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墨書 Inktalez
At that moment, I realized I was possessed.
My body was completely out of my control, and I found myself holding the machete I had used to chop down trees earlier, the blade pointed inward, ready to strike at myself.
I desperately tried to stop myself, but my arm refused to listen, bringing the machete closer and closer to my body.
I let out a chilling laugh, feeling a sense of twisted satisfaction as the machete sliced through my clothing, about to cut into my flesh.
Suddenly, a loud shout echoed above me: "Stop!"
In an instant, a flash of silver light appeared, and the machete flew from my hand, embedding itself in the ground some distance away.
My legs gave way beneath me, and I collapsed onto the ground.
Before me, blood began to surge and pool together, forming a figure. It seemed that the Blood Man had finally left my body.
Sensing someone nearby, I quickly looked up and froze in shock.
It was him.
The very man who had claimed to be my husband that night in the Dark Room.
Remembering that he was a ghost sent chills down my spine, and I instinctively took two steps back to create distance between us.
My movement seemed to irritate him. He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around my waist, holding me firmly in place.
His expression was as cold as an impending storm, devoid of any smile.
"My woman, you dare to move?" the Male Ghost said coldly as he looked down at me.
His words were clearly directed at the Blood Man, but when did I become his woman?
The Blood Man shrank back slightly, seemingly afraid of him, and his voice took on a hint of respect. "She cut off my root."
Root? Was he referring to that tree? I wasn't sure, but I didn't dare speak up and decided to observe the situation for now.
I saw the Male Ghost glance at the tree before throwing a bag of something at the Blood Man. He said to the Blood Man, "We're even now."
In an instant, the Blood Man trembled and knelt in our direction, then vanished along with the bag of items.
I rushed forward to see what was happening, but was grabbed by the Evil Spirit behind me. He pinched my nose, preventing me from breathing. "Foolish, being used as a pawn and not even realizing it."
His tone remained cold, but it seemed to soften slightly, tinged with a sense of disappointment.
Used as a pawn? By whom? How was I unaware of this?
I vaguely saw someone hiding behind the large tree ahead. The Male Ghost beside me seemed to notice as well and waved in that direction.
A massive figure flew over and landed in front of us. When the person on the ground turned over, I recognized him as Uncle Wang, the one who had threatened me.
Facing Uncle Wang, the Evil Spirit transformed completely. He was icy towards me but became a fierce presence towards Uncle Wang, exuding arrogance as if he were a demon from hell.
"Dare to touch her? You'll pay with your life."
Uncle Wang sensed the danger and crawled on his knees towards me, bowing in supplication. "Miss, please spare my life! I didn't mean to harm you. If you hadn't wanted my life, why would I have tried to harm you?"
Want his life? What was this Old Man rambling about? It was clearly him who wanted to harm me!
Remembering how he had threatened me with a knife earlier, I felt a surge of anger. I yanked him up and glared at him.
"Listen carefully, who is really after whose life?"
I couldn't tell if it was my sudden assertiveness or the fear of the Evil Spirit beside me that made Uncle Wang stutter, "My family sells coffins, and the wood for making them can't be bought. It's all stolen from the mountains. This kind of thing is too damaging to one's moral standing; we absolutely cannot let the Daoist know. Since you were sent by Liu Qingfeng, you must be here to take my life."
I was taken aback; I had no idea about any of this.
Liu Daozhang hadn't mentioned anything like that to me; he only told me to collect the wood.
Suddenly, a chilling wind blew, and an unusual thought crossed my mind. I instinctively hugged the Evil Spirit beside me, preventing him from making any moves, and softened my voice as I pleaded, "Let him go."
I didn't know why I could sense that the Evil Spirit was about to act against Uncle Wang. Although Uncle Wang wanted to kill me, he was misled by Liu Qingfeng. The real culprit was Liu Qingfeng, and I needed to confront him.
Under the moonlight, the handsome face with delicate features exuded elegance and coldness, radiating a unique charm. The Evil Spirit stared at me with an odd expression in his eyes.
"Alright."
After a long pause, he finally uttered that one word.
Uncle Wang moved quickly; as soon as the Male Ghost finished speaking, he bolted away.
Now it was just me and the Male Ghost left here. I suddenly felt the air around us shift subtly, and my heartbeat became unusually clear.
"Here, take this."
The Male Ghost suddenly handed me something, and I reached out to accept it.
He actually gave me a white bone with several holes poked in it, resembling a whistle.
"What is this?" I looked up and asked the Evil Spirit.
"My Pinky."
What?
This was actually his bone?
My first instinct was to throw it away, but the Evil Spirit saw through my thoughts and his expression turned cold. "You dare."
I shrank back, silently taking back my Pinky.
Only then did the Evil Spirit seem satisfied, curling the corner of his lips. "Keep it safe. If you're in danger, blow it, and I'll come immediately."
"Oh."
I nodded in response, but when I looked up again, the Evil Spirit had already vanished without a trace.
A sharp pain suddenly shot through my palm; it felt very hot. I quickly flipped my hand over to take a closer look.
To my surprise, seven large characters had been written on my palm at some point.
Remember, my name is Mu Xuanche.
It seemed this was yet another one of the Evil Spirit's tricks; no one else could pull off something like this.
I had no time to dwell on it. I tucked the Bone Whistle away and hurried to Liu Qingfeng's house to settle the score with that old Taoist priest.
I ran from the mountain down to the village, nearly collapsing by the time I reached Liu Qingfeng's door. Summoning my last bit of strength, I knocked on the door.
Before long, I heard Rapid Footsteps coming from inside.
When the door swung open, there was Liu Qingfeng's smiling face.
All I felt for him now was anger. How dare he frame me? If I didn’t settle this score today, I wouldn’t be Gu.
“Liu Qingfeng, how dare you frame me!” I shouted, hands on my hips, pointing at him.
“Gu Yanxi, don’t be rude.”
My father's booming voice came from inside, and I realized that both my parents were at Liu Qingfeng's house.
I rushed over, grabbed my father's hand, and said pitifully, “Dad, you have to stand up for me. This rotten Taoist is trying to harm me.”
My father shot me a stern look, his expression serious. “Liu Daozhang is trying to save you.”
Seeing that my parents weren’t on my side, I quickly recounted everything that had just happened, glaring fiercely at Liu Qingfeng as I finished.
To my surprise, he still smiled and said to me, “So what you mean is that the Evil Spirit suddenly appeared and saved you?”
“Yes,” I instinctively replied but then realized something was off. Why was I following this rotten Taoist? I pointed at him again and scolded, “Stop pretending! Why are you trying to harm me?”
Suddenly, Liu Qingfeng's expression changed. He grabbed my hand firmly and wiped the smile off his face, looking serious.
"What happened to your hand?"
Feeling a bit dazed, I turned my hand over to check. The seven large characters that had been on my palm were gone, replaced by a blood mark that started from the tip of my ring finger and extended upward.
What was going on?
Liu Qingfeng looked grave as he addressed my parents, "It seems he has no intention of letting your daughter go."
Not understanding what was happening, I could only ask, "Who doesn't intend to let me go?"
After receiving a fierce glare from my father, he solemnly bowed to Liu Qingfeng. "Liu Daozhang, please help my daughter. She cannot be..."
What did he mean by 'cannot be'? Why did my father look at me and then stop? What was going on?
Liu Qingfeng extended his finger and tapped it lightly, calculating something before speaking to me. "Do you know about the dilapidated temple on the back mountain?"
I didn't understand why he suddenly brought up that temple, but I nodded silently.
Everyone knew about that run-down temple on the back mountain. It was said to house some unknown deity, and our elders warned us that it was haunted. We had to take a detour when passing by and absolutely could not enter.
I had no idea what Liu Qingfeng wanted me to do there—was he looking for ghosts?
He paused for a moment before continuing, "You need to go into that temple. There’s a dagger beneath the statue; secretly cut off a lock of hair from the Evil Spirit for me, and then we’ll have a way to deal with this."
As I listened to him, I trembled all over. Not only did he want me to go into that haunted temple, but he also wanted me to use a knife to cut off Mu Xuanche's hair. Just thinking about Mu Xuanche's icy demeanor made my heart quiver.
"I won't go," I weakly protested.
As a result, my father erupted in anger, rushing over to point at me and shouting, "The Taoist priest is trying to save you! How dare you not go? Hurry up!"
He pushed me toward the door and slammed it shut, leaving me alone outside.
The night was pitch black, and a chilly wind howled around me.
Homeless and lost, I stood in front of the dilapidated temple, my legs trembling at the sight of the crumbling structure.
Should I go in or not?
A howl echoed behind me, sending a shiver down my spine.
I had heard there were wolves in the mountains; surely I hadn't run into one. Slowly turning around, I saw a pair of greedy green eyes staring at me from the dark forest.
At that moment, I didn't need to think twice. I dashed into the temple, preferring to be haunted by ghosts than to be bitten by a wolf.
Just as I rushed inside, thunder rumbled outside, followed by a torrential downpour.
Terrified, my legs gave way and I knelt on the ground, repeatedly bowing toward the statue.
"Spare me, divine being! I didn't mean to disturb you; please forgive me..."
After my third bow, the thunder and lightning outside abruptly ceased.
Cautiously lifting my head, I looked up at the statue. It was nothing like the benevolent figures typically found in temples.
The statue's face was adorned with two sharply arched eyebrows, and its eyes were wide open, the black and white of its eyeballs resembling a fierce demon, looking down at me.
As I prayed silently to myself not to be afraid, I slowly got up and cautiously approached the statue.
I stopped half a meter away from it and reached out to the spot Liu Qingfeng had indicated, quickly feeling around.
Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through my hand.
"Hiss." I hurriedly pulled my hand back.
Looking down, I saw two rows of bite marks on the back of my hand, blood streaming down.
A shiver ran through me.
What had bitten me down there?
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