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墨書 Inktalez
The driver helplessly said to me, "I can't go any faster, brother. The road here is bad; if I speed up, the car might flip. This is as fast as I can go..."
Hearing this, although I was anxious, there was nothing I could do but call out to Li Zhisheng, trying to bring him back to consciousness while patiently sitting in the back seat.
The vehicle bumped along the road for a while, and finally, we arrived at the hospital in Hohhot City. After a round of blood transfusions and emergency treatment, he was out of danger, but he had permanently lost his left hand.
Hu Fang's injuries were not severe; after receiving two bottles of glucose, he was fine. As for Yao Long and me, we didn't suffer any serious injuries—just some cuts on our heads and bodies that required a few stitches.
After tending to our wounds, I looked at Li Zhisheng lying on the hospital bed, feeling a deep sense of discomfort. However, seeing the four of us frowning by his bedside, Li Zhisheng comforted us, saying, "It's not a big deal; it's just a hand. I still have one left..." He raised his right hand, which was receiving an IV drip, and waved it gently at us.
"You’re the one who’s injured, yet you’re here comforting us. What kind of sense does that make..." I pressed down his raised hand and said, "Don't think too much about it. Just focus on healing; we'll take care of you during this time..."
At that moment, the doctor walked in to check on Li Zhisheng. Seeing us all standing by the bed, he kindly brought over a few plastic stools for us to sit on.
After examining Li Zhisheng's injuries, the doctor said, "We've treated his wounds; he should be fine now. With some rest, he'll recover. But about his hand..." The doctor glanced at Li Zhisheng and fell silent.
"Don't think I'm so fragile; I'm really okay..." Li Zhisheng said.
Seeing him so open-minded eased the doctor's concern. After giving Li Zhisheng some advice on what to watch out for, he left. At this point, Yao Long and I were utterly exhausted; we leaned forward and fell asleep on the bed.
When we finally woke up again, it was already noon the next day. A strong sense of hunger pulled me back to reality from my dreams. I climbed out of bed and groggily opened my eyes. The sun outside was bright, but the winter chill had not yet dissipated.
"You’re awake," Li Zhisheng said from his bed.
"Yeah... how are you feeling?" I replied while looking around. At that moment, Death Apostle was nowhere to be seen; Yao Long stood alone by the window gazing outside, while Hu Fang sat on the other side of the bed peeling fruit for Li Zhisheng.
"Where did Death Apostle go?" I asked.
Behind me, Yao Long replied, "Mr. Death went out to buy some food, but it's been over an hour and he still hasn't returned. Do you think he got lost?"
"I'll give him a call..." I started, pulling my phone out of my pocket, only to realize it was dead. I quickly rummaged through my belongings for a charger. "I remember bringing one..." I muttered to myself.
At that moment, a notebook fell out of my jacket pocket. I focused on it and recognized it as the one the grocery store owner had given me before he passed away. It seemed like everything I wanted to know was in this notebook...
I couldn't help but wonder if he knew something about the mark on me. But then I thought it was unlikely; perhaps this notebook contained information about that town...
With that thought, I hurriedly picked up the notebook from the ground and opened it.
The first page was filled with diary-like entries written in black ink:
"May 13th: After the ritual ended, the owner actually asked me to find a way to extract souls from human bodies. Although I know this goes against the teachings of the Feng Shui Master, I'm so hungry—I'm really starving. I hope this won't weigh on my conscience..."
"May 29th: Finally, I've found something! Can this really make the soul leave the body? I'm not sure, but I need to try. If I don't do this, the owner won't give me any more food. I think I need food—desperately..."
"June 27th: Is there something wrong with the method? Why has the owner started acting strangely? But from his appearance, he seems to think it worked. I'm worried—is this really okay? Never mind; now I have money—lots of money! I won't go hungry again..."
"June 30th: The owner is dead—no murderer, no illness. 'He died of natural causes...' said the coroner. But he was so young; why would he die naturally? Something feels off. Did my actions lead to his death? I need to find out—I must!"
"July 15th: There are clearly clues to investigate, so why is the town mayor trying to stop me and even drive me away? I've never even met him; I've only seen him once at a noodle shop. I haven't provoked him or done anything wrong. Even stranger, he called me by name. Things are getting more complicated..."
"August 1st: The shop is finally settled in; now I can hide here and investigate peacefully. However, this town seems increasingly bizarre—something seems to be lurking out there. I need to be more cautious..."
"September 5th: A month has passed without any leads, and now people in town are starting to die mysteriously. They’ve literally eaten themselves alive... They must be going insane..."
After that, the diary contained strange symbols and writings that resembled those on the stone tablet in town. The text was written upside down, making it impossible for me to decipher its meaning.
At that moment, Li Zhisheng noticed me engrossed in a notebook and curiously asked, "Shen Xu, what are you reading that's so captivating?"
"This?" I lifted the notebook in my hand. "This is the diary left to me by the grocery store owner before he died. It seems to contain information related to that town, but there are many scribbles in it that I can't decipher at all..."
Hearing this, Li Zhisheng looked intrigued. "Let me take a look..."
"Here you go," I closed the diary and handed it to Li Zhisheng. He flipped through the pages quickly, and the more he read, the heavier his expression became. When he reached the last page, he stopped.
Furrowing his brow, he stared at the diary in his hands and asked me, "Shen Xu, have you seen the last page?"
"No," I shook my head. "What's wrong? Did you find something?"
Li Zhisheng, upon hearing this, held the diary up in front of me with one hand. I saw that the last page read: "Shen Xu, if you have this diary, I must be dead by now, and you must have helped kill the mayor. The earlier content details how I discovered this matter; in other words, those parts are irrelevant. But now, I need to tell you the truth..."
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