Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
After sending off Xin Yi, it was already past eleven. This older brother, whom he had only known for a short time, seemed to care for him more than he could have imagined. Before leaving, he fussed over him like a mother hen, detailing all the precautions for living alone at home from head to toe, even more meticulously than his own parents would have. As Song Bunan closed the door, he couldn't help but let his mind wander with all sorts of thoughts. The first that came to him was: brother Xinyi must be trying to pursue his older brother by starting with him.
What was that saying again?
To pursue someone, you first need to win over the people around them.
“Hmm…” Suddenly feeling like he had stumbled upon a significant piece of gossip, he rubbed his hands together in excitement and headed toward his bedroom. Such juicy news had to be shared with his friends! Although it was just a wild guess, his intuition had always been spot on whenever it made an appearance.
Noticing there was still some time before midnight, Song Bunan happily opened his computer, logged onto the chat software, and clicked on the avatar he hadn’t opened in two months. He sent a message: [Brother Hua, I have some juicy gossip to share with you!]
Xiao Mei returned to Dragon Garden a day early. Standing in front of the small second-floor door, he noticed that someone had entered while he was away. The restriction meant to conceal the house’s true nature had been opened slightly, and the entire yard's restriction had been disrupted. The already gloomy place became even more eerie.
Zhang Long arrived a little later and exclaimed from behind him, “Whoa! This is serious trouble. Xiao Mei, do you think this place is still safe?”
The restriction was meant to hide the fact that this house was a Gathering Yin Land. While it didn’t affect humans much, Gathering Yin Land attracted many wandering spirits and ghosts from the surrounding area. If it absorbed enough Yin Qi and ghostly energy, whether the entities trapped within this house would remain obedient was another story altogether.
The trouble now was that the restriction in front of the small second-floor door was something he had created himself, so restoring it would be relatively simple. However, the one outside the yard had been set up by his master back in the day. Now that his master was dead and his soul lingered in this house without showing itself, restoring it would be exceedingly difficult. He couldn’t sense any information about who had come here; instead, the increasingly heavy ghostly energy around him made him feel anxious.
He stepped forward and kicked away the stone at the center of the restriction, exposing his little house completely. Before Zhang Long could ask what he was doing, Xiao Mei pulled out a dagger from his backpack and made a cut in his palm, letting blood drip onto the ground. Once there was about a bowl-sized amount of blood pooled on the ground, Xiao Mei closed his eyes and took a deep breath before plunging the dagger into the blood.
The ease with which the blade penetrated the earth was akin to slicing through tofu. At that moment when Xiao Mei released the hilt of the dagger, the temperature around them rose significantly due to the heavy ghostly energy, causing Zhang Long to shiver involuntarily.
He grabbed Xiao Mei's wrist, intending to make him unclench his fist but then remembered he hadn’t brought a first aid kit with him. He knew well how this kid operated; while he treated people kindly, when it came to ghosts or monsters, he became extremely extreme. From choosing to come to Dragon Garden and inspect the yard, he knew this kid wasn’t just waiting for his master’s soul to appear; sure enough, during one visit with Shui Su, he learned that this kid had captured several wandering souls and imprisoned them in this house—under the guise of giving them a home.
Fortunately, they were well-equipped inside the house. After bandaging Xiao Mei’s wound, Zhang Long poked at Xiao Mei’s head a few times and said, “What on earth are you thinking? There are at least three or four other methods you could use; why did you have to choose this one? I think Shui Su has been gone too long; you’ve lost your mind! When he comes back, just wait until I tell him.”
Despite saying that, Zhang Long carefully laid Xiao Mei's hand flat and forced himself to check Xiao Mei’s body thoroughly for any other places where blood could be drawn easily. He didn’t care whether Xiao Mei liked it or not; if anything happened to this kid and their boss found out about it, he’d be lucky if he didn’t get skinned alive.
Meanwhile, Xiao Mei allowed Zhang Long to flip him over like a pancake as he pondered over a list of people who could break through his master’s restrictions. In this city, there were no more than five individuals who knew this place was a Gathering Yin Land and understood its restrictions—two of whom had long since disappeared without a trace; one was too old to move; another was their boss; and one claimed he would return soon. So who could have broken through the restrictions and for what purpose?
He remembered his master saying that if this place absorbed too much Yin Qi, it would lead to unknown consequences—consequences that would certainly cause trouble for many people trying to live their lives normally. Those in their line of work might not be saints but should still strive not to cause major incidents that would harm humanity. His master sacrificed his life to protect this place and became a ghost lingering in this house; for three years now Xiao Mei had tried countless methods to see him but all were in vain.
Now that the restrictions were broken and that day drew near again if he didn’t find a way to activate the house before Shui Su returned—wouldn’t all of his master’s sacrifices be in vain?
With that thought in mind, he began looking forward to exploring this house with Song Bunan tomorrow night; whatever might happen remained uncertain but his intuition told him that he could obtain valuable information from this boy.
“Xiao Mei,” Zhang Long said after confirming that Xiao Mei hadn’t done anything infuriating lately as he helped him tidy up his clothes. “It’s almost your master’s three-year memorial day soon. Hasn’t he shown himself yet?”
Brought back from his thoughts by those words, Xiao Mei nodded gently in response: “He still doesn’t want to see me. But it seems something will definitely happen on that day as three years draw near. Now that someone has broken through the restrictions outside if I can’t find a way to awaken those entities within the house my master’s sacrifice will have been for nothing. I’ve invited Song Bunan over tomorrow night; since he can be summoned by the house he should also be able to help me.”
Zhang Long looked outside as darkness fell and turned on the lights before heading into the kitchen to prepare dinner. Grabbing some frozen dumplings from the fridge, he casually said: “If you really plan on bringing that kid in here you’d better explain clearly why you need his help tomorrow. This is no small matter; make sure you’re prepared for the worst.”
Perhaps it was due to Song Bunan’s sincere feelings touching Black Notebook; as soon as time struck midnight, Song Bunan hurriedly opened up his notebook to where he had written earlier. The black words on white paper remained unchanged but reverted back to content that only appeared at specific times—this caused his heart hanging above his head to drop back into his chest with relief. Letting out a long breath and feeling so excited that he kissed his notebook twice before suddenly losing interest in reading further, he placed it back on the table.
He picked up the paper that the shadow had returned to him, wanting to study it closely. However, the smudged characters were utterly illegible. After pondering who might be able to help him decipher it, he realized that only Xiao Mei seemed to have the ability to understand or grasp its meaning.
He took a photo and sent it through the chat interface, along with several voice messages explaining why this strange item had appeared. Prepared to wait until the next day for a response, Song Bunan lay down in bed, ready to drift off to sleep. Just as he snuggled comfortably under the covers, his phone rang, interrupting his peaceful moment.
"Are you saying that the item you sent to the ghost was accepted?" Xiao Mei's voice on the other end was filled with excitement, her words tumbling out in a breathless rush. Startled by her enthusiasm, Song Bunan swallowed hard and stammered a confirmation.
After that, he could hear her breathing heavily, as if she were suppressing something. They remained silent for a while until Song Bunan, caught between sitting up and lying down, finally chose to recline again. It was then that she spoke up once more: "Come over to the house tomorrow afternoon. I have some important things to tell you. Also, remember to bring the bracelet I gave you and wear something warm."
Having committed her instructions to memory, Bunan readily agreed before hanging up. Just before falling asleep, he glanced at the chat window again; despite sending gossip earlier, he hadn’t received any replies. Yet, brother Hua was usually most active at this hour.
" brother Hua, have you been busy lately...?"
Comment 0 Comment Count