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墨書 Inktalez
Living Funeral
I initially thought it was Zhao Fan making the noise, but then he stopped what he was doing and asked me, "Brother Fei, did you hear someone knocking on the door?"
I immediately replied, "Wasn't that knocking sound coming from you?"
Zhao Fan said, "Look at my hands." He opened his palms, but the knocking continued. Damn, it seemed like the sound was coming from inside.
Someone was actually knocking from inside? What was going on? The door was locked from the outside, yet there was someone knocking from within.
I snapped out of my daze and shouted, "Is anyone in there?"
As soon as I spoke, the knocking stopped, but the lock had not been tampered with yet.
Gao Ling said, "Could there really be someone in there? It wouldn't be a ghost, would it?"
At that moment, I felt uncertain too! This Snake Skin Gully was truly eerie. The inside had fallen silent again. I turned to Zhang Xun and asked, "Should we open it?"
Zhang Xun replied, "Since we're here, let's just open it."
Zhao Fan seemed a bit hesitant and said, "Are we really going to open it?"
I told Zhao Fan, "If you're scared, I'll do it. Just tell me how to unlock it."
Zhao Fan responded, "Brother Fei, I might hesitate in other matters, but if it's to help a buddy out, if I hesitate then am I even human?" With that, Zhao Fan got to work. In just a few moments, he managed to unlock the door. With a creak, it swung open by itself.
Zhao Fan quickly stepped back as we shone our flashlights inside. The room was empty; there was nothing at all.
But something felt off. The knocking sound had been unmistakable; clearly something was hidden here, just well concealed.
I stepped inside. The room wasn't very large; with one flashlight beam, I could almost see the entire space.
However, after circling around once, I still found nothing. At this point, Gao Ling and the others had come in too but still found nothing. Zhao Fan remarked, "This is really eerie; just a moment ago there was clearly a knocking sound, yet now that we're inside there's nothing at all."
Zhang Xun and Gao Qing were also wandering around when Gao Ling said, "I heard the sound too."
The house was really not big; with the five of us inside, it felt cramped. Suddenly, I thought about how quickly the sound had vanished. Could it be that there were hidden mechanisms in this house? Or perhaps a basement?
I quickly shared my thoughts, and everyone began to search around. Before long, Gao Ling exclaimed, "Fei, you were right! There is something here."
As soon as Gao Ling spoke, we were all drawn to her. She moved a wooden plank aside, revealing a dark hole that led downwards, from which a cool breeze wafted up.
Shining a flashlight down, we could see the ground below was paved with blue stone slabs. Could it really be a basement?
Regardless of what lay beneath, speculating here was pointless. I felt anxious; the Taoist needed to find a corpse, and judging by his appearance, he seemed to be in dire straits. If I didn’t locate the body he mentioned soon, he might not make it.
At that moment, the Taoist still hadn’t appeared, possibly due to the presence of Zhang Xun and Gao Qing.
Where on earth was that Dark Wood coffin? I couldn’t believe it contained Jiang Changsheng.
After a moment of silence, I finally spoke up. "Let’s go down and take a look."
Zhang Xun agreed, and we descended. There were wooden stairs that could be moved; we climbed down carefully.
Once we reached the bottom, an immediate chill and dampness enveloped us. We followed the path forward, noticing droplets of water seeping from the walls and falling down.
The passageway wasn’t very wide; it could accommodate three people walking side by side. After about ten minutes of walking, we arrived at a more spacious basement, roughly several hundred square meters in size.
Upon entering, we were greeted by a fragrant aroma of fermented wine. It smelled delightful—definitely aged wine. As we stepped further in, we saw numerous wine jars standing at about half our height—there must have been over a hundred of them. The scent was intoxicating.
Gao Ling remarked, "Damn it! This place is actually a wine cellar! Who would have thought there was wine hidden here? It must be good stuff."
Zhao Fan added, "You can tell just by the smell."
While they discussed this, Zhang Xun interjected, "The wine may be good, but I also smell something foul—like the stench of decay."
Zhang Xun's words immediately put everyone on high alert.
"The stench of decay?" I asked in confusion.
Zhang Xun let out a sound of acknowledgment, but the air was thick with the scent of alcohol. It was impressive that he could even detect the smell of decay.
However, I truly couldn't smell anything.
Gao Ling took a deep breath and said, "What are you talking about? There’s no smell of decay here, it’s all just the aroma of wine. Brother Zhang, is something wrong with your nose?"
Zhang Xun glanced at Gao Ling and suddenly stepped closer, sniffing around Gao Ling. Seeing this, Gao Qing immediately blocked Zhang Xun and sternly asked, "What are you doing?"
Zhang Xun replied, "I’m just trying to catch a whiff of the dead." After he said this, Gao Qing's expression changed, and he warned, "Don't be ridiculous."
Gao Ling added, "Do I smell like a corpse?"
Zhang Xun and Gao Ling had never really gotten along; Zhang Xun was somewhat wary of Gao Ling. I feared they might create unnecessary conflict, so I stepped in to mediate.
I wasn't sure what was going on with Gao Ling, but I felt that Zhang Xun's wariness towards him was a bit excessive.
Zhang Xun seemed completely unaware of this. Of course, I didn't have the right to instruct Zhang Xun on how to behave; I just thought his actions were slightly over the top.
I said to Zhang Xun, "Gao Ling is actually a good person; we’re all friends." I pulled Zhang Xun aside.
Zhang Xun looked at me and then said, "Chen Fei, you’ll find out what kind of person he is." He sighed heavily.
I asked him why he sighed. Zhang Xun replied, "Chen Fei, I can't always be by your side. Some things, some truths and lies, you need to discern for yourself."
At that moment, Zhang Xun appeared much more serious. How he managed to survive from Coffin Street was still a mystery.
I decided not to ask him now; I would wait until we were outside. I glanced at Gao Ling again and truly believed there was nothing wrong with him—he merely had a dead person residing within him.
But now that the Ghost Curse had been brought up, could it really be that serious? I felt confused for a moment.
Zhang Xun told me, "Chen Fei, go find what you came for."
My purpose for coming to Snake Skin Gully was clear: I was here to search for a corpse. However, things had taken an unexpected turn since arriving at Snake Skin Gully.
I walked over to Gao Ling and said, "Gao Ling, that's just how Zhang Xun is. Don't take it to heart."
Gao Ling replied, "Fei, what are you talking about? Brother Zhang is skilled, and it's normal for him to have a temper."
However, before Gao Ling could finish, Gao Qing chimed in, "Gao Ling, have you been kicked in the head by a donkey?" Gao Ling laughed and said, "Look at Gao Qing; he’s the same way. Just because he has some skills, he acts like he’s the best."
Gao Qing was so infuriated that he lost his temper. He turned to me and said, "Chen Fei, I don't know who you are, but if you harm Gao Ling in any way, I won't let you off the hook either."
I thought to myself: Why do I feel like we haven't even started looking for anything yet and we're already bickering among ourselves?
Gao Ling said, "Fei, don't get angry."
I replied that I wouldn't. Zhao Fan, as an outsider, casually remarked, "This wine should be good. Let me take a look." With that, he walked over to the Wine Jar.
Gao Ling gave me a wry smile, and I returned the gesture before heading toward the Wine Jar as well. Zhao Fan quickly opened one of the jars. However, because the aroma of the wine was so strong, he closed his eyes to savor it, wearing an expression of enjoyment. He was completely unprepared for a hand to suddenly reach out from inside the Wine Jar.
Seeing this made me jump in shock; I didn't even have time to say anything and hurriedly pushed Zhao Fan aside.
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