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墨書 Inktalez
Zhong Kui's Diary
"From your accents, you three are from out of town, right? I mean, this is your first time in Shoushan, and you're not familiar with the place, are you? If you want, I can be your... guide. You can just give me a little fee!" Jin Luoer looked up, her eyes filled with hope.
I felt my face flush; where was my mind wandering? Feeling guilty, I stammered, "Uh, sure! That sounds good!"
"Then I'll switch shifts tonight, and I can go out with you tomorrow!" Jin Luoer immediately broke into a bright smile.
"Are you sure you'll have the energy to hike with us after your night shift?" I asked curiously.
"It's fine! It's fine! There's not much to do on the night shift; I can just lie down and sleep for a bit!" Jin Luoer quickly explained, afraid that I might refuse her.
I laughed heartily and took out my wallet, counting out a thousand yuan for her: "Here’s an advance on your wages."
"That's too much!" Jin Luoer blushed immediately.
"Take it; no need to fuss!" I insisted, stuffing the money into her hand. "Alright then, starting tomorrow morning, you'll be with us! I'm going out for a bit now."
"Okay!"
——————————A line marking the misunderstanding——————————
Stepping outside, Qingcheng and Brother Five were chatting casually. When they saw me come out, Brother Five seemed indifferent, but Qingcheng made a snide remark: "Wow, that was quick! Do you want to review your heartfelt conversation tonight? Brother Five, why don't you book a room again tonight to give Zheng Nan some space?"
I ignored her and smiled as I recounted Jin Luoer's suggestion. Xiao Qingcheng huffed in response but didn't comment further. Instead, Brother Five asked suspiciously, "Shoushan is so small; do we really need a guide?"
"Think of it as educational support! From what she said, it's not easy for her to support her brother's education!" I replied with a smile.
I said this, and Brother Five was no longer anything special. The three of us confirmed the direction and headed towards Shoushan.
Shoushan is a very lonely mountain, surrounded entirely by plains, with only Shoushan standing abruptly in the middle of the flat land. If it weren't for its height of four to five hundred meters, I would have doubted whether it was artificially piled up.
The mountain has a trapezoidal shape, and from a distance, it somewhat resembles that famous mountain from an island nation—Fuji Mountain or Futo Mountain; I can't remember. Anyway, aside from adult films, there isn't much worth remembering about that island nation.
"Could this be one of the two mountains that Yu Gong moved? It feels strange for this mountain to appear here," I said, placing my hand on my forehead to shield my eyes and squinting at the solitary hill before me.
"Yu Gong moved Taihang Mountain and Wangwu Mountain! Want to hear the legend of Shoushan? Should I call Jin Luoer over to explain it to you?" Qingcheng pouted beside me. This girl really has a sharp tongue.
"Let's go find the creek first!" I nodded at Brother Five, determined not to engage with her.
Brother Five nodded and walked ahead with his suitcase. Qingcheng rolled her eyes at me and followed behind Brother Five. I shook my head in frustration—did I offend you?
After wandering aimlessly for about ten minutes, we finally discovered the creek. It wasn't wide, about four to five meters across, but the trees on both sides were lush and green, making the ravine appear deep. The water was shallow, reaching at most to our knees, but it was very clear. I dipped my hand in and felt the refreshing coolness.
Reaching the creek's edge, I carelessly leaned down and took a few sips of water, wiping my mouth afterward and exclaiming, "This water is really sweet! You guys should come try it!"
After coming out of Black Mountain Ancient Prison, Qingcheng cast a spell on me to detoxify my blood. Knowing Qingcheng had this ability made me feel elated. With Qingcheng around, I no longer had to worry about Sudan Red in century eggs, clenbuterol in pork, or melamine in milk. Because of this, I wasn't concerned about the water quality; if anything happened, Qingcheng could detoxify me again. Besides, with such clear water, how could it possibly be contaminated?
Seeing this, Brother Five also leaned down by the water's edge and took a few sips, smacking his lips. "I haven't had such sweet and cool water in a long time!"
Hearing us, Qingcheng finally couldn't hold back any longer. She scooped up a handful of creek water and took a couple of sips.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves onto the water's surface, creating round patches of light that rippled gently on the surface. Occasionally, one or two dragonflies chased after these round spots of light, skimming over the water and creating tiny ripples. The sound of cicadas drifted from the nearby forest. For a moment, all three of us felt a wave of laziness wash over us. We found a patch of grass by the creek and lay down, gazing up at the green canopy above while breathing in the rich fragrance of fresh grass. Before we knew it, we had all fallen into a deep sleep.
"Love is not something you can buy just because you want it..."
I don't know how long it has been, but a ringing sound woke me up. When I opened my eyes, I vaguely saw a figure flash by in the distance. I rubbed my eyes and looked again, but there was no one there. Looking around, Xiao Qingcheng and Brother Five were still lying on the grass, sleeping soundly. It was already dark; damn, how long have we been asleep? I sat up, took out my phone, and said, "If there's something going on, let me know; if not, I'm logging off!"
I had set my contacts into groups, each with a specific ringtone. This song, "Love Trade," belonged to the 'junk' group, which only contained two numbers—those of Fatty and Kong Xuan.
On the other end of the line was Kong Xuan's voice: "Zheng Nan, where are you?"
I instantly woke up. What happened? Kong Xuan usually calls me "Yin Yang Man" or "Yin Yang Bro" when there's nothing going on; he rarely calls me by my name like this. I quickly replied, "I'm at Shoushan looking for the entrance to the ancient tomb with Brother Five and Qingcheng!"
"Oh, by the way, have you eaten?" Kong Xuan asked randomly.
"There's something going on!"
"Uh, Zheng Nan, I'll get straight to the point!" Kong Xuan cleared his throat twice. "My Mustard Seed Box has a problem."
"You're not talking about the Mustard Seed Box that preserves Guo'er’s body, are you?" My heart tightened suddenly, and my throat felt dry.
"I only have one Mustard Seed Box." Kong Xuan coughed lightly again.
"Kong Xuan, if you're joking about Guo'er, I swear I'll make you pay when I get back!" I shouted angrily.
"Zheng Nan, I'm not joking. Aijia Yu Anran is here with me now. I'm barely managing to keep the Mustard Seed Box intact with their magic, but it can only hold for four more hours. You need to get Nine Nether Grass and come back within that time; otherwise..." Kong Xuan didn't finish his sentence.
"Otherwise what? Kong Xuan, stop beating around the bush!" I yelled.
"Zheng Nan, there are only four hours left, you need to hurry!" The voice on the other end was An Ran. After a pause, An Ran softly added, "Also, you all need to be careful! We will try to buy some time."
With that, An Ran hung up the phone.
I stared blankly at my phone. Who is Kong Xuan? He is a beast, but he is my best brother; he wouldn't joke with me about something like this. Even if he mistakenly ate some pig feed and crazily made such a joke, An Ran was right there beside him. An Ran is calm and would never play such a prank.
Damn, if this is true, then I have at most four hours left.
Thinking of this, I jumped up and shouted for Brother Five and Qingcheng while checking the time on my phone. Damn it, we actually slept on this grass for almost four hours! When I stood up, I noticed that the grass around us was in disarray, as if there had been a fight here.
This was too strange. Even stranger was that Brother Five and Qingcheng showed no signs of waking up. I had just been shouting loudly; how could they not have woken up?
I walked over to Brother Five and was about to push him when I caught a whiff of a strong smell of alcohol. I sniffed hard and realized that the pungent odor was actually coming from Brother Five's mouth. How strange; when did he start drinking?
I pushed Brother Five again, and he finally reacted but only mumbled something before turning over and going back to sleep.
I moved to Qingcheng's side and also smelled the strong alcohol. I pushed him, and he mumbled a series of incoherent words in his sleep.
At this point, I didn’t have time to think about what was going on; I just wanted to wake them both up. What’s the best way to sober them up? Water might work. I ran to the stream, scooped up some water, and splashed it directly on Brother Five's face. After splashing three times without any sign of him waking up, his face became even redder as if the alcohol effect intensified.
Crap, could there be something wrong with this water? Thinking of this, I quickly took out two bottles of mineral water from my Spatial Bag, opened the caps, hesitated for a moment, then poured one bottle over Qingcheng's head.
Before long, Qingcheng sat up, wiped the water off his face, looking dazed as if he didn’t understand what was happening. "Zheng Nan, what’s going on?"
I quickly recounted what had happened. After hearing this, Qingcheng shook his head vigorously and finally came to his senses. He pulled out a jade bottle from his pocket and took out a green pill the size of a soybean and swallowed it. Moments later, mist began to emanate from his body; it thickened then dissipated within a minute or so.
As soon as the mist dissipated, the smell of alcohol on Qingcheng vanished without a trace, and her gaze became clear. She turned to Brother Five, poured a pill into her palm, thought for a moment, then poured another one. Taking a bottle of mineral water from my hand, she pinched open Brother Five's mouth and placed the pill inside.
It was already ten minutes later when Brother Five finally woke up. I recounted what had just happened, and the three of us felt a wave of fear. It seemed that my Yin-Yang Physique had played a role; the drug had no effect on me.
Although I wasn't drunk, I had fallen into a deep sleep. If it hadn't been for the phone waking me up, the three of us might have just slept through it all. Who knows, someone could have taken the opportunity to poison us in our sleep. When I first woke up, didn't I see a shadow flash by? And wasn't the grass around us in disarray?
"What’s wrong with this water?" I asked Qingcheng, implying that she was a Taoist master and should be able to tell if there was something off about it.
"The water should be fine," Qingcheng frowned, unable to provide an explanation.
After observing the situation, we decided to return to the hotel and set out again early the next morning. On the way back, I mentioned Guo'er to Qingcheng, but she remained silent.
Upon returning to the hotel, Jin Luoer greeted us warmly. I felt a spark of curiosity and asked, "Luo Er, is that stream water drinkable?"
Jin Luoer replied in surprise, "Of course it is! The tap water in our hotel is sourced directly from that stream; it doesn't even need purification. We all drink it—what's wrong?"
I exchanged a wry glance with Qingcheng. What on earth was going on?
Once we were back in our room, Qingcheng said, "If the water is fine, then someone must have cast a spell at the source. Clearly, this spell is specifically targeting us."
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