More Deaths

Lin Qiushi carried Ruan Baijie on his back. As for the remaining people, three of them came over and evenly spread out, lifting that bulky wood on their backs.

The snow made the roads slippery, so everyone took extra precautions when walking.

Up ahead, Xiong Qi was carrying an oil lamp and opening up the path for the others, constantly advising everyone to take it easy.

Originally, the snowflakes were but miniscule specks dotting the skies every once in a while, but on their way back, the snowflakes suddenly became larger, even fiercer, similarly to goose feathers fluttering around, shrouding the entire sky.

Ruan Baijie wasn't heavy at all. Lin Qiushi was easily able to piggyback her. He lowered his head, carefully looking down at the ground under his feet, and steadily made his way forward.

The sound of the wind became louder, more deafening, to the point that its shrill howls pierced his ears. The falling snow obstructed most of Lin Qiushi's vision; it was getting rather difficult to see the people in front of him.

A bad feeling overcame him. Lin Qiushi slightly slowed his steps. He had just wanted to stop, but he then heard Ruan Baijie's voice near his ear. She urged, "Don't stop. Keep going."

Lin Qiushi caught what she said and had to continue moving forward.

However, the further he walked, the more he felt that something was terribly wrong. At first, Lin Qiushi thought that the freezing weather had caused him to be cold and disoriented, but as the journey progressed, he soon discovered the source of this chilling sense of wrongness.

Too light. The person on his back was way too light. It was as if her weight had simply vanished. Lin Qiushi gulped down his thick saliva; he tried to act as natural as possible as he tentatively hoisted the person higher up his back.

…It truly wasn't just his imagination. The person on his back was incredibly light, lighter than a piece of paper. Though she had the shape of a human, she had absolutely no weight. Lin Qiushi's forehead was covered in a thin layer of sweat. He called out, "Baijie."

There was no sound.

"Baijie." Lin Qiushi called out once again.

"What's up?" Ruan Baijie snuggled her face against Lin Qiushi's neck. Her face was ice-cold, and her skin was moist and soft; it instantly evoked a feeling of dread within Lin Qiushi and caused him to think of something unpleasant. She asked, "What'd you call me for?"

"It's nothing really." Lin Qiushi replied, "I just wanted to ask whether you're cold."

"I'm not cold." Ruan Baijie responded. "I'm not cold at all."

Lin Qiushi didn't dare stop. Before, he had been walking with his head lowered, but as of this moment, he lifted his head and glanced at his surroundings; it wasn't long before he found that he was far away from the people that were walking in front of him.

In this heavy snow, he could barely make out the faint light of the oil lamp and the hazy backs of a few figures walking through this blasted wind and snow. This thing on his back also didn't seem to be Ruan Baijie; rather, it seemed to be something else.

Lin Qiushi slightly clenched his teeth.

"You're trembling," remarked the thing on his back. With Ruan Baijie's voice, it softly whispered, "Are you very cold?"

"It's fine." Lin Qiushi assured. "It's just a little cold."

"Do you want to go to a place that isn't cold?" She questioned. "A place so warm, somewhere that doesn't have any snow and never gets dark?"

Lin Qiushi considered whether he should ask her where that place was, but he honestly didn't want to ask this question at all, so he simply fell silent.

"What aren't you answering?" She wondered.

"Because I'm thinking." Lin Qiushi dryly replied.

She inquired, "What are you thinking about?"

Lin Qiushi stopped in his tracks for a bit, then he hollered, "I'm thinking of how I should get rid of you!" He immediately dropped the thing on his back after yelling this, and without looking back, he bolted straight ahead, running away as fast as possible.

It was obvious that he'd made the right decision; he didn't hear any weighty objects fall to the ground after letting go—that thing definitely wasn't a person.

Lin Qiushi took off like the wind. Once there was a considerable distance between the two, he finally shot a glance behind him. He nearly had a heart attack at this sight. He finally saw that thing he'd flung down. Its body was lying lifeless on the snow-covered grounds, but its neck was growing longer and longer by the second. It frantically stretched towards his direction. Black hair draped down, scattering all around, and dragged through the blankets of snow on the ground. It crooked its head and questioned intensely, "Why do you wish to abandon me? Don't you love me the most?"

Lin Qiushi was pissed. "Like hell I fucking love you—"

The head with the extending neck: "…"

Lin Qiushi didn't dare pause his steps. He just hurried forward to catch up to his comrades. Unfortunately, he was left in despair, for he couldn't draw any nearer to those silhouettes and that faint light ahead no matter how fast he ran; it was as if he was merely chasing the elusive shadows of a dream.

And that thing behind him was getting closer and closer.

It's over. That thing was about to catch him. Misery engulfed Lin Qiushi's heart; however, at this moment, he seemed to have tripped on something, and his entire body fell to the ground, hard.

"Fuck my life!" Lin Qiushi fell flat on his face, and he even swallowed a large mouthful of snow. But this action made him feel as if something pulled away from his body. Soon after, he felt someone pick him up from the snow.

"Lin Qiushi, Lin Qiushi. Are you okay, ah? Am I that heavy?" It was Ruan Baijie's voice.

After some difficulty, Lin Qiushi crawled up from the ground and turned his head around. At last, he saw a young woman crouching beside him, relentlessly poking his cheek with her finger.

Xiong Qi was the one who had lifted him up from the snow. He asked, "You okay?"

Lin Qiushi breathed a deep sigh of relief. "Holy shit, I thought I was dead."

Ruan Baijie tilted her head to one side. "Why?"

Lin Qiushi briefly explained what had happened to him moments ago, and he said that it was a good thing he'd stumbled, otherwise he'd probably be dead by now.

"Oh," uttered Ruan Baijie. "I was only asking why you fell down. I thought I was too heavy."

Lin Qiushi: "You're fine. Not particularly heavy."

The corners of Ruan Baijie's lips curled upwards.

Xiong Qi: "Let's get a move on. They're about to go down the mountain. It's going to get dark soon. We have to move faster."

Lin Qiushi nodded. When he climbed back up, he felt a sharp pain shoot up his knee. He reckoned that he'd injured himself when he fell to the ground, but he didn't mention it, and instead continued onwards, following behind Xiong Qi and them. He had originally wanted to carry Ruan Baijie again, but he was rejected by Ruan Baijie in the end. She said that Lin Qiushi was too bony and that he was obviously affected by the sensation of her breasts on his back.

Upon hearing this, Lin Qiushi lowered his voice and faintly muttered, "Do you even have breasts…" While he was carrying Ruan Baijie, he felt that Ruan Baijie's chest was as flat as a board, there wasn't even a bit of softness.

Ruan Baijie was furious after hearing Lin Qiushi's remark. She screeched, "Oh, splendid, I see how it is! How about you grow bigger breasts before talking back1!"

Lin Qiushi: "…"

The three hastened their pace in order to catch up to the people in front of them. But, right then, Lin Qiushi heard a mournful, blood-curdling shriek.

Worried that this was also just a figment of his imagination, Lin Qiushi hesitantly asked, "Did you guys hear that?"

"I heard it." Xiong Qi face turned black. "Hurry up. There was an accident."

The three individuals immediately took off, dashing straight ahead. By the time they arrived at the scene, they came across a gruesome sight.

Two of the three people who stepped forth to carry the log were dying. The bulky log had fallen on top them, slicing their bodies directly in half. And the most frightening part was that, despite their bodies being severed in half, they were still fully conscious. Thick blood bubbled from their mouths, yet they couldn't let out a wretched scream of pain nor could they cry for help.

The remaining one was limply sitting on the ground. There was a big wet stain around the crotch of his trousers, and incoherent blubbers flew out of his mouth. "Help! Help!"

"What's the matter! What the hell is going on!" Xiong Qi demanded.

Xiao Ke answered, "They were walking on the path, then, out of nowhere, they released their hold. The log slipped and fell directly onto the waists of the two people up front."

Xiong Qi didn't even have the chance to open his mouth, when the last survivor climbed from the ground and began to wildly run away. He bawled loudly, "Ghosts! Ah! Save me! Ghosts—"

No one had the time to react, and they watched him disappear into the curtains of snow. The other two remained on the ground, dying. Soon, the light from their eyes vanished.

"What should we do, ah…" A woman on the team collapsed and started weeping, her miserable wails never ceased. "We're all going to die in this awful place."

Xiong Qi's beard was covered in snowflakes. He heaved a sigh, his expression was calm throughout. He then said, "Come on. Let's first take this log back."

This block of wood just crushed two people to death, which one of them dared carry it? Everyone refused to move. At last, Lin Qiushi took the initiative to lift the bloodstained log with Xiong Qi.

Everyone was silent on the way back. Fortunately, there were no other accidents.

The two delivered the wood to the carpenter. The elderly carpenter didn't seem surprised at the sight of bloodstains on the log. He didn't bother asking any questions and simply reminded them with a hoarse voice, "You still have to deliver two more."

Xiong Qi and Lin Qiushi didn't say a word; they turned on their heels and returned to their residence.

That incident with the falling log was truly too strange, something must've have been at work. Lin Qiushi felt that he'd escaped from a calamity once again. He blankly stared at the fire before his eyes. His mind was filled with doubts, and he was baffled.

Ruan Baijie took a seat beside him and suddenly declared, "I want to eat noodles."

"En." Lin Qiushi grunted. "I first want to rest for a while though."

Ruan Baijie wondered, "What's up with you? Are you tired?"

"No. I'm just thinking about the reason I came to this world." Lin Qiushi recounted, "I had always lived rather well in my original place, but when I went through the door to my house one day, I suddenly found a corridor filled with twelve doors. Then, I pulled one of them open…"

Ruan Baijie listened to him patiently.

"Immediately after that, I appeared here." Lin Qiushi added. "Do these doors only represent fear and torment?"

Having heard what was said, Ruan Baijie chuckled, then responded, "I believe it's quite meaningless to reflect on such things at present time. However, these kinds of experiences aren't only about torment or anguish."

Lin Qiushi: "Then what?"

"Perhaps." Ruan Baijie's expression was ever so tender. "They represent rebirth, a new life."

Lin Qiushi frowned.

Only the two of them were sitting in the living room at this time. All the others had retired to their rooms to rest. Everyone was feeling overly exhausted by today's incident, so Xiong Qi decided to allow a one-hour break before discussing what they should do next. In fact, in their hearts, everyone clearly knew what they had to do in order to leave this place as early as possible; regardless whether an even more tragic incident occurred the next time they went to cut some trees, they still had get up and chop those trees down.

"Go on." Ruan Baijie said. "I'm hungry."

Lin Qiushi stood up and went to the kitchen.

Ruan Baijie gazed at his retreating back and revealed a mysterious smile.

The noodles were delicious. By the time the two individuals ate their fill, everyone had also gotten their rest. Once again, they gathered around the living room and began to examine what happened on the road.

"They must've encountered a ghost or had a nightmare or something as they went down the mountain," suggested Zhang Zishuang, one of the calmer members on the team. "I saw the two men in front of us stop for a moment."

"There are all sorts of strange deaths in this place. There's absolutely no need to be concerned with how they died in the end." Xiong Qi bluntly interjected. "The issue at hand right now is why they died."

Whether it was because they cut down some trees, or perhaps because they carried the log, or maybe even because they travelled in the snow, all of these were possible conditions that triggered the ghosts to kill them.

"Let's go by the rule of elimination." Xiao Ke proposed. "Everyone here cut the trees, but only three of us carried the wood."

"Then why are Xiong Qi and I still fine despite carrying the log?" Lin Qiushi questioned.

"There are two possibilities to that. One has to do with carrying the tree itself. And the second deals with the fact that there may be other conditions." Xiong Qi speculated, "The ghosts can only kill so many people a day; that is to say, since the number of people they can kill is limited, it's impossible to kill all of us at once." This was also the exact reason he had to courage to bring the log back with Lin Qiushi.

"But how do we verify this?" Xiao Ke asked.

"Why should we need to inspect and verify this?" Ruan Baijie casually played with her own hair. Without giving the other person any face, she rudely continued, "Why not just avoid these conditions altogether? None of us can afford the cost of failing to verify those theories."

"Oh." Xiao Ke responded indifferently. From the very beginning, her attitude towards Ruan Baijie was unpleasant, and she normally tended to ignore the other. That's right. Ruan Baijie, this beautiful and occasionally favourable yet troublesome younger sister, was sometimes quite unpopular with people of the same gender.

"Then we won't let anyone carry the tree tomorrow." Xiong Qi declared. "We'll use a tool to drag the log down the mountain."

The others approved.

"What about the guy who ran away?" Anxious about the teammate who had an emotional breakdown, someone raised this question. "Are we just going to ignore him?"

"What do you want to do?" Zhang Zishuang retorted. "Look at the sky outside. It's going to be dark very soon. None of us know what's going to happen after dusk, but we all know that it's not going to be good, and yet, you want to risk your life to try to find him?"

Everyone fell quiet, silently agreeing with him.

In such a world, it was impossible to guarantee the lives of all. It was already a luxury being able to live, let alone saving someone else's life.

"Let's go. We'll go to bed early and continue tomorrow." After Xiong Qi said this, he stood up and got ready to return to his room.

On the other hand, Ruan Baijie looked at the weather outside and commented, "I don't know if the snowfall will stop tomorrow."

In the end, her words were an omen.

It snowed all night, and there were no signs of it stopping in the morning.

Perhaps because people died yesterday, there were no dreadful accidents last night. Everyone managed to survive the night without troubles.

The snow was heavy. It was already difficult passing through the door; there was no need to mention how tough it'd be chopping the trees and transporting them back in this raging blizzard. Nevertheless, compared to this violent snowstorm, ghosts were, without a doubt, more fearsome. So even if the weather was bad, no one ever suggested postponing their plans by a day.

The morning was silent, the journey was silent, everyone seemed to have lost the ability to speak after yesterday's incident.

The sole person who stayed the same was Ruan Baijie. She leisurely strolled through the snow and hummed a simple melody. It seemed as though, to her, this journey was merely an ordinary trip not worth mentioning.

Author's comments:

Lin Qiushi: Why do you like to eat noodles so much?

Ruan Baijie: I don't, I only like to eat your boiled noodles.

Lin Qiushi: What?

Ruan Baijie: Oh, I'm talking about the one below.