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墨書 Inktalez
At that moment, Qiluo Ling unconsciously glanced at the watch on her wrist, which showed the time as midnight twelve, although the hands had already stopped moving.
When Qiluo Ling stepped out of the villa's main door, she found that the mysterious woman had vanished without a trace. She looked up at the dim moonlight, not understanding why she was drawn toward that enigmatic forest.
But just then, it seemed she knew the answer.
A beautiful and melodious Piano Piece drifted in from a faraway place. The sound of the music seemed extremely faint, yet as she listened carefully, it gathered in her ears, seemingly etched in her mind.
She suddenly realized that it was the music from afar calling to her, summoning her from that dark forest world.
Qiluo Ling walked out of the villa's main door, crossed the artificial lake, passed through the ornate gates of the estate, and headed toward the dark forest.
The midnight forest was completely different from the daytime forest; darkness enveloped her like an endless black net, suffocating her. The lush branches and twisted roots seemed to harbor malice, unwilling to let her disturb their tranquility. As she moved forward, each step was arduous, and she nearly stumbled to the ground.
Qiluo Ling continued to struggle onward, her pants now covered in mud, with some areas even torn by protruding branches. This was in stark contrast to her joyful mood during the day; instead, she felt more frustration and confusion. Yet she could only keep moving forward; no matter how rough the path ahead was, she understood there was no turning back. She had lost her sense of direction and the way she came had been submerged in the passage of time. Likewise, she could not stop because if she did, there would be nowhere left for her to go.
The only direction came from the Piano Piece; the music ahead was calling to her and guiding her forward.
She could not discern what kind of Music it was, but one thing was certain: it was still a sorrowful and haunting melody. Its tune seemed somewhat similar to the first movement of Devil's Sorrow, with one difference—the melody carried an air of loneliness.
What kind of music embraced such a sense of solitude?
Every note in the music was independent and full, yet when combined, it formed a strange composition. The music filled her with profound pain—a pain born from loneliness. The suffering of life is endless and takes many forms, but among them, the most pitiable and irredeemable pain is loneliness—the permanent absence of a companion.
She walked along a path longer than her memories. Accompanying her was the solitude of a pilgrim. She wore a smile on her face, yet her heart was filled with sorrow.
Wasn't there music to accompany her? Why did she still feel lonely? She felt confused. Was it the music that caused her pain, or was it the loneliness? She did not know.
The only thing she knew was that she was moving toward the music. It was that kind of music that relieved her loneliness, yet at the same time deepened her sense of isolation.
In the forest, she was all alone, as if everyone had left her, and she had to hold back her tears while stepping on thorns, even though she felt extraordinarily lonely along the way. But as time passed, she slowly grew accustomed to this solitude; it became an inseparable part of her world. She had once tried to bury her loneliness but ultimately discovered that what she buried was herself.
Perhaps due to weakened vision, her sense of smell became exceptionally sharp. She could clearly smell the essence of the forest, mingled with the scents of various seasons. The restlessness of spring, the heat of summer, the desolation of autumn, and the chill of winter. The sprouting of life, the growth of life, the maturity of life, and the decay of life. The forest silently and lonely repeated this cycle of life.
She wandered like a lost soul in the dark and lonely woods, as if an individual merged into a whole, becoming one with it. She felt as if she were walking in an endless black hole; before her lay nothing but darkness and silence.
She groped forward in this black hole. It seemed she had been walking for a long time, as if a lifetime had passed, yet the music remained distant. She felt exhausted; her body felt hollowed out, nearly collapsing. Her unsteady body lost balance several times and bumped into sturdy trees.
There was no path ahead because she had strayed from the forest trail. Night birds circled above, occasionally emitting harsh cries; deep within the forest lingered a unique miasma—the damp smell of soil mixed with decaying leaves and the fragrance of unknown flowers, along with a faint scent from tree bark secretions.
The entire forest resembled a black tomb, with each large tree burying a corpse—once vibrant life. For every tree, there was a body. However, it could not be said to be just one body because it existed merely as a form of energy trapped in the soil, waiting to be released into the boundless universe or being utilized by the roots of the forest—dust to dust, earth to earth.
When a gust stopped, the music suddenly vanished; everything fell silent. It felt as if she had emerged from that black hole. The world outside the black hole remained dark and silent as death; everything appeared empty, leaving her still bewildered and helpless. A twinge of pain spread through her insides.
When she saw the pale moonlight in the sky, she realized she had arrived at that clearing in the forest. The moonlight fell upon her; she saw her elongated shadow beneath her feet as if dragging along someone irrelevant to her.
Qiluo Ling looked around and spotted the Centennial Tree. She stood alone in the center of the circular clearing, feeling lost and futile about everything around her.
Where has the music gone?
She arrived under the old tree, gently touching the rough, cracked bark of the trunk. The trunk hung down with long whiskers, and the shaded side was covered in damp green moss.
Next, she came to the Unnamed Tombstone, quietly gazing at it. Who exactly is buried beneath this tombstone? Why is he buried here? Why is there no name on the tombstone? What kind of story did he have when he was alive?
Qiluo Ling sat down in front of the grave, then lay back on the grass, closing her eyes to feel everything around her. The soil beneath her was unusually soft, as if recent rain had made it extremely loose. The grass was alive with the sounds of insects, small blades breaking through the earth, and a Underground River flowing below...
At that moment, it seemed that the music began to play again.
Qiluo Ling listened carefully and was astonished to discover that the music was coming from beneath the Unnamed Tombstone. The melody was so clear, and the mournful rhythm shook her heart.
She realized she was lying directly above the body of an unnamed man. The dead man's hand seemed to reach out from underground, tightly gripping her neck, trying to drag her into that dark underground world, making her listen to that sorrowful Demonic Music...
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