Ruan Nan Zhu saw the blank expression on Lin Qiu Shi's face and said, "What's wrong? You're still not willing to kiss me?"
Lin Qiu Shi looked helpless, "Zhu Meng, stop messing around..."
Ruan Nan Zhu leaned in closer, "I'm not messing around, I'm very serious. "
Looking into his eyes and realizing he was not joking, Lin Qiu Shi had no choice but to lower his head, brush away his bangs, and solemnly plant a kiss on his forehead. This kiss was devoid of any sensuality, almost like he was facing his unreasonable little sister.
"There, happy?" Lin Qiu Shi asked after the kiss.
Ruan Nan Zhu fell silent for a moment after being kissed, then let out a faint sigh. But he didn't say anything more, just beckoned Lin Qiu Shi to come closer.
Thinking he was going to whisper the answer to him, Lin Qiu Shi obediently lowered his head. But Ruan Nan Zhu suddenly grabbed the back of his head, bringing their lips together.
Lin Qiu Shi: "????"
Ruan Nan Zhu smiled satisfied after getting the taste he wanted, "That's more like it."
Lin Qiu Shi: "You—"
Ruan Nan Zhu: "What about me?" The corners of his eyes curled up, "Want to try again?"
Lin Qiu Shi: "Nevermind, forget it." He finally realized that Ruan Nan Zhu was just messing with him. This guy seemed so normal outside, why did he act so differently once they entered this world? Lin Qiu Shi gave up on finding the answer and sadly stuffed a steamed bun into his mouth.
No one knew what Ruan Nan Zhu and Meng Yu talked about, it remained a mystery. And no one intended to decrypt it after seeing what happened to Lin Qiu Shi. Cheng Qian Li still shamelessly went to ask one sentence, only to have Ruan Nan Zhu side-eye him saying, "What, you want to kiss me too? I'm not interested in kids."
Cheng Qian Li: "If you're willing..."
Ruan Nan Zhu: "I think you and Pikachu are brothers, both so itchy."
Cheng Qian Li instantly deflated.
As they were talking, the tour guide came over and stood in an empty area, waving her little flag and calling everyone to gather around.
The group members gradually assembled around the tour guide. She did a headcount, "Everyone's here, 12 people. We can set off now!"
As soon as the number 12 came out, whispers broke out among the crowd. Those who misunderstood finally understood the implication.
"How can there be 12 people? Could it be that one of us is not human?" Someone asked in a trembling voice.
"It must be, NPCs generally don't lie. So who's the ghost hiding among us..." The noisy voices grew louder, suspicion spread through the crowd like a plague. The already tense atmosphere became even more strained, even suffocating.
Originally they split into groups of two or three. Now the two-people teams started looking for new partners, wanting to ensure at least two people by their side.
Lin Qiu Shi's group had always stuck together as four, so they were not affected much.
"Is there really a ghost among us?" Xu Jin shivered like a frightened rabbit, her face pale as a ghost. She swallowed hard and cautiously shifted her eyes onto Ruan Nan Zhu, her gaze lingering...
"What is it?" Noticing her stare, Ruan Nan Zhu walked over to Xu Jin's side, smiling ambiguously. "You think I look more like a ghost?"
Xu Jin: "No...no such thing!"
Ruan Nan Zhu turned to Lin Qiu Shi: "Lin Lin, she said I look like a ghost!"
Lin Qiu Shi: "..." Big bro, you're messing with her again, aren't you.
Xu Jin quickly explained, "Don't get me wrong Zhu Meng, I didn't say it was you. You're just the prettiest one here..."
Ruan Nan Zhu: "Oh, I see."
Xu Jin nodded quickly.
Ruan Nan Zhu: "Lin Lin, who do you think is the prettiest?"
Lin Qiu Shi was truly anguished. As a normal straight man, he really didn't want to admit that Ruan Nan Zhu, this sissy hunk, was the cutest of the dozen plus people here. But the fact is he was. With Ruan Nan Zhu's pitiful Bambi eyes blinking at him, it was truly hard to restrain himself. So Lin Qiu Shi shamefully nodded a little.
"Thank you, Sister Xu Jin." Ruan Nan Zhu smiled satisfied.
Xu Jin's face was filled with pain. In her eyes, the possibility of Ruan Nan Zhu being a ghost was extremely high. Otherwise, which person entering this world still had the mood to flirt around, even playing two timing...
Of course, she didn't dare say these words out loud, only silently thinking them.
Their destination today was the pagoda area.
After a long trek, everyone finally arrived. Having the experience from the last two days, everyone's condition was much better today when they reached the destination. Instead of all hiding inside the pagodas, they started searching around for more clues.
Despite knowing there was an extra non-existent person in their team, Ruan Nan Zhu seemed very relaxed. He circled around the tallest pagoda, then suddenly took out a sharp tool and started working on the pagoda wall bricks.
Lin Qiu Shi was shocked by his actions, "What are you doing?"
Ruan Nan Zhu: "I want to see if there's anything inside the pagoda."
Lin Qiu Shi: "Anything inside?"
Ruan Nan Zhu looked back, "Didn't you say you heard someone scratching the walls inside?"
Lin Qiu Shi: "What if that was just my imagination..."
Ruan Nan Zhu: "It's fine, I trust your ears more than you do."
Lin Qiu Shi: "..."
Ruan Nan Zhu was bowing his head, chipping away at the wall. Next to him, Xu Jin carefully pulled Lin Qiu Shi's clothes, "I need to use the restroom, can you go with me?"
Lin Qiu Shi was surprised, "Me?"
Xu Jin nodded.
Lin Qiu Shi: "I...don't think it's appropriate. Why not let Zhu Meng go with you..."
Before he finished, Xu Jin frantically shook her head. She carefully glanced at Zhu Meng, then deliberately lowered her voice, "Brother Lin Lin, there's something I want to tell you."
Seeing her expression, Lin Qiu Shi hesitated for a bit, "What can't you say here?"
Xu Jin's voice was barely audible, "Don't you think...Zhu Meng is very...not human-like?"
Lin Qiu Shi: "..."
Xu Jin: "Neither her looks nor temper, what girl is so brave..."
Lin Qiu Shi had to agree about this. Indeed, what girl is like Zhu Meng? That's because he's not a she, but a he.
Xu Jin: "Don't you think so?"
Lin Qiu Shi was conflicted. To some extent, he understood Xu Jin's suspicion. Ruan Nan Zhu was indeed very suspicious. Although acting afraid all the time, she had never made any mistakes, even sometimes making Lin Qiu Shi forget such a person existed by his side.
"I...don't think so." Lin Qiu Shi could only give Xu Jin this answer. "Although very suspicious, he's still trying his best to survive with us. If he's a ghost, what would his motive be?"
Hearing this, Xu Jin looked somewhat awkward. Her lips moved like she wanted to say something but swallowed it back down. Clearly still sticking to her own judgement, just unwilling to speak it out. Lin Qiu Shi was helpless, only able to softly comfort her some more.
While they were talking, Ruan Nan Zhu already made some progress on his side. He actually chipped open a brick from the tower wall, exposing the interior.
Cheng Qian Li had been watching him the whole time. When Ruan Nan Zhu pried open that brick, he sucked in a breath and cursed, "Fuck!"
"What is it?" Hearing the voice, Lin Qiu Shi walked over to Cheng Qian Li and saw what Ruan Nan Zhu took out from the wall.
Inside the cement behind the wall bricks, densely embedded full of human bone structures. These bones were stacked together, with at least 3-4 sets crammed into such a small space.
"Hmm..." Ruan Nan Zhu didn't seem surprised seeing this. "I said there must be something inside the walls."
Lin Qiu Shi recalled the scratching sounds he heard inside the walls and his face paled slightly.
Xu Jin was even more frightened, cowering behind them sobbing.
"Now we know what's inside the pagodas." Ruan Nan Zhu stood up and dusted off his hands. "What were you two talking about just now?"
"Nothing much. Trivial stuff." Lin Qiu Shi glanced at Xu Jin.
"Oh, trivial stuff huh." Ruan Nan Zhu looked thoughtfully at Xu Jin. Then he walked over to her side and put his hand on her back, "Xu Jin, what are you afraid of?"
Xu Jin's body shuddered violently.
"Could it be...you're afraid of me?" A subtle smile emerged on Ruan Nan Zhu's face. Hard to describe with words, not exactly ugly, but truly the kind of expression that would give children nightmares. "What's so scary about me?"
Xu Jin only shook her head, not even daring to speak.
Lin Qiu Shi said helplessly, "Stop teasing her."
Ruan Nan Zhu shrugged, pretending to be helpless, "Fine fine, no more teasing." He got up and went back to the tower, continuing his research on the bones.
Xu Jin finally calmed down somewhat. She sneakily glanced at Ruan Nan Zhu, eyes red from wiping her tears.
Lin Qiu Shi: "..." Was Ruan Nan Zhu that scary to frighten a little girl like this?
"This tower used over a thousand people's bones." Ruan Nan Zhu said. "If that girl's sister's corpse is inside..."
"How would you locate it?" Cheng Qian Li stared at the dense bones, "Even if we all die, you still can't find it."
"That's why there are other methods." Ruan Nan Zhu said.
Cheng Qian Li scratched his scalp, "What methods?"
Ruan Nan Zhu's eyes glinted. It made Cheng Qian Li's back tense up. Sure enough, he reached a hand out towards Cheng Qian Li, "The bone flute you secretly picked up yesterday, where is it?"
Cheng Qian Li: "Fuck! Don't tell me you want to—!"
Ruan Nan Zhu: "Yes."
Cheng Qian Li's expression instantly filled with horror. He said, "Are you really going to do that? It's made of someone's leg bone. And you don't even know if blowing it will have any effect..."
"Exactly because the effect is uncertain is why we should give it a try." Ruan Nan Zhu said. "Hand it over."
Cheng Qian Li silently took out the bone flute from his pouch and passed it to Ruan Nan Zhu.
Ruan Nan Zhu held the flute and examined it closely. Then he naturally lifted it to his lips, blew out a breath, and flute music came out.
The tune he played was from Sister Drum. Lyrical and smooth, yet somehow strangely bleak and eerie.
Slight cracking sounds came from beside Lin Qiu Shi. He was startled for a second before realizing the sound originated from the tall pagoda next to him. The scratching sounds inside the walls became clearer and clearer. At first only he could hear it, but later Cheng Qian Li and Xu Jin also heard the sounds, both their expressions changing.
"Zhu Meng, stop playing, something's happening." Lin Qiu Shi stopped Ruan Nan Zhu.
Ruan Nan Zhu stopped and looked up at the pagoda top. The circular ornament hanging on it had started shaking slightly...
"Let's move farther away, this pagoda seems about to collapse!" After saying this, Ruan Nan Zhu immediately walked away.
Lin Qiu Shi and the others followed closely behind Ruan Nan Zhu.
The other people also noticed the anomaly here and started backing away. Not long after everyone dispersed, the pagoda let out a loud boom and crashed down, exposing countless bones inside.
What made everyone choke was how those bones started slowly writhing, moving faster and faster. The bones groaned and climbed over each other, finally forming a tall tower — only this tower was made completely out of bones.
Everyone was dumbstruck seeing this scene, not just astonished but also deeply afraid.
The drum beats from an unknown location started up again. A girl's voice accompanied the beats, chanting: "Wun wun ma ne ba mi ou, wun wun ma ne ba mi ou..."
This resembled chanting scriptures more than singing.
"We're...not going inside that tower, right?" Xu Jin sobbed out.
"It appears so." Ruan Nan Zhu put down the bone flute, his fingers gently caressing it. His expression was complicated, seemingly reminded of this song's background.
The younger sister who dearly loved her elder sister went mad searching for traces of her sister until hearing the scriptures. Only then did she realize the one she had been searching for had turned into the drum she held in her embrace. When finally learning the truth, what heartache must the younger sister have felt accepting this cruel reality?
"Let's go." Lin Qiu Shi's mood was unexpectedly calm.
"I won't go, I won't go in." Xu Jin seemed utterly frightened, crying and shouting, "I don't want to go over there..."
As she spoke, she staggered backwards to run away. She even tripped and fell, not even picking up her bag that dropped.
"Xu Jin—" Lin Qiu Shi was about to step forward to chase her but was directly stopped by Ruan Nan Zhu. He said, "If she doesn't want to go then forget it. No need to force her. Once the door opens, anyone can enter anyway."
Lin Qiu Shi sighed.
Cheng Qian Li walked forward and picked up Xu Jin's dropped bag. He said, "So light... Didn't she put two water bottles inside? How come I don't feel anything." He clearly saw Xu Jin stuff two water bottles into the bag when they set off. They hadn't been apart since arriving here. Cheng Qian Li remembered not seeing Xu Jin drink any water.
"Let me see." Ruan Nan Zhu suddenly spoke.
"Is it okay to just open it like this?" Cheng Qian Li felt a little embarrassed. "After all, these are her private belongings."
Ruan Nan Zhu: "We're one step away from death and you still care about privacy?"
Can't argue with that logic. Cheng Qian Li reached out and opened Xu Jin's bag. Xu Jin's bag was a plain white backpack, seemed to be sheepskin. Very ordinary in style. She had carried it on her back since arriving here, occasionally storing some food and daily necessities inside.
After Cheng Qian Li opened Xu Jin's bag, he saw that it was completely empty without anything inside. He was stunned for a moment. "There's nothing inside..."
Ruan Nan Zhu: "Let me see." He took the bag and examined it closely. In a crevice of the bag's lining he found a page of yellowed paper.
"What's this?" Cheng Qian Li was dumbfounded seeing the paper. "This is..."
"Isn't this the diary we saw at the pagoda top?" Lin Qiu Shi immediately recalled. "Nan Zhu, do you still remember when you flipped through the diary and found a page torn out?"
"That's right, that's right!" Cheng Qian Li also had a flash of insight. "I remember now, it's the notebook Ruan Nan Zhu took!"
Hearing their conversation, Ruan Nan Zhu unfolded the folded paper in his hand.
Painted on the paper was a picture of twin girls holding hands, dressed in long skirts. Their young and tender faces filled with satisfaction. Nothing special about this painting. But upon closer look, Lin Qiu Shi discovered the two girls in the painting actually looked exactly the same as Xu Jin.
Because of this, Lin Qiu Shi felt a chill rush from his back straight into his forehead. "When did she tear off this painting?"
"Don't know." Cheng Qian Li's tone was also dry. He said, "She didn't go up to the top level with us back then."
At this time, Lin Qiu Shi recalled a detail. In the illusion he saw on the top level, it was Xu Jin who walked up to the drum and struck the first beat.
The previous bizarre abnormalities also flooded into his mind. As a newcomer to this world, Xu Jin's performance had been far too outstanding. Although always claiming to be afraid, she never made any mistakes. Sometimes even making Lin Qiu Shi forget there was such a person by his side.
"So...she's not actually human?" Cheng Qian Li swallowed.
Ruan Nan Zhu: "It appears so."
"What would happen if she finds out we know she's not human?" Lin Qiu Shi looked at the paper.
Ruan Nan Zhu folded the paper back up and put it into Xu Jin's bag. "The situation is quite complicated, there are many possibilities. I'll explain in detail later." He looked up at the bone tower in front of them. "It's getting dark, let's go inside and take a look first."
"Okay." Lin Qiu Shi nodded.
As they walked in, they saw Meng Yu standing at the entrance. He was alone, a smile hanging on his face. Seeing them come over, he waved a greeting. "You've arrived."
"Are you going in with us?" Ruan Nan Zhu asked.
Meng Yu: "Of course, the key should be inside. I still feel a bit uneasy letting others go in without me." His words were almost contemptuous, but because of his strong aura it didn't seem out of place.
Hearing this, Ruan Nan Zhu laughed. "Then we won't go in. Please go fetch the key for us, Mr. Lai Dong Yuan."
Meng Yu's expression changed slightly. "How do you know my name—"
Ruan Nan Zhu: "What's there not to know?" He slightly lifted his chin, his expression cold and full of mockery. "Who doesn't know Bai Lu took on a big job. And to take on that job, I'm afraid only you can do it, Mr. Dong Yuan."
After hearing Ruan Nan Zhu's words, interest flooded Lai Dong Yuan's eyes. He looked Ruan Nan Zhu up and down. "I've never heard of a girl like you. Very interesting, truly interesting. I must have a good chat with you after I get out." He smiled. "After all, such an interesting girl is truly rare."
Hearing this, Lin Qiu Shi thought, yes, very interesting...has anyone seen a girl more manly than himself?
After speaking, Lai Dong Yuan actually turned and entered the tower alone.
Seeing this, Lin Qiu Shi asked in surprise, "Will he be okay alone?"
Ruan Nan Zhu seemed totally nonchalant. He said, "Best if he can come out. If not, we have nothing to lose either. Let's wait and see."
So the three waited outside the tower. They also discussed Xu Jin's situation.
No one knew if Xu Jin would come back. When she does, how should everyone react when facing her? Lin Qiu Shi also tactfully reminded Ruan Nan Zhu not to tease Xu Jin anymore. But Ruan Nan Zhu righteously refused, saying that if he doesn't tease her now, then when Xu Jin reveals her true identity later, he would have no chance. It would be a very unprofitable deal.
Lin Qiu Shi: "...Is teasing little girls that fun?"
Ruan Nan Zhu: "Actually, teasing you is more fun."
Lin Qiu Shi: "..."