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墨書 Inktalez
I looked at the cane, feeling a sense of familiarity. "How can you be so sure it's the Death Apostle's?" Li Zhisheng glanced around to ensure no one was watching, then raised the cane in front of me and whispered, "I've studied those ancient texts, so I naturally know about antiques. This cane is made from high-quality Golden Silk Nanmu and is a Dragon Pattern Cane. However, the unfortunate part is that the dragon's head on the pattern has been removed, so..."
I continued his thought, "So you made a point to observe it closely when you saw it?" Li Zhisheng replied, "Yes, and this cane has some age to it; anyone with an eye for quality would recognize it immediately. It's basically certain that this is the one belonging to the Death Apostle..."
He paused for a moment before continuing, "And now that I think about it, when we took you to the Death Apostle yesterday, he never used his cane at all. Previously, he always had it with him whenever we met."
Upon hearing this, I thought to myself, "If the Death Apostle truly intended to harm me, why go through such elaborate means? Besides, someone as cunning as him would never leave something so important behind. This situation is definitely not as simple as it seems..."
As I stared at the cane lost in thought, Li Zhisheng suddenly tugged at my clothes. I looked up at him and saw his eyes wide open in terror as he stared behind me.
"What..." I began to ask what was wrong, but before I could finish a word, I felt something furry brush against the back of my neck. Instantly, my body felt as if it had been struck by an electric shock; every hair on my body stood on end and goosebumps erupted across my skin.
At that moment, I dared not move and struggled to keep calm. "Is it the police? No way; if it were them, they would have already pulled me aside for questioning. Is it some kind of animal? But judging by Li Zhisheng's terrified expression, what kind of animal could scare him like this...?"
"Could it be a ghost?!" The thought rushed through my mind as I quickly reached into my clothes to find the two talismans I had left. Just as I reached into my pocket, I remembered that I had changed into a different outfit and that Jiang Ling was no longer with me. The Void Spirit was also sealed...
Sweat beads began to form at my temples as I stood frozen in place, staring at Li Zhisheng's frightened face. "Aren't you supposed to be smart?! Think of something!"
To my surprise, Li Zhisheng was inching backward along the wall. I cursed inwardly, "Damn it! At a crucial moment like this, you're thinking of running away..."
He gritted his teeth and continued to retreat while his other hand fumbled on the ground for something. Suddenly, he picked up a stone and threw it at me. My heart raced as I heard a whoosh; the stone flew past my ear on the right side.
It struck a pile of stones behind me with a sharp clatter. With that sound, I felt the furry sensation on my neck disappear.
In that instant, I quickly pushed myself off the ground and crawled forward a few steps until I reached Li Zhisheng's side. Hurriedly glancing back over my shoulder, I saw a plump long-haired female ghost floating in mid-air. It seemed drawn by the noise and was twisting its head at an unnatural angle below its shoulder to investigate.
Li Zhisheng gritted his teeth and pointed behind us. Understanding his signal, I nodded and cautiously turned around like a thief, bending low and tiptoeing forward.
Time ticked by slowly; I didn’t dare look back for fear of seeing a ghastly face looming over my shoulder. Just then, a beam of flashlight illuminated our path ahead. I grabbed Li Zhisheng hard enough that he fell onto the ground with a thud, causing stones beneath him to crackle loudly.
The female ghost behind us and the patrolling officers in the distance seemed to hear the commotion simultaneously. "Who’s there!" one officer shouted. My heart tightened in response; this was bad news as I turned to look.
The ghost reacted swiftly to the voice and charged towards us in an instant, appearing right in front of Li Zhisheng and me under the bright beam of light.
The ghost hung its head low while making incessant clucking sounds. Li Zhisheng was completely paralyzed by fear; he sat on the ground trembling uncontrollably.
At that moment, we heard the distant voice of an officer: "You... who are you? What are you doing here? This is a restricted area... Leave immediately!" The voice carried confusion mixed with a hint of tremor.
As soon as the words left my mouth, the female ghost lunged forward, screaming, "Ah! What are you going to do? Help! Help!" A chilling scream echoed through the air, and I quickly pressed myself against the wall to look outside.
I saw the female ghost pounce and begin to gnaw frantically. In an instant, blood and flesh flew everywhere, and soon the screams ceased. With the sound fading away, the ghost fell into a daze once more. It stood up, rubbed its head, and slowly floated away to the side.
Seeing this, I reached out to pull up Li Zhisheng, gesturing for him to follow behind me. Li Zhisheng finally snapped out of his shock and cautiously trailed behind me.
Now another police officer was dead, and with a ghost roaming nearby, it was certain death no matter which side caught us.
I dared not think too much; I just wanted to leave as quickly as possible. After all, I had already obtained a clue, and continuing to search might put me in even more danger. It was best to escape while I still could.
Li Zhisheng and I walked cautiously, avoiding another patrolling officer along the way. Just as we were nearing the village entrance, Li Zhisheng let out a long sigh...
This sigh was hardly harmless; immediately, a ghost similar to the previous one burst out from a nearby house. However, this one was not as bulky and had short hair. They both twisted their heads in the same eerie manner.
The female ghost faced us directly. In the moonlight, I could clearly see that she had two pairs of sharp fangs—those fangs were extraordinarily long. The upward fangs curved sharply into her eyes, while the downward ones pierced into her trachea.
The ghost stood right in our path. Since we were walking behind the house on a narrow path that barely allowed one person to pass through, we were effectively trapped.
Behind me, Li Zhisheng couldn't see what was in front of me. Noticing that I had stopped moving, he gently nudged me from behind. This caused me to lean forward dangerously close to the ghost.
I quickly braced myself against the wall with all my strength to maintain my balance and barely managed to steady myself. Then I slowly leaned against the wall, creating a half-person-width gap for Li Zhisheng to see through.
He thought I was letting him go first and moved closer. But as soon as he stepped forward, he was startled by the ghost before him.
He quickly covered his mouth with one hand, trying hard not to make a sound. Then he bent down slowly to pick up a stone from the ground and threw it into the distance. The stone landed on a rooftop tile and rolled down with a loud clatter.
The female ghost rushed towards the sound. Seizing this opportunity, we quickened our pace and hurried out of the village entrance. As soon as we exited the village, we didn’t have time to catch our breath before running again until we reached where we had parked.
We sat in the car, panting heavily. I asked Li Zhisheng, "What was that ghost just now? You seemed to know something about it." Li Zhisheng patted his chest and replied, "That thing is called 'Xiu.' I mentioned that book on ghost refining before; it’s documented there."
With that, Li Zhisheng urged me on, "Hurry up and drive; I'll explain more once we're on the road." I nodded in agreement and started the car, turning around onto the highway.
On the road, I asked curiously, "What exactly is this 'Xiu'?" Li Zhisheng answered, "According to records, this thing cannot appear naturally; it must be refined by humans. As for the refining process..."
He paused for a moment before continuing: "It involves capturing those who are barely alive and locking them in a dark and silent room without food or water at first. Second, their eyes are gouged out; third, their mouths are sealed shut. If they’re still alive by then... they are suffocated to death."
I felt a chill run down my spine and interrupted him: "Why do those who refine ghosts have to use such cruel methods? Can't they be refined after death?!"
Li Zhisheng smiled and said, "What’s the point of refining a ghost when it’s already dead?" Hearing this, I felt a bit foolish for asking such a question and awkwardly chuckled.
Suddenly, for some reason, Li Zhisheng spoke in a very serious tone, "Shen Xu, have you ever considered that the Death Apostle is guiding you to do all this in order to turn you into an unparalleled Vengeful Spirit?"
"If you hadn’t mentioned it, I might not have thought of it. But now that I think about it, it seems possible. If he is using these events to achieve some goal, then turning me into what he wants and killing me would make me an Evil Spirit, right?!"
Li Zhisheng replied, "Yes, that’s highly likely. The process of creating all Evil Spirits requires them to be alive first. So I think his elaborate schemes to frame you and even involve these ghosts might be aimed at making you feel guilty enough to end up in prison, where he could then take action against you."
Listening to this made my spine tingle with fear. "So according to you, that staff of his is meant to make me believe he couldn’t possibly be behind this, even leading me to think someone else is framing him, thus lowering my guard?"
At this moment, Li Zhisheng shifted from his earlier serious tone to a more calm demeanor. "Of course, this is just my speculation. I would prefer to believe that the Death Apostle is innocent. But with his abilities, who could possibly frame him? Just think about it; during the incident in Fengmen Village, he was secretly investigating and tracking us the entire time while we remained completely unaware..."
"Anyway, regardless of anything else, I need to confront the Death Apostle directly and see what he has to say before we make any plans." With that thought in mind, I unconsciously accelerated the vehicle.
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