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墨書 Inktalez
When I finally opened my eyes, the light was already bright, and everything around me seemed as if nothing had happened. Confused, I looked at my hands and muttered to myself, "Am I dead or alive?" I touched my chest, where Hu Fang had pierced me the night before, and to my surprise, aside from the torn clothing, there was no injury at all. Raising my head in confusion, I noticed that one of the stars in the celestial pattern on my chest seemed to be missing.
Just as I was trying to make sense of it all, I heard Qiangzi's voice nearby: "Where is this? My head hurts..." Following the sound, I saw everyone sprawled out around us, with only Qiangzi and me awake. Seeing that I was also conscious, Qiangzi asked, "What happened last night? How did I end up here?" I was about to respond when another voice interrupted me: "Last night you were possessed by a ghost." Li Zhisheng had also managed to get up from the ground.
After everything that happened last night, Qiangzi was hesitant to dismiss it but couldn't fully believe it either; he just sat on the ground scratching his head in thought. Li Zhisheng ignored Qiangzi and came over to ask, "Are you okay? Last night you were..." Just as I was about to answer, someone suddenly pressed down on me, causing me to cough. Hearing my cough, Hu Fang quickly straightened up from on top of me. To my surprise, her eyes glistened with tears as she smiled at me and said, "What? Did you think I was dead?" She gave my chest a hard slap and added, "It would be better if you were dead; then you wouldn't tease me." With that, she turned to check on Tang Qian.
Li Zhisheng was staring intently at the hole in my chest. Noticing his gaze, I stood up and said, "There's one missing star, right?" He nodded. "What exactly is this? Could it be that it saved your life last night?" After pondering for a moment, I replied, "That girl from last night told me that the spirit is the spirit and the seal is the seal. She even made me sprinkle the spirit's blood here to save everyone." Looking around again, I realized there were no traces of blood anywhere. "Could it be that this thing on your chest is the spirit while what you have in your hand is the seal? But as far as I know, the spirit is just one of the Nine Stars; counting the one that's missing makes nine—how can we call it a spirit?" Li Zhisheng muttered in confusion.
I couldn't come up with an explanation either. By this time, everyone else had woken up. Aside from Qiangzi having some scrapes on his face and Tang Qian catching a cold from sleeping outside all night, no one else seemed to have any issues. The school gate that had disappeared last night was now visible again. Li Zhisheng turned to me and said, "It seems like this Onizuka has been broken; otherwise we wouldn't have survived until now. I'm going back to look for some information; you should go home and rest well." I nodded in agreement and suggested that everyone else head home to rest too. We planned to meet at our usual place for dinner later.
As soon as I got home, I took out the Sheepskin Book and recorded everything that had happened last night. To my surprise, doing so caused more than half of the mark on my hand to fade away. It seemed like what Li Zhisheng said was true; the more seals a ghost placed at once, the more this thing would fade away. But it had to be based on real experiences—that was the most troublesome part.
Then I remembered that strange girl: "Did she lead me there just to break this Onizuka? But why did she choose last night? And why could I see her? Is it because my Void Spirit awakened?" With these thoughts racing through my mind, I hurriedly pulled out the booklet Yin Li had left for me.
Although there was almost nothing written about the Box itself, there were detailed accounts regarding Void Spirits. After searching for a while, I found a section: "Dye peach wood with hen's blood to summon a Void Spirit; it is not permanent." The gist seemed to be that using hen's blood on peach wood could draw out a Void Spirit but wasn't something that lasted forever—just temporary. "Looks like making that doll was indeed correct," I thought proudly before realizing something else: "Wait a minute; I've seen her before. How do I explain that?" After pondering for a while without coming up with an answer, I decided to wait until tonight to ask Li Zhisheng.
After lunch, I took a shower and slept for a bit. This nap was quite restful; I slept soundly from noon until after five in the afternoon. When I got up and washed my face, I headed straight for the restaurant.
Upon arriving at the restaurant, I saw they were already there waiting for me. As soon as I walked in, they stared at me eagerly like chicks waiting for their parent birds returning from foraging. Swallowing hard and reaching into my wallet made me think that this meal would cost me dearly.
Even though I thought this way inside, my face still wore a smile. As I walked over and noticed someone missing, I asked, "Where's Tang Qian?" Hu Fang shook her head helplessly: "That big shot went to a bar to pick up girls." Laughing lightly, I said, "Since he has other plans, let him be." Then I called over a waiter to take our order.
Qiangzi alone ordered five or six dishes without hesitation; Hu Fang didn't hold back either. In the end, not wanting to look at them anymore, I shared my questions from home with Li Zhisheng. After listening carefully, he chuckled softly: "I doubt seeing that girl has much connection with your doll because if a ghost wants you to see it, you'll naturally see it." Sighing deeply, I replied, "Looks like I've been overthinking things again." He waved his hand dismissively: "Not necessarily; you did see another ghost too—perhaps that's because of your doll. Oh right..." He paused before continuing: "I found some information about Onizuka; digging deeper might lead us somewhere."
As soon as I heard that something had happened to him, my expression immediately darkened. "What happened..." He straightened his demeanor and pulled out a somewhat tattered book from behind him, handing it to me. "This contains a lot of information about ghosts and monsters. I found it in an old bookstore."
I took the book and noticed some hasty characters written on it: "Divine Anomalies Classic." Curious, I asked, "What kind of book is this? I've never seen it before." He pointed to the back cover. "You might not have heard of this book, but you should know the author." Hearing this, I flipped the book over. It boldly displayed three characters: "Zhang Manqian." I frowned. "I've really never heard of this person. What's their background? Just tell me directly."
Li Zhisheng shook his head. "His real name is Zhang Manqian, and he also has a pseudonym called Dongfang Manqian. However, what people know him better by today is his other name, Dongfang Shuo. He was a poet from the Western Han dynasty, but what most people don't know is that he was very skilled in astrology and the supernatural. Although this book appears to be just about ghosts and monsters, when combined with strange arts, it serves as a historical record of many ghostly techniques. Nowadays, people know very little about this book, so it's not surprising that you don't."
I flipped through a few pages of the book; it was filled with ancient text. I couldn't even fully recognize some of the characters, let alone understand them. I returned the book to Li Zhisheng. "Even in my hands, this book is like a blank slate; I can't make sense of anything. You might as well just tell me directly."
Meanwhile, Qiangzi and Hu Fang were discussing what to eat, completely ignoring my conversation with Li Zhisheng. Li Zhisheng took back the book. "It's not surprising that you can't understand it; in any case, this Onizuka has one certainty among nine possibilities, which relates to the Nine Stars symbol. Someone wants to use this Jiuzuka to completely open the gates of the Underworld and release those Vengeful Spirits to wreak havoc on Earth. Last night was one such place; that's why your Nine Stars seal is on your chest."
I furrowed my brow. "So does that mean I'll have my hands full from now on?" Li Zhisheng tucked the Divine Anomalies Classic into his bag behind him. "Whether you go or not depends on you; anyway, that's a matter for later. Right now, I want to see what we can eat." He snatched the menu from Qiangzi's hands and began looking through it. Qiangzi muttered beside him, "I haven't finished ordering yet! Should I get the exploding chicken cutlet or not?"
Before long, three waiters began bringing out dishes one after another, stacking plates two or three layers high. Hu Fang and Qiangzi started eating before all the dishes had even arrived, while Li Zhisheng and I watched in disbelief.
Once all the dishes were served, the waiters informed us that since our bill exceeded three thousand yuan, we received a complimentary bottle of red wine. I thought I misheard and asked again, "Wait a minute, how much did you say we spent?" The waiter smiled brightly and replied, "Hello sir, your total is over three thousand."
I wiped the sweat from my forehead and forced a smile at the waiter. "Okay... got it; just leave the wine there." Watching Qiangzi and Hu Fang devour their food like there was no tomorrow made me realize that trying to return any dishes would be difficult at this point. Since we had already ordered everything, I figured we might as well eat.
I opened the red wine and poured everyone a glass, raising mine in a toast: "To celebrating our survival!" Everyone echoed in unison. The glasses clinked together with a crisp sound.
After several rounds of drinks and various dishes consumed until we were nearly stuffed to our limits, everyone slumped back in their chairs. Qiangzi squinted at the television hanging on the wall beside us. "It's been ages since I've eaten so well." Hu Fang was too full to speak; she leaned back in her chair and gave a thumbs-up.
We rested for more than half an hour before Hu Fang finally said, "Alright, let's go for a walk." I nodded and stood up to prepare for settling the bill.
At that moment, a news report on the television caught my attention: "A male body was discovered in an alley in the city tonight, initially believed to be a suicide. We now turn to our on-site reporter for more details..." In that instant, I saw the photo of Tang Qian prominently displayed in the lower left corner of the screen.
The others present also witnessed this shocking scene. I turned to Hu Fang, only to find her staring wide-eyed at the television, her mouth agape as she pointed at the screen. It seemed she wanted to speak, but the words were stuck in her throat.
I urged Hu Fang to quickly call Tang Qian to confirm. Hearing my suggestion, she hurriedly pulled out her phone. Before long, the call connected, and the sound of ringing echoed from the television as well.
It appeared to indeed be Tang Qian, but Hu Fang's face was filled with terror as she shakily held the phone up to my ear. Just then, I heard Tang Qian's voice on the line: "Hello? Sis? What's wrong?" Meanwhile, the ringing from the television continued incessantly...
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