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墨書 Inktalez
Looking at the Wax Seal with the Nine Star Diagram, I knew clearly that this envelope had been deliberately left for me. However, I couldn't fathom how this letter had appeared without a trace, as if it had materialized out of thin air. With a sense of unease, I opened the letter sealed with the Wax Seal.
Inside was still a blank sheet of paper, wrapped around a red cardstock. I walked to the door, and in the sunlight, I saw a name written on the cardstock: "Wang Xian." The back of the card bore another address. "Could this person own the Third Box?" I pondered this when suddenly my phone in my pocket buzzed.
I pulled out my phone and saw a Text Message. It contained only three words: "Kill him." At first, I thought it was a prank. But upon seeing the date and number, I sensed something was off. The number field was blank, and strangely enough, while the time was correct, the date was wrong.
After confirming that there was nothing wrong with my phone, I realized this was no ordinary prank. Even if someone could change the sender's number, they certainly couldn't alter the date. "Is 'kill him' referring to this Wang Xian?" I muttered to myself, frowning.
Just then, my phone buzzed again with another Text Message. This one shocked me even more: "If you don't comply or tell anyone about this, your friends and family will die, including Hu Fang and Li Zhisheng." The fact that the sender knew Hu Fang and Li Zhisheng's names indicated they were fully aware of my situation.
In a panic, I tried to call back to find out who it was, but to my surprise, the call button was grayed out—there was no number to dial. I found myself in a dilemma; clearly, the sender wanted me to kill someone named Wang Xian. But if I didn't comply, my loved ones would be in danger, and I couldn't seek help from anyone. The sender felt like an Evil Spirit lurking beside me, ready to strike at any moment.
Now that I thought about it again, the date in that message might very well be my deadline. I didn't want to gamble with the lives of my friends and family, but I also didn't want to become a murderer. Reluctantly, I decided to meet this Wang Xian person first before making any plans.
However, things didn't go as expected. When I arrived at the address on the card, there was no sign of Wang Xian. According to his neighbor, there indeed lived someone named Wang Xian here; he might have gone out for errands. Later on, I learned where he worked, but his colleague informed me that he had resigned.
Great! If I don't kill him, now I don't even know where he is. After searching all afternoon without finding any useful clues and as dusk approached, I returned home feeling defeated.
As soon as I stepped through the door, Hu Fang came up to me. At the same time, I noticed a strange man sitting on the living room sofa chatting with Li Zhisheng. The man wore thick glasses and a loose suit that made him appear somewhat frail. Hu Fang approached me and said, "After you left, your friend came looking for you; it seems urgent. We let him in for a bit." She gestured toward the stranger on the sofa.
"I don't..." Just as I was about to say that I didn't know him, a thought flashed through my mind: "Could he be Wang Xian?" With that thought in mind, what was about to come out of my mouth got swallowed back down.
"Okay, got it. You go ahead with your business; I'll handle this," Hu Fang said perceptively as she retreated into her room. Once she left, I forced a smile and walked over to the stranger. "Hey! What brings you here? Long time no see." Turning to Li Zhisheng, I added quickly, "You can go ahead; I'll take care of him." With a knowing glance at Li Zhisheng, he nodded slightly and exchanged a few pleasantries with the stranger before heading toward the back room. As he passed by me, he patted my shoulder—probably trying to signal me to be cautious.
At that moment, only I and the stranger remained in the living room. He stared at me intently, like a beggar eyeing a feast laid out before him, his gaze filled with desire and a hint of menace. I walked straight over and sat down beside him. "If I'm not mistaken, your name should be Wang Xian, right?"
He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and turned his head slightly, as if trying to avoid making eye contact with me. He cleared his throat and said, "Yes, it's me. Since you know who I am, I'll get straight to the point." He pulled an envelope from his jacket pocket and waved it in front of me. "You should be familiar with this."
I looked at the envelope he was holding, and to my surprise, it bore a red wax seal stamped with a Nine Star Diagram. However, recalling the previous text message that warned me not to tell anyone, I feigned ignorance and asked, "What is this?" He seemed to see through my act and chuckled darkly. "Today, either you die or I do."
With that, he pulled out a gleaming dagger and lunged at me. The suddenness of the attack left me no choice but to throw myself backward off the sofa. In an instant, the cold blade plunged into the couch where I had just been sitting.
Seeing that he had missed, he yanked the dagger out and tried to pounce on me again. Lying on the floor with no time to dodge, I lifted my leg and kicked him hard in the stomach, sending him tumbling off the sofa as well. At that moment, I noticed a piece of paper fall from his pocket; I quickly reached out and caught it as it floated down. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be an IOU for one hundred twenty thousand.
An idea struck me as I looked at Wang Xian on the ground. "If you need money, I can lend it to you; there's no need for this to end in bloodshed!" He burst into laughter at my suggestion. "Borrow money?! I want to borrow a life!" I was taken aback by his response, but then his loud voice caught the attention of Hu Fang and Li Zhisheng, who rushed out to see what was happening.
I thought to myself, "This is bad; if they find out what's going on, I won't be able to explain." With that in mind, I used my hands for leverage and sprang up from the floor. Seeing me rise, Wang Xian scrambled to get up as well. I glanced at Hu Fang and Li Zhisheng standing helplessly on the other side before looking back at Wang Xian, who was slowly advancing toward me with the dagger in hand.
As I backed away cautiously, I grabbed a teacup from the table beside me. "Calm down; let's talk this over." But Wang Xian had no intention of negotiating; he tightened his grip on the dagger and swung it at me. In desperation, I threw the teacup at him, but he ducked just in time. Then he slashed at my abdomen with the dagger before I could react. A sharp pain shot through me as he cut into my stomach, and warmth began to seep out.
Hu Fang screamed in horror upon seeing what happened while Li Zhisheng rushed forward to grab Wang Xian's wrist, forcing it behind his back. With his strength waning, Wang Xian lost his grip on the dagger which clattered to the floor.
As soon as the dagger hit the ground, I collapsed onto my knees while clutching my stomach. Wang Xian struggled against Li Zhisheng's hold and shouted frantically, "Let me kill him! Let me kill him!" Gritting my teeth against the pain, I asked Wang Xian, "Who sent you to kill me?" But he continued repeating his mantra like a madman. Realizing I wouldn't get any answers from him now, I decided to tend to my wound first.
At that moment, Hu Fang hurried over with a first aid kit in her arms. I took it from her and asked her to find something to tie this man up with. Before long, she returned with some strips of cloth. Together with Li Zhisheng's help, they securely bound Wang Xian.
My injury wasn't too deep; after some basic cleaning and bandaging, it was manageable. Once everything was settled down, we all looked at Wang Xian tied up on the floor. Li Zhisheng turned to me and asked, "What were you doing out this afternoon? What happened? How did this turn into a life-and-death situation?"
I sighed, "It's complicated. I haven't fully figured out what's going on myself. Plus, I really can't share this with you, but please trust me, I won't drag you into this." Just then, Hu Fang held up his phone and said, "I've already called the police. They'll be here soon."
I had intended to ask him more questions, but upon hearing that he had called the police, I thought, "If they take him away, we'll have no leads left." With that in mind, I began searching Wang Xian. He had already lost his sanity, lying on the ground muttering, "Kill him, kill him, kill him..."
Before long, I found the envelope he had been holding earlier and a hospital diagnosis certificate that shockingly stated late-stage stomach cancer. "Maybe he went into massive debt for treatment but could never be cured. Until someone promised him that if he killed me, it would cure him or something like that, which drove him to murder? But it seems the person who gave me the envelope is the same one who gave Wang Xian his. Why go through all this trouble to make us turn against each other? If he has the ability to do this, why not just kill us himself..."
Just as I was starting to piece things together, a sudden blaring siren broke my train of thought. Soon after, there was a knock at the door. I quickly stashed away the envelope I had found on Wang Xian. "Open up, police!" came an impatient shout from outside. "Coming!" Hu Fang replied and hurried to open the door.
As soon as the door swung open, several tall police officers stepped inside, flashing their badges as they entered. "Who called the police? What happened?" asked the lead officer. Hu Fang quickly responded, "I called them; he's attacking people..." pointing at Wang Xian who was tied up on the floor.
After more than half an hour of questioning and investigation, the police took Wang Xian away. Just as the three of us were still in shock from what had happened, a loud gunshot suddenly shattered the quiet night sky like a thunderclap, causing us all to tremble in fear.
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