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墨書 Inktalez
“Wei Ning, Wei Ning, where are you? Why aren’t you playing with me?”
“Ling, dear, I want to sleep. I don’t want to play anymore. Can you play by yourself?”
“Wei Ning, Wei Ning, get up! Don’t sleep! Play with me!”
“Really, I want to sleep. I really do.”
“Wei Ning, Wei Ning…”
“…”
“Wei Ning, don’t fall asleep! Wait for me! I’ll be back soon.” With that, Ling began to bang her Rattle in a flurry and hurried away.
Wu Haozi had been in the business of body snatching for over thirty years. He was originally an orphan, taken in and raised by his master. At the age of seven, his master fed him a special herb that halted his growth. Following his master, he became a Grave Robber, a profession despised by all. Now in his forties, no woman would look at him. Wu Haozi once tried to buy a woman in Guizhou through connections, but within a year she ran off with someone else, leaving him without even a child. Wu Haozi knew that his line of work was one that would lead to extinction; thus, he abandoned any thoughts of marrying.
In recent years, the government had cracked down on rural burials, leaving Wu Haozi nearly without a livelihood. Coupled with his laziness, he had become destitute. Fortunately, he was the kind of person who could eat well while the family starved; he managed to scrape by with odd jobs here and there.
For decades, Wu Haozi had stolen corpses but had never harmed anyone. This time was different; it was the first time he had ‘buried alive’ Wei Ning. Naturally, he felt fear in his heart. However, thinking of the seven thousand silver dollars now in his pocket brought him some comfort. He took the money out and counted it under the light, moistening his fingers as he did so. Satisfied at last, he placed the money under his pillow and turned off the light to sleep.
“Bad man! Did you harm Wei Ning?”
Wu Haozi groggily heard someone calling him and sat up to see a six or seven-year-old child standing at the head of his bed. The child had pigtails and held a Rattle in her hand, hands on her hips as she glared at him.
“Who are you? How did you get in? Get out!”
Liu Linglang shook her Rattle and said, “Bad man! Get up quickly and come help me save Wei Ning! Okay?”
Wu Haozi suddenly felt as if he had been struck mute and nodded blankly.
“Then come with me! Okay?” She shook her Rattle again and led the way.
“Okay.” Wu Haozi obediently picked up his shovel—the one he often used for digging graves—and for some reason found himself following Liu Linglang.
“Dad, look! Isn’t that Wu Haozi? What’s he doing out here with a shovel so late?”
“Bah! That bastard who has cut off his own lineage, what can he do? Isn't he just going to do something despicable like robbing graves? I really hope a lightning bolt strikes him dead!”
“Dad, wait! Why is he closing his eyes? It looks like... like he's lost his soul,” the son said, referring to a rural term for sleepwalking.
“Kid, forget about him. It's best if that guy who dug up his grave comes back and takes him away. People like him are a disaster in this world; I’m not afraid of him going to hell after he dies.” The father spat on the ground fiercely and continued, “What bad luck to encounter someone like this at midnight. Come on, we need to hurry home; your mother is waiting anxiously.”
Wu Haozi arrived at the grave where Wei Ning was buried. Mechanically, he lifted the shovel. Due to the freshly filled earth and Wu Haozi's familiarity with this line of work, he quickly dug up the coffin. He pried open the coffin lid and accidentally cut his hand, but it seemed he felt nothing as he numbly pulled Wei Ning out from inside the coffin before finally falling into a deep sleep.
When Wei Ning woke up, he found himself next to the grave. Beside him was a sleeping dwarf who had knocked him unconscious, and on the other side lay a skeleton in the coffin that had just been opened. Wei Ning rubbed his head and recalled his experiences from last night; it seemed that the last time he was conscious, he had been buried alive in a coffin. How was it that not only was he alive now, but he had also crawled out of the grave? He had no idea—could it be that this grave robber had a change of heart and saved him?
Wei Ning shook Wu Haozi's arm, causing Wu Haozi to wake up groggily. Upon seeing Wei Ning, he was so frightened that his soul nearly left his body. He quickly knelt down and said, “Sir, it’s not my fault! It’s not my fault! If there’s a debt, it should be settled with its owner. It was Boss Ding and Zhao Ma who did this; it has nothing to do with me! If you want revenge, go find them; don’t come after me.” His body trembled like a sieve.
Wei Ning understood that this dwarf must think he had come back from the dead to seek revenge. He thought to himself that scaring him would be a good lesson. With that in mind, he put on a serious face and imitated the eerie voice of vengeful spirits: “Return my life... return my life...”
Wu Haozi was so terrified that he began knocking his head on the ground repeatedly. “Sir! Sir! I have an elderly mother who is eighteen years old and a daughter who is eighty! If I die, no one will take care of them! Please, I beg you! Spare my life! I will definitely bow down and offer incense for you every year during the festivals. Whatever you want me to burn for you, I will do it! Do you want a BMW? I can have someone burn you ten or eight of them right now! Do you want a concubine...? Grandfather, please let me go! Don’t keep bothering me... I’m scared...” He started crying pitifully.
Wei Ning caught a whiff of a foul odor and realized that Wu Haozi had been so frightened that he had lost control of his bowels. Wei Ning found it amusing; although Wu Haozi had nearly caused his death, Wei Ning did not intend to take Wu Haozi's life. He merely wanted to scare him a little. After observing for a while, he asked, “Where’s my God of Joy?”
“It’s at my house; I’ve kept it safe for you. Whenever you want it, just take it,” Wu Haozi replied.
Wu Haozi began to feel puzzled; how could someone who was dead still care about their God of Joy?
He then slightly raised his head and noticed that Wei Ning's grave had been dug up and the coffin opened. Upon taking a closer look at Wei Ning, he saw that although Wei Ning's complexion was pale, he looked no different from an ordinary person. When Wu Haozi glanced behind Wei Ning and saw his shadow trailing behind him, suddenly emboldened by the realization that Wei Ning was not dead, he jumped up and shouted angrily: “You little brat! So you were just messing with me! You’re not dead!”
Wei Ning remained silent and only asked where his God of Joy was. Wu Haozi had just lost face in front of Wei Ning and was now furious; with a loud shout, he declared: “Damn it! Today I’ll skin you alive!” He picked up the shovel from the ground and swung it at Wei Ning.
Wu Haozi believed himself strong enough and thought that with a weapon in hand, he could bully Wei Ning since he was younger. Although he knew Wei Ning possessed some ghostly skills, without his God of Joy's assistance at this moment, Wu Haozi felt emboldened. Little did he know that over the past few years, Wei Ning had been practicing martial arts every night and training with Wang Tuozi in Qi cultivation; he had already developed considerable skills. Normally, even several strong men would struggle to get close to him. With a nimble dodge followed by a swift kick and push using both hands against Wu Haozi's momentum—a technique known as using four ounces to deflect a thousand pounds—Wu Haozi stumbled forward awkwardly and fell flat on his face into the dirt.
Wu Haozi refused to accept defeat; getting back up, he attempted to fight again. However, no matter how hard Wu Haozi tried to attack him, it seemed as if Wei Ning possessed some kind of magic—his technique always worked flawlessly against Wu Haozi’s advances. After several failed attempts resulting in Wu Haozi falling flat on his face each time, Wu Haozi finally realized that he was no match for Wei Ning. What he didn’t know was that Wei Ning found him too filthy and didn’t want to engage in close combat with him; besides which, Wei Ning’s kind nature prevented him from wanting to harm Wu Haozi. If they truly fought seriously, one swift move from Wei Ning could easily break Wu Haozi’s bones.
“Forget it; I can’t beat you. You can do whatever you want,” Wu Haozi said resignedly. “I have no children or family left; all I ask is that if you have any conscience at all, please burn some paper offerings for me during festivals each year. Even if I’m in the underworld, I will remember your great kindness.”
With that said, he lay back down into the pit with closed eyes and declared: “Come on.”
Wei Ning asked in confusion: “What are you doing?”
Wu Haozi spat, "What the hell are you pretending for? Aren't you just here to take revenge on me? That's right, I buried you alive. Now, he has buried me alive once; let's call it even. From now on, we’re square!"
Wei Ning finally understood that Wu Haozi thought he was there to take his life. He chuckled, "Your life isn't worth much. Why would I bother? Besides, I'm still alive!"
Wu Haozi was taken aback. "Aren't you here to get revenge on me?"
Wei Ning replied, "Although you're a bad person, you haven't killed me yet. If I kill you, wouldn't that make me a murderer? I'm not that foolish. Just return my God of Joy to me, and we'll be even."
Wu Haozi stared at Wei Ning for a long time before suddenly crawling out of the grave. He knelt in front of Wei Ning and knocked his head three times, saying, "In my lifetime, I've only done things that cut off future generations. No one has ever respected me. I’ve never bothered to stoop to their level with their filthy words. But today, I truly respect you. From now on, my life is yours to command. If you need me to do something, just say the word. I'll walk through fire and climb mountains without a second thought; I’m like a dog at your service."
Wei Ning couldn't care less whether Wu Haozi meant what he said or not. As long as he got back his God of Joy, he didn't want to get entangled with this Grave Robber any longer. "Just give me back my God of Joy. As for walking through fire and climbing mountains, let's skip that."
Wu Haozi nodded respectfully and said, "Follow me; the God of Joy is at my house. Since I haven't found a buyer yet, I haven't sold it."
As Wei Ning was about to follow Wu Haozi home, he suddenly remembered something. He picked up Wu Haozi's shovel, glanced at the tombstone, and walked to the grave murmuring, "Sister Ding, although we never met in life, now that you've passed away, we can share this grave for one night. Sorry for the disturbance." He then pulled the coffin into the pit and together with Wu Haozi filled in the dirt. After bowing three times in front of the grave, he followed Wu Haozi home.
Once they reached Wu Haozi's house, Wu Haozi dragged out the God of Joy from under the bed and said, "Here it is; there was no place to put it, so I had to keep it under the bed. I know how careful you are with your belongings, so I took good care of it; there shouldn't be any problems."
Wei Ning approached the God of Joy and carefully checked it over. Suddenly, he exclaimed, "Oh no! The God of Joy has lost a soul!"
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