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墨書 Inktalez
The marks from scratching were like remnants of something alive, sealed within.
"Thud."
A sudden sound of falling gravel came from behind. Lin Dahe turned sharply, and in the moonlight, a pair of glowing green eyes stared back at him—it was the gray cat that had been missing for days, clutching a bright red chili pepper in its mouth.
As dawn broke on the horizon, Lin Dahe carried a basket of firewood toward the northern mountain. The morning dew soaked his pant legs as they brushed against the grass, making a rustling sound. He deliberately took a longer route, stepping on several dry twigs as he passed the charcoal pit, humming a tune that was off-key.
"Gathering firewood—"
His voice trailed off, startling a few sparrows from the bushes. The dark entrance of the charcoal pit resembled a disturbed beast, faint wisps of pale blue smoke drifting out. Lin Dahe crouched and slipped inside; coal dust from the rock walls immediately coated his hands.
【Environmental Detection: Carbon monoxide concentration 0.3%, recommended to shorten stay time】 The system's holographic display glowed with a faint blue light in the darkness.
Using the dim light at the entrance, he saw a half-human-sized clay furnace deep within the cave—not the typical firewood stove found in rural areas, but a cylindrical furnace made of refractory mud, with dark red embers glowing inside. The neatly arranged items by the furnace made Lin Dahe's breath catch:
Dozens of hollow molds made from clay, their inner walls smooth as if oiled; three crystals of saltpeter bound together with grass rope, their cut surfaces gleaming like glass; and most astonishingly, a pile of quartz sand in the corner, purer than anything Peddler Zhang had brought, shimmering with specks of silver in the shadows.
"So that's it..." Lin Dahe squatted down, his fingertips brushing over the grooves along the edges of the molds. He was all too familiar with these patterns—they matched perfectly with the encrypted designs on Cui Xiaoman's bookmark from "Thousand Character Classic."
As he turned around, his heel accidentally kicked a clay pot. The pot rolled into the light, revealing half-congealed dark liquid inside. Lin Dahe dipped his finger in to smell it; it was resin mixed with some kind of mineral powder—clearly an ancient glassmaker's secret adhesive for joining molds!
Suddenly, there was a crackling sound outside the cave. Lin Dahe quickly ducked behind a protruding rock wall and watched as Cui Xiaoman appeared at the entrance. Today she wore short attire, her hair tied up in a cloth wrap; instead of a sickle at her waist, she had an oddly shaped copper hook.
She skillfully brushed aside ash from the furnace and added a few pieces of charcoal. Her blowing technique was remarkably professional—using the copper hook to lift a leather bag, she maintained a rhythm that quickly raised the furnace temperature. Just as she poured quartz sand into a ceramic crucible, Lin Dahe could no longer hold back and coughed.
"Sizzle—"
Cui Xiaoman's copper hook plunged directly into the mud floor. The two stared at each other for a moment before she suddenly grabbed some coal ash and smeared it on her face. "I... I'm here to gather..."
"Coincidentally, so am I." Lin Dahe kicked at his empty basket.
In the eerie silence that followed, sparks suddenly popped from the furnace. Cui Xiaoman lunged toward it like she had found a lifeline but forgot to wear heat-resistant gloves. Just as she was about to grab the crucible with her bare hands, Lin Dahe dove forward and caught her by her back collar—
With a ripping sound, her coarse cloth shirt tore from neck to back. As Lin Dahe fell backward, he caught sight of an intact maple leaf imprint on her lower back. It wasn't a scar; it looked more like it had been tattooed with special ink, with fine gold dust glimmering along its veins.
"What is this..."
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