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墨書 Inktalez
"Look, what is that?"
A voice filled with slight panic suddenly rang out, and everyone instinctively turned to follow his gaze.
In the valley before them, a thick fog had risen without warning, obscuring their vision like a heavy curtain and making the distant scenery appear blurry.
But through the haze, they could vaguely discern several shadowy figures.
As the mist spread, those figures seemed to drift in and out of focus, slowly approaching them like ghosts.
The gaps here were extremely narrow; several figures gradually drew closer, yet their appearances remained unclear. The indistinct outlines were eerily reminiscent of specters.
Some people rubbed their eyes vigorously, their faces filled with disbelief.
"Are we in the underworld?"
The cold night wind howled past, sending a wave of goosebumps across everyone's arms.
"Stop talking nonsense."
Someone nearby quickly hushed him, but he too pressed his lips tightly together, covering his mouth and quietly stepping back, filled with fear of the mysterious beings in the fog.
"What are those things?" Yang Luo asked nervously, moving closer to Xu Qingyuan and whispering in his ear.
"I don't know. Step back," Xu Qingyuan replied, frowning. Although he was also unsure of the situation before them, he had never believed in gods or ghosts; this was likely just someone trying to create a spectacle.
"Those shadows have no heads?"
As the figures emerging from the mist gradually became clearer, everyone realized that they were indeed human shapes, but incomplete.
"Look, this one has no head, ah... and this one is missing too?"
"Yeah... are we really encountering ghosts?" The group trembled, retreating behind the stone wall, their voices barely above a whisper, filled with deep fear.
The timing of these apparitions was too eerie, especially since someone in their party had just mentioned the tragic fate of the Nata Tribe. Panic swept through them; cold sweat broke out on their foreheads, and their lips turned pale.
It was said that those who died met a gruesome end, dismembered, with not a single complete corpse left behind.
The exhaustion from their daytime journey had already worn them out, and now the appearance of these ghostly figures sent chills down their spines.
Some individuals, having caught a chill and with weaker constitutions, were so frightened that their legs went limp, causing them to collapse onto the ground.
They sat trembling beneath the stone wall, their eyes squinting into narrow slits before slowly closing as if trying to escape this horrifying scene.
The summer night was long and silent, with only the sound of cicadas rising and falling. A solitary moon hung high in the sky, cold and desolate, while a chilly breeze swept through, bringing waves of coldness.
"Ghosts! It’s really ghosts."
"Run! Run!"
A sharp scream shattered the tranquility of the long night, instantly throwing everyone into chaos.
Several people gaped in shock, shaking their heads desperately before turning to flee in different directions.
In the blink of an eye, among the dozen or so individuals, seven or eight had scattered in panic. Xu Qingyuan had just begun to discern what these figures were when they vanished into the night.
"Don't move, it's not a ghost!"
Xu Qingyuan shouted loudly, but his voice was still a step too late; several people did not hear him.
"This isn't... a ghost, then what is it?" Yang Luo struggled to prop himself up, his back almost embedding into the crevice of the stone, trying to hide himself completely.
Xu Qingyuan lowered his hand that was touching the stone wall and slowly stepped out. "It's a projection."
"A projection?" Yang Luo's eyes widened in confusion.
"Yes, look."
Xu Qingyuan stood in front of the ghostly figures, and the shadows passed through his body without any obstruction.
Yang Luo stared wide-eyed at this scene, momentarily stunned.
After hesitating for a moment, he cautiously stepped forward. The ghostly figure brushed past him just as he slightly turned to the side, feeling a lingering fear.
The ghostly figure continued to move forward, passing by Yang Luo, then by He Shuo who was sitting on a rock, and by several others who were sitting on the ground. None of them reacted; it seemed they could not see these figures.
"What’s going on?" Yang Luo scratched his head, filled with confusion.
"The magnetic field here is unstable, and there are large deposits of magnetic stones on this island. We just experienced a thunderstorm; it might have been struck by electricity, which can record some shadows," Xu Qingyuan explained while brushing away the fireflies that landed on his shoulder. "It's very likely that what we saw earlier were residual images of people who were on the island before. Because the magnetic field is unstable, we see these intermittent shadows; they are not ghosts."
Yang Luo listened carefully and then nodded. Afterward, he knocked on his own head in frustration and said, "Oh no! If these aren't ghosts, then the people we got separated from must be in danger in the forest right now!"
"They are all from the Federation and the research institute. The poisonous insects in the forest shouldn't be able to kill them just yet."
Xu Qingyuan crouched down and pulled the cloth strip out of Bai Qi's mouth. "You need to send them a message now, telling them to come back. The poisonous insects here are not the most dangerous. If they don't want to end up on the shore being eaten by a mermaid, they should return soon."
Yang Luo: "Okay, I'll notify them right away, but he..."
Yang Luo's gaze fell on Bai Qi.
"Don't worry about him."
"Um... alright."
The earlier commotion hadn't woken Bai Qi, who was still mumbling to himself. However, Xu Qingyuan noticed that when he looked at the stone walls, his expression seemed less confused, as if he had become a bit more alert.
Xu Qingyuan counted the people present; there were only seven.
After waiting in place for half an hour, there was still no sign of their return, and no replies to their messages.
This was unusual.
"Professor Xu, they still..."
"Still haven't replied, right?" Xu Qingyuan looked up at the moonlight, which cast a glow on his face, revealing his serious expression.
Yang Luo: "Yes... that's correct."
Xu Qingyuan: "Let's wait another ten minutes. If there's no news, we will continue forward."
"Okay."
He Shuo and Bai Qi were both as if their minds had been taken by the stone wall, their eyes fixed on the broken stone paintings, not shifting their gaze elsewhere during this time.
Xu Qingyuan observed their strange behavior and pondered silently.
He stood up and directed his gaze toward the stone wall as well.
Suddenly, one of the murals caught his attention; it depicted a bizarre scene—stars falling, the sea churning, and a mysterious island rising from the waters.
The patterns above had gone unattended for over a decade, severely damaged by weathering and rain.
In the center of the stone wall, there was a conspicuous void, starkly different from the numerous small figures surrounding it.
This vacant space was large enough to accommodate a figure several times larger than those depicted in the surrounding images.
However, due to the erosion of time and relentless damage, only a massive arm remained visible in the artwork.
The lines of that arm were rugged and powerful, as if containing boundless strength. Even though it was merely a fragment, one could still sense its former grandeur and majesty.
Bai Qi's eyes were filled with sincerity and reverence as he slowly knelt forward, solemnly placing his hands together in front of the empty space in the center of the stone wall. He then gently closed his eyes and performed a standard Nataraja pose.
After completing his gesture of respect, he opened his eyes, his gaze firmly locked onto the broken image of the deity.
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