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墨書 Inktalez
After everything was ready, the four of us exited the ancient temple. Xiao Xiao went to turn on the construction site’s large lights, and two one-thousand-watt bulbs instantly illuminated the area. Master Xiao pointed to a patch of open ground about three to four hundred meters away, where a dump truck was parked, and said, "It's over there."
The open space happened to be on the other side of the road that was under construction. The road passed through a tunnel, with the ancient temple and the incident site located on either side of the road, both at the foot of the same mountain. With the lights on, we could see somewhat clearly over there. I asked Sayo, "Do you see anything?" Sayo shook her head, indicating she saw nothing.
I suggested, "Let's turn off the lights. The moonlight is bright enough for us to see clearly without them. We'll walk over first, and if you see anything, Sayo, just give us a quiet signal, and we'll open our eyes. We have limited time to do so." Master Xiao nodded in agreement and signaled for Xiao Xiao to turn off the lights. Once the lights were off, we didn’t even turn on our flashlights and slowly made our way toward the incident site using only the moonlight.
Since we couldn’t see well, Master Xiao and I walked side by side in front, with Sayo in the middle and Xiao Xiao following closely behind. We quickly covered the few hundred meters distance. When we reached near the dump truck, we stopped. Sayo hadn’t given any signal, which meant she hadn’t seen anything. We squinted into the darkness, trying to find something unusual, but there was nothing. Just as we were about to continue walking forward, Xiao Xiao suddenly exclaimed, "Look! Ghost fire on the hillside!"
Ghost fire refers to phosphorescent light; scientifically speaking, it makes sense that one might see ghost fire in graveyards or wilderness areas. Hearing Xiao Xiao say this made us all turn our heads up toward the slope. Sure enough, there were ghost fires—multiple clusters of them. At that moment, Sayo suddenly said, "I see it."
"Is it ghost fire or ghosts?" Master Xiao and I asked simultaneously.
Sayo quickly replied, "Ghosts! Ghosts! Ghosts!" After saying this, she stared blankly at the direction of the graveyard where the ghost fires were located. She seemed a bit lost, her body frozen in place. Master Xiao, Xiao Xiao, and I quickly formed a triangle around Sayo.
Master Xiao and Xiao Xiao began chanting spells to open their eyes while I made a hand seal and applied some cow tears to my eyes. After quickly reciting a short incantation, my vision gradually shifted from blurry to clear. Indeed, I saw five Spirit Gods standing atop a white surface in front of the graveyard; that white surface was clearly gravestones. Those who have traveled many night roads naturally develop a basic understanding of their surroundings—the saying goes that black mud reflects white stones while water reflects light at night. This meant that there was not just one grave but rather a small cemetery across from us. It was surprising that Master Xiao hadn’t mentioned such an important detail.
Just as I clearly saw those five Spirit Gods, they suddenly charged down from the hillside toward us at a speed comparable to running humans. The slope was only about five or six hundred meters away; at their speed, they would reach us in just over ten seconds. Meanwhile, Sayo had already frozen in place; Master Xiao and Xiao Xiao were still chanting their spells and clearly hadn’t finished opening their eyes.
At this moment, I couldn’t rush them; it was like urging a novice driver—pressing harder only slows them down further. I quickly grabbed several talismans for warding off ghosts and stuck one on each of them before taking some cinnabar and swiftly pulling out an ink fight line to shield them in front of me. By now, those Spirit Gods had already covered most of the distance; in just a few seconds they would be right in front of us. I nervously watched as they drew closer while beads of sweat began to form on my forehead. Just then, Master Xiao and Xiao Xiao both let out a low roar: "Halt!" This was their signal that they had successfully opened their eyes; I let out a sigh of relief—finally catching up.
"Damn!" "What the hell!" After their shouts of "Halt," both let out exclamations filled with surprise as they were clearly taken aback by the five ghosts charging toward us.
After cursing briefly without hesitation, Master Xiao brandished his Peach Wood Sword and charged forward without another word; Xiao Xiao followed closely behind him. Fueled by adrenaline, I wanted to rush in as well but hesitated because Sayo was still in a dazed state behind us. I quickly made another hand seal for clarity and recited a short awakening spell that struck her Yintang point; Sayo jolted awake with a start. Thankfully we were still at a distance; she had only been lightly startled.
"Oh no! They’re fighting! Let’s go help!" Sayo exclaimed after waking up and seeing Master Xiao and Xiao Xiao swinging their Peach Wood Swords to keep the five spirits at bay. Instead of being scared, she seemed excited by the unfolding action.
It wasn't exactly a fight; Master Xiao and Xiao Xiao were merely swinging their Peach Wood Swords in front of them, like a few people surrounded by a pack of wolves. The only thing they had were torches, which could only temporarily keep the wolves at bay. There was no way to drive them away.
I quickly shouted, "Stop messing around! Let's retreat to the ancient temple. Before long, we won't be able to see anything, like blind people. How can we fight then?" Master Xiao and Xiao Xiao clearly heard me and began to slowly back away.
Seeing that I wasn't going to hold them back, the five Spirit Gods seemed to have found their temporary targets in the two wielding the Peach Wood Swords. Two of them split off and charged towards me and Sayo.
"Get back here!" I yelled. Sayo was as defenseless as a chick; if she got tackled, even if she wasn't hurt, she'd still spit blood. I didn't have the confidence to block two Spirit Gods' full-force attacks with my Ink Fight Line at the same time. By the time Master Xiao and Xiao Xiao realized something was wrong, it was too late. The two Spirit Gods had already reached us. One lunged at me while the other went for Sayo, almost simultaneously.
I quickly dodged in front of Sayo, throwing a handful of Cinnabar at the attacking Spirit God while stretching my Ink Fight Line taut with both hands. I shielded Sayo tightly behind me, but even so, one Spirit God charged straight at my Ink Fight Line, while the other swiftly darted towards Sayo from behind. I could have used its moment of inertia when it lunged at my Ink Fight Line to wrap my wrist around it, but Sayo had no means of self-defense. In a panic, I had to let go of the Ink Fight Line and threw my Five Demon-Repelling Coins at the Spirit God lunging at Sayo.
Just as I saw the five coins hit that Spirit God, I felt a heavy weight on my shoulder as it tackled me to the ground. A sweet taste filled my throat as warm blood surged back into my mouth. Damn it, I was forced to spit blood again.
Fortunately, at that moment, Master Xiao and Xiao Xiao arrived by my side and drove off the two Spirit Gods with their Peach Wood Swords. Master Xiao pulled me up while Xiao Xiao protected Sayo, both of them swinging their swords as they retreated until we crossed the road. The five Spirit Gods seemed uninterested in pursuing us further and turned back towards the Tomb they came from—quick to arrive and quick to leave.
Once we returned to the ancient temple, Master Xiao and Xiao Xiao hurriedly shut the door and pulled out several Exorcism Talismans from their bags. They continuously affixed them to the doors and windows. Sayo handed me a tissue with a worried expression as I wiped the blood from my lips. I also found a talisman to drink for recovery and took a few deep breaths, feeling much better.
None of us spoke; the atmosphere felt heavy. I didn't know what Sayo was thinking, but I knew that the three of us who had fought were all wondering why those five spirits were so fierce.
"Tonight we need to keep watch; we can't all sleep at once," I broke the temporary silence. Master Xiao nodded in agreement, saying, "I didn't expect them to be this fierce. Luckily we didn't force a fight; otherwise, we would have been in serious trouble. But now these spirits are so aggressive—one-on-one might be manageable, but Sayo can't fight. Three against five puts us at a disadvantage. If it comes down to it, I'll call two more people over."
"No need to call anyone," I replied. "I think there's a reason they're so united, and I'm not sure why they escaped Yin Chai's control. In some ways, this situation seems very suspicious—especially that Cemetery; it seems to embolden them. We'll take a closer look tomorrow."
I took out a compass from my Cloth Bag and adjusted it; fortunately, this area’s magnetic field wasn't affected by that Magnet mine, so the compass still worked fine. I placed it flat on the Eight Immortals Table and said, "Except for Sayo, we'll take turns keeping watch—one hour each. I'll take the last shift. When it's time for your turn, just wake me up. This compass is special; it's much more sensitive than your own senses. As long as you keep an eye on it, you'll be able to sense any strong fluctuations within ten meters."
Master Xiao immediately said, "I'll take the first shift." Everyone nodded in agreement without objection.
"Sayo, you sleep in the middle tent." After saying this, I chose the tent on the left and crawled in, falling asleep fully clothed. Feeling a bit mentally and physically exhausted from the pressure, I quickly drifted off.
The night passed without incident. Perhaps due to sheer fatigue, I slept soundly until dawn. Crawling out of the tent, I saw Xiao Xiao sprawled over the table, fast asleep. A pile of various talismans lay scattered across the table, their ink already dried. Clearly, this child had been practicing drawing symbols during my vigil last night. Sayo was already up, washing her face by the well outside. Only Master Xiao was still snoring inside the tent; it seemed that these two had split my vigil time between them.
Not wanting to disturb them, I grabbed my toothbrush and towel and stepped outside. Sayo smiled at me as I emerged and greeted me with a good morning. Approaching the well, I noticed that Sayo looked quite well; evidently, last night's events hadn't affected her too much, which eased my mind a little. Standing by the well, breathing in the fresh country air and splashing my face with the cold well water, I instantly felt refreshed.
I sat by the well for a while, lost in thought as daylight brightened. In the distance, the cemetery on the hillside became clearly visible. It was a small cemetery surrounded by a one-meter-high stone wall; such cemeteries usually belong to a family or clan. However, upon closer inspection of the surroundings, I suddenly felt something was off, but no matter how hard I thought, I couldn't pinpoint what it was. Shaking my head in frustration, I noticed the village in the distance shrouded in mist and suddenly felt hungry. Returning to the old temple, I found that Master Xiao and Xiao Xiao were still asleep while Sayo was packing up her sleeping bag. I quietly told Sayo, "I'm going out to buy breakfast; don't eat dry rations until I get back." Then I picked up the car keys from the table and headed out. Sayo followed me out and said, "I want to go too."
There wasn't any breakfast available in the village; we had to go to town for that. After a bumpy twenty-minute ride, I bought several breakfast items and started heading back. As we approached the hillside cemetery again, I suddenly realized what was wrong; it was right here! Slamming on the brakes made Sayo spill soy milk all over herself as she sat in the passenger seat. She glared at me angrily, and I said, "Sorry! Just wait for me a moment." Then I pulled up the handbrake, opened the car door, and climbed up towards that hillside.
Reaching the center of the cemetery and facing towards the gravestones, I scrutinized for a while before feeling like I'd touched upon that point of unease. Quickly running back down to the car, I returned to the old temple where both of them were awake now. "I found out what was wrong," I said as I grabbed my compass and prepared to head out again.
Sayo stopped me and said, "If you don't eat now, it'll get cold! Whatever it is can wait until after breakfast."
"You guys eat first; I'll be back shortly." By the time I finished speaking, I'd already dashed far away.
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