Li Dongyuan's death became an insignificant interlude; White Deer, with its new leader, quickly got back on track. But those who didn't care for Jin Yurui remained pernicious. Before long, Lin Qiushi heard that White Deer had split into two factions. The old one was still led by Jin Yurui. The new one took off from headquarters and called itself New White Deer.
About this, Ruan Nanzhu wasn't too shocked. He'd clearly seen it coming.
"This might actually be a good thing for Jin Yurui," was Ruan Nanzhu's judgment. "Her current support base isn't steady, and it's hard to keep an eye on everybody in White Deer. Rather than keeping unfaithful members around, why not let them start their own group."
Lin Qiushi replied, oh. Honestly he thought it absurd. They were all people who could die at any minute—why bother with these insignificant rankings? No matter how much they fought each other, it was all still dust to dust in the end.
Ruan Nanzhu actually wanted to laugh at Lin Qiushi's words. He shook his head and said lightly, "humans are always greedy."
However much they got, they were never satisfied.
Lin Qiushi thought he understood Ruan Nanzhu's meaning, but still found it hard to actually empathize with those people and their actions. With the world within the doors to compare reality against, he'd never before realized how wondrous it was to simply be alive. Whatever satisfaction anything else could bring simply paled in comparison.
It was like needing to come out of a desert to truly understand thirst and the treasure of water.
Chestnut's recent attitude toward Lin Qiushi had returned to before. He meowed all the time now, hopping up on Lin Qiushi's chest to purr and nuzzle. Today it butted its face up against Lin Qiushi's chin, looking all self-satisfied.
Faced with an affectionate Chestnut Lin Qiushi absolutely melted. He scritched under Chestnut's chin, cooing, "good baby, good baby."
Cheng Qianli saw Lin Qiushi like this and said, "hey Qiushi, did you know you become this doting mother when you're playing with your cat?"
Lin Qiushi paused. "Why not a doting father?"
Cheng Qianli, "…" Oh sure, that was the point.
Doting mother it was. Lin Qiushi could hardly be bothered with this sort of detail.
About three months after leaving the door, his body was mostly recovered. But Ruan Nanzhu still looked weak, though he was already far healthier than he'd been fresh out the door.
On a sunny afternoon, Ruan Nanzhu suddenly sought out Lin Qiushi, and said he wanted to talk.
Lin Qiushi went to Ruan Nanzhu's bedroom and saw him sitting in a chair beside the window. Warm sunlight spilled a faint layer of gold upon him, and he almost looked like he was softly glowing.
Lin Qiushi called, "Nanzhu."
Ruan Nanzhu's eyes opened, but they didn't look sleepy. They were still deep and still like lakewater. He said, "sit."
Lin Qiushi entered and sat beside Ruan Nanzhu.
"How are you feeling?" Ruan Nanzhu asked.
Lin Qiushi nodded, "mostly recovered."
Ruan Nanzhu's gaze on Lin Qiushi became more assessing, as if he was gauging Lin Qiushi's physical condition. Soon, he had an answer: "you can enter doors on your own now."
Lin Qiushi wasn't surprised by Ruan Nanzhu's words. He'd been considering it recently as well. Ever since he started entering the doors, he'd been with Ruan Nanzhu. Ruan Nanzhu was always guiding him and protecting him, but everybody else in the mansion, aside from Cheng Qianli, faced the doors on their own.
Lin Qiushi didn't want to become a burden to Ruan Nanzhu. Rather than being protected, he wanted more to fight at Ruan Nanzhu's side.
Ruan Nanzhu asked, "what do you think?"
"Sounds good," Lin Qiushi replied. "I agree, it's time I try on my own."
His gaze dipped, and landed on Ruan Nanzhu's collarbone. It was a beautiful collarbone, composed of elegant lines that seemed possible only on sculptures. But the only mar in that beauty was the new scar, dark red beneath the bone. This was from the ninth door, unfaded. Lin Qiushi felt suddenly regretful—Ruan Nanzhu was perfect, and no such marks should be present on a perfect being.
Ruan Nanzhu observed Lin Qiushi's expression, and asked, "are you scared?"
Lin Qiushi shook his head.
Ruan Nanzhu, "you're really not scared?"
Lin Qiushi replied, "no." He truly wasn't.
Ruan Nanzhu was quiet for a bit, before he slowly opened his mouth again. "I was terrified the first time I went in on my own." He seemed to think it a bit funny. "Scared to death, but it's not like it helped. Other people can't take care of me forever… Lin Qiushi," he called.
Lin Qiushi looked over, and their eyes met. He heard the lightest sound of Ruan Nanzhu's lips parting.
Ruan Nanzhu's tone was simple, but carried with it an air of obduracy: "but if you're willing, if you are—I can protect you forever. Whoever's—your forever or my forever."
These words sent Lin Qiushi's heart pounding and his ears going red. He felt somewhat embarrassed, all of a sudden.
"What do you think?" Ruan Nanzhu tilted his head. "If you say the word…"
Lin Qiushi said, "no, I want to go on my own."
Ruan Nanzhu went silent. The casual air about him instantly disappeared, morphing into a whipping, frosty blankness.
Lin Qiushi knew he'd been misunderstood, and rushed to explain, "it's not that I won't, but I don't want that." He meant it, eyes falling once more to the wound on Ruan Nanzhu's collarbone. "I don't want you to get hurt like this again. If I'd been better… We'd have both gotten out uninjured. And you're still healing as well…"
He rambled on for a while, like a wordy old granny. But he didn't dare not to ramble. He worried he wasn't explaining it right and Ruan Nanzhu was misunderstanding.
Honestly he really wanted to go back in with Ruan Nanzhu, but he couldn't be so selfish. Ruan Nanzhu's body was still healing, and Lin Qiushi couldn't ask this much of him.
Ruan Nanzhu remained expressionless at first, but soon enough exasperation bled through. He said, "alright already, I understand." His eyebrow rose in a neat, attractive arch. "How come I didn't know you talked so much?"
Lin Qiushi, "well daddy's home now to give you a proper lecture."
Ruan Nanzhu, "…"
Lin Qiushi, "it was just a joke…"
Ruan Nanzhu got up from his chair, and looked down his nose at Lin Qiushi. He said, "a joke?"
Ruan Nanzhu's oppressive aura made Lin Qiushi instinctively want to back up a few steps, but he kept himself still. Then he heard Ruan Nanzhu say, "you do lecture me properly, yes."
Lin Qiushi wanted to smile, but was too afraid.
The Ruan Nanzhu inside and outside the doors were just too different. It drove Lin Qiushi a bit crazy trying to keep up.
Ruan Nanzhu turned, went over to a side of the room, and fetched a key. Then he bent down and opened a safe in a corner, extracting a slip of paper.
He returned to Lin Qiushi and handed the paper over: "this is the hint for a fourth door. You can find a gig online, or I can recommend one for you. When you want to go in, let me know." His voice went heavy with emphasis. "This time, you're on your own."
Lin Qiushi nodded soberly, and took the thing from Ruan Nanzhu's hand.
"Go on." After handing the paper over, Ruan Nanzhu waved Lin Qiushi off.
Lin Qiushi turned to leave, and saw at the door that Ruan Nanzhu had returned to the chair. His eyes were closed, and he seemed tired. Shutting the door gently, Lin Qiushi mentally wished him happy dreams.
Lin Qiushi only looked at the hint once he'd left. It was a simple rhyme: I've said it once I'll say it twice, my baby cries with all his might, if you see this chant this thrice, and he'll sleep on 'til morning light.
Lin Qiushi recalled this to be an old wives' tale of some sort, where if you had a child at home who cried a lot, you would write this rhyme on a sheet of paper and stick it in a busy intersection. If passersby read it enough, your child would stop crying.
Who knew if it actually worked though. Lin Qiushi pocketed the hint and thought he'd look online for a gig of his own.
The internet truly was a convenient thing; problems were swiftly solved without even having to meet first.
After Lin Qiushi made up his mind, he quickly found a gig opportunity. A self-proclaimed sixteen year old girl made a post hoping to find a guide for her door. But she didn't have much money, and asked to pay in installments.
After reading up on her, Lin Qiushi sent a private message asking for more details. He learned she was a junior in high school, and her fourth door was in two weeks.
Lin Qiushi showed this information to Ruan Nanzhu and asked if he thought this person was okay.
After reading, Ruan Nanzhu's expression went a bit odd. "You sure you want this person?"
Lin Qiushi, "I think a girl is safer than a guy. Plus she's young…" If they encountered any unforeseen circumstances, it'd be easier to take care of.
"Alright," Ruan Nanzhu said. "This person registered her account half a year ago, if there do end up being any problems, they shouldn't be too major…"
Lin Qiushi, "what can happen?"
Ruan Nanzhu, "lots can happen. Go find Chen Fei, tell him to give you a rundown."
Lin Qiushi nodded in agreement.
"Remember to bring all your props when you go in," Ruan Nanzhu warned. "You may not know what they do, but they'll save your life in key moments."
Lin Qiushi made a noise of acknowledgement.
Then Chen Fei gave him a lesson, breaking down the most common cons on the website forum. Number one was lying about the door number. This was mostly annoying for others, because some who took gigs didn't have the bracelets, and had to enter doors in person with their clients. So by the time they discovered the door number was wrong, it'd already be too late. Fraudulent cases might be as drastic as the client claiming to be on door three and actually entering door five.
"Then what do you do?" Lin Qiushi hadn't considered this possibility, and was shocked. "You just have to go in?"
"Yeah, you can only go in," Chen Fei answered frankly. "I got screwed like that once before joining Obsidian. After we went in, I could've murdered the guy. But now we have the bracelets and don't have to worry. If you realize they're screwing you over and it's not really their fourth door, just take the bracelet off."
Lin Qiushi said, "okay!"
Chen Fei, "as for another potential situation, there's not much to do."
Lin Qiushi, "what situation?"
Chen Fei, "lying about who they are."
A brawny 180cm guy pretending to be a 160cm girl, to persuade someone to take them on as a gig. Chen Fei said this was actually pretty common, and Lin Qiushi should prepare himself…
Lin Qiushi, "…wouldn't he be scared that I ID the wrong person?"
Chen Fei patted Lin Qiushi's shoulder and sighed deeply. "Don't worry about it, we actually misrecognize clients a lot. Ruan-ge for example. It's routine for him at this point."
Lin Qiushi, "…" He flashed back to how he and Ruan Nanzhu first met.
"One more thing to note, try not to reveal your outside identity," Chen Fei said. "It can be dangerous."
Lin Qiushi, "I understand."
"When are you heading in?" It seemed Ruan Nanzhu had already told Chen Fei that this time, Lin Qiushi was heading in alone. "It's your first time after all, let us throw you a celebration."
Lin Qiushi, "…that's alright." What's to celebrate?
"No no," Chen Fei said, "we have to."
Lin Qiushi, "…"
He initially couldn't understand Chen Fei's insistence, but after some careful thought, he figured it out. Entering the doors alone was a very dangerous thing. It was easy to die inside. Rather than a celebration, it was more like a preemptive send-off—in case something did happen inside, you'd at least said your goodbyes to everybody in the mansion.
Cheng Qianli managed to start sobbing right there at the dinner table. He said, "Qiushi, go on in peace. I'll take good care of Chestnut."
Lin Qiushi, "can you stop talking."
Cheng Qianli, "say no more. From today on, Chestnut is my daughter-in-law! I'll take good care of her!"
Lin Qiushi, "Chestnut's a boy."
Cheng Qianli, "so is Toast!"
Lin Qiushi was speechless. He wanted to give Cheng Qianli's head a few good knocks—with a fool like that, a few more hits couldn't hurt. And what if it worked like a TV, and a few bangs managed to fix him.
Cheng Qianli aside, Lin Qiushi could tell that others in the mansion were worried about him, though they behaved with more restraint.
There were still two weeks until he was to enter. Lin Qiushi thought he'd pass this time peacefully, but there was an incident. Well, not really an incident, just that he saw Luo Qianshan—yes, the Luo Qianshan with a sister named Luo Qianshui, from the door they'd just left
But outside, his name was Zhuo Feiquan, and his sister's name was Zhuo Mingyu. "Fei Quan Ming Yu," the rushing springwater and singing jadepiece—at least it sounded much better than Cheng Qianli and Cheng Yixie's "Yi Xie Qian Li," the tumble of water that, once started, couldn't stop crashing.
"Maybe this is the importance of study." Once Cheng Qianli learned this he was beside himself with woe. "Who could call himself Qianli and want an older brother named Yixie…"
Cheng Yixie, "Cheng Qianli are you asking for it?"
Cheng Qianli, who had very strong survival instincts, could only continue, "me, of course. I would. My brother's so cute after all."
Cheng Yixie, "hah."
Actually, after the ninth door, Ruan Nanzhu had investigated the Luo siblings to make sure they weren't from any existing organization.
These two were too peculiar. Someone who'd passed his ninth door with a deceased loved one was sure to be a major player in any organization, if not the leader himself. There were only a handful of large organizations domestically, and people who'd passed their ninth doors were in even shorter supply, so Ruan Nanzhu had very quickly determined Luo Qianshan and Luo Qianshui were not part of any group.
Ruan Nanzhu didn't have much interest in them; it was Cheng Yixie who did, and also him who dug up their true identities.
How Cheng Yixie uncovered Luo Qianshan's identity Lin Qiushi didn't ask. All he knew was one day, upon returning to the mansion, he was met with a young man in his twenties sitting on the couch, angrily arguing something with one of the twins.
Lin Qiushi could hear the object of their argument from far away. Essentially, the man was warning the twin to stop investigating him, or else.
Cheng Yixie said nothing. He only stared with a baffled, it's not me, I didn't do it expression
Lin Qiushi had to watch for a bit before realizing that that wasn't Cheng Yixie at all, but Cheng Qianli.
Lin Qiushi, "…"
"Cheng Qianli, don't think you can put on an innocent face and get me to trust you," the man said. "Want to play wolf in sheep's clothing? You've got nothing on me."
Listening to him, Lin Qiushi wanted badly to say, the one in front of you was no wolf, he really was just a sheep…
Cheng Qianli was horribly aggrieved about being randomly yelled at. He said, "Zhuo Feiquan, you're being ridiculous. I've already told you I had nothing to do with it. Go take it up with my brother, I'm sure he's the one who did it."
Zhuo Feiquan scoffed. "Don't think you can fool me. The photo looks just like you!"
Cheng Qianli, "but my brother looks just like me too!"
Zhuo Feiquan, "but it's not like that's identical! Nobody's ever mistaken me for my sister!" He didn't seem to know Cheng Qianli and Cheng Yixie were twins, and thought they were brothers with an age difference.
Cheng Qianli was on the verge of tears from ill-treatment. He'd done much wrong in his life that his brother had taken the fall for, but he really did have nothing to do with pissing off the person before him. So when he looked up and saw Lin Qiushi, he rushed to say, "Qiushi, tell him. He's nuts!"
Lin Qiushi asked, "where's your brother?"
Cheng Qianli, "who knows where he disappeared off to for which random imp?"
As their stand-off continued, the door opened once more to usher Cheng Yixie, with a basket of vegetables, inside. Though he walked right into the middle of the tension, his expression didn't change a bit.
It was Zhuo Feiquan who froze, upon seeing Cheng Qianli and Cheng Yixie's identical faces. "You really are twins?"
Cheng Qianli shouted, "I've told you like three hundred times already!"
Zhuo Feiquan, awkwardly, "alright, you look alike."
Cheng Qianli, "can identical twins not look alike?" He peered at his brother, first in anger. But upon meeting Cheng Yixie's gaze he wilted awfully quick. "See, look what you've done. You've brought one of your random imps home."
Zhuo Feiquan, the random imp in question, "..."
Cheng Yixie dropped the vegetables off in the kitchen, washed his hands, and took his time strolling back out. Then he turned to Zhuo Feiquan: "what?"
Zhuo Feiquan, "you're the one who's been investigating me?"
Cheng Yixie sat down across from him. "Yes."
Zhuo Feiquan, "can you—"
Before he could finish, Cheng Yixie interrupted: "no." He looked nothing like a sixteen-year-old in this moment, when he coldly asked, "you think you get to come beg me?"
Zhuo Feiquan's eyes lowered and he went silent. Then he stood to leave.
Lin Qiushi saw as he passed a pendant hanging at his chest. It was lovely, with a black and white picture of a young lady. She must have been Zhuo Feiquan's sister… Luo Qianshui from inside the door.
Zhuo Feiquan stormed off, and Cheng Yixie didn't stop him, only said to Cheng Qianli that the next time someone like that came around, just ignore him. Don't even open the door.
"What in the world did you do to him?" Cheng Qianli asked.
Cheng Yixie smiled coolly. "Ruan-ge and Qiushi both almost died because of him. It was charitable to not kill him."
Whatever hotshot Zhuo Feiquan was inside the door, outside, he was normal. Most importantly he didn't have the backing of any organization.
"Well, okay," Cheng Qianli said. "Don't overdo it, or Ruan-ge will have your ear."
Cheng Yixie didn't reply, and went into the kitchen. Not long after there came the delicious scent of food.
Cheng Qianli asked, "what the hell happened inside that door? I haven't seen my brother treat anyone like this in a long time."
Lin Qiushi, "nothing in particular…" He also thought Cheng Yixie's behavior was odd.
The truth was that most of the time, Cheng Yixie didn't emote very strongly at all, and didn't seem like the type to seek vengeance. Did Zhuo Feiquan's actions inside the door really piss Cheng Yixie off this much?
Lin Qiushi didn't actually think much further on this matter, because his time to enter the doors came quickly.
He got all his things ready, agreed on outfits and a code with his client, and waited about for the time to arrive.
Several days later, on a random afternoon, Lin Qiushi felt the change in the air around him. He opened his room door, and wasn't surprised to see that the hallway outside had turned into twelve black metal doors.