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墨書 Inktalez
In the second half of 2011, I returned home for a while. One day, my master took me to the town to buy some items for a ritual.
The market was far from where we lived. At that time, transportation wasn't as convenient as it is now; we had to walk for over an hour and then take a small bus for another hour to reach the town. The rural areas back then didn't have paved roads; they were made of stones and dirt, full of potholes and extremely difficult to navigate. The rough roads, combined with the infrequent buses, made the round trip quite challenging. That morning, we didn't leave until after 9 AM, and by the time we returned, it was already evening. During autumn and winter, it gets dark early, and when we got off the bus, twilight had already begun to settle in. As we passed through a village, something strange happened.
In the center of that village stood an old house made entirely of wood. It was quite large, with two stories and a roof covered in black tiles.
A dog was barking strangely; after barking a few times, it would tuck its tail between its legs and retreat slightly before barking again. This behavior clearly indicated that it had encountered a spirit god, and not just any spirit god.
Among all dogs, adult mutts are the best at warding off evil spirits, especially black dogs. Typically, ordinary spirit gods would avoid confrontation, but today there were more than ten of them appearing at once. Instead of hiding, this spirit god seemed to be provoking us.
Everyone stared at this unusual phenomenon in shock; it seemed they were starting to believe that the old house was indeed haunted. However, in the rural village, such tales were common enough that they didn't cause panic. Most people merely watched the old house with curiosity.
As darkness gradually enveloped the sky, the barking continued for about five minutes before the dogs dispersed. Perhaps the spirit god retreated deeper into the house. Once the barking ceased, everyone exchanged glances; their focus shifted from the two families arguing over this incident to my master, their eyes filled with curiosity as they clearly sought an explanation from him.
After observing the main hall of the old house for a while, my master turned to the man who claimed it was haunted and asked, "How did you discover that there are spirit gods inside that old house?"
The man had calmed down significantly since his earlier panic but still replied without hesitation: "This house has been unoccupied for three years. I wanted to buy this homestead and rebuild a new house. Just two days ago in the afternoon, my wife and I finalized our plans. After dinner, we went over to measure its dimensions. As soon as we entered, we saw two dark shadows slip through a small door next to the shrine. We thought it was just some kids playing around and called out a few times without getting any response. We didn’t think much of it and continued measuring. While using a flashlight to check the corners of the walls, I intended to move the stairs but found I couldn't budge them at all." He swallowed hard and continued in terror: "When I looked up and shone my flashlight on them, I nearly died from fright—there were two spirit gods lying on top of the stairs, both face down..."
"What did those spirit gods look like? Do you remember?" my master asked.
The man who spoke about the haunting fell silent as if recalling something terrifying that left him stunned. His wife stepped forward when she noticed he wasn't responding: "But I saw them too! Those two spirit gods were hanging upside down on the stairs—one wore a funeral garment while the other wore an ordinary shirt. Their faces were deathly pale—so pale they seemed to glow. We were so frightened that we didn’t dare look closely; we just caught a glimpse and felt like we had run into spirit gods before fleeing."
"Yes! After we ran out of the door, we saw that the colorful lights inside that peacock glass frame had actually turned on and started playing music! But there had been no electricity in that house for ages," he added.
The small door above the frame of the White Peacock used to be quite popular in the village; almost every household had one installed. Inside the frame were many colorful lights that changed colors, and when powered on, it played music similar to that of a music box.
Everyone looked at each other in silence, with no one speaking, all eyes fixed on the Master. They were eager to see how he would respond. Even the owner of the old house remained quiet. After the earlier commotion caused by the barking dogs, he seemed to have started believing in the matter. He hadn't returned in three years, and given the age of the house, it had naturally fallen into disrepair. It wasn't hard to understand that something strange might be happening inside; what annoyed him was that someone was spreading rumors about his house being haunted. A homestead like his wasn't cheap, especially with such a large area located in the center of the village.
The Master pondered for a moment before saying, "This house is indeed haunted. Everyone must have seen how many dogs were barking at it just now. I can tell that the spirit inside is not ordinary. Boss, do you need my help? If so, I can take my apprentice inside tonight."
The owner of the house immediately responded, "Yes, yes! Master X, how much will you charge?" This question was somewhat out of place given the number of people present, and the Master did not answer directly. He simply said, "Let's discuss this at your home later. I need to go back and prepare some things. Once I have what I need, we can meet at your new house."
"I'll prepare dinner and wait for you at home," the Master of the House said politely.
The Master agreed and turned to me, saying we should head back first and come over later. I replied, "Master, you don't need to go back; you can rest here while I get what you need."
The Master nodded and said, "Alright then. Please bring my cloth bag and also my Great Seal. I'll go to the Boss's house to understand the situation."
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