Kaleidoscope of Death

They are both group photos of Class 2; Sachiko wasn’t in one of them, while Ko Shinobu and his friend are not in the other. The rest of the people in the class seemed to be standing in the very same places, but if one were to observe clearly, they could tell that these people were wearing very different expressions. Xia Rubei found a very scary discovery after looking at it: “Is this photo… taken with the same people in the same place?”

“Yes.” Li Dongyuan said, “It’s definitely not Photoshopped in one way or the other.”

“So why did Sachiko leave this photo behind?” Xia Rubei didn’t dare to touch this photo as if it could scorch her; she quickly put it down, “I…I still don’t understand…”

Though, judging by Ruan Nanzhu and the other people’s expressions, it seemed that she was the only one who didn’t know what was going on.

Xia Rubei gave Li Dongyuan a look that begged for help, but Li Dongyuan only responded with a pitiful pat to her head: “Don’t be in a hurry. In a while, you will understand.”

Xia Rubei: “…” Are you treating me like your pet?

Lin Qiushi understood why Sachiko had left behind this photo. He looked at these two photos and lightly sighed.

Bullying was something that happened in most schools, only, they haven’t gone so far to take someone’s life. Some teachers were not willing to handle such matters, but they never thought that leaving them be would only worsen the situation.

“Let’s go.” Ruan Nanzhu looked at the time, “It’s almost lunchtime. We can go ahead and stop them.”

Li Dongyuan agreed and rose to his feet. “Let’s go.” 

Ko Shinobu’s home was just next to the school. He would leave the school to have lunch at home. They found a hidden place near the school’s gates and waited for Ko Shinobu’s arrival, but somehow,  Ko Shinobu never showed up. Instead, it was that friend of his who did. 

Having inquired about him before, Lin Qiushi and the others knew this person’s name was Mougai. He was once in the same class with Ko Shinobu, but had gone to separate classes after the accident happened.

Mougai was more muscular in build than Ko Shinobu, and looked as if he was more hot-tempered. He said: “Why are you people looking for me? I don’t know anything!”

“Let us find a quiet place to talk.” Li Dongyuan said, “After all, you wouldn’t want someone else to hear what we will be talking about.”

Just as Mougai was about to retaliate, Ruan Nanzhu took out a group photo and waved it in front of him. His expression changed drastically upon seeing it and stopped before he agreed to Lin Qiushi and the other’s suggestions.

And so, the group of people walked to the little hidden forest behind the school’s building. Mougai was wearing a very ugly expression while suppressing a dense sense of fear.

Ruan Nanzhu went straight to the point. “You people are the ones who killed Satchan, is it?”

Mougai jumped, but after a while, he angrily said: “What are you talking about? I don’t understand what you are talking about. She obviously died from an accident—”

“Accident? How did she get into an accident?” Ruan Nanzhu said, “Aren’t you and Ko Shinobu—”

He still wanted to say something, but Li Dongyuan made a stopping gesture. He looked at Ruan Nanzhu: “Mind giving me a second?”

Ruan Nanzhu: “Five minutes?”

Li Dongyuan: “Can be done.”

Ruan Nanzhu reached out to take Lin Qiushi’s hand and both of them turned around to leave.

Lin Qiushi felt strange as he was taken away by Ruan Nanzhu, “Why?”

Ruan Nanzhu: “Let us go. Give Li Dongyuan five minutes and he will take care of this person.”

Lin Qiushi found it hard to believe. “…Does he really know how to hypnotise?”

Ruan Nanzhu: “Have you forgotten that you almost let him hypnotise you yesterday? It’s not strange for the Leader of White Deer to possess their own special skills.”

Both of them were outside, giving Li Dongyuan who was in the little forest a bit of time. By the end of the day, they were still competitors outside the door. It’s nothing extraordinary that Li Dongyuan refused to let them see his trump card.

Five minutes was neither a brief nor long amount of time to wait. Once they return to the little forest, Li Dongyuan has already gotten his answer.

“Repeat that one more time.” Li Dongyuan commanded.

Presently, Mougai was not in an ordinary state. His gaze looked distant like he had lost all his consciousness and was numbly repeating what he’d said just now: “It was Ko Shinobu and me who killed Satchan. During that time, in order to bully her we wanted to push her onto the trash can, but we mistakenly pushed her to the centre of the road. A car drove past and broke her leg…”

Li Dongyuan: “Could you people have saved her back then?”

Mougai’s expression twitched a little, as if he wanted to struggle free, but failed, and honestly confessed the scenery that Lin Qiushi had heard the night before. “Yes, we could have saved, but we did not. We left…. Ko Shinobu pulled me away. He said we would be imprisoned for doing these sorts of things. I don’t want to be imprisoned…”

After listening to Mougai’s words, Lin Qiushi grew a little angry.

It should have been a cold winter on that day; if Mougai and Ko Shinobu had called the ambulance on time, Satchan might not have to die. But they hadn’t and had chosen to escape in cowardice. Satchan, who had lost a leg, could only be abandoned in the wintry cold night as she died amid despair and loneliness.

“This is going too far..” Lin Qiushi furrowed his brows.

Li Dongyuan lightly snorted. “The worser parts are coming.” He looked at Mougai, “So be it if she’s dead. Why did your class compose that song that mocked her?”

Speaking of the song, Mougai shivered, the fearful look on him even more obvious than before. His lips quivered, and said slowly: “This… This wasn’t originally my intention. It was them… who wanted to do this. Ko Shinobu and I wanted to stop them, but we failed.”

“Have you sung it?” Finally, Ruan Nanzhu asked the most important question.

Mougai slowly shook his head. “No. Ko Shinobu and I didn’t sing. We didn’t dare… didn’t dare to…”

They were, after all, the murderers who killed Satchan. How would they have no concerns about singing that strange song? Other than them, everyone else in class sang, and so, they all died.

These two were originally murderers who should be paying with their lives, but their fear of the song has allowed them to escape death. 

After Li Dongyuan finished listening to the entire story, came his gentle smile. He slowly fished out a booklet from his pocket, then passed it to Mougai, “Come on, you know this, surely?”

Mougai looked at the words on the booklet as his forehead began to sweat. The fearful look on his face intensified as if there was something he wanted to say. Yet, Li Dongyuan’s whisper rang into his ears: “You wanted to sing it, to begin with, so why are you so afraid? There is no need to be afraid. It’s very safe here, and so, you can reassuringly, just sing it.”

Mougai’s throat rolled, his lips parted, as he sang that song: “Satchan’s name is actually Sachiko. But she’s called herself Satchan ever since she was little. Oh, how funny! Satchan really loves bananas. But she can only eat half of her favourite bananas. Oh, how pitiful! Satchan has left for a faraway place. And she’ll soon forget about me. Oh, how lonely, Satchan!...”

Following his singing, Lin Qiushi heard the ground shake beneath their feet. He said: “Take a few steps back. Something is under our legs!”

“My leg is gone, so won’t you give me yours?” —The last words made rolled out from his mouth, and from the ground, a countless number of pale-white arms reached out to tightly grab Mougai’s legs.

Lin Qiushi originally thought that these arms would pull him into the soil, but Sachiko had unknowingly appeared.

She was sprawling in the depths of the forest, crawling slowly towards Mougai with both her arms, and then, she caught Mougai’s leg…

Mougai woke up from Li Dongyuan’s hypnosis and saw everything that happened in front of him. He let out a piercingly sharp cry as his expressions all twisted in frightful agony: “Satchan, I’m sorry—I’m sorry—Forgive me, Satchan—”

Satchan cracked a smile. She cocked her head to the side, grab Mougai’s left leg as she fiercely pulled.

Ka-cha!  Mougai’s left leg fell to the ground.

“Aahhhhh!!!” Mougai cried in pain.

“How painful, Satchan, how painful…” Satchan was bathing in fresh blood as she gave a satisfied smile. She said: “Satchan, how painful, payback to Satchan with your leg, why don’t you?”

Mougai’s body slumped down weakly after losing a large amount of blood. Satchan hugged that leg, her eyes filled with paradise. She hadn’t looked into the direction of Lin Qiushi and the others; reaching out with a hand, she pointed at a certain direction, then made a gesture that signified the number one.

After that, everything disappeared. Mougai, who died, was pulled into the ground. Other than that puddle of blood, nothing else could prove that he had once existed.

“Ugh——” This was the first time Xia Rubei had seen such a bloody sight. She couldn’t help vomiting as she supported herself on a tree trunk, while the other three still retained calm expressions.

While Xia Rubei was vomiting, Ruan Nanzhu used the chance to take out that photo Satchan had left for them. He took a look at it before passing it to Lin Qiushi.

Lin Qiushi took a look at the photo, and as he’d expected, there was an additional person in the photo—it was Mougai who had just died.

Mougai was wearing a stiff smile in the photo as he stood next to Satchan.

Satchan’s smile had brightened up even more, enough to make one’s body feel cold, and next to her, there was another empty space…

“Since I couldn’t take a photo with you guys when I was alive, then fulfil my wish in death.” Li Dongyuan recited something, “What a romantic little lady she is.” He gently smiled.

Lin Qiushi had always thought that Li Dongyuan was a pervert, but now he realized something is really wrong with this person. He then briefly gave Ruan Nanzhu a look and saw that even he was smiling… These two people are quite alike in a certain aspect.

Lin Qiushi quietly took a step close to Xia Rubei, who was scared until her face had turned deathly pale.

“Let us leave. There is still one more.” Li Dongyuan said.

“Aren’t we going to take a look at the door?” Ruan Nanzhu suddenly said.

“Door? What door?” Xia Rubei urgently asked. She felt that she had only vomited for two minutes, but why does it feel like an entire century had passed?

“Didn’t Satchan point at it?” Ruan Nanzhu said, “…Don’t  you people even care for this little lady?”

Lin Qiushi: “…” He too saw Satchan’s gesture but hadn’t thought that she would be pointing to the door. It’s hard-earned for Ruan Nanzhu to call her ‘little lady’ in such a calm manner.

“Will do.” Li Dongyuan chuckled, “Let us go take a look at the door.”

Then, they followed the direction in which Satchan had pointed to, and after walking for a distance, they realized that they were heading into the direction of the old dormitory. It seemed like the door was located over there.

They came to where the original Class 2 stood, and as expected, what was originally a robbery-proof door had turned into an iron door. It seemed like all they needed to do now was to look for the key, and then they could successfully leave.

“Mengmeng, why don’t we have a gamble?” Li Dongyuan suddenly asked.

“Gamble on what?” Ruan Nanzhu said.

Li Dongyuan: “Gamble on who could guess the location of the key.”

Ruan Nanzhu: “And the wager?”

Li Dongyuan: “If I guessed correctly, then you must tell me your true identity. If I guessed wrongly… I will never bother you again.”

Ruan Nanzhu gave him a half-smile. “Li Dongyuan, aren’t you a little too sly? You don’t know my identity, to begin with, so how could you bother me?”

Li Dongyuan smiled and said nothing.

“Why don’t we do it in such a way.” Ruan Nanzhu said, “Since we’re going to gamble, then make it big. If I guessed wrongly, I will leave Obsidian and join White Deer. If you guessed wrongly, you will leave White Deer and join Obsidian.”

Li Dongyuan stopped smiling, and in his gaze, a profound observing look was mixed into it.

“Why? Don’t dare play?” Ruan Nanzhu jerked his chin as he looked at Li Dongyuan with scorn.

Lin Qiushi was very familiar with this look, it uniquely belonged to Ruan Nanzhu outside the door.

“I really don’t dare.” Li Dongyuan admitted in defeat, his expression a little helpless, “I could only guess, but I don’t know for certain… Are you certain?”

Ruan Nanzhu didn’t answer. He turned and left.

Li Dongyuan was abandoned behind as he mumbled, saying: Mengmeng how heartless you are. As he spoke, he even gave Lin Qiushi a glare.

Lin Qiushi returned him a baffled look.

In the afternoon, the classes resumed. Ko Shinobu was inside the classroom.

In order to stop him from running away, the four of them were standing guard by each of its stairs, wanting to stop him in the next class.

Perhaps he was afraid that Li Dongyuan might hypnotise Lin Qiushi again, so this time, Ruan Nanzhu teamed up with Li Dongyuan, and Lin Qiushi was teamed with Xia Rubei.

Xia Rubei completely didn’t look like someone who had been through four doors; throughout the journey, she was either shivering or that her mind would wander.

Ring…. The recess bells rang, and the students all rushed down the stairs carrying their bags.

Lin Qiushi was very observant. He was afraid Ko Shinobu would slip out through the crowd, but once everyone was mostly gone, he still couldn’t see any traces of Ko Shinobu. So, he went up the stairs to take a look whether Ko Shinobu had gone towards Ruan Nanzhu’s direction.

Yet, he ran into Ruan Nanzhu just as he went up. They had also come to look for Lin Qiushi—Ko Shinobu had gone missing.

“He’s not on my side either,” Lin Qiushi said, “Where could he hide?”

Ruan Nanzhu scanned the school’s surroundings. “There are only two staircases here. Xia Rubei, guard this place. Shout if anything happens. We will head towards the classroom to take a look.”

Xia Rubei mumbled as she nodded her head.

They went to Class 3 but all the students inside had left.

Ruan Nanzhu walked towards Ko Shinobu’s desk and saw that his bag was still there. “He hasn’t gone back.”

“I will take a look in the bathroom.” Lin Qiushi offered.

They went separate ways looking for Ko Shinobu. Lin Qiushi went to the male bathroom that was just beside.

There are a few cabins in the toilet. Liu Qiushi scanned them once and saw no one, so he came back out. Who could have guessed that when he reached the door, the broom that was standing by his side suddenly fell down.

Shocked, Lin Qiushi turned around.

“Is someone there?” Lin Qiushi felt that something was wrong. After he meticulously looked around, he finally found where it had gone wrong—the windows of the bathroom had been opened.

This window appeared to not have been opened for very long. Someone had forcibly opened the rusty lock. Lin Qiushi climbed up to the window and looked down. From the side of his ear, the sound of wind brushed past. His reflexes were incredibly quick as he immediately took two steps backwards. Something sharp had wheezed past his nose.

Lin Qiushi opened his eyes wide and took a look, only to realize someone was sprawling outside the window. Standing at the little balcony next to the window, holding a sharp dagger, was the person they had been looking for—Ko Shinobu!

“Fuck!” Lin Qiushi cussed and shouted loudly, “I found him!!! He’s right here!!!”

Just as he finished saying these words, Ko Shinobu appeared to be frightened by his voice. His foot slipped and he immediately fell from the balcony. He reached out with a hand to grab the side of it and cried: “Help me—”

In the next second, an invisible force seemed to be plucking his fingers, one by one, off the side of the balcony he was gripping on.

“Aaaaaa!!” Ko Shinobu fell from upstairs. The height of the fourth floor was enough to warrant death, and he’d fallen with the back of his head to the ground. All of a sudden, his breath stopped.

All of these happened too abruptly. Lin Qiushi could not respond in time.

When Ruan Nanzhu rushed over, he only saw Ko Shinobu’s corpse that had fallen down below.

Ruan Nanzhu cast Lin Qiushi a shocked expression and said: “Pretty good, Linlin, you’ve saved us a lot of trouble.”

Lin Qiushi: “…How would I have the strength to throw him out like that?”

Ruan Nanzhu: “It wasn’t you who tossed him out but he’d jumped himself? Sighs, Third-Year students should relieve their stress more often. Accidents are easy to happen with too much pressure.”

Lin Qiushi’s face was full of pain. “I beg you not to say anything anymore.”

As Ruan Nanzhu and Lin Qiushi rambled among themselves, Satchan appeared once again. 

She stood next to Ko Shinobu’s corpse and said nothing, as well as did nothing.

Lin Qiushi thought that she looked a little disappointed. She wasn’t to blame; the person she wanted so much to kill, had committed suicide on his own in the end. It must have made her feel a little bit defeated.

Ko Shinobu’s corpse then began to disappear, just like Mougai’s had, pulled into the soil with a pair of hands.

Ruan Nanzhu then fished out that photo from his bag again and could see that on the photo, someone else had been added. It was Ko Shinobu with a stiff expression, standing right next to Satchan.

And Satchan’s smile had become even brighter.

This photo had finally gathered all of the Class 2 students, a whole thirty-four, and not even one less.

Just as they were looking at the photo, it suddenly ignited into flames. Ruan Nanzhu was afraid of being burned, so he let go and as the photo fell to the ground, Lin Qiushi could hear the clear resounding clank of metal.

The others too seem to have heard it. Ruan Nanzhu bent down and picked up a familiar-looking key from the pile of ash. He raised a brow: “This Satchan is indeed an honest person who kept their word.”

Lin Qiushi: “person?”

Ruan Nanzhu: “Alright then, an honest ghost.”

Lin Qiushi: “…”

They found the door, as well as the key; finally, they could leave.

The four of them ran towards the old dormitory, no longer wishing to stay here any longer.

Xia Rubei asked on the journey: “What about the others? Should we tell them that the door is opened?”

“There is no need.” Li Dongyuan said, “If they continue to investigate, they would surely realize the door in the old dormitory. Moreover, there is nothing strange guarding the door in this world.”

Lin Qiushi recalled all the times when they came out. Every time they opened the door, some creature would be guarding it. He wouldn’t have known whether those people could successfully come out. However, when they were running out, they had no time to think about how the others were doing—they have already expended all their energy trying to save their own lives.

This time, Ruan Nanzhu didn’t unlock the door. He gave the key to Li Dongyuan.

Li Dongyuan said: “You can do it, Rubei.”

Xia Rubei nodded her head as she raised the key, impatient to open the iron door in front of her.

There was a click and the iron door opened, revealing the bright-white tunnel behind it. At the same time, a piece of paper fell onto the ground. Xia Rubei immediately picked it up and rushed into the tunnel.

Li Dongyuan faintly smiled. “Mengmeng, see you again.”

Ruan Nanzhu looked at him expressionlessly, saying nothing.

Li Dongyuan wasn’t mad about it. He retained his smile as he walked into the door in front of him. Ruan Nanzhu reached out at Lin Qiushi with a hand: “Let us go.”

Lin Qiushi nodded his head and took Ruan Nanzhu’s hand, then both of them entered the tunnel together.

A warm light dispersed the sinister air inside the door. Passing through the tunnel, Lin Qiushi completed the transition from one world to the other.

He came back, from the scary world inside the door, to the bright and sunlit bungalow. The sight ofToast and Chestnut running inside the room once again greeted his eyes.

Lin Qiushi sat on top of the sofa and brought the water in front of him to his lips.

Cheng Qianli came down from upstairs. He saw Lin Qiushi and said: “You’re back?”

“Yup.” Lin Qiushi answered.

“Was it successful?” Cheng Qianli asked.

“It was.” Lin Qiushi answered, “Is Nanzhu upstairs?”

Cheng Qianli nodded his head.

After spending a few days inside the door, it had only been ten minutes outside of it. Lin Qiushi rested for a while on the sofa only then he went upstairs to look for Ruan Nanzhu.

He knocked on the door and realized that the door wasn’t locked. It opened with a light push.

“Nanzhu?” After pushing through the door, Lin Qiushi took a step into the room and froze on the spot. Ruan Nanzhu had taken off his clothes, while a blouse was placed next to him. He was changing his clothes bare-bodied.

Lin Qiushi’s expression suddenly turned awkward. He turned around to leave before Ruan Nanzhu slowly spoke: “We are both men, so why are you freaking out?”

Lin Qiushi: “…Oh!” Only then he realized. That’s right. Both Ruan Nanzhu and him were men. There was nothing to be shy about. However, although things were said in this way, he still found it difficult to put it past him, just like feeling that Zhu Meng from inside the door and Ruan Nanzhu who was outside hadn’t completely transitioned. As if looking at Ruan Nanzhu, he would recall that smile of Zhu Meng’s against his will.

As he thought and thought, Lin Qiushi’s face turned beet red.

“Am I really that good-looking?” Ruan Nanzhu put on his clothes properly and turned around to see Lin Qiushi’s expression, “Even your face has turned red.”

Lin Qiushi: “No…. I…” He didn’t know how to explain within such a brief time.

Ruan Nanzhu: “No? Then am I not good-looking?” He walked towards Lin Qiushi, imposing his domineering air that came with a figure almost 1.9 meters tall.

Lin Qiushi had even taken a few steps backwards, forcibly stomaching the sight. “This is not what I meant. I was just a little unused to it.”

“O.” Ruan Nanzhu calmly answered, then asked a question: “Then do you prefer Zhu Meng, or me?”

Lin Qiushi: “…” Aren’t you both the same person? What nonsense of a question are you asking about?

Ruan Nanzhu: “Hm?”

Lin Qiushi’s will to continue living told him the answer. He forced his heart back in, that had practically jumped out, and answered in a completely calm manner: “Of course, it’s big brother Ruan.”

Only then Ruan Nanzhu revealed a light and faint smile. As Lin Qiushi watched his smile, he lets out a breath of relief.

Author’s Comment:

Lin Qiushi: This is the first time seeing someone who gets jealous of himself…

Ruan Nanzhu: Hmph, you cannot like Zhu Meng anyways.

Lin Qiushi: ……

Actually, everyone has their own complicated side. As long as they didn’t do anything extremely, they couldn’t be judged whether they’re good or bad. Li Dongyuan is such a person. He has his own standing of doing good deeds but also knows how to pit people. He didn’t just only like Zhu Meng, but it was also mixed with a lot of benefits and other things.

From this point of view, Ruan Nanzhu and Li Dongyuan are actually quite alike.

Translator’s Comment:

Dust Bunny here. Taida will be busy for a few weeks to focus on her studies, so it will mainly be me who updates during these weeks. Wish her all the best in her studies, everyone!!

Additionally, it seems like there will be a manhua for KoD soon and it seems like an announcement will be made on 1st October OvO!!

Translated & Edited by Dust Bunny