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墨書 Inktalez
Living Funeral
"What is this?" Gao Ling asked, a faint smell of blood and decay wafting through the air.
There was already liquid in the bowl. Damn it, just smelling it made me want to vomit! The thought of having to drink it later made me feel even worse. The cat was making strange sounds while vomiting, a little like a child crying.
I don't know if anyone else has experienced this, but when cats are in heat at night, their cries can sound eerily like a child's wail. If you're sleeping alone at night and hear a cat making those sounds, it can send chills down your spine.
The sound coming from the Black Cat now was similar to that of a child crying.
A cool breeze blew outside in the early morning, sending shivers down my spine.
"This wouldn't be a human eyeball, would it?" Gao Ling continued.
In the bowl were what looked like the saliva of the Yin Cat and something resembling a white eyeball. Zhao Fan interjected, "It looks like it!"
Gao Ling asked, "Are you sure you want to drink this?"
Though I felt nauseous at the thought, survival was more important! I replied to Gao Ling, "Of course I'll drink it! Why wouldn't I?"
Gao Ling looked at me with admiration and gave me a thumbs up. I told him to stop messing around and quickly get me some blood and fur from the Yin Cat. He nodded and went outside.
I then asked Zhao Fan where we could boil water. Since we were by the river, we were using firewood. A tripod was set up over the fire with an iron pot hanging underneath.
Zhao Fan told me that we could boil water right here. I nodded, and he quickly brought over a bucket of water to start boiling.
I poured the cat's vomit into the pot. Watching as the water quickly came to a boil, an odd smell began to waft out.
The scent was disorienting. Zhao Fan said weakly, "Can we really drink this?"
I sighed in resignation, "Even if it's undrinkable, I have to drink it! If there were any other options, I definitely wouldn't." Zhao Fan thought for a moment and agreed.
I scooped out a bowl of water, carefully avoiding the eyeball-like object as I ladled it out. But then I thought, Damn it! If I don't drink this stuff, it's going to be hard to get better. Making up my mind, I dropped the nearly mushy eyeball into the bowl.
I really didn't want to drink it! But there was no choice; after it cooled down a bit, I pinched my nose and swallowed it whole.
Everything had been going smoothly until suddenly, an eerie cry echoed from outside, resembling a "meow."
My heart tightened, and I quickened my pace to step outside.
At that moment, my stomach churned violently, and the urge to vomit was overwhelming. However, I held it back, reminding myself that I absolutely could not throw up; if I did, all my efforts would be in vain.
As I reached the grass shed, I asked, "What happened?"
I was worried that the Yin Cat might be in trouble. I had memorized the Taoist's words: the Yin Cat must not come to harm.
Gao Ling was standing nearby, smoking with his back to me. The one drawing blood was a villager from the area... Damn it! The Yin Cat was convulsing on the ground; it looked like it was done for.
I shouted Gao Ling's name. "Damn it! What are you doing?"
Gao Ling turned to me and asked what was wrong.
I was about to explode with anger. I demanded to know what he was doing. Gao Ling replied that he was smoking and then glanced at the Yin Cat. He said he felt a bit intimidated by the Yin Cat, so he gave some money to this old man to help out...
I wanted to curse him out. Damn it! When will Gao Ling ever become more reliable?
The villager had blood all over his hands, and judging by the state of the Yin Cat, it looked like he had directly chopped off its ear.
I couldn't believe it! The villager appeared to be in his forties, with dark skin but surprisingly white teeth. Seeing me berate Gao Ling, he spoke in a thick accent, "Hey, it's nothing serious. It's just a cat. I've killed pigs and cows before; it's no big deal."
I didn't even know how to explain things to this villager. The Yin Cat twitched a few times and then lay still.
I crouched down and poked the Yin Cat with my hand. It was over; the cat was definitely dead. Sure, cats have nine lives, but who knows if this was its ninth life?
I stood up and told Gao Ling, "Didn't I tell you? You should have done it yourself! After you were done, you were supposed to let the Yin Cat go."
Gao Ling's face turned pale as I yelled at him. After a moment, he said, "Calm down! This is my fault. But treating it is more important right now." He then ran off to mix the Yin Cat's blood and fur together.
I hadn't finished speaking yet. Although the Taoist didn't specify what should be done in this situation, it certainly wouldn't involve anything clean. Besides, Zhao Fan had come looking for me for help.
Zhao Fan stood beside me and said, "Brother Fei, just calm down. The cat is dead now; blaming Gao Ling won't change anything."
Zhao Fan was right, but I still felt a bit angry inside. When would Gao Ling ever be more reliable?
The villagers agreed, saying, "Yeah, it's just a cat."
At this point, what else could I do? It was already done; if it was dead, then it was dead. I glanced at the Yin Cat and sighed inwardly, but there was nothing to be done.
I said to Zhao Fan, "Could you help me bury this Yin Cat?"
My stomach was still churning, and seeing the corpse of the Yin Cat made me want to vomit. But thinking about it, it probably wasn't that serious.
Zhao Fan nodded and went to bury the Yin Cat.
I entered the grass hut where Gao Ling was mixing the blood and fur of the Yin Cat. When he saw me, he grinned foolishly, leaving me utterly speechless.
Gao Ling said, "Fei, I messed up this time. Don't be mad; have a smoke to calm down."
Seeing that Gao Ling had passed me a cigarette, I lit it up. Well, it would have to do.
After mixing everything well, Gao Ling applied it to the bandage and helped me wrap it around my wound.
Just then, Zhao Fan came in from outside and said to me, "The cat is buried." I thanked him for his hard work, but for some reason, I still felt uneasy inside.
That Yin Cat really had a bad fate!
Zhao Fan then said, "Brother Fei, we seem to be getting distant."
Gao Ling interjected, "We were never that close anyway!" Zhao Fan's face turned awkward. I said to Zhao Fan, "If it weren't for you this time, I wouldn't have found the Yin Cat so quickly. By the way, I remember you called me over to help with something? What was it?"
When Zhao Fan heard me bring it up, he continued, "Brother Fei, I might really need your help this time. I've taken on a job to fish out some bodies from the river."
I looked at Zhao Fan. In a way, both he and Gao Ling were kindred spirits since they both made their living off of death. But if that was the case, then I should also be considered one of them since I worked in a funeral home too.
Zhao Fan continued, "Here's the situation: a couple drowned in this river. Their parents are paying me to retrieve the bodies. We've already searched for three or four days without finding anything. We were about to give up when something strange happened just last night."
I asked, "What strange thing happened?"
Zhao Fan replied, "One of my brothers went crazy while fishing for a body in the river that night."
Gao Ling exclaimed, "Is it really that exaggerated? He went crazy, is that true?" Zhao Fan shot back at Gao Ling, "Do you think I would lie to you for money?"
Gao Ling was left speechless by Zhao Fan's retort.
At this moment, I was also a bit shocked. Going crazy really sounded sensational, but Zhao Fan didn't seem to be joking.
Curiosity got the better of me, and I continued to ask, "And then what happened?"
Zhao Fan said, "Then it got even scarier." I didn't interrupt him and let him continue. He added, "Then he started to harm himself and even gouged out one of his own eyeballs, mumbling something like, 'Here, eat this, eat this, just don't eat me!'"
Who was he offering his eyeball to? Zhao Fan's story was getting more and more bizarre.
I couldn't help but hold my breath. Gao Ling asked, "Did anything sinister come along and eat the eyeball?"
At that moment, Zhao Fan's expression changed as he said, "And then even more terrifying things happened."
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