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墨書 Inktalez
Seeing that the resident had relaxed, I decided to take the opportunity to ask him a question. Noticing he was older than me, I respectfully addressed him as "Big Brother" and said, "May I ask who this True God is?"
The resident, seeing my humility and sensing no hostility from me, changed his previously fierce expression to a friendly one. He replied, "Buddy, you may not know, but this town is not peaceful. If you're just passing through, you should leave quickly..."
"Why is that? Could you tell us more about it?"
After hearing my question, the local resident sized us up. Seeing that we didn't look like robbers or bandits, he hesitated for a moment. "You don't seem like bad people. How about this: come to my house. It's not safe to talk here; if the town chief sees us, it would be bad..." With that, he turned and waved for us to follow him as he stepped into a narrow alleyway.
I glanced back at Li Zhisheng and Death Apostle, exchanging looks with them. They nodded slightly, seemingly agreeing that this person was trustworthy enough to follow.
Seeing this, I hurried after the resident, with the other four trailing closely behind. We walked into the alley, which was neither too wide nor too narrow. On either side of the alley were scattered houses, with various items piled up at their entrances, making the already narrow path feel even more cramped.
After winding through the alley for a while, we stopped in front of a deep gray door. He paused and turned to us, saying, "We've arrived; it's right here."
I looked up and saw a single wooden door with faded spring couplets plastered on the cement walls beside it. The once red paper had turned pale.
I thought to myself, isn't it almost New Year? Why haven't they replaced the couplets? Even if they're poor, they should be able to afford some... Do they not celebrate the New Year?
While I was pondering this, the resident had already opened his door and smiled politely at us, gesturing for us to enter. I responded courteously and stepped inside first.
As soon as I entered, I was hit by an unpleasant musty smell; it seemed like no one had lived here for a long time. A set of black chairs stood out prominently in front of me, but the table was already covered in dust.
"Big Brother, how long has it been since anyone lived here? Why is everything so dusty?"
He sighed at my question and replied, "Ah~ it's all old history now. This house was built long ago when I got married; now I'm the only one left in my family..." As he led us further inside, he continued, "Ever since a merchant came to town, there hasn't been any peace. I don't know how many wrongdoings that merchant has committed; even the town has suffered because of it..."
At that moment, Yao Long, who was behind him, spoke up, "To be honest, I came here once before and heard some things about this place. However, I was in a hurry at the time and didn't learn much. If you don't mind, could you tell us more..."
Hearing Yao Long's words, the resident turned to examine him. "If I'm not mistaken, you must have come here after hearing the rumors about this town, right?"
"That's one way to put it..." I replied. "But from what you're saying, it seems others have been here before?"
"There have been several groups of people," he answered, leading us up the stairs to the second floor. "But not a single one has returned alive; they all died here. There were those who came to explore, those just passing through, and people like you who came to join the excitement."
Upon reaching the second floor, the air inside improved significantly. It looked much cleaner and tidier; it seemed this resident lived alone on the second floor. He led us into the living room, found a few wooden stools for us, and poured each of us a glass of water. He continued, "If you're just here to look around, I advise you to leave quickly after you're done; otherwise, you might not make it out alive."
Hearing how dangerous this town was only fueled my conviction that this was indeed Onizuka; otherwise, it wouldn't be so perilous.
As I thought this over, I picked up the glass in front of me to drink but noticed that the water inside was yellow and seemed to be mixed with some dirt, looking utterly murky.
Seeing this, I set the cup down again. The other four looked at their glasses of water but dared not drink. "Don't worry; we'll be leaving soon; we're just passing through," I reassured him. Then noticing he hadn't directly answered Yao Long's question, I pressed on, "Can you tell us what happened after that merchant arrived? And what's the story with that stone tablet?"
The resident poured himself a glass of the same murky water and sat down beside us. "This is a long story; if I remember correctly, it happened over twenty years ago when I was just a teenager..." As he spoke, he raised the cup he had just poured and drank it all in one go.
Hu Fang and the others watched him gulp down what appeared to be unclean water and couldn't help but swallow hard. However, we didn't show our discomfort too overtly; instead, we listened with keen interest as he continued.
It turned out that this man shared the same surname as Hu Fang; they were originally part of the same family living here. At that time, although this town wasn't wealthy, it wasn't so poor that people would starve. They could sustain themselves and even sell some of their crops in town for money. Though it wasn't much, it was enough for families to buy new clothes for their children and acquire daily necessities—essentially a stable life.
However, the town's mayor was not satisfied with this situation. He was ambitious and constantly sought investors from outside. Initially, the merchants he brought in conducted their businesses honestly and indeed provided many conveniences for the town; everyone was grateful to the mayor.
But later on, it seemed that greed clouded the mayor's judgment. He began accepting money from black-hearted merchants and brought some unscrupulous traders into this already struggling town.
Slowly, the town mayor became wealthier. Not only did he renovate his own house, but he also bought a car and eventually purchased several apartments in the city.
Meanwhile, the townspeople suffered from poor-quality food and other goods sold by the Black-hearted Merchant, leading to frequent illnesses. Not only were some young laborers unable to work in the fields, but there were also incidents of death caused by substandard medicines.
However, during that time, people's awareness of the law was weak. The town was quite far from the city, and there were no means of transportation, so most matters in the town were decided by the mayor. When incidents occurred, the Black-hearted Merchant would simply slip some money to the mayor, and the issue would be swept under the rug.
But that was not the end of it. Later on, a particularly wealthy investor came to the town, causing a stir among everyone.
Everyone hoped this would be a good businessman who could bring more convenience and wealth to them. However, as soon as this businessman arrived in town, he discovered problems that made it impossible for him to operate there.
The mayor certainly disagreed; seeing such a lucrative opportunity slipping away was unacceptable. He desperately tried to persuade the businessman to stay.
After much coaxing from the mayor, the businessman finally agreed to remain but set one condition: they must find a Feng Shui Master to adjust the local feng shui; otherwise, the village would inevitably face disaster.
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