Kaleidoscope of Death

There would be people who loathed the mundane ways of life. It was only after they’d experienced a world like those inside the doors, they would come to cherish a mundane life’s simplicity.

The passing cars, the walking pedestrians—even the clouds that floated by the horizon and the grasses that sprouted by the side of the road—would turn into a source of comfort inside the doors. Lin Qiushi and Cheng Qianli both laid on the chairs at the top of the building as they bathed in the warmness of the sunlight.

Toast and Chestnut were just next to them. Toast jumped around as it wagged its tail, while Chestnut was sprawling next to Lin Qiushi and Cheng Qianli, comfortably stretching its body and basking in the sun with them.

Cheng Qianli fell asleep not long later, his breathing gradually became stationary.

Lin Qiushi was at the brink of falling asleep as well when he heard the sound of an argument coming from downstairs. The voices were quite distant from him—almost inaudible to normal people, but they echoed in his eyes like a soft ringing.

He originally thought it was someone arguing in the villa, but as he listened more closely, he realized something about it wasn’t quite right—these voices belonged to Ruan Nanzhu and Cheng Yixie.

“Why are you doing this, Cheng Yixie? Your little brother would be unhappy if he knew.” These words belonged to Ruan Nanzhu, and although it sounded calm, Lin Qiushi knew, from all that he understood of Ruan Nanzhu during this period of time, that he was truly angry.

“That is why he will never find out.” Cheng Yixie said, “Big brother Ruan, I know your intentions meant well.”

Ruan Nanzhu: “Do you?”

Cheng Yixie: “But I have no other choices left.”

Ruan Nanzhu coldly said: “I hope you do.”

Lin Qiushi had never heard such a cold, frosty tone from Ruan Nanzhu before, filled with absolute disappointment towards the person in front of him. He fell into deadly silence after he’d said those words, and Cheng Yixie no longer explained himself either.

The contents of this conversation wasn’t very distinct to begin with; if not for the strange tones from both of them, Lin Qiushi would never have thought that they were arguing. He pondered over it for a while and guessed that this matter was somehow related to Cheng Qianli, but he didn’t know what it was about in general.

The warmth of the sun made one feel drowsy. As his surroundings gradually quietened down, Lin Qiushi slowly closed his eyes. Just as he was about to fall asleep, a black shadow suddenly loomed over him. Lin Qiushi abruptly woke up to be greeted by Ruan Nanzhu quietly looking at him after he’d opened his eyes.

Lin Qiushi jumped and climbed down from the chair as he said: “Something the matter?”

Ruan Nanzhu: “Get prepared. Accompany me out to see someone.”

Lin Qiushi said: “Alright…”

After Ruan Nanzhu said these words, he turned around to leave, neither telling him why they were heading out, or who they were going to see.

However, this information will make themselves known soon enough. Lin Qiushi changed into a new set of clothes and got up Ruan Nanzhu’s car as they headed towards the town.

Upon arriving into the town, the car took a turn into a hidden little district. There was something special about this district, seeing how an incredibly tight security was wrapped around it.

Lin Qiushi was a little curious about it. “What sort of people does this little district hold?”

“Wealthy merchants, influential political figures, and prominent superstars.” Ruan Nanzhu said, “The person we will be seeing later has a special identity, so all you need to do is listen from the side.”

“Alright.” Lin Qiushi nodded.

After the car was parked, Ruan Nanzhu brought Lin Qiushi into a beautiful white-painted villa.

Once they entered the villa, Lin Qiushi saw a familiar-looking person—it was Tan Zaozao whom he’d seen before. At this moment, she was wearing a beautiful long white dress, sitting elegantly on top of the sofa with a cup of red wine in her hand, a conservative smile spread across her face when she saw them.

You couldn’t deny that Tan Zaozao had quite a strong aura. Perhaps it was because Lin Qiushi had seen her form inside the door, he could not feel any imposing air from her.

“Qiushi, you came.” Tan Zaozao smiled at him, “Big brother Ruan…”

“Where is he?” Ruan Nanzhu walked towards her and went straight to the point.

Tan Zaozao said: “Not here yet. He has quite a proud personality; please forgive him for anything unpleasant he might say, I will try my best to convince him.”

Ruan Nanzhu sat down with a frosty expression.

“He never believed in the supernatural.” Tan Zaozao said, “I’d never have thought that he would encounter the doors…”

Ruan Nanzhu: “Did he tell you this in person?”

Tan Zaozao: “Yes. He’d thought that he had a dream back then. So… Big brother Ruan, could you accept this business?”

Ruan Nanzhu replied: “Leave that discussion for later after we’ve met.”

Tan Zaozao nodded her head.

As they were speaking, from the outside, a man walked in. Lin Qiushi gave an astonished look upon a single glance. He knew this person, or perhaps, eighty percent of the population in this country knew this person—he was the most famous nation-wide actor of their generation. Unlike other actors, his superb acting skills had already allowed him to venture globally and he was working on transitioning into a director with a few already successful films under his belt.

Even if Lin Qiushi was not someone who’d pay attention to the entertainment circle, he has watched some of his films before.

“Zhang Yiqing.” Tan Zaozao called out his name.

“Zaozao.” From the perspective of age, Zhang Yiqing looked like Tan Zaozao’s senior, so let alone the position he’d claimed within the acting industry. His facial features were naturally intimidating and sharp; anyone who was meeting him for the first time would think that he wasn’t someone easy to get along with.

From the way Tan Zaozao described him, he was indeed such a person.

“This is Ruan Nanzhu. This is Lin Qiushi.” Tan Zaozao offered a slight smile as she introduced them, “They are the people I mentioned to you before…”

Zhang Yiqing asked after Ruan Nanzhu with an expressionless and indifferent attitude.

“They helped me through all my previous doors. Big brother Ruan is extremely reliable, a figure that is difficult to find in his industry.” Tan Zaozao said, “With them, you would never…”

Before she could finish speaking, Zhang Yiqing stopped her with a gesture, and said: “I already know.”

Tan Zaozao: “Then…”

Zhang Yiqing: “I still need some time to consider.” His razor-sharp gaze met Ruan Nanzhu’s for a short amount of time. Both of them weren’t people with good temper, and so this exchange of gazes sparked a little flame.

Tan Zaozao was taken aback. “But your next door is about to come, when that time comes, if…”

Zhang Yiqing: “There was another group who contacted me.”

Ruan Nanzhu: “White Deer?”

Zhang Yiqing: “You know them?”

Ruan Nanzhu gave a distasteful smile. He stood up and told Lin Qiushi: “Qiushi, let’s leave.”

Lin Qiushi nodded and followed behind Ruan Nanzhu as they got prepared to leave.

Tan Zaozao froze as she watched everything unfold before her eyes. She said: “Yiqing, why did you look for White Deer? The most reliable group in the industry now is Obsidian. It wasn’t easy for me…”

Zhang Yiqing said: “How would one know which one is more reliable without trying?”

These words made Tan Zaozao a little furious. “Am I not gambling with my own life with this? What happened—what did the people at White Deer tell you?”

Ruan Nanzhu meant it when he said he was leaving; from the moment he left the door, he had not even looked back once, ignoring Tan Zaozao’s calls altogether.

Knowing that nothing could be done, Tan Zaozao’s only choice was to watch as Ruan Nanzhu left.

After they got in the car, Lin Qiushi curiously asked: “Nanzhu, should we go just like that?”

Ruan Nanzhu: “Yes.”

Lin Qiushi: “These all are Li Dongyuan’s doing?”

Ruan Nanzhu: “Who else other than him?” He gave a half-smile, his expression no longer as tensed as it was in the room, “However, this person isn’t easy to deal with. We would be putting ourselves in a lot of trouble if we failed. It’s not too bad an idea to give him to Li Dongyuan.”

As Lin Qiushi recalled how proud Zhang Yiqing had behaved, he thought Ruan Nanzhu’s words made sense. Zhang Yiqing was not someone easy to get long with, whether it was on the screen or face-to-face.

Speaking of which, Lin Qiushi had even thought that White Deer had stolen their business, but the more he looked at Ruan Nanzhu, the more he felt something was amiss. Finally, he couldn’t refrain himself and asked: “Nanzhu, were you the one who leaked news of this to White Deer?”

Listening to this, Ruan Nanzhu’s hand froze momentarily on the steering wheel.

“It really was you?” Lin Qiushi caught that detail immediately and confirmed his suspicions, “It really was you who leaked the information to White Deer?”

Ruan Nanzhu: “Was me.”

Lin Qiushi: “Why…”

Ruan Nanzhu replied very slowly: “Because I don’t like his films.”

Lin Qiushi: “…”

“All right, I was just kidding.” Ruan Nanzhu smiled, “Don’t take it seriously.”

Lin Qiushi: “…” Why does it feel like Ruan Nanzhu was absolutely serious about it?

“After all, I was recommended by Tan Zaozao,” Ruan Nanzhu said, “I should consider her pride, but since he wasn’t willing to accept Obsidian himself, then it has nothing to do with me.”

Lin Qiushi: “So, how did White Deer convince Zhang Yiqing?”

Ruan Nanzhu: “Who knows~” He wasn’t wasn’t even a little concerned.

After the both of them returned not long later, Lin Qiushi received Tan Zaozao’s call. She had very earnestly apologized for the incident and hoped Lin Qiushi would convince Ruan Nanzhu not to be mad.

Lin Qiushi: “Why don’t you call him yourself?”

Tan Zaozao: “I’m scared…”

Lin Qiushi: “…”

Tan Zaozao: “Aren’t you afraid of big brother Ruan?”

Lin Qiushi: “At first, but now I’m quite alright with him.” Although Ruan Nanzhu’s cold and aloof looks often gave the illusion that he wasn’t easy to get along with, Lin Qiushi thought he was quite alright after he’d seen him inside the door.

“How amazing of you.” Tan Zaozao sighed, “I still like the female version of him…”

Lin Qiushi inwardly thought: Who wouldn’t?

Lin Qiushi’s next door was his sixth. Ruan Nanzhu has mentioned that they might be going in with Cheng Qianli. Though, it was still too early for that, so they hadn’t managed to determine what the overall situation was. Ruan Nanzhu only made Lin Qiushi rest himself, and told him that there was no need to overthink it.

The problematic newcomer from before, Qin Budaithat Yi Manman brought back had just only passed through his second door before he fell into a severe state of depression. He refused to eat or move around, and instead spent most of his time in the living room which caused him to only get skinnier as the days passed by.

Lin Qiushi was a little worried about him, but Chen Fei had persuaded him not to be too nervous about it. He said that this was a process everyone had to go through.

His words confused Lin Qiushi. “A process everything would have to experience?”

Chen Fei: “That’s right. Most of the time, everyone would go through a brief period of depression. They mostly occur during their second or third door. If they made it through, then they’ve succeeded; otherwise, they are gone.”

Lin Qiushi: “…Then why didn’t I have one?”

Chen Fei gave him a glare. “Might be because you’re slow.”

Lin Qiushi: “…”

Chen Fei said: “I’ve only ever met two people who did not react to the doors and accepted them with a perfectly calm attitude. One of them is you.”

Lin Qiushi: “The other one is Ruan Nanzhu?”

Surprisingly, Chen Fei shook his head. “The other one is Cheng Qianli.”

Lin Qiushi: “…”

Chen Fei: “We discussed a little about it afterwards and decided that it was because of his low IQ, he could not understand what was going on inside the doors.”

Lin Qiushi recalled the expression Cheng Qianli made when he was chasing after Toast’s ass, and thought that Chen Fei’s conclusion had a point.

“Even Ruan Nanzhu was depressed before?” This was what Lin Qiushi was more interested in.

“He should be.” Cheng Fei answered, “But I wasn’t there during that time, so I wasn’t so sure how the entire situation went. A senior mentioned that big brother Ruan was depressed for a while, but he got better afterwards.”

Lin Qiushi: “Where is that senior?”

Chen Fei remained silent for a moment, then he said: “Dead. He died when he was passing through the ninth door with big brother Ruan.”

Lin Qiushi felt his breath hitched.

Chen Fei appeared unwilling to delve more on this topic. He did a flourish to tell Lin Qiushi not to overthink it, since they were all only a step away from death, why not live your life to the fullest and cherish the hour?

What he said was true. Lin Qiushi sighed in his heart. Truthfully, everyone in his house has an admirably strong sense of mentality.

However, even as Lin Qiushi rested, Ruan Nanzhu never stopped his pace. He seemed to have gotten used to entering doors, taking them on twice or thrice in a week.

According to what he said, the more one grew familiar with what’s inside the doors, the more they would come to realize its rules, such as when the conditions rebounded, or they would know the answer upon being greeted by certain scenes.

Naturally, this could only be achieved if Ruan Nanzhu has the guts to do so. After all, every entrance into a door was a risk. Even for folks who have been doing this for a long time, they could not guarantee whether they could come out of it safely.

On this day, Lin Qiushi and Cheng Qianli went shopping for ingredients with the intention to hold a steamboat the very same night. On their way home, Lin Qiushi received Wu Qi’s call, asking him out to have a meal together.

“I’ve already bought the ingredients. Why don’t you come over instead?” Lin Qiushi said, “I’ve prepared some bone broth for a steamboat.”

“All right.” Wu Qi had always liked Lin Qiushi’s cooking. After all, it’s been a long time since he’d come over and ate his cooking after Lin Qiushi moved, “I would come over. Is there anything I should be bringing?”

Lin Qiushi: “Bring your mouth, it’ll do.”

Wu Qi had answered happily: “Done.”

As Lin Qiushi returned to the villa, he brought all the ingredients into the kitchen and began heating up the pot. Cheng Qianli and Chen Fei were helping him to arrange the vegetables and the meat. There were only two people who knew how to cook; one of them was Lin Qiushi, and the other was Lu Yanxue. Lu Yanxue was on a vacation the last few days, and so the responsibility of cooking fell upon Lin Qiushi.

Thankfully, Lin Qiushi didn’t hate cooking, so he gladly accepted the task.

Once the pot was fully heated up, the doorbell rang. Lin Qiushi went over to open the door and saw Wu Qi standing outside with a box of beer in his hand.

“Hey, I brought you all some beer.” said Wu Qi.

“Good. Come on in.” Lin Qiushi stood aside and allowed Wu Qi to step in.

There was an electrical stove on the table with the pot on top of it. Everything was already prepared.

Lin Qiushi arranged the utensils and said, “Is Nanzhu upstairs? I’ll call him down.”

“Should be.” Chen Fei said, “I didn’t see him going out today.”

Just as Lin Qiushi was about to head up to look for Ruan Nanzhu, he saw a tall beautiful girl strolling down the stairs. This beautiful lady was wearing a thin shade of makeup and wore an ordinary-looking white blouse with black jeans as straight as a pencil. She looked androgynous no matter how one looked at her. Long blue-black streaks that resembled a waterfall were tied into a clear-cut ponytail at the back, leaving a few strands hanging down by her ear.

Wu Qi’s eyes goggled upon seeing her. He reached out to jab at Lin Qiushi’s ribs. “Qiushi… aren’t you a little discourteous? Why didn’t you tell me there’s such a pretty lady here?”

Lin Qiushi: “…” He had an extremely conflicting look on him—this beautiful lady was Ruan Nanzhu. Maybe it’s because he’d just come out of a door, his makeup was still on his face. The makeup dimmed the sharp features of his face and left behind only a very natural sort of beauty.

He was already very eye-catching usually. The version of him now was one that would make anyone find it hard to tear their gazes away.

Judging by the way Wu Qi looked, he would have given everything to rush forward to ask for her number.

Ruan Nanzhu too saw Wu Qi. A corner of his eye raised as he pretended not to see him. He immediately headed straight to sit next to Lin Qiushi and lazily picked up the bowl and chopsticks in front of him.

“I didn’t add too much spice. If you think it’s not enough you can have some soy sauce.” Lin Qiushi knew that Ruan Nanzhu couldn’t take too much spice, “Nah, the sauce.”

Ruan Nanzhu nodded his head as he picked up his chopsticks and began eating.

A good-looking person would make everything look pleasant. The way Ruan Nanzhu parted his lips to chew on his food was extremely elegant and divine.

Wu Qi’s heart squeezed itchily, but decided it was impolite to keep staring at him. And so he behaved like a little kid, stealing little glances from time to time.

Lin Qiushi was torn between laughing and crying looking at this behaviour of his.

The wig Ruan Nanzhu wore outside the door would turn into real hair once he’d entered the door world. Obviously, he noticed Wu Qi’s gaze, so he stopped eating.

Lin Qiushi’s heart skipped a beat upon seeing it. He thought that Ruan Nanzhu was mad, but who could have guessed, the next thing he did was reaching up to grab his hair and then, with a pull—

He revealed the short hair underneath!

“Fu!!!!” Wu Qi almost choked on his own saliva.

Ruan Nanzhu raised a brow; he tossed his wig to the side and continued eating his meal coldly.

“Omg, omg…” Wu Qi quietly chanted, turning to look at Lin Qiushi frustratingly, “Qiushi, is this fellow a lady or a man?”

Maybe he was overly excited, that he’d spilled these right out in front of Ruan Nanzhu.

Lin Qiushi gave him a piteous look. “A man.”

Wu Qi: “…” He ran a hand down his face.

Lin Qiushi: “A man taller than you.”

Tears almost forced themselves out of Wu Qi’s eyes. He thought that misgendering wasn’t the worst, because the worst is that even as this person took off his wig, he was still better looking than him.

Lin Qiushi said: “Don’t look anymore. Here, eat a beef ball.” He stuffed a beef ball into Wu Qi’s bowl as he tried to console his shattering ego.

Wu Qi withdrew his gaze and wept in his heart as he chewed on the beef ball. In all that followed afterwards, his spirit seemed to have drifted off to someplace else.

Ruan Nanzhu ate quite happily. After he finished eating, he went upstairs to shed his makeup before coming back down.

Upon seeing him in man form, Wu Qi realized this person looked a little familiar. He asked in bewilderment: “Qiushi, why do I think that he is still quite good looking?”

Lin Qiushi: “Because he really is good-looking.”

Wu Qi: “Then do you like him?”

He had spoken quite aloud, because Ruan Nanzhu, who was sitting on the other side of the sofa, abruptly turned his head around to look at Lin Qiushi.

Lin Qiushi: “…I do.” Could he not like him? The person who dared to talk bad about Ruan Nanzhu in his face might not have been born yet.

Wu Qi: “I too like him hehehehe.”

Lin Qiushi: “…” Ruan Nanzhu, the jinx of those who valued their exterior looks.

On this day, a heavy wound had been inflicted on Wu Qi’s dignity. Even as he left, he left with a distant gaze. Lin Qiushi had driven him home in person.

Upon arriving at his place, Wu Qi smoked for a while next to his car before finally painfully said: “Qiushi, wouldn’t your sexual alignment steer off course for living with such a person over a long period of time?”

Lin Qiushi looked at him dumbfounded. “Steer off course? What do you mean by steering off course?”

Wu Qi: “…”

Lin Qiushi: “What does it mean to steer off course?”

Wu Qi: “It means… you’d grow to like men.”

Lin Qiushi: “Liking men?” He thought for a moment before realizing what Wu Qi meant, “Why would I? Aren’t there beautiful ladies?”

Wu Qi: “Ah? There are still beautiful ladies? Why didn’t I see them?” The house was obviously filled with men.

Lin Qiushi froze for a moment and realized that something wasn’t right. When he spoke of beautiful women, the only person that filled his mind was Zhu Meng’s face, but Zhu Meng… sigh, leave it be.

“I’m leaving. Take care.” Wu Qi waved a hand at Lin Qiushi and went upstairs alone.

Lin Qiushi watched his rear in silence.

Upon returning to the villa, Cheng Qianli and Ruan Nanzhu were munching on sunflower seeds as they played poker on the sofa.

Cheng Qianli was holding two cards. There was an incredibly painful expression on his face.

Lin Qiushi leaned in close and realized that this fellow had a pair of threes on his hands.

Lin Qiushi: “…” Once again, he doubted Cheng Qianli’s IQ.

Ruan Nanzhu dropped the card in his hand with ease and said: “He’s gone home?”

Lin Qiushi knew he was asking about Wu Qi. “Yeah.”

Ruan Nanzhu: “He has a fragile ego.”

Lin Qiushi was scowled. “…I guess.” Would normal people be as slow as Cheng Qianli?

Ruan Nanzhu: “So what were you thinking in your heart, when you knew I was Ruan Baijie back then?”

Lin Qiushi recalled for a moment and said: “Nothing much.” He seemed to have very calmly accepted this truth.

“Not bad.” Ruan Nanzhu clapped the sunflower seed shells on his hands clean.

Receiving a compliment so abruptly like that made Lin Qiushi froze on the spot for a moment. He felt a little shy and asked a question he’d wanted to ask since a long time ago. “Big brother Ruan, do you really like crossdressing so much?”

Ruan Nanzhu hadn’t answered him. He suddenly reached out with a hand and pinched Lin Qiushi’s chin, then turned Lin Qiushi’s head around. “Your base isn’t bad.”

Lin Qiushi: “Ah?”

Ruan Nanzhu: “We’ll have you try it next time.” He released his grip and stood, revealing a faint smile that spoke volumes, “Life is brief; one must seize the opportunity to enjoy life.”

Lin Qiushi: “…”

His expression froze; Cheng Qianli who was sitting at the side had already given him a very piteous gaze.

Ruan Nanzhu turned around and left. Chen Fei patted Lin Qiushi’s shoulder and said: “What pushed you so hard to ask that question…”

Lin Qiushi: “…”

Chen Fei: “Look what you’ve done.”

Lin Qiushi was a little afraid. He felt that he seemed to have done something that shouldn’t have been done. He looked at Cheng Qianli, but the latter only gave him a painful expression. “It’s alright. Just live through it and you’ll be fine. It’s what we all do.”

Lin Qiushi: “…” What in the world do all of you mean?

But Chen Fei and the others had no intention to explain. They turned and left.

Author’s Comment:

Hahahahaha Does someone want to see Lin Qiushi’s female form?

Ruan Nanhu: Didn’t you ask me whether it makes me happy? You can try it yourself next time.

Lin Qiushi: Ah???

Translated & Edited by Dust Bunny