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墨書 Inktalez
"It’s already dark. Even if we escape, we wouldn’t know where to go. So let’s just stay here! At least we don’t have to worry about being out in the wilderness." Zuo Yi crossed his hands behind his head. "And we have an injured guy slowing us down."
"The most important thing is that there might be someone we’re looking for hidden here," Su Jin'er said as she walked over and sat down at the table.
"Then how are we supposed to sleep? Lying down here?" Linyuan pointed at the table with wide eyes.
Su Jin'er fiddled with the wax dripping from the candle and said, "Even if I gave you a bed, would you be able to sleep?"
Linyuan shrugged and fell silent.
The room suddenly became quiet, with only a few people’s soft breathing and the occasional crackling sound from the burning candles.
After a while, Su Jin'er softly asked, "Do you believe that Li Yiqian is the one who killed Xiaoqing and Li Ran?"
Everyone was taken aback by her sudden question and looked at her in confusion.
"I don’t know if you remember what Zhang Luosheng once said. He claimed he saw Li Ran commit suicide. Would someone about to commit suicide be shouting for help?"
"So are you saying that Li Yiqian is lying?" Linyuan pressed a piece of still warm wax against the table.
"I don’t know. I just find Li Ran's death very strange. There were indeed only his footprints at the scene, and there were only his fingerprints on the knife. Unless Zhang Luosheng is lying, but what reason would he have to deceive us?" She still couldn’t figure it out.
"Maybe these things aren’t connected at all! Perhaps we’re overthinking it. Li Yiqing and Li Ran were killed by Li Yiqian, while the others were killed by someone else—maybe that person is who Li Yiqian mentioned," Zuo Yi analyzed.
"Exactly! And didn’t Li Yiqian say that person was insane? It’s possible that Li Yiqian’s hatred was also triggered by him, which is why Li Yiqian killed his own sister and Li Ran," Linyuan said excitedly, surprised that she could analyze the case as well.
Zuo Yi nodded, giving Linyuan a thumbs-up in appreciation. He seemed tired as he slowly leaned back, only to fall to the ground. The others stared at him in shock for a moment before bursting into laughter.
"Damn it! I forgot there’s no backrest here." He got up and brushed off the dirt from his clothes.
Suddenly, a chaotic sound of footsteps echoed outside. They quickly rushed to the window and saw many people outside running in one direction, holding torches.
"What are they doing?" Su Jin'er asked.
"Who knows! I can't shake the feeling that they look like people from primitive society!" Zuo Yi scratched his head and replied.
Since everyone outside was holding torches, they could see the expressions on each person's face. Just then, they spotted a familiar face.
"How is this possible? Didn't he die?" Linyuan exclaimed, his eyes wide with fear.
"What's wrong? Do you recognize someone out there?" Gaya Ze asked, looking at them.
"Yes, that person in the blue clothes looks exactly like Zhang Luosheng, but Zhang Junsheng is already dead!" Su Jin'er said.
At that moment, the person outside who resembled Zhang Junsheng seemed to unintentionally glance in their direction, a strange smile playing at the corners of his mouth, causing them to shiver involuntarily.
"This person is definitely not Zhang Junsheng," Su Jin'er asserted. Although she hadn't interacted much with Zhang Junsheng, she could tell he was a timid person.
"Then who is that person outside? They look too much alike!" Linyuan asked.
"Could it be that Zhang Junsheng has a twin brother? But even so, how could he be in this village?" Zuo Yi pondered while stroking his chin.
At that moment, Chu Feifan woke up. He frowned and rubbed his head, wincing in pain.
He looked around the dark room and at the candle flickering on the table, thinking there had been a power outage. Then he noticed his friends crowded by the only window and felt relieved.
"Where are we?"
His sudden voice startled them.
"Are you trying to scare us to death? You wake up and don't even say hello," Zuo Yi said unhappily.
"Didn't I just speak?" He got out of bed but immediately felt dizzy and sat back down. "Who hit me? That was quite a blow."
"It was the person we were looking for! That hit was really hard! Once we escape, you should get checked out to make sure you don't have a concussion or something."
"Escape? Have we been captured?"
"Yeah! We're locked in a Small Dark Room, and we saw someone who looks exactly like Zhang Junsheng." Su Jin'er sat back down at the table after watching the group of people outside.
"Looks exactly like Zhang Junsheng? I've never heard he had a twin brother!"
"What are those people up to? It seems like the whole village is involved," Zuo Yi also sat down.
"Definitely not the whole village. Did you see any women?"
Zuo Yi shook his head.
At that moment, footsteps sounded outside the door, different from before—this time they sounded cautious.
"Who is it?" Gaya Ze quickly moved to stand behind the door.
The person outside didn't answer but began unlocking the door. Gaya Ze frowned as he watched them.
The door opened, revealing a girl standing outside. She looked delicate, with shiny black hair tied into two braids resting on her chest.
"You all need to hurry and leave! Otherwise, they'll burn you alive," she said, her big, watery eyes filled with fear as she looked at them.
"Why would they burn us?" Gaya Ze asked.
"There's no time to explain now, just hurry and escape! Please don't tell anyone it was me who let you go, or my father will kill me."
The girl's words left them even more confused. Who were these people that could burn them alive, and what right did they have to take lives so casually?
"If you don't tell us what's going on, we won't leave," Chu Feifan said.
The girl glanced at Chu Feifan, her face turning red. She had never seen such a handsome boy before. Even with the bandage wrapped around his head, it couldn't hide his good looks.
She lowered her head and said, "I can't tell you the reason, but you must go. They mean what they say."
"What’s your name?" Su Jin'er asked her.
"Arian. I'm the daughter of the village chief here."
"How did you end up living here?"
"I don't know; I've lived here since I was born." Arian timidly looked outside and said, "If you're not leaving, then I will."
"You still haven't told us why you want to burn us alive!"
As Arian reached the door, she stopped without turning back and softly said, "I can't say. I won't lock the door; whether you leave or stay is up to you."
"Hey!" Zuo Yi called out again, but the girl had already vanished into the night.
"Have we encountered a group of savages?" Su Jin'er laughed.
"Who knows? But even if you don't want to run away, you wouldn't want to be burned to a crisp here! How about we go outside and see what those people are up to?" Zuo Yi suggested, looking at the group passing by outside.
A few of them chuckled in agreement. The thought of being burned alive was alarming, yet their strong curiosity kept them from leaving.
"Is your head okay?" Su Jin'er asked, looking at the injury on Chu Feifan's head.
"I'm fine."
"Then let's go! There are still many problems waiting for us to solve!" Su Jin'er stood up.
Their belongings had all been taken away, and now they didn't even have anything to provide light.
"Let's go! Even if it's a den of dragons and tigers, we will face it head-on," Zuo Yi said, his fists making a cracking sound.
The sky tonight seemed particularly dark, and the night wind felt especially cold against their faces. There was a strange smell in the air; it wasn't very strong, but it created an indescribable sense of oppression.
They quietly followed behind the group of people. There were many trees here, blocking the sky, and they were hiding in the woods, watching the group not far away.
"What are they doing?" Linyuan whispered.
"I don't know; maybe they're discussing something," Su Jin'er replied.
Suddenly, she felt that this scene was very familiar, as if it had happened before.
That dream?
Yes, the dream they once had.
Thinking of this, Su Jin'er widened her eyes in disbelief as she looked at them. Would what happened next be the same as in their dream?
It seemed that others also realized this point; everyone widened their eyes and held their breath as they watched everything before them.
"Is this the moment when dreams become reality?" Linyuan whispered.
Then, they saw the group of people slowly parting, exactly like in the dream, as if they knew that Su Jin'er and the others were watching from the shadows. The old man standing at the front glanced in their direction, and in front of him, a person was tied to a stone; they could not see his face.
"This is all too bizarre," Su Jin'er suddenly felt cold. If it was really like in the dream, then that person would have his heart ripped out next.
Sure enough, the old man closed his eyes and muttered something softly. Then he suddenly opened his eyes, and the knife in his hand plunged fiercely into the person's heart.
Although they could not see the person's expression, they could imagine how terrified he must have been.
At the moment the knife pierced the person's chest, blood splattered out, staining the old man's clothing. The warm blood seemed to splash onto them as well. The person's shrill scream abruptly stopped when his heart was taken out, leaving only his hollow gaze fixed on the sky, forever frozen in that moment of terror.
The old man raised the still steaming, blood-dripping heart towards the sky, and the crowd erupted into cheers, more excited than if they had won a prize.
"They are so cruel!" Linyuan said with tears in her voice.
"We need to get out of here! Otherwise, we really will be burned to death like Arian said," Zuo Yi said, unable to watch any longer.
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