Kaleidoscope of Death

Chapter 139: Back to the Beginning

It was a very normal looking clock. It had been in this room since Lin Qiushi rented it. The clock chimed every hour, from one to twelve...Ding dong, ding dong. Its chimes were bright and clear, reminding Lin Qiushi that time was always pushing ahead without mercy.

Lin Qiushi took the clock down. Because it had hung for so long, a layer of dust had settled onto the clock face. He grabbed a tissue to wipe it clean, and then carefully removed the cover.

What Lin Qiushi wanted was not under the cover. He stared at the complicated innards the cover revealed and, after a moment's silence, pressed down on the knob that controlled the hour hand, slowly twisting it backwards...

The hand began a counterclockwise rotation. It swiped across the number twelve, and when it pointed to the number eleven, Lin Qiushi halted—before his eyes, complex images had started to appear. In one image, a beautiful man in women's clothing was beaming brilliantly at him, and saying to him, "Lin Qiushi, I like you so much." Then came images Lin Qiushi was more familiar with—some of these Lin Qiushi still remembered, while others were blurry. They were all playing, however, like a slideshow across Lin Qiushi's mind.

When the memories stopped, Lin Qiushi's fingers twitched, turning the hour hand to the number ten. In the time of the number ten, he saw the Hako Onna's world.

After that, Lin Qiushi's control was no longer necessary; the clock hands before him began to slowly turn, and countless memories surged their way into Lin Qiushi's brain. A severe pain started in Lin Qiushi's head, and he unintentionally loosened his grip, letting the clock fall heavily onto the floor.

"Aah!!"

His hands covered his head. Lin Qiushi's mind felt like someone had installed a giant kaleidoscope, and inside the kaleidoscope was the world of the doors. He saw countless monsters and demons, saw dead friends—saw Ruan Nanzhu.

The Ruan Nanzhu he saw showed him a brilliant grin, holding a hand out to him.

"Hello, I'm Ruan Baijie."

The images twisted, and it was another version of Ruan Nanzhu. His expression was cool when he looked up at Lin Qiushi and said, "welcome to Obsidian."

Lin Qiushi didn't know how long this continued on for. By the time the awful agony pulled itself out of his head, the sky outside was already dark.

All around him was silent. Lin Qiushi managed to push himself up, stumbling over to the fallen clock. He picked it up.

And the moment he picked it up, something seemed to fall from the clock face. Pa-dap. It fell to the floor with a crisp ring.

Lin Qiushi thought at first the clock had broken, but when he looked down and saw the item that had fallen at his feet, his whole expression went numb.

What had fallen from watch face were green copper keys—two of them.

Looking at the keys at his feet, Lin Qiushi took a deep breath. He steadied his mind before bending down and picking them up.

These were two completely identical green copper keys. The only difference was in the barely-visible line of text etched onto their surfaces.

The keys were cold at first, but when Lin Qiushi held them in hand, it was as if they burned to the touch. He looked closely at the keys, and read the two words written on one of them: Illusory Life. On the other were another two words: Authentic Death.

Illusory life, authentic death? Holding the keys, Lin Qiushi stalled. He couldn't understand what these four words together meant. He rubbed at the surface of the keys with his fingers, and just as he was going to take another look, he felt a sudden shock of chill in his hand. Then, the key on which Illusory Life was written crumbled to dust in his palm...so all he had left was Authentic Death.