Qiu Shi carried Ruan Bai Jie on his back, while the rest of the group divided up to shoulder the heavy lumber.
The snowy path was slippery, so everyone proceeded extra cautiously. Bearing the oil lamp to light the way ahead, Xiong Qi urged the others along slowly.
At first the snow merely fluttered down in scattered flakes, but as they made their way back, the snow suddenly grew much heavier, like goose feathers filling up the entire sky.
Ruan Bai Jie was not heavy, so Qiu Shi carried her quite easily. Head lowered, he carefully watched where he stepped, one imprint after another.
The wind grew increasingly fierce, even reaching an almost grating intensity. The swirling snowflakes obscured over half of Qiu Shi's field of vision, and he was starting to lose sight of the person in front of him.
This felt extremely disconcerting. Qiu Shi's steps faltered for a moment as he considered stopping, but then he heard Ruan Bai Jie's voice next to his ear telling him, "Don't stop, keep going."
Hearing this, Qiu Shi could only continue forward.
However, the further they went, the more he felt something was not right. At first Qiu Shi figured it was just the extreme cold muddling his mind, but as the journey stretched on, he finally noticed the source of the discordant feeling.
Too light. The person on his back was too light, as if she had lost all weight and substance. Qiu Shi swallowed and experimentally hoisted the person up a little higher.
Indeed it was not his imagination. The one draped over his back was very light, like made of paper, the outer form still there but utterly without weight. A thin sheen of sweat beaded on Qiu Shi's forehead. He called out, "Bai Jie."
No response.
"Bai Jie," Qiu Shi called again.
"What is it?" Ruan Bai Jie pressed her face against Qiu Shi's neck. Her skin was icy cold to the touch, soft and wet, conjuring up uneasy thoughts. She asked, "Why did you call me?"
"No reason," Qiu Shi said. "Just wanted to ask if you were cold."
"I'm not cold at all," Ruan Bai Jie replied.
Qiu Shi didn't dare stop walking. Earlier he had kept his head down while moving forward, and now looking up to observe his surroundings, he realized the others ahead were quite far away.
In the heavy snow, he could only vaguely make out the blurry lamp light and some faint walking silhouettes up ahead buffeted by the wind and snow. What he carried on his back no longer seemed to be Ruan Bai Jie, but something else entirely.
Qiu Shi gritted his teeth slightly.
"You're shivering," remarked the thing on his back in Ruan Bai Jie's voice, soft and gentle. "Are you very cold?"
"I'm alright," Qiu Shi said. "Just a little cold."
"Would you like to go to a place where it's warm?" she asked. "A cozy place with no snow or darkness."
Qiu Shi thought that next she would probably ask what kind of place it was, but he had no desire at all to ask that question, so he simply remained silent.
"Why aren't you saying anything?" she said.
"Because I'm thinking," Qiu Shi answered dryly.
She asked, "Thinking about what?"
Qiu Shi's steps halted briefly as he declared loudly, "I'm thinking about how to throw you off!" After shouting this, he instantly let go of her without looking back and sprinted wildly forward.
Clearly his decision was the right one, because after releasing his hold, he heard no sound of anything heavy falling to the ground - that thing was definitely not human.
Qiu Shi raced ahead with all his might, stealing glances back during gaps in his run. That one glimpse nearly scared him into cardiac arrest. He saw the thing he had flung away lying limply in the snow, while its neck grew longer and longer, extending toward the direction he was frantically fleeing, its black hair trailing as the head scraped against the snowy ground, craning to stare after him while asking, "Why did you abandon me? Aren't I your beloved?"
Qiu Shi angrily retorted, "Like hell you are my--!"
The elongated head: "..."
Qiu Shi didn't even dare slow his pace, only hoping to catch up to his companions ahead as swiftly as possible. But to his despair, no matter how quickly he ran, the silhouettes and lamp light ahead never drew any nearer, as if he was chasing after a mirage in a dream.
Meanwhile, that thing behind him crept closer and closer.
This is the end, Qiu Shi thought in despair as it was about to overtake him. But just then, it felt as if his foot had snagged on something, sending his whole body heavily crashing down to the ground.
"Damn!" Qiu Shi fell flat on his face, even taking a huge biteful of snow. Yet this motion made him feel something detach from his body. Next he felt himself hoisted directly up from the snowy ground by someone.
"Qiu Shi, Qiu Shi, are you okay? Am I really that heavy?" It was Ruan Bai Jie's voice.
Qiu Shi arduously clambered up from the ground to see the girl crouching next to him, poking at his cheek with her finger.
It was Xiong Qi who had hauled Qiu Shi out of the snow. He asked, "You alright?"
Qiu Shi heaved a long sigh. "I thought I was fucking done for."
Ruan Bai Jie tilted her head quizzically. "Why?"
Qiu Shi briefly recounted what had just transpired, saying it was lucky he had tripped at the end, otherwise he was probably already dead.
"Oh," said Ruan Bai Jie. "I was wondering why you fell down. I thought it was because I was too heavy."
Qiu Shi: "No, not that heavy."
The corners of Ruan Bai Jie's lips curved up.
Xiong Qi said, "Let's get moving. The others are already heading down the slope. It'll be dark soon so we should hurry too."
Qiu Shi nodded and clambered to his feet. He felt his knees sting a little, probably scraped when he had crashed into the ground earlier. But he didn't mention this and simply followed Xiong Qi forward, though Ruan Bai Jie declined his later offer to carry her again, complaining Qiu Shi was too skinny and her chest got crushed against his bony back.
Hearing this, Qiu Shi muttered under his breath, "What chest do you even have..." Earlier when he had carried Ruan Bai Jie, her front had felt completely flat, not a hint of softness there.
Overhearing this comment made Ruan Bai Jie angry. She huffed, "Oh fine, yours are bigger then! Say that first why don't you!"
Qiu Shi: "..."
The three hurried to catch up with the others ahead. But just then, Qiu Shi heard a shrill scream.
"Did you hear that?" Qiu Shi asked, worried this might be another hallucination.
"I heard it," Xiong Qi replied, his expression turning ominous. "Hurry, something's happened."
The three broke into a run. When they arrived, a ghastly sight awaited them.
Of the three who had been carrying the lumber earlier, two were now dead, their bodies split completely in half by the crushing weight of the wood. Most horrifying was how even with their bodies severed, they were still conscious, blood bubbling from their mouths as they emitted agonized screams and pleas for help.
The remaining one had collapsed limply on the ground, a dark wet patch staining his crotch, sobbing and wailing incoherently in terror, "Help...save me...!"
"What happened here! What on earth happened!" Xiong Qi demanded.
Xiao Ke explained, "They were just walking along before when suddenly all three let go of the lumber at the same time. It slid down directly onto the first two, smashing their waists."
Before Xiong Qi could respond, the surviving one crawled up from the ground and took off running, shrieking as he fled, "There are ghosts, help, ghosts...!"
Everyone was still too stunned to react when his screaming form disappeared into the snowy veil.
The two mangled bodies on the ground shuddered their last dying breaths.
"What do we do now..." one of the women in the group began weeping uncontrollably. "We're all going to die here too, aren't we!"
Snowflakes clung to Xiong Qi's beard as he sighed and said with remarkable composure, "Let's go. Carry the lumber back first."
That wood had just killed people. No one dared touch it now. But Qiu Shi took the initiative to join Xiong Qi in hoisting up that blood-stained lumber.
The journey back was marked by heavy silence. Fortunately there were no further mishaps along the way.
The two first brought the lumber to the carpenter, who displayed no surprise whatsoever at the sight of the blood-smeared wood. He didn't even ask what had happened, just raspily reminded them in his hoarse voice, "Still missing two more."
Qiu Shi and Xiong Qi said nothing. They turned and headed back to the shelter.
What had transpired with the lumber was too bizarre and sinister. Something evil was clearly at work. Qiu Shi felt he had narrowly dodged disaster once more. Staring into the fire, he sank deep into thought, his whole being suspended in a dazed state.
Ruan Bai Jie sat beside him and suddenly said, "I want to eat noodles."
"Oh," Qiu Shi murmured. "Let me rest a bit first."
"What's wrong?" Ruan Bai Jie asked. "Are you tired?"
"No, I was just contemplating the significance of my existence in this world. I was living perfectly fine in my original place, then one day after leaving my home, I discovered twelve iron doors had appeared in the hallway. And I opened one of them..."
Ruan Bai Jie listened quietly.
"Then I wound up here," said Qiu Shi. "Do those doors merely signify fear and torment?"
Hearing this, Ruan Bai Jie laughed. She said, "I think trying to figure all that out now is meaningless. But perhaps experiences like this aren't meant as torment either."
Qiu Shi: "Then what are they?"
"Maybe..." Ruan Bai Jie's expression was gentle. "They signify rebirth."
Qiu Shi knitted his brows.
By now only the two of them remained in the living room as the others had gone back to their rooms to rest. After the horrific events that day, everyone felt utterly exhausted, so Xiong Qi decided they would regroup to discuss plans after a one hour respite. Though they spoke of making plans, deep down all of them understood - if they wanted to escape this place sooner, they still had to chop lumber on the mountain even if it meant risking even more terrifying things happening next time.
"Go on then," said Ruan Bai Jie. "I'm hungry."
Qiu Shi got up and headed to the kitchen.
Watching his retreating back, Ruan Bai Jie revealed an inscrutable smile.
The noodles tasted pretty good. After the two finished eating, the others had also rested enough by then. Everyone reconvened in the living room to talk about the road ahead.
"They were probably possessed while descending the mountain," said Zhang Zishuang, one of the calmer members. "I saw the first two stop in their tracks for a moment."
"The ways to die here are bizarre and plentiful, no need to care how exactly they died," Xiong Qi bluntly stated. "The issue now is the conditions triggering death."
Whether it was chopping trees, carrying lumber, traveling in the snow - all of these could potentially serve as the ghosts' prerequisites for murder.
"Let's rule things out one by one then," suggested Xiao Ke. "We all chopped trees but only those three carried the wood."
"Then why were Xiong Qi and I fine after lugging the lumber back?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Two possibilities. One, it's carrying the trees. Two, there are other unknown conditions," said Xiong Qi. "The ghosts have a daily limit on how many they can kill. They can't wipe us all out at once." This was also why he had dared to haul the wood back with Qiu Shi earlier.
"But how can we verify?" asked Xiao Ke.
"Why verify?" Ruan Bai Jie idly twirled her hair, rather shamelessly declaring, "As long as we avoid those conditions it should be fine, right? None of us can afford the cost of a failed test."
"I see," was Xiao Ke's curt response. She had never liked Ruan Bai Jie's attitude, usually ignoring her outright. Understandably so, pretty girls like Ruan Bai Jie who occasionally acted coquettishly often failed to win favor with their own gender.
"Then we won't let anyone carry lumber tomorrow," said Xiong Qi. "We'll rig up some tool to drag the trees down the mountain instead."
The others voiced agreement.
"What about the one who ran off?" someone raised, worried for the teammate who had broken down mentally. "We're just going to abandon him?"
"How to even search for him?" asked Zhang Zishuang. "Look outside, it'll be dark soon. No telling what might happen once night falls. Who'd risk their life going to look?"
Everyone fell silent, consenting to his rationale.
In this kind of world, all their lives dangled by a thread. Just surviving was already an extravagant luxury, let alone attempting to save others.
"Let's go, rest early so we can continue tomorrow," said Xiong Qi, concluding the discussion as he rose to retreat to his room.
Yet Ruan Bai Jie took one look outside and remarked, "Who knows if the snow will stop tomorrow or not."
Her words proved prophetic.
The snow fell all night without any sign of stopping by morning.
Likely due to the previous day's death, nothing sinister occurred overnight, allowing everyone to successfully weather through the darkness.
But the heavy snow made even stepping outside difficult, let alone chopping trees and transporting lumber back in such wind and precipitation. However, compared to the atrocious weather, the lurking ghosts posed the greater source of fear. Thus despite the terrible conditions, not one person suggested delaying things by a day.
It was a muted morning and a muted departure as the bizarre events from before seemed to have robbed everyone of their ability to converse.
The only one still in high spirits was Ruan Bai Jie, humming songs as she traipsed through the snow, treating this entire outing as a trivial bit of sightseeing.