Chapter 34 - The Extra Person

Ruan Nan Zhu was about to say something when Lin Qiu Shi raised his hand to stop him. "Your health is already poor. If something happens while you force yourself to go up there with me, what will we do then? Besides, you can't possibly accompany me through every single door ahead." 

Hearing Lin Qiu Shi's words, Ruan Nan Zhu fell silent for a moment before pointing at Cheng Qian Li, "Go up there with him."

Cheng Qian Li obediently responded with an "Oh" without any objections.

Xu Jin, on the other hand, seemed to want to advise Lin Qiu Shi against going but didn't know what excuse to use.

After the decision was made, they soon discovered a nearly 10-meter-tall wooden frame close to the temple in the nearby woods. This height was almost level with that of the temple roof.

"Let's use this, shall we?" Lin Qiu Shi pressed his hand on the wooden frame to check if it was sturdy enough. 

"Yes," Ruan Nan Zhu said. "Safety first. Come back down immediately if anything feels off."

Lin Qiu Shi nodded and then climbed onto the frame.

Despite its aged look, the frame's quality was decent enough that climbing up didn't feel shaky at all. Careful with each step, Lin Qiu Shi said, "Cheng Qian Li, you're not afraid of heights, right?" 

"Other than ghosts, I'm not afraid of anything," Cheng Qian Li replied.

Lin Qiu Shi thought that would work. Cheng Qian Li's movements were quite agile for a 16-year-old. At his peak age, his reflexes should be sharp. Last time when climbing the pagoda, if not for Cheng Qian Li lending Lin Qiu Shi a hand, Lin Qiu Shi would probably have fallen off already.

As they climbed higher, the wind grew stronger. Lin Qiu Shi had to slow down to observe the surroundings while moving forward. 

The frame was around 10 meters high with a wooden platform at the top connecting to the temple roof. Once on top, the majestic view of the temple and the mystical jungle could be seen in full. Looking down from this high up somehow gave rise to a distinct charm.

As the platform drew near, Lin Qiu Shi said, "We're almost there. Watch your step."

Cheng Qian Li nodded and responded with an "Okay."

Taking a deep breath, Lin Qiu Shi leaped right onto the platform. He had assumed there would be some unfinished corpses up here, but the platform was completely empty—not a thing in sight. 

No, to be precise, it was not that there was nothing. It was that everything had been completely devoured. Not a single bone or strand of hair remained, only faint blood stains on the wooden texture indicating what had once occurred here.

Behind the platform should lie the exposed roof of the temple, but at this moment, a thick fog had risen up, blurring what was supposed to be a boundless view. 

Lin Qiu Shi took a step forward to make space for Cheng Qian Li. As Cheng Qian Li climbed onto the roof, he stared blankly at the mist for a while. "Fog this dense in broad daylight..." He turned to look at Lin Qiu Shi. "Should we still head over?"

Lin Qiu Shi hesitated briefly before peering down. 

Xu Jin and Ruan Nan Zhu were both looking up at them. Seeing that they had finally climbed onto the platform, the two even waved at them. 

From this distance, Lin Qiu Shi couldn't make out their expressions but imagined they must be full of worry.

"Let's go," Lin Qiu Shi said. "Like your sister Zhu Meng said, if we want to make it out alive, we'll have to take some risks."

"Okay," Cheng Qian Li nodded.

The two slowly walked forward with the music growing louder seemingly coming from not too far ahead as they neared the roof. It was as though whoever was playing the instruments was right before them. 

Lin Qiu Shi took another step forward, crossing over from the platform onto the roof itself. His footsteps paused briefly as he felt something off about the texture underneath—it didn't seem right. Cheng Qian Li had a similar reaction, stomping his feet on the surface. "F*ck... Don't tell me this is what I think it is..."

"Not sure," Lin Qiu Shi said. "But it's definitely not a normal roof." 

If they had to describe it, the texture wasn't exactly soft or hard. Like walking on a rather bouncy trampoline. Based on their earlier observation from below, if this temple was a drum, then the drumhead they currently stood on could very well be made of human skin. 

Their speculation was soon verified as both Lin Qiu Shi and Cheng Qian Li's expressions grew solemn. 

Lin Qiu Shi took a few more steps forward and realized that with every step, the drum beneath would make a crisp striking sound—the exact same sound as when the blades rained down from the sky the other day. 

So those drumbeats they heard back then didn't come from actual drums but rather from footsteps racing across the roof?

In the misty blur ahead, the music guided their path. Despite the temple not being very big, Lin Qiu Shi somehow felt as though they had been walking forever until finally, something different entered his vision.

It was the back view of a girl, with long dark hair draping down her body. Based on her attire, Lin Qiu Shi recognized she was the exact same girl who had appeared in yesterday's illusion.

"Where are you..." the girl suddenly spoke. She asked, "Where are you..." 

Both Lin Qiu Shi and Cheng Qian Li held their breath. They knew this girl before them could not possibly still be human. 

"Where are you..." The music originated from around the girl. Sensing their arrival, she stopped playing and said, "There's people here." 

She slowly turned to face them, revealing a skinless countenance with red flesh clinging to her cheeks and empty eye sockets in place of her plucked out eyes. "It hurts so much..." she uttered.

Lin Qiu Shi's breath hitched. He reflexively pulled Cheng Qian Li close by his side and turned to leave. Still dumbstruck by the sight before him, Cheng Qian Li wordlessly followed behind Lin Qiu Shi with a distressed look. 

Their feet landed upon the soft drumhead, producing crisp drumbeats. 

"It hurts so much..." The girl's voice came from right behind as she repeated her line, "Where are you..."

The drumbeats grew louder. Lin Qiu Shi felt his body turn heavy, slowing down his pace despite his hardest efforts to run faster. Short of breath, the suffocating sensation assaulted his body... It was the first time Lin Qiu Shi realized just how cumbersome his body could be. 

Strength draining, Lin Qiu Shi's footsteps gradually slowed until he came to a full stop. Glancing back, he did not spot the little girl who should have been chasing them.

Gasping heavily for air, the very moment Lin Qiu Shi halted, he heard a voice speak up from behind, "Why did you stop beating the drums?" 

A chill instantly ran through his entire body. Lin Qiu Shi stiffly turned his head only to come face to face with the bloodied, skinless countenance staring right into his eyes. 

"Cough cough cough!" Shocked by the sight, Lin Qiu Shi broke into a violent fit of coughs, stumbling over and falling with his hands touching the human skin ground. 

It felt rather soft with a temperature unique to the human body. Head lowered as he struggled to restrain his coughing, the girl crawled over to his front. 

"Where is she..." Still asking the same questions, the girl tilted her head as though only capable of uttering those two lines. "It hurts so much..."

Raising his head, Lin Qiu Shi finally saw her full form clearly. 

She had no legs, only able to crawl on her hands. All of her skin had been peeled off, exposing the red flesh and meat underneath. Her eyes seemed to be gouged out as well, leaving behind dark empty sockets now staring emotionlessly at Lin Qiu Shi, awaiting his answer.

A certain passage from the diary notebook suddenly came to Lin Qiu Shi's mind. He heavily swallowed once before giving his response, "She's looking for you."

The girl grew still. 

"She has been looking for you all this time..." Lin Qiu Shi continued. "Until the day she left this world... she never stopped searching for you."

The girl slowly straightened her posture before raising a hand and heavily striking the drumhead surface. 

"Thud!" The crisp drumbeat somehow sent chills through their whole body. The mist cleared away before them and their surroundings started regaining clarity. 

"Do you... want to see her?" Lin Qiu Shi asked.

"Bring her to me," the girl uttered her final line before vanishing from Lin Qiu Shi's sight.

Having narrowly escaped death, Lin Qiu Shi's body was completely drained. He barely managed to get back on his feet only to see Cheng Qian Li squatting weakly next to him, equally exhausted. 

Seeing Lin Qiu Shi stand, Cheng Qian Li arduously squeezed out a line, "F*ck... Lin Qiu Shi, let's get the hell down..." 

Lin Qiu Shi nodded. The two headed towards the platform edge together. 

Cheng Qian Li's face was ghostly pale the entire way without saying a single word, also covered in some blood stains with an unknown source.

Their hands and feet softened, the two climbed down the wooden frame looking as though they had barely survived death. 

Ruan Nan Zhu promptly came over to ask about the situation. 

Sitting on the ground, Lin Qiu Shi shook his head and gave a simple account of what transpired above. 

"What's that thing you're hiding in your clothes?" Ruan Nan Zhu instead noticed something else. 

Looking to Cheng Qian Li's side, Lin Qiu Shi now saw his T-shirt suspiciously bulging, obviously concealing something within.

Taking a deep breath, Cheng Qian Li took the item out from his clothes—it was a bone flute. Though altered in shape, one could still recognize it was made of human bones. 

"You've got some guts to dare bring this out!" Lin Qiu Shi remarked. 

The usually bold Cheng Qian Li had been scared enough to cry, with snot and tears smearing all over Lin Qiu Shi as he wailed, "You don't understand how frightened I was seeing that thing crawl up behind you! I wanted to warn you but she just kept staring at me. I was afraid we would both die up there! So I could only gather my courage, stomp my feet and see if I could bring something back since we already went through all that trouble climbing up..."

Lin Qiu Shi: "..." Too much. 

Ruan Nan Zhu knocked the boy's head. "Stop crying. How old are you? No shame?" 

Cheng Qian Li complained tearfully, "I still have two years before I become an adult!"

Ruan Nan Zhu: "Go say that to the thing upstairs. See if she'll give you a quick, painless death out of consideration that you're both underaged." 

Cheng Qian Li: "No, no need for that..."

Seeing the bone flute, Lin Qiu Shi understood why the girl's legs were in that condition. He said, "Since she allowed Cheng Qian Li to bring this down, there likely won't be further issues." 

Ruan Nan Zhu: "So now she wants us to bring her sister up to her?"

Lin Qiu Shi: "That should be the case." He pondered briefly with some confusion on his face, "But how do we identify her sister's remains from all the other bones over at the pagoda area?" He guessed correctly that the sister's remains should be among the piles of bones on the pagoda side. With so many unidentified bones there, it was impossible to test each one. 

Ruan Nan Zhu fell into deep thought. "There must be a way." 

They talked as they headed towards the temple. Nearing the entrance, they spotted Meng Yu chatting intimately with a woman giving off an ambiguous vibe. 

Ruan Nan Zhu and Xu Jin exchanged a tacit look. 

Xu Jin slyly remarked from the side, "What a romantic place this is, huh." She then eyed Lin Qiu Shi.

As though understanding something, Ruan Nan Zhu promptly leaned against Lin Qiu Shi with a smirk. "Lin Lin, didn't you have a hard time squeezing together with Mu Yu last night? Why don't you and I share a bed tonight..." 

Lin Qiu Shi: "If that makes you happy."

Xu Jin gritted her teeth in irritation. 

Noticing their presence, Meng Yu was in no hurry. He smiled and greeted them. 

"Found anything?" Meng Yu asked.

"Nothing," Ruan Nan Zhu calmly replied. 

Meng Yu raised a brow with a seemingly mocking yet indistinct smile as his peach blossom eyes shifted onto Lin Qiu Shi. "What happened to you guys? Why are your clothes in this state?"

Ruan Nan Zhu: "Just bad luck. Ran into one of those little monsters we saw last time. Fortunately we managed to get away." As he spoke, he lightly coughed a few times, presenting a feeble and delicate appearance that somehow evoked sympathy. 

Oddly enough, Meng Yu didn't probe further. He simply told them to be careful and left with the woman by his side. 

His easy dismissal astonished Lin Qiu Shi. Ruan Nan Zhu, however, waved it off with a frown. "No need to worry about him too much. He's likely done this job before. As long as his clients can stay alive to exit this place, having someone else take the trouble to open doors is the best outcome." 

"But..." Ruan Nan Zhu added, "this Meng Yu does look kind of familiar..."

Lin Qiu Shi: "Familiar?" 

Ruan Nan Zhu: "Like I've seen him somewhere before..." He pondered briefly but seemingly failed to recall anything. Giving up, he said, "Nevermind that for now. Since he poses no threat, we can think more about it after getting out. The most urgent matter is still finding that key as soon as possible." 

Lin Qiu Shi nodded.

Upon returning to the temple, they discovered the atmosphere inside seemed a little off. After inquiring around, they learned that while they were gone, the bizarre creature from yesterday—still dragging its long blade—had shown up again. Fortunately, there were no falling blades this time so everyone fled outside to take cover until the creature vanished before coming back in. 

Among the crowds, some mentioned that the creature's appearance seemed to coincide with drumbeats. Lin Qiu Shi instantly thought back to his and Cheng Qian Li's lengthy run across the roof earlier. That likely had some relation to this incident. 

Despite having this thought, he didn't voice it out. Like the others, Lin Qiu Shi feigned ignorance and puzzlement. 

Fortunately, apart from this matter, no new casualties occurred within their group. 

As usual, the female guide arrived at the promised location by dusk. She smiled and repeated her words from the day before, then brought everyone back to the lodging. 

After informing them of tomorrow's scheduled meetup time, the guide bid the group farewell. But right before leaving, she suddenly said something she didn't mention the previous day. "Tomorrow morning, everyone must show up without any absence. All 12 people must be present, not one less."

Upon hearing this line, the formerly relaxed smiles on everyone's faces instantly faded. Some even revealed frightened looks. 

"Twelve?" "Why twelve?" "Weren't there 13 of us?" Clamors of bewildered discussion sounded from the crowds. "Could it mean someone will die tonight..."

"That must be it," someone echoed. "So tomorrow only 12 will show up while one more will not make it past tonight." 

The more they spoke, the more uneasy everyone felt. Clearly, no one wished to become that unlucky sacrifice. 

On the contrary, both Meng Yu and Ruan Nan Zhu's groups remained quite tranquil. They silently listened to the others' chatter without commenting anything themselves.

"I'm so tired today. Let's head back early to rest," Ruan Nan Zhu lazily yawned while rubbing his eyes. He appeared utterly unaffected by the guide's words, leaning drowsily against Lin Qiu Shi's shoulder instead. 

"Let's go," Lin Qiu Shi nodded.

Meng Yu happened to be sitting nearby. Hearing Ruan Nan Zhu's words, he laughed and said, "What a carefree lady. She can still sleep so soundly in light of this?" 

Ruan Nan Zhu: "Will staying awake stop me from dying if that's my fate?" He lazily waved a hand. "Those meant to die will still die." 

Meng Yu: "Can't refute that logic."

The two returned from outside. Though the gloom had lessened from their faces, there were still no smiles. Just more tranquility compared to when they had left. 

"What did you guys talk about?" Cheng Qian Li asked curiously.

Ruan Nan Zhu: "Nosy kids should mind their own business." He turned to look at Lin Qiu Shi. "Want to know what we discussed?"

Lin Qiu Shi obediently nodded. 

Ruan Nan Zhu narrowed his eyes with a smile. "Kiss me and I'll tell you." 

Lin Qiu Shi: "Huh??"

Xu Jin watched on with a grieved look, lamenting to herself, "Brother Lin, you're too nice for your own good..."