Death Spiral [Infinite Flow] - Chapter 106

Chapter 106 – Without a Key 18

The old lady in red with bound feet took everyone to visit the tulou and, after arranging somewhere for everyone to stay, disappeared.

The layout of the guest rooms was similar to each other, with mahogany furniture and Ming-style beds and gave off a heavy sense of age. In addition, there was no electric lighting here and everything was only illuminated by a candle on the table, which added a strong classical feeling to the place.

Lian Qiao glanced at the smiling maid in the traditional clothing beside the bed and kept on panicking.

Why did RenDong leave and why didn’t he come back?

After a quick calculation, RenDong and the man named Shi JianChuan had been away for about two hours— two hours! Raw rice would have turned into more than just cooked rice, it would have already been cooked into a crockpot!

The more Lian Qiao waited, the more restless he became. Just when he couldn’t help but want to go to look for a certain someone, the wooden door creaked and Xu RenDong pushed the door open and came inside.

“RenDong!” Lian Qiao was so surprised that he forgot both crutches, “You finally—uh!”

The consequences of forgetting the crutches were obvious. He lost his balance as soon as he stood up and fell forward. Fortunately, Xu RenDong’s eyes were quick and held him up. He felt both comical and angry and asked: “What are you so anxious about? You don’t even remember that your leg is lame?”

Lian Qiao raised his head from his arms and was about to speak with a smile. But suddenly he smelled a bloody smell and his face changed suddenly.

“Are you injured?!”

Lian Qiao’s eyes quickly swept across Xu RenDong’s body and soon found several unnatural indentations on his sleeves. Lian Qiao held up his arm, only to hear a “hiss” sound as Xu RenDong gasped and subconsciously drew back his hand.

“It’s okay, I was caught by the door.” Xu RenDong said.

“Caught by the door?” Lian Qiao was surprised at first and then became angry, “Did Shi JianChuan do something rude to you? I’ll go and settle accounts with him!”

Xu RenDong laughed and said: “What are you thinking of? I really just got clamped by the door.” He thought for a while and waved the maid out. The maid lowered her brows and responded in a pleasing voice. She then backed out backwards, left the guest room  and closed the door behind her.

Only then did Xu RenDong say: “I went to the ancestral hall to play a small game. I didn’t move quickly enough and got clamped by the door.”

The ancestral hall?

Lian Qiao thought about it. When the old lady in red led them around to visit the tulou, they did pass an ancestral hall. At that time, the old lady said that this was where the memorial tablets of their ancestors were located and outsiders were discouraged from entering. Hence, she only let everyone take a look from afar. At that time, from across the thick carved wooden door, he could only see the candles flickering inside. The tablets on the incense case exuded an ominous aura and he felt horrified just standing by the door.

RenDong actually went in? By himself?

Or… did he go in with Shi JianChuan?

Lian Qiao couldn’t help but want to ask: Why did you leave me and go on an adventure with someone else? But before the words came out, the answer had already emerged within his mind.

-Because I am a burden.

Don’t even mention his lame leg, even if he was strong and healthy, to RenDong, he is just an inexperienced piece of trash. And that Shi JianChuan was obviously a veteran, so it was a more reasonable decision for RenDong to choose to go with Shi JianChuan.

Therefore, Lian Qiao did not express the anxiety and dissatisfaction in his heart in the end but only gently rolled up the sleeves of RenDong and checked his wound.

As soon as the sleeves were rolled up, Lian Qiao frowned deeply.

The injury on RenDong’s arm was more than can be encompassed by the light-hearted sentence “I was clamped by the door”. From his elbow to his shoulder, a shockingly large bruise covered the originally fair skin, making it look like a zombie resurrected from the grave in a movie, bruised and terrifying. The flesh was stretched in several places and there was a shocking broken wound. The blood had mostly clotted but pale pink residue was still oozing out.

How the hell was this “clamped by the door”, this is obviously a situation where the flesh has been violently smashed!

Lian Qiao felt distressed and hurriedly pulled out the bandages and iodoform from the backpack to disinfect and bandage the wound. RenDong smiled and stopped him: “There’s no need.”

Lian Qiao was inexplicable: “No need? What do you mean there’s no need?”

Xu RenDong said, “You don’t need to worry about bandaging it because anyway…” But before he finished speaking, he drooped his eyes and closed his mouth, as if he had remembered something.

Lian Qiao thought he was acting weird and frowned and asked, “What happened just now? What the hell are you doing with Shi JianChuan?”

Xu RenDong smiled slightly, raised his hand and drew something from his neck. Lian Qiao looked down and saw that it was a red rope with a delicate and small longevity lock hanging from it.

He had seen this longevity lock before. It was something Zhong Xiu had left for RenDong. He just didn’t know what the purpose of taking it out was.

Xu RenDong’s right arm was seriously injured and couldn’t be moved. He had to hold the longevity lock in front of Lian Qiao with left hand and said, “Put this on.”

Lian Qiao felt that there was something wrong with Xu RenDong today. First, he fell ill in the elevator, then hugged him and kissed him wildly, and now he wanted to give him his mother’s relics as if he were dying. No matter how you looked at it, there seemed to be a big problem.

Lian Qiao refused to answer and looked at him with burning eyes: “What’s wrong with you?”

Xu RenDong suddenly glanced outside the door and his face changed slightly: “It’s starting to rain already… It’s really fast.” 

Lian Qiao was quite dissatisfied when he heard Xu RenDong changing the subject so bluntly. He intended to stay on topic and planned to have a good talk with him. Unexpectedly, Xu RenDong rudely shoved the longevity lock into his arms and said coldly: “Why is there so much nonsense? If I tell you to wear it, you should just wear it! Or are you not listening to me!?”

Lian Qiao opened his mouth. But, under the unhappy gaze of Xu RenDong, he still put on the longevity lock obediently.

The longevity lock had been worn by Xu RenDong and still carried his body warmth. Lian Qiao imitated him and put the longevity lock close to his body. He sighed in a low voice as if resigned: “I will naturally listen to what you say but you have to tell me, what exactly are your intentions?” 

He raised his eyes again. When he looked again, he was surprised to find that the anger in Xu RenDong’s eyes had long since disappeared. It was replaced by a quiet, soft smile.

Xu RenDong raised his hand and caressed his cheek gently, his eyes were deep as if he wanted to say a thousand words.

Lian Qiao suddenly felt very uneasy in her heart and was about to open his mouth when he suddenly smelled a strange fragrance from his nose. Then the back of his neck sank, and RenDong actually hooked his neck and kissed him.

Xu RenDong had a faint fragrance like the earth after rain, like grass moistened by rain, like distant mountains soaked by a curtain of rain. This smell was familiar to Lian Qiao  but, at this time, the smell of RenDong was mixed with the sweet fragrance in the air, coalescing into an indescribably seductive feeling.

Just like a plant that has grown lonely for thousands of years on a snowy mountain, and then suddenly a fragrant and sweet fruit grows. The juice was fragrant and the color was gorgeous, which made people wish to reach out and touch the delicate and soft fruit, then taste it carefully in their mouth.

Lian Qiao was taken away by this kiss. It was the person he held at the tip of his heart and at the moment he was being so proactive, how could he hold back. Therefore, when Xu RenDong’s right hand touched his chest and although he was slightly confused, he did not resist.

Just as the two of them were kissing inseparably, there was a sudden flash of lightning and thunder from outside the house. The snow-white electric light brightened Lian Qiao’s eyes and his thinking suddenly became clear.

-Something was wrong.

Xu RenDong’s right hand was seriously injured and even the flesh was turned over. How could he hug and touch him like he didn’t feel any pain at this time?

Lian Qiao hurriedly opened his eyes and met Xu RenDong’s eyes. He could not help but become shocked at a glance.

Xu RenDong’s eyes suddenly turned blood red!

At this time, if there was still any passion in his eyes, then it was clearly a murderous passion! Lian Qiao’s heart froze but, before he could react, he suddenly felt his throat tighten. The hands that had caressed him before now tightly clamped around his neck!

Bang! Lian Qiao fell backwards and fell to the ground along with Xu RenDong and the chair.

“Uh…RenDong…cough, cough…” Lian Qiao’s neck was squeezed so hard that the vision in front of him turned black. He tried to pry off RenDong’s fingers but still took into account his injury. However, he only felt that his neck was being pinched tighter and tighter and he could almost hear the screams of the neck bones rubbing against each other.

Xu RenDong grinned and showed a wicked smile, as if he was very satisfied with Lian Qiao’s pain. He sat on Lian Qiao’s chest, pressing Lian Qiao tightly to prevent him from struggling. A pair of hands slowly tightened and the wound on the right arm that had already stopped bleeding opened again. The blood dripped down Lian Qiao’s face.

Not right! RenDong was being controlled!

Lian Qiao was not only strangled around the neck but his chest was also tightly pressed, and he couldn’t breathe at all. Under the severe suffocation, the cells of his entire body were screaming for oxygen. Lian Qiao kept kicking his legs and the dizziness hit his meninges. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to last more than a few seconds like this and would die soon.

However, when he was about to die, what he thought of was not himself, but RenDong – how painful would it be if RenDong woke up and found that he had killed his lover with his own hands?

Thinking of this, Lian Qiao didn’t know where the strength came from. He suddenly raised his waist and pushed Xu RenDong up abruptly!

Xu RenDong lost his balance and fell forward. His hands subconsciously went to break his fall from the ground, naturally also releasing the restraint on Lian Qiao. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Lian Qiao fled to the side in a haphazard manner and could finally heave a sigh of relief.

“Ha, ha…” Lian Qiao gasped for breath while clutching his neck that had been strangled purple. Xu RenDong moved rapidly and jumped up from the ground, before rushing over again with red eyes. Lian Qiao crawled towards the backpack on his hands and feet, reached out to fumble inside and immediately pulled out a crowbar.

The crowbar has a bent head and a sharp tip, which is a handy weapon that can be used both for attack and defense. However, as soon as he felt the cold touch, Lian Qiao froze again. He was afraid of hurting Xu RenDong and even more afraid that he would miss the correct moment and kill RenDong by mistake. Using this moment of hesitation, the irrational Xu RenDong had already rushed in front of him, grabbing his blood-stained hands.

Lian Qiao swung the crowbar horizontally against RenDong’s neck. RenDong’s eyes rolled up immediately and he coughed repeatedly. Lian Qiao was so distressed that he didn’t dare to touch him. He just pressed him against the wall with a crowbar and fixed his hands, making him unable to move.

The crowbar pressed down on RenDong’s chest and wrist. He struggled and twisted desperately and a beast-like roar came out of his throat. Lian Qiao didn’t know how he became like this. While suppressing him, he called out in a hurry and pity: “RenDong, wake up! Can you hear me? RenDong!”

However, Xu RenDong just couldn’t stop struggling. His two long legs kicked indiscriminately, kicking hard against Lian Qiao’s waist and legs, almost breaking his bones.

Lian Qiao’s calls were fruitless and Xu RenDong was still utterly irrational like a beast. He twisted frantically, suddenly raised his leg, and his knee hit Lian Qiao hard. The most vulnerable part of the man’s body was suddenly hit hard and Lian Qiao shuddered, almost kneeling down.

“Xu RenDong! You’re fucking crazy!” Lian Qiao was furious, “Are you trying to murder your husband!?”

Xu RenDong didn’t understand what he was saying at all. He only knew that he was yelling at himself, so he shouted back even louder : “Ahhh!”

“Fuck!” Lian Qiao finally gave up the idea of ​​cherishing him, pressed his shoulder, and raised his leg sharply, aiming at the top. Xu RenDong immediately softened, covered his crotch with both hands and knelt down while whimpering.

Lian Qiao had gotten instant revenge but he felt uncomfortable. Seeing Xu RenDong’s eyes reddened with tears in the corners of his eyes, he felt distressed again and quickly squatted down and coaxed: “I’m sorry, I’m wrong…”

While coaxing him verbally, he picked up the climbing rope in his hand and tied Xu RenDong strictly a few times over.

After Xu RenDong recovered from the pain of his precious jewels, he suddenly realized that his hands and feet were tied. He was immediately furious. With his teeth and claws, he tried to pounce on Lian Qiao again but, because his hands and feet were tied, he lost his focus and fell limply into Lian Qiao’s arms.

—At first glance, he seemed almost like a spoiled child.

If he hadn’t then tried to bite Lian Qiao’s neck, Lian Qiao would have thought he was conscious.

Xu RenDong, who was tightly bound by the climbing rope, had no attack power. Even with a slight push from Lian Qiao, he fell back into the distance. No matter how he ground his teeth, he couldn’t bite anyone.

Lian Qiao was still soft-hearted. Holding him upright, he turned his head and took out another roll of tape from his backpack. With a tearing sound, a section was torn off and slapped on Xu RenDong’s mouth.

“Woo? Woohoo!” Xu RenDong was furious, but this time he couldn’t even open his mouth.

Lian Qiao finally took him into his arms and caressed his head: “Be good, don’t make trouble.” It was as if he was comforting a grumpy little tiger.

“Woo woo!” Xu RenDong made a not-so-docile voice from his throat and his head snapped around, trying to break free from Lian Qiao’s arms.

Lian Qiao suddenly made a “hiss” and said with a cold breath: “Don’t move, it still hurts where you kicked me…”

Xu RenDong seemed to wake up suddenly after hearing this, suddenly raised his head and a pair of black and white eyes stared straight at him.

Lian Qiao was overjoyed: “RenDong?” 

Before he had time to say the following words, Lian Qiao only felt that RenDong’s face suddenly drew closer and then there was bang, followed by a sharp pain from his eye socket – Xu RenDong actually gave him a head butt!

He’s obviously not awake yet!

Lian Qiao quickly held down Xu RenDong who was jumping around. Xu RenDong had succeeded in giving him a blow and was obviously very proud. There was a narrowed smile in his bloodshot eyes.

Lian Qiao was really helpless against such a RenDong. He sighed, stroked RenDong’s messy and sweaty hair, sighed pitifully and sadly: “What’s wrong with you…”

Xu RenDong’s eyes were as bright as autumn water and he stared at him without blinking. Lian Qiao was about to lift him up when suddenly he heard two bangs from behind him. The dust and wood in the house suddenly flew up and two wooden front doors fell to the ground!

What?!

Lian Qiao only felt a flash of white light and his hands were suddenly empty. Where was Xu RenDong?

Lian Qiao was shocked: “RenDong?!”

He hurriedly got up and chased out of the house, only to see a snow-white giant python in the corridor, dragging Xu RenDong whilst crawling quickly!

Where did this monster come from and dared to snatch his RenDong!

Lian Qiao was in a hurry. He grabbed the crowbar and chased after him. Suddenly, several people flashed in front of him, all of them with red eyes, rushing towards him with their teeth and claws.

Lian Qiao didn’t have time to think about what the hell these people were doing. He knocked them unconscious with a crowbar, then dragged his lame leg and stumbled to chase the big snake away.

He was completely focused on Xu RenDong, unaware that it was pouring rain outside the tulou, covering the sky and the moon. What hovered in the sky was not a billowing dark cloud, but a giant black bird with sharp beaks and claws.

It hovered in the dark night sky.