Kaleidoscope of Death

CHAPTER 34: AN EXTRA PERSON

Upon hearing Lin Qiushi's statement, Ruan Nanzhu's thin lips moved in an attempt to speak, but Lin Qiushi immediately raised his hand in a stop gesture, giving the other no chance to object. He interrupted, "You and I both know you're not in the best condition right now. Furthermore, if you go up and something happens to you, what are we supposed to do then? Besides, you can't always accompany me through the door worlds."

Ruan Nanzhu grew oddly silent at Lin Qiushi's words. After a few tense moments had passed, he swiveled around and pointed at Cheng Qianli, "You're going up with him."

Surprisingly, Cheng Qianli didn't raise any complaints, and he obediently agreed.

Xu Jin looked like she wanted to interject, but in the end, she never spoke up. She had truly wanted to persuade Lin Qiushi from going, but no matter how long she wracked her brains for any excuse to stop him, her mind kept coming up blank.

With the matter now settled, the four quickly found the wooden ladder near the temple. Standing at a height of more than ten meters, the ladder was almost as tall as the temple.

"So, this is it, huh?" Lin Qiushi reached out with his hand and firmly pressed on the ladder, ensuring it was sturdy enough to support both him and Cheng Qianli.

"Mhm." Ruan Nanzhu added, "If anything happens or if you feel something's wrong, come down right away. Your safety should be your number one priority; focus on staying alive, and nothing else."

With the nod of his head, Lin Qiushi stepped on the wooden ladder.

The wooden rack looked fairly old, but fortunately, it was decently strong and stable; it didn't feel as though it would collapse under them as they climbed it.

As Lin Qiushi took slow, cautious steps, ever-so-carefully making his way up, he directed a question at the young boy, "Cheng Qianli, you're not scared of heights?"

Cheng Qianli: "I'm not scared of anything but ghosts."

With that, Lin Qiushi was rest assured; he thought everything would be fine. Cheng Qianli could instantly think on his feet and respond to stressful situations quite well. At the mere age of 16, this boy was at the peak of his youth, overflowing with energy and quickly reacting to anything. In fact, had the boy not narrowly grabbed and protected Lin Qiushi when he was shoved off the ladder as they were climbing up the same platform last time, Lin Qiushi surely would've died.

The winds grew even fiercer the higher up the ladder they went, forcing Lin Qiushi to reduce his speed. As he steadily advanced forward, he surveyed the area, assessing the situation around him.

The ladder was no less ten meters tall, leading to a wooden platform connected to the top of the temple. While positioned at the highest point on the ladder, he was able to behold a breathtaking panoramic view of the surrounding scenery. Whether it was the magnificent temple or the mysterious jungle, everything was clearly captured by his eyes. Although he had already seen the same sight when they were at ground-level, looking at the scenery from this angle was a whole new experience, allowing him to genuinely appreciate such a beautiful view.

Seeing that Cheng Qianli was close to reaching the top as well, Lin Qiushi glanced down at the kid and reminded, "Once you're here, be careful."

Cheng Qianli bobbed his head and hummed, "Okay."

Taking a deep breath, Lin Qiushi braced himself as he hoisted his body directly onto the platform. He had originally thought there would be half-devoured, decaying corpses; however, he discovered that the platform was empty of what he'd expected—there was nothing.

Well, that wasn't necessarily correct; there wasn't exactly nothing. To be precise, the corpses had been utterly devoured, from their hair down to their bones. Only the gory puddles of concealed blood, messily caking the platform and dripping through the cracks on the floor, revealed the grisly horrors that had transpired.