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墨書 Inktalez
"How did you know there was a mechanism here?" I asked, puzzled. Li Zhisheng didn't answer directly; instead, he pointed to the open entrance. "This entrance won't stay open for long. Let's go in first, and we'll talk more once we're down."
After hearing this, I looked at the dark cave. Although I hesitated, I had no other choice but to lower my body and crawl inside. Li Zhisheng followed closely behind me.
Once we descended into the cave, I realized that this downward passage was even narrower than it appeared from outside. There was barely a four-finger gap between my shoulders and the walls, and the height was just enough for me to stand upright; if I were any taller, I would definitely hit my head.
In such a cramped space, I felt an unusual tightness in my chest, and even my breathing became rapid. Suddenly, a mechanical sound echoed behind us: "Click-clack... click-clack..."
I turned around in response and saw that the entrance was gradually closing, as if it were shutting. Noticing my anxiety, Li Zhisheng reassured me, "Don't worry; it's fine. Although this is my second time here, I can assure you that there are no harmful traps in this place."
Upon hearing him say "second time," I furrowed my brow. "Second time?!" Just as I finished speaking, the entrance slammed shut with a loud bang, plunging the entire passage into darkness.
Li Zhisheng calmly took out his phone and turned on the flashlight function. He smiled and said, "I kept forgetting to tell you that several generations of my ancestors have done this kind of thing, but since it's not a big deal, I didn't mention it..."
As he fell into thought, I stopped him by blocking his path. "Why didn't you tell me about this sooner? Also, how did you know about the secrets in this room..." My tone gradually shifted to one of questioning.
"The story of my family is quite long; I'll tell you more about it when we get back..." He pondered for a moment before continuing, "As for the mechanism here, I actually connected it to the hints from the envelope earlier. Didn't the letter say not to look for him after two o'clock? That means we must hurry before two."
"At first, I thought those two o'clock references might mean early morning, but it wasn't until I smelled the Ghost Oil that I was sure it referred to noon..."
Hearing Li Zhisheng mention Ghost Oil again made me interrupt him. "What exactly is Ghost Oil?"
"I'm just getting to that," he continued. "Ghost Oil is actually made from human fat, but it's different from what people usually refer to as corpse oil. Corpse oil is made from dead bodies, while Ghost Oil involves using a special method to seal a living person's last breath right before they die, putting them in a state between life and death. Then the whole person is roasted over a fire until the oil is extracted."
"There’s a lot of oil in a human body, but not all of it can be used; only the first drop is taken from each person—that drop is Ghost Oil. Everything else is just corpse oil. The oil in that lamp earlier required at least hundreds of people to produce. Therefore, Ghost Oil must contain an extremely dense amount of Yin Qi. If used at night or even in the afternoon, it would attract numerous Vengeful Spirits and Evil Ghosts. However, between eight in the morning and two in the afternoon is when Yang energy is strongest; thus even if Ghost Oil is used then, its Yin Qi can be counteracted..."
Upon hearing this and recalling the oil lamp from earlier, a chill ran down my spine. I gritted my teeth and said, "It seems this Death Apostle really isn't anything good if they're using such things..."
Li Zhisheng lowered his head silently at my words and softly said, "Actually... to be honest with you, my family also has a bit of Ghost Oil..."
"How could you too..." I stared at Li Zhisheng, momentarily speechless and unsure of what to say.
Seeing me get agitated, Li Zhisheng quickly explained, "That stuff didn’t come from me; it was passed down from my ancestors. As for how it came to be... that's unknown; perhaps it was bought from someone else... The main reason we keep it is that if it's not used and just stored at home, it can serve as a talisman against evil..."
"Forget it; now's not the time for that. Since you're sure there's no problem down there, let's go down and take a look..." With that thought in mind, I decided to proceed further down while Li Zhisheng followed behind me with his phone held up to illuminate our path.
But not long after, I discovered a wooden door in front of me. I placed my hand on the doorknob and turned to ask, "Are you sure there's no problem?" Li Zhisheng nodded.
Seeing the affirmative response, I began to turn the knob, but before I could apply any force, it turned by itself. With a creaking sound, the door swung open, revealing a tall figure before me.
The person in front of me looked at me and said, "Shen—"
"Meng Zhuang?! What are you doing here?!" I exclaimed in disbelief.
At that moment, another person stepped out from behind Meng Zhuang. In a somewhat hoarse voice, he said, "Didn’t I just tell you? Your friend is with me; he’s safe..."
"Come inside; it’s too crowded out here." The man turned on the lights inside the room, and instantly a spacious and cozy room appeared before my eyes. The one who turned on the light was Death Apostle.
Upon seeing him, an inexplicable anger surged within me. I pushed past Meng Zhuang and strode up to Death Apostle, grabbing his collar fiercely. "You keep claiming to be Yang Master. Why do you have Ghost Oil? Is all of this part of your plan? What about Gu Kai and the eighteen corpses from Gui Tian Village? Did you do all of this?!"
With that, I swung my fist toward Death Apostle's face. Just then, my hand was stopped by a force.
"Shen, calm down. Although I don’t know what your Gu Kai and those eighteen corpses are about, I think Mr. Death isn’t a bad person..." Meng Zhuang grasped my arm.
Li Zhisheng chimed in from the side, "Shen Xu, I think Meng Zhuang is right. Don’t get worked up; let’s clarify things first before we act..."
Death Apostle calmly brushed my hand away as if he had anticipated my reaction. He said nonchalantly, "No matter what you think, I can only tell you that I truly did not intend to harm you. I am also a victim of circumstances..." He rolled up his sleeve and presented his arm to me.
To my surprise, he had a blue mark on his arm similar to the ones on mine and Li Zhisheng's—only his was larger than Li Zhisheng's but slightly smaller than mine.
"This..." I pointed at his arm and was about to speak when Death Apostle interjected, "At this point, there's no need for me to hide anything from you. Let me tell you everything I know..."
With that, Death Apostle lowered his sleeve and walked over to sit down on a chair while gesturing for us to take a seat as well.
I hesitated but turned to look at Meng Zhuang and Li Zhisheng. Seeing them unceremoniously find their places to sit down, I had no choice but to find a chair for myself as well.
At this moment, Death Apostle sighed and said, "Shen, do you remember when I told you that I could help you remove the mark?" I nodded.
He continued, "In fact, the Third Box you were looking for was indeed in my possession. Since I didn’t have the Nine Star Diagram on me, obtaining the Box was useless. However, because I had touched the Box and received the mark from it, I was forced to seek ways to unlock it and remove the mark."
"Later on, due to the spread of the mark, I began trying various methods. Eventually, I discovered that using Ling and Xie could slow down the growth of the mark, but it was merely a temporary solution."
"It wasn't until one time when I sent my subordinate out for investigation that he returned with news about something called Soul Sealing Talisman. It can suppress Vengeful Spirits and even quell the malevolence of Millennium Evil Spirits. So I wondered if this item could also suppress the mark on my hand. However, later on, I learned that the Soul Sealing Talisman seemed to be contained in a Box identical to the one I had obtained... so I started searching everywhere..."
"Finally, I found you. I know you have the Box and that you have already opened it, so I wanted to find a breakthrough through you. You know what happened next. When I learned that you didn't have the Soul Sealing Talisman and that you were also threatened by the mark, the thought of collaborating with you emerged..."
He paused for a moment, seemingly organizing his thoughts, trying to figure out how to convince me. After a while, he continued, "I am indeed the Yang Master. The Ghost Oil upstairs was purchased at a high price from someone else. But do you know that burning this Ghost Oil not only allows ordinary people to see things they usually cannot but also wards off evil spirits..."
Hearing this, I recalled Li Zhisheng's words and replied, "I know; my friend just told me about it. Please continue."
The Death Apostle nodded. "Yes, and I set up such a mechanism in this old house out of necessity, mainly to evade Gu Kai's surveillance..."
At this point, a hint of fear appeared on the Death Apostle's face. "Regarding Gui Tian Village, I originally thought that place would be an Onizuka. I even thought that if I really found the Soul Sealing Talisman, I could regain my freedom... But after I had you investigate, I secretly arranged for some people to check out this village from the side. What I discovered turned out to be a big problem..."
"Gui Tian Village was originally named Gui Village. Due to geographical reasons, that place is very suitable for performing rituals and refining souls. In ancient times, many Yin Masters liked to gather there to practice harmful techniques, and several famous Yin Masters emerged from there. Gu Kai is one of them; if my investigation is correct, he is at least five hundred years old now..."
Hearing this, I was taken aback because I had seen Gu Kai and felt he was not even forty years old. The Death Apostle noticed my astonishment and chuckled, "There's nothing to be surprised about; these people are not immortals who have achieved enlightenment but rather those who have mastered a method of extending their lives using the souls of the living..."
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