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墨書 Inktalez
At that moment, I desperately tried to avert my gaze, to escape the horrifying face before me. But for some reason, no matter how much I urged myself in my mind, I couldn't pull my eyes away from it.
Just then, a liquid began to flow from its hollow eyes, accompanied by a sharp, metallic smell of blood. A thought suddenly flashed through my mind: "Could this be... the old man's son?!"
My suspicion was soon confirmed as it slowly raised its twig-like arm, twisting as it placed a stone-like object on the bedside table. Then, its back gradually bent, allowing its entire head to hang in the air.
It leaned closer to the edge of my bed, and that grotesque and extremely distorted face came into clear view. I couldn't help but swallow hard; beads of sweat had already formed on my forehead.
"Please... please give me that... jade... from my... father..." It stammered out, its form beginning to blur before vanishing without a trace in an instant.
I stared at the stone it had left on the table, unable to calm my racing heart until dawn finally broke.
The old man woke up early; he was up at first light but seemed unaware that I was already awake. From his expression, it was clear that he hadn't truly come to terms with things; his face was still etched with sorrow and pain. Perhaps he had only pretended to be fine, not wanting us to worry about him.
"Good morning," Hu Fang said as she pushed open the hospital room door, carrying two breakfast trays and entering alongside Li Zhisheng. As soon as she stepped in, she asked, "How are you feeling? Any better?" I squinted tiredly and replied, "It's okay, it's okay."
Li Zhisheng noticed I hadn't slept well and approached me softly, asking, "Did something happen last night?" I simply nodded slightly. He seemed to sense that something was amiss and frowned as he glanced at the old man beside him.
Hu Fang walked over to my bedside and placed the breakfast on the nightstand. But as soon as she set it down, she curiously exclaimed and picked up the translucent jade stone from the table. "Where did this come from?" The old man turned around in response to her question.
Before I could explain, the old man suddenly sat up straight upon seeing the jade in Hu Fang's hand. He snatched it away and asked in astonishment, "Where did this come from?!" His eyes were wide with surprise as he looked at Hu Fang. Taken aback by this sudden action, Hu Fang appeared confused and stammered, "I... I found it here... is it yours?" She pointed at the nightstand.
The old man remained silent as he stared at the stone. The atmosphere in the room became incredibly strange for a moment. After a while, he lifted his head, tears filling his eyes as he choked out, "Buddy, tell me honestly—did someone come by last night?"
I had planned to wait until the old man's emotions calmed down before telling him what had happened, but seeing that I could no longer hide it, I reluctantly recounted everything that transpired last night.
As soon as he heard my words, tears streamed down his face uncontrollably. He trembled as he held the jade stone tightly in his hands and wept bitterly. Hu Fang and Li Zhisheng exchanged glances, unsure of what to do. Without thinking twice, I asked aloud, "Old man, what is this jade? Can you tell me about it?"
The old man ignored me entirely; he simply caressed the jade stone while sitting by the bed and crying silently. Just then, two women's voices drifted in from outside the door; they were discussing events related to the old man's family.
As he listened intently, the old man stood up slowly and walked toward the foot of the bed. Suddenly realizing something was wrong, I felt a surge of panic inside me. I hurriedly shouted for Hu Fang and Li Zhisheng to stop him, but it was too late.
Without hesitation, the old man rushed toward the window ahead of him and leaped out…
Everyone stood frozen in place, their faces displaying extreme shock, as a nurse passing by the entrance happened to witness this astonishing scene.
Accompanied by the sound of shattering glass, silence fell over the surroundings. Bright sunlight streamed through the broken window, and a few birds landed on the windowsill, chirping away.
Suddenly, the outside of the room erupted in chaos. The nurse who had just witnessed everything screamed in terror, "Someone jumped from the building!" and hurriedly ran out.
Hu Fang and Li Zhisheng stood dumbfounded, with Li Zhisheng's hand still suspended in mid-air. I shouted at him, "Quick, check if he's still alive! Why are you just standing there?!" Li Zhisheng shook his head, "It's impossible for him to be alive; we're on the eleventh floor..."
I sighed deeply, "It's truly frightening how people can be so indifferent. A person who could have lived well has died due to apathy." Upon hearing this, Hu Fang couldn't help but shed tears.
After that, someone called the police to investigate. Since the three of us were key witnesses, we inevitably had to undergo questioning.
...
Several weeks later, the incident gradually faded from memory. My attending physician came to check on me. After examining me, he said, "You're almost fully recovered; we can remove the bandages now." Hearing this made me overjoyed, and I quickly asked, "Does that mean I can be discharged?" The doctor nodded, "If there are no issues after we remove the bandages, you can go home."
During this time, Hu Fang and Li Zhisheng had been worn down; both had lost over ten pounds while I had likely gained that much. Upon hearing the news, they seemed even happier than I was and celebrated by high-fiving each other. Soon after, the doctor called in several nurses to help remove my bandages.
As the bandages were slowly peeled away from my arm, I noticed that my forearm was almost entirely covered in scars left by the Evil Spirit's bites. But as more and more bandage was removed, I gradually discovered some dark red markings.
Li Zhisheng gasped in surprise; previously, the mark on his hand had only grown to his wrist. Now it had extended past his elbow and was nearing his shoulder.
Just as the last of the bandages was removed, the doctor smiled at me and said, "You've got quite an eco-friendly tattoo here; while others get dragons or tigers inked, you've got a big tree." At that moment, I wasn't in the mood for jokes; I could only manage a bitter smile without replying.
Seeing that all the bandages on my limbs had been taken off, I hurriedly asked, "Doctor, do you see any problems now? If everything looks fine, can I be discharged?!"
The doctor looked over me and replied, "There are no issues now, but you need to take care of yourself at home." After thanking him, I got out of bed and changed clothes before proceeding with my discharge paperwork.
Afterward, we returned the rental car and took a bus directly to Zhengzhou Airport. On the way there, Hu Fang asked from beside me, "How did those markings on your hand grow so quickly?" I thought for a moment and replied, "If I'm not mistaken, this should be a side effect of awakening the Void Spirit. The longer I use that power, the faster those markings grow."
She asked worriedly, "If it continues like this... won't you..." I nodded in response: "I might be replaced by the Void Spirit. And I can clearly feel that I may lose control over it. Just like what happened with Old Man in the hospital; even without sensing the Void Spirit awakening at all, I could still see ghosts. This indicates that those markings on my hand actually serve to suppress the Void Spirit; however, as they grow larger, their suppressive power may weaken."
Hu Fang seemed to struggle with understanding but politely nodded nonetheless. Meanwhile, Li Zhisheng sat alone in the back seat and remarked after listening: "This is actually similar to what I explained to you before about wood overcoming earth. But at this rate of growth, it probably won't hold out for long."
I turned to him and said, "Well, for now, we can only go back and hope for that Sheepskin Book meant for recording. But before we head back, I need to confirm one thing..."
"The sender of the fourth letter?" Li Zhisheng picked up my thought. I replied vaguely, "It might be..." and then fell into deep contemplation.
Silence enveloped us as the three of us arrived at the airport. Without a word, I headed straight to the service desk and noticed there were three tickets left, so I bought them without hesitation. After more than two hours of flight, we finally landed in the city where I lived.
Once off the plane, we took a taxi directly to the exhibition hall run by Si Tu. Upon hearing where I was going, Li Zhisheng asked in surprise, "Are you suspecting it's Death Apostle?" I nodded, "Right now it's just a suspicion; I can't be completely sure it's him. As for his motives and how he learned about everything I've been through, that's still a mystery."
"Why would you suspect someone else?" Li Zhisheng asked in confusion. "I'm just guessing because when we tried to find clues from the surveillance footage, it inexplicably malfunctioned. At that time, it was impossible for it to be caused by a ghost. Considering the purpose of the fourth letter, I think the most likely explanation is that everything in Fengmen Village was orchestrated by him."
As we spoke, the car had already stopped at the entrance of the exhibition hall. It was nearing dusk, but fortunately, the hall was still open. I paid the driver and walked in with Li Zhisheng and Hu Fang.
The exhibition hall was empty, with only the exhibits quietly resting in their display cases. Not seeing anyone around, Hu Fang called out aimlessly, "Hello? Is anyone there?" Her voice echoed through the vacant hall. Moments later, we heard Death Apostle's voice from the back room, "Come in; I'm in the back room." It seemed he had anticipated our visit and was waiting for us.
We walked into the back room and saw Death Apostle sitting at an antique round table. Upon seeing us enter, he waved for us to come over and sit down. However, instead of taking a seat directly, I walked straight up to Death Apostle. Standing before him with a furrowed brow, I demanded, "Who are you? Why are you helping us?!"
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