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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 0: Dark Devouring
"Damn, what a mess everything has turned into."
"Family troubles, the Seven Killers Nail."
"Yin Yin is missing."
And then there's the matter of my grandfather, which saddens me deeply. I want to find a quiet moment to reminisce about him.
As for Yin Marriage, it requires mutual consent, and both parties' birth dates must be used to see if they can be matched together.
Don't think that Yin Marriage doesn't value fate; if one party is unwilling, both the person involved in the Yin Marriage and their host family will suffer.
Back at the Funeral Home.
Fat Le greeted me with a hearty laugh as I entered the shop.
I noticed there was no one else inside, just a large red envelope on the counter.
Fat Thief glanced outside to ensure no one was approaching, then hurriedly lowered his voice, excitement dancing in his eyes as he gestured animatedly. "Brother Qi, I've landed a big deal. The deceased's child was a boy who drowned while playing in the river during summer vacation. The parents couldn't bear to see their child leave this world alone and want us to find a girl of similar age for Yin Marriage. Once that's settled, they'll let us handle all the funeral arrangements."
I had to admit that this was a lucrative deal, one of the more profitable ones of the year.
The matter of matching for Yin Marriage brings in a significant amount of money.
Those who understand the market know that a complete and relatively good corpse of an unmarried girl or boy can fetch quite a price for Yin Marriage.
Some bodies can sell for thousands, while others might go for tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands.
It all depends on the conditions of the host family.
But this Order came at the wrong time.
I still had so many troublesome matters to resolve. If I recklessly accepted this Yin Marriage Order, how could I manage it all? This thought made me a bit irritated, and I wanted to curse.
"You’re talking nonsense. Where are we supposed to find girls of the right age? Right now, there are so many issues to deal with, and you want to take on a Yin Marriage Order. Even if there were suitable girls available, it would take time to arrange things." I was fuming with nowhere to vent my anger, and seeing the chubby guy's foolish expression only made me more upset. I ordered him to return the Red Envelope intact.
He verbally agreed but mumbled under his breath, "What the hell..."
"What did you say?"
He shrugged and forced a smile. "Alright, Brother Qi, it's up to you. I'll go return the Red Envelope."
"Go on then!"
"Heading out."
With him gone, I knew running around would tire me out, and since I still had some time, I closed my eyes for a brief rest. When he returned, I'd have him investigate Yin Yin and other matters.
I recalled the encounter with Yin Yin and Xiuxian on the street not long ago and couldn’t help but take out her photo to look at.
Big eyes, lips that seemed to smile yet not quite, fair skin—she looked just like a Cartoon Doll. What trouble could such a beautiful girl get into?
I sat in the old rattan chair that my grandfather loved to rest in.
I clearly remembered my feet on the ground, one hand holding the photo—a subconscious action—as I glanced at the back of it.
The back of the Pure photo had a faint series of Arabic Numerals, resembling someone's birth Ba Zi. As this set of birth Ba Zi emerged in my mind, I felt my consciousness becoming hazy, yet my surroundings remained clear. One hand naturally rested on the armrest, my fingers feeling the intricate density of the rattan chair.
Then, everything around me fell silent, and for no reason, the temperature dropped suddenly—it became very cold, and my breath felt like ice.
This was too abnormal, yet I couldn’t shake off a certain eerie sensation.
I was well aware that I wasn't engaging in any form of Demon Eyes vision or planning to practice Mediumship. Yet, a faint scent of decay washed over me like a tide. Suddenly, my feet were submerged in water. This strange sensation made me wonder if there was a leak in the store's water valve, or perhaps the fat man had forgotten to turn it off, causing water to flow throughout the place.
But in the next moment, I realized it wasn't as I thought; I was no longer inside the house but in an environment that felt both familiar and unfamiliar.
I could sense a distant movement of a White Shadow.
The delicate White Shadow was graceful, like a bird flying south for the winter. Here, both adults and children knew it by the name Egret.
The Egret was far from me, unaware of my presence. I felt myself sinking, faintly hearing voices and the sound of a shovel digging into the earth.
I couldn't see anyone, and my hands instinctively reached out to grasp something.
My first instinct was to think that I was sitting in an old rattan chair at home. This chair was ancient, much like the era of that dark room.
It was one of the tools my grandfather used to rest when faced with difficult matters. I seemed to see him sitting in the rattan chair and could almost feel his rough hands stroking my head.
He murmured an incantation that I couldn't quite understand.
As the frequency of his chanting increased, so did my descent.
The scent of Mud hit me; it wasn't just the smell of Mud but a vast expanse of black sewage mixed with sludge threatening to bury me—
I screamed for help, calling out for my grandfather.
I reached out my hands, hoping someone would see me.
The weight of Mud pressed down on me—my eyes, face, nose, mouth, hair—gurgling sounds erupted from where I was sinking as a dark, murky bubble emerged. Darkness engulfed me.
In that pitch-blackness, I struggled futilely; my limbs spread out like those of a frog. Everything my fingers touched was nothing but sludge.
Did I just fall into a swamp?
The only outcome of falling into a swamp is terrifying.
Soon, my corpse will rot, merging with the black Mud, my marrow becoming a permanent nutrient for Mud plants, and my blood the sap they suck from. The roots of the plants will turn a blood-like red.
Perhaps it won't rot so easily; as the temperature rises, my body will swell and float to the surface of the Mud.
Flies will come buzzing in. Is it the wind carrying my putrid scent that attracts swarms of green-headed flies, the kind that lay eggs?
The flies will lay their eggs on my swollen body.
Their larvae will hatch quickly, wriggling maggots that will voraciously consume my bones and decaying skin—my soul unable to escape the Dark Realm, trapped by an overwhelming dark force in the place where I was buried.
My soul witnesses a complete body ultimately transforming into a hollow skeleton devoid of muscle tissue—how tragic, wanting to cry but unable to shed tears—
“Catching ghosts and monsters is my specialty. Come on, whether you’re a Seductive Ghost or some demon, I’ll take them all…”
Sometimes, this ringtone is uncanny.
Just when I was trapped by some sinister energy, unable to wake up, feeling frustrated and useless, as if the apocalypse had arrived in my Mindset, it saved me.
The first thing I did upon opening my eyes was check my limbs.
They were intact. Looking down, there was no water, no Mud. That was truly terrifying.
The phone was still ringing, repeating those lyrics I had made up myself.
I answered the call; it was Lao Luo calling.
He told me some good news that I never expected.
Chi Zhi Ping's imprisonment for someone else had its own complexities.
There was once a hit-and-run case where a person was struck and the vehicle fled the scene.
The owner of that vehicle sought Chi Zhi Ping to take the fall for him.
The victim of the hit-and-run was from out of town and lost a leg.
After paying a sum in compensation, Chi Zhi Ping ended up in prison, charged with causing the accident and fleeing.
Coincidentally, the victim also shared the surname Zhu.
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