Kaleidoscope of Death

Ruan Nanzhu was about to say something when his lips moved, but Lin Qiushi lifted his hand to stop him from saying anything and said: "You are not in good health, if something happens to you, what should we do afterwards? Moreover, you can't always accompany me to every single one of the next few doors."

When Ruan Nanzhu heard Lin Qiushi's words, after quieting for a moment, she pointed her hand at Cheng Qianli: "You accompany him up there."

Cheng Qianli obediently oh's voice, but actually didn't retort.

On the contrary, Xu Jin wanted to persuade Lin Qiushi not to go, but didn't know what kind of excuse to make.

After the matter was settled, they soon found a wooden frame nearly ten meters high in the nearby forest near the temple, which was almost on par with the height of the temple.

"Is this it?" Lin Qiushi reached out and pressed his hand on the wooden frame to make sure it was sturdy enough.

"Well." Ruan Nanzhu, "If there's anything wrong, come down immediately, with safety as your priority."

Lin Qiushi nodded, and stepped onto the wooden shelf.

This frame looked a bit old, but the quality was good, and it didn't feel like it was crumbling. Lin Qiushi walked very carefully as he said, "Cheng Qianli, you're not afraid of heights, are you?"

Cheng Qianli: "I'm not afraid of anything but ghosts."

Lin Qiushi thought that would be fine, but Cheng Qianli's movements were quite sharp, a sixteen year old child, his reflexes were right at their peak, the last time he climbed the platform if he hadn't pulled Lin Qiushi, he would have been cold.

The more you went up, the stronger the wind became, and at the back Lin Qiushi had to slow down his speed, observing the situation as he continued to go up.

This platform was about ten meters in total, with a wooden platform at the top connecting to the top of the temple. After climbing to the top, one could have a panoramic view of the surrounding scenery, whether it was the magnificent temple or the mysterious jungle. The view from the top, however, took on a different kind of grace.

Seeing that he was about to reach that wooden platform, Lin Qiushi said, "We're almost there, be careful."

Cheng Qianli nodded his head and said good.

Taking a deep breath, Lin Qiushi flipped directly onto the platform, he had expected there to be some uneaten corpses on the platform, but instead found the entire platform empty - nothing.

No, it wasn't nothing precisely, but completely eaten clean. All the bones, even the hair, had not been left, and only the faintly visible blood stains above the wood grain were telling the visitors what had happened here.

Behind the platform, the roof of the temple that should have been revealed, but now, the mountain was a thick layer of mist that covered the view that should have been unobstructed, and everything was blurred.

Lin Qiushi took a step forward and made way for Cheng Qianli.

After Cheng Qianli climbed onto the wooden platform, he saw the mountain landmarks stunned for a moment, "This sudden fog in the middle of the day..." he turned his head and looked at Lin Qiushi, "Do we still need to go over there?"

Lin Qiushi hesitated for a moment and looked down towards his body.

Xu Jin and Ruan Nanzhu both looked up and saw them finally climbing onto the stage, and even waved at them.

Because they were a bit far apart, Lin Qiushi couldn't see their expressions, so he assumed they were filled with worry.

"Let's go." Lin Qiushi said, "Just like you Zhu Meng sister said, if you want to get out alive, you always have to take some risks."

"Mm." Cheng Qianli nodded.

The two of them slowly walked forward, and the closer they got to the roof, the louder the music that had remained unbroken became, as if the person playing the instrument was not far in front of them.

Lin Qiushi stepped forward and walked from the platform to the roof.

He paused slightly as he stepped over, feeling as if something was wrong with the material beneath his feet. Cheng Qianli's reaction was similar to his, stomping on it with his foot: "...Fuck, this can't be the kind of thing I imagined."

"I don't know." Lin Qiushi said, "It's not a normal roof anyway."

The material of the roof was said to be soft or hard, and if one must describe it, they seemed to be on a rather elastic trampoline. But based on the observation just now from underneath, if this temple was a drum, wouldn't the drum surface that pounced on the top of it be human skin?

The suspicion was confirmed, and both Lin Qiushi and Cheng Qianli's expressions became serious.

Lin Qiushi took a few steps forward and found that every time he walked forward, the drums beneath his feet would emit a crisp pounding sound that he had heard only the day before - right when the knives were raining from the sky.

So it wasn't someone beating a drum at that time, but someone running on the roof?

In the hazy mist, the sound of music guided their direction. It wasn't much of a temple, but Lin Qiushi felt like he had been walking for a long time, so long that he was beginning to wonder if he was just going in circles when something different finally appeared in front of him.

It was a back, the back of a young girl.

Although her long black hair covered most of her body, Lin Qiushi could still recognize from her clothes that she was wearing exactly the same as the girl who appeared in the illusion yesterday.

"Where are you." The girl suddenly spoke out, she said, "Where are you."

Lin Qiushi and Cheng Qianli both held their breath, they both knew that the girl in front of them could never be human.

"Where are you." The sound of music came from right beside her, the girl seemed to have sensed their arrival and stopped playing, she said, "Someone is coming."

She turned around slowly, revealing her front.

It was a skinless face, red flesh attached to her cheeks, and her eyes had been gouged out, leaving only black holes in their sockets, and she said, "I'm in so much pain."

Lin Qiushi's breath held, he smoothly pulled Cheng Qianli next to him and turned around to leave. Cheng Qianli seemed to have been stunned by the scene in front of him, his entire body remained silent and looked a mess following Lin Qiushi's back.

Their feet stepped on the soft drum surface and banged out a crisp drumbeat.

"I'm so sore." The girl's voice was right behind her as she repeated the words, "Where are you?"

The drumbeat got louder and louder, and Lin Qiushi felt his body start to get heavier, he was breathing heavily, but he couldn't make himself run faster. The suffocating feeling of lack of oxygen began to assault his body... Lin Qiushi realized for the first time how bulky his body was.

With his physical strength about to run out, Lin Qiushi's footsteps gradually slowed down and he looked behind him, but he didn't see the little girl who was supposed to be chasing them.

"Whew..." panting heavily, but the moment Lin Qiushi's footsteps stopped, he heard a voice.

That voice came from his back, and the little girl said, "Why aren't you beating the drums anymore?"

Lin Qiushi stiffened and turned his head, seeing a flesh-and-blood face right behind his head, gazing quietly into his eyes.

"Cough cough!" Because of this shock, Lin Qiushi coughed violently and his body stumbled and fell to the ground, his hands also touching the human skin beneath his feet.

Very soft to the touch, even with the unique warmth of the human body, Lin Qiushi lowered his head and tried to calm his cough, but the girl lying on his back crawled in front of him.

"Where is she?" The girl was still asking questions, and she tilted her head as if those were the only words she could say, "I'm hurting."

Lin Qiushi looked up and finally got a thorough look at her.

She had no legs and could only crawl on the ground with her hands, her entire body stripped of skin to reveal red muscle and bone. The eyes seemed to have been gouged out as well, and now those black holes were staring indifferently at Lin Qiushi, waiting for his answer.

Lin Qiushi suddenly remembered those fonts in his diary, and he swallowed heavily to give his answer: "She's looking for you."

The girl calmed down.

"She's been looking for you," Lin Qiushi said, "until she left this world...all the time looking for you."

The girl slowly straightened up, then reached out her hand and slapped the drum surface heavily.

"Boom!" The crisp but chilling sound of the drums, the mountain mists in front of us dissipated and the view began to become clear.

"Do you... want to see her?" Lin Qiushi asked so.

"Bring her to me." The girl said the last words and then disappeared before Lin Qiushi's eyes.

Lin Qiushi's body was almost completely dehydrated after the robbery, and he barely managed to stand up, but he saw Cheng Qianli, who was squatting next to him, also dehydrated.

When Cheng Qianli saw him, he spat out with difficulty, "Fuck, Lin Qiushi, let's hurry down."

Lin Qiushi nodded and walked with Cheng Qianli to the edge of the platform.

Cheng Qianli's face was pale, and he didn't say a word on the way, he also had some blood on him, but he didn't know if it was from that little girl.

Climbing off the wooden platform with soft hands and feet, they both looked like they had almost died.

Ruan Nan Candle hurried forward to inquire about the situation.

Lin Qiushi sat on the ground and shook his head, recounting in simple words what had happened above.

"Cheng Qianli, what are you hiding in your arms?" Ruan Nan Candle, however, noticed something else.

Lin Qiushi looked towards Cheng Qianli's side and realized that Cheng Qianli's T-shirt was bulging, and at a glance, he knew that there must be something in it.

Cheng Qianli took a deep breath and pulled something out of his bosom - it was a bone flute. Although the shape had changed, it could still be seen that it was made of human bone.

Lin Qiushi: "...you're really bold." How dare you even bring this out?

Lin Qiushi: "........"

Ruan Nan Candle reached out and came at his head: "Don't cry, it's a shame you're so big."

Cheng Qianli grieves: "I still have two years before I reach adulthood."

Ruan Nanzhu: "Talk to that thing up there and see if she can see fit to let you die for the sake of both being underage."

Cheng Qianli: "No no no..."

Seeing the bone flute, Lin Qiushi understood why the girl's leg was that way, and he said, "But since the girl had Cheng Qianli bring it down, it shouldn't be a big deal."

Ruan Nanzhu: "So she wants us to bring her sister over now?"

Lin Qiushi: "That should be the case." He thought for a moment, some confusion appearing on his face, "But how the hell are we going to tell the difference between her sister's bones?" If he guessed correctly, his sister's bones should be on the side of the tower group, the tower group had countless bones and it was impossible to try to find them all.

Ruan Nanzhu was in deep thought: "There's always a way."

Cheng Qianli finally recovered from his panic and wiped his nose and tears and began to exaggerate how frightening it was on the roof.

"You have no idea how scared I was when I saw that thing lying behind Ringo." Cheng Qianli said, "I wanted to tell Lin Lin, but the thing just kept staring at me, and I thought we were both going to have to answer for it."

"Ugh." Lin Qiushi said, "I almost thought that too." He looked down and tugged at his t-shirt, which was so blood red it looked like he'd just been through a murder.

"It's good to be down." Ruan Nam Candle reassured them both calmly, "It seems like the key should be there when the sisters meet, it's just that we still need to find that door..."

As they spoke, they walked towards the inside of the temple, and when they were almost to the temple, they saw Meng Yu and a girl talking, their looks were intimate and the atmosphere was ambiguous.

Ruan Nan Candle and Xu Jin looked at each other very tacitly.

Xu Jin came in a ghostly line beside her, "What a good place to fall in love." After saying that, she looked at Lin Qiushi.

Lin Qiushi was baffled, but Ruan Nan Candle was very understanding and stuck to Lin Qiushi's side, smiling and saying Lin Lin ah, was it hard to squeeze with Mu Yu yesterday? Why don't the two of us sleep in the same bed today....

Lin Qiushi: "It's good that you're happy."

Xu Jin's teeth were itching with anger.

After discovering that he was seen, Belinda was in no hurry and greeted them with a smiling face.

"Did you find anything?" Belinda Mong asked.

"No." Ruan Nan Candle answered calmly.

Belinda Mong raised her eyebrows, her expression seemingly smiling, her peach blossom eyes moved to Lin Qiushi's body: "What did you encounter, how did your clothes get like this."

Ruan Nanzhu: "Bad luck, I encountered the kind of small monster I saw last time, luckily I escaped." He said and coughed a few times, a weak willow's posture, but it was a bit of a pity.

Belinda actually didn't ask any further questions, just said to be safe, and turned around with the woman and walked away.

He let them go so easily, but it made Lin Qiushi feel a little strange, but Ruan Nanzhu waved his hand and frowned, saying that there was no need to be too concerned about him, he should also be an old man who took the job. As long as the person who received the job was guaranteed to get out alive, it would naturally be perfect for someone to take the trouble to open the door.

"However." Ruan Nan Candle said, "I do feel that this person, Mong Yu, looks a bit familiar..."

Lin Qiushi: "Look familiar?"

Ruan Nan Candle: "It seems like I've seen it somewhere before." He pondered for a moment and didn't seem to come up with any answer, so he gave up, "Forget it, since he's no threat to us, let's go out and reconsider, the most important thing now is to find the key earlier."

Lin Qiushi nodded.

When they returned to the temple, they found that the atmosphere in the temple didn't seem right, and upon careful questioning, they realized that the kind of monster they saw yesterday while they were going out had appeared again, still dragging a long knife, but this time no knives were rained down outside, so everyone ran out to hide until the monster disappeared before returning again.

Someone in the crowd said that the monster seemed to appear along with the sound of drums, and Lin Qiushi immediately remembered that he and Cheng Qianli had been running on the roof for quite a long time, and thought that it probably had something to do with them as well.

But although he thought so, he didn't say anything and just joined the crowd in expressing his confusion.

The good news was that apart from this incident, no new victims of the team appeared.

In the evening, the guide still arrived at the appointed place on time, she smiled and repeated what she had said the day before, and then led everyone back to the residence.

After saying the appointed time for tomorrow, the guide said goodbye to everyone, and before leaving, she suddenly said something she hadn't said the day before, she said, "Tomorrow morning, we won't see each other again, no one of the twelve can be missing oh."

As soon as this sentence came out, the originally relaxed smiles on everyone's faces immediately faded, and some of them even had the color of fear on their faces.

The tour guide seemed as if he didn't see it, and disappeared in front of everyone with a casual wave of his hand.

"Twelve? Why twelve? Aren't there thirteen of us in total?" The crowd made noisy comments, "Is it possible that someone will die tonight..."

"Yeah, sure." Someone echoed, "So only twelve will appear tomorrow, and one won't survive the night."

The more they said the more panic grew in the hearts of the crowd, it was clear that no one wanted to be that poor victim.

Instead, both groups of people, Belinda Mong and Ruan Nan Candle, were quite quiet, silently listening to the discussion of the others without expressing any opinions.

"I'm sleepy today, go back to sleep early." Yawning lazily, Ruan Nam Candle was completely unaffected by the guide's comments, rubbing his eyes and looking weary as he leaned on Lin Qiushi's shoulder.

"Let's go." Lin Qiushi nodded.

Belinda Mong sat right next to him and smiled after hearing Ruan Nan Candle's words, "Girl really has a big heart, can you even fall asleep here?"

Ruan Nan Candle: "You don't have to die if you can't sleep?" He waved his hand lazily, "Damned or dead."

Belinda Mong, "That's true."

The four of them went back to their residence and all lay back in bed after briefly washing up.

Just as they had said during the day, Ruan Nan Candle slept in Lin Qiushi's bed tonight, while Cheng Qianli was driven to sleep alone.

Xu Jin was already numb and used to watching the two of them spreading dog food, she didn't seem to be in good spirits today, she hadn't talked much all day and fell asleep early after going to bed.

"What do you think of the guide's words today?" Just when Lin Qiushi thought that Ruan Nan Candle was asleep, he leaned in and murmured lowly to Lin Qiushi's ear.

"Maybe they're right?" Lin Qiushi said, "Something will happen tonight..."

"I don't think so," Ruan Nan Candle said, "But I'm not sure yet, I won't know until after tonight."

Lin Qiushi stroked his hair, "How does your body feel?"

Ruan Nam Candle: "Much better." He said, "Go to sleep."

"Mm." Lin Qiushi nodded.

Nights with Ruan Nan Candle by his side would always be a quieter sleep. This was also the case tonight, Lin Qiushi slept until the next day, during which he wasn't awakened.

Instead, Cheng Qianli looked like he had stayed up all night and said, "Brother Lin Lin you really have a big heart."

Lin Qiushi: "How so?"

Cheng Qianli was stunned, "Have you forgotten the bloody handprints we saw under the bed yesterday?"

Lin Qiushi: "... Hey, he really forgot, but he still acted like how could I have forgotten, and said in a long-winded manner, "I didn't forget, how could I have forgotten something so important. "

Cheng Qianli: "You're not afraid?"

Lin Qiushi: "Can fear solve the problem?" He patted Cheng Qianli's shoulder, "Be brave!"

Cheng Qianli nodded heavily, little stars of admiration appearing in his eyes.

Then Lin Qiushi wimped out and slipped over to Ruan Nan Candle and whispered, "Nan Candle, do you remember that bloody handprint from yesterday?"

Ruan Nan Candle said, "Mm."

Lin Qiushi: "You're not afraid of falling asleep with me like that?"

Ruan Nan Candle looked like he didn't understand what you were talking about: "I'm not even afraid of ghosts, what am I afraid of that bloody handprint for."

Lin Qiushi: ".......big brother is worthy of being a big brother.

Because of the guide's words yesterday, it caused the entire group to be on tenterhooks, but when everyone got together in the morning, they realized that the imaginary victims hadn't appeared.

Yesterday there were thirteen people, and today there were still thirteen, one no more, one no less.

"Fine fine, that tour guide really did scare us." Someone in the crowd was exclaiming.

"Yeah, thank goodness there weren't fewer people." The echoing voices were also loud.

But Lin Qiushi noticed that Ruan Nam Candle's face was suddenly shady after he realized that there weren't few people, he didn't eat, and his eyes drew back from the crowd.

"What's wrong?" Lin Qiushi was a bit confused.

"It might as well be dead." Ruan Nan Candle's mood didn't look too good, "I didn't expect to encounter this kind of thing again."

"What do you mean?" Lin Qiushi still didn't understand.

Ruan Nan Candle said, "Usually Key NPCs don't lie."

Lin Qiushi said, "So..." he heard this and instantly understood the meaning of Ruan Nan Candle's words, "It means that one of us out of thirteen is not a human?"

"Things would have been easier if someone had died yesterday." Ruan Nan Candle, "Unfortunately not."

He took a cup of water and took a sip, "Now it's troublesome."

It was naturally troublesome, it was already the fourth day since arriving here and Lin Qiushi hadn't even remembered everyone's names, not to mention how difficult it was to find the one person who wasn't human from all these people.

Most of the people were in a happy mood after finding out that there was no trouble yesterday.

Except for Ruan Nan Candle, there was also Belinda Mong.

Belinda Mong and Ruan Nan Candle looked somewhat similar at first glance, with slightly knitted brows and eyes that were cold and pensive.

Soon, they noticed each other, and Belinda Mong stood up and walked to Ruan Nan Candle's side, revealing her customary gentle smile: "Can we go out for a chat?"

"Of course." Ruan Nan Candle agreed, he turned his head and said to Lin Qiushi, "Wait for me for a moment."

They went out with Belinda Mong.

"What's happened?" Cheng Qianli, who went out to get breakfast, and Xu Jin had just returned when they met Ruan Nancandle, who was walking out with Meng Yu, he hadn't heard Ruan Nancandle's words and naturally didn't know about Ruan Nancandle's speculations, and was still celebrating with the others that no one had died last night.

Lin Qiushi was going to say, but then suddenly hesitated, and finally just said, "There's something that Belinda Mong wants to say to him."

"Oh." Cheng Qianli nodded.

Xu Jin whispered beside him, "Lin Lin, aren't you even jealous of the two of them being alone?"

Lin Qiushi: "Jealous? What's the jealousy?"

Xu Jin: "...You and Zhu Meng are not..."

Lin Qiushi explained, "We're just friends."

Xu Jin: "Friends??"

Lin Qiushi: "A mere boyfriend and girlfriend..."

Xu Jin fell silent, "You're such a nice guy, Lin Lin." It's just that his hair is a bit green.

After a while, Ruan Nanzhu and Meng Yu came back from outside, both of them had lost a lot of their gloom, and although they didn't smile either, it was always better than when they went out.

"What did you guys say?" Cheng Qianli asked curiously.

Ruan Nan Candle: "What's the point of asking so much as a child." He turned his head to look at Lin Qiushi, "Do you want to know what we talked about?"

Cheng Qianli: "........ "Overdoing it.

Lin Qiushi nodded obediently.

Ruan Nan Candle narrowed his eyes and smiled: "If you kiss me, I'll tell you."

Lin Qiushi: "Huh?"

Xu Jin looked on with an aching face.