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墨書 Inktalez
I rushed back to my rented room, slamming the door shut with a loud bang. I leaned against the door, sliding down to the floor, my heart racing uncontrollably.
Outside, it was still pitch black; the rain had lessened somewhat, but the horrifying scene I had witnessed at the alley entrance, along with the strange changes in the book "The Resurrection Ledger" that I held in my hands, left me gasping for breath.
Zhou Yu's face, dripping with black blood... The eyes that appeared on the cover of "The Resurrection Ledger"... And that mysterious little girl at the alley...
It must be an illusion, right? I truly hoped this was all just a figment of my imagination!
After working overtime continuously, the mental pressure was overwhelming, compounded by my longing for my sister...
Yes, that must be it!
I must have seen those things because I was too sad and exhausted!
I tried to use reason to hypnotize myself, but the cold, bone-chilling touch of "The Resurrection Ledger" still lingered on my fingertips, and I could faintly smell that iron-like scent of rust in my nostrils...
Suddenly, I raised my head and fixed my gaze on the corner of the room where I had just tossed my backpack—the very same backpack where I had carelessly stuffed "The Resurrection Ledger."
No, I couldn't keep lying to myself!
That book... That book definitely had something wrong with it!
I had seen it with my own eyes!
Fear and curiosity intertwined within me, urging me forward.
What if... what if I could document it? With my phone! Surely, my phone wouldn't deceive me like my eyes and brain did?!
If that book were to change again, I had to capture it on camera!
Trembling, I crawled over almost on all fours and retrieved the dark "Resurrection Ledger" from my backpack once more.
Taking a deep breath, I pulled out my phone and opened the recording function.
I aimed the camera at the book.
With a sense of fatal determination mixed with overwhelming fear, I reluctantly reached out to touch the leather cover of "The Resurrection Ledger" again.
"Zzzz—"
The phone screen suddenly flickered violently!
A harsh electric sound erupted from the speaker as the image on the screen distorted into a mosaic.
At that moment, my mind exploded with a cacophony of chaotic symbols and images crashing into me!
Suddenly, a clear image cut through: It was early morning at my bedside table. A small yellow sticky note with a big, wobbly sun drawn in pencil. The bottom half of the paper contained a few crooked lines: "Brother, even though you always forget, today is your birthday! The gift is hidden in your old comic book! — Forever loving you, your mischievous little Yu." I could even "see" myself picking up the note and feeling its rough surface with my fingertips. But this image lasted only a second before being completely overwhelmed by countless cold and twisted black symbols.
They weren't words; they were distorted symbols: a bird struggling to escape from a net, a snake biting its own tail radiating malice. There were also blurred fragments of rituals pointing towards despair and evil.
A bird struggling in a net, a snake biting its own tail—both exuding malevolence. There were also vague ritual fragments indicating hopelessness and malice.
These images glimmered with dark red light on the cover as they drilled into my mind, churning my stomach.
The phone screen flickered even more intensely.
Just before the pixels completely shattered, one face filled the entire screen—a face I would never forget—
It was Zhou Yu!
Her face was pale, her eyes hollow; two streams of black tears flowed down her cheeks while her lips curled into an eerie smile that seemed almost imperceptible.
The screen of my phone went completely black with a pop, and a burnt smell wafted from the earpiece. I instinctively pulled my hand back as if shocked, and the phone clattered to the ground. A wave of nausea rolled through my stomach, but this time I managed to hold it in.
That familiar, intense headache struck again, as if someone were hammering at my temples with a chisel. I slumped to the floor, feeling cold all over—not from fear, but from a numbing realization that my understanding of everything had been utterly overturned.
The footage had been recorded.
Even if the phone was likely ruined.
The image from that moment, those symbols, the face of Zhou Yu... this was not an illusion!
Damn it, this was not an illusion!
My hands trembled uncontrollably as I instinctively rubbed the cover of the "Soul Rebirth Book." It had returned to its lifeless chill, as if everything that had just happened was merely a figment of imagination.
Those symbols... what did they mean?!
A bird? A snake? Related to Zhou Yu... related to her...?
My mind was a chaotic mess!
Suddenly, a thought flashed through my mind.
Zhou Yu's tablet!
She used to love doodling on it, jotting down her inspirations. After losing my memory, I had never dared to touch her belongings, fearing it would confront me with a past I wasn't ready to face.
I crawled over to her desk with great effort and dug out the dusty tablet.
I powered it on and entered her usual password—her birthday.
My fingers paused over the virtual keyboard. Her birthday. Instantly, another image popped into my mind: Little Yu pouting with her lips pursed, holding a crumpled note with a drawing of a huge cake on it. She slapped the note onto my desk with a crisp sound and said, "Today is all about me! Where's my gift?" I could even recall how her brows furrowed slightly while her lips couldn't help but curl into a smile.
The screen lit up, and I opened one of her frequently used note-taking apps.
Most of it contained quick sketches of landscapes and some design drafts.
I patiently scrolled back until I reached the records from a week before her incident.
Most entries were blank or filled with meaningless lines.
Just as I was about to give up, an encrypted memo popped up.
The encryption method was unique—several symbols she had designed herself that resembled hieroglyphs.
My heart raced suddenly.
Those symbols... bore some resemblance to what I had seen on the cover of the "Soul Rebirth Book"!
Especially that struggling bird symbol!
I trembled as I attempted to recall the sequence of symbols from memory and entered them as the password.
"Beep."
The memo was unlocked!
Inside were only a few short lines, as if written with all the strength left:
"... It is 'watching' me... No, 'us'..."
"... Don't trust your eyes... Memories can be altered..."
"... 'Forgetting' is 'protection'... Brother, if..."
The last sentence abruptly cut off.
"'Forgetting' is protection?"
What does this mean? Is it related to 'its' observation?
Is it connected to the idea that memories can be altered?
What exactly did Zhou Yu want to tell me?
What had she discovered?
What was she afraid of?
Who is 'it'?
A chill ran up my spine.
Suddenly, I remembered that I had lost my memory.
Could my amnesia be related to what she said about "memories being altered"?
Guilt, fear, and a strong, restless desire to uncover the truth churned within me.
No, I couldn't remain passive like this.
I needed to stay calm. I needed... tangible evidence.
A sleepless night passed.
Outside the window, the sky gradually lightened from pitch black to a hint of dawn, and the rain had stopped, yet the gloom in my heart grew heavier.
Those images, those symbols, and the few lines left by Zhou Yu swirled in my mind all night long.
I stared at my bloodshot eyes, and a more concrete thought gradually became clear—if Zhou Yu really had turned into that kind of... "thing," then what about her ashes?
Her ashes were definitely placed there; they couldn't have just vanished into thin air!
I suddenly recalled that the cemetery where Zhou Yu's ashes were kept had surveillance cameras in the hall! Although I didn't know if I could access them, I had to try!
I struggled to find the phone number for the cemetery management online and, using the calmest tone possible, fabricated a story about "suspecting recent thefts at the ash storage area and wanting to confirm," asking if it was possible to view surveillance footage from a specific time period.
Surprisingly, they agreed and said they could provide temporary remote access, allowing me to see only the overview of the hall but not specific niches.
That was enough!
Once I received access, I logged into the rudimentary surveillance platform on my computer.
The footage was somewhat blurry, typical of security camera angles.
I set the time back to yesterday, to the hour when I encountered Zhou Yu. Fast forward, slow down, frame by frame review.
The empty hall was lined with cold cubicles, and occasionally a security guard would stroll by, yawning. Everything seemed normal. There were no shadows, no strange visitors, and not a single urn floated out on its own. My heart sank little by little. Everything in the surveillance footage looked so real, so… logical. This only made me feel more unnerved. If the footage was normal, then what I saw yesterday—what did that mean?
Could it be… that only I could see it? Only I could perceive it? This book, "The Resurrection Ledger," these strange symbols, the encrypted messages left by Zhou Yu… they all pointed to a horror that existed in a realm I couldn't comprehend, yet was undeniably real—a terror belonging to the "Otherworld." And I seemed to be the damned "key" connecting the two worlds.
What was written on the last page of "The Resurrection Ledger," which had been torn out? Was it the answer to everything? I stared at the lifeless surveillance footage on the screen and then glanced down at the cold book in my hands. A thought emerged with startling clarity: I had to uncover the truth behind Zhou Yu's death. No, not just her death. I needed to understand why she became like that, what she wanted to tell me—what "forgetting" and "protection" truly meant.
And what about this "Resurrection Ledger"? What exactly was it? Why had it chosen me? Who was I, really?
Fear still lingered in my heart, but a determination born from desperation began to rise from the ruins. This time, I would not run away.
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