The warm water washed away the sweat and heat from his body. After taking a shower, Lin Qiu Shi sat in front of his computer and typed four words: Fei Er Sha Niao.
Fei Er Sha Niao were the four words written on the slip of paper he had picked up from the door. Lin Qiu Shi didn't understand what they meant, so he decided to look for answers online.
In a fraction of a second, the webpage showed what Lin Qiu Shi was looking for. He clicked on the first link, which was a forum where people were discussing Grimm's fairy tales. One of the fairy tale names mentioned was The Fitcher's Bird.
Fei Er Sha Niao, due to differences in translation, was also called the Strange Bird. It told the story of three sisters and a wizard disguised as a beggar.
The gist of the story was that the wizard disguised himself as a beggar and went around capturing brides. After capturing a bride, he would give her a key and an egg, while also telling her that he would be away for a few days and asking her not to enter a certain room. But because of curiosity, the girl would use the key to open the forbidden door after the wizard left. Upon seeing the room filled with dismembered corpses, she would drop the egg in her hand onto the ground.
The egg would be stained red with blood when it hit the ground, and no matter how hard the girl tried, she could not wipe the blood stains off the egg. When the wizard returned and saw the red stains on the egg, he would drag the girl into the room and chop her into pieces with a knife. Of the three sisters in the story, only the youngest sister narrowly escaped death, and eventually she used her wit to save her sisters and kill the wizard.
It's said that fairy tales are for children to read, but when Lin Qiu Shi read this story, he felt a chill down his spine. Especially the scene where the little sister cheerfully watched her sisters' corpses being pieced back together, it felt particularly creepy.
This story was somewhat similar to Bluebeard, but overall it felt even bloodier.
But what was the meaning behind Fei Er Sha Niao on the slip of paper? Lin Qiu Shi fell into deep thought as he tried to connect these words to his own experiences, but felt it was somewhat far-fetched.
But if it wasn't related to his past experiences, could it be a prophecy of his future? Lin Qiu Shi recalled the twelve pitch-black doors, and that sense of unease grew stronger.
Unable to find an answer, he lay back down on his bed and stared blankly at the ceiling.
He had originally planned to quit his job and return to his hometown recently, but with this sudden incident, all his plans were disrupted.
What had happened with the door completely exceeded his ability to comprehend and could no longer be explained by common sense. For now he couldn't find any clues and felt his mind descend into chaos.
As these thoughts swirled in his mind, Lin Qiu Shi gradually fell into a light sleep. His sleep quality wasn't great - any small sound in the room would immediately wake him. In his semi-conscious state, Lin Qiu Shi heard a faint noise. Assuming it was his cat Chestnut, he mumbled blurrily: "Chestnut..."
There was no response.
The sound disappeared, but a faint scent appeared under Lin Qiu Shi's nose. It was a unique fragrance, like the smell of ice and snow. At the same time, with eyes closed he sensed an odd feeling of being watched.
It was hard to describe, but even with eyes shut he distinctly felt someone's intense gaze on him. A shiver went down his back as goosebumps rose.
...There was someone else in his room, Lin Qiu Shi's awareness grew as he clearly realized this fact.
"You wake up so easily," an unfamiliar male voice suddenly sounded, the hot breath seeming to fan Lin Qiu Shi's ear.
Discovered to be faking sleep, Lin Qiu Shi opened his eyes.
The room lights were off, but in the moonlight he could vaguely make out the visitor's looks. It was an extremely handsome man, yet despite the handsomeness there wasn't a hint of feminine air. Currently he was tilting his head slightly, smiling at Lin Qiu Shi. His black eyes were obscured in the darkness, preventing Lin Qiu Shi from accurately judging his mood.
"Awake?" The man lightly stroked Lin Qiu Shi's lips with his fingers. His hands were icy cold, lacking human warmth, yet smooth as jade.
Lin Qiu Shi reflexively tried to pull back, but the man grabbed his wrist directly with astounding strength - his grip was like an iron shackle, the slightest struggle making Lin Qiu Shi's wrist ache faintly. It felt as if a tiny bit more force would directly snap his hand off.
"Who are you?" Lin Qiu Shi asked. "Trespassing is against the law—"
The man laughed at Lin Qiu Shi instead. He slowly leaned closer, carefully observing Lin Qiu Shi's looks before gently murmuring: "Just as cute as I imagined."
A chill went down Lin Qiu Shi's spine hearing this.
Just as he thought the man would do something even more outrageous, the man simply let go of his hand and casually flipped on the bedside lamp.
Light once again filled the room, also dispelling the unknown terror of darkness. Lin Qiu Shi could finally clearly see the person before him.
The man's looks exceeded his imagination - beautiful yet not the slightest bit feminine. Their eyes met, and seemingly noticing the guardedness and traces of panic in Lin Qiu Shi's eyes, the man smiled again. He extended a hand towards Lin Qiu Shi, tone gentle: "Welcome to the world of doors."
Lin Qiu Shi didn't take his hand. He looked dubious: "Who are you? Why did you appear in my home?"
The man didn't mind Lin Qiu Shi's cold attitude. "Hello Lin Qiu Shi, my name is Ruan Nan Zhu. I know you have many questions, but right now I can't answer them one by one for you."
Lin Qiu Shi pressed his lips together, looking rather stubborn.
Ruan Nan Zhu glanced at his watch: "You have ten minutes to get dressed properly, then I'll take you somewhere."
Lin Qiu Shi had just opened his mouth to speak when Ruan Nan Zhu interrupted him. Despite looking harmless, this beautiful man exuded a strong oppressive aura. He smiled, putting Lin Qiu Shi's nerves on edge: "You don't have the right to refuse."
Lin Qiu Shi looked helpless. Just now he had already experienced Ruan Nan Zhu's strength and knew he was no match in a direct confrontation.
The atmosphere froze up. Just as Lin Qiu Shi was thinking whether or not to obey the man's order, his cat Chestnut who had been napping in the living room suddenly appeared in the bedroom, softly meowing as she rubbed against Ruan Nan Zhu's calves.
Ruan Nan Zhu's oppressive aura instantly vanished. He bent down to pick up Chestnut, skillfully scratching under her chin: "You even have a cat?"
"Mm," Lin Qiu Shi said. "You..." He still wanted to ask about Ruan Nan Zhu's identity, but felt that no matter what he wouldn't get a satisfactory answer. But recalling something, he hesitantly asked: "What's your relationship with Ruan Bai Jie?" The Ruan surname was uncommon, plus the man had mentioned a world of doors - surely it was related to those twelve iron doors.
Ruan Nan Zhu didn't reply. "You have seven minutes left."
Lin Qiu Shi looked helpless, thinking that this handsome man really had a temper harder than stone. So he resigned himself to his misfortune and got dressed. Luckily it was summer so that only took a few minutes.
Seven minutes later, the two were on time downstairs.
When leaving his home, Lin Qiu Shi very suspiciously examined his door lock and saw no signs of damage.
As if guessing his thoughts, Ruan Nan Zhu casually pointed: "I came in through the window."
Lin Qiu Shi: "...Haha, nice joke." His home was on the 16th floor with no footholds outside, so Ruan Nan Zhu must have flown in through the window?
Seeing that he didn't believe it, Ruan Nan Zhu didn't explain but simply turned to walk away.
Lin Qiu Shi grumbled behind him about trespassing being against the law.
Ruan Nan Zhu: "Go ahead and call the cops then."
Lin Qiu Shi: "..."
The two went downstairs to the garage, unexpectedly finding another person sitting in the driver's seat of a car there seemingly about to fall asleep.
Ruan Nan Zhu knocked on the glass: "Cheng Qian Li."
The youth called Cheng Qian Li was shocked awake, rubbing his eyes and mumbling: "Bro Ruan, you finished your business so quickly?"
Ruan Nan Zhu: "Let's go."
Cheng Qian Li made a sound of agreement, then sized up Lin Qiu Shi. "Quite cute indeed."
Lin Qiu Shi: "..." He wasn't the least bit happy being called cute by a teenage boy. To be honest, if it wasn't for Ruan Nan Zhu's earlier mention of the doors, he would've suspected this to be a human trafficking group.
While being sized up by Cheng Qian Li, Lin Qiu Shi was also observing him. The youth looked to be around 16 or 17, with a voice still changing, some remnants of childishness on his face.
Noticing this, Lin Qiu Shi suddenly sat up straight in the backseat and thought of a crucial question...
"May I ask bluntly how old your friend is?"
Ruan Nan Zhu: "?"
Cheng Qian Li in front answered: "I'm 16." He had thought Lin Qiu Shi wanted to exclaim over how young he was and was prepared to proudly show off, but instead heard Lin Qiu Shi mutter: "16...no driver's license right."
Cheng Qian Li: "..." As expected of the man Brother Ruan fancied, this kind of thought process wasn't normal at all!
Ruan Nan Zhu also laughed. "I've seen so many people, you're the first to ask this."
Lin Qiu Shi said: "So does he have a license? I just saw news today of someone dying in a car accident. Or should I drive instead? My driving skills are pretty good."
An indescribable silence filled the car.
Cheng Qian Li sighed deeply. "Don't worry, I've been driving for three years now, it's fine as long as we don't run into traffic police..."
But as soon as they drove out of the housing complex, the three saw a traffic officer not far away conducting random checks for drunk driving.
Cheng Qian Li: "Fuck."
Lin Qiu Shi had an I-told-you-so look.
So Cheng Qian Li expressionlessly changed spots with Ruan Nan Zhu, then glared at Lin Qiu Shi after sitting down beside him in the backseat.
Lin Qiu Shi looked completely innocent, thinking I just casually mentioned it, how would I expect it to actually come true?
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