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墨書 Inktalez
More chilling was the figure in a Zhongshan suit appearing through the gap in the screen—the principal from his younger days was pouring oil into the Seven Star Lamp on the offering table.
"This is a special developing solution from Tong Ren Tang," Forensic Doctor Zhou said, dipping a cotton swab into the brown stain on the photographic paper. "Its main components are the same as those used in preserving severed fingers."
Heavy rain lashed against the glass dome of the city archives as Chen Mo held his breath in front of the microfilm machine. In the corner of the social section of the July 16, 1998 edition of Jiangzhou Evening News, a notice the size of a tofu block read: "Tong Ren Tang pharmacist Lin Zhen Nan passed away suddenly from a heart attack," accompanied by an image of a funeral procession in front of the Lin Family Old Residence, where bearers had copper bells tied around their waists.
"Lin Zhen Nan was the last heir of the Lin family who understood ancient methods of medicine," the administrator said, flipping through a moldy borrowing register. "On the night he died, a fire broke out in the Tong Ren Tang warehouse, destroying thirty jars of century-old Medicinal Wine."
Chen Mo's pen left deep marks under the words "Medicinal Wine." Suddenly, he recalled the Dragon's Blood Incense mixed with herbal scents in the Principal's Office and the liquid soaking severed fingers inside the Bronze Coffin.
His phone vibrated unexpectedly; a report from the Forensic Evidence Department arrived: The sandalwood frame of the Memorial Portrait and the wood from the principal's bookcase came from the same century-old rosewood tree.
In the night, the ruins of Earth God Temple resembled an overturned coffin. Chen Mo used a brass key to unlock a rusted chain. Behind a damaged clay statue, seven knife marks formed a Seven Star Pattern.
As he aimed a shard of Bagua Mirror at the star positions, the floor tiles suddenly sank, revealing a secret passage leading to an Underground Palace. The everlasting lamp on the walls of the Underground Palace ignited automatically, illuminating countless marriage certificates. Each faded red paper recorded the birth dates of Lin Clan Women, but all male names were stamped with a Cinnabar seal marked "Seven Star Master."
The latest marriage certificate bore Lin Qiuyu's name, and its ink had yet to dry; drops fell onto blue bricks, forming a Bagua Diagram.
"Ding—"
The sound of copper bells echoed from deep within the Underground Palace. Following the sound through winding corridors, Chen Mo's pupils constricted before an altar—nine skeletons entwined with Hong Chou knelt in worship, each skull nailed with Five Emperor Coins.
The Bronze Cauldron on the altar was filled with Black Medicine Wine, soaking seven strings of bells covered in verdigris.
His phone suddenly buzzed again; it was an autopsy report from Old Zhang: The principal's transplanted heart showed signs of a Cinnabar tattoo depicting a Seven Star Pattern on its coronary arteries.
Even more bizarrely, while heart cell activity resembled that of a twenty-year-old youth, components from thirty-year-old Medicinal Wine were detected.
Suddenly, murals behind the altar peeled away to reveal an iron box hidden in a dark compartment. Chen Mo pried open its rusty lock with his Peach Wood Sword; yellowed medical records contained shocking details: "July 15, 2004, seventh life extension completed using Madam Lin's Maiden's Heart Blood..."
A page fell out—a obstetric record revealing that Lin Qiuyu was actually the only surviving infant from fifteen years ago's Lin Family Massacre Case!
The Underground Palace began to tremble violently; fragments of Bagua Mirror in Chen Mo's arms suddenly grew hot. As he stumbled back in panic, the Bronze Cauldron on the altar toppled over with a crash, spilling Black Medicine Wine that twisted into talisman shapes on the ground. The liquid seeped into cracks in the earth as green flames erupted simultaneously from nine skeletons' eye sockets.
"Reporter Chen has sharp eyes," came the principal's voice from within shadows, his Jade Ring glowing ominously in firelight. "Unfortunately, with the Seven Star Life-Extension Formation completed, tonight during the Hour of the Rat is when Qiu Yu returns to her rightful place."
Chen Mo felt around for copper bells at the edge of the altar; their clappers were made from human finger bones. When he struck his Peach Wood Sword against the Bronze Cauldron, hidden inscriptions revealed themselves: "Jia Shen Year, Jia Xu Month, Jia Zi Day; Seven Stars shift position; Borrowing Life to Return to the Sun."
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