Chapter 2 - Iron Doors and Keys

After daybreak, some of the terrifying atmosphere lingering from last night dissipated. As Lin Qiu Shi walked along the second floor corridor intending to go downstairs, he heard a noisy clamor coming from the third floor, as if many people were discussing something. He also heard the wailing of a woman - an extremely grievous wail, as if she had suffered something extremely tragic.

Lin Qiu Shi hesitated for a moment, then turned towards the third floor stairwell, intending to go upstairs to see what had happened up there.

The stairs here were made of wood, and the boards were somewhat aged, creaking loudly with every step. Some areas even shook slightly, as if they could barely support a person's weight.

When Qiu Shi arrived on the third floor, he saw several people standing in the hallway. But what caught his attention was the strong, pungent smell of blood in the air. 

The scent was so strong it made his nasal cavity sting. Qiu Shi had an ominous feeling as he slowly walked over behind the others.

"I knew it," said the tall man who had welcomed Qiu Shi and the others the day before, Xiong Qi, in his low voice as he discussed something with the others. "Something must have happened last night..."

Little Ke was also speaking: "I felt the same way. I thought it was..." She turned around upon noticing Qiu Shi behind her and said "Nevermind."

Qiu Shi wondered what she meant. Who did she think it was? Could she have thought it was him and Ruan Bai Jie? He looked up and saw a half-opened door behind Little Ke. 

There was a pool of coagulated blood on the floor, frozen from the cold weather. But you could still see it was a large amount.

"What happened?" Qiu Shi asked. 

"There's been a death," Xiong Qi said flatly.

Qiu Shi: "A death?" If it had been yesterday, he probably would have found it unbelievable that these people could talk about such a thing so calmly. But after what had happened last night, he was clearly aware that the place he was in now was no longer a world that could be explained by common sense.

"Yes," Xiong Qi said.

Qiu Shi changed his angle to peer into the room. He couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air at what he saw. The room was splattered all over with coagulated blood. Two mangled corpses were strewn haphazardly on the floor, so disfigured that you couldn't recognize what they once were. More like two piles of skinless flesh than human bodies. The blood had flowed from inside the room all the way into the hallway, from floor to walls, with almost no clean areas on the entire third floor. 

Even though Qiu Shi had mentally prepared himself, the scene still disgusted him. He covered his mouth and turned around. Little Ke helpfully said, "There's a bathroom in the next room over there."

Qiu Shi hurriedly rushed into the bathroom to vomit violently....

After he finished throwing up and came out, Little Ke said, "I thought you wouldn't throw up." 

Qiu Shi: "Huh?"

Little Ke said lightly: "You and Ruan Bai Jie are very high quality newcomers. Usually newcomers on their first door scene have much worse reactions. The survival rate is probably only around 20%."

Qiu Shi: "..."

Little Ke said: "Let's go eat breakfast downstairs."

Qiu Shi asked: "Aren't you going to do something about those corpses?" 

Little Ke looked at him strangely: "What do you want to do about them?"

Qiu Shi had no reply. As he followed the others back downstairs, he suddenly remembered something and asked doubtfully: "Wait, when I was on the second floor I heard a woman crying from the third floor..." He looked around and confirmed Little Ke was the only woman among them, and she didn't look like someone who would bawl loudly.

"A woman crying?" Little Ke said, "None of us heard that, you must have misheard."

Qiu Shi: "...Alright."

Breakfast was already prepared on the first floor, piping hot on the tables. The people who cooked were supposedly villagers. They looked no different from normal people.

After eating, Qiu Shi borrowed some thick clothes from them and asked about some matters in the village. 

"Nothing ever happens in our village," the villager didn't seem able to provide much useful information. "Just some tourists who come every winter."

Qiu Shi: "Oh... so how do you usually get your daily necessities?"

The villager replied: "We buy them from outside the mountain. The mountain roads are difficult to traverse, but we have to find a way. Once it starts snowing, there's no way to leave, the roads get blocked. We have to stay here all winter."

Qiu Shi thought for a bit, then suddenly asked: "Are all your village wells positioned in the middle of the courtyard?"

Maybe Qiu Shi was imagining things, but when he mentioned the word "well," the villager's expression seemed to become much more nervous. But he didn't give any particular information, just nodded and said yes, before turning around and leaving. 

Qiu Shi thought about it for a while but didn't figure anything out. He decided to first deliver the clothes to Ruan Bai Jie before thinking about anything else.

When he entered the room, Ruan Bai Jie was lying in bed playing on her phone. Seeing him come in, she lightly hmm'ed: "You're so slow." 

Qiu Shi handed over the borrowed clothes onto the bed: "Get up, there's breakfast on the first floor."

Ruan Bai Jie murmured in agreement. 

Qiu Shi said: "I'll wait for you outside."

"Wait a minute," Ruan Bai Jie suddenly called out, "What's that on top of your head?"

"What?" Qiu Shi said, confused.

Ruan Bai Jie beckoned him over. As Qiu Shi moved closer, she reached out and touched his head, then turned her palm over to show him. 

Seeing the red substance on Ruan Bai Jie's palm, Qiu Shi had a bad premonition. What Ruan Bai Jie held looked like frozen blood.

"I'll go take a look." Qiu Shi hurried into the bathroom. Indeed, as Ruan Bai Jie had said, he noticed that his hair was full of some fragmented crimson pieces, hidden amongst the strands. He wouldn't have noticed them at first. He also didn't know when they got onto his head. 

"Damn," Qiu Shi swore under his breath. As he wiped his head with a towel, the situation looked more and more horrifying. Just one hot towel had been completely stained red, and his hair still wasn't clean.

Ruan Bai Jie, now dressed in thick clothing, walked over and bluntly said: "Luckily that stuff isn't green."

Qiu Shi: "Have you...seen green blood before?" 

Ruan Bai Jie replied: "So it is blood?"

Qiu Shi sighed and briefly recounted what had happened on the third floor, explaining there were two corpses when he mentioned dead people. Ruan Bai Jie became distressed again, crying "Brother Qiu, I'm so scared, what if we're the next ones to die?" 

After all, she was a pretty girl. Crying so sadly really made people's hearts ache. 

Qiu Shi stepped forward to comfort her. And just as Ruan Bai Jie was about to lean her head on his shoulder, she suddenly said: "Brother Qiu, how tall are you?"

Qiu Shi: "1.8 meters." 

"Oh," Ruan Bai Jie said. "You're even shorter than me."

Qiu Shi: "..." I've failed you.

As Qiu Shi turned to continue clearing the blood from his hair, he contemplated where this blood could have come from. In the end, he had a rather disturbing idea...could it have dripped from the ceiling on the third floor?

"I want to go take another look on the third floor," Qiu Shi said. "You should go down first and eat breakfast."

"We'll go together," Ruan Bai Jie said. 

"Aren't you scared?" Qiu Shi looked at her doubtfully. Just now Ruan Bai Jie had been crying her eyes out. 

"Why would I be scared with you here?" Ruan Bai Jie gently smiled as she brushed aside her hair. "With you here, what do I have to fear?"

Qiu Shi thought to himself that she did seem to run faster than him last night.

And so the two of them went upstairs together again. 

The third floor was still the same scene of blood splatters everywhere and the uncleaned corpses. But this time, Qiu Shi focused his attention on the ceiling. Indeed, there were also traces of blood up there. The streaks made him feel very uncomfortable - it looked as if something had been stuck to the ceiling, slowly crawling across it. Over time, the blood on the ceiling had also frozen over, but you could still vaguely see the blood drips that had fallen to the floor.

Just the thought of what might have been hanging from the ceiling the first time Qiu Shi appeared on the third floor, without any of them noticing from start to finish, made his scalp tingle. 

Ruan Bai Jie scrutinized the ceiling for a long time. 

Qiu Shi asked her if she saw anything.

"I saw the ceiling," Ruan Bai Jie replied. "What else could I see, the starry sky and dreams?"

Qiu Shi: "..."

She really was quite bold. After looking at the ceiling, she even went to take a look at the two mangled corpses, showing no discomfort whatsoever, seeming rather excited instead.

It wasn't until Qiu Shi looked at her doubtfully and asked "Aren't you scared?" that she seemed to remember something. Very cooperatively, she started whimpering. 

Qiu Shi: "Stop with the whimpers. If you're still not going to eat breakfast?" 

"Eat eat eat," Ruan Bai Jie said. "I'm hungry too."

Only then did the two of them go back downstairs. There, they saw everyone else had already finished their meals and seemed to be waiting for them.

"Where were you two?" Xiong Qi asked. "We were waiting for you." 

Facing everyone, Ruan Bai Jie didn't seem nervous at all. She nimbly sat down at the table and started eating. 

Qiu Shi didn't have Ruan Bai Jie's thick skin. He talked about the blood stains in his hair and the strange traces he also saw on the ceiling of the third floor. 

After hearing this, everyone's expressions darkened. Some even reflexively looked up at the ceiling.

They were discussing the deaths from last night and those bizarre traces when a man in his forties wearing an olive green padded jacket and holding an oil lamp slowly walked in from outside. 

"Greetings," the man said. "I am the village chief here. You are the people I asked to come help, yes?"

When he spoke, everyone in the room became quiet.

"The days have grown cold. Our village would like to build some coffins to prepare for next year," the man said in a hoarse voice. "I'll have to trouble you all to help the carpenter." 

No one answered the village chief. The village chief didn't seem to expect any response from them either. 

After saying his piece, he coughed a few times, picked up the swaying kerosene lamp, and walked out towards the outside. Although the snow had stopped, the wind continued to howl. The wailing sounds hitting the doors and the treetops almost resembled human cries of grief.

"It's begun," Xiong Qi muttered softly. 

As soon as his words dropped, a strong gust of wind blew outside, slamming the half-closed door heavily against the wall. With a cracking sound, the door that had looked quite sturdy was smashed directly into pieces.

Everyone in the room was silent. Finally, Xiong Qi was the first to speak: "It looks like we'll be building coffins then."

From inside the room came the sounds of wailing: "How could this be, how could this be!! We have to deal with this kind of difficulty level world - how could we possibly survive, who knows how to build coffins, we're going to die, die in this place--!!" One of the men from a different team had a mental breakdown, howling as he swept everything off the table onto the floor, tears and snot covering his face. "There were thirteen people as soon as we came in, and two died on the first day...I've never encountered this level of difficulty before!!"

"Enough!" Xiong Qi said impatiently. "What good will crying do? Throwing a tantrum won't prevent you from dying! Look at how the newcomers handle themselves!" 

This caused Qiu Shi to be glared at fiercely for no reason. He thought, so even having too much psychological composure is my fault?

But it wasn't that surprising for someone to have a mental breakdown. Worlds that defied normal reality, all kinds of terrifying omens - it was difficult for people to keep calm. 

"Let's first discuss what we should do," Xiong Qi said. "The village chief mentioned building coffins. The key must be related to that." 

Qiu Shi raised his hand: "Excuse me, what do you mean by key?"

Xiong Qi glanced at him: "It means the thing we use to open doors. After we come in, we need to find clues from the people here about the key to get out, then find an iron door and we'll be able to leave."

Qiu Shi asked: "Is there a time limit?"

Xiong Qi gave a cold laugh: "Of course, before everyone dies." 

I see, Qiu Shi felt slightly relieved. At least there was a way out. What he feared most was a hopeless kind of horror - no escape, no salvation, everything futile no matter what you did.

"What exactly is the purpose of this world's existence?" Qiu Shi asked the question he was most curious about. 

Hearing this question, Xiong Qi looked deeply at him: "When you make it out alive, you'll know."

Qiu Shi: "Oh..."

"The clue is coffins," Xiong Qi looked outside at the weather. "Let's first go find the village carpenter to ask about the situation."

"Okay," Little Ke said. "I'll go with you." 

Qiu Shi raised his hand: "I want to go too."

Xiong Qi nodded indifferently: "Fine." Without realizing it, he had become the leader of the entire team. He ordered: "The rest of you search the building for any other useful clues."

Just then, Ruan Bai Jie walked over and gently pulled on Qiu Shi's sleeve, softly saying: "I'm scared, I want to stay with you." 

Although the girl was quite tall, completely lacking a bird-like delicacy, her good looks still elicited some pity. Qiu Shi nodded: "Alright, but I can't guarantee I can protect your safety."

Ruan Bai Jie smiled: "That's fine." She brushed the hair by her ear. "I feel at ease with you." 

Qiu Shi thought, this girl really knows how to charm someone. 

And so, taking advantage of the early daylight, the four of them hurriedly left. 

On the way, Qiu Shi asked Xiong Qi some more details about this world, finding out that the ghosts here normally wouldn't randomly kill people. But there were exceptions. If they encountered a high difficulty level world, the ghosts would be unrestrained, attacking whenever they wanted. Encountering this kind of situation was extremely dangerous, almost certainly leading to death. 

"Then what exactly is the purpose of this world existing?" Qiu Shi asked the question he was most curious about.

Hearing this question, Xiong Qi looked deeply at him: "When you make it out alive, you'll know."

Qiu Shi: "Oh..."

From the villagers they found out the address of the village carpenter. With such difficult road conditions in the snow, it took nearly an hour to get there even though it wasn't far. 

Qiu Shi also took the chance to observe the circumstances of the village. 

It wasn't very large, surrounded entirely by lush forests. Usually it would be fine, but once it started snowing, leaving became almost impossible as the roads were blocked. There weren't many villagers either, only occasionally seeing two or three walking along the roads. Logically, strangers suddenly appearing in this kind of place would be very unusual, but judging from the villagers' expressions, they didn't seem curious at all about Qiu Shi's group's arrival.

The carpenter's house was in the east side of the village. Approaching it from the outside, they could vaguely see the weak glow of an oil lamp flowing out. 

Xiong Qi walked up and knocked on the door. Shortly after, an old man appeared at the door. He looked sixty-something years old, hair sparse, wearing shabby grey cotton clothes. His face was covered in layers of wrinkles and his eyes were clouded over, no longer clear. "What business do you have?" he asked.

"It's too cold outside, could we speak inside?" Xiong Qi asked. 

Without a word, the old man stepped aside to open up the doorway. 

The four people from outside streamed into the not very large room. Glancing around, Qiu Shi noticed the window had a hole in it, roughly boarded up with planks to block out the wind. 

"Old man, we were invited by the village chief to build coffins," Xiong Qi said. "But we aren't too knowledgeable about them. We heard you're the village's famous carpenter, could you give us some advice?"

The old man looked at Xiong Qi coldly: "If you want to build coffins, first chop wood. Once the timber is delivered here, go to the

Despite Xiong Qi's repeated questioning, the old man laughed, the smile looking extremely hideous under the firelight. He lowered his voice and said: "If you're still alive then, come back and ask me again."

Xiong Qi's expression was icy.

Ruan Bai Jie didn't stand on ceremony at all, saying: "Don't pretend to die first, old man. If we finish and you die first, what are we supposed to do?"

The old man sneered coldly: "This old man has a tenacious life."

Ruan Bai Jie: "I see the only thing hard about you is your life."

Old man: "..."

Others: "..."

Qiu Shi thought to himself, how are you so skilled at provoking NPCs? Isn't messing around with them in a horror world seriously asking for trouble?

Normally people would feel at least somewhat apprehensive when facing such an eerie person, but Ruan Bai Jie didn't seem to think there was anything wrong, casually rolling her eyes.

"Alright alright," Qiu Shi said. "If he doesn't want to say anything, let's not force him..."

Ruan Bai Jie said: "How can we not force him? If we die first we've lost. What if he dies first?" As she spoke, she rolled up her sleeves, her eyes roving around the room until landing on a thick wooden stick arm's length away.

Qiu Shi thought to himself holy shit, she's really going to get violent? They were in a freaking horror world. Were there no consequences for getting violent with NPCs?

But before Ruan Bai Jie could pick up the stick, the old man backed down first, exclaiming angrily: "After paying respects, go fill up a well, then the coffin will be done!"

Ruan Bai Jie: "Wahh, Qiu Shi, he glared at me!"

Qiu Shi: "..." Your expression just now was scarier than his.

Xiong Qi and Little Ke were also caught off guard, not expecting she could handle things this way. When facing the people in this world, they had always been extremely polite, afraid of offending anyone. Who knew Ruan Bai Jie would completely disregard the standard route. And so easily obtain the final answer - although there was no guarantee this answer was correct.

As they left the carpenter's house, Xiong Qi complexly asked Ruan Bai Jie for her full name.

Ruan Bai Jie looked pitiful and distressed as she said: "My surname is Ruan, name Bai Jie. You can call me JieJie."

Xiong Qi called her JieJie, but somehow felt it wasn't quite right. In the end he still called her Bai Jie together with Qiu Shi.

They had been here almost an entire day, yet Xiong Qi only just found out Ruan Bai Jie's name now. Seeing her crying so sadly yesterday, he probably thought Ruan Bai Jie wouldn't be able to survive long in this world, so he simply hadn't bothered to ask her name.

But after Ruan Bai Jie's impressive performance, Xiong Qi also felt this girl didn't seem as weak as she appeared.

"Weren't you scared just now?" Xiong Qi asked her.

Ruan Bai Jie's answer convinced them completely. She said: "Scared? Why would I need to be scared? Being scared of ghosts is one thing, but being scared of people too, isn't that just too pitiful? And it was obvious with one look that he was a key NPC. If he really died, our information would be cut off. How could we survive till the end then?"

The three were rendered speechless, all feeling she made a lot of sense.

At the very least, they had obtained key information from the carpenter. Everyone felt much more at ease as they decided to head back and tell the others what they had learned.

Although it was daytime, the sky was covered by a layer of thick clouds with no snow falling, just an piercing wind gusting about. Ruan Bai Jie wore her long skirt, with two thick padded jackets on top. Following along behind Qiu Shi, she looked as delicate and fragile as a girl who could be blown away by the wind at any moment.

Seeing this, Qiu Shi couldn't bear it and reached out to pull her forward, blocking the wind for her from behind.

Ruan Bai Jie was quite moved by this gesture. Blinking her pretty eyes, she asked Qiu Shi: "You're so nice."

Qiu Shi: "Just being polite."

Ruan Bai Jie said: "Are you this nice to everyone?"

Qiu Shi jokingly said: "You see me doing this for Xiong Qi? I'm only nice because you're good-looking."

Xiong Qi walking in front: "I heard that!"

Hearing this, Ruan Bai Jie had a thoughtful expression: "So looks are all that matters?"

Qiu Shi only thought she was joking around and casually said: "Of course, also has to be tall."

Ruan Bai Jie: "Oh..."