Chapter 26 - Return

"Tang Yaoyao..." Xu Xiao Cheng was frightened by the scene in front of her. She looked at Tang Yaoyao in horror and asked, "What's happening to your body?" 

Hearing this, Tang Yaoyao looked down in confusion, finally seeing what was happening to her body. She saw that her entire skin had turned into a glaring red, as if blood could start oozing out from it any moment. 

"Ahhhhh!" She let out a heart-wrenching scream as she frantically rubbed her body. But as she moved, the red started spreading rapidly until her whole body became bright red.

"Ahhhh–Help, help me!" She kept screaming as her body started transforming again. Her skin became stiff and her whole body froze upright before crashing onto the ground. 

All this happened in a flash that no one could react. Everything was over, Tang Yaoyao's eyes were wide open as she laid motionless on the ground, having lost her breath. Her whole body was crimson red, even the whites of her eyes were tainted with a shade of madness. 

Xu Xiao Cheng was so frightened by the scene that she broke down crying while Lin Qiu Shi also couldn't find any words. 

Zhang Xing Huo sighed and said blankly, "Another death. Can we really make it through this?"

No one answered his question. Everyone fell silent. 

Tang Yaoyao's corpse remained stiffly on the ground. Lin Qiu Shi didn't dare examine it closely but noticed something strange about the body compared to those who had died before. She didn't seem to be missing any body parts but had simply dropped dead in front of them out of nowhere.

Just then, the woman who liked staying in the kitchen appeared at the door again. She stood by the door, smiled at everyone and used her hand to tidy her apron, "I've made something delicious for you. Would you like to try it?"

Of course, no one answered. 

"Oh my, why is everyone so unhappy? The birthday party is about to start soon. You'll definitely be happy then!" Saying so, she giggled creepily and returned to the kitchen to continue whatever she was busy with.

The little girl who was the remaining triplet sat silently in the corner of the sofa, hugging a doll expressionlessly and staring at the four people who entered the room.

"Who am I?" The little girl suddenly asked.

"You are Little Tu," Ruan Nan Zhu answered calmly. 

"Have you seen my sisters?" The little girl continued. "They went for the birthday party and haven't come back yet."

"We saw them," Ruan Nan Zhu said. "They died."

The little girl blinked her black and white eyes, staring quietly at the four. Lin Qiu Shi thought she would continue asking questions but instead she just nodded and said softly, "I see."

At this time, footsteps could be heard from the kitchen as the woman hummed a song cheerfully, seemingly in a very good mood. She pushed something huge towards the living room while humming. 

When she entered, Lin Qiu Shi finally saw what she had brought - a giant cake. At first glance, it looked beautifully decorated with three layers of pure white cream and red fruits lining the sides. Three candles were lit on top, emitting a dim glow. 

"Happy birthday," the woman said. 

The little girl stood up and looked at her silently.

"Sing the birthday song quickly. After that, it'll be time to eat the cake," the woman laughed. "Remember to give some to the neighbors too."

The little girl then hugged her doll and started singing Happy Birthday in her tender voice which echoed eerily around the dimly-lit room, adding a strange vibe. 

When the birthday song ended, the little girl tiptoed to blow out the candles. 

The woman giggled loudly and handed a knife to the little girl, "My good daughter, cut the cake now."

The little girl took the knife and cut forcefully into the cake. As the knife went down, behind the pure white cream was a red cake core. 

Xu Xiao Cheng seemed to have not eaten properly for a long time. Seeing the cake, she swallowed hard and even mumbled, "It's even red velvet..." 

Because of what he saw last night, Lin Qiu Shi had zero appetite for the cake despite it looking delicious.

"Serve it to them," the woman urged. "Let them have a taste of momma's cooking." 

Under the woman's urging, the little girl cut the cake into several big pieces and put them onto plates to serve everyone. 

Both Zhang Xing Huo and Xu Xiao Cheng accepted the cake slices but didn't dare eat them. They just stared longingly at the cakes in their hands, their expressions showing extreme covetousness. 

But when the little girl reached Ruan Nan Zhu to serve the cake, he didn't stretch out his hands. Instead, he looked at the little girl coldly and said, "I don't want to eat it. Not interested."

The little girl repeated, "Eat cake." 

Ruan Nan Zhu said again firmly, "Don't want to eat it." He showed no intention of compromising at all despite the woman's expression starting to turn insane from his rejection.

"Why don't you want to eat it?" The woman asked.

"Don't want to eat it. No reason why," Ruan Nan Zhu replied. 

The woman said, "You..." 

Just as it seemed she was about to say something, Ruan Nan Zhu directly stood up. What he did next took everyone by surprise. He raised his hand and flipped over the table with the cake violently. 

The pure white cake splattered all over the floor messily. Xu Xiao Cheng and Zhang Xing Huo next to him didn't even have a chance to feel heartache before a strong bloody stench assaulted their noses. Looking down, they realized the cakes in their hands had completely changed form somehow. 

The bright red cake core had turned into minced meat, the snowy white cream into brains and the round decorations on top into human eyeballs. Furthermore, the candles that were just blown out turned out to be three bright red bones. 

"Holy sh*t!" Xu Xiao Cheng was so frightened that she directly threw away the stuff in her hands.

Seeing this, the woman's expression instantly twisted. But before she could do anything, Ruan Nan Zhu stepped forward and slashed at her body with a knife. 

Even Lin Qiu Shi was stunned seeing Ruan Nan Zhu's actions. He stared with wide eyes as Ruan Nan Zhu, holding a knife that came from nowhere, hacked viciously at the woman's body. His actions were ruthless and decisive, showing no mercy at all. 

"Teeheehee..." The little girl standing at the side actually laughed seeing this scene. She forcefully threw away her doll in her hands and stood there clapping and laughing loudly, "Mommy's dead, mommy's dead!!"

In an instant, Ruan Nan Zhu had chopped the woman into pieces. His whole body was also drenched in blood. 

Both Xu Xiao Cheng and Zhang Xing Huo thought he had gone mad. They turned and ran towards the door with only Lin Qiu Shi showing concern as he asked, "Are you alright?"

Ruan Nan Zhu turned his head towards them. His face was full of blood. He spat indifferently and laughed, "Aren't you afraid of me?"

Lin Qiu Shi wiped the blood off his face and said, "I'm not afraid." 

Ruan Nan Zhu: "You dare touch blood?" 

Lin Qiu Shi: "Didn't you get tainted too?" Although he knew fairy tales, he also believed Ruan Nan Zhu would never do something like this without reason. Hence, apart from initial shock, his emotions calmed down quickly. He even started pondering why Ruan Nan Zhu would act this way.

"Mm," Ruan Nan Zhu said. "I just checked. The key isn't in the cake." 

Lin Qiu Shi frowned. "It isn't there?"

He discussed this with Ruan Nan Zhu last night. They both felt the key having the highest chance of appearing in the cake. Ruan Nan Zhu's actions earlier were clearly to verify their guess. But after smashing the cake, the anticipated key didn't appear at all. 

Ruan Nan Zhu slowly stretched out his hand and said, "It's here." In his palm lay a beautiful bronze key covered entirely in blood. From his actions earlier, Lin Qiu Shi instantly guessed the key's origin. His eyes widened slightly. "This key was inside her body...?"

"Yes," Ruan Nan Zhu stood up. "I'll explain in detail later. Let's go quickly first." 

Lin Qiu Shi nodded. The two rushed out of the room together. 

Just as they were leaving, the woman's corpse that Ruan Nan Zhu chopped into pieces actually moved by itself. In a flash, it reassembled back into human form. A woman full of blood with a deranged expression appeared again in the middle of the room. She used her hands to slowly adjust her head back into place and said hoarsely, "Where are you going? Why don't you eat my cake? Come back—" Grabbing a sharp knife for cutting cake, she staggered towards the door with a twisted posture, speed not too fast. 

But Ruan Nan Zhu seemed to have predicted all this already. He pulled Lin Qiu Shi upstairs. 

Although Xu Xiao Cheng and Zhang Xing Huo didn't know what was happening, they saw the key in Ruan Nan Zhu's hand. Their fearful expressions instantly turned to delight as they followed behind Lin Qiu Shi and Ruan Nan Zhu to the rooftop. 

"I'll open the lock, you guys stall her—" Ruan Nan Zhu started working on the iron lock. 

Lin Qiu Shi responded and stood behind him. Hearing footsteps from below, the woman who was just chopped up appeared behind them the next moment. Holding a sharp knife in hand, she climbed the stairs with a twisted posture and deranged expression, seemingly still trying to catch up to them. 

Normally people would have panicked by now but Ruan Nan Zhu's hands remained steady as he opened the lock. He said, "Give me 10 more seconds!"

Knowing Ruan Nan Zhu must not be disturbed now, Lin Qiu Shi stepped forward two steps and took out his phone to smash it at the woman's head. Her head shook slightly from the hit. Seizing this chance, Lin Qiu Shi kicked at the woman with full force. However, it felt as if he had kicked a wall. His foot almost got sprained. 

Fortunately, the woman retreated a small step from his kick. Just as she tried to move forward again, the sound of the iron lock falling rang out behind Lin Qiu Shi. 

"Let's go!" Ruan Nan Zhu opened the big door. 

Zhang Xing Huo and Xu Xiao Cheng didn't dare hesitate any longer upon hearing him. They jumped into the iron door without looking back.

But Ruan Nan Zhu turned around and shouted at Lin Qiu Shi, "Hurry over!" 

Lin Qiu Shi sprinted with all his might. When he was still some distance away from Ruan Nan Zhu, Ruan Nan Zhu suddenly grabbed his hand and pulled him into his embrace before falling straight towards the door behind them. 

Lin Qiu Shi didn't know if it was his illusion but at the moment he felt himself dropping into the door, it seemed like something brushed past the back of his head. 

The two of them fell into the warm glow. Darkness was dispelled and Ruan Nan Zhu's bloodstains also gradually faded away. 

Beyond the door was a long tunnel, the scene exactly the same as before. Looks like they managed to escape from that other world through the door again.

Ruan Nan Zhu held Lin Qiu Shi's hand as they kept walking forward until the familiar dizzy sensation hit them once more. 

Lin Qiu Shi saw the door of his house and the surrounding walls. 

Ruan Nan Zhu stood beside him, watching him intently. 

"We're out?" Lin Qiu Shi asked hoarsely.

"Mm," Ruan Nan Zhu casually stuffed something into his pocket. "Let's go in first." 

When Lin Qiu Shi tried to move, a sudden spell of vertigo hit him. He almost collapsed onto the ground but instead fell into a warm embrace. 

"You got injured inside?" Ruan Nan Zhu asked.

"Mm," Lin Qiu Shi felt his whole body devoid of strength. He responded softly. 

Without another word, Ruan Nan Zhu directly carried Lin Qiu Shi up into his arms. Carrying a fully grown man of over a hundred pounds seemed to require no effort from him at all. Entering the house, he placed Lin Qiu Shi onto the bed. "Sleep first."

Lin Qiu Shi could no longer speak. He closed his eyes and his whole person sunk into an almost comatose deep sleep. 

Lin Qiu Shi didn't know how long he had slept. When he opened his eyes, everything before him was white and the smell of disinfectant lingered in the air. He had many strange dreams, sometimes hearing someone wailing, sometimes feeling like someone was chasing him. Because of these weird dreams, it took Lin Qiu Shi awhile before he realized he had come out from that other world and was now lying in a hospital with an IV drip inserted in his arm. 

Beside him sat the boy he met back at the villa, Cheng Qian Li. Seeing that Lin Qiu Shi had awakened, he came over and greeted, "Lin Qiu Shi, you awake? How are you feeling?"

Lin Qiu Shi felt his whole body fuzzy and disoriented. "How long did I sleep?"

Cheng Qian Li said, "Not too long. What, got something urgent?" 

Lin Qiu Shi: "My cat..."

Cheng Qian Li: "..." He gave up. This person really was a dedicated cat owner huh, just woke up yet his mind was filled with nothing but cat cat cat. 

"It's fine. You just slept half a day," Cheng Qian Li said. "The cat's perfectly fine." 

Lin Qiu Shi heaved a sigh of relief and asked, "What happened to me?"

"You fell sick," Cheng Qian Li replied. "High fever but no major issues. You got injured inside right?" 

"Mm," Lin Qiu Shi said. "My arm got cut."

Cheng Qian Li said, "That's good then, just a fever. Remember, try not to get injured inside if possible. Even small injuries in there can be very serious for people out here." 

Lin Qiu Shi nodded. "Where's Nan Zhu?" 

Cheng Qian Li said, "Brother Ruan had something to deal with first so he asked me to watch over you. How was your second time going in? Feel okay?"

Lin Qiu Shi answered honestly, "Still alright." He paused briefly. "Almost didn't make it out." Just recalling that knife-wielding woman made his scalp tingle. 

"Ah don't think too much about almost or not. As long as you get out it's fine," Cheng Qian Li said. "Plus Brother Ruan was with you so things generally won't go too wrong." He then offered, "Want an apple? I'll peel one for you."

Lin Qiu Shi accepted his kind offer gratefully. 

Indeed, coming out from that place gave an indescribable feeling of rebirth. Be it the sunshine, temperature or noisy chatter, everything felt blissful. 

As Lin Qiu Shi munched on the sweet apple, he felt so happy like he could float. Even the hospital he normally disliked didn't seem that annoying now. 

Cheng Qian Li sat beside him playing games, chatting with Lin Qiu Shi occasionally. 

As Lin Qiu Shi chatted, he gradually felt sleepy again. Just as his eyes were about to close, footsteps sounded beside him making him reflexively open his eyes. He saw Ruan Nan Zhu standing before him. 

With the light behind him, Lin Qiu Shi couldn't clearly see his expression but his voice was gentle as he called his name, "Awake?"

Lin Qiu Shi called his name. "Nan Zhu..." 

Ruan Nan Zhu lightly touched his forehead and said, "Sleep at ease. We're out." 

Hearing his voice and words, Lin Qiu Shi's heart calmed down miraculously. He closed his eyes again and sank into deep slumber. This time, only peace accompanied him.