Iris 1

Mu Qin woke up in front of an enormous mahogany door carved in an ornate European style.

An odd emblem of a snake entwined around a cross was carved into the wooden door. Panels of diamond-shaped glass in different colors formed a design that seemed to carry connotations of both religion and death. It even looked a little familiar.

Beyond the door seemed to be a large building resembling a church. European in style, with white walls and a red roof, it looked like a small castle.

Mu Qin had woken standing up, which was strange. He should have been unconscious. He should have been lying on the ground, covered in blood. No matter what, how could someone unconscious wake up standing?

Mu Qin had no time to figure that out. He quickly felt gusts of cold wind blowing over him, raising goose bumps all across his body. He shuddered without warning, looked around, and found himself in a thoroughly dilapidated courtyard.

The kind of courtyard surrounded by high walls and an iron gate, with pointed spikes and barbed wire along the tops of both. The anti-intrusion measures could keep people outside from getting in, but they could also keep those inside from getting out.

The courtyard was not large, no more than the size of two basketball courts by Mu Qin's estimate. It contained several dead trees of unidentifiable species, flower beds overgrown with weeds, and some children's play equipment: a slide, a sandbox, and swings.

But everything was far too old, caked with dust and fallen leaves, covered in mold, and reeking of rot.

It seemed to be a courtyard that no one had maintained or visited in a very long time.

Mu Qin raised his head to look at the sky. It was gray and dark, though it was not night. It was simply so dim that there was no sunlight to be seen. The sky was a hazy expanse full of dark clouds, the sort that gathered before a storm, hanging so low they seemed to press a stifling weight into the air. The coming wind and rain were destined to be violent enough to wash away all filth.

Mu Qin had no idea how he had ended up here. His memory stopped at the moment that truck came roaring toward him. After that, all he could feel was cold and darkness, and the terrifying sensation of blood slowly draining from his body... an experience of death unlike any he had ever known.

If I survived that car accident, I should be in a hospital.

That was what Mu Qin thought as he looked around the ruined, desolate courtyard... rather than being in a place like this, where everything gave off an eerie air.

Even stranger, there didn't seem to be a single injury on my body. No wounds. I was completely intact.

Mu Qin touched his face and torso. He found that he was wearing gray clothes that looked like a prison uniform: a gray shirt and gray trousers. The trousers had two pockets, but the shirt had none. On his feet were a pair of old-fashioned cloth shoes, the kind that reminded Mu Qin of the shoes his school had issued during military training when he was a student.

These aren't my clothes or my shoes... Did someone change me into these? As Mu Qin pondered this, he felt around his clothes. In the only two pockets, he found something... presumably something left there by whoever had dumped him in this place.

A... tarot card?

Mu Qin had not been mistaken. It was indeed a tarot card. It bore the image of The Fool: a young man carrying a bundle, accompanied by a dog as he walked beside a cliff.

The image seemed far more refined than those on traditional tarot cards. The composition was beautiful, the colors soft, and the figure on it vividly lifelike, his robes fluttering in the wind. It was like the polished concept art from an online game, perfectly suited to contemporary young people's tastes.

At the bottom of the image, English words read: 0, The Fool.

"The Fool?" Mu Qin murmured to himself, holding the card. He did not know much about tarot cards, but he recalled hearing someone say that the first tarot card, zero, represented beginnings. Perhaps it had been an offhand comment from some young woman at his company who was obsessed with horoscopes and fortune-telling, one that had lodged in his memory without his noticing.

Mu Qin studied the card carefully once more. Other than the stunningly exquisite image of The Fool on its face, he could see nothing unusual. So he turned the tarot card over and discovered an image of a faint pentagram against a deep-blue starry sky, along with several lines of delicate print.

Fortunately, it was in Chinese, since Mu Qin's English was not very good. It read:

The journey of adventure has only just begun; the abyss of death lies before you.

Are you ready to begin, or to end?

P.S. This card can increase your luck value.

"What does that mean?" Mu Qin found the lines increasingly baffling after reading them. He turned the card over and inspected it twice, but it did not seem useful. Still, since it was the only thing he had on him, he obediently put it back in his pocket.

Mu Qin then began to explore his surroundings.

The courtyard was too dark, and he had no intention of inspecting the ruined swings, slide, or sandbox. Instead, he set his sights on the large iron gate. Through its bars, he could vaguely make out the scene outside: an asphalt road and a dense stretch of woods.

Can I get out?

Thinking this as he looked at the iron gate, Mu Qin began walking toward it. He very much wanted to leave. This place felt profoundly strange to him, and he had absolutely no desire to push open the door behind him, with its unsettling symbol of a snake entwined around a cross.

But when Mu Qin crossed the courtyard, followed the paths carpeted with rotting branches and dead leaves, and reached the iron gate in the center of the yard, he found a huge iron padlock hanging from it. The padlock was thick with rust. Mu Qin reached out and shook it twice, and the lock struck the gate with a crisp clank.

It was locked tight.

That was what Mu Qin thought after examining the lock. He raised his head and surveyed the entire gate. Its bars ran vertically, making them difficult to climb, and its top was lined with spikes and barbed wire. Climbing over it was impossible.

Just as Mu Qin was lost in thought before the iron gate, a voice suddenly sounded behind him. "Who's there?"

The unexpected voice made Mu Qin jerk all over. He immediately turned around and saw a tall man standing on the path at the other end of the courtyard. Because the sky was dim and there was so little light, Mu Qin could only vaguely make out the man's clothing... which was the same as his own.

The same gray shirt and gray trousers.

It struck Mu Qin as a little eerie.

Although Mu Qin did not know what he ought to say, he still spoke to the stranger. He raised both hands to show that he had no weapon and meant no harm. "Hello... um, do you know where this is?"

The man across from him stood silently on the path for a moment before answering. "I don't know where this is either, but you should come with me."

"Come with you?" Mu Qin questioned the suggestion.

The man continued, "Someone knows what's going on. Just come with me. We can't get out anyway."

Can't get out? Mu Qin was even more confused. The situation was utterly bizarre to him. He had appeared in a strange, unfamiliar place, and then a strange, unfamiliar man had appeared and told him to follow him.

"Were you the one who brought me here?" Though Mu Qin was full of doubts, he still started walking toward the man. This place was too dark, and the surroundings were too run-down. It was not a safe place, or one fit for exploration. Mu Qin did not want to explore it, either.

Besides, the sky was dark. It looked as though not only would it rain, but night would soon fall as well. Mu Qin had no desire to spend a cold, dark, rainy night in an eerie place. So following the man before him seemed to be his only choice.

Mu Qin questioned the man, trying to get more information from him. Whether it was kidnapping or human trafficking, Mu Qin felt he could face it calmly.

But he never imagined that the other man would answer him like this: "I don't have the ability to bring you here. In fact, I opened my eyes and found myself here for no reason, too... Maybe the Grim Reaper brought us here."

The answer left Mu Qin momentarily stunned. After pausing for a moment, he continued forward. Once he was closer, he could finally make out the man's features somewhat clearly.

He looked to be between thirty and forty years old, about five feet ten. He had a square face, with features that drooped downward, giving him the look of someone perpetually sucking on a bitter melon. He did not look like a particularly friendly person.

"My name is Cheng Guoxu," the man introduced himself when Mu Qin approached. "I'm a factory worker... at the kind of factory that makes children's toys."

Cheng Guoxu's voice was a little hoarse, like someone slowly recovering after losing it. Mu Qin found it uncomfortable to listen to, but he still replied politely, "My name is... Mu Qin. I'm an ordinary office worker, in sales, the kind who runs around chasing performance targets."

After their brief introductions, neither had anything more to say. Cheng Guoxu seemed to be a quiet, introverted person, and Mu Qin was not good at talking to people like that either, especially when they were both on guard.

He began following Cheng Guoxu onward. Cheng Guoxu did not lead him to the door nearby, the one carved with a snake entwined around a cross. Instead, they took a quiet path along the courtyard wall and arrived at a building that looked like an apartment building.

The weather grew even darker, and the air was heavy with dampness. Dark clouds still hung over the two men. Mu Qin had expected rain to come soon, but the clouds drifting overhead did not seem to be in any hurry.

The surroundings were silent. Mu Qin thought he heard faint rustling in the grass, and he warily looked toward the sound, but it was too dark there for him to see anything.

"This seems to be an orphanage." By then, Cheng Guoxu had led Mu Qin through the lobby of the apartment building, down the corridor to the left on the first floor, and pushed open a door marked "Management Office," gesturing for Mu Qin to enter.

After a brief hesitation, Mu Qin went in. He discovered that the so-called management office was an office. It was not large, furnished with several desks and chairs as well as bookcases, and several people were already standing inside.

There were three complete strangers. Together with Mu Qin and Cheng Guoxu, there were five people in the modestly sized office.

Perhaps seeing that Cheng Guoxu had brought Mu Qin, a large man among the three strangers, standing about six feet two, stepped forward and looked at Mu Qin. "Another newcomer."

Mu Qin was even more at a loss. He asked, "Who are you? Did you bring me here?"