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墨書 Inktalez
Everyone thinks Midnight is terrifying because it is pitch black, as if something is hidden in the silence. However, few know that the darkest moment comes just before dawn.
At that time, all light disappears, leaving only eyes lurking in the night, staring intently at you. Folklore says that dawn is also the time when ghosts return home; to prevent the living from encountering them, spirits use darkness to cover the eyes of mortals.
At this moment, Yun Family Gathering is approaching dawn.
The Watchman's Wife followed the route her husband used to patrol, passing through alleys and onto a wider street. She wore all black, her expression blank, and her face seemed to be covered with a pale mask, appearing particularly strange under the glow of red lanterns.
As she walked, she called out her husband and son's names, but with each call, her voice stretched longer. In the cold winter night, it sounded somewhat unsettling. The adults awakened by her cries instinctively wrapped their children in blankets, covering their ears with their hands while their eyes peered through the darkness towards the window, as if fearing something.
A cold wind swept over A Niu's head; he huddled down by the roadside, carefully shielding the small red flame of incense with his hands.
Following Xing Ruyi's instructions, he and his aunt found the two oldest residents of Yun Family Gathering to ask for help in making winter clothes for the deceased. But despite their haste, they only managed to make two pieces, leaving him to guard this intersection alone.
The cold wind crept into A Niu's collar, causing him to sneeze involuntarily. Droplets of saliva landed on the incense flame, and its glow seemed to dim slightly. A Niu, anxious, lowered his head and blew gently on the flame; seeing it return to its original brightness, he sighed in relief and slumped down onto the ground.
A chill crept up from his backside along his spine, prompting A Niu to rub his hands together. Just then, a gust of wind blew by, causing the dry grass beside him to sway and rustle together. A Niu's face turned pale instantly because he felt as if something had pressed against his back when the wind rose.
“Crack!”
A thunderous sound erupted from above, and A Niu instinctively covered his ears while looking up.
In the pitch-black night, a pair of crimson eyes locked onto his gaze.
A Niu opened his mouth to scream; his body swayed and fell forward at an angle. Then he heard a faint sound followed by a strong smell of alcohol wafting towards him, accompanied by a drunken voice filled with a strange laugh.
“It's broken! It's broken! Your incense for warmth has gone out!”
A Niu quickly realized that standing before him was not some wild ghost but a drunken person. He immediately turned over and looked down at the ground using the faint light just before dawn.
On the ground, several incense sticks lay scattered, their tips still burning with a red glow, resembling a mocking scarlet eye.
"Scoundrel!" A Niu shouted angrily as he lunged at the drunkard. "You think you can scare people? I'll make sure you come out in one piece to scare people!"
"Ghost! The ghost is coming!" Although the drunkard appeared somewhat out of his mind, he was surprisingly agile as he dodged A Niu's attacks. He laughed mischievously, "The incense is broken, the ghost is coming, you're all going to have bad luck!"
"You’re the one who’s going to have bad luck! You scoundrel are in for it!" A Niu realized that breaking the incense had ruined everything, and he felt both scared and anxious. Hearing the drunkard's taunts only fueled his anger further. He focused on the direction the drunkard was moving and lunged forward with all his might, pinning him to the ground and delivering a flurry of punches.
As the distant crowing of a rooster signaled dawn, A Niu, exhausted from the fight, lay back on the ground, contemplating how to explain things to Xing Ruyi and his aunt. With the incense he was guarding extinguished, he worried about whether it would affect his aunt's Soul Calling and if his uncle and cousin's souls could still be summoned back.
The more he thought about it, the more chaotic his mind became. After enduring a long night, just as dawn was approaching, this drunkard had caused him to fail at a crucial moment. Frustrated by this thought, he rolled over and pounced on the drunkard again, ready to continue the fight.
But just as he raised his hand, A Niu froze. He recognized this drunkard; it was Hu Da, the master of the Hu Family.
After his mother passed away, he had moved out of the mountains. Upon returning to Yunji Village, he encountered the Hu Family holding a funeral. It wasn't unusual for the Hu Family to hold funerals; after all, Hu Da had lost count of how many wives and concubines had died. There was a saying in Yunji Village about the Hu Family's peculiar fortune: "The eldest loves to marry; every March he marries one; in April, they hold funerals." However, when he returned home, he found that the funeral was for Hu Da's second master.
He heard that this second master had died suddenly, so their funeral arrangements were different from usual. The coffin was larger than normal—after all, the Hu Family was wealthy—and since it was for a second master, a larger coffin seemed acceptable. However, there was a white cloth covering it with chaotic lines drawn on it. Elderly onlookers explained that it was a coffin talisman; although it covered the coffin, it actually suppressed what was inside. The Hu Family had always been known for their sinister practices; perhaps this second master hadn't died of illness but had been taken by some evil entity.
Thinking of Ding Ding sent a chill down A Niu's spine. Just as he planned to turn away, he suddenly noticed an extra person among those carrying the coffin. The reason he felt this person stood out was that they weren't holding anything and appeared too old—so old that the Hu Family would never hire him for such tasks.
As A Niu pondered this, he couldn't help but glance at that person again. It was an elderly man of advanced age wearing a black cotton coat with cold eyes fixed directly on him.
"Who is that person?" A Niu felt uneasy under that gaze and gently tugged at an elderly man beside him who was also watching. "I don't recognize that man; he doesn't seem like someone from the Hu Family. How strange that he's standing among their pallbearers."
"Strange person? Where? I don't see anyone unusual."
"That old man in black cotton clothes standing to the left of the coffin."
Just as A Niu pointed to show the man beside him, he realized that the elderly man who had been watching him had vanished.
"What's going on! What's going on!" A Niu's scalp suddenly felt like it was exploding. He hurriedly turned around and rushed towards Ruyi Rouge's shop. Once inside, Li Mao glanced at him and handed him a bunch of dried willow leaves, instructing him to soak them in water to dispel the bad luck.
Afterward, he vaguely mentioned the incident to the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper merely glanced at him and told him that the old man might have been a Guide from the underworld. He explained that mortals cannot see Guides, but A Niu had just lost his mother and had come down from the mountains, so it was natural for him to carry some lingering negative energy, allowing him to see that old man.
Although it was somewhat rude for him to stare so intently, if he encountered an irritable Guide, he would likely be teased. However, since he already recognized his mistake, he silently apologized in his heart and decided not to dwell on it.
The shopkeeper's response was simple, yet A Niu's heart remained uneasy for several days. When nothing further happened, he gradually forgot about it. Now, encountering the crazed Hu Da in this remote area felt strange to A Niu. After some thought, he decided to drag Hu Da back to his maternal family. A Niu knew that at this hour, the shopkeeper would still be there. Whether it was about the incense or Hu Da's situation, only the shopkeeper would know what to do.
Xing Ruyi had been waiting in the Watchman's House. After A Niu and The Watchman's Wife left one after the other, she carefully used her ghostly powers to investigate the Watchman's House. She discovered that the Night Watchman's son's soul remained in the house and had not left. Using the Soul Guiding Technique, she forcefully returned his soul to his body. As for the Night Watchman himself, his situation was somewhat peculiar; his soul did not seem lost but rather as if something had consumed it incompletely, almost as if it were picky.
Xing Ruyi frowned but then heard footsteps outside. The sound was dense and did not quite resemble human footsteps. When she approached the window and looked out, she saw something lying in the yard. Upon getting a clear view, a chill ran down her spine.
Xing Ruyi believed that with her ghostly powers, she had nothing to fear; however, there were still two things in this world that terrified her. One was soft-bodied creatures like snakes, and the other was those with numerous legs, such as centipedes.
Now, a massive centipede lay in the Night Watchman's yard. Its body was pitch black, with countless legs resembling dry black vines clinging tightly to the ground. Xing Ruyi took a deep breath and carefully observed the centipede's movements but could not spot its head anywhere.
Just as she pondered this, the centipede began to move in the yard. It wriggled its black body quickly toward the door. The sound of its many legs made Xing Ruyi's skin crawl. She nervously focused on the moving mass of blackness and calculated dozens of ways to eliminate it in her mind; however, her deep-seated fear of such creatures rendered her feet immobile.
As Xing Ruyi held her breath in anticipation of the centipede breaking through the door, it suddenly stopped right in front of it. As if sensing her presence at the window, the centipede turned slightly and slowly raised its head toward her.
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