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墨書 Inktalez
After sending off Zeng Senior, I lost all interest in the old campus and the Air Raid Shelter. It wasn't that I lacked the courage to face such things again; rather, the supernatural events rumored about those two places seemed utterly unfounded to me. However, today I want to talk about an incident involving a classmate whom I wasn't particularly close to. We weren't in the same major, but we got to know each other through the Freshman Cup Football Tournament. Just as I was about to dribble past the goalkeeper and score, he tackled me hard, and I ended up spending a few days in the campus hospital. He visited me every day, and just like that, we naturally became good friends through this unexpected encounter. Fortunately, at that time, the term "bro" hadn't yet come into vogue.
This classmate's surname is Zhou, and he hails from Shandong. His football skills are impressive—just a notch below mine—and he has a bold personality that can be intimidating even to himself at times. Yet, his straightforward and generous nature resonated with me. We would typically play football together once a week, except during holidays; otherwise, we played rain or shine. He always called me for our games since he was the one who tackled me first, so I didn't feel guilty about it.
One weekend during our junior year, he didn't call me for a game. When I tried calling him, there was no response. I found it odd and decided to check his dormitory. Upon arriving, I learned from his roommate that he had been hospitalized. When I asked what was wrong, his roommate said they didn't know either. Apparently, just last night after showering and before lights out, he suddenly started screaming and then fainted.
I was puzzled; Zhou Mengzi had always been healthy—how could this happen? I quickly asked where he was hospitalized, and they told me it was at Main Campus Hospital—the same place we usually went for check-ups—located at the intersection of Guangba Road and Bayi Road.
After getting the room number, I hurriedly bought some fruit and rode my bike over. When I arrived at the ward, besides Zhou Mengzi, there was a girl I didn’t recognize but who appeared to be quite close to him. When she saw me enter, she hesitated for a moment before asking who I was looking for. Judging by her accent, she seemed to be from Xiangxi. She was pretty enough but had a shifty gaze that made me uncomfortable; however, in my anxious state, I brushed it off.
Seeing Zhou Mengzi awake relieved me, so I immediately asked what had happened. Before he could respond, the girl spoke up: "He's fine; he just got a bit scared." I couldn't understand what kind of fright could land him in the hospital—he had a strong constitution and was even bolder than I was in certain situations.
Zhou Mengzi kept staring at me with a look of despair on his face; he seemed particularly weak—his Yintang and philtrum areas even appeared slightly darkened. This confirmed my suspicion that it wasn't just a minor scare; it must have been something truly shocking.
I quickly set down the fruit and pulled up a chair beside him. Turning to the girl, I asked, "Are you his girlfriend? From that school?"
She replied, "We've been dating for over a year now; I'm from Hua Master across the street." I glanced at Zhou Mengzi in confusion. He nodded affirmatively.
That made sense; aside from playing football together, we never exchanged greetings when we bumped into each other—just pure sports camaraderie. Zhou Mengzi continued: "You've been here all night; you might as well go home and rest. My friend is here." His words clearly indicated he wanted her to leave, so I nodded at her and said, "You should head back now; if you need anything later, come back tonight."
She nodded in agreement but shot Zhou Mengzi a tender glance filled with warmth before looking at me with indifference as she turned to leave. At that moment, I couldn't help but admire her—she truly seemed unaffected by male charm.
Once she left, I quickly closed the door behind her and leaned closer to Zhou Mengzi to ask what had happened. He paused for a moment before replying with evident fear in his eyes: "I really got scared." Instantly alarmed, I urged him to recount what had transpired.
He took a sip of water and recounted his experience from last night.
It turned out that after showering yesterday evening, he sat down at his desk to comb his hair. Everything seemed normal until halfway through when he noticed something fluttering past him like a moth. He didn't think much of it and continued combing his hair until something beyond comprehension occurred.
While he was grooming himself in reality, the reflection in the mirror showed him not moving at all. Initially thinking he must have misseen something, he stopped combing only to realize that his reflection began combing its hair while grinning at him.
As he recounted this part of the story, disbelief washed over me—I thought perhaps it was some spirit haunting the mirror but dismissed it upon further reflection. First of all, this happened in a dormitory—not a bathroom—and there were too many people around for any spirit to be so bold. Secondly, even if a spirit were attached to the mirror, it wouldn't behave like that. Lastly, if it truly were a spirit scaring him like that, waking up wouldn't happen so quickly nor would symptoms manifest like this—it resembled poisoning.
I quickly asked him: "Are you sure you were using a mirror and not some cheap front-facing camera with lag?"
He insisted it was definitely a mirror—he was absolutely certain about it. "How could you see anything if you were hallucinating?" he countered as I recalled how his dorm mates said he had fainted instantly.
I lowered my head in thought. He didn't seem too worried and even asked me to get him a banana. Suddenly, I remembered that girl and said, "You mentioned he spent the night with you. So she must have come over last night."
He replied, "Yeah." I asked, "How did you notify her if you passed out?" Zhou Mengzi thought for a moment and said he didn't know; he had just woken up that morning and was already here. It was probably one of the classmates in the dorm who told her. I suggested he call his classmates, but he said he didn't bring his phone since he had passed out at the time. I told him to wait for me and headed back to their dorm.
When I returned to their dorm, there was only one person there; the other two must have gone out. I walked straight to Zhou Mengzi's desk to find that piece of mirror. It hadn't shattered; it only had a few cracks. I quickly tucked it into my bag and asked the classmate if he knew who informed Zhou Mengzi's girlfriend last night. He said no one did; after Zhou Mengzi fainted, they carried him downstairs and ran into his girlfriend on the way to the hospital. After seeing her, Zhou Mengzi woke up shortly after but still felt weak, so they all went to the campus clinic together.
I asked what time it was then.
He replied it was almost eleven.
I inquired if Zhou Mengzi had planned to go out on a date last night.
He said no; he had changed into pajamas and was getting ready for bed.
At this point, I found it a bit strange. A girl from Hua Master appeared in Wuhan University in the middle of the night, and her boyfriend was unaware of it. That wasn't too surprising; perhaps she wanted to give him a surprise or something. But then this bizarre incident happened right at that moment, blocking their way to the hospital. Not only that, but after meeting her, Zhou Mengzi, who had fainted from shock, woke up.
After analyzing all this, I felt like a clever young man. I quickly thanked that classmate and took Zhou Mengzi's belongings back to my dorm. First, I needed to see if that mirror had any spiritual response; secondly, I had an important matter to attend to—lunch.
Once everything was done, I returned to Zhou Mengzi's hospital room. The girl hadn't come yet; maybe she was still asleep. The mirror itself didn't seem to have any issues; it clearly hadn't been possessed by any spirit. I bluntly told him, "I suspect there's something wrong with your girlfriend." He clearly didn't expect me to say that suddenly and lowered his head as he replied that she was no longer his girlfriend.
From his eyes, I saw only disappointment and reluctance, devoid of any love. Since that was the case, I could openly suspect her now.
I asked if his girlfriend was from the Miao ethnic group. He confirmed she was. Nodding, I said, "I see. Give me her phone number; I'll find out what happened before dark."
After Zhou Mengzi gave me her number, he asked what I intended to do. Sometimes trust works like this; even with doubts, one will act without hesitation. Since he had already told me, I didn’t plan to explain anything further. I simply said he'd find out tonight.
Then I turned and left the room.
As soon as I exited the ward, I dialed her number. It took a while for her to answer; her voice sounded lazy as if she hadn’t fully woken up yet. After she greeted me with a "hello," I directly introduced myself as Zhou's friend from this morning and asked if we could meet up to talk.
She seemed a bit flustered and said she needed to go take care of him. I replied, "No need; he's fine, and you know his situation best, don’t you?" She fell silent for a while without responding. I wasn’t in a hurry; I knew she was probably guessing what I knew. Finally, she said, "Okay, where should we meet?"
I instructed her to come over to Hua Master and walk directly into the Department of Informatics; I'd be waiting at the bleachers of the soccer field there. She acknowledged with an "uh-huh" before hanging up. I hurried toward the Department of Informatics while contemplating how to approach this conversation with her. I was fairly certain this matter involved her; it was just that she wasn’t volunteering any information, leaving me unsure of how to broach the subject.
When I arrived at the stands of the football field, she had not yet shown up. After waiting for a while, she finally made her way over and sat down beside me, directly asking, "What did you find out?" Her question only solidified my suspicions. I replied, "Why scare him?"
She stared at me, seemingly incredulous. I had to admit that if she hadn't done this, I would have thought of her as a kind-hearted beauty. But knowing what she had done diminished my impression of her significantly. It wasn't that I couldn't appreciate beauty; it was just that sometimes things couldn't be judged solely by appearances—specific events needed to be treated with care.
She remained silent, her gaze drifting away from my face to the distance, looking somewhat lost. Since she wasn't speaking, I decided to continue alone. "It's the Mirror Calamity."
Upon hearing this, she gasped and quickly looked at me, saying, "You're also Miao?"
I clarified that I wasn't Miao but that I knew about it.
She sighed and said, "Yes, it is the Mirror Calamity. You guessed it right."
The Mirror Calamity is one of the Witchcraft Five Calamities; the Fated Curse is associated with the Human-Faced Moth. This type of sorcery is difficult to cultivate—not because it's inherently hard but because the cultivation process takes a long time, around ten years. I couldn't understand why this girl in her twenties would possess the Mirror Calamity. I'd heard from my master that in this day and age, some Miao families in Xiangxi start raising sorcery from a young age, usually for self-protection. However, this girl was different; the sorcery she cultivated was notably aggressive.
To clarify, the so-called Mirror Calamity creates harm through mirrors.
After about ten years of special cultivation methods involving the Human-Faced Moth, it can grow three human faces. When a witch controls it, it can fly behind a mirror and mimic the appearance of whoever is looking into it, performing actions beyond one's comprehension. Therefore, someone unaware of this would surely be terrified; however, for those who understand even a little about it, it would be useless. So when Zhou Mengzi recounted his experience to me, after ruling out Spirit God interference, my first thought was indeed the Mirror Calamity.
The term witchcraft is actually part of Chu witch culture. Witchcraft is a broad category that predates Daoism. It's not an exaggeration to say that Daoism is derived from witchcraft origins. Witchcraft also represents an ancient form of sorcery that tends to be rather sinister and often used for harm. Most practitioners are women because sorcery is considered extremely yin.
Now back to the matter at hand.
After she acknowledged it was the Mirror Calamity, before I could respond, her eyes turned red and she began to cry, startling me into standing up. Feeling somewhat at a loss and awkwardly glancing around to ensure no one was watching us, I quickly handed her a tissue and said, "Please stop crying; let's talk calmly. I know many people here; I don't want them to misunderstand and think I'm bullying you." She realized she had lost her composure and managed to stop crying.
Once she calmed down a bit, I said, "No matter what grievances you have, you shouldn't treat him this way. And I believe in his character; he wouldn't do anything that would warrant you treating him like this." She sobbed as she told me it was actually her fault; it was all because of her. I broke into a cold sweat and asked, "If you know it's your fault, why treat him like this?"
She gathered herself and said, "Since you know so much and won't let this go regarding how I've treated your friend, I'll be honest with you and explain everything." I replied firmly, "If you don't clarify everything for me, I really won't let this go..."
They had been together for over a year; she had pursued Zhou Mengzi actively. Zhou Mengzi was originally an honest and straightforward person. Although he wasn't lacking in conditions, he wasn't fickle either—his interests were limited to playing football, studying, and enjoying a drink or two; he didn't have any ulterior motives or schemes.
It is often said that when a woman pursues a man, there are obstacles in the way. So, after a few text messages, Zhou Mengzi was captivated. For a while, she loved him deeply. Every weekend or whenever they had no classes, she would wait early at the bottom of his dormitory building, obedient to Zhou in every way. That feeling made Zhou incredibly happy.
Gradually, Zhou Mengzi also fell deeply in love and became increasingly concerned about her, trying every means to treat her well. He was willing to give anything for her and do anything for her. He had already regarded her as the most important person in his life.
However, there are people in this world who are fickle by nature. To such people, anyone is merely a passerby. They date just for the experience, not caring who the other person is. It's like eating; since everyone has to eat, it doesn't matter who they eat with.
Clearly, she was one of those people.
After dating Zhou Mengzi for six months, right after a joyful date, she suddenly became indifferent towards him and even started showing off her affection with her new boyfriend the very next evening.
From Zhou's perspective, he could not accept this. He couldn't imagine how quickly his beloved girlfriend could change without any warning. The girl who had been so obedient to him now seemed to throw herself into someone else's arms as if she didn't even know him.
At first, Zhou tried various ways to win her back, pleading and even humiliating himself by begging on his knees. Yet she treated him like a passerby, not even sparing him a glance, hurling insults and slandering him instead. Eventually, Zhou felt utterly hopeless and gradually gave up.
There is no greater sorrow than a heart that has died.
When her new boyfriend dumped her, after cycling through several different partners in just a few months, she realized that no one could treat her as well as Zhou did. She wanted to rekindle their relationship. Although Zhou also tried to get back together with her, memories of the past created an insurmountable barrier between them. After forcing themselves to interact for a week, Zhou decisively broke up with her again and made it clear that he never wanted to see her again.
Human emotions are strange; the more you cannot have something, the more you feel unwilling to let it go. She fell into a frenzy of imbalance, feeling that since Zhou had once lowered himself to beg for her affection, it was unfair that he now refused to be with her. When all attempts to win back Zhou failed and she couldn't even see him anymore, she thought of using sorcery to meet him again.
As I quietly listened to her recount everything that had happened, I understood the entire situation. I had no intention of comforting her because she simply did not deserve it.
Someone who treats relationships so frivolously has no right to seek sympathy from others. I said: "When he loved you, you could say whatever you wanted; after you hurt him deeply, what do you think you are?" She fell silent.
In my view, her sadness did not stem from love for Zhou but rather from a sense of unwillingness. She always believed that Zhou was her eternal protector and could never treat her this way. I said: "I don't know where your confidence comes from, but I can tell you clearly that your actions do not deserve anyone's love."
After I finished speaking, her eyes turned red as if she were about to cry. I said: "Enough with the act; you know exactly what kind of mindset you have." I continued: "What about your Fated Curse? That Human-Faced Moth?" She immediately returned to normal and asked what I wanted.
I replied: "What do you think I want? Scaring people away? Give me that thing of yours; don’t keep it around to continue causing harm." She was reluctant and explained extensively why she couldn’t give me the Insect of Sorcery and what would happen if she did. I said: "I can't worry about all that. I need to destroy that thing; I know this sorcery isn't too vicious and won't backfire on you too severely. If it were really dangerous, Zhou Mengzi would have been dead by now."
She looked unhappy as I exposed her once again. She even began to threaten me, and upon hearing her threats, I couldn't help but laugh.
I said, "You're just a young girl who raises insects. Regardless of how impressive you think you are, given your age, you can't possibly raise anything formidable. Since I know so much, I'm not afraid of you using your insects against me. You think you're the only one in this world who can talk nonsense? If you don't hand over that thing to me, how can I guarantee that you won't scare my friends again?" She muttered something incomprehensible and turned to leave.
I quickly grabbed her arm and said, "If you have any sense of conscience left, you'll give me what I want. I won't make things difficult for you. But if you insist on refusing, there are many ways to make you regret it. Do you believe me? Those who do evil will meet their end; you, as someone who raises insects, should know that. If you insist on leaving, then go ahead and try."
She saw that I had no intention of letting go and my emotions were escalating. She looked at me and said, "If I give you the insects, can you persuade Zhou not to treat me like that?"
I replied, "You're dreaming! If it were me, I would have slapped you already." Her eyes dimmed, and after a few minutes, she finally took out a jar and handed it to me. Then I released her.
After she left, I returned to my dormitory and used talismans to ignite a fire. The peach wood kept the flames alive until the Human-Faced Moth that had been raised for nearly ten years was completely burned away.
That evening, when I returned to Zhou's hospital room, he seemed much better. After one more night in the hospital, he would be fit enough to play football again. I told him the matter was resolved and that he was completely done with her. He looked at me with an indifferent expression and said nothing. Seeing that he didn't ask further questions, I also chose not to elaborate. He truly seemed unconcerned; he didn't let me down.
This outcome was for the best; no one is obligated to protect anyone forever. Those who care for us for a while will eventually move on, while those who will guard us for a lifetime will come along.
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