Chapter 100: Zhu Ruyuan

Chapter 100: Zhu Ruyuan

Kaleidoscope of Death by Xi Zixu

Ai Wenruis words brought looks of hesitation to all three of their faces.

Lin Qiushi said, Ill go take a look.

He walked over to the sculpture and cautiously took hold of a corner of the white cloth. Then, very lightly, he lifted it up.

The white cloth fell, revealing the item wrapped up insidea beautifully sculpted statue. The statue was of a woman looking down and lightly smiling. She was seated on a chair and clothed in a long dress. With her long hair draped over a shoulder, her lines were elegant and lively, as if she could truly come to life at any moment.

Though Gu Longming had little understanding of the art form, he was still caught by this sculpture, and exclaimed: Its beautiful

But after seeing the statue, Ai Wenruis expression completely changed. He took a couple of unconscious steps back, stammering, noIts wrong!

Whats wrong with it? Lin Qiushi looked over at him.

The sculpture wasnt like this before!! Clearly terrified by the sculptures appearance, Ai Wenrui spoke rapidly: When we saw it before this sculpture was only a head, where did the body come from?!

What do you mean? Gu Longmings eyes went wide. You mean this sculpture grew??

Yes, theres an additional body part Ai Wenrui said. When we came to make the wish before, Im certain that this sculpture, that this sculpture only had a head!

But now, she had a body. Not only did she have a body, but she also looked more and more like a living person.

Thanks to Ai Wenrui, what was at first a beautiful statue now seemed touched with eeriness. Even the gentle smile on her face had become strange and oddly hair-raising.

What was the initial situation? Explain it in detail. Lin Qiushi kept thinking Ai Wenrui was still hiding something.

Ai Wenrui warily eyed the sculpture. He seemed a bit scared.

Is it okay if we dont talk about it here?

Alright, Lin Qiushi agreed. He too thought the sculpture was discomforting.

So the three left the room, locking the door behind them.

What they didnt notice was, after they left the room and locked the door, the gentle smile on the sculpted womans face gradually disappeared into cool impassivity. Those plaster eyes too slowly blinked.

Lin Qiushi and Ai Wenrui returned to the activity room.

Rubbing his arm, Ai Wenrui was still caught up in the feelings of fright; his eyes kept darting toward the storage room, clearly afraid of the now-altered sculpture.

What was the ritual you guys did? Lin Qiushi asked him.

Xuejie taught us! Ai Wenrui said. She gave us each a small wooden doll and had us drip blood on top of the doll. Then we made the wish to the sculpture

Xuejie? Lin Qiushi asked. Where is she now?

Ai Wenrui looked at the time and said, right now, shes probably still in class.

Nothing happened to her? Gu Longming seemed incredulous. Dont the first ones to propose the suicidal plans usually die first in this sort of plot?

Ai Wenrui didnt know how to respond to Gu Longmings forthright proclamation.

After everything that happened, you didnt even go talk to her? Lin Qiushi thought something was off. She must know something, right?

We were all scared to death. We were too afraid to even meet. With a pained laugh, Ai Wenrui continued, if Xiao He and the other guys werent in the same class as me, I wouldnt have even wanted to see their faces.

At the mention of Xiao He, Ai Wenruis spirit dimmed again. He seemed to have linked Xiao Hes death to his own future.Updated from novelbIn.(c)om

If they didnt take care of this matter quickly, Ai Wenruis death too was only a matter of time.

Lets go look for her, Lin Qiushi said. She must be a key character. Also He pulled the group photo from his pocket. Do you know the people in the picture?

Sure, Ai Wenrui answered after a glance. TheyThey were the first three to bleed on the dolls.

This last person didnt play along? Lin Qiushi recalled there was a lucky survivor among the group.

He didnt. At this, Ai Wenrui seemed to sense something was odd as well. Thats not rightHe was the person closest to Xuejie. He was there too, but why didnt he play? He scratched his head in confusion. And I didnt even notice

Lin Qiushi looked at the time. The last class of the day was about to end, and evening was upon them. At night, they werent going anywhere. So Lin Qiushi said, take us to find this Xuejie. I want to talk to her.

Ai Wenrui nodded.

Xuejie, like them, was a sculpting major. She was in her fourth year. This class was hosted right beside the exercise field, and they got there without much walking.

Outside the classroom, Lin Qiushi heard the school bell go off. Then, students began to pour outside.

Ai Wenrui stuck his head out to peer inside, but after a while, still could not find whom he was looking for. A bit puzzled, he muttered, is she skipping class? Or did something happen

Lin Qiushi said, find a student to ask.

Mh. With a nod, Ai Wenrui stopped a student heading out. Hey, do you know Zhu Ruyuan?

Zhu Ruyuan was Xuejies name.

Who? The student looked completely clueless. I dont know.

Ai Wenrui startled.

You dont know her?

With an ominous feeling, he rushed to stop the next student, asking whether or not he knew Zhu Ruyuan.

But, after asking four students, five students who were exiting the room, every single one of them shook their heads to Ai Wenruis question. They indicated that in their class, there wasnt a female student named Zhu Ruyuan at all.

This got Ai Wenrui completely frazzled, goosebumps appearing all over his body. He seemed a bit wrecked: WhatHow could they not know her, shes been in class with these people!

Lin Qiushi gave this some thought, then walked inside the classroom to stop the teacher. He asked if the teacher knew Zhu Ruyuan.

At the mention of the name, however, the teachers expression changed. He asked, who are you people? Coming to our school and asking questions like this, what do you want!

We were hired by the school to investigate the deaths on campus, Lin Qiushi explained. The identities given to them by the NPC sure was helpful at times like this. You know who Zhu Ruyuan is, correct? Will you tell us what happened with her?

The teacher looked hesitant, saying, she What happened to her was actuallypretty well-known on campus. But because of the class turnovers, people just gradually stopped knowing.

Ai Wenrui had already heard the meaning inside the teachers words. He choked, you mean Zhu Ruyuan is already

Yeah, shes already dead, the teacher said. Shes been dead for over five years now.

Ai Wenrui began to shake.

He thought for a moment. But, there really is something weird about what happened then.

What is it? Lin Qiushi asked.

He didnt participate in the game. Ai Wenrui had already mentioned this before, but spoke more in detail this time. Looking back on it now, it really is weird, because he was the one who brought up this game in the first place.

So where is he now? Gu Longming asked.

Still on campus I guess, Ai Wenrui said. Were in our third year. We gotta start graduation planning soon, and we also have to look for jobs. Everybodys busy as heck. They should all still be on campus.

He must know something, Lin Qiushi said. This person might have something to do with Zhu Ruyuan.

Ai Wenrui nodded.

Speaking of which, Xuejies not going to come look for me now, is she

Neither Gu Longming nor Lin Qiushi replied to Ai Wenrui. Clearly, none of them could be sure of this.

Evening fell, enveloping the whole school in darkness.

Ai Wenrui had tucked himself in early on, and was tossing and turning in sleeplessness. Truth was, Lin Qiushi couldnt really fall asleep either. He just didnt like moving around even if he couldnt sleep because moving only gave him more energy.

While the two of them couldnt sleep, Gu Longming wasnt affected at all; very soon the room was filled with the sound of his steady breathing.

Are you asleep? Ai Wenrui asked quietly.

After a beat of silence, Lin Qiushi replied, no.

Ai Wenrui, I cant sleep. What do I do

Lin Qiushi, close your eyes and stop playing on your phone. Youll fall asleep soon.

But Im scared, Ai Wenrui said. Im scared shell come for me.

Lin Qiushi, so if you dont sleep she wont come for you?

Ai Wenrui, That actually made some sense.

Sleep, Lin Qiushi said. Blessings or misfortunewhatever has to come will come.

Perhaps Lin Qiushis words really did calm Ai Wenrui; after a few more turns, he quieted down, and seemed to have fallen asleep.

Lin Qiushi kept his eyes fractionally open, half-asleep and half-awake. In this state he could come awake at the slightest of sounds.

Thump thump. The soft noise woke Lin Qiushi. He opened his eyes in the dark and looked toward the source of the noise It was the ceiling.

There seemed to be a wall between them and this noise, so it shouldnt be taken too seriously. Had this been the first floor though, it would have been fine, since it could be people walking about on the second floor. But they were currently on the second floor, which meant that above their ceilingthere were no people.

Thump thump. The knocking from the ceiling continued.

Listening to the noise, Lin Qiushi had a bad feeling, because it sounded a lot like somebody was lying on the ceiling and knocking, as if in search of something.

In a moment of recall, Lin Qiushi immediately crawled out of bed. He came to Ai Wenruis side and patted him awake.

Surfacing dazedly from a dream, Ai Wenrui saw first thing Lin Qiushis face right next to his. He started to scream, but Lin Qiushi put a hand over his mouth.

Get up off the bed, Lin Qiushi spoke quietly into his ear. Dont talk, dont make any sound.

Ai Wenrui nodded emphatically. He had heard the weird knocks above his head as well. This sound definitely did not come from a human, and if it wasnt a human Ai Wenrui scampered up and hurriedly got off the bed.

The moment he cleared the mattress, there came a loud bang! from the ceiling. Lin Qiushi looked up and saw that the ceiling had been smashed completely open by a giant statuea sculpted half bust. It had fallen directly onto Ai Wenruis bed, denting the metal headboard completely out of shape.

It was easy to see that had Ai Wenrui still been lying in bed, hed have been met with misfortune.

Fucking hell! Gu Longming had also been woken up by this sound, opening his eyes to ask, whats going on!

Lin Qiushi said, get up quicklysomethings happened.

Gu Longming rushed off the bed and saw the new hole in their ceiling. The hole wasnt the scariest thing though; the scariest thing was that from inside the hole, he clearly saw a pair of big black eyes emerge. Those eyes did not have sclera, only dark pupils, and they surveyed the inside of the room with malicious intent.

The eyes looked, but did not seem to find what they were looking for. Some degree of rage appeared in their gaze before they disappeared into the evening.

Nobody in the room wanted to talk. Gu Longming stared at that hole, silent for a long moment, before finally squeezing out: Fuck, can we still sleep like this?

I cant sleep anymore Ai Wenrui was wanting to cry again.

Lets switch a room. Lin Qiushi peered at Ai Wenrui. Its almost morning.

Fortunately there were lots of extra rooms. The three gathered up their stuff in silence and switched to another. Of course, before leaving, Lin Qiushi went and inspected the sculpture that had smashed up Ai Wenruis bed. He discovered that this sculpture was practically identical to the ones in the library

Lin Qiushi thought that this ghost didnt have an easy job either. It had to haul a statue over from so far away just to kill somebody.

The three changed rooms and couldnt sleep at all.

Ai Wenrui sat by the window, quietly staring outside.

Gu Longming asked what he was thinking about.

Im thinking, if only I had wished for something else, Ai Wenrui said. Say, if Id wished to live forever back then

Gu Longming,

Wouldnt I be winning big now? Ai Wenrui was filled with regret.

Oh sure, Gu Longming hummed. But havent you thought of the fact that theres lots of ways to live? Arent people in comas still technically living?

Ai Wenrui, right. He was sad again. Then I shouldnt have done this at all. In a horror film, even the main character doesnt get too good an ending.

Gu Longming patted his shoulder. And you might not even be the main character.

Ai Wenrui, I am going to cry.

Gu Longming hurriedly added, even if you arent the main character, youre still the most important secondary male lead!

Ai Wenrui, But dont secondary leads in horror films all die in ways more motherfucking terrible than the last?!

Translators Note:

Its worth noting that LQS uses the formal register of youwhen speaking to the teacher.

Names in this chapter

Zh Ryun / Zhu(1) Ru(2) Yuan(4) /