Killing Doors

　　It was a small village nestled within the mountains, hidden by layers of lush trees.

　　There was only one path leading to the village, and because of the recent rain, it was muddy and required extra caution.

　　Lin and a tall girl were walking on the path. 

　　The girl seemed to be of mixed race, with deep eyebrows and wide eyes, making her very beautiful. 

　　She was very tall, even taller than Lin, and she was wearing an anachronistic long dress. 

　　Her eyes were filled with tears, and she was softly sobbing, whispering: 

　　"Where he hell are we?"

　　Lin asked, "Where were you before?"

　　The girl replied, "My bathroom."

　　Lin said, "I was in my house hallway."

　　The girl said, "Hallway...?"

　　Lin looked up at the gloomy sky, "Did you open a door?"

　　The girl seemed to remember something, her expression shifting slightly, "Yes."

　　Lin turned to look at her, "Me too."

　　A gust of wind blew, rustling the leaves on the treetops, making the atmosphere even more serene. 

　　Suddenly, snow began to fall from the sky, as if urging them to hurry up, to reach the village enveloped by dense trees before nightfall.

　　Through their conversation, Lin learned that the girl's name was Ruan,.

　　Lin was stunned for three seconds when he heard the name, then he insincerely complimented, "Good name."

　　Ruan glared at him with her watery eyes, "All men are liars."

　　Lin said, "Ah?"

　　Ruan said, "Don't think I haven't read erotica."

　　"..." 

　　It seemed this girl wasn't as vulnerable as he imagined. 

　　As they walked towards the village, they exchanged information and learned that they both appeared in this wilderness after opening a door.

　　Ruan opened the one in her bathroom, and Lin opened the one in his hallway.

　　"It was a black iron door," Ruan said softly, "Without any decoration. I was wondering why my house suddenly had this door, and without thinking much, I just pulled it open..."

　　The next second, they found themselves in this wilderness.

　　Lin said, "I also opened a black iron door..." 

　　As he spoke, he saw a shadowy figure appearing on the path ahead. 

　　The figure was tall, likely an adult male.

　　"Hey, bro in front!" Lin called out from afar.

　　The person stopped, seemingly hearing Lin's voice.

　　Lin quickly ran forward, reaching out to pat the man's shoulder, "Hello, do you know where this is?"

　　The man turned around, revealing a face covered in a full beard. 

　　Paired with his tall, strong physique, he looked like a bear at first glance, "Are you new here?"

　　Lin said, "What new..."

　　The man didn't say anything, looked at him, then looked at Ruan, who was looking scared behind him, "Come on, we'll explain to you when we get to the village."

　　Lin said good, and the three of them continued walking towards the village.

　　The season here seemed to be winter, and the sky darkened very early. 

　　Just before they arrived, the sun was still hanging in the sky, but in the blink of an eye, only dark clouds and falling snowflakes remained.

　　Lin chatted with the man while observing the surroundings. 

　　Besides the village, there were no other light sources. 

　　The surrounding area was a vast expanse of forest, with no roads and no other human beings.

　　Lin took out a cigarette from his pocket and offered it to the man, but he waved it off.

　　"Bro, where are we?" Lin asked.

　　The man said, "Just call me Chi."

　　Lin thought, this was truly a name that fit his appearance. 

　　He was about to ask further, but saw Chi gesturing for him to stop, "Don't ask, you'll know when we get to the village."

　　"Oh." Lin said, "Okay."

　　Thus, they walked in silence, hurrying forward, finally reaching the path leading to the village just before nightfall.

　　Chi visibly relaxed, glancing back into the darkness, "Good thing we made it. Let's go, let's meet up with them."

　　Newcomers, they, Lin caught these keywords. 

　　Although he had a bad feeling when he arrived, now that feeling was becoming increasingly strong. 

　　Ruan seemed to feel it too, she stopped crying, her beautiful face was pale, and her eyes were filled with fear.

　　Chi continued forward, soon leading them to a three-story building near the entrance of the village.

　　He stood at the door and knocked. 

　　He heard a young girl's voice inside, "Who is it?"

　　"It's me, Chi." Chi said.

　　"Oh,, come in." The girl said, "We've been waiting for you."

　　Chi reached out and pushed the door open, a creaking sound followed by the view of the doorway. 

　　The doorway led to a spacious living room, where about ten people were sitting around a blazing fire, seemingly discussing something.

　　"Newcomers?" Someone noticed Chi behind him, Lin and Ruan.

　　"Newcomers." Chi slowly walked into the house, found a place to sit, "Sit down, Xiao, you explain to them."

　　Xiao was the girl who opened the door for Chi. 

　　She looked only fifteen or sixteen years old, with delicate features, "You guys sit down too, I'll give you a brief explanation."

　　Lin and Ruan exchanged glances, and they sat down near the door.

　　"Actually, there's not much to explain," Xiao's attitude was not enthusiastic, "We need to stay in the village for a while to solve some problems, then we'll be fine."

　　Lin said, "What kind of problems?"

　　Xiao said, "We don't know yet, we need to go find the village headman tomorrow..." She said, "Do any of you have materialistic beliefs?"

　　Lin raised his hand, "Me."

　　Xiao said, "Then you need to change your beliefs."

　　Lin: "..." "What do you mean?"

　　Xiao said, "It means that supernatural events will happen here."

　　Lin: "..."

　　The group was indifferent to Lin and Ruan, the two newcomers. 

　　Apart from Xiao, no one else even greeted them.

　　Before entering, Lin thought they were discussing matters, but after sitting there for a while, he realized they weren't saying anything. 

　　They sat quietly in the living room, staring at the flames in front of them.

　　 Some people were playing games on their phones.

　　There was no signal for phones here, so they couldn't contact the outside world, but they could still play offline games.

　　Lin simply counted, there were thirteen people in the room, including him, nine men and four women. 

　　Most of them looked young, the oldest probably not over forty.

　　The wood in the fire crackled, Ruan sat for a while, seemingly a little sleepy. 

　　She looked around, seeing that no one was about to leave, she softly asked, "Uh...excuse me, are there any rooms to sleep in here? I'm a little sleepy."

　　Lin wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but after Ruan asked this question, the air in the room seemed to freeze.

　　"Forget it, we should go to sleep too," Chi stood up, "Otherwise, we'll be sleeping in the living room again. Let's divide the rooms." He looked at Lin, "You and her share a room, be careful at night, don't wander around..."

　　Ruan said, "Share a room with him? But..."

　　Chi sighed, " What? You'll know after you spend the first night here that this place doesn't care about that. "

　　Ruan wanted to say something else, but seeing the awkward atmosphere among the group, she could only give up and agree to share a room with Lin.

　　Lin saw her worried expression, so he tried to comfort her, "Don't worry, I won't do anything to you."

　　Ruan nodded.

　　There were three floors, nine rooms, but judging by their appearance, they didn't intend to live separately. 

　　At the very least, two people shared a room, and one room even with three people.

　　"Let's go." Chi said, "See you tomorrow."

　　The group dispersed. 

　　Before leaving, Xiao suddenly walked to Lin's side and quietly said, "Don't trust anyone too much, as long as you can survive this..."

　　Lin was about to ask, but saw her rush away, seemingly not wanting to talk to him anymore.

　　"Let's go." Ruan said, "Let's go to sleep."

　　Lin nodded.

　　Their room was on the right side of the second floor corridor.

　　 There was only one bed in the room, and a picture of a person hung by the bedside.

　　There was no electricity here, so they could only light a kerosene lamp.

　　 Because the light wasn't very bright, the whole room was in a vintage tone, and the air was filled with a musty smell.

　　Lin thought Ruan would complain about the environment, but unexpectedly, she adapted faster than him, quickly washed up and went to lie on the bed.

　　It was Lin who felt uncomfortable sitting by the bed.

　　"Sleep." Ruan buried her head in the covers, her voice muffled, "Aren't you tired?"

　　Lin said, "A little bit."

　　"Yeah, everything today was so weird," Ruan said, "I even doubted if you guys were hired by the program team to prank us, but there's no way a prank could be this elaborate..."

　　Lin took off his coat and climbed into bed. 

　　To avoid suspicion, he and Ruan were on the same bed, but covered by two different blankets, "It was really weird."

　　Ruan said, "Definitely, did you notice their eyes?"