When he entered, he saw a young man with dyed yellow hair standing in place stomping his feet. He was wearing non-mainstream clothes, with a lip ring hanging from his lips, looking like a small gangster from the lowest level. At this time, the man was roaring at the crowd, and the others in the crowd had cold expressions, looking at him like he was a clown.
When the youth saw Lin Qiu Shi and the girl Xu Jin who had just entered, his emotions became even more agitated. He pointed at them and shouted, "Are you with these people? What do you want to do after tricking me here? Hurry up and send me out, otherwise I'll f*cking kill you all!"
Hearing the man's bluffing words, Lin Qiu Shi really found it funny: "Didn't you just say you were going to call the police? Now how did that become you killing us all?"
"Are you looking to die?" The youth was even angrier when he heard Lin Qiu Shi's words. He shouted, "Say one more word and I'll stab you to death! Do you know who I am? How dare you talk to me like that!"
Lin didn't bother with him anymore. His eyes quickly scanned the crowd.
This scan made his heart sink instantly. He saw that behind the youth, there were a total of thirteen people in the room, either sitting or standing. Plus the youth, Lin Qiu Shi and Xu Jin, there were a full sixteen people.
This was the first time Lin had seen so many people. It was obvious how difficult this world would be.
Most of the people in the crowd had cold expressions, disdainful of the youth's bad attitude, and didn't intend to reason with him.
Of course, it was too troublesome to reason with a dead person.
Among the thirteen people, there were five men and eight women. Lin quickly found his target among them - the teenager standing at the front of the crowd, and the woman sitting in the corner whose face he couldn't see clearly.
Although their faces were unfamiliar, the clothes they wore told Lin Qiu Shi their identities.
The woman was Ruan Nan Zhu, the teenager was Cheng Qian Li.
After Lin saw them, he shifted his gaze away.
"Hey, I'm talking to you guys!" Seeing Lin Qiu Shi's attitude, the yellow-haired youth suddenly got angry again. He took out a small knife from his pocket and brandished it around. "Are you really looking to die?"
Just as he finished speaking, a pair of hands pressed down on the youth's shoulders, and a nice male voice rang out: "Friend, you're still young, why get so angry?" The voice's owner revealed a handsome male face, smiling gently at the youth. His tone sounded very gentle: "If there's anything, we can talk it out slowly."
Somehow, after hearing the man's voice, the youth's face instantly turned pale. He gritted his teeth, but still conceded and put away the knife, muttering: "You guys better not try to trick me."
The man let go of the youth's shoulders and stepped forward. He smiled at Lin Qiu Shi: "My name is Meng Yu, fourth time entering."
Lin Qiu Shi shook his extended hand: "Yu Linlin, third time."
The man smiled: "Have a seat, we were just discussing things."
Lin nodded.
Meng Yu had a very amiable aura about him. His smiling face was particularly gentle, giving him the tendency to become the leader of this team.
Ruan Nan Zhu, who was used to occupying the leadership position, had been very quiet this whole time. Lin Qiu Shi, pretending to casually sit down next to him, noticed his face didn't look very good.
"Are you alright, miss?" Lin asked. "Do you not feel well somewhere?"
Ruan Nan Zhu shook his head slightly, giving a weak, faint smile: "It's nothing, I've had a weak constitution since I was little. Thank you for your concern."
Lin Qiu Shi said: "My name is Yu Linlin."
Ruan Nan Zhu: "I'm called Zhu Meng."
"Nice to meet you." Lin shifted his gaze away.
The Ruan Nan Zhu of this world was not the same as the previous two worlds. His height and body seemed shorter and weaker. Although his face was still beautiful as always, he now had an additional sickly beauty.
Lin guessed this might be because Ruan Nan Zhu's body had not recovered here, resulting in these changes.
"Did you guys see that woman outside too?" Meng Yu stood among the crowd, simply analyzing their situation: "I just went to ask her what was going on. She said she was a tour guide and all of us were here to go sightseeing."
So this was probably the story background.
"Sightseeing?" A girl in the crowd followed up his question. "How many days are we sightseeing for?"
"She didn't say, only until we finish seeing all the attractions." Meng Yu replied. "There's probably a time limit, but we can't confirm it yet."
"Where are we staying?" Cheng Qian Li suddenly spoke up. "Where are we living?"
Meng Yu walked to the window and pointed at the row of small bamboo buildings near the forest: "There."
The small bamboo houses were neatly lined up, with lush forests behind them. Some ornamental plants were grown in front of the bamboo houses, along with some small flowers. But Lin Qiu Shi didn't recognize what kind of plants they were.
"Let's divide up the rooms." Meng Yu suddenly came out with this line. "We definitely can't all stay together."
"Why can't we stay together?" The newly arrived Xu Jin carefully asked, "Wouldn't it be safer if we were together?"
"We'd fall asleep if staying together. It's not safe." Lin Qiu Shi said.
"Oh..." Although Xu Jin still didn't understand, she didn't keep asking. Her reaction was much better than that yellow-haired youth's, at least she didn't offend most of the people when she didn't understand what was happening.
"There's still very little information right now, there will probably be more tomorrow." Meng Yu said. "It's getting late, let's rest first."
So the crowd dispersed to prepare for sleep.
Sixteen people was considered a large number. Although it was already dark out, walking together didn't elicit too much fear.
Lin Qiu Shi entered the bamboo building first, and quickly looked over the layout inside.
There were three beds on the second floor of each bamboo house, one by the window and two by the wall. The weather here felt quite hot, so there was only a single thin quilt on each bed.
Dividing up beds among sixteen people would be another big issue.
Before Meng Yu could even speak, several of the girls immediately voiced their desire to stay with him.
"I'd feel too embarrassed for that." Meng Yu smiled. "Why don't we split by gender instead?"
"Our lives are at stake here, what's there to be embarrassed about?" One of the girls directly expressed her thoughts. She sidled up to him and grabbed his arm, intentionally squeezing it between her ample breasts. "Brother Meng, I just want to stay with you..."
Meng Yu laughed: "Alright then."
Lin Qiu Shi was seeing this kind of situation for the first time, but it wasn't surprising when he thought about it. Having an experienced elder lead the group would increase their chances of survival.
"Can I stay with you?" Ruan Nan Zhu's voice drifted over as he slowly walked to Lin Qiu Shi's side. His palm-sized face was sickly pale as he softly coughed twice. "I'm a little scared."
Lin immediately nodded and said okay.
"I want to stay with you too." Another girl's voice piped up - it was Xu Jin whom Lin had just met. Her expression was pitifully delicate, with tears shimmering in her eyes. "Brother Linlin, I'm scared too."
Lin Qiu Shi: "..." He suddenly felt a little unprepared.
He hesitated briefly, feeling that agreeing to Ruan Nan Zhu while rejecting Xu Jin might seem too abrupt. So he could only nod and say okay.
"Thank you." Xu Jin smiled. She casually glanced at Ruan Nan Zhu. Her eyes now held a measuring look, while Ruan Nan Zhu also noticed her gaze. The corners of his lips hooked up into a faint smile back at her.
This seemed to be an unspoken understanding and comparison between the girls that Lin Qiu Shi, still thinking about the other world, was completely oblivious to.
The groups quickly split up to rest.
After simply washing up, Lin also lay down on the bamboo bed. His spot was by the window, so he could see the scenery outside just by turning his head.
By now night had fallen and all was silent. There were neither insect sounds nor bird calls from the forest, an eerie quiet. Even with Lin Qiu Shi's good hearing, he could only make out fuzzy sounds through the mist and lush trees.
He seemed to hear a girl's singing voice, no - rather than a song, it was more like chanting scriptures. It started out as murmuring before becoming clearer and clearer.
Lin was now completely awake. He sat up from the bed, for a moment actually unable to discern whether this was a dream or real. Through the window, he saw one silhouette after another faintly appearing and disappearing within the misty forest.
These shadows were densely packed together in the woods, with only blurry outlines visible through the thick fog.
As Lin watched them, he suddenly felt a pair of hands on his shoulders and gave a fright. Turning back, he saw it was Ruan Nan Zhu.
"Stop looking." Ruan Nan Zhu rested his chin on Lin's shoulder, the stars in his dark eyes seeming to twinkle. "Didn't you notice, they're getting closer?"
Lin was startled, then realized Ruan Nan Zhu was right. Those shadows were indeed drawing nearer, except they didn't seem to be walking. But their outlines were becoming clearer and clearer.
"I'm a little cold." Ruan Nan Zhu said. "Hold me as we sleep?" His tone sounded a little weak and out of breath. Lin grabbed his hand and felt it was ice cold.
"Do you not feel well?" Lin started feeling worried.
"This body is too weak." Ruan Nan Zhu had his eyes half-closed, seemingly about to fall asleep. "A bit troublesome."
"Alright." Lin reached out and pulled Ruan Nan Zhu into his embrace. He discovered Ruan's body was very light, almost like a sheet of paper. And his skin barely held any warmth.
Feeling distressed, Lin firmly hugged Ruan Nan Zhu's body, using his own body temperature to warm him up.
Ruan seemed much more comfortable. He closed his eyes and fell deeply asleep.
Lin was still listening to the sounds outside the window. That rustling noise continued for a while before fading away. Lin guessed those things had probably disappeared. Hugging Ruan Nan Zhu, he also gradually felt sleepy and closed his eyes to sleep.
The next day, Lin was woken up by Xu Jin's screams.
She pointed at the two of them: "You, you, why are you two sleeping on the same bed!"
Before Lin could speak, the awakened Ruan Nan Zhu burrowed into Lin's embrace and whined twice: "Still wanna sleep."
Lin subconsciously patted his head: "You can sleep a while longer?"
Ruan Nan Zhu: "Cold..."
Lin Qiu Shi: "I'll hold you."
So Ruan naturally hooked his arm around Lin's waist and buried his face into Lin's chest.
Seeing this, Xu Jin's eyeballs nearly bulged out. She stammered: "You two... how could you...!"
Ruan Nan Zhu seemed to have finally woken up now. He slowly detached himself from Lin Qiu Shi's embrace, tidied his hair, and revealed a smile: "I was too cold last night, so I troubled Brother Lin a bit. Don't misunderstand, there's nothing between us." He even lowered his head and smiled shyly.
Although Xu Jin didn't voice it aloud, her eyes had already exposed her thoughts - f*ck, this guy is too much of a slut! They even slept in the same bed and he still smiles and says there's nothing between them?
"Brother Lin is a good man, don't misunderstand him." Ruan Nan Zhu was still deeply in character as he added, "Don't misunderstand him."
Having inexplicably received a "good man card", Lin Qiu Shi was oblivious to the battle between Ruan Nan Zhu and Xu Jin. He said: "Let's go eat breakfast, didn't we say to gather at 8?"
"Mm." Ruan Nan Zhu nodded.
So the three washed up and went to eat.
Several others had already arrived at the meeting spot. After finding Cheng Qian Li among them, Lin finally relaxed.
Breakfast was a local specialty, a type of fried noodles with a very strange taste. After one bite, Lin felt it was very unappetizing. But for the sake of his health, he reluctantly finished it all.
Ruan Nan Zhu already didn't feel well, and now his appetite was even worse. After one bite of noodles, he pushed it aside.
Worried that Ruan wouldn't be able to handle it, Lin went back to the kitchen to find something else to eat. An middle-aged woman was grinding something with a mortar and pestle next to the kitchen. Lin politely walked over to ask her a few questions.
Hearing Lin's inquiries, the woman casually pointed at the bamboo basket next to her.
Lin walked to the front of the basket and saw a few shriveled apples inside. Although they didn't look very appealing, the taste probably wouldn't be too bad.
As he picked up the apples and walked past the woman, he happened to ask: "Auntie, what are you grinding?"
The woman kept her head lowered: "Grinding powder."
Lin looked at the white powder she had ground out on the mortar. Its texture seemed a little strange.
Noticing his gaze, the woman used a small bowl to scoop some powder and smilingly handed it to him: "Do you want to try it? This stuff is nourishing, especially for those with frail bodies. Just one drink and it can restore them."
Lin subconsciously declined the woman's kindness. He felt this didn't seem like anything good.
Fortunately, the woman didn't insist and just kept her head lowered, continuing with her task.
Lin took the apples back to the room, but saw the woman they had met at the village entrance yesterday. She was holding a red flag and even wore a hat on her head, truly resembling a tour guide leading a group.
"Today we will be taking everyone to see a temple." The woman said. "This temple is the most beautiful building here. I believe after seeing it, everyone will be captivated by its elegance. Let's set off now, no time to delay!"
After speaking, she waved the flag to signal everyone to follow her.
The crowd all looked at each other before getting up from their seats to follow the woman out the door.
As they walked, the woman introduced this place's customs and habits, saying the locals believed in a certain religion where they thought dead people could also be revived. Because of this belief, there were many strange local customs here.
"For example?" Meng Yu asked.
The woman revealed a mysterious smile: "You'll know when we reach the temple."
She led them onto a secluded small path winding towards the depths of the forest.
The trees along this path were a little strange. Colored ribbons hung from the branches on the sides, which the woman said was a form of worship. Supposedly these colored ribbons could guide revived spirits back home.
The trees along this path were extremely lush, nearly blocking out all sunlight so that only mottled spots of light dappled the ground.
Listening to the woman's introduction, Lin suddenly recalled that tune from the song.
After walking for about twenty minutes, everyone was a little tired. Xu Jin still felt the environment was creepy and scary, but in the end couldn't help asking: "How much longer?"
The woman said: "Nearly there."
Not long after she finished speaking, the sound of music drifted from up ahead. Lin had never heard such a melody before. It was like a flute, yet the timbre was clearer and more melodious. The strange tune spiraled like vultures wheeling in the sky, carrying the scent of death.
Because of this sound, everyone instantly quieted down.
The tour guide smiled: "I believe everyone can hear this music. It is played by special instruments unique only to this place. You must appreciate it fully."
After continuing forward a bit, Lin finally caught sight of the building hidden amidst the layers of trees - an awe-inspiring, majestic temple constructed from giant stone blocks. Verdant vines crept up its sides, exuding an ancient and desolate air.
Many colored flags stood erected near the temple, currently fluttering in the breeze as if responding to that bizarre melody.
Ruan Nan Zhu suddenly moved closer to Lin Qiu Shi and softly said: "Stay a bit farther from those flags."
"Why?" Lin asked in puzzlement.
Ruan Nan Zhu said: "Something's off about those flags."
Hearing this, Lin scrutinized the flags and realized their material did seem a little different. Very thick, not like cloth... then he suddenly thought of something and swallowed hard.
"Could it be that stuff?" Lin thought of the hidden meaning in the song.
"Perhaps."Ruan Nan Zhu's tone was uncertain.
The tour guide led everyone to the temple entrance before stopping. She said, "Next is everyone's free visit time." She glanced at her wristwatch, "Before it turns dark, I'll come back to take everyone away. Please enjoy sightseeing here, don't run around everywhere."
She reiterated again: "Don't...run around everywhere, okay?"
After saying this, the tour guide turned and left, leaving the dozen or so bewildered people behind.
"This woman is too inexplicable." The hot-tempered blonde youth from yesterday started his irritable speech again. He said, "Why don't we take this chance to escape..."
"And where are you planning to escape to?" The man next to him impatiently said, "Haven't you been told many times, this isn't the normal world. Can you stop spouting nonsense already?"
The youth still tried to maintain a disdainful expression despite his growing fear from the strange surroundings. "What's not normal here, you guys are just too cowardly."
Hearing this, the others ignored him and headed towards the temple interior. Clearly everyone's priority now was to look for clues about the key.
"Let's go in too." Lin Qiu Shi looked at the temple, then said to Ruan Nan Zhu and Xu Jin behind him.
"This temple looks so scary." Xu Jin shuddered in fear. "Do you think there might be some monster inside..."
"Why don't you wait outside then?" Ruan Nan Zhu lightly coughed twice and suggested this.
"No no no, I still want to go with you guys." Xu Jin hurriedly declined. "I'm even more scared alone outside."
"Then let's go." Lin Qiu Shi lifted his foot and climbed up the tall stone steps.
Ruan Nan Zhu and Xu Jin followed behind Lin Qiu Shi, entering the temple with everyone else.
The lighting inside the temple was very dim. Not a single window was open, only some faint oil lamps lit around the edges.
Upon entering, Lin Qiu Shi immediately felt something was off. He said: "Is that music coming from the second floor?"
Ruan Nan Zhu: "Seems like it."
"Let's go upstairs and see." Lin Qiu Shi said.
Ruan Nan Zhu nodded.
However, after circling the temple, they didn't find any stairs leading upstairs. Lin suddenly realized what was wrong. His sharp hearing was telling him a terrifying fact... that music didn't seem to be coming from the second floor, but rather the ceiling, that pitch black ceiling whose end couldn't be seen. Just what kind of thing on that ceiling could produce such music?
Ruan Nan Zhu noticed Lin's frozen expression. He asked: "What's wrong?"
Lin let out an awkward laugh, pointing at the space above their heads: "I think there's something above us..."