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墨書 Inktalez
After the violent tremors subsided, I stood up, still shaken, only to find that the lid of the stone coffin had fallen to the side.
I swallowed hard. Aside from the thunderous sound of the waterfall, what had dragged me onto this massive stone platform? And what had forced open the lid of this seemingly seamless giant coffin?
Everything was a mystery. I trembled as I gripped the flashlight tightly in my hand, cold sweat forming in my palm, the metal feeling slick and chilling against my skin.
When the orange beam of the flashlight illuminated the inside of the coffin, I couldn't help but gasp. Inside lay not a skeleton, nor a corpse, but a living man who appeared to be merely asleep, his chest rising and falling not at all.
He was a man, approximately six feet tall, with a beard and seemingly in his thirties or forties. He had an elegant appearance, with a slightly elongated face and eyebrows that met his hairline. In modern terms, he could be described as a "Warm Uncle Type."
The dim light barely revealed the man's somewhat rough skin. I shone the light around the body, hoping to find any accompanying treasures, but after scanning the area, I found not even a single hair.
I muttered under my breath; was my dream of wealth dashed just like that?
Thinking there was no treasure to be found, I decided it would be best to leave quickly. The atmosphere here was thick with malevolence. As I swung the flashlight from side to side, I was startled and stumbled back a few steps, nearly dropping the flashlight.
When the beam fell upon the man's face again, I suddenly noticed that his previously closed eyes were now wide open. There were no whites—just an abyss of darkness that glimmered with an eerie light. A smirk curled at the corners of his mouth.
Was that smile mocking? Or was it one of delight?
I fought to suppress my fear and directed the light back into the coffin. The man’s eyes were now tightly shut again, his thin lips pressed together. I could even see the skin peeling on his lips clearly.
Rubbing my eyes in disbelief, could it have been just an illusion?
This place felt so sinister; it would be wise to leave as soon as possible. Just as I prepared to throw a rope onto a nearby stone to secure it for climbing over, I suddenly found myself unable to move. It was as if someone had paralyzed me; I remained frozen in position, poised to throw the rope like a statue.
The more anxious I felt inside, the harder it became to concentrate. Cold sweat dripped down my forehead, pooling in the darkness around me, illuminated only by the beam of my flashlight. Beyond that small circle of light, I could see nothing.
Trapped in this place without any sense of security, it felt as if a hundred claws were scratching at my heart. I imagined that at any moment, a hand would reach out from behind me, gripping my neck tightly.
“Creak… Creak…”
The sound of bones shifting echoed clearly in my ears, followed by a series of increasingly heavy breaths. It was as if something had come back to life.
Every hair on my body stood on end, and the tension in my mind felt like it was about to snap at any second.
I glanced sideways toward the coffin, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a pale hand with distinct joints gripping the edge of the coffin.
Could it be that the person inside the coffin had come back to life?
“Hu…”
It was like surfacing after a long dive, taking that first breath above water. The sound carried with it a sense of long-held frustration and the relief of finally breathing in air; it was deep and drawn out.
My cold sweat soaked through my clothes, clinging uncomfortably to my skin. Yet no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t make out what was happening inside the coffin.
“You’ve come!” A raspy male voice suddenly echoed in this deep underground pit, cutting through the overwhelming noise like a straight line piercing through a waterfall, reaching my ears and penetrating my mind.
“Who… are you?” My voice trembled involuntarily as I asked.
“Did you awaken me? Hmm…” The man’s voice was filled with confusion.
I forced myself to suppress my fear and shouted, "Are you human or ghost? If you want to kill me, just do it quickly! What’s the point of keeping me here? If you have the guts, face me one-on-one!"
As soon as I finished speaking, I stumbled forward, and to my surprise, my body could move.
The first thought that crossed my mind when I realized I could move was not to check if there was something behind me or whether the person in the coffin had awakened. Instead, I threw the rope onto a stone on the shore to secure it and then jumped off the massive rock without hesitation.
At that moment, I didn’t care whether there was anything in the water; I tied the other end of the rope around my waist. However, my body seemed to freeze in mid-air. A strange sensation, like hair, wrapped around my waist and forcefully pulled me back onto the giant rock.
Gasping for breath, I held the Ruyi Stick tightly in my hand. The Shari on my chest radiated a burning heat as I shouted, "Who are you?"
It seemed that the louder I spoke, the more fear surged within me.
“It’s been a long time since I encountered someone from outside,” the man sighed, his voice filled with an infinite sense of melancholy. It felt like he was reminiscing about the past or expressing confusion about the present.
“Looking at your physique, you’re quite a good specimen. You really haven’t disappointed me,” he suddenly burst into laughter.
I instinctively clutched my chest and asked warily, “Who are you? What do you want?”
The beam of my flashlight illuminated the direction of the coffin. I saw the man inside slowly sit up and then stand up, calmly stepping out of the coffin and standing before me.
Perhaps it was due to having been in the coffin for too long; when he first stood up, he appeared unsteady. But by the time he reached me, his steps were as steady as any ordinary person’s.
Aside from his pale complexion, he looked like any handsome middle-aged man, scrutinizing me with an assessing gaze from head to toe.
Under his intense stare, I felt as if all my clothes had been stripped away, leaving me exposed and utterly transparent.
“I am who?” the man murmured, lowering his head.
Taking advantage of the man's furrowed brow as he talked to himself, I stealthily inched toward the edge of the boulder, hoping to escape this cursed place.
To my dismay, I had only moved a couple of steps, barely a few dozen centimeters, when an unseen force pulled me toward the man.
He raised his arm, fingers slightly curled, as if he were using some kind of suction technique. I slammed the Ruyi Stick down on the ground, but the boulder was made of an unknown material; the Ruyi Stick wouldn’t penetrate it.
The pulling force grew stronger, and I found myself finally in the man's grasp. His icy hand clutched my throat, and faced with such a presence, I had no chance to resist.
I managed to force a smile and said, “Senior, what are you doing? If you need anything, just tell me what to do. I may not be able to do much else, but running errands or delivering messages is something I can handle.”
I slowly pried his hand away from my throat.
“Smooth talker. I want nothing but your body.” The hand that had just been removed suddenly tightened around my neck again. His previously pitch-black eyes transformed into those of an ordinary person, yet they now glinted with a chilling murderous intent.
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