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墨書 Inktalez
Gravekeeper
Zhang Yuru let out a small "oh" as she rushed over, swiftly snatching the scissors from Yang Granny's hands. With a flick of her wrist, she produced handcuffs and clicked them shut around Yang Granny.
I had to admit, despite her somewhat silly demeanor, this woman was quite skilled. Whether it was disarming someone or restraining them, she did it flawlessly.
If only I could possess such skills.
"You bad people, get out of my house!" Yang Granny shouted from the floor.
I lifted the old woman and tossed her onto a chair, impatiently saying, "Shut up! Do you think I don't know what you've done? You're the real villain here, having harmed countless people. How can you still have the audacity to shout?"
Yang Granny glared at me, her eyes bloodshot. She yelled back, "Who have I harmed? I want my daughter! I want to be with my daughter; it has nothing to do with anyone else! I raised my daughter; what’s wrong with that?"
Zhang Yuru was taken aback. She had never realized that one could still care for someone after death. "Yang Granny, are you... mistaken? Your daughter died years ago. How can you still care for her?"
After struggling for a moment, Yang Granny seemed to accept that she couldn't break free from the cuffs. "My daughter is indeed dead," she admitted, "but her soul hasn't left. I made her a wooden doll so she could stay inside it. She can talk to me, eat with me, and sleep beside me. I'm an old woman; I'm nearing death myself. Please, I beg you both, spare me and my daughter. We are innocent; I just want my daughter to be with me."
With that, Yang Granny knelt on the ground, repeatedly bowing her head towards me.
I felt a pang of sadness—not for Yang Granny herself but for the love of a mother. It was heartbreaking to see how maternal love could drive a normal woman to madness, daring to keep a ghost as company.
There’s nothing wrong with maternal love, but harming others is unacceptable!
I was deeply troubled. I didn’t blame Yang Granny because she was a mother. But I had to put an end to this.
"Yang Granny," I said firmly, "I'm not here to tear you apart from your daughter. However, you must explain what the Ghost Mask is all about!"
Upon hearing the mention of the Ghost Mask, the old woman fell silent. Zhang Yuru also looked stunned as she glanced between me and Yang Granny.
After a moment of silence, Yang Granny finally spoke up, "So you already know."
"Otherwise, I'll just rush in and smash your daughter right now." I said, shaking the Peach Wood Stick in my hand.
Yang Granny was frightened and hurriedly replied, "Okay, okay... it was indeed me who made the Face Mask. It all started when my daughter died. She was only seven years old when she died in a car accident, and during that accident, her two eyes were crushed out."
"She lay in the hospital, and her last words were, 'Mom, where are my eyes? I want my eyes...' At that time, I personally did makeup on my daughter's corpse. I used two fake glass eyes, but suddenly I got an idea. Someone had made a puppet from Sophora Wood that could allow the soul of the dead to temporarily reside within it. I missed my daughter so much that I made a Sophora Wood puppet, and then... my daughter really appeared. She kept pleading for eyes; she wanted Ghost Eyes..."
I recalled the girl covered in Ghost Eyes and felt a wave of nausea; it was like a skin disease.
Yang Granny continued, "I don't know why, but from that moment on, I found that I could communicate with many ghosts. I could see the souls of those who were about to be cremated. Some were unconscious, some were resentful, and some were filled with hatred. I asked them if they could give their eyes to my daughter; I would do anything for them, and then... they agreed."
I looked at Yang Granny and felt that the truth was about to come to light.
"They were all ghosts about to reincarnate, but many had unfulfilled wishes. Some asked me to burn paper money for them; others wanted revenge; some just wanted to continue living. Many of their requests were beyond my ability to fulfill, but there were some I could manage. For example, burning paper money or reporting things for them or telling their families the passwords to bank cards they had hidden away. I did these things for them, and before they left, they would leave their eyeballs for me. I gave those eyes to my daughter, and she became stronger and healthier; she would never leave me again."
I squinted my eyes. "You can see ghosts; it means you are already half-human and half-ghost! That was destined to mean you wouldn't live long! And what is this Face Mask all about?"
"The Face Mask is... made from the faces of pretty girls who were alive. They asked me to peel off their skin and turn it into Face Masks soaked in fragrant ash water and human blood. Then I would give them to other girls born at the same time. As long as that girl wore the Face Mask, and I mixed their birth dates together and placed them in an urn for worship, they... they could continue living through another girl's body." Yang Granny explained.
I finally understood the purpose of those urns; they contained the birth dates of both the buyers of the human skin Face Masks and the corpses from which the Face Masks were made. The combination of these birth dates could bypass reincarnation rules and allow the owners of the human skin Face Masks to become parasites.
Sister Yun was a victim!
After using the Face Mask, she found that her body was no longer under her control! Perhaps feeling ashamed or scared, she chose death while awake. However, unexpectedly, even after Sister Yun died, her soul still couldn't escape being enslaved and merged!
Zhang Yuru listened to Yang Granny's words with fear; she stood behind me and said, "Should we... should we call the police?"
I glanced at Zhang Yuru. "Aren't you a police officer? What are we calling the police for? Let's burn those harmful things first!" With that, I lifted the Peach Wood Stick and charged into the house.
"Come back! You can't harm my daughter! You murderer! Let me go!" Yang Granny screamed like she had gone mad as she rushed toward me with her hands cuffed behind her back.
I kicked Yang Granny back and said to Zhang Yuru, "You cuff her, and I'll destroy those urns."
I entered the room and began smashing things. I knew that one of the urns contained Sister Yun's ashes along with those of the Mask Demon. Once I destroyed these urns, the Mask Demon would no longer be able to control Sister Yun!
I also realized that when the Mask Demon died, she must have shattered her Heart, which was why, after becoming a ghost, she always sought to dig out my heart.
As I smashed away, ashes flew everywhere. After breaking the urns, I could see wisps of black smoke rising into the air, dissipating into nothingness.
"Wah wah wah..."
A crying voice came from the puppet, shouting, "Mommy, mommy! My eyes! My eyes are floating away! My eyes!"
I shattered all the urns—there were more than twenty in total—and then looked at the puppet. I sneered, "Stop pretending. Come out; today, no one can save you!"
The puppet indeed stopped crying. Its wooden face turned towards me, and suddenly its painted eyes became bright and filled with hatred. Those hateful eyes stared at me, and then with a whoosh, a wisp of blue smoke flashed by, and the puppet suddenly became lifeless.
I was taken aback and quickly rushed over to check. The puppet had transformed back into an ordinary puppet; there was no trace of any ghost left.
I frowned; this Vengeful Spirit had escaped too quickly, completely beyond my expectations. Had I known she could vanish so swiftly, I should have smashed her to pieces with one blow.
I stepped out of the room and looked at the frenzied Yang Granny. I snorted coldly, "Stop making a scene; your daughter has run away."
"You’re talking nonsense! How could my daughter run away? She’s always been well-behaved; she’s always been at home! She loves her eyes and loves to sing; she’s never misbehaved! You bastard! You killed her!" Yang Granny shouted, tears streaming down her face.
I said to Zhang Yuru, "Let her go for now."
Zhang Yuru approached and unlocked Yang Granny's handcuffs.
Yang Granny dashed into the room like a madwoman. After staying inside for a moment, she burst out again, screaming at me, "You murderer! You killed my daughter! Give her back to me!"
I saw that Yang Granny had gone mad. I pushed her to the ground and said, "Yang Granny, you better understand that you have broken the law! Not only did you peel human skin to make Face Masks, but you also sold them to innocent users! You have committed a crime. Do you know how many people those human skin Face Masks have harmed?"
"I just want my daughter!" Yang Granny glared at me.
I replied, "She's gone out for a bit; she'll come back. But you'd better hurry and send your daughter to be reincarnated; it's for both your sakes. Remember, don't run around because the police will be looking for you!"
With that, I waved goodbye to Zhang Yuru and said, "Let's go."
On the way out, Zhang Yuru still seemed a bit scared. She clutched my arm and murmured, "This is a disaster; my worldview has been completely overturned."
I glanced at Zhang Yuru. She was actually quite pretty, though a bit naive.
I casually asked, "Do you have any information on Yang Granny? How old is she?"
"She should be in her fifties or sixties," Zhang Yuru replied, tilting her head in thought. "Her daughter died six years ago; at that time, she seemed to be around thirty... Ah! Thirty-six!"
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