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墨書 Inktalez
A bloodied corpse hung from a tree not far away.
Swaying gently!
Slowly, its face turned toward the direction of Su Jin'er.
She could see clearly that the blood-soaked face belonged to the old man who guarded the Morgue.
Terror made her forget to scream; she could only watch silently, waiting for what would happen next.
She didn't know how long it had been when a line of words suddenly appeared in her mind:
Midnight, Vengeful Spirit's Call for Retribution!
Instinctively, she raised her wrist to check her watch. The hour and minute hands were perfectly still at the top of the dial, at that eerie twelve o'clock point.
Her breathing became rapid, and the wind began to pick up around her. The corpse hanging from the tree started to sway faster.
Her breath quickened even more, like someone suffering from asthma, while she couldn't see that her face had turned as pale as a ghost. She gasped for air filled with a metallic sweetness and slowly crouched down. Just as she squatted, she suddenly felt hands gripping her ankles—cold hands devoid of any warmth.
It was a pale hand with no color, and long nails seemed to be smeared with bits of flesh, along with some muscle tissue. Su Jin'er felt her stomach churn; it seemed she forgot her fear and was only filled with nausea.
"I died so miserably!"
A mournful voice came from the ground. Su Jin'er stopped retching and, holding back her disgust, turned to look behind her. It was a mistake; upon seeing it, she fell back onto the ground.
Not far from her, about a meter away, a person was looking at her upside down, and those words had come from this "inverted" person's mouth.
"Who are you?" she asked, retreating in terror.
"I died so miserably! They all came out."
It was a woman, slowly turning her head completely around while her body remained in place.
"You... you are Zhuo Xiaoman?"
As her head fully turned, Su Jin'er felt as if her mind had exploded because she realized who this person was. There was a large hole in the back of the turned head, and a mass of white substance continuously flowed out from it.
"I died so miserably," the phrase repeated.
Su Jin'er swallowed hard, suddenly standing up and running toward the edge of the forest, the sound of "thump thump" echoing behind her.
It must be chasing me! She exerted all her strength to run outside, the sound resonating behind her, each thump striking her eardrums like a hammer, wind rushing down her throat, causing excruciating pain.
Then, she suddenly collided with someone, and that impact heightened her already tense nerves. She hugged her head and was about to scream when she heard a familiar voice.
"Jin'er, what's wrong?"
It was Chu Feifan!
She looked up in shock to see Chu Feifan's worried yet gentle face.
She didn't respond to Chu Feifan but leaned against his chest, slowly turning her head back.
Nothing at all.
Has that upside-down monster not chased you?
"What did you see? Your face is so pale."
Looking at the empty space behind her, Su Jin'er slowly relaxed, but her body was still trembling. "How did you come here?"
"Hongmei told me."
At that moment, she noticed Ruan Hongmei standing to the side.
"Thank you both." She tidied her disheveled hair, which was stuck to her face due to sweat from fear.
"What happened?"
"The old man died; I saw Zhuo Xiaoman."
"Zhuo Xiaoman?" Ruan Hongmei exclaimed in surprise.
"What old man?"
"Yes, the old man who watched over the Morgue! Didn't you know?" Su Jin'er looked at Chu Feifan in confusion.
Chu Feifan thought for a moment and said, "The Morgue hasn't been watched over for a long time. There was indeed an old man who took care of it years ago, but he died, and no one has been watching it since."
Chu Feifan's words sent a chill down Su Jin'er’s spine. What did it mean that no one was watching? Who was the person that told her about the corpse stealing that day?
"Take me back to my dorm," she said weakly. The running had drained too much of her strength, and fear had left her legs trembling, unable to support her.
Chu Feifan instructed Ruan Hongmei to hold the flashlight and then let Su Jin'er lean on his back. Seeing her pale face made his heart ache.
The next morning, Su Jin'er opened her eyes to find the sun already overhead. Remembering what happened last night filled her with dread, but now she suddenly felt as if it had all been a dream—a terrifying dream.
However, to prove whether she was dreaming or not, she felt the need to check the Morgue.
The sound of running water came from the bathroom; it must be Ruan Hongmei getting ready! As if to confirm her thoughts, Ruan Hongmei emerged in her pajamas.
"You’re awake?" she said while drying her hair.
"Yes!" Su Jin'er prepared to get out of bed, but a sharp pain shot through her ankle. She recalled the pale hand that had grabbed her ankle last night—could it have been real?
Lifting the blanket, she saw that her white ankle was already swollen, but there were no bright red fingerprints as she had imagined.
"Ah! How did your ankle get so swollen? Did you twist it last night?" Ruan Hongmei exclaimed as she pressed a towel against Su Jin'er’s foot.
"Hey! That's for washing your face."
"Ah!" Ruan Hongmei paused for a moment before retracting the towel and said, "I was too nervous."
She put down the towel and took out a small brown bottle from the drawer. "This is for promoting blood circulation; I'll apply some on you."
Su Jin'er nodded. She didn't care about the injury on her foot; what concerned her was how those white hands had managed to hurt her like this. At the time, when those hands had grabbed her, she hadn't felt any pain!
However, with this injury, she was more certain that everything from last night wasn't a dream but had actually happened.
While she was lost in thought, Ruan Hongmei had already wrapped her injured ankle. Su Jin'er looked in surprise at her ankle, which was now thicker than her thigh, and said, "Uh! This seems a bit too big!"
"The ankle is a joint. If it's not wrapped properly, it's easy to sprain it, so this is for safety's sake. Just bear with it for now!"
Three black lines appeared on Su Jin'er's forehead.
She moved her ankle slightly, and the sharp pain made her hesitate to move again. However, being wrapped like this was better; at least if she didn't move, it wouldn't hurt as much.
"Hey! You're injured now, so stay in the dormitory and don't go anywhere. I'll go get you some food. As for the case, you don't need to worry about it."
Su Jin'er was speechless but had no choice; after all, it was her foot that was injured.
After Ruan Hongmei left, Su Jin'er leaned against the wall and thought about what happened last night. Right, the corpse—the old man's body was still hanging there. Since it was the Morgue, very few people went there usually. If there really was a corpse, it wouldn't be discovered so quickly. So to confirm whether what she saw was real, she needed to verify it again.
Just as she was about to get out of bed, Ruan Hongmei unexpectedly returned with food.
"What are you doing?" Ruan Hongmei asked while placing the soy milk on the table.
"Uh! Nothing much, just wanted to go to the bathroom," she replied with an awkward smile. "It smells so good! What did you buy?"
To cover up her embarrassment, she exaggerated her reaction.
"Nothing much, just what we usually eat!"
She arranged the food and then said, "Aren't you going to the bathroom? Come on, I'll help you."
"Okay!"
After that, the two chatted casually, but Ruan Hongmei seemed to deliberately avoid questions about the case, talking about trivial matters. Although Su Jin'er appeared to be listening, her mind was completely focused on the case, and she didn't pay attention to what Ruan Hongmei was saying at all.
"Hey! Are you even listening to me?" Seeing Su Jin'er lost in thought, Ruan Hongmei became a bit annoyed.
"Ah! I am listening. What did you just say?"
Ruan Hongmei slumped onto the table.
"Alright, hurry up and eat. We have things to do later!" Su Jin'er patted her shoulder.
The breakfast seemed to take a long time. When they finally finished eating, Su Jin'er said to Ruan Hongmei, who was clearing the table, "Hongmei, I want to ask you for a favor."
"What is it?" She continued tidying up without turning to look at Su Jin'er.
"Go check the Morgue and see if there are any bodies."
Ruan Hongmei paused her movements and turned around to look at Su Jin'er with a bewildered expression. "Are you okay? Is there supposed to be a living person in the Morgue if there are no bodies?"
Su Jin'er then realized she hadn't expressed herself clearly and proceeded to recount everything that had happened the previous night.
"What? Are you saying your foot was grabbed by Zhuo Xiaoman and not injured?"
"Yes, but it's strange. When she grabbed me, I only felt a chill and no pain at all. So please go check if there's a body there! If you don't look, it will be hard for anyone to find the body."
That place usually had no visitors. Although there was a body inside, the corpses used for student experiments were kept in the laboratory, so it was normal for it not to be discovered.
Ruan Hongmei seemed hesitant, which was understandable. Even though it was broad daylight, going to see a body—especially one hanging near the Morgue—would frighten anyone, so Su Jin'er didn't push her.
After a long internal struggle, she finally made up her mind: "Alright, I'll go. But if I don't come back, remember to burn some paper money for me during Qingming!"
Ruan Hongmei struck a brave pose as if she were making a heroic sacrifice and pretended to wipe away tears.
Su Jin'er laughed and gave her a gentle push, saying, "Just go and come back quickly! I will definitely burn paper money for you."
"Okay, I hope we can meet again." Ruan Hongmei sniffled and waved at Su Jin'er.
"Alright, hurry up and be safe!"
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