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墨書 Inktalez
She looked at me with an expression of disbelief, ignoring my confusion, and continued, "You might have misunderstood. I meant he said I look like Mr. Chen's ex-girlfriend."
"Who is he? Is he the one who spoke during the call yesterday?" This was getting more complicated, and I couldn't make sense of it at all.
Miss Liu nodded and said, "Yes, he made me do all of this, probably around this time last year. It was a terrifying experience." She lifted her coffee cup to her lips but held it there for a long time without taking a sip.
I remained silent, lost in thought. Could this be a planned scheme for financial gain? One thing was certain: Miss Liu must resemble Mr. Chen's first love; otherwise, none of this would make sense. Moreover, not only must she resemble his first love, but Mr. Chen must also have had special feelings for her. As for what those special feelings were, I couldn't accurately judge, but it seemed to me that guilt might be involved.
However, mere resemblance didn't explain everything. There are many people in the world who look alike. If Mr. Chen was only with Miss Liu because she resembled his first love, that would be absurd; this is the real world, not a movie or TV show. This meant she must have done something to make Mr. Chen aware that she was the same person as his first love. This could be difficult or easy to achieve—she just needed to know some relatively secret details about Mr. Chen's relationship with his first love. The challenge lay in uncovering those secret details, which were not easily accessible.
From Miss Liu's tone, it seemed she initially didn't realize she looked like Mr. Chen's first love; she only found out through that person. Therefore, this matter was closely related to him. Setting aside whether Miss Liu's words were credible, at least this person was undoubtedly involved in the situation.
"What does that person do?" I asked curiously.
Miss Liu put down her coffee cup and glanced at her watch before saying, "I don't know who he is, but he controls me now. I'm suffering terribly under him. Since you're a Taoist, I'll be straightforward with you—he can control ghosts..."
"What?" I was once again stunned by Miss Liu's words. Here we were again with such matters; previously, when I saw the ghostly claw marks on Miss Liu, I thought she had encountered some Ghostly Affairs recently. It turned out that these marks were connected to Mr. Chen's situation. I continued, "You can't mean that Mr. Chen's death was caused by that person using ghosts to harm him? That doesn't make sense; no ghost would dare kill someone directly."
Miss Liu replied, "Of course not; he uses ghosts just to deal with me." After saying this, she turned away from me and used her left hand to pull down the fabric on her right shoulder, revealing most of her right shoulder where a clear palm print appeared—dark gray and distinctly visible. Even the impressions of the joints on the fingers could be seen clearly. Unlike an ordinary bruise, the handprint seemed stamped onto her skin's surface with particularly sharp edges and no gradual transition effect. Next to the clear palm print was another less distinct handprint—the one I had seen earlier.
I said, "How long has this Ghost Grasp Seal been on you?"
She turned back with a bitter smile and replied, "One of them has been there for two months; the fainter one is from last year. Speaking of which, I ended up with him because I encountered a ghost who helped me resolve some Ghostly Affairs; little did I know that from the beginning, it was all part of his trap—a trap that has brought me endless suffering."
"Miss Liu, could you tell me more about it?" At this point, I understood that in this matter, Miss Liu was merely a pawn. My tone softened as I spoke to her; in my view, once something involved ghosts or spirits, it became less incomprehensible.
Miss Liu said, "Let me briefly explain. He will be back soon. You are a Taoist; if you can help, I beg you to assist me." Then she began recounting her story.
It turned out that Miss Liu was a recent college graduate. One day, on her way home from work, she met a man named Sun Ming. She mentioned that when Sun Ming first approached her, she was taken by his charm. As a fresh graduate, she had little defense against such advances, especially since Sun Ming was quite handsome. Thus, she did not resist much, and they later discovered they lived in neighboring apartments.
They both resided in a type of urban village rental housing where the proximity of their units made visits frequent. Moreover, Sun Ming was an excellent cook, which helped them grow closer over time. Despite this, their relationship never crossed the line into romance; they maintained a delicate distance. It wasn't that Sun Ming lacked qualities; rather, Miss Liu had recently gone through a breakup and wasn't ready to jump into another relationship so soon.
One night, however, Miss Liu's room began to experience strange occurrences. Around midnight, she was abruptly awakened by the sound of frantic typing on a keyboard. The rental units were small—just a bed, a desk, and a wardrobe—and the desk was right next to her bed where her computer sat.
When she woke up, she saw someone with disheveled hair sitting at her computer, furiously typing away. Assuming it was a burglar, she dared not make a sound and cautiously covered herself with her blanket while peeking out. She wanted to believe it was just a dream, but the vividness of the scene and sensations made it impossible for her to convince herself otherwise.
Burglary was common in urban villages where all sorts of people mingled and security was not great. She watched as this person continued typing at her keyboard without doing anything else. After several minutes of fear, she decided to try and save herself; the only person she could call for help was Sun Ming downstairs. She dialed his number but hung up as soon as he answered and instead sent him a text asking him to come rescue her. She felt relieved that the typing noise was loud enough that the intruder hadn’t noticed her texting.
However, just as she was about to peek out again, the figure suddenly turned its head and looked at her with a terrifying expression. That sight horrified her; this was no human but clearly a ghost—long hair cascading down and a pale face marked with streaks of blood. The sight sent her into panic; she could no longer remain calm and screamed while desperately trying to retreat to the other side of the bed—only to find it against the wall with nowhere left to go.
As she watched the ghastly figure float closer with its menacing face, fear overwhelmed her completely. She turned away from it towards the wall in despair, feeling as if an icy hand had been placed upon her shoulder—cold and piercing. She had no idea what was happening.
Just then, urgent knocking sounded at her door followed by Sun Ming's voice calling out: "Liu X! What's wrong? Open the door! It's me! Stop messing around and let me in!"
At the sound of his voice, the chilling sensation on her shoulder vanished instantly. She turned around and saw nothing else in the room; after a moment of realization that she had indeed encountered a ghost, she trembled as she walked to the door and opened it. Seeing Sun Ming felt like finding a lifeline; she rushed into his arms and cried uncontrollably on his shoulder. Other neighbors on their floor also opened their doors after being awakened by her earlier screams; upon seeing this scene, they thought nothing of it and assumed it was just a couple having an argument.
Sun Ming embraced Miss Liu and tried to guide her back inside her room, but she shook her head vigorously, insisting that she couldn't go back in because there was a ghost inside. Ultimately, Sun Ming had no choice but to take her to his room downstairs instead.
Upon entering the room, Sun Ming told her that he was a Daoist and not afraid of ghosts. He glanced at the Ghost Grasp Seal on her shoulder and said, "This is just a result of malevolent energy entering your body. Sit still while I help you exorcise it." Sun Ming seemed to have some knowledge of Daoist Arts; he prepared a Talisman Water and gradually weakened the obvious Ghost Grasp Seal on Miss Liu's shoulder.
After this incident, Miss Liu's fondness for Sun Ming grew immensely. He was someone who understood the ways of spirits, a figure she had only seen in movies, now standing right beside her. How could she remain composed? If this hadn't happened to her, she would never have believed it, but since it did happen to her, how could she stay calm? In her heart, Sun Ming became her guardian angel sent from above. Moreover, she had never disliked him; now, she admired him even more.
Every young girl hopes to find a prince who can provide her with a sense of security. Without a doubt, Sun Ming, who was unafraid of ghosts, offered her that reassurance. The next day, they officially began their romantic relationship and started living together. In Miss Liu's mind, living with Sun Ming was the only way to avoid encountering ghosts and to feel safe.
Not long after they moved in together—just a few days—Sun Ming suddenly told Miss Liu that they were struggling financially and had no savings. He wanted to earn more money to buy a house for her, to give her a complete home. He also mentioned having a plan that could earn them a lot of money and needed her cooperation. To Miss Liu, Sun Ming was an all-powerful hero; she naturally believed everything he said without question. Without even asking for details, she nodded in agreement.
At this point, I interjected, "Does his plan involve you getting close to Mr. Chen?"
Miss Liu snapped out of her sorrowful expression at my interruption and glanced at the clock in panic. "Yes, it's about getting me close to Mr. Chen; he's coming back soon. I need to go right away! If I get the chance, I'll contact you." After saying this, she hurriedly stood up and left the room.
"Hey! Hey!" I called after her but couldn't stop her. I took a sip from my coffee cup and finished the remaining coffee in one go, muttering to myself, "She didn't even buy anything before running off. What kind of person is this?"
This concludes the six o'clock update. Thank you all for your votes; please keep them coming! I have some matters to attend to tonight but will try to write another chapter when I return.
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