Kaleidoscope of Death

Chapter 72: Fire

There were only two beds in the room, so someone had to sleep on the couch. Lin Qiushi very consciously showed off his personal strengths of respecting the old, loving the young, and always putting ladies first—by resolutely expressing that he'd sleep on the couch. Cheng Yixie and Ruan Nanzhu could take the beds.

Cheng Yixie didn't bother going back and forth with Lin Qiushi about it, just changed into his pajamas and climbed into bed.

Ruan Nanzhu, on the other hand, sat on his bed watching Lin Qiushi for a while. It made Lin Qiushi inexplicably nervous.

"Why are you looking at me?"

Ruan Nanzhu, "because you're good looking."

Lin Qiushi, "..."

Ruan Nanzhu, "want to squeeze in with me?" He patted the mattress beneath him.

Lin Qiushi turned him down, saying he'd come over if he really couldn't sleep. At this answer Ruan Nanzhu only tilted his head a little, said alright, and didn't insist any further.

The sofa here was wide and soft, and actually wasn't uncomfortable to sleep on at all. A thin blanket laid on Lin Qiushi's body, and he cast his gaze to the mirror on the floor. A towel had been placed over it, covering up the bright mirror surface so that people beneath them could no longer see into their room. Having also inspected the other mirrors in the room, they'd discovered there were both two-way and one-way mirrors. So they'd spent some time covering up all the two-way mirrors with towels.

This condo was quite new, and seemed freshly renovated. Curled up on the sofa, Lin Qiushi fell hazily asleep.

First nights in this world were typically more peaceful. Lin Qiushi thought he'd be able to sleep until morning, but at midnight, he was unexpectedly woken up by Cheng Yixie.

When Lin Qiushi woke, he saw Cheng Yixie, brows furrowed, sitting on the bed, nose continuously twitching like he was sniffing at something.

"Yixie, what's going on?" Lin Qiushi asked, dazed.

"There's a smell," Cheng Yixie spoke lowly. "...Of something burnt. Do you smell it?"

Taken aback, Lin Qiushi diligently worked his nose, but he couldn't catch any scent at all. So he shook his head: "No. I can't smell it."

Cheng Yixie stopped speaking. He stood, went to the wall, and crouched down to start examining it.

This behavior was really somewhat strange. Watching from behind, Lin Qiushi was just about to ask when he heard Ruan Nanzhu, on the bed over, ask quietly, "what is it?" Ruan Nanzhu had woken up too.

Cheng Yixie was still examining the corner of the wall.

Faint gold wallpaper covered nearly every corner of the room. Lin Qiushi watched as Cheng Yixie got up, fetched a fruit knife from the table, then return to the wall to begin scraping at the wallpaper.

A few minutes later, the wallpaper was off, revealing a patch of dark black.

By the faint light, Lin Qiushi saw that it was the wall behind the wallpaper. His expression went a bit stunned.

"There... had been a fire in this room?" That wall looked to have been charred black; something had obviously happened in this room.

Cheng Yixie began coughing lowly, like he was choking on some smell.

Seeing Cheng Yixie like this, Ruan Nanzhu got up and went to the bathroom. From there he fetched a wetted towel and handed it to Cheng Yixie.

"Hold that to your face."