Death Spiral [Infinite Flow] - Chapter 105

Chapter 105 – Without a Key 17

“The lock without a key”.

These six words slowly appeared in front of him. Lian Qiao was thinking about what it meant when he saw the man beside him curl up as if in pain.

Lian Qiao was shocked.

“Brother RenDong?” He hurriedly leaned over and saw Xu RenDong was slightly bent over and was clenching the front of his left chest with both hands. Lian Qiao couldn’t help but feel nervous, saying, “What’s wrong with you? Is your heart uncomfortable?”

Xu RenDong gritted his teeth and seemed to be enduring great pain. He slowly raised his gaze and his bloodshot eyes startled Lian Qiao. Lian Qiao hurriedly helped him sit down, holding him tightly while pouring out the contents of his backpack.

He had some emergency medicine in his backpack. Lian Qiao quickly found the quick-acting heart-saving pill but his hands were shaking too hard to open the lid. He was so anxious that he was about to cry.

“Lian… Lian Qiao…” The person in his arms squeezed out a small noise from the depths of his throat. Lian Qiao felt a chill from his wrist, Xu RenDong had already pressed down his trembling hand and said in a hoarse voice, “It’s alright…”

“What’s the matter with you…” Lian Qiao saw that his face had relaxed a little and knew he had recovered but he still felt anxious and said uneasily, “What happened just now? Did you have any problems with your heart before?” 

Xu RenDong had clutched his shirt so hard just now that the area around the heart was still wrinkled and he couldn’t smooth it out no matter what.

Lian Qiao anxiously waited for his answer. After a long time, what came was a faint smile.

“It’s all right.”

Of course, this kind of perfunctory answer could not satisfy Lian Qiao. Lian Qiao frowned and was about to ask further but Xu RenDong hooked his neck, pulled him in, raised his head and kissed his lips.

Lian Qiao was stunned.

He had never seen Xu RenDong being so proactive.

Xu RenDong had always been cold and abstinent, like a priest sitting among the rose bushes holding a Bible, as if the world had nothing to do with him.

However, at this time, Xu RenDong, who was cold and abstinent, not only took the initiative to kiss him but even after the lingering kiss was over, buried his head between Lian Qiao’s neck and sniffed his smell greedily.

Lian Qiao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, caressed his hair lovingly, and asked softly, “What’s the matter with you?”

Xu RenDong didn’t answer directly but said in a low voice, “I’m sorry.”

Lian Qiao didn’t ask any further, just touched him like this hair, like soothing a kitten that lacked love. After a long time, Xu RenDong finally opened his mouth and said, “I almost died just now. When I was about to die, I realized how much I love you.”

Although the latter sentence was affectionate, Lian Qiao’s attention was all on the first part of the sentence. He shook his hands in shock and almost pulled Xu RenDong’s hair down.

If he knew that Xu RenDong hadn’t “almost died just now” but in fact had already “died just now”, it’s afraid Xu RenDong already would have gotten alopecia.

“Have you ever been in this situation before?” Lian Qiao didn’t know the truth, so he naturally thought that Xu RenDong was talking about the ‘heart attack’ that happened just now. “Or have other people in your family… uh…” He wanted to ask Xu RenDong about other people in his family and if they had a history of heart problems. However he suddenly remembered that Xu RenDong’s only relative had just passed away, so he cut off the conversation abruptly.

Xu RenDong shook his head, thought for a while and nodded again: “I had it once before.”

“Then go to the hospital to check it out after you go out.” Lian Qiao raised his hand to stroke his cheek and his eyes flashed with worry, “You really almost scared me to death just now.”

Xu RenDong smiled and, without speaking, he bent down and cleaned up the things on the ground with Lian Qiao.

Just now, Lian Qiao shook everything out of his backpack in a panic and the debris was scattered all over the place. There were tools like swiss army knives, climbing ropes, flashlights and edibles like mineral water, compressed biscuits and chocolate. There are also several bottles of medicine in it. Other than the sleeping pills, Xu RenDong doesn’t recognize the other medications.

—Where did Lian Qiao get these medications? Where had he obtained so much medical knowledge?

 Xu RenDong didn’t think much, just picked it up and threw it into the backpack.

 After putting things away, Lian Qiao suddenly made a “huh” sound.

Xu RenDong turned his head and saw that Lian Qiao was holding a brass key in his hand.

It was the hidden reward given by the rabbit after they had collected all the nesting dolls in the first instance of the Russian matryoshka. He saw Lian Qiao looking up at the big characters “lock without a key” floating in the air and muttered in disappointment: “It’s a pity that it is a lock without a key, not a key without a lock…”

After he said this, Xu RenDong also suddenly thought: What is this key used for?

This key didn’t seem to have a use anywhere and Lian Qiao’s name was also engraved on it, which was very confusing. But along the way, Xu RenDong has also inquired about it from others but no one has heard of this kind of key, let alone know the function of it.

After a long time, the two of them almost forgot about it. If they hadn’t tossed it out from the depths of the backpack today, it would probably take until the Year of the Monkey to remember they had it.

The brass key was simple in shape, just like the golden keys commonly found in fairy tale books. Except for the word “Lian Qiao” engraved on it, there is really nothing special about it. The two stared at the key for a while, then sighed and put the key away again.

The elevator door was already open. The night outside the door is as cold as water and the cold wind blew in, making people feel cold.

After packing up, Lian Qiao habitually put on his backpack but it was grabbed by Xu RenDong.

“Let me do it. You have an injury on your leg.” Xu RenDong threw the backpack on his body, his movements were neat and tidy. His brows were light and he had returned to the abstinent look that seemed not concerned with human affairs.

Lian Qiao recalled the warm and soft touch between his lips and tongue. He felt that the disparity was quite large and immediately fell in love with him even more.

As soon as he stepped out of the elevator, the elevator door behind him quietly closed  and then the entire elevator disappeared. Lian Qiao looked at the huge earthen building illuminated by red lanterns under the mountains in the distance. He felt a gloomy wind blowing, it was strange and terrifying. He turned his head to look at Xu RenDong but the latter was calm, as if he had seen this scene thousands of times.

As expected of Boss RenDong!

Lian Qiao followed silently beside him and there was a kind of pride coursing through his heart. Walking on, he suddenly thought: How many instances has Ren Dong entered?

Since the first time they met, Xu RenDong had also called himself a “Nine Level Boss”. But now that they have passed so many dungeons together… This “nine” has never changed.

Could it be that within the circle of bigshots, “Nine Levels” is like a black belt in Taekwondo, is it a rank?

Thinking that the big guys might form a circle of their own, Lian Qiao couldn’t help but yearn for it. This was like an online game. The top masters in the server all knew each other. When they gathered together, it must be an extremely dazzling scene.

It’s a pity that Lian Qiao’s relaxed and happy mood didn’t last long. As soon as he stepped into the tulou and saw the dense crowd of players in the lower hall, he suddenly had a bad feeling.

What the hell! Why so many people this time!

The difficulty of the dungeon is proportional to the number of participants. There are at least 80 people in this messy place!

Lian Qiao glanced at Ren Dong in panic and, sure enough, the latter was still calm and unperturbed.

As expected of the Boss RenDong… he must have seen this battle scene before, otherwise how could he be so calm!

Lian Qiao limped behind Xu RenDong and everyone around looked at them in surprise. Someone pointed to Xu RenDong and whispered. Lian Qiao assumed the listeners were probably secretly happy, because they were glad that this instance had “Nine Level Boss” which meant that the chance of survival was greatly improved. {Don’t ask me how the other people know XRD is a nine level boss, I don’t think they actually do, this is probably all just LQ’s overactive imagination.}

But when this fortunate wind was spreading, it suddenly changed in the middle. Everyone glanced at Lian Qiao, the lame man beside Xu RenDong, with a little more doubt and dissatisfaction in their eyes.

Those who are curious and feel happy, Lian Qiao can understand, but those who are unhappy make Lian Qiao feel even more unhappy.

What’s wrong! Isn’t it just that I’m lame!

I’m lame and dragging my RenDong back but it’s none of your business! What’s the point of you showing me such a face!?

Lian Qiao raised his head proudly, with an expression of “I am the leg pendant of the boss, I don’t care what you think of me” and leaned firmly on Xu RenDong. Xu RenDong didn’t seem to notice anything and was just surprised why he was leaned upon so suddenly.

A playful spirit suddenly possessed Lian Qiao’s body and he thinned his mouth and said in an aggrieved tone: “Brother RenDong, it hurts~”

Xu RenDong frowned, then leaned down and rolled up his trouser legs: “Where does it hurt? Is it the wound or is it pain from the bone inside?”

“The wound also hurts and the bone also hurts~” Lian Qiao, a big man about 1.8 meters tall, whimpered and acted coquettishly, making everyone feel sick. However, the much-anticipated “Nine Level Boss” disregarded his identity, squatted on the ground and felt his leg, looking extremely distressed.

It’s over. A pair of male and male dogs, the crowd thought desperately.

This kind of love-brained boss can’t be counted on. Want him to save you? Forget it, it’s already good if he doesn’t pull you back to make you carry his sweetheart.

Lian Qiao was very happy when he saw the expression on everyone’s faces that made them look like they had eaten shit. After all, there may still be a need for cooperation in the future, and Lian  Qiao didn’t intend to disgust everyone too much so he closed the show and said to Xu RenDong with a smile, “Okay, it doesn’t hurt anymore.”

Xu RenDong was not at ease and bent down Lian Qiao’s wound and looked at it carefully. He finally raised his head and said, “It really doesn’t hurt anymore?”    

Lian Qiao said, “It doesn’t hurt.”

Xu RenDong asked, “Can you walk? Can you swim? How long can you hold on?”

Lian Qiao felt confused: “Swimming? Why do I need to swim?” But he saw Xu RenDong’s serious face, clearly not joking, he answered seriously, “If it’s in the water… I can last for about ten minutes.”

“That should be enough.” Xu RenDong nodded.

Lian Qiao rubbed his head in confusion but then he saw Xu RenDong turn around and shout towards a person in the corner: “Shi JianChuan.”

Where the lights in the corner could not be found, a person slowly walked out of the darkness. The man was wearing a black Tang suit with a dark silver snake pattern embroidered on it and there was a leisurely attitude in his demeanor.

It’s just that there was a little surprise mixed in with that leisure at this moment.

Shi JianChuan waved a folding fan and walked over in a complacent manner. He glanced at Xu RenDong sideways and asked with a smile, “You know me?”

“I have something to talk to you about.” Xu RenDong pointed to the corner, “Let’s go to a quiet place and talk.”

Shi JianChuan made a “pop” sound as he shut the fan. Then he answered “Okay” with interest and followed Xu RenDong to the dark place.

Everyone stared helplessly and their hearts were puzzled. Lian Qiao was the first to react and followed on crutches, but was stopped by Xu RenDong. He said softly, “Just stand here, don’t move.”

Lian Qiao looked very awkward as if he had been stuffed with a mouthful of oranges.

As if Xu RenDong knew what he was thinking, he stretched out his hand and pointed to the top of the tulou: “Look over there.”

At this time, not only Lian Qiao but everyone’s eyes followed Xu RenDong’s fingers. They saw an old lady in red with bound feet floating down from the gray-black ring-shaped tulou like a ghost. The red lantern, her pale face and the gloomy wind under the bleak moonlight made everyone’s heart tremble.

It’s coming!

They didn’t know if she was a ghost or an NPC but anyway it’s definitely not a good thing and she’s here!

Lian Qiao opened his mouth and was about to speak but, when he turned his head, he found that Xu RenDong had long since disappeared.

Along with him disappeared, there was that demonic man whom he had never met, what was his name… Shi JianChuan?

Lian Qiao suddenly felt a sense of loss. Not only the feeling of being abandoned by a lover but the sense of loss a good student in a class would feel when they had dropped a huge amount in rankings.

He suddenly felt that Xu RenDong had gone a long way before he knew it and he, limping and trying his best, could never catch up.

When did the distance between them become so great?

And he didn’t even realize?

Sadness and grievance were like stones thrown into the lake. There were no strong winds and waves but the circles of ripples could not be calmed down for a long time.