Extra: Twin Lives, Twin Deaths (3)

Extra: Twin Lives, Twin Deaths (3)

Kaleidoscope of Death by Xi Zixu

The first person to leave a door could gain a hint about the next door. This was preferential treatment and leniency that the door awarded the victor. This was also an affirmation of strength.

But what many people didnt know was that when only one person was left in a door, that person, upon leaving the door, would earn a very special sort of hint. The person who possessed this hint gained not only detailed insight into the next door, but also a chance to save their own life.

For reasons, Ruan Nanzhu had never told Cheng Yixie about this. Cheng Yixie only learned about it by accident.

And Cheng Yixie, after just barely scraping his way out of the seventh door, had also come to a realization. Hed realized that he couldnt protect Cheng Qianli. The world of the doors was treacherous and ever-changing; no matter how smart he was, he was just a mortal in the end, and all mortals made mistakes. Mistakes in daily life may be utterly unimportant, but mistakes made inside the doors could cost you your life.

Cheng Yixie returned to the mansion, saw Cheng Qianlis brilliant grin embracing Toast, and made a silent decision.

Everything that followed became so reasonable.

Cheng Yixie was clever, and when clever people did bad things, they were naturally adept.

Do you have any idea what youre doing, Cheng Yixie. Ruan Nanzhu very quickly figured out Cheng Yixies deviancy, and he and Cheng Yixie had their very first explosive argument. Youre going to get Cheng Qianli killed, as well as yourself!

Against Ruan Nanzhus accusations, Cheng Yixie chose silence.

Stop this, while you still can, Ruan Nanzhu said. Dont wait until its too late to turn back

Cheng Yixie gave Ruan Nanzhu an answer. He said, Cheng Qianlis not even eighteen yet.

He held onto the railings, looking out over the lush green yard where Cheng Qianli and Toast were chasing each other around in play.

If only one of us can survive, I hope it to be him.

Ruan Nanzhu, but there are other ways. Youre choosing the stupidest method

But its the most lucrative. Cheng Yixie was no older than fourteen, but there wasnt any trace of a childs innocence to be found in his eyes. His pupils were deep lakes, in which were hidden things even Ruan Nanzhu couldnt comprehend. Sorry, Ruan-ge, I really cant just watch Qianli die.

Ruan Nanzhu knew he had no chance of convincing Cheng Yixie. He said no more, and walked away.

At this point, the worst that Cheng Yixie had done was let people go to their deaths. But afterCheng Yixie closed his eyes. He never wanted to talk about what happened after anymore.

Once someone broke their bottom line, it was like plunging into a quagmire; you could only keep sinking.

Had it been anybody else, Ruan Nanzhu would likely have already kicked Cheng Yixie out of Obsidian. But Cheng Yixie was just a kid. He was like a fresh-grown sapling that, before it could even grow up straight, got snapped at the waist by the battering rains and winds.

Cheng Yixie began to sink deeper and deeper in to the abyss, until he had no way of ever getting out.

Everybody said what went around would always come back around; Cheng Yixie thought that he would be the one to pay for the things he did. Once people do wrong, they had to pay a price. Cheng Yixie was willing to pay for his sins with his life.

But on the day retribution truly came, Cheng Yixie finally learned that some things didnt happen as easily as hes imagined.

Cheng Yixie was wailing. His Qianli, this was his Qianlithe kid he loved the most still hadnt been able to grow up. Hadnt even passed his eighteenth birthday. Certainly hadnt gotten to see all the beautiful sceneries of the world like hed hoped.

What came afterwards, Cheng Yixie didnt really remember. He didnt really remember how he got through that time. By the time he came back to himself, hed already left Obsidian, and was crossing doors with Zhuo Feiquan.

Zhuo Feiquan, like him, was a person left behind at the end of the world. Zhuo Feiquan no longer had a sister, and Cheng Yixie no longer had a brother. Zhuo Feiquans luck was just a lot better than Cheng Yixies, thats allhe had a pendant that his sisters soul laid in.

Hey, youre not planning on getting me killed inside the doors and stealing my pendant, are you? Zhuo Feiquan spoke frankly. Im telling you, Im hardy as hell.

Cheng Yixie looked at him, answering faintly, forget it. I thought about it, but its better not to do it.

Why not? Zhuo Feiquan asked.

Im afraid hell have to pay for the bad things I do again. Cheng Yixies tone was cold. Look, isnt that the case now?

He didnt even dare to die, because his life had been traded in for Qianlis. That little fool had to be smart just this once, but this one time was all it took to torture him to death and back.

Zhuo Feiquan threw back his head and laughed.

To have experienced the same pain of losing family, the two actually had an odd resonance. Only those days didnt last. Zhuo Feiquan died in his own tenth door, and before dying, he placed his pendant in Cheng Yixies hand. He didnt say anything, because both of them already knew.

Cheng Yixie clutched the pendant that Zhuo Feiquan gave him and managed a smile, meaning he had accepted Zhuo Feiquans good will.

Once he had the pendant, Cheng Yixie wondered if he should use it to summon Cheng Qianli. But after thinking about it, he didnt do it. Because he remembered that Cheng Qianli was scared of ghosts.

If he wasnt there, Cheng Qianli could only wait around inside the doors. That was probably another kind of torture.

Cheng Yixie wouldnt do that to him.

The days went on one at a time. So Cheng Yixie thought that this would be the end of his and Cheng Qianlis story. He still went through doors in a state of numbness. He might die inside one of these days, but to the him right now, death seemed more like a merciful blessing and escape.

This continued on like this until Cheng Yixie went into his own eleventh door.

In his eleventh door, when he saw Tan Zaozao on television, Cheng Yixie became conscious of something. He left the hospital that hed entered the door through in a hurry. He went back to his house and knocked on that familiar door.

Moments later, the door opened to reveal a face completely identical to his. And when he saw Cheng Yixie, he looked on with a stunned expression.

Cheng Yixie began to laugh, ignoring Cheng Qianlis shock completely and wrapping him up in a hug. He said, idiot, Geges been looking for you for such a long time. I thought that once Id lost you, I would never get you back.

Good thing that now, he was finally found.

And since he was found, staying in this illusory world of the door seemed to benot all that bad.

The once-split soul merged back together then, from two to one, just like the moment they were birthed from their mothers body. A satisfied smile appeared on Cheng Yixies face. He dried the tears at the corners of his eyes and watched as the sun outside the window slowly descended beneath the horizon.

Translators Note:

Look, I need those of you who have even a passing understanding of Chinese to suffer this passage with me: . The original is simply HIs Qianli, his Qianli ah Just a fucking WAIL. Like me. Just fucking head back, sobbing at the ceiling.

[Extra: Twin Lives, Twin Deaths(2)] | [Extra: Bai Ming and Zhang Yiqing]