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墨書 Inktalez
Old Man Fang was the true owner of the Corpse Driver Inn. Over the years, it had become increasingly unlikely for any Corpse Handlers to pass through, and as a result, the inn had slowly fallen into disrepair, merely serving as a regular dwelling. There was a girl living there, seemingly a few years older than Wei Ning, with an introverted personality. Half of her face was hidden by long hair, and she appeared to be shy, timidly hiding behind her grandfather.
Wei Qiuxi explained his purpose to Old Man Fang, who sighed deeply and shook his head, expressing surprise that he would meet a traveling gentleman before his death. Wei Qiuxi informed Old Man Fang that he needed to stay for the night. Being a warm-hearted person, Old Man Fang did not refuse and arranged a guest room for Wei Qiuxi and his grandson.
At that moment, Guan Zhuang Town was bustling with activity. Although Wei Ning had not slept all night, he was still in high spirits, urging his grandfather to take him out shopping. Unable to resist his grandson's enthusiasm, Wei Qiuxi relented. The two of them wandered around the streets for a while, and only after Wei Ning returned with arms full of toys and snacks did he feel satisfied. Soon after, sleepiness overtook him, and he collapsed onto the bed.
When he awoke, Wei Ning had no idea how much time had passed; it felt like it was already dark outside. It must have been around eleven or twelve o'clock. Suddenly feeling the urge to relieve himself and noticing that his grandfather was no longer nearby, he got up and went outside to find a place.
Upon returning, he seemed to notice a figure moving in the courtyard. Curiosity piqued, he wondered who it could be at such a late hour. As he crouched in the corner of the wall and focused his gaze, he realized it was Old Man Fang's granddaughter. Initially, she had stayed hidden behind her grandfather; no matter how Wei Ning tried to engage her, she remained silent. Finding her rather dull, he hadn't invited her along during their outing. Why was she still awake at this hour?
He saw her seemingly tiptoeing as she busied herself with the clothesline. In Xiangxi, clothes were typically hung by inserting two wooden sticks into the ground and placing a bamboo pole across them; thus, they were not very high off the ground. Most people didn't need a clothes rack to hang their laundry. However, since the girl was short, she still needed to stand on a stool.
In the moonlight, it appeared that many items were densely hung on the clothesline; they looked wet and dripped water, but he couldn't see clearly.
"This sister is something else," Wei Ning thought. "She washes her clothes but doesn't hang them up until deep into the night; doesn't she worry about disturbing others? Well, since I can't sleep anyway, I might as well help her finish hanging them so she can get to bed earlier." With that thought in mind, Wei Ning stepped forward and called out, "Sister!"
However, the girl seemed completely uninterested in him and continued hanging her clothes. Wei Ning muttered under his breath but when he walked closer to her and finally saw everything clearly—"Sister..." he began to call out again but froze in shock.
What hung from the bamboo pole were not clothes but human organs! There were hearts, livers, spleens, lungs, large intestines—everything seemed freshly cut from bodies, blood dripping onto the ground below. Even more horrifying was that there were pieces of fresh human skin hanging above!
At that moment, the girl slowly turned around to look at Wei Ning. To his horror, she had no skin! Her entire body glistened with raw flesh beneath which her abdominal cavity was hollow; she had just washed herself before hanging out to dry.
"You called me?" the girl asked Wei Ning.
"Don't look!" Behind him, Wei Qiuxi covered Wei Ning's eyes with his large hands. Wei Ning let out a muffled sound and collapsed into his grandfather's embrace.
...
"Ghosts! Ghosts! Ghosts!" Wei Ning woke up recalling last night's terrifying experience and immediately screamed out loud.
Wei Qiuxi quickly pulled his grandson into his arms, gently patting his back to comfort him. "It's okay, it's okay. Grandpa is here."
Ah, it was Wei Ning, bold as he was, and coming from the Corpse Chasing Family. If it had been an ordinary child witnessing what happened last night, they would have likely been driven to madness.
"Grandpa, grandpa, last night, that woman... woman..." Wei Ning tried to repeat what he had seen to his grandfather but found himself stuttering, unable to articulate clearly.
"I know," Wei Qiuxi reassured his grandson. At that moment, Old Man Fang entered the room carrying a bowl of porridge.
Wei Ning immediately burrowed deeper into his grandfather's embrace in fright.
Old Man Fang placed the porridge on Wei Ning's bedside and sighed. "We didn't mean for this to happen; we didn't expect that thing to come out again... and scare this little friend."
"Ghost! Ghost! Ghost!" Wei Ning exclaimed, still shaken from last night.
Wei Qiuxi frowned and said, "I sensed something was off last night too, which is why I went out to check. I didn’t expect Wei Ning to be there as well. What’s going on here?"
"Ah. It's a curse... oh, my poor Qiqi."
"A curse?" Wei Qiuxi furrowed his brow. "Did you offend someone?"
"Ah." Old Man Fang shook his head. "You can't blame others; it's just that my Qiqi has bad luck. She... she is Impermanence."
"Impermanence?"
"We didn't realize it at first, but later we found out that sometimes she would faint inexplicably and then suddenly wake up, naming people who would die at a certain time and place. I found it very strange, so I asked the elders in the village and learned that she is Impermanence, one who collects souls."
"Isn't Impermanence a ghost? Living in the Underworld? The black and white Impermanence, with Ox-Head and Horse-Face?" Wei Ning's courage gradually grew as he recalled the horror films he had watched before, and he couldn't help but ask in astonishment.
"This," Old Man Fang said, rubbing his hands together, "I don't know about other places, but here in Xiangxi, the older generation is like this. Generally, when someone is 'invited,' it involves two Impermanence beings—one from the Underworld and one that resides in the Underworld. When someone dies, they leave their body to guide the soul, but otherwise, they are just like ordinary people. However, Worldly Wuchang usually only manages their own area, so every place has its own Impermanence. I used to hear about it too, but until Qiqi..."
"What does this have to do with curses?" Wei Qiuxi interrupted.
"Well, about three years ago, a middle-aged man came to us at Qiqi. It seemed he wanted us to spare his mother and was willing to exchange his own Lifespan for ten more years of hers. Later, it seemed that Qiqi didn't agree, and he held a grudge against her. He cursed Qiqi, and that's how she ended up... like she is now?"
"Why not go find that man?"
"Where would you even begin to look in such a vast land?" Old Man Fang sighed bitterly. "Besides, those who can cast curses are all from the Old Priest's generation. Even if we found him, what could we do? We are just Mundane People."
"Have you thought of any solutions?" Wei Ning asked.
"Ah, we've thought of everything we could, but... sigh..."
Suddenly, Old Man Fang knelt on the ground and pleaded, "Please, old sir, you must save my poor granddaughter. She's only thirteen years old! I truly don't know what sins she committed in her past life to have to repay them like this in this life."
Wei Qiuxi hurriedly helped Old Man Fang up and frowned as he said, "The Miaojiang Gu Technique is profound and mysterious; I only know a little about it. I'm afraid my abilities are limited... sigh."
Old Man Fang continued, "I know that the Chen Prefecture Wei Family has the most profound Daoist techniques in Xiangxi. If even you can't help her, then my poor granddaughter..." Tears streamed down his face as he lamented his sorrow.
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