The Frame
If this happened in the real world, encountering such a thing would probably make most people feel that they were being overly paranoid and imagining things. But since this was the bizarre world behind the doors and not reality, Lin Qiu Shi had no choice but to overthink things a little. After carefully observing outside the window and making sure the shadowy figure in the bushes had disappeared, he finally went back to bed. This time, he didn't dare turn off the lights, instead leaving them on as he tried to fall asleep.
Although he was incredibly restless, after Lin Qiu Shi tried recalling the feeling of peacefulness that came with lying next to Ruan Nan Zhu, he somehow managed to drift off into a fuzzy sleep – Ruan Nan Zhu really deserved his reputation as a sleeping pill, just thinking about him had an effect.
The next morning, Lin Qiu Shi was woken up by his alarm clock. After washing up simply, he went to find Ruan Nan Zhu. Lin Qiu Shi hadn't slept very well last night and there were dark circles under his eyes. His reflection in the mirror still looked unfamiliar, but if you looked closely, there was still some resemblance in temperament to his real self. Lin Qiu Shi changed his clothes and went to knock on Ruan Nan Zhu's door across the hall.
The door creaked open, but the person who opened it was actually Tan Zao Zao. Her face was even more haggard than Lin Qiu Shi's, clearly showing signs of a sleepless night. She grumpily bid Lin Qiu Shi good morning.
"Morning." Ruan Nan Zhu had just finished washing up and getting dressed. There were still water droplets dripping from his chin. He had just stepped out of the bathroom when he heard Lin Qiu Shi's voice and turned to greet him.
Tan Zao Zao stomped off towards the bathroom, fuming.
Lin Qiu Shi was puzzled, but soon discovered the reason for Tan Zao Zao's anger – the girl had slept on the floor in the room, right next to Ruan Nan Zhu's large bed.
"She slept on the floor?" Lin Qiu Shi stared at the makeshift bedding for a few seconds.
"Where else would she sleep?" Ruan Nan Zhu said. "I don't like sharing a bed with others."
Lin Qiu Shi: "..." He recalled the countless days and nights he had spent sleeping next to Ruan Nan Zhu. Wait, why did that sound so strange?
Ruan Nan Zhu said: "You're the exception."
Hearing those words made Lin Qiu Shi feel a little embarrassed, so he changed the topic: "How did you sleep last night?"
"Quite well," Ruan Nan Zhu replied. "The bed was nice."
The bed was indeed very big and soft, extremely comfortable to lie in. But no matter how nice it was, it was still doubtful how many people could enjoy it with Ruan Nan Zhu's nonchalance.
After Tan Zao Zao washed her face and brushed her teeth, she came out grumbling about how Ruan Nan Zhu was so heartless to make her sleep on the floor, leaving her body aching all over...
At first Ruan Nan Zhu ignored her, but when she kept complaining, he indifferently said: "Do you want to take the bed tonight then?"
Tan Zao Zao: "Really? Really?"
Ruan Nan Zhu: "I can squeeze in with Lin Lin."
Tan Zao Zao: "..." You gay dogs. Of course she didn't dare agree. It was because she had noticed something off yesterday night that she had fearfully run to Ruan Nan Zhu's room to tough it out. If she had really dared to sleep alone, why would she have come over to lie on the floor?
Breakfast was held upstairs. Lin Qiu Shi had originally thought there were only the butler and mistress in the castle, but unexpectedly there were also a few servants. These servants brought up the breakfast then swiftly left, their faces completely expressionless. Their numb appearance made them seem more like emotionless puppets than people.
The mistress whom they had briefly met yesterday also appeared for breakfast today. She was still dressed in that black gown and wearing that strange hat, sitting by the window and slowly bringing food to her mouth with her pale white hands.
No one dared to speak to her. The atmosphere in the dining room was deathly silent.
Fortunately, after the meal ended, the mistress disappeared again. According to the butler, she had likely gone to the painting studio on the rooftop. The butler said that they now had free activity time. There were a few places they had best avoid – first was the rooftop painting studio, second was the warehouse on the 6th floor where unfinished paintings were stored. They could freely look around other areas, but they had to be careful because the mistress did not like others touching her paintings...
Everyone listened carefully and took note, with some even writing down the butler's words verbatim to avoid missing anything.
After the butler finished speaking, he too left, leaving the ten people in the dining room.
"I'm going to take a look outside, anyone want to come with me?" Some members of the team started getting up, wanting to search for clues about the key.
And so two by two, people gradually left until only a few remained.
Just as Lin Qiu Shi was about to invite Ruan Nan Zhu, he saw the new girl from yesterday shyly walk up to Ruan Nan Zhu and softly say: "Big brother, do you have a teammate yet? Could you please take me along, I'm so scared..." The girl was rather pretty and her pitiful bearing naturally evoked sympathy. But it was a pity that Ruan Nan Zhu was no ordinary person – he was a professional crossdresser. His skills at playing a girl were far stronger than the real one before him now, so even Lin Qiu Shi could tell Ruan Nan Zhu's heart was completely unmoved, seeming more interested in eating another boiled egg.
"No." Ruan Nan Zhu flatly rejected her.
"But, I'm really frightened, I'll try my best not to drag you down." The girl started tearing up.
Ruan Nan Zhu raised an eyebrow and secretly signaled to Tan Zao Zao.
Tan Zao Zao understood implicitly. She stood up and walked over to the girl, saying: "I'm sorry, I asked him yesterday already. You should find someone else."
A flash of resentment appeared in the girl's eyes when she saw Tan Zao Zao. She seemed about to say something more but Ruan Nan Zhu had already gotten up, waving to Tan Zao Zao to indicate it was time to set off.
Tan Zao Zao followed behind him and the two left together.
Lin Qiu Shi remained sitting to the side. He too took the chance to excuse himself and leave. It seemed Ruan Nan Zhu's female disguise did indeed have a lot of advantages, at least not having to deal with girls coming to ask to team up yet being hard to reject.
"That new girl is a bit off," Ruan Nan Zhu remarked after they exited.
"How is she off?" Tan Zao Zao didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. "She was crying so sadly yesterday..."
Ruan Nan Zhu glanced at Tan Zao Zao. "Do you think someone that timid would dare come find me to team up?"
Tan Zao Zao raised her eyebrows. "You have a point."
Ruan Nan Zhu's beauty was not a gentle sort of good looks. On the contrary, it was full of aggression and aloofness. He was like a dazzlingly bright flower growing in the jungle, the vibrant colors warning others of its toxicity. Even when disguised as a woman he could play weak, but Ruan Nan Zhu dressed as a man clearly did not have the habit of putting himself in a position of vulnerability.
Just sitting there raising his eyebrows lightly was enough to make people involuntarily shrink back, not daring to approach. Even someone like Lin Qiu Shi would not think to team up with him.
"Or maybe she was just infatuated," Tan Zao Zao said as they walked, observing the paintings around them. "Could be something like that too."
Ruan Nan Zhu spoke indifferently. "Less than ten people have actively asked to team up with me before, none of them newbies. She won't be an exception." Pretending to be a novice had its advantages and disadvantages. The advantage was it wasn't easy for others to be on guard against you. The disadvantage was that once your identity was seen through, you would become a target of exclusion by the whole team. After all, no one knew what the purpose was behind someone faking being new.
The castle was massive. Just the second floor alone had countless rooms. As they went from the second to the third floor, the only identical thing they noticed was that paintings of all kinds hung everywhere throughout the castle. Even the toilet stalls were not spared.
Lin Qiu Shi didn't understand art and had no idea about the technical skill of these paintings, but there was one thing he could confirm – the feeling these paintings gave off all made him very uncomfortable. If possible, he would rather cover them all with white cloth.
"Aren't we not supposed to touch the paintings?" Tan Zao Zao also remembered the butler's words.
"No, that's not it," Ruan Nan Zhu said. "Did you notice his exact wording?"
"The mistress doesn't like it?" Lin Qiu Shi recalled what the butler had actually said.
"Correct. The mistress doesn't like it, not that you absolutely can't touch them." Ruan Nan Zhu's footsteps halted in front of one painting, his eyebrows suddenly furrowing.
"What's wrong?" Tan Zao Zao saw his change in expression.
"Nothing." Ruan Nan Zhu said. "Do you understand paintings?"
Tan Zao Zao shook her head. "Not very knowledgeable, never formally studied."
Ruan Nan Zhu oh-ed. "Neither do I. Looks like the three of us won't get any clues from the paintings. Let's go upstairs and check the rooms there."
Lin Qiu Shi mm-hmmed and the three headed upstairs together.
The stairs were made of wood which let out clear clacking sounds when stepped on. There was more than one path leading to the rooftop. On both sides of the castle there were also stone staircases that went from the first floor straight to the top.
Most of the rooms in the castle were locked with only a few open. These unlocked rooms were almost completely filled with all kinds of paintings, still lifes and landscapes. But just as they were discussing going up to the rooftop studio, a shriek suddenly rang out from below.
It was a woman's scream, cut off abruptly. By the time the others rushed over, the screamer had already disappeared, leaving only the empty staircase.
"Who was screaming just now?" A middle-aged man from the team asked.
"Don't know, we just got here too," Lin Qiu Shi said. "Which floor did you come from?"
The middle-aged man said: "The third floor."
Lin Qiu Shi said: "We were on the sixth floor. The scream must have come from between the third and fourth floors..."
Because of the scream, most of the people had gathered around the approximate location. Soon, they discovered the identity of the screamer.
"Her name is Xiao Su, she had just teamed up with me," said a man, his expression filled with horror. "She said she was going to the bathroom, but then she disappeared."
"Which floor were you guys on before she left?" Despite the chilling situation, Ruan Nan Zhu's attitude remained extremely calm. He said, "Describe in detail exactly what happened."
The man's voice trembled. "Nothing much happened, I didn't do anything. We just came here to look at some paintings, then she wanted to use the bathroom..."
Ruan Nan Zhu: "Any particular paintings stand out?"
The man shook his head.
Ruan Nan Zhu said: "Let's go, we'll check out the bathroom on the 6th floor."
And so they rushed back to the women's bathroom on the 6th floor.
After inspecting the vicinity, there didn't seem to be anything special about the bathroom. But Lin Qiu Shi kept feeling something was off. Judging from Ruan Nan Zhu's furrowed brows, he apparently felt the same.
"Wait." Lin Qiu Shi suddenly recalled something. He looked all around before finally confirming what had been bothering him. "Why aren't there any paintings in this room?"
When he said this, everyone noticed the anomaly.
Nearly every corner of the castle had displayed paintings, framed and hung up. Regardless if it was the bathroom, bedroom, study, or corridors, paintings could be found in every spot.
Yet this bathroom did not have a single one. They searched every nook and cranny but could not find any paintings whatsoever.
"There definitely aren't any," Ruan Nan Zhu said. "Were there never any to begin with here, or were originally existing paintings taken away by someone?"
No one knew the answer. The only person who did know was the one who had already become part of a painting.
An atmosphere of deathly silence permeated the crowd.
The bell signaling lunch time rang out, breaking the quiet. Upon hearing it, everyone headed towards the 2nd floor.
Despite the creepy atmosphere, food had to be eaten and rest had to be had.
Lunch today was steak, same as before.
No one had much of an appetite, except Ruan Nan Zhu.
Ruan Nan Zhu elegantly and smoothly cut into his steak, even a simple action like this conducted with artistic flair.
Perhaps because he was eating with such relish, all eyes turned to look at him. Ruan Nan Zhu was clearly long accustomed to being the center of attention, calmly finishing his steak before wiping his mouth and asking: "What's wrong? Don't like the taste?"
Lin Qiu Shi: "No...just not feeling very hungry."
"Eat up," Ruan Nan Zhu looked around at everyone, smiling. "This might be your last meal, who knows."
Everyone: "..."
Lin Qiu Shi helplessly said: "Isn't saying that a bit ominous?"
Ruan Nan Zhu: "Would chanting auspicious phrases prevent us from dying then?" He continued, "Congratulations and wishing you longevity?"
Lin Qiu Shi didn't know whether to laugh or cry. But Ruan Nan Zhu was right. Death had never changed course because of human pleas. They might as well calmly enjoy every minute they still drew breath – easier said than done for most though.
Under Ruan Nan Zhu's well-meaning comfort, Lin Qiu Shi forced himself to eat a little more.
The female mistress did not join them for lunch this time. It wasn't until they were about to leave their seats when she finally drifted over fashionably late, brushing past the others.
Although it was only a glimpse, Lin Qiu Shi still noticed her pale face seemed more satisfied than before, as if she had just finished an exceptionally wonderful meal. Joy lingered at the corners of her eyes and lips despite the creepiness of such an expression on her bizarre visage.
"Let's take a nap after lunch," Ruan Nan Zhu suggested after eating.
"Sure," Tan Zao Zao hadn't slept well yesterday and lacked energy all morning.
Unexpectedly, Ruan Nan Zhu glanced at her and said: "Will you be sleeping on the floor again?"
Tan Zao Zao: "...Can't you let me take the bed?"
Ruan Nan Zhu spoke flatly and coolly. "You can sleep on your own room's bed all you want. As for mine, you don't yet have the qualifications."
Tan Zao Zao: "..." Ruan Nan Zhu, you fucking asshole.