Kaleidoscope of Death

CHAPTER 12: THE KEY TO THE DOOR

The chomping sounds lasted for a long time. It was as if something was chewing very carefully, grinding everything down the very bones. The disturbing grating sounds of bones being crushed perturbed everyone, but everyone quietly endured until it all was over.

Eventually, the first rays of the morning peeked over the horizons, and the chewing sounds soon vanished. At the same time, the woman at the fence who had silently been staring at the group also disappeared.

Lin Qiushi didn't know if it was merely a figment of his imagination, but he always felt as though the woman let out a slight burp before she disappeared...almost as if she was full from eating something.

The skies finally became bright. Lin Qiushi, who had been sitting in the courtyard for the entire night, seemed to be in a daze. He asked, "Is it over?"

Ruan Baijie didn't give a clear answer; she only uttered, "Perhaps."

They chopped down trees, prayed in the temple and filled the well; all that was left to be done was to go to the carpenter's place to retrieve the coffin.

Everyone's faces were drawn and wan, but a hint of excitement and hope shone from beneath their exhaustion. This was the final step. As long as they obtained the key and found the iron door, they could leave this dreadful world.

With their minds preoccupied with such thoughts, everyone's pace became much lighter and faster.

In the daytime, this village wasn't as eerie or horrifying as it was during the night. Rather, it was like a normal, small mountain village where simple and honest villagers lived, one where no ghosts appeared and no deaths occurred.

On the way to the carpenter's place, they passed by the area where Wang Xiaoyi died, but Lin Qiushi didn't see anything there. Only pure white snow covered the ground, there wasn't a single trace indicating something happened last night.

"Was her body eaten?" Lin Qiushi wondered.

"Probably." Ruan Baijie answered. "That thing seemed to have a big appetite."

When they reached the carpenter's house, they spotted the carpenter sitting near the door, leisurely smoking on his pipe. Lin Qiushi was the first to step forward. He then greeted the other and said, "Elder, we've come to pick up the coffin."

The carpenter didn't speak. He merely pointed inside the house.

Everyone entered the house and saw a beautiful crimson coffin standing in the small room. The coffin was indescribably magnificent; it was exquisitely built, every detail was handled with care and precision, created to perfection. It certainly wasn't a half-assed product that was made at the last minute.

Lin Qiushi kept getting the feeling that the paint on the coffin was a bit strange. He reached out and lightly stroked the coffin's surface, only to discover that the paint didn't just have a rather metallic odour to it, it also felt slimy.

Ruan Baijie reacted even quicker than he did and blurted out, "It's blood."

"Seems like it." Xiong Qi remarked. "Where would you even find paint that's like this?"

"Forget about it. What it's painted with doesn't matter right now, let's take it back first." Ruan Baijie said. "Come on."

Lin Qiushi had originally thought this coffin would be extremely heavy, but who would've imagined that when he lifted it up, it was, unexpectedly, as light as a feather; two people could easily carry it.

Cheng Wen's current state wasn't looking too good, leaving just Lin Qiushi and Xiong Qi as the only members of this entire team competent enough to undertake this laborious task. One after another, the two of them lifted the coffin then headed towards their residence.