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墨書 Inktalez
The moon hung in the sky, shining ever brighter.
I ran while calling out for Fat Ma, but no one responded.
The village was small, with only a dozen households, but the houses were somewhat scattered. In less than ten minutes, I had searched everywhere and still found no trace of Fat Ma.
Leaving the village, I headed towards the Min River, with mountains and forests surrounding me on three sides.
I stood there in a daze for a moment before quickly moving forward again.
The Mud Man followed closely behind me.
Finally, I reached the banks of the Min River, but it was empty. I glanced at the surface of the water; it remained silent and still.
At that moment, I couldn't help but look at the river again. I thought I heard singing, but there were no people in sight. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end; it was too eerie.
The Mud Man stood silently behind me.
After standing by the river for a few minutes, I quickly ran back towards the village. The Mud Man called out my name from behind, and I replied, "Let's go back and check."
We ran back together, and after about an hour of going back and forth, we finally returned to the front of a house in the village. There, I saw three people gathered around a fire, seemingly chatting.
I slowly walked over.
Fat Ma was laughing and joking. I steadied myself and shouted, " Fat Ma, is that you?"
“Old Sun, come here, I want to introduce you to someone,” I hurried over, and Mud Man followed closely behind.
I was relieved to see Fat Ma was alright.
After Mud Man and I settled down, I noticed a disheveled figure sitting there, looking like a beggar, making it hard to see his face.
Brother Jiang was also present.
I asked, “Second Brother, did you find him?”
Brother Jiang shook his head and replied, “No, I just got back not long ago.”
Before I could finish my thought, Fat Ma spoke up, “Where have you two been? I wanted to go inside and call for you, but when I went in, there wasn’t a soul around. I thought you had been eaten by ghosts!”
“Let me introduce you,” Fat Ma said quickly. “This is Uncle Li, the village chief and also a doctor. He went into the mountains to gather herbs a few days ago; no wonder we didn’t see anyone!”
Mud Man stared wide-eyed at Fat Ma.
Fat Ma frowned and said, “Mud Man, what are you staring at me for?”
Mud Man snapped back to reality and replied, “I was just worried you might be possessed by a ghost.”
Fat Ma spat in disdain and cursed, “You crow’s mouth! Can’t you think of something nice for once?”
Mud Man retorted, “I would if it weren’t for the mess you always make.”
I intervened to stop their bickering and turned to the disheveled man. “So, you’re Village Chief Li?”
He nodded and said, "That would be me."
Fat Ma interjected with a laugh, "Uncle Li is a good man, Old Sun. You can just call him Uncle Li directly."
I glanced at Fat Ma in surprise.
At that moment, Brother Jiang also lifted his head to look at Fat Ma.
Fat Ma said, "Why are you all looking at me?"
I averted my gaze, and the clay figurine cleared his throat a few times while Brother Jiang lowered his head again.
I tentatively asked, "How many years has Uncle Li lived in this village?"
He held up three fingers.
"Thirty years?" I pressed on.
"Yes!" Uncle Li nodded.
I turned to Fat Ma and asked, "Fatty, where did you meet Uncle Li?"
Fat Ma scratched the back of his head and didn’t respond immediately.
Uncle Li chimed in, "I ran into Brother Ma while I was coming back from gathering herbs."
I stared at him, suddenly feeling like I had seen him somewhere before, so I asked, "Haven't I seen you somewhere, Uncle Li?"
Uncle Li coughed a few times. "Impossible! You must be mistaken. I haven't left this village for decades."
I let out a sound.
Suddenly, Fat Ma said, "I was just out for some fresh air, and then I had to pee... and then..."
Oh no! I thought to myself. Just as I realized this, I saw the Mud Man's hand pressing down on Uncle Li's shoulder.
But Uncle Li immediately pulled away and ran into the forest.
At that moment, Fat Ma regained his senses and shouted, "That bastard knocked me out!" With that, he took off in pursuit.
Brother Jiang also stopped hesitating. The Mud Man had already run a few steps ahead.
As Fat Ma chased after him, he cursed, "How dare you bully me? You must be tired of living!"
The Mud Man was fast and quickly caught up. I initially thought he would be formidable, but to my surprise, he was subdued in less than three moves.
Fat Ma stepped forward and kicked him, shouting, "What kind of drug did you give me earlier? Speak up!"
I blocked Fat Ma and then found a rope to tie him up, dragging him over to the fire pit.
I pressed him, "Who are you really?"
"It hurts... it hurts..." he cried out.
"Cut the crap or I'll make you regret it," Fat Ma cursed. Hearing this from Fat Ma made him stop shouting.
I carefully examined his appearance; he indeed looked to be in his fifties or sixties. I had previously thought he was the Boatman! It seemed I had misjudged him.
"I'm just an ordinary person!" Uncle Li said.
"Don't try to argue," Fat Ma said, delivering another hard hit.
He cried out in pain.
We were all surprised; a man in his fifties or sixties was shouting like a child.
"What are you pretending for? I didn't even use much strength," Fat Ma said, laughing as if it were a joke.
Looking at Fat Ma's smile, I couldn't believe he hadn't put any effort into it.
I urged Fat Ma to tone it down and pressed, "You better speak up, or you'll regret it!"
He muttered a curse under his breath and then said, "I didn't expect so many of you. Otherwise, I wouldn't have shown up no matter what you said!"
"What do you mean?" the clay figure asked.
He replied, "It's true that I've lived here for thirty years!"
"You dare to lie!" Fat Ma exclaimed fiercely.
"No, this statement is absolutely true!" Uncle Li said, his voice trembling.
"Let him continue," I said. Fat Ma had no choice but to step back awkwardly.
He continued, "I came to this village thirty years ago, and there was no one here back then!" His voice seemed to carry a hint of sorrow.
I was secretly astonished.
"Why have you lived here for thirty years without leaving?" I asked.
"This can't be said," he replied quickly.
Fat Ma exerted more pressure, and the clay figure hurriedly blocked him.
With a trembling voice, he said, "Even if you beat me to death, I won't say anything."
"Why?" I asked.
"Because if I do, I'll die even faster!"
It seemed that no matter how much we forced him, he wouldn't speak.
I turned to Brother Jiang and asked, "Is he the person you mentioned seeing before?"
Brother Jiang firmly replied with two words: "Not him!" Instantly, my heart sank, and I asked Uncle Li, "Are there any other people here?"
He shook his head vigorously like a rattle drum.
"No one?"
"No one," he insisted. "I've lived here alone for thirty years and have never seen another person."
I had asked enough questions for now and glanced at the clay figure.
The clay figure asked, "Are you saying that there hasn't been anyone in this village for thirty years?"
"Yes," he replied.
"Were you the only one who came to this village back then?" the clay figure continued to ask.
He couldn't say anything; he remained tight-lipped.
Fat Ma was getting anxious and cursed, "Looks like we have to get serious." As he spoke, he reached for the knife at his waist.
He kept his eyes on Fat Ma's movements, and when he saw Fat Ma's hand touch the knife, his pupils noticeably contracted.
Fat Ma pulled out the knife, its cold gleam flashing in the firelight. "Are you going to talk or not?" Fat Ma pressed.
Terrified, he stammered, "I can't say..."
"Hmm?" Fat Ma took a step closer.
"Wait, let me finish," he said.
"What do you have to say? Hurry up, or you'll end up talking to Yama," Fat Ma threatened.
He continued, "Although I can't tell you, I can share a story!"
Fat Ma immediately grinned and patted him on the shoulder. "You're smart!"
I exchanged amused glances with the clay figure beside me.
He seemed to be gathering his thoughts. After a moment, he slowly began, "Thirty years ago, a group of merchants passed through here and then settled down. No one knows why. At that time..." He appeared to be in deep thought and then folded his fingers. "There were ten of them—nine men and one woman. Back then, this village still had people living in it!"
I couldn't help but interrupt him. "Didn't you say there were no people in this village thirty years ago?"
His words stumbled slightly before he covered it up with a quick reply. "I was just telling a story."
I was momentarily speechless and had no choice but to let him continue.
He cleared his throat and continued, "After they arrived here, the ten of them settled down. They were very enthusiastic. At that time, this village was poor as could be, but with their help, it gradually became better.
One day, they gathered everyone in the village and asked, 'Do you want to make even more money? Who wouldn't want to earn more?' So everyone said they did.
Then they explained their plan. At first, no one was willing, but after some persuasion from them, they agreed. After that event, the villagers became wealthier and began renovating their homes, yet not a single person moved away.
As time went on, the village continued to prosper, and it even made it into the newspapers. I forgot the title of the article, but I remember the name of the paper; it was something like the Sichuan Morning Post. After it was published, more people came to hear about it. Strangely enough, all the villagers disappeared within a short period; no one knew where they had gone." At this point, he smiled absentmindedly. After a moment, he suddenly shouted, "It’s a curse! All the villagers died during that time!"
"What curse? What exactly happened in this village?" I asked.
His emotions seemed to spiral out of control as he began to shout and ran off.
Fat Ma quickly grabbed him.
But in the next moment, he suddenly collapsed onto the ground.
Fat Ma shouted, "Stop pretending to be dead!" The clay figure hurried over to check his breath and said in a low voice, "He's dead..."
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