shaking?"

Lin Qiushi, "I'm cold." He then looked at the big sun hanging on the sky outside, and added, "My heart. It's cold."

Li Dongyuan, "…" Every one of you people from Obsidian really are elites.

Only after Li Dongyuan had been creating a commotion for a while downstairs did Ruan Nanzhu walk down from the second floor with all the time he had. He was wearing a simple white shirt and jeans. It was originally a very ordinary set of clothes but he managed to put it on like he was up to the current trends. He walked towards Li Dongyuan and spoke to him from his height of 1.9 meters, "I'm giving you three minutes. Either you scram, or I will throw you out."

Li Dongyuan, "…" He quietly took another sip from the cardboard drink, then pitifully looked at Lin Qiushi.

Lin Qiushi had nothing to say, he thought: Why are you looking at me like that? Could I have persuaded him?

Ruan Nanzhu began to roll his sleeves, "It seems you'd choose the later."

Li Dongyuan finished his beverage with one intense sip and turned around and ran. He knew that Ruan Nanzhu wasn't joking. There is indeed nothing this bastard named Ruan Nanzhu wouldn't do.

Lin Qiushi turned away from Li Dongyuan and realized that Ruan Nanzhu was looking at him. For some reason, his back began to ooze out sweat and he gave a dry little laugh, "What?"

Ruan Nanzhu, "Are you both very familiar with each other?"

Lin Qiushi immediately straightened his back and explained himself, "No, I'm not familiar with him. I just know his name and we haven't even spoken much?"

Ruan Nanzhu, "Then why was he looking at you just now?"

Lin Qiushi, "…" I want to know that too!

Ruan Nanzhu coldly states, "Stay far away from him. Li Dongyuan isn't as simple a person as he is on the surface."

Lin Qiushi nodded his head like he was pounding garlic bulbs. Once again, he demonstrated his cordial love for Obsidian, his disapproval of White Deer, and his fury towards Li Dongyuan due to his strong will to live.

Although Ruan Nanzhu had no change in his expression, it should've made him happy listening to it. He nodded his head in satisfaction, turned and left.

Once Ruan Nanzhu left, Lin Qiushi said, "Is that bloke Li Dongyuan trying to distance me and Ruan Nanzhu?"

Cheng Qianli was munching on snacks as he watched the show from the side. He expressed approval towards Lin Qiushi's theory, "Yes, he's a hussy with no sense of pride."

Lin Qiushi was taken aback by these words, "Where did you learn these words?"

Cheng Qianli, "TV dramas."

Lin Qiushi looked at the drama currently streaming on the television and on its top left was the name of the show titled: The Runaway Concubine of His Royal Highness the Overlord.

Lin Qiushi, "…Don't watch too much of these dramas." Your IQ is not high to begin with, wouldn't you become even more silly if you were poisoned by stupid dramas?

All in all, White Deer would find themselves in miserable luck these days. The troubles, regardless of internally or externally, came incessantly. But what made them the most miserable of all was that they had offended Zhang Yiqing.

Lin Qiushi originally thought that this matter was no longer his business. He was just in for the show. Who could have guessed that after a few days, Tan Zaozao's phone call came. Just as he picked up the call, he heard Tan Zaozao's voice crying into his ears as she said, "Qiushi, I really have no ideas left! You really have to help me."

Lin Qiushi, "What happened?"

Tan Zaozao, "Let's come out. I'll treat you to a meal and we can talk slowly."

Lin Qiushi agreed.

That night, the two of them sat at the VIP room of a specific restaurant. After they ordered their dishes, Tan Zaozao began to tell Lin Qiushi her problem. In reality, Lin Qiushi could guess that it was more or less related to Zhang Yiqing. Tan Zaozao had said that Zhang Yiqing received quite a shock after he came out of the door, and that he was confining himself to his room and threading towards self-destruction.

Tan Zaozao, "I asked, but he wasn't willing to say. He's just too stubborn; if he had listened to me back then and not look for White Deer, these series of events wouldn't have happened…" She smiled bitterly, "How great a position we're in now! Even big brother Ruan is offended."

Lin Qiushi said, "What do you want to ask from me?"

Tan Zaozao quietly said, "I just want to ask if you could help me persuade big brother Ruan…"

Lin Qiushi sighed, "What do you think?"

Tan Zaozao said, "I know big brother Ruan's attitude." She's been in the entertaining circle for a few decades, and had seen all sorts of people, and yet she was still faced with a brick wall when it came to Ruan Nanzhu. She sighed, "But you are special."

Lin Qiushi was stunned.

Tan Zaozao, "Haven't you felt it?"

Lin Qiushi thought for a moment, and said, "Nanzhu indeed treats me very well."

Tan Zaozao, "See, you don't even need to call him big brother Ruan."

Lin Qiushi, "I did want to call him that." He helplessly said, "But I'm older than him. I couldn't possibly call him little brother Ruan, could I?"

Tan Zaozao, "…" She hadn't thought of it that way.

In reality, Lin Qiushi did intend to call Ruan Nanzhu 'big brother', but Ruan Nanzhu had stopped him. Ruan Nanzhu expressionlessly stated that he was only twenty-five—an entire year younger than twenty-six-years-old Lin Qiushi.

Armed with this information, Lin Qiushi finally acknowledged the cruelty of age on himself.

Tan Zaozao wanted to laugh when she heard of it, but she thought that it wasn't appropriate to do so, and so she forced a normal expression on herself and said, "Regardless, Qiushi, you are the only one who could persuade big brother Ruan. Please help me, I beg you!" It's doubtless that a beautiful girl was quite adorable when she's playing cottequish like that. Though, Lin Qiushi's mind was clear. He wasn't the type to be swayed by beauty. Otherwise he would not have been single until the age of twenty-six.

As he gave it some thought, it had indeed made him painfully aware.

Lin Qiushi said, "It's not that I don't want to help you, but I don't have the confidence to persuade him. How about this: I'll inform him of it. But if he doesn't listen, then I'm left with no choice."

Tan Zaozao sighed; this was the best result, anyways.

There were quite a large number of groups like them within the entertainment circle, but groups like Ruan Nanzhu who was safer to be with and had an extremely high success rate was extremely rare. After all, Obsidian was the only group who would do things such as going into doors for hints. The other groups might not even have hints on themselves even if it was their own members who went into the door.

All in all, Obsidian was the best choice, but Zhang Yiqing had chosen to be persuaded by White Deer. At the mention of White Deer, Tan Zaozao felt her teeth itch, and said that Li Dongyuan was not a reliable person…

After the discussion, both of them went separate ways. Lin Qiushi drove back to the villas but he saw a few strangers sitting in the living hall as if they were discussing some matters with Ruan Nanzhu.

Upon watching his return, Ruan Nanzhu waved at him.

Lin Qiushi obediently walked over.

"Sit," Ruan Nanzhu pointed at the sofa, "and listen."

Lin Qiushi nodded his head.

He sat down and listened for a while, only then he'd realized that these people were here to purchase hints from them. They were at the period of negotiating with Ruan Nanzhu and wanted to buy those hints with the lowest price possible.

These hints that were on sale were from low-level doors. They were all from either the third or fourth door. Among them, there were a few from the fifth door. But there was only one from the sixth door. And this hint was currently being sold at a price of eight figures.

Due to having spent a long period of time with Ruan Nanzhu, Lin Qiushi did not realize that hints were such valuable things. Watching the scene before him, he was suddenly aware of what Tan Zaozao said before.

"Big brother Ruan, it's not that we aren't willing, but these prices are far too much." Someone who appeared to be the leader of his team bitterly smiled and said, "On the account that we've bought so much, can't you charge a little cheaper?"

Ruan Nanzhu, "It's already very cheap." He raised the glass of water on the table and pursed his lips, passively saying, "Without your life, why would you want so much money for?"

Everyone gave out a bitter laugh.

"The price will not change," Ruan Nanzhu was speaking very passively, but everyone knew he was serious about it, "It's your choice whether you want to buy them or not."

After these people discussed for a while, they still decided to make the purchase.

And then, Lin Qiushi saw, from out of nowhere, Ruan Nanzhu fished out a POS machine and placed it in front of him so they could swipe their cards.

Lin Qiushi, "…" His feelings were truly on two different sides of the spectrum as he watched that beautiful and otherworldly face of Ruan Nanzhu's and the POS machine.

Lin Qiushi didn't know how much these hints were being sold for, but he was certain they had been sold for at least eight figures.

After the exchange, Ruan Nanzhu impolitely said, "Take your leave. I shall refrain from sending you off."

Those people bitterly laughed, "Big brother Ruan, you really are too ruthless. At least see us through the door?"

Ruan Nanzhu expressionlessly said, "Will you give me more money for it?"

Those people said nothing and quickly left.

After those people left, Ruan Nanzhu turned his gaze back onto Lin Qiushi and passively said, "Where have you been?"

Lin Qiushi knew he wouldn't be able to hide this matter from Ruan Nanzhu, and so he honestly said, "I had a meal with Tan Zaozao."

Ruan Nanzhu, "Oh. It's about Zhang Yiqing, isn't it?"

Lin Qiushi replied, "Yes. She wants me to persuade you."

Ruan Nanzhu raised an eyebrow, "And how are you planning to persuade?"

Lin Qiushi, "…" What do you mean by these words?

Ruan Nanzhu, "You should be more sincere in your performance, shouldn't you?"

Lin Qiushi looked at Ruan Nanzhu and the POS machine in front of him, and suddenly he understood, "Oh, oh, oh. I understand." He fished out a credit card, "Swipe this?"

Ruan Nanzhu, "…"

They didn't exchange words for a very long time, and finally, Lin Qiushi was shocked by Ruan Nanzhu's gaze. He quietly said, "Nanzhu…?"

Ruan Nanzhu picked up the POS machine, turned and left.

Lin Qiushi was confused as he watched his rear. He called out, "If you don't want to swipe my card, you can use my Alipay too. I know that there's transaction fees in swiping cards—"

Ruan Nanzhu turned around and headed upstairs. After a while, Lin Qiushi heard the sound of a door being slammed.

In the next three days, Ruan Nanzhu did not speak a single sentence to Lin Qiushi. He treated him as if he was thin air.

Lin Qiushi, "???" What in the world happened?

Author's Comment:

Ruan Nanzhu: Lin Qiushi, if your EQ could be half as high as your IQ, the readers could retire by now.

Lin Qiushi: …

Did Lin Qiushi acknowledge his feelings today? No.