CHAPTER 15: RUAN NANZHU

The warm water washed away the sweat clinging to his body and allayed the blistering summer heat. After taking a bath, Lin Qiushi sat in front of his computer and typed out two words on the keyboard: Fitcher's Bird.

These two words, Fitcher's Bird, were written on the note he'd picked up back inside the door. However, Lin Qiushi just didn't know what exactly these words were referring to, so he decided to browse online to find an answer.

A few seconds later, a webpage containing the very information Lin Qiushi wanted appeared on the screen. He clicked on the first available link and discovered it be a forum. The people on the forum were discussing Grimms' Fairy Tales, and among all those being discussed was one particular fairy tale called Fitcher's Bird.

Fitcher's Bird, also known as Fitchers Vogel in its original language1, told a tale of three sisters and a sorcerer disguised as a beggar.

The general plot of this story centered around a sorcerer disguising himself as a poor man, wandering about in search of beautiful young women to abduct as his brides. Once he captured his bride, he handed her a key and an egg, then told her he would be away from home for a few days. After informing her of his leave, he then forbade her from entering a certain room, stressing that she should never go inside said room. However, because of her curiosity, the young woman used the key to unlock the forbidden door as soon as the sorcerer left the house. When she caught sight of the mutilated corpses that lay scattered beyond the door, she released the egg in her hands.

The egg fell to the floor and was soon stained with crimson blood. She vigorously scrubbed, trying to get rid of the marks, but her efforts were futile, for she just couldn't wipe the blood off the egg. When the sorcerer returned home and saw the red stains on the egg, he forcefully dragged the young woman into the room and used his axe to hack her to pieces. In this tale, only the youngest of the three beautiful sisters narrowly escaped with her life. In the end, she made use of her wisdom to save her older sisters, then killed the sorcerer.

This was supposedly a fairy tale meant for children, but a grown man like Lin Qiushi felt his blood run cold at this story, specifically, at the part where the youngest sister pieced together her older sister's mangled corpses; for some inexplicable reason, he kept thinking that the scene where the youngest sister cheered happily upon seeing her sisters' resurrection was particularly horrifying and abysmal.

This morbid fairy tale was quite similar to the folktale, Bluebeard. But it was even grislier than that one.

But what did Fitcher's Bird, the words on the note, signify? Lin Qiushi brooded over this matter. He wanted to believe these words were somehow connected to his recent experience, but thinking back on it, he couldn't help but feel as though it was too far-fetched.

But since it wasn't related to his previous experience, was it possibly a prediction of the future? Lin Qiushi recalled those twelve black doors, and the feeling of dread that overcame him grew heavier.

Still having not obtained any answers, he walked over to his bed and reclined on his back. Lost in his thoughts, he began gazing at the ceiling.

He had recently planned to quit his job and return to his hometown, but all of his plans were disrupted by such a troublesome matter that popped out of nowhere.

Whatever happened inside the door was completely beyond his understanding; it simply couldn't be explained by science or common sense. Once again, he tried seeking some answers and clues, but he couldn't arrive at a single conclusion. His mind was in turmoil.

With these chaotic thoughts running through his mind, Lin Qiushi gradually fell into a shallow sleep. He wasn't sleeping deeply, so if there was even the slightest movement in the room, he would immediately wake up. Lin Qiushi was dozing off, when he detected a faint noise. Thinking the noise came from Chestnut, he lowly mumbled, "Chestnut..."

There was no response.

The sound faded, and a faint scent lingered near Lin Qiushi's nose. The fragrance was rather unique, carrying the scent of ice and snow. He instantly sensed something strange, despite being unable to see anything through his closed eyes.

It was a feeling hard to describe. Though Lin Qiushi's eyes were closed, he could clearly feel someone staring at him. The other's gaze was burning, and it caused a shiver to run down the spine of the one who was currently lying down.

...Someone was in his room. Lin Qiushi's consciousness gradually cleared up; he finally came to, and he couldn't be any more aware of this realization.

"How are you such a light sleeper?" An unfamiliar male's voice suddenly echoed in the room. The sound was extremely close, within his reach. The other's hot breath hit Lin Qiushi's ear.

Since the man had already noticed he wasn't sleeping, Lin Qiushi had no choice but to open his eyes.

The room wasn't lit, so he could only vaguely make out the uninvited man's appearance with the moonlight. It was a very beautiful man. Yet, although he was beautiful, there wasn't the slightest trace of femininity emanating from his body. As of this moment, his head was cocked to one side, and he was grinning as he watched Lin Qiushi. His dark eyes were concealed by shadows, so Lin Qiushi couldn't determine the other's mood at the time.

"You woke up?" The man tenderly caressed Lin Qiushi's lips with his fingers. His fingertips were ice-cold, lacking the temperature that humans should have. Nevertheless, they were delicate, supple enough, like a fine piece of jade.

Lin Qiushi instinctively wanted to escape from his current situation, but the man directly seized his wrists, capturing them in his hand. The man's strength was great, it was as if Lin Qiushi's hands were bound in steel cuffs. Lin Qiushi only had to struggle a bit, and a dull ache would instantly shoot up his wrists-if the man exerted just a bit more force, his hands would undoubtedly break in a flash.

"Who are you?" Lin Qiushi demanded. "It's against the law to break into a private residence-"

The man let out a chuckle; he was actually amused by Lin Qiushi. He slowly leaned forward, gradually approaching, and carefully studied Lin Qiushi's appearance. Soon after, he softly remarked, "Just as cute as I'd imagined.

Lin Qiushi's hair stood on end at his sudden statement.

Just when he thought the man might do something even more extreme, the other simply released his grip, then conveniently turned on the light near the bedside.

A bright glow enveloped the entire room, dispelling the uncertainties and fears brought by the darkness. At last, Lin Qiushi was able to see the man before him clearly.

The man's appearance was far more stunning than he'd imagined. But there was also something a bit off about him. The two's gazes interlocked for a second. Probably from seeing the vigilance and almost-imperceptible panic in Lin Qiushi's eyes, the man smiled again. He then extended his hand out to Lin Qiushi; his tone was ever so gentle as he said, "Welcome to the world of the doors."

Lin Qiushi didn't take his hand. He eyed him warily. "Who are you? Why are you in my house?"

The man didn't mind Lin Qiushi's cold attitude. He brushed it off and continued, "Hello, Lin Qiushi. My name is Ruan Nanzhu. I understand that you have quite a lot of questions, but as of this moment, I can only answer them one by one."

Lin Qiushi's lips were set in a straight line; stubbornness streaked his face.

Ruan Nanzhu lifted his arm and glanced at the time on his watch, "You only have ten minutes to get dressed right now. I'll be taking you somewhere afterwards."

Lin Qiushi had just opened his mouth, before he was rudely interrupted by Ruan Nanzhu. This beautiful, seemingly harmless and not-in-the-least threatening man, actually had a strong, oppressive presence. His very smile caused people to shift their feet in unease. "You aren't in the position to refuse."

Lin Qiushi's expression showed all but helplessness. He had been exposed to Ruan Nanzhu's strength just moments ago; he clearly knew that if a confrontation did happen to break out, he certainly had zero chances of being the victor.

The atmosphere became tense. Just when Lin Qiushi considered whether he should truly obey the man's orders, Chestnut, who had originally been lazing around in the living room, suddenly appeared in his bedroom. It mewled softly, then began rubbing its head against Ruan Nanzhu's leg.

Ruan Nanzhu's overbearingly oppressive aura instantly dispersed. He bent at his waist, picked Chestnut up, carrying it in his arms, then skillfully scratched its chin. "You're even keeping a cat?"

Lin Qiushi faltered. "Well...you..." He also wanted to ask about Ruan Nanzhu's identity, but just when his questions were about to leave his lips, he suddenly felt that Ruan Nanzhu wouldn't reply to any of the questions that he wanted answers to. However, at that moment, he remembered something. He tentatively probed, "What's your relation to Ruan Baijie?" The surname Ruan was quite rare. Moreover, the man had also said, "Welcome to the world of the doors." One way or another, he was definitely connected to those twelve iron doors.

Ruan Nanzhu didn't respond to his question at all, "You have seven minutes left."

Lin Qiushi grudgingly thought to himself, although this person's very attractive, his character's truly stiffer than stone. Lamenting at his misfortune, he quickly wore his clothes. Luckily, it was summertime, so he only needed a few minutes to change into his attire.

Seven minutes passed, and the two men promptly appeared downstairs.

Lin Qiushi was very puzzled when he left his home. He skeptically observed his door lock, only to see that it was completely intact; there were no traces of damage whatsoever.

Ruan Nanzhu seemed to have guessed what he was thinking. He pointed with his finger and said, "I came in through the window."

Lin Qiushi: "...Haha, you're real funny." His place was on the sixteenth floor, completely sheltered and far from any outside disturbances. It couldn't be that Ruan Nanzhu just flew in through the window?

Ruan Nanzhu saw that he didn't believe him, and he also didn't bother explaining. He just turned around and left.

Following him closely at his heels, Lin Qiushi continuously grumbled behind his back, saying that it was illegal to break into a private home.

Ruan Nanzhu: "You going to try reporting this to the police?"

Lin Qiushi:"...."

The two men eventually went down to the garage. Unexpectedly, there was another person sitting inside the car in the garage. The person sitting in the driver's seat seemed to have fallen asleep.

Ruan Nanzhu stretched out his arm and rapped his knuckles on the glass. "Cheng Qianli."

The boy named Cheng Qianli woke up with a start. He squinted, rubbed his eyes, then said, "Big brother Ruan, you've already finished up with what you needed to do? This fast?"

Ruan Nanzhu: "Drive."

Cheng Qianli hummed. He then turned his head around and looked Lin Qiushi up and down. "Sure enough, he is quite cute."

Lin Qiushi: "..." He wasn't the least bit happy at being called 'cute' by a teenage boy. Frankly speaking, if it weren't for Ruan Nanzhu previously mentioning something about those doors, he honestly would've suspected them to be a group of human traffickers.

While he was being sized up by Cheng Qianli, Lin Qiushi also decided to study the other. The boy appeared to be about sixteen or seventeen years old. His voice still showed signs of puberty, and youthfulness and immaturity marked his whole face.

After observing the entire situation, Lin Qiushi shot up from the back seat and straightened his spine. Only then did he finally think of the most important issue at hand...

Upon seeing his unrest, Ruan Nanzhu asked, "What?"

Lin Qiushi: "If I may boldly inquire so, how old is your friend there?"

Ruan Nanzhu: "?"

Sitting in the front, Cheng Qianli replied, "I'm sixteen." He had initially thought Lin Qiushi would sigh in pity at his tender age and also plan to show off, but who would've imagined that Lin Qiushi would suddenly mutter under his breath, "Sixteen... No driver's license."

Cheng Qianli: "..." This man truly proved himself to be worthy of catching big brother Ruan's attention; his brain just wasn't on the same level as normal people, ah.

Ruan Nanzhu also smiled. He commented, "I've met countless people, but you are the very first to have asked a question like this."

Lin Qiushi: "So, do you have a driver's license? I just saw someone die in a car accident today. How about I be the one to drive, yes? I'm a pretty good driver."

An awkward silence filled the car.

Cheng Qianli heaved a long, heavy sigh and assured, "Don't worry, I've been driving for three years. As long as we don't run into any traffic police...".

The result was that the trio had just left through the neighborhood gates, when they spotted the traffic police doing some random inspections at a DUI checkpoint up ahead.

Cheng Qianli: "Fuck."

'I told you so' was written all over Lin Qiushi's face.

Thereupon, an expressionless Cheng Qianli and Ruan Nanzhu switched positions. Watching on as his elder brother got into the driver's spot, Cheng Qianli took a seat beside Lin Qiushi then glared fiercely at Lin Qiushi.

Lin Qiushi's face was the picture of pure innocence. He silently thought to himself, I only said something off the top of my head, but would you take a look at that; who in the world could've known something like this would come true.

**

Ruan Nanzhu: I am called Ruan Nanzhu.

Lin Qiushi: A good name!

Ruan Nanzhu: ...You want to try calling it out?

Lin Qiushi: Sneaking away, sneaking away.

**

1The original said 'due to a difference in translations.' There are two different names for this particular fairy tale in China; one of the names translates directly into 'Fitcher's Bird', while the other is a variation of the same title. Since this wouldn't really make sense in English, I had to take some liberties with this.

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