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墨書 Inktalez
In my childhood memories, I often had a recurring dream where I lived in a narrow courtyard. In the center was a weathered cement path, barely two and a half meters wide, too narrow for even a small two-seater electric car to pass through. On either side of the path stood uniform, neatly arranged houses made of flat bricks, each equipped with old-fashioned double doors—an iron security door on the outside and a wooden panel door on the inside.
This courtyard could accommodate four or five families, each with one flat-roofed house and one kitchen, lined up in rows. Above the doors hung tattered plastic awnings meant to shield from the rain, drooping lifelessly as if they might fall at any moment. This was the place where I grew up.
However, life in my dreams was far from the peaceful image I just described; it was instead filled with tension and anxiety. I was always being chased by a pack of vicious wolves. To escape them, I could only see what I could climb—drainage pipes, security doors, staircases leading to platforms... Most often, I found myself scaling a blue security door (the old style that wasn’t fully enclosed, similar to the security grilles installed outside modern windows) to reach the roof. After getting over the top of the door, I would have to climb over a nearly bare red brick wall. Each time was terrifying; below me were wolves with gaping jaws ready to snap me up. I had no choice but to tense every muscle in my body and keep climbing, crying as I went, determined to forge a path even when there seemed to be none.
So every time I woke up, my pillow would be soaked. If my pillow was wet, it meant I had dreamt that dream again. My muscles would ache all over, evidence of how much effort I had exerted in my dreams just to keep from falling.
This dream troubled me for several months; sleeping felt more exhausting than being awake. It was truly unbearable to think about. Yet now, it suddenly inspired me. In this critical moment that determined everyone's fate, I pointed at the dense Cedar Forest around us and shouted, “Quick! Climb up the trees!”
But then I recalled that cedar tree which had fallen with just one blow from Wang Meng. I could only pray that it had been weak and malnourished; most of the cedars here were sturdy and resilient. I chose to remain silent because this was our only hope; we needed everyone to believe that this hope was bright, immense, and achievable. As long as our spirits didn’t falter, we could find more solutions than there were difficulties.
The cedars here were tall and branched out widely, making them easy to climb. Even those who had never climbed a tree before could quickly ascend and reach great heights.
While climbing trees provided temporary relief from being trapped between two threats, no one could guarantee that it wasn’t just leading us into a trap where we would be helpless. The Shui Lai Tou gathered below us grew increasingly impatient, beginning to thrash against the tree trunks with their tails or bodies. At that moment, everyone felt a knot of anxiety in their hearts; we all understood that if this continued unchecked, even the sturdiest giant cedar could be broken by them—it would only be a matter of time before they turned those below into their next meal.
The cedar tree I climbed was relatively sturdy, but due to my fear of heights, I didn’t dare go too high. The swaying wasn’t enough to throw me off just yet; however, it wouldn’t hold for more than ten minutes. If more aggressive creatures joined in below, it wouldn’t take long before they overwhelmed me.
Suddenly, I thought of Liu Zi. In the chaos earlier as we each focused on escaping our own lives, I hadn’t seen which tree he climbed. So I shouted into the air directly: “Liu Zi! Don’t you understand beast language? Hurry up and tell them to go back where they came from!”
A second later, Liu Zi’s voice came down from above me: “You think I don’t want to? Damn it! They don’t listen to me!”
I exclaimed urgently, "You have to give it a shot! You're the only one here who can do anything. Besides, weren't you just chatting with Wang Meng? Just say a few words to calm them down; if they keep shaking, the tree will fall!"
As soon as I finished speaking, there was a loud crack, and a nearby fir tree nearly broke in half. Then came the sound of my junior brother wailing like a pig being slaughtered, "Damn it, I can't hold on much longer!"
A couple of seconds later, amidst the continuous crashing of branches falling around us, Sixzi's voice rang out again: "There's something you all shouldn't blame me for. When I was 'communicating' with Comrade Wang Meng earlier, I might have accidentally transmitted some incorrect information... The specifics are complicated, but the result is straightforward—"
I vaguely saw Sixzi making a downward gesture, but realizing that not everyone could see it from their position, he continued, "I summoned its companions..."
The situation for my junior brother was extremely critical; the fir tree he was clinging to was swaying dangerously, surrounded by a swarm of seventeen or eighteen Shui Lai Tuo that were relentlessly crashing into it, seemingly intent on making him their appetizer. My junior brother shouted in frustration, "If you summoned them, just send them back!"
Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind: it's easy to invite a deity but hard to send one away. However, this was just a matter of Sixzi's words; it wasn't impossible to handle. Could it be that Sixzi was hiding something else from us?
Sure enough, I heard Sixzi say, "Do you think I want this? Look at this bunch down there; how are they any different from Wang Meng?"
There was no time for my junior brother to respond with any finesse. He cursed loudly, "Spit it out already! If I fall down there, I'll drag you down with me!"
At that moment, Old Qiao's voice came from above at an angle, sounding very close to Sixzi: "Hey, why do they all have no wings?"
I glanced down as well. Although my vision was shaky, the target was so large and I wasn't very high up that I quickly noticed Old Qiao was right—these Shui Lai Tuo below indeed had bare backs without the grotesque wings that Wang Meng had.
Another loud crack echoed through the air followed by a scream that came from Sixzi's direction. It seemed he had also met with misfortune: "Damn it! You scared me to death!" After pausing for two seconds as if adjusting his position again, he added, "'Wang Meng' is lucky; he's been infected and turned into 'Lai Tou Wang.' This bunch down here is here for revenge! Why are they coming after me? I didn't kill their leader!"
A chill ran through me as I listened—were they really here for revenge? Just then, my feet suddenly felt empty; damn it! The branch had actually broken?!
I could only let out a loud "Ah—" as my vision flipped upside down. Everything around me turned upside down, and a chilling breeze rushed against my back. The excited whinnying in my ears was almost piercing, growing closer and closer—I deserved this.
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