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墨書 Inktalez
As Ziya looked around in confusion, she suddenly felt the entire floor shake as if it were an earthquake. She could even see it on her phone. In a panic, she hurried toward the exit she had come from, but at that moment, a wave of intense heat surged from behind her. Turning back, she saw that the place where she had just been standing was now engulfed in flames. What was happening? There was no time to think; her instincts kicked in, and she quickened her pace toward the stairwell.
Emerging from the inferno brought a rush of cool air. Downstairs, there was a cacophony of voices—many people seemed to be gathered. Upon closer inspection, she realized it was firefighters spraying water onto the burning floors. The crowd below was chaotic; some were crying, others shouting angrily. Ziya was drenched in sweat, her heart racing as a jet of water splashed onto her face.
Spitting out the water that had sprayed into her mouth, she adjusted her clothing and slowly turned to look at the floor where Lao Ran lived. Why was it on fire? A large question mark appeared in her mind as she suddenly recalled the smell of liquefied gas when she had entered that dark floor. Was there a leak or something else?
Avoiding the crowd—more accurately, not noticing a girl coming down from the floor—Ziya continued to navigate through the chaos.
"Can you tell me what's going on?" Ziya tried to grab a firefighter's arm to ask, but her hand passed through him as if he were made of glass. The firefighter looked at her with confusion, as if he couldn't see or hear her.
Ziya understood then that everything before her no longer existed; Lao Ran had brought her into a space of time that had already passed. What did he want? Besides what he had just mentioned, what else could there be? The more she thought about it, the more confused she became as she left the noisy and surreal scene behind. She walked out of what appeared to be a backyard marked with a sign for a News Agency dormitory and followed an alley guided by her instincts toward a familiar place.
***
Qin Nannan had spent an entire night without sleep; his eyes were bloodshot. His phone lay beside him on the pillow, already set up to alert him for new messages, but he found himself picking it up every few seconds to check. He hoped for new texts, particularly from Ziya. Countless times he picked it up only to put it down again, each time turning hope into helpless disappointment before longing once more.
The night insects chirped endlessly in the campus, and pale moonlight moved slowly across the sky as time slipped away quietly. When Qin Nannan picked up his phone again, his eyes were heavy with sleep; he must have dozed off briefly because thoughts of that message kept invading his dreams.
When he saw an unread message displayed on his screen, all sleepiness vanished instantly. Qin Nannan excitedly sat up and looked at the text.
Ziya: "Qin, can you check if there was a fire in the dormitory area behind the News Agency? I can't remember when."
Qin Nannan quickly replied: "Okay! I'll check right away."
It seemed very simple to say, but when Qin Nannan sent the text message back, he realized that it was still dark outside. Checking the time, it was only three in the morning. His roommates grumbled and cursed, "Qin, are you crazy? Are you going to keep everyone awake with this nonsense?"
"What’s the matter?" Qin Nannan's inherent arrogance remained unchanged despite his multiple attempts to alter his appearance. Whether he was trying to escape or forget his past, he had mysteriously appeared before Ziya.
"Damn it! Go flirt in real life! Chatting with online friends... What a lunatic!" His roommates assumed he had been chatting all night and naturally felt strong disdain for him.
"Shut up! What are you making noise for?" The dorm leader suddenly spoke up. Qin Nannan initially thought of confronting him but reconsidered; it wouldn't be good if things escalated. Besides, he still had to complete the task Ziya had given him. He muttered to himself, "Forget it, why bother with this idiot?" He pulled up his blanket and lay back down, his mind blank...
The sky was dim and gray at this time, with what seemed like cold raindrops falling on his face. Looking up at the sky, Ziya realized it was raining as she stepped onto the slippery ground. This was a long and quiet alley leading to the front yard. In the darkness, it felt as if something spectral lurked within. She shivered involuntarily, contemplating whether to enter the alley.
Reality felt different from this eerie space; in reality, everything was vivid and colorful. But in this chilling atmosphere, all she could see was an ethereal void that could easily confuse one about what was real and what was not. Ziya had once hated and feared being tormented by this innate sense of dread day and night...
The Stone Lion at the entrance of the News Agency came into view as light rain fell. The blue glass walls of the building looked like a giant computer screen, with layers of lights shimmering through the misty rain, adding an eerie touch to the mysterious structure.
Habitually adjusting her backpack straps, Ziya recalled the tears she had shed with Qin Nannan when they first saw the Stone Lion. Instead of immediately entering the building, she approached the Stone Lion and looked up closely... She noticed two streams of liquid flowing from its hollow eyes. Looking back at the sky, it was just a drizzle; there was no way it could form water columns—those were clearly two streams flowing from the Stone Lion's eye sockets...
Wasn't that security guard the same one she had seen in the reception room that night? He sat quietly in the reception area now, focused on something on his screen. When Ziya walked in, oddly enough, he seemed completely unaware of her presence.
Following his gaze, Ziya saw a disturbing yellow website; the guard's lewd expression was almost entirely absorbed by it... Just then, three people appeared at the entrance.
Ziya watched as the guard reluctantly closed his computer page while cursing under his breath and stood up to face the newcomers. She shouted loudly, "You've come here several times already! Let me tell you, Lao Ran has been laid off and has gone home! What do you want now?"
Ziya was taken aback and thought to himself: Are they Lao Ran's family?
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