CHAPTER 14: BACK TO REALITY.

As Lin Qiushi walked straight ahead, the light grew stronger and stronger; the brightness stung his eyes, causing him to squint. Fortunately, the path beneath his feet wasn't uneven, so it wasn't too difficult for him to continue onwards.

Just when Lin Qiushi wondered how long he still had to walk, he was suddenly hit by a dizzy spell. He reflexively squeezed his eyes shut and wanted to lean against the wall, supporting his body with his hand, but he certainly didn't expect to feel an ice-cold wall. His eyes flew open at the piercing chilliness, and he was soon left gaping at the scenery before him.

A normal corridor, an ordinary household, a faint, white glow emitting from the top of the lampshade. Everything around him was all too familiar-he actually returned to his own hallway.

Was he back? Lin Qiushi was at a slight loss; he didn't know what he should do next. After thinking for a moment, he fished out his cell phone from his pocket.

Friday, July 17th, 8:00 PM. He had returned to the exact time when he'd left this world.

Lin Qiushi remembered it very clearly. On the evening of the 17th, he and his friend had plans to eat out together. He was just about to leave his house, but once he pushed open the door to go out, he instead stumbled upon an unimaginable and indescribable scene.

The very spot where his ordinary hallway was supposed to be located suddenly turned into a corridor with twelve black, iron doors. At the time, Lin Qiushi nearly pissed his pants out of fright at the sight. He stood motionless in the corridor for quite some time, and he even thought that he was hallucinating. However, the icy sensation of these doors told him what he was seeing wasn't just a figment of his imagination. Lin Qiushi surveyed his surroundings and found that all other places he could use to leave this corridor had already vanished into this air, even his own home.

He couldn't see the end of this pitch-black corridor. The deathly silence plagued him like a parasite, gradually devouring his soul.

Then, Lin Qiushi tried opening a door. However, the iron door was sealed tight; no matter how much strength he used, it was impossible to pull the door open. Lin Qiushi promptly began testing out the other doors one by one, until he finally came to the last one and tugged on it.

This door unexpectedly opened without any troubles.

The instant the door opened, a strong force dragged Lin Qiushi's body forward, and soon after, he fell through the door. In the very next moment, he appeared at that dreadful small mountain village.

But now, Lin Qiushi came back; he once again found himself in his own hallway. He stood in place for a long time, doubting whether all that he'd experienced was merely a strange dream. But he suddenly recalled something. He reached out, touched his earlobe, and then his pocket afterwards...there was a small stud earring and a white piece of paper.

Lin Qiushi finally realized it at that moment. He truly wasn't dreaming; he'd actually lived through a terrible tale that was far scarier than any nightmare.

His cell phone suddenly rang. Lin Qiushi picked it up and looked at the screen, only to see his friend's number.

"Hey, Lin Qiushi, what are you doing?" His friend's name was Wu Qi, and he was also a colleague of Lin Qiushi. "Why aren't you downstairs yet?"

Lin Qiushi was somewhat absent-minded; he finally shook himself from his daze and reacted. Wu Qi was waiting for him downstairs; the two were going to eat outside together. He looked at their chat records and discovered that only quarter of an hour had passed-if he calculated this based on real time, he had only stayed in that village for about fifteen minutes.

"Lin Qiushi?" Wu Qi was a bit worried. "Why aren't you speaking?"

"Oh, it's nothing." Lin Qiushi replied. "I had a slight delay. I'll be right down."

Wu Qi said, "Okay." Then, he ended the call.

Lin Qiushi hurried down the stairs. It was currently July, the peak of summer, and the temperature was scorching. Even though it was eight o'clock, the sun still hadn't set; blazing rays of light streaked across the horizons, painting the skies a brilliant scarlet. Pedestrians leisurely strolled along the roadside, fluttering their fans. Everything around him was brimming with vitality.

Lin Qiushi's tense body soon relaxed. Wu Qi stood at the gate of the neighborhood. Upon seeing him come out, he quickly beckoned him over and commented that Lin Qiushi was so slow today and that he didn't know if Lin Qiushi was putting on makeup or what.

Lin Qiushi chuckled but didn't respond.

The two men spoke as they walked; their destination was the barbeque restaurant near the neighborhood.

Wu Qi complained that there were too many mosquitoes in Lin Qiushi's neighborhood. He stood there for half an hour, and he was bitten like crazy. As he said this, he exposed his calf for Lin Qiushi to see.

Lin Qiushi glanced at him. "There's too much hair. I can't see a thing."

Wu Qi: "Fuck my life, even talking about my hairiness. If it weren't for all this hair protecting me, you think I'd be waiting for you that long?"

Lin Qiushi: "...It's been hard on you. I'll treat you tonight."

Wu Qi: "That's good, that's good."

Business at the barbeque restaurant was booming. The two individuals ordered roasted kebabs and a pack of beer. They began chatting as they ate.

Wu Qi asked Lin Qiushi, "Are you really going to resign and return to your hometown?

Lin Qiushi: "Huh?"

Wu Qi was confounded. "What's up with you this evening? Are you just not yourself? Didn't you call me out here to tell me this?"

Lin Qiushi gulped down his chilled beer and perfunctory replied, "Nothing's up. I had a nightmare in the afternoon, and I still haven't gotten over it." His mind was still stuck on what happened inside the door. He had a vague hunch that this matter wasn't over just yet.

"I see." Wu Qi said. "Your condition isn't looking too good these days. Have you gone to the hospital for a checkup?"

Lin Qiushi responded, "I've went in for a checkup. The report still hasn't been released."

Wu Qi heaved a sigh, "It's easy to have an accident in our line of business. You know about that director who resigned a few months back? Apparently, the reason he resigned was because he nearly died."

Lin Qiushi uttered, "Oh..."

The two chatted about random stuff, when they suddenly heard a loud crash coming from the side. There seemed to have been a car accident. The barbeque restaurant was facing the open street, exposing the large road outside. Everyone who was eating heard this sound, and someone finally got up. One by one, the others followed and turned their heads to look outside. Wu Qi was seated by the window. He then glanced out the window and observed in surprise, "It's a car crash."

Lin Qiushi stood up and followed the crowd to the door to get a clear view of the source of that loud noise outside.

Shockingly, a car had run into a tree. No one knew how fast the car was going, but the entire front of the vehicle was beyond wrecked with that one crash.

It appeared that the driver had no chance after being met with such a catastrophic accident.

Numerous spectators began to help, someone dialed 120, and police cars and an ambulance soon arrived at the scene.

This guy, Wu Qi, had quite a big heart. While enjoying watching the bustling spectacle, he eagerly munched on his roasted pig heart. Wolfing it down with the greatest pleasure, he remarked, "That dude was definitely speeding. For the front of the car to be messed up that badly after crashing against the tree, he had to be speeding over one hundred miles per hour, wouldn't you say?"

Lin Qiushi disagreed, "This is downtown. How could he drive up to one hundred miles per hour?" Moreover, it just so happened that Friday evening was one of the busiest times. There were cars everywhere, it was nigh-impossible for him to speed that fast in a short amount of time.

"Who knows." Wu Qi shrugged. "Don't stare; just come back. The grilled fish you ordered arrived."

Lin Qiushi nodded. But before he turned around, he took one last glimpse at where the car accident occurred. This one glance made him think he mistook what he saw. The person who was in the car accident was carried out of the driver's seat by the police, his entire body was mangled and he was a bloody mess, but he had a certain style of dressing, evoking a sense of familiarity in Lin Qiushi.

After dwelling on it for a while, he finally remembered where he'd seen these clothes before. When he had first entered the mountain village, not everyone had changed into their winter clothes. There was one person in the group who was dressed in this attire. Lin Qiushi remembered that person's name...he seemed to have been called by the name Zhang Zishuang.

An abrupt chill ran down Lin Qiushi's spine. He didn't dare stare at the scene any longer. He turned around and returned to the barbeque restaurant, but he wasn't in the mood to continue eating.

Wu Qi: "Tell it to me straight, what is wrong with you? You've been acting like you're way out of your head this entire evening."

Lin Qiushi shook his head.

Wu Qi: "And when did you get your ear pierced?" He reached out to touch the earring, but Lin Qiushi instinctively avoided his hand. "Wow. You've really changed. You used to let me touch you before."

Lin Qiushi: "Like hell, when did I ever allow you to touch me?"

Wu Qi: "You actually forgot about that one night..."

Lin Qiushi just knew Wu Qi was about to talk some nonsense, so he quickly interrupted him, explaining that his piercing was still sore and that he feared it may become inflamed again if the other touched it with his dirty hands.

Wu Qi decided to drop the subject, but he still had some lingering thoughts, and he wondered, "Say, why did you get a piercing though? Don't tell me you plan to start dating?"

Lin Qiushi: "Who in the world would I be looking to date when I'm surrounded by a bunch of burly men? What, would I be looking to date you, huh?"

Wu Qi bashfully replied, "You don't have to be so direct about it. I'll consider it very carefully, okay?

Lin Qiushi was merciless. "Get lost."

While the two men were fooling around, jesting and making fun of each other, the sky gradually turned dark. If Lin Qiushi saw the arrival of dusk on any other day, he might've been indifferent to it, but he just came back from that place today.

Upon seeing the darkness fall, he grew a little panicked. If not all, the words on the note he read before also gave rise to an inexplicable feeling of distress in him. He wanted to return to his residence early.

Wu Qi didn't stop him. He repeatedly stressed that Lin Qiushi had to take care and rest well, mentioning that his complexion honestly didn't look good these days.

The two bid each other goodbye at the gate of the neighborhood, then Lin Qiushi immediately hurried back to his home.

Only after he whipped out his key from his pocket, unlocked his front door, and entered his house did Lin Qiushi breathe a deep sigh of relief. He turned on the light to the living room and caught sight of his darling cat, Chestnut, obediently resting in the foyer, meowing at him.

"Chestnut!!!" Lin Qiushi rushed over, wanting to hug it, but Chestnut twisted its body around. Revealing its utter disgust for him, it strutted away, swinging its round, peachy bottom in the air.

Lin Qiushi: "Chestnut... Let Dad hug you, ah."

Chestnut: "Meow~" It gracefully hopped onto the cat climbing frame Lin Qiushi made for it and lifted its nose, condescendingly looking down on its own master.

Still won't let me hug... Lin Qiushi sighed.

Chestnut was a two-year-old Turkish Angora. Although it looked quite mighty in appearance, it had a very good temperament. Usually, it would stick to him cutely, mewling all day, acting coquettishly and wanting to be pampered; it was Lin Qiushi's dearest and most loved precious little baby.

But recently, he didn't know what was going on. Chestnut started to despise Lin Qiushi. Not only did it not allow Lin Qiushi to cuddle it, but it even began to hiss and scratch at him angrily. If Lin Qiushi even attempted holding it, it would definitely injure his hand.

Lin Qiushi simply couldn't understand why though. Luckily, today, Chestnut's attitude towards him was a bit better, at least it didn't stretch out its claws at Lin Qiushi. Sighing once again, Lin Qiushi looked to his ancestors then decided to take a bath first before trying to figure things out.

**

Others: Now that I've returned to this world, I must enjoy my life to the fullest. What's your greatest wish, Lin Qiushi?

Lin Qiushi: Just...to stroke my cat again?

Ruan Baijie, excitedly pulling down pants' zipper, "You can't stroke your cat, but you can still stroke me!"

Lin Qiushi: ??????

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