Chapter 17 – матрёшка 17
Xu RenDong opened his eyes suddenly in the darkness. The silver-gray elevator reflected the icy metal light and ice and snow penetrated through the cracks in the door, making him shiver with cold.
He sat up in a daze and saw his suit jacket was still hanging on his arm. The back of the neck was still aching and he stretched out his hand and touched it to confirm that the bite of the deep bone had disappeared and that his skin and muscles were still tightly attached to the neck. His body was restored to its best condition but his heart was as uncomfortable as if it were being smashed by a hammer.
The elevator was quiet but Lian Qiao’s hoarse cry echoed in his ears.
Liar!
Xu RenDong didn’t understand how he became such a big liar. I was trying to save you and you scolded me, is that logical?
After getting angry, Xu RenDong thought about it and calmed down. Lian Qiao was right. He had obviously promised him to work hard to live together but in the end he decided on his own to choose to die. That was indeed dishonest.
But at the same time he was very helpless. At that time they were at the end of the road and the blackened rabbit was chasing after them. Seeing that Lian Qiao was about to fall to the ground, the situation was extremely critical and there was no turning point in the situation. Either he died alone or he died together with Lian Qiao. Since he’s going to die no matter what, why drag Lian Qiao down with him?
He knows the pain of death better than anyone else. Of course, what is more painful than death is dying and then dying again.
Xu RenDong thought very calmly. Although his current situation is a bit miserable, he is sure that watching others suffer will not make him feel better. Therefore, even if he were to make another choice now, he would still push Lian Qiao away.
Anyway, as long as he dies, the world will reset. Lian Qiao wouldn’t remember his treachery and he didn’t need to see this little guy die tragically in front of him. It was pretty good.
This seemed a bit selfish, Xu RenDong admitted. But his existence was already so miserable. What’s wrong with being a little selfish?
He decided to forgive himself a little.
At some point, the elevator doors have already opened. The cold wind mixed with ice and snow poured into the elevator. Xu RenDong shivered with the cold and quickly put on his suit jacket. He suddenly saw the footprints in the snow in the distance and his heart suddenly became tight: No! He forgot that Lian Qiao was about to meet Brother Sledgehammer at this time!
Xu RenDong immediately ran wildly, blaming himself along the way. Damn, how could he forget this? Is it because he survived too long this time?
That’s right, after saving Lian Qiao the last time, they survived in the ghost world for seven days. He almost forgot about being trapped in the death circle. If Lian Qiao died tragically because of his mistake…
Xu RenDong was unwilling to think about it, but ran wildly in the snow at his fastest speed. He kept urging himself in his heart, hurry up! He was afraid he was going to be a step too late and that when he saw Lian Qiao, there would only be a broken corpse.
That absolutely cannot be!
He wanted to get to Lian Qiao’s side as soon as possible so he didn’t even have time to remove the tree branches from in front of him. Several times he was cut in his face by a tree branch and once it almost even pierced his eye. He didn’t care about that, he only felt short of breath and his heartbeat was so violent that it was about to jump out of his chest.
Hurry up!
The trees in the field of view became sparser. He didn’t know how long it took before he finally came close to the clearing. At the same time, he heard a familiar scream.
“Ahhhhhhhh, I was wrong, I’m wrong, here take it back, I shouldn’t have taken it, don’t chase me anymore ahhhhhhh…”
Lian Qiao’s limbs were slender and powerful and when he ran, he looked like a sturdy tiger. There was an aggrieved expression of panic on his face and he looked like an unweaned kitten. Behind him, the tall and mighty Brother Sledgehammer chased him vigorously, the sledgehammer in his hand kept falling but Lian Qiao dodged him every time. Brother Sledgehammer screamed with anger. Lian Qiao was so frightened by the deafening roar that he almost cried, covering his ears, and actually started to circle around the stele with Brother Sledgehammer in a circle.
Still alive… still just alive.
However, this cat-and-mouse scene is a bit funny. Xu RenDong’s worried heart just let go and the corners of his mouth immediately rose again.
He looked around, picked up a thick log and ran towards Lian Qiao quickly. Lian Qiao turned around and was dizzy. He suddenly saw a person emerge from the woods. Before he had time to react, he saw that person shout: “Get out of the way!”
Lian Qiao was startled and instinctively ducked aside. Xu RenDong bent over, swept the log and hit Brother Sledgehammer’s calf hard. Brother Sledgehammer also didn’t expect someone would suddenly appear in the middle of his kill. He didn’t have time to brake and his calf was smashed by Xu RenDong. His huge body suddenly lost his balance and fell heavily into the snow, falling like a dog face-first into its own shit. Snowflakes flew up all around him and a deep and fat figure was implanted into the snow. The picture was actually a bit funny.
Lian Qiao was stunned by this operation. Because he was surprised, he didn’t have the time to escape but stood still and even clapped with an admiring expression of: “Big boss, big boss.”
Xu RenDong glanced at him speechlessly, grabbed his hand and ran. Lian Qiao started running wildly with him, still muttering excitedly: “Brother, your QTE is awesome! Beautiful! I want to crop it out as a video material! Oh, I didn’t record it! What a pity!”
……He really is very long-winded. Xu RenDong was out of breath but Lian Qiao was still chatting excitedly. Obviously the speed of running was not slower than him, but Lian Qiao looked relaxed and comfortable. He probably didn’t have a correct understanding of the terrifying monster behind him who could smash his head open with a sledgehammer at any time. But this is not Lian Qiao’s fault, after all he doesn’t remember that he has suffered two headshots and the vision of Brother Sledgehammer falling over was indeed very joyful.
In fact, even Xu RenDong himself couldn’t help but raise his mouth slightly. The haze that still shrouded his heart a moment ago had all dissipated by this time.
This time, Brother Sledgehammer still chased them a certain distance and then stopped, turned his head and returned to the forest. When the two realized this, they gradually slowed down.
“Thank you,” Lian Qiao said, “I was chased by him in circles just now. If you hadn’t come to the rescue then I guess my body would be cold by now.”
Xu RenDong was suddenly curious: “You can run. So fast, why not run in a straight line? He can’t catch up with you so why do you have to go around in circles with him? What if he suddenly turns around?”
—Is there any reason why he had to run in a circle? Xu RenDong has subconsciously regarded Lian Qiao as a master of reasoning, believing that he can observe details that ordinary people can’t notice. So if Lian Qiao ran around the stele, then there must be some reason behind it.
After all, all the hidden dolls before were found by Lian Qiao and Xu RenDong trusted Lian Qiao very much. He even wanted to call him the boss!
Unexpectedly, Lian Qiao was taken aback and fell into deep thought.
Xu RenDong: “?”
After a long while, Lian Qiao nodded painfully: “What you said makes sense.”
Xu RenDong: “…”
Lian Qiao scratched his hair embarrassedly: “Isn’t it because I was terrified? Suddenly seeing this kind of horror game classic boss in real life, I was so scared I almost peed.”
Xu RenDong thought a little: “No, you’re not scared.”
Lian Qiao: “?”
Xu RenDong: “You didn’t hiccup. “
Lian Qiao was shocked: “How do you know…”
Anyway, he had already been scolded and called a liar. So Xu RenDong lied very frankly: “I am your fan, I watch your live broadcast every day.”
Lian Qiao watched blankly. Looking at his face, he couldn’t help but mutter: “Fuck, I actually have such a good-looking…” Before he finished speaking, he gulped.
Xu RenDong: “…?”
Lian Qiao turned his head awkwardly and wiped his mouth with a guilty conscience.
The two walked side by side along the path in the forest, and soon saw the hunter’s cabin. Xu RenDong thought of a very important question: “Did you take the doll on the stone tablet?”
Lian Qiao: “I took it.” He took out the smallest doll from his pocket, “Do you know what this is for?”
Xu RenDong was unable to spoil the rabbit’s task in advance. After thinking about it, he said, “The Russian language for matryoshka was written in the elevator that sent me so I think this should be a very important object.”
Lian Qiao didn’t seem surprised that he could read Russian and nodded in agreement: “I think so too. By the way, I don’t know what your name is.”
There was a polite smile on his face and his beautiful eyes reflected Xu RenDong’s figure. Those eyes were soft and warm, with a little curiosity and a little anticipation of meeting a new person. His curved smile was contagious and people couldn’t help but want to smile with him. But Xu RenDong somehow felt that something was missing.
“My name is Xu RenDong,” After a pause, he added, “It means enduring the cold winter.”
Lian Qiao was surprised: “Enduring the winter?”
Probably because the weather is too cold and the smile of the person next to him is too warm, Xu RenDong suddenly had the urge to tell Lian Qiao about himself.
“Do you think it’s weird, why would a parent give their child such a name?” Snow fell on Xu RenDong’s eyelashes. It quickly melted into water and brushed across his cheeks in a cool manner. He wiped it away and said, “I am an orphan and I was abandoned at the entrance of the orphanage soon after I was born. It happened to be the coldest time in winter and everyone was afraid that I would not be able to survive, so they named me RenDong, hoping I could survive this trial.”
Lian Qiao fell into silence. Xu RenDong turned his head to look and found him frowning as if he didn’t know what to say. Xu RenDong suddenly felt a pain in his heart. He realized that at this time Lian Qiao and he had just met and were strangers. He had started talking about his personal life too abruptly so the other person found it confusing and didn’t know how to respond.
It is normal for Lian Qiao to feel embarrassed and overwhelmed. After all, Lian Qiao no longer has the memory of them confronting death together, however Xu RenDong still unconsciously regards Lian Qiao as a life and death friend. Lian Qiao probably thought he was being too familiar.
It’s his fault for inexplicably wanting to talk. Without thinking if the other person wanted to hear it all not, he just started talking. He was being rude.
At this moment Xu RenDong suddenly realized what he felt was missing when Lian Qiao looked at him just now. It was trust, intimacy, and the bond of being through the trials of life and death together.
Lian Qiao doesn’t remember him anymore. He doesn’t remember anything anymore.
But this was inevitable and it was also good in a way that he didn’t remember anything. It meant that he didn’t have those painful and miserable memories, which was a good thing.
Nonetheless, Xu RenDong still felt a little lost.
He didn’t want to do something embarrassing so he smiled and changed the subject: “Let’s go quickly, it’s too cold.”
Lian Qiao said, “Then… what do I call you? Can I call you Brother RenDong?”
Xu RenDong glanced at him restrainedly, and said briefly: “Yes.”
Although this word was neither light nor heavy, paired with Xu RenDong’s handsome and cold face, it made people not dare to get close. Lian Qiao was stunned, in his head he thought over and over: It’s over, it’s over! This big beauty has probably misunderstood and thinks that my lust has been ignited by his beauty and I want to f*** my fan, wuwuwu, I’m not like that, really I’m not…
So Lian Qiao was silent all the way and followed the iceberg beauty in an obedient manner like a chicken, for fear that he would say something wrong and make the other person angry.
Xu RenDong: “…” He really doesn’t remember a thing, it’s heartbreakingly cold.
Lian Qiao: “???”
I didn’t say anything, why do you seem to be even more unhappy???
Under this weird atmosphere, the two came to the hunter’s cabin. The rabbit in the little golden tuxedo was already standing at the door and had raised his little furry paw and was about to knock on the door.
Xu RenDong was in a bad mood and pushed the rabbit away: “You wait a second, let me go in first.”
The rabbit who was pushed away and fell onto its butt: “???”
Lian Qiao: “???? ??? “It turns out this iceberg beauty was also violent…. Wait? How can this rabbit walk upright? Was it going to knock on the door?
Xu RenDong knocked on the door coldly. Yuan XueMing, who came to answer the door, saw the two of them and was just about to say hello when he saw the rabbit who just got up from the snow and was patting away the snow from it’s behind with a bewildered expression.
People sitting at the table: All had dumbstruck faces.
Yuan XueMing said with difficulty: “You… three came together?”
Xu RenDong: “I came alone and met these two on the road. I’m not familiar with them.”
Lian Qiao suddenly panicked: Ahhhhhhhhhh! What the hell did I do wrong, why did you suddenly de-fan me without saying anything!!!
The rabbit had not yet recovered from the shock of being pushed aside just as he first appeared on the stage. As he was slapping the snow off his fur, he was still looking at Xu RenDong with an expression of “You are a goddamn talent”.
Xu RenDong went straight into the house without looking back. Lian Qiao painfully followed behind him, mired in grief.
Yuan XueMing looked at these two weird people and suddenly felt that he had lost his confidence as an old-timer.
***
Chapter 17 – матрёшка 17
Xu RenDong opened his eyes suddenly in the darkness. The silver-gray elevator reflected the icy metal light and ice and snow penetrated through the cracks in the door, making him shiver with cold.
He sat up in a daze and saw his suit jacket was still hanging on his arm. The back of the neck was still aching and he stretched out his hand and touched it to confirm that the bite of the deep bone had disappeared and that his skin and muscles were still tightly attached to the neck. His body was restored to its best condition but his heart was as uncomfortable as if it were being smashed by a hammer.
The elevator was quiet but Lian Qiao’s hoarse cry echoed in his ears.
Liar!
Xu RenDong didn’t understand how he became such a big liar. I was trying to save you and you scolded me, is that logical?
After getting angry, Xu RenDong thought about it and calmed down. Lian Qiao was right. He had obviously promised him to work hard to live together but in the end he decided on his own to choose to die. That was indeed dishonest.
But at the same time he was very helpless. At that time they were at the end of the road and the blackened rabbit was chasing after them. Seeing that Lian Qiao was about to fall to the ground, the situation was extremely critical and there was no turning point in the situation. Either he died alone or he died together with Lian Qiao. Since he’s going to die no matter what, why drag Lian Qiao down with him?
He knows the pain of death better than anyone else. Of course, what is more painful than death is dying and then dying again.
Xu RenDong thought very calmly. Although his current situation is a bit miserable, he is sure that watching others suffer will not make him feel better. Therefore, even if he were to make another choice now, he would still push Lian Qiao away.
Anyway, as long as he dies, the world will reset. Lian Qiao wouldn’t remember his treachery and he didn’t need to see this little guy die tragically in front of him. It was pretty good.
This seemed a bit selfish, Xu RenDong admitted. But his existence was already so miserable. What’s wrong with being a little selfish?
He decided to forgive himself a little.
At some point, the elevator doors have already opened. The cold wind mixed with ice and snow poured into the elevator. Xu RenDong shivered with the cold and quickly put on his suit jacket. He suddenly saw the footprints in the snow in the distance and his heart suddenly became tight: No! He forgot that Lian Qiao was about to meet Brother Sledgehammer at this time!
Xu RenDong immediately ran wildly, blaming himself along the way. Damn, how could he forget this? Is it because he survived too long this time?
That’s right, after saving Lian Qiao the last time, they survived in the ghost world for seven days. He almost forgot about being trapped in the death circle. If Lian Qiao died tragically because of his mistake…
Xu RenDong was unwilling to think about it, but ran wildly in the snow at his fastest speed. He kept urging himself in his heart, hurry up! He was afraid he was going to be a step too late and that when he saw Lian Qiao, there would only be a broken corpse.
That absolutely cannot be!
He wanted to get to Lian Qiao’s side as soon as possible so he didn’t even have time to remove the tree branches from in front of him. Several times he was cut in his face by a tree branch and once it almost even pierced his eye. He didn’t care about that, he only felt short of breath and his heartbeat was so violent that it was about to jump out of his chest.
Hurry up!
The trees in the field of view became sparser. He didn’t know how long it took before he finally came close to the clearing. At the same time, he heard a familiar scream.
“Ahhhhhhhh, I was wrong, I’m wrong, here take it back, I shouldn’t have taken it, don’t chase me anymore ahhhhhhh…”
Lian Qiao’s limbs were slender and powerful and when he ran, he looked like a sturdy tiger. There was an aggrieved expression of panic on his face and he looked like an unweaned kitten. Behind him, the tall and mighty Brother Sledgehammer chased him vigorously, the sledgehammer in his hand kept falling but Lian Qiao dodged him every time. Brother Sledgehammer screamed with anger. Lian Qiao was so frightened by the deafening roar that he almost cried, covering his ears, and actually started to circle around the stele with Brother Sledgehammer in a circle.
Still alive… still just alive.
However, this cat-and-mouse scene is a bit funny. Xu RenDong’s worried heart just let go and the corners of his mouth immediately rose again.
He looked around, picked up a thick log and ran towards Lian Qiao quickly. Lian Qiao turned around and was dizzy. He suddenly saw a person emerge from the woods. Before he had time to react, he saw that person shout: “Get out of the way!”
Lian Qiao was startled and instinctively ducked aside. Xu RenDong bent over, swept the log and hit Brother Sledgehammer’s calf hard. Brother Sledgehammer also didn’t expect someone would suddenly appear in the middle of his kill. He didn’t have time to brake and his calf was smashed by Xu RenDong. His huge body suddenly lost his balance and fell heavily into the snow, falling like a dog face-first into its own shit. Snowflakes flew up all around him and a deep and fat figure was implanted into the snow. The picture was actually a bit funny.
Lian Qiao was stunned by this operation. Because he was surprised, he didn’t have the time to escape but stood still and even clapped with an admiring expression of: “Big boss, big boss.”
Xu RenDong glanced at him speechlessly, grabbed his hand and ran. Lian Qiao started running wildly with him, still muttering excitedly: “Brother, your QTE is awesome! Beautiful! I want to crop it out as a video material! Oh, I didn’t record it! What a pity!”
……He really is very long-winded. Xu RenDong was out of breath but Lian Qiao was still chatting excitedly. Obviously the speed of running was not slower than him, but Lian Qiao looked relaxed and comfortable. He probably didn’t have a correct understanding of the terrifying monster behind him who could smash his head open with a sledgehammer at any time. But this is not Lian Qiao’s fault, after all he doesn’t remember that he has suffered two headshots and the vision of Brother Sledgehammer falling over was indeed very joyful.
In fact, even Xu RenDong himself couldn’t help but raise his mouth slightly. The haze that still shrouded his heart a moment ago had all dissipated by this time.
This time, Brother Sledgehammer still chased them a certain distance and then stopped, turned his head and returned to the forest. When the two realized this, they gradually slowed down.
“Thank you,” Lian Qiao said, “I was chased by him in circles just now. If you hadn’t come to the rescue then I guess my body would be cold by now.”
Xu RenDong was suddenly curious: “You can run. So fast, why not run in a straight line? He can’t catch up with you so why do you have to go around in circles with him? What if he suddenly turns around?”
—Is there any reason why he had to run in a circle? Xu RenDong has subconsciously regarded Lian Qiao as a master of reasoning, believing that he can observe details that ordinary people can’t notice. So if Lian Qiao ran around the stele, then there must be some reason behind it.
After all, all the hidden dolls before were found by Lian Qiao and Xu RenDong trusted Lian Qiao very much. He even wanted to call him the boss!
Unexpectedly, Lian Qiao was taken aback and fell into deep thought.
Xu RenDong: “?”
After a long while, Lian Qiao nodded painfully: “What you said makes sense.”
Xu RenDong: “…”
Lian Qiao scratched his hair embarrassedly: “Isn’t it because I was terrified? Suddenly seeing this kind of horror game classic boss in real life, I was so scared I almost peed.”
Xu RenDong thought a little: “No, you’re not scared.”
Lian Qiao: “?”
Xu RenDong: “You didn’t hiccup. “
Lian Qiao was shocked: “How do you know…”
Anyway, he had already been scolded and called a liar. So Xu RenDong lied very frankly: “I am your fan, I watch your live broadcast every day.”
Lian Qiao watched blankly. Looking at his face, he couldn’t help but mutter: “Fuck, I actually have such a good-looking…” Before he finished speaking, he gulped.
Xu RenDong: “…?”
Lian Qiao turned his head awkwardly and wiped his mouth with a guilty conscience.
The two walked side by side along the path in the forest, and soon saw the hunter’s cabin. Xu RenDong thought of a very important question: “Did you take the doll on the stone tablet?”
Lian Qiao: “I took it.” He took out the smallest doll from his pocket, “Do you know what this is for?”
Xu RenDong was unable to spoil the rabbit’s task in advance. After thinking about it, he said, “The Russian language for matryoshka was written in the elevator that sent me so I think this should be a very important object.”
Lian Qiao didn’t seem surprised that he could read Russian and nodded in agreement: “I think so too. By the way, I don’t know what your name is.”
There was a polite smile on his face and his beautiful eyes reflected Xu RenDong’s figure. Those eyes were soft and warm, with a little curiosity and a little anticipation of meeting a new person. His curved smile was contagious and people couldn’t help but want to smile with him. But Xu RenDong somehow felt that something was missing.
“My name is Xu RenDong,” After a pause, he added, “It means enduring the cold winter.”
Lian Qiao was surprised: “Enduring the winter?”
Probably because the weather is too cold and the smile of the person next to him is too warm, Xu RenDong suddenly had the urge to tell Lian Qiao about himself.
“Do you think it’s weird, why would a parent give their child such a name?” Snow fell on Xu RenDong’s eyelashes. It quickly melted into water and brushed across his cheeks in a cool manner. He wiped it away and said, “I am an orphan and I was abandoned at the entrance of the orphanage soon after I was born. It happened to be the coldest time in winter and everyone was afraid that I would not be able to survive, so they named me RenDong, hoping I could survive this trial.”
Lian Qiao fell into silence. Xu RenDong turned his head to look and found him frowning as if he didn’t know what to say. Xu RenDong suddenly felt a pain in his heart. He realized that at this time Lian Qiao and he had just met and were strangers. He had started talking about his personal life too abruptly so the other person found it confusing and didn’t know how to respond.
It is normal for Lian Qiao to feel embarrassed and overwhelmed. After all, Lian Qiao no longer has the memory of them confronting death together, however Xu RenDong still unconsciously regards Lian Qiao as a life and death friend. Lian Qiao probably thought he was being too familiar.
It’s his fault for inexplicably wanting to talk. Without thinking if the other person wanted to hear it all not, he just started talking. He was being rude.
At this moment Xu RenDong suddenly realized what he felt was missing when Lian Qiao looked at him just now. It was trust, intimacy, and the bond of being through the trials of life and death together.
Lian Qiao doesn’t remember him anymore. He doesn’t remember anything anymore.
But this was inevitable and it was also good in a way that he didn’t remember anything. It meant that he didn’t have those painful and miserable memories, which was a good thing.
Nonetheless, Xu RenDong still felt a little lost.
He didn’t want to do something embarrassing so he smiled and changed the subject: “Let’s go quickly, it’s too cold.”
Lian Qiao said, “Then… what do I call you? Can I call you Brother RenDong?”
Xu RenDong glanced at him restrainedly, and said briefly: “Yes.”
Although this word was neither light nor heavy, paired with Xu RenDong’s handsome and cold face, it made people not dare to get close. Lian Qiao was stunned, in his head he thought over and over: It’s over, it’s over! This big beauty has probably misunderstood and thinks that my lust has been ignited by his beauty and I want to f*** my fan, wuwuwu, I’m not like that, really I’m not…
So Lian Qiao was silent all the way and followed the iceberg beauty in an obedient manner like a chicken, for fear that he would say something wrong and make the other person angry.
Xu RenDong: “…” He really doesn’t remember a thing, it’s heartbreakingly cold.
Lian Qiao: “???”
I didn’t say anything, why do you seem to be even more unhappy???
Under this weird atmosphere, the two came to the hunter’s cabin. The rabbit in the little golden tuxedo was already standing at the door and had raised his little furry paw and was about to knock on the door.
Xu RenDong was in a bad mood and pushed the rabbit away: “You wait a second, let me go in first.”
The rabbit who was pushed away and fell onto its butt: “???”
Lian Qiao: “???? ??? “It turns out this iceberg beauty was also violent…. Wait? How can this rabbit walk upright? Was it going to knock on the door?
Xu RenDong knocked on the door coldly. Yuan XueMing, who came to answer the door, saw the two of them and was just about to say hello when he saw the rabbit who just got up from the snow and was patting away the snow from it’s behind with a bewildered expression.
People sitting at the table: All had dumbstruck faces.
Yuan XueMing said with difficulty: “You… three came together?”
Xu RenDong: “I came alone and met these two on the road. I’m not familiar with them.”
Lian Qiao suddenly panicked: Ahhhhhhhhhh! What the hell did I do wrong, why did you suddenly de-fan me without saying anything!!!
The rabbit had not yet recovered from the shock of being pushed aside just as he first appeared on the stage. As he was slapping the snow off his fur, he was still looking at Xu RenDong with an expression of “You are a goddamn talent”.
Xu RenDong went straight into the house without looking back. Lian Qiao painfully followed behind him, mired in grief.
Yuan XueMing looked at these two weird people and suddenly felt that he had lost his confidence as an old-timer.
***
