Kaleidoscope of Death

CHAPTER 15: RUAN NANZHU

The warm water washed away the sweat clinging to his body and allayed the blistering summer heat. After taking a bath, Lin Qiushi sat in front of his computer and typed out two words on the keyboard: Fitcher's Bird.

These two words, Fitcher's Bird, were written on the note he'd picked up back inside the door. However, Lin Qiushi just didn't know what exactly these words were referring to, so he decided to browse online to find an answer.

A few seconds later, a webpage containing the very information Lin Qiushi wanted appeared on the screen. He clicked on the first available link and discovered it be a forum. The people on the forum were discussing Grimms' Fairy Tales, and among all those being discussed was one particular fairy tale called Fitcher's Bird.

Fitcher's Bird, also known as Fitchers Vogel in its original language1, told a tale of three sisters and a sorcerer disguised as a beggar.

The general plot of this story centered around a sorcerer disguising himself as a poor man, wandering about in search of beautiful young women to abduct as his brides. Once he captured his bride, he handed her a key and an egg, then told her he would be away from home for a few days. After informing her of his leave, he then forbade her from entering a certain room, stressing that she should never go inside said room. However, because of her curiosity, the young woman used the key to unlock the forbidden door as soon as the sorcerer left the house. When she caught sight of the mutilated corpses that lay scattered beyond the door, she released the egg in her hands.

The egg fell to the floor and was soon stained with crimson blood. She vigorously scrubbed, trying to get rid of the marks, but her efforts were futile, for she just couldn't wipe the blood off the egg. When the sorcerer returned home and saw the red stains on the egg, he forcefully dragged the young woman into the room and used his axe to hack her to pieces. In this tale, only the youngest of the three beautiful sisters narrowly escaped with her life. In the end, she made use of her wisdom to save her older sisters, then killed the sorcerer.

This was supposedly a fairy tale meant for children, but a grown man like Lin Qiushi felt his blood run cold at this story, specifically, at the part where the youngest sister pieced together her older sister's mangled corpses; for some inexplicable reason, he kept thinking that the scene where the youngest sister cheered happily upon seeing her sisters' resurrection was particularly horrifying and abysmal.

This morbid fairy tale was quite similar to the folktale, Bluebeard. But it was even grislier than that one.

But what did Fitcher's Bird, the words on the note, signify? Lin Qiushi brooded over this matter. He wanted to believe these words were somehow connected to his recent experience, but thinking back on it, he couldn't help but feel as though it was too far-fetched.

But since it wasn't related to his previous experience, was it possibly a prediction of the future? Lin Qiushi recalled those twelve black doors, and the feeling of dread that overcame him grew heavier.

Still having not obtained any answers, he walked over to his bed and reclined on his back. Lost in his thoughts, he began gazing at the ceiling.

He had recently planned to quit his job and return to his hometown, but all of his plans were disrupted by such a troublesome matter that popped out of nowhere.

Whatever happened inside the door was completely beyond his understanding; it simply couldn't be explained by science or common sense. Once again, he tried seeking some answers and clues, but he couldn't arrive at a single conclusion. His mind was in turmoil.

With these chaotic thoughts running through his mind, Lin Qiushi gradually fell into a shallow sleep. He wasn't sleeping deeply, so if there was even the slightest movement in the room, he would immediately wake up. Lin Qiushi was dozing off, when he detected a faint noise. Thinking the noise came from Chestnut, he lowly mumbled, "Chestnut..."