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墨書 Inktalez
A disheveled old woman suddenly emerged from the bushes near the Single Log Bridge, shouting at us in the language of the Savage Tribe, which we completely could not understand. She seemed anxious, pointing towards Baisha Village and waving her hands repeatedly, as if to say, "Whatever you do, don't go to that village!"
We thought she was just a crazy old woman and ignored her. When I insisted on entering the village, she could only shake her head vigorously. As I passed by her, I caught a glimpse of her face and couldn't help but gasp in shock.
What a face it was! Her forehead resembled cracked earth, her eyes were bloodshot and hollow, yet there was a glimmer of cunning in them. Her nose was high and her chin particularly long. Indeed, that face looked just like a fox. We walked about fifty meters before turning back to look; the old woman had vanished. The surrounding trees were exceptionally dense; perhaps she had hidden among them, but we didn't think much of it.
The dirt path gradually transformed into Azure Stone Slab ahead. In the distance, we saw a wooden gate made entirely of logs with "Baisha Village" written in Chinese characters on it. There were hardly any pedestrians on the road. In the distant terraced fields, a few men clad in straw coats were plowing with oxen, creating a picturesque rural scene.
As Lu Jianguo and I entered the village, we noticed several old women and children sitting by the roadside. Upon seeing us, they all fled in terror, shouting as they ran away. A young man wielding a hoe approached us and stammered in Mandarin, "Which village are you from?" He scrutinized us from head to toe and exclaimed, "Oh! You're from downstream!" The Savage Tribe typically referred to the Han people as downstream folks since they lived upstream along the river.
After hearing our intentions, the young man's expression changed dramatically. He lowered his voice and said urgently, "I've worked outside before; I know that not all downstream folks are good! You need to leave quickly! If Gao Lao finds out about you, you're done for!" His face was pale with fear as he hurried away.
We ignored his warning and continued deeper into the village. Most of the buildings in the village were bamboo houses with bamboo doors, roofs, walls, and fences. The villagers' attire was not much different from those in Outer Baisha Village; both men and women wore flowers in their hair. We arrived at a temple where a crowd had gathered. A cordon had been set up in front of it, with three or four police officers standing or squatting around a white cloth covering a body on the ground. One officer pulled back the cloth to take photographs while another recorded details.
Curious, we edged closer. As the officer unveiled the body, everyone recoiled in horror and stumbled back three steps before rushing aside to vomit. Lu Jianguo and I squeezed forward for a better look; upon seeing it, my stomach churned violently as I cursed under my breath. I felt nauseous and nearly fainted.
The sight was horrifying: the body was grotesquely mutilated; skin had been flayed off from head to toe leaving no trace behind—only raw pink flesh exposed. The abdomen had been ripped open with intestines spilling out; there was a large hole where the heart should have been—clearly indicating it had been removed. The corpse was curled up tightly with shattered hand and foot bones; all marrow had been extracted—an utterly brutal death.
The three police officers also retched for a while except for one older officer who remained unfazed. This Old Police Officer fixed his gaze on us for a moment before addressing his colleagues: "This is a case of severe perverse serial murder! We will submit our findings to higher authorities for further investigation!" He patted a middle-aged man wearing a tiger-striped coat on the shoulder and muttered something before smiling at me and leaving with his team.
Lu Jianguo whispered, "That Old Police Officer has sharp eyes; he immediately figured out our identities. He’s part of the system and can’t explain this using Demon methods, so he left first. He plans to push this mess onto us!" As he walked past us, he nodded at Lu Jianguo with a slight smile but said nothing.
The middle-aged man in tiger-striped clothing was none other than Gao Lao from Outer Baisha Village. When he approached us, both Lu Jianguo and I were startled—living people could be far more terrifying than dead ones. Gao Lao's face was rough-hewn, likely in his forties or fifties. He extended his calloused hands firmly to shake ours—a pair of hands hardened by years of labor.
"Comrade Old Qin introduced us; welcome! Welcome!" Gao Lao spoke fluent Mandarin; it seemed Old Qin referred to that Old Police Officer. This cunning old fellow had cleverly shifted this bizarre incident onto us without hesitation. I quickly asked, "What happened here in the village?"
"Ah! Don't even mention it!"
Gao Lao sighed deeply with reddened eyes that seemed on the verge of tears. "Youngster, my Abu family’s only heir has just met Big Belly King! Including him, this is already the tenth one!"
Lu Jianguo's face changed in shock. "The tenth one already? That was fast! Once that thing starts harming people, it will become a real problem, and it will be hard to deal with then!"
"Uncle Lu, what kind of problem will that thing become?"
"Let me put it this way. A regular ghost takes ten lives, absorbing ten grudges, and it becomes an Evil Spirit!" After Lu Jianguo's analogy, I understood the severity of the situation, and my hair stood on end.
Lu Jianguo's words made Gao Lao tremble with fear. He hurriedly instructed a few villagers, who then ran off looking worried.
Gao Lao arranged for us to stay at his home, and we had a peaceful night. Thanks to Public Security Officer Qin's introduction, Gao Lao and the villagers treated us much better and became quite hospitable.
The next day, Gao Lao treated us to fine wine and delicious dishes, making us feel quite embarrassed. We were concerned about possible curses in the food, but Gao Lao seemed to sense our worries; he took a bite of every dish before we did. The Savage Tribe here was indeed simple-hearted; although we couldn't understand their dialect, everyone insisted on toasting us. After several rounds of drinks, Lu Jianguo and I were thoroughly intoxicated.
That night, when we finally sobered up, Gao Lao led me to a house built of wooden planks that was tightly sealed. He opened the door, revealing a kerosene lamp inside. A skinny figure lay sprawled out—Li the Traitor—snoring loudly with drool spilling from his mouth. Upon closer inspection, it was none other than Big Mouth Lee!
Gao Lao shook Big Mouth Lee awake and shouted angrily, "You demon! You sleep so soundly!" Big Mouth Lee groggily woke up and was overjoyed to see us. He jumped up and exclaimed, "You finally came!" He looked like he was about to cry. Gao Lao scolded him, "Look at you, crying like a coward! These two sorcerers are here to deal with you!" We exchanged surprised glances! Although we had some decent Daoist practices, we hardly considered ourselves sorcerers. And while Big Mouth Lee was indeed a sycophant, he wasn't exactly a demon!
"Gao Lao, this guy isn't any demon; he's my friend!" Gao Lao's expression changed drastically as he scrutinized us. "So you are also demons?" I quickly waved my hands.
"There must be some misunderstanding here!"
"No misunderstanding! Ever since this demon saved a Fallen Cave Woman, seven or eight youngsters from our village have died one after another! Is he not a demon?"
"It's just these Dirty Things causing harm; it's not like they harm people for no reason. I suspect that your village has offended it somehow. To resolve this issue, we need to get to the root of the problem; at the very least, we need to understand what is causing the trouble."
"It must be the Cave God who is angry! This demon saved the Fallen Cave Woman; the Cave God got mad and took away seven or eight youngsters from our village!" I thought to myself, "Even if you're right about that, the real culprit is still the Cave God!" But I said aloud, "Even if the Cave God is angry and took away youngsters, it shouldn't involve Big Mouth Lee!"
"You outsiders are definitely the root of the trouble! No wonder our ancestors refused to associate with you!"
"Is that Fallen Cave Woman still in the Village?"
"The root of the disaster cannot be left in the Village. We've already sent someone to throw it into the cave."
Faced with all this, I didn't know whether to cry or laugh. Although we believed in the Demon, sending a living woman to her death was unimaginable in modern society.
"To save the 'monster,' you must pull out whatever killed the Youngster. Otherwise, on May fifteenth, the Spirit Offering will still have to be made!" Upon hearing this, I calculated the time; today was May eleventh, leaving us only four days.
We returned to Gao Lao's house and went to sleep. In the middle of the night, I heard someone knocking on my window. A stuttering male voice called out, "Master, are you asleep?" The voice sounded familiar; wasn't it the Youngster who had been wielding a hoe earlier that afternoon? "Not yet," I replied. "Master, can we talk?" Lu Jianguo and I quietly slipped outside.
We followed a shadow through winding paths until we arrived at a bamboo grove.
"Master, my Aunt is looking for you. She has something to discuss quietly."
An elderly woman, thin and wrinkled, stood before us. With the moonlight as my guide, I realized it was the Fox-Faced Old Lady we had seen during the day.
The old lady wore a pained expression and spoke in her local dialect. The stuttering Youngster acted as a translator: "My Aunt has been asking about you regarding the Fallen Cave Woman; this Fallen Cave Woman is her granddaughter!" Hearing this sparked hope; if we were to save Big Mouth Lee, we had to investigate the Fallen Cave Woman first.
Through the stuttering Youngster, I gathered that the old lady couldn't bear her granddaughter's untimely death and had come to us after hearing us mention the Fallen Cave Woman. She hoped we could help rescue her granddaughter.
We hurriedly followed the old lady through the night to the cave, nearly losing our lives in the process.
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