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墨書 Inktalez
Gravekeeper
Ayaka made a funny face at the camera and then briefly introduced herself and me. I couldn't understand anything, just sitting there in a daze, numbly listening to Ayaka and Yoshikura Mibu's conversation.
Ayaka patted my shoulder and smiled, "Hey, Song Fei, can you show us a trick? Mibu here is doubting the abilities of Chinese Onmyoji; she thinks all your Taoists are frauds."
I waved my hand dismissively, "Alright, you two chat. Don't drag me into this."
A whiff of smoke wafted through the air.
I glanced over to see Yoshikura Mibu's companion smoking, his hand trembling uncontrollably, likely from fear and the cold. This train felt like it had its own air conditioning, chillingly cold.
Yoshikura Mibu continued mumbling to me when suddenly, with a creak, the door of the train car opened in the distance.
Though the sound was soft, in this eerie train car, it was particularly jarring.
We all turned our attention toward the source of the noise.
The door opened to reveal a man wearing a hat and dressed in a conductor's uniform stepping inside.
The once-empty subway suddenly had a conductor appear, which surprised even me. I observed him closely; he looked to be in his forties, wearing a conductor's coat, his face somewhat grim as he approached Yoshikura Mibu's companion.
We all stared at the conductor in astonishment. He wasn't exactly a ghost; to me, ghosts are formed from lingering resentment. While some ghosts can manifest physically and be seen by ordinary people, generally that happens when their resentment is overwhelming—those are vengeful spirits. This conductor, despite his eerie demeanor, didn't exude much ghostly energy.
Yoshikura Mibu was utterly shocked. Aside from her fear, I could also see a hint of excitement on her face as she slowly raised her camera toward the conductor.
The crew member walked over to Yoshikura Mibu's companion and stopped. "N, sking!"
"Thud!" The male companion of Yoshikura Mibu was stunned, dropping his cigarette butt to the ground before he slumped over and fainted.
I approached with my Peach Wood Sword.
The crew member bent down to pick up the cigarette butt, then turned and walked back.
I blocked his path. I was about to speak, but it seemed like the crew member didn't see me at all as he walked right through me.
I hadn't even raised my Peach Wood Sword when he had already passed through. I turned around and noticed that the crew member flickered for a moment before walking away.
"Is it a ghost?" Ayaka's face changed as she looked at me.
I walked back and shook my head. "It's definitely not a ghost. It doesn't seem to be a manifestation of Resentment, nor does it have any malice towards humans. It's strange, almost like a spirit or an illusion."
Ayaka grabbed my arm, genuinely frightened this time.
Osaka also came over and exchanged a few words with Ayaka.
I walked over to Yoshikura Mibu's companion, who had fainted from fear. I pinched his acupoint, and he let out a long sigh but still didn't wake up. I decided not to force him awake; doing so could cause problems and leave lingering effects. His long sigh indicated that he was no longer in a fainted state but rather in a deep sleep. When he woke up, he would likely just think it was a bad dream.
Ayaka approached and asked, "How is he?"
"He's fine," I replied. "Let this buddy sleep for a while."
Carrying a camera, she walked over and exchanged a few words with Ayaka, who responded in kind. After a moment, Ayaka smiled at me and said, "She wants to thank you for saving her colleague."
I replied, "I didn't do much."
"Well, she's thanking you anyway!" Ayaka insisted.
Seeing Ayaka still able to smile reassured me that everyone was no longer afraid. I returned to my seat, realizing that this subway experience was indeed strange; it was not just about ghosts anymore but seemed to involve some kind of special energy entities. Just as the physical body is composed of matter, resentment forms ghosts; every type of energy could potentially manifest into something.
After pondering for a moment, I decided I needed to investigate the background of this crew member.
I turned to Ayaka and said, "Ask Osaka if she has any cigarettes."
"Huh?" She looked at me. "What do you need cigarettes for?"
"I want that crew member to come back. I need to figure out what's really going on," I explained.
Ayaka stared at me. "You're crazy!"
I shook my head. "I'm not crazy. Knowing your enemy and yourself ensures victory in every battle. If I can't even figure out what she is, then that would truly be madness."
After thinking it over, Ayaka spoke a few words to Osaka, who pulled out a pack of cigarettes from her pocket and handed one to me.
I settled into an empty spot, placing the Peach Wood Sword beside me. I lit the cigarette and took a few puffs. Just then, with a creak, the door opened again, and the crew member approached me with an expressionless face.
"Excuse me!" the crew member said. Thankfully, she wasn't speaking in Japanese; otherwise, I wouldn't have understood her at all.
The attendant reached out his hand towards the cigarette butt in my hand. I quickly hid it behind my body and said, "Hey, I want to ask you something."
"n, sking!" the attendant repeated the same words.
I frowned slightly.
Suddenly, the attendant extended his hand directly towards my chest, passing through my body. He actually grabbed the cigarette butt, and in an instant, it vanished. The attendant expressionlessly withdrew his hand and straightened up to leave.
I felt a slight heaviness in my chest, but other than that, there was no other sensation. I looked at the attendant and reached out to grab his arm.
I tried to grab him, but I caught nothing but air.
The attendant turned and walked away, his body flickering as he left.
I frowned again; indeed, it was a very special ability. However, it couldn't be classified as a ghost; it resembled an energy image formed by some kind of magnetic field.
As I was still analyzing this, the train suddenly jolted to a stop. We exchanged glances with one another.
Osaka muttered something under his breath.
Ayaka translated for me: “It seems that we are indeed at Suigetsuyama, and judging by the situation, it looks like we are below Suigetsuyama, but the subway doesn’t actually pass through Suigetsuyama.”
I looked around the train; it seemed like it wasn’t going to move again. With my bag on my back, I said, “We probably need to get off. Let’s go.”
We all got off the train. Osaka, who was quite strong, carried the sleeping journalist as he stepped down.
It really felt like an underground station, but it was an unfinished one. The lights in the station were dim and flickered occasionally. In the distance, there seemed to be voices, but they were muffled and indistinguishable.
We stood in the middle of the station, looking around. The train was just sitting there, not moving at all, as if it were at a terminus.
"Osaka!" someone called out twice, as if something had happened.
I turned my head to see Ayaka whispering to me, "Mr. Osaka has found a bunch of tools."
"What kind of tools?" I asked, puzzled.
Ayaka shook her head.
I walked over to Osaka and looked down at his feet. There was indeed a pile of tools, including what appeared to be explosives.
"Could this be for tomb raiding?" I exclaimed as I spotted the digging tools and explosives, instantly reminded of "Ghost Blows Out the Light" and "The Grave Robbers' Chronicles."
Ayaka translated my words for Osaka, who looked startled upon hearing them. "No way! I've heard that Suigetsuyama really has ancient tombs."
My communication with Osaka was becoming smoother, not because I could understand Japanese, but because Ayaka acted as a translator, automatically conveying our words to each other. Although her Chinese wasn't great at first, it had improved significantly after our conversations.
Yoshikura Mibu stood nearby with a camera, filming us while speaking.
I glanced at Ayaka as she began translating again. "What Yoshikura Mibu means is that we shouldn't rush to determine if this is related to tomb raiding. We should first think about how to get out of here. That high-speed rail has already stopped; we need to leave. We can investigate everything once we're outside and come back later."
Just as Ayaka finished relaying Yoshikura Mibu's message, a loud crash echoed from afar. A large incandescent light fell to the ground and shattered.
Suddenly, the entire mountain began to shake, and we all headed towards the station. With a loud "bang," a massive rock fell, crashing down onto the pile of tools and shattering them.
I felt a surge of panic. What was happening? Was this earthquake real, or just a manifestation of some kind of energy?
I had my doubts, but I wasn't about to take any risks by testing whether this earthquake could actually kill someone.
"Boom!"
Out of nowhere, a deafening sound erupted as a rock landed on the pile of explosives. Before we could comprehend what was happening, the explosives detonated, causing the entire Shuiyue Mountain Subway Station to tremble. We were all terrified; at that moment, we couldn't afford to experiment with any energy forms. Osaka picked up the sleeping Male Reporter, and the rest of us grabbed our belongings and hurried towards the exit.
The exit didn't seem too far away as we sprinted toward the door. Once we reached it and stepped outside, we were stunned to find ourselves still at Shuiyue Mountain Subway Station!
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