Kaleidoscope of Death

After a simple breakfast, everyone left the dining hall.

This time Wang Tianxin didn’t have the intention to go out, after having lost his companion. Embarrassed, he told the others that he wanted to return to his room.

Someone asked him in a tone devoid of all courtesy, “Wang Tianxin, thinking of hiding in your room and not coming out?”

Upon being abruptly interrogated, Although Wang Tianxin felt a little embarrassed, he firmly replied, “Yeah, I don’t feel very well, so I’m not going out today.”

The person who had questioned him sneered, “I assume that you won’t be feeling very well for the following days as well?”

Humiliation drove him into fury as Wang Tianxin rebuked, “What does that have to do with you? So what if I don’t feel well? Try feeling sick with me if you’re capable of it!”

This reply of his was extremely shameless. The gazes that fell upon him were filled with contempt. 

 With the exception of two first-timers, most of the group were those who had experienced many doors and had come across people who are uselessly passive like Wang Tianxin before. 

These people won’t take the initiative to find information and are only concerned with their own survival. These people do nothing as part of the team and are entirely a burden on others. 

Ruan Nanzhu glanced at Wang Tianxin. Having no comment, he left with Lin Qiushi. 

After leaving the inn, Ruan Nanzhu passively commented, “Considering my former temperament, somebody like Wang Tianxin shouldn’t even think of leaving this place alive.”

Lin Qiushi, “I thought you couldn’t kill people within the world of the doors?”

With half a smile, Ruan Nanzhu replied, “How would a law-abiding citizen like myself commit murder? There are so many ways to let someone die, it’s not necessary to taint my own hands.”

It was indeed so. The worlds inside the doors were so full of danger in the first place that it seemed like human life held no value at all.

Ruan Nanzhu, “If two or three people who are like him appear, then there’s a high chance of total annihilation.”

Lin Qiushi, “What do you mean?”

Ruan Nanzhu, “Think about it. Humans all like to compare themselves with one another. If you’re working hard, risking your life to find information while somebody else is doing nothing but hide in their own room, can you really feel at peace?” 

Lin Qiushi, “That’s true…”

Ruan Nanzhu didn’t continue on this topic but his expression was very clear. If Wang Tianxin causes troubleagain, then he really wouldn’t be able to leave this door. 

Their plan today was to visit and inspect all the families with children in the town again. Although Dong Tianwei said that the families were determined to keep their children hidden from them, Lin Qiushi felt that these children may be key to making a breakthrough. He and Ruan Nanzhu walked across the town to a row of dilapidated two-story buildings.

The paint on the walls of these buildings have mostly fallen off. There are faint signs of erosion caused by rain on the corners of the building. The doors were locked and small yards were sectioned out by barbed wires. The insides of the yards were overgrown with densely packed weeds; to be honest, if it weren’t for the light shining from inside the windows, this place really didn’t look like a place where people lived.

However, the architectural designs of these rows of buildings were very similar, and they all give off a feeling of ‘strangers are prohibited’

In the morning, Lin Qiushi had asked Dong Tianwei in detail about the situations of these families. Dong Tianwei’s answer was that although they were able to get inside the homes with no problem, they didn’t see any children. The attitudes of the parents were also very cold and they refused to answer any questions. 

Lin Qiushi had asked, “Then did you search their rooms?”

Dong Tianwei, “We did but we gained nothing from it because the children weren’t inside.”

Lin Qiushi got the point. 

As Lin Qiushi was buried in his thoughts, Ruan Nanzhu had rung the doorbell.

After the doorbell had rung, a quiet, creaking noise came from inside the old door. An old lady poked her head out from behind the door, muddy eyes searching around before settling at the entrance, where Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu were standing. 

Lin Qiushi had originally thought that she would ask them why they were here, but instead, she walked to where they were, opened the door, and turned around to go back inside the building, as if telling them ‘I won’t tell you anything but do as you please.’

Ruan Nanzhu called out, “Old lady.” The old lady did not acknowledge him, and as if she couldn’t hear them, she retreated back into the building. 

Since she wasn’t willing to speak to them, Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu didn’t make any more moves to force her.

Before going in, they checked around the small yard in front of them, but found nothing useful. 

Ruan Nanzhu said to Lin Qiushi, “The information we got from the mayor says that this family has a daughter, seven years old. At present, there isn’t a missing person poster for her. If the information from the mayor is correct, there definitely is a child in this house, but she’s being hidden by her family.”

Lin Qiushi nodded. Dong Tianwei had said the same thing.

Ruan Nanzhu opened the wooden door in front of them and the two entered the house.

“So, let’s see if we can find her.” 

The room was very messy, random objects filled the entire place. The old lady who opened the door for them was sitting on a rocking chair and looked as if she had fallen asleep. The only lighting for the entire room was a single, small lightbulb hanging from the ceiling, making the place look dark and worn down.

“Let’s search separately. If you come across something, call out,” Ruan Nanzhu said quietly to Lin Qiushi. “At critical moments, there isn’t a need to worry about too much.” After all, this role is meant for deceiving people. What’s the point in deception if you’re not alive? 

Lin Qiushi nodded. Pointing to the second floor, he then typed: [I’ll go check out the second floor.]

Ruan Nanzhu hummed in agreement. 

When Lin Qiushi expressed that he was going to the second floor, the old lady had glanced up at him. Although the movement was very subtle, Lin Qiushi still caught it. He understood then that the child should have been hidden somewhere on the second floor.

Climbing up the long staircase, Lin Qiushi arrived upstairs.

On the second floor was likely the owner’s bedroom and study. It was as worn down as everything else, but it was missing the mess of the first floor. 

Lin Qiushi examined this place room by room, but found no trace of the child in any of them. He even checked inside the closets and under the beds, but still did not make any discoveries.

This place wasn’t very big, so where else could they hide a whole living person?

Lin Qiushi could not understand.

Just as Lin Qiushi sank into a state of perplexion, his sharp ears had captured an irregular noise. 

It sounded like nails scratching on wood. It was very quiet, but Lin Qiushi knew that he had heard it. He examined his surroundings and quickly located the source of the noise… a corner of the room.

Lin Qiushi walked over and saw in the corner, a wooden trunk, about half a metre large. Considering the size of the trunk, it would not be capable of containing an entire person, but there was indeed a noise coming from inside of it.

Lin Qiushi thought about it and bent down to examine it. He confirmed that the trunk was the source of the noise but it was locked by a copper lock. Lin Qiushi considered this for a moment and then decided to call Ruan Nanzhu upstairs and get him to unlock it.

 Ruan Nanzhu asked him. “The sound is coming from here?”

Lin Qiushi typed on his phone: [Yes, it should be connected to a hidden room.]

Ruan Nanzhu, “Alright.” He bent into a half-squat and began to pick the lock. 

It was not a complicated lock and Ruan Nanzhu had it unlocked in mere seconds. But the moment the lock clicked open, Lin Qiushi’s eyes widened; he saw what was inside the trunk.

“Ah….. ah…..” The child whose body had been broken into a distorted shape in order to fit inside the box let out a faint groan. Her body was almost completely twisted around, stuffed into a snug fit inside the trunk in front of them. It was hard to ascertain if she was alive or not just by looking at her.

Ruan Nanzhu frowned at the sight of this.

Lin Qiushi was about to step forward, wanting to take the child out, but Ruan Nanzhu reached out an arm to stop him, “There’s no need, she is dead.”

Lin Qiushi, “What… but… she…”

Ruan Nanzhu, “Look at her neck.”

Lin Qiushi looked at it and found that the child’s neck was bent at a ninety degree angle. If a normal person had their neck bent at this angle, they would have already been dead. But inside the door made everything impossible outside, possible. The child in front of him looked up at him and Ruan Nanzhu with her black eyes in  resentment. She was mumbling something incomprehensible, as if reciting a curse. 

Lin Qiushi swore quietly.

“The way they’re hiding the children is really difficult to comprehend.” As Ruan Nanzhu was speaking, a roar suddenly came from behind them.

Turning around, Lin Qiushi saw that the old woman, who had been resting on the first floor, had appeared at the doorway. She had seen Ruan Nanzhu and Lin Qiushi open the box and shouting angrily, she threw herself at them. 

After Lin Qiushi nimbly dodged out of her way, he saw that she was actually holding a knife.

“Go!” Ruan Nanzhu immediately moved. Lin Qiushi followed close behind as they rushed towards the stairs. After dashing down the stairs and out the yard, they had thought that the old lady would follow them out, but the inside of the house stayed strangely silent. 

“She didn’t follow us out?” Panting heavily, Lin Qiushi was slightly dazed as he watched the entrance to the house. 

“I don’t think so.” Ruan Nanzhu was also looking at the entrance of the house. After confirming that indeed nobody had followed them outside, he said, puzzled, “Should I go back and take another look?”

Lin Qiushi, “…Do we have to go back and take another look?”

Ruan Nanzhu, “You wait here, it’s fine if only I go.”

Lin Qiushi, “No, it’s better if we’re together. If something does go wrong, it’ll be easier to deal with together. 

Ruan Nanzhu, “Alright.”

Thus the two who had ran out, returned to the house. This time they were very careful. After careful observation, they confirmed that the old lady wasn’t there and finally went back inside. 

The two of them cautiously climbed up the stairs to the second floor. At the entryway of the staircase, Lin Qiushi heard a disconcerting noise… softly, but clearly there was the sound of bones being broken. 

Ruan Nanzhu looked at Lin Qiushi. It was clear that he had also heard it.

They approached the room they were in earlier. At the doorway, they saw what was happening inside. 

The old woman was restrained by a pair of hands coming from the wooden trunk. The arms were long, slender and deathly pale, twisted around the old woman as if snakes and was slowly dragging the old woman into the trunk. 

The trunk was originally not very big, not to mention it had been stuffed to the brim. And yet because the arms were so strong, half the old woman’s body had already been forced in. Her skeletal structure had clearly been broken, body twitching in its unnatural position… she was also no longer alive.

It was a dreadful sight to behold. A layer of sweat beaded on Lin Qiushi’s forearms.

“What should we do?” Lin Qiushi asked Ruan Nanzhu. 

Ruan Nanzhu was silent before answering, “Let’s go visit the other homes.”

Lin Qiushi, “En…”

With tacit understanding, the two of them shut the door in front of them, and left.

“Was that girl stuffed into the box by the old woman because she was afraid that the child would be taken by the slenderman?” Lin Qiushi discussed what they had seen with Ruan Nanzhu on the way. 

Ruan Nanzhu answered, “Most likely.”

Then this was indeed very strange. Generally, family members are an existence that was supposed to protect the children of the household. Yet they went far as to stuffing them into small trunks, and thereby killing them, in order to ‘protect’ these children. They would rather go to such lengths so that their children were not taken by the slenderman.

“Hey, why does that person look so familiar?” As the two made their way to the other homes, Lin Qiushi saw a familiar figure. After he thought about who it could be, Lin Qiushi was surprised, “Isn’t that Wang Tianxin’s missing female companion??”

Ruan Nanzhu took a look, “It really is her.”

The two of them stood at the side of the road, watching that woman named Liu Ya pass through a deserted alleyway towards the desolate thickets. She seemed cold and detached, completely different from the usual her, who was timid with a drop of eager-to-please, in Lin Qiushi’s memory. 

“Should we follow her and see?” Ruan Nanzhu suggested.

Lin Qiushi nodded. 

Thus the two of them followed behind Liu Ya, hoping to see where exactly she was heading.

Liu Ya moved forwards without stopping, and quickly left the confines of the town into the foresty thickets surrounding it. The thicket was enveloped in fog and only the small path in front of them was clearly visible. 

“If we keep following her, would we end up crossing the boundaries of this world?” Lin Qiushi quietly asked Ruan Nanzhu.

Ruan Nanzhu, “We shouldn’t. There’s something very off about her current state… I think she’s no longer human.” 

Lin Qiushi pressed his lips together. Actually, the moment he had learned that Liu Ya had followed Lauren’s sister somewhere, they both felt that Liu Ya had met with misfortune. After all, they were in the world within the doors right now, so even if they saw a person, that person is not necessarily actually ‘a person’. 

Worried that Liu Ya would notice them, Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu didn’t follow her too closely. Separated by a sheen of fog, Ruan Nanzhu saw that Liu Ya had stopped walking. He extended his arm and pulled at Lin Qiushi, signalling for him to stop. 

They were currently standing in an abandoned area. The ruins around them indicated that it was once a part of the main town. Everywhere was the remains of buildings and patches of weeds. This place seemed to be clouded with an odd feeling of desolation.

Liu Ya stood quietly in the depths of it all, as if waiting for something.

Lin Qiushi heard sounds of rustling from within the thick fog. Something seemed to be walking.

He and Ruan Nanzhu were squatting down behind a piece of the ruins, holding their breaths and daring not to make a sound. 

Soon, a dark figure came out from the depths of thick fog.

It was a tall person who was wearing a black suit and a top hat. It had no facial feature. Its face was white and its hands and feet were long and thin, twisting around in a similar manner of snakes. Slowly, it made its way forwards and stopped in front of Liu Ya.

Liu Ya stared silently at the creature in front of her.

Then, the slendermandid something that Lin Qiushi didn’t expect. It reached out to grab his top hat, and then began moving as if to take it off.

However, the hat seemed to be glued to its head… Lin Qiushi heard the sound like the tearing of silk. The slenderman actually tore off his skin along with the hat.

The scene before him looked very painful. Lin Qiushi felt extremely uncomfortable just by watching the unfolding of this event.

Ruan Nanzhu gently held Lin Qiushi’s wrist, calming his nerves.

Lin Qiushi wanted to say that he was okay, but he was afraid of making a noise, so he dropped the subject.

After tearing off its tophat, the slenderman passed it to Liu Ya.

Liu Ya solemnly took the bloodstained top hat into her hands. After stroking it gently, she then put the hat on top of her own head.

Then, her body began to undergo a monstrous transformation. 

She began to grow taller and her hands and feet, thin  and long. Her skin whitened and her facial features began to disappear… In short, Liu Ya was shifting into the appearance of the slenderman. 

Following Liu Ya’s transformation, the original slenderman cried out sharply. It opened its mouth, exposing a large, blood-red cavity filled with many sharp and thin teeth … Truth be told, this was the first time Lin Qiushi has seen the slenderman opening its mouth. 

The original slender man began to become shorter. And as if having all the water sucked out of its body, as it became shorter and shorter, it became more and more shriveled up.

In the end, it turned into a pile of something like human skin with all its flesh and blood having evaporated away.

Liu Ya herself had turned completely into the slenderman. Her clothes had been ripped apart in her transformation, so she bent down, picked up the suit that had fallen onto the ground and put it on piece by piece. She stroked the tophat and after making a strange laugh, then she reached down to pick up the piece of shrunken human skin.

Lin Qiushi watched the newborn slenderman stuff that shriveled up piece of human skin in its mouth, swallowing it in one mouthful.

It was a scene that was supposed to disgust and terrify, but Lin Qiushi’s attention was fixed onto something else:  he saw clearly that a metallic object was wrapped within the human skin. Although Lin Qiushi wanted to lie to himself,  he was certain that he saw what that metallic object was… that’s right, it was the key needed to leave this door.

The key to this door is actually in the body of the slenderman (scarecrow). 

For a while, the atmosphere between Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu was heavy.

Liu Ya, having eaten the skin (ashes) of her predecessor, showed a satisfied expression. She then turned and disappeared into the thick fog. Having watched the figure disappear, Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzheng in unspoken agreement, remained silent and turned around to leave. It was not until they had returned to town that they were able to relax. 

Beside him Ruan Nanzhu’s expression was very solemn, “Did you see it?”

Lin Qiushi, “I saw it.”

Ruan Nanzhu, “It’s very long huh…”

Lin Qiushi’s expression froze, “What’s long?”

Ruan Nanzhu smiled and did not speak. 

Lin Qiushi caught a trace of mockery in his smile. Finally realizing what Ruan Nanzhus’ “very long huh” referred to, his expression twisted, “…you were watching that attentively?”

Ruan Nanzhu, “The truth is I didn’t want to either; my sense of sight is just too sharp.”

Lin Qiushi, “So? Have you suffered?”

Ruan Nanzhu, “Not really.”

Very good. Very amazing. Through their stalkerish behaviour, they have finally determined that the slenderman was male, and a male whose certain bodily part was quite long at that. Truly, this information that they’ve obtained is quite valuable… Lin Qiushi sorrowfully thought. 

“It seems that there is a uniformed template for transforming into a slenderman.” After making a joke, Ruan Nanzhu returned to the task at hand. “The tophat is the object of transmission.”

Lin Qiushi, “What about the key?”

Ruan Nanzhu, “There are two options: One, beat the slendermandown and cut the key out of its stomach.”

Lin Qiushi, “I’d better choose option two then.” He didn’t think his fighting ability was sufficient to beat that thing down. Even adding on Ruan Nanzhu, he thought that it would be risky.

Ruan Nanzhu, “Option two, act while they are in the middle of transmission.”

Lin Qiushi fell into contemplation.

Ruan Nanzhu, “My guess is that the hat is very important, so we have to act when the first slenderman is taking off its hat and interrupt the transmission.”

Lin Qiushi, “That makes sense.”

The reasoning made sense but how exactly how to execute and interrupt was the real issue. What was worse is that if they fail, they’d mostly die on the spot. The slendermanis not something with a good temperament. 

“This task is not necessarily just up to the two of us.” Ruan Nanzhu said, “Although information is important, our lives are even more important. We can tell these matters to everyone else, and then when the time comes, we act together.”

Lin Qiushi thought that what Ruan Nanzhu said made sense. In any case, the more people, the more manpower; one more person means one more option. However, an issue remains, “What if they’re not willing?”

Ruan Nanzhu,”Not willing…” He sneered, “If they’re not willing, then let them sit and wait for death to claim them.” He smiled and looked at Lin Qiushi with a very serious expression, “I promise, they will die before us.”

Lin Qiushi felt that Ruan Nanzhu was truly not joking around.

The two of them had been running around all day. At this moment, they were a little tired. They planned to go back to the inn and rest.

As they passed by the plaza, Lin Qiushi found that the posters that had been removed by him had not only appeared once again on the notice board, but this time there was one more.

Lin Qiushi looked at the picture on the additional poster: it was the girl who had been stuffed into the trunk by her guardians

“I keep thinking that we are like a star of bad omen,” Lin Qiushi said casually. “The children we talked to all meet with misfortune.”

Hearing what he had said, Ruan Nanzhu replied, “Maybe that really is the case.”

Lin Qiushi, “En? What do you mean?”

Ruan Nanzhu: “I meant that in actuality, we are the accomplices of the slenderman. Not only do we have to eventually become those monsters, we also have to track down the children for it.”

Lin Qiushi, “…” He actually thought that Ruan Nanzhu had said something very reasonable.

But Lin Qiushi still felt like he had forgotten something, something he couldn’t remember. He pressed his lips together, looking worried.

“What’s wrong?” Ruan Nanzhu asked him.

Lin Qiushi, “…I feel like I’ve overlooked something.” It was a strange feeling; it was as if even if his brain couldn’t remember it, his intuition was continuously reminding him.

Ruan Nanzhu, “There’s no rush, you can take your time and think.”

Lin Qiushi nodded.

The two returned to the inn and casually ate something. 

Lin Qiushi originally thought that Ruan Nanzhu would straightaway tell everyone about the matter at hand, Ruan Nanzhu didn’t mention it at all.

At Lin Qiushi’s puzzled expression, Ruan Nanzhu gave a logical explanation. He said, “Let’s wait until when we go in for the key. After all, there may be people here who will become that thing. Let’s not give the enemy information.”

Lin Qiushi, “That’s true.”

He sat by the window, looking towards the distant scenery. Suddenly, in a stroke of luck, it hit him “I remembered it!!”

Ruan Nanzhu, “What?”

Lin Qiushi, “I remembered what I overlooked—do you still remember how I said that I have seen the slenderman a few times before?”

Ruan Nanzhu nodded to indicate that he remembered.

Lin Qiushi said, “But the ones that I saw weren’t wearing hats.”

Ruan Nanzhu frowned.

Lin Qiushi said, as if not believing his own words, “Unless, in this town, there are actually two slendermen?”

Ruan Nanzhu’s gaze was heavy and in a low voice, “That’s very likely.”

If this was really the case, then things were even more terrible than they had thought.