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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 09: Dead Loop (Part One)
On the road pointed out by Mi, a two-row SUV approached, its windows rolled down, and a head poked out from the open window. The head was chubby, with a clear view of its mouth, nose, and ears, all quite fleshy.
"Brother Qi, I finally found you."
If this had been a stranger or someone I knew but not this chubby fellow, I would have felt relieved and excited. Yet, at the moment we needed help the most, here appeared the very person I didn't want to see—this rotund character.
Look at him, with his round face and big ears, running towards me without a care for his excess weight. He came puffing along, wiping sweat from his brow with his fists while babbling incredulously, "Brother Qi, why did you come all the way here? You should have at least said goodbye before leaving Funeral Home! If it weren't for our Rongrong's foresight, we would still be searching the world for you and Mi."
Listening to him, I felt utterly frustrated. Why on earth would I run this far just to suffer? I had almost fallen into the deadly zone created by the earthquake cycle, and he acted as if I had left on my own accord while pretending to be concerned.
According to his previous behavior, he should have been begging for my forgiveness. If I needed it, he ought to kneel and admit his mistakes. But looking at him now, he didn’t seem like someone who had done wrong; rather, it felt like I had genuinely left Funeral Home and ended up at that Strange Mountain where I encountered a giant python—and let’s not forget about the Soul Stone!
Yes, the Soul Stone could prove it. Fatty threw my Soul Stone into Snake Cave; the snake devoured it and became sentient, leaving me in a state that was neither human nor snake.
The Supernatural Growth manifested in me; I needed to produce the Soul Stone to expose Fatty's hypocritical facade. He didn’t deserve to be my friend or even call me brother. I patted my pockets repeatedly—my back pocket too—but suddenly felt dazed; the Soul Stone was gone.
I looked across to the other side—had it fallen into the deadly zone? What should I do? How could I get over there to search?
"Brother Qi, what are you looking for? Get in the car and go home," Fatty pointed at the vehicle parked on the emergency lane. "Guess who’s here?"
Who else could it be but Qin Ye or Chi Xinrong? I turned back to look at Mi; she was quicker than me and seemed to have already gotten into the car. Damn it! Without finding the Soul Stone, there was no way to prove Fatty's dark intentions. Everything felt like a dream—who could help me?
But I couldn’t just leave Mi behind or ignore Fatty's presence. Staring blankly ahead felt like my last gaze towards that tunnel hidden among weeds and rubble on the other side. Slowly, I turned around and walked towards the car.
Fat Yi smiled ingratiatingly, and I couldn't help but think that such unsolicited friendliness could only mean trouble. I shot him a cold glance, uninterested in his antics. He spoke in a mysterious tone, and as I approached the car, I noticed two girls inside.
One was Han Mi, and the other was Chi Xinrong. They were too engrossed in comforting each other to notice me. Their affectionate demeanor resembled that of long-lost friends reunited, while I felt like an unnecessary third wheel, awkwardly finding a place to sit.
Perhaps noticing my distracted expression, Mi turned to me with a smile and asked, "Brother Qi, are you okay?" She moved closer to me, and up close, her eyes were clear and pure. Han Mi appeared so innocent, like a blank sheet of paper—strangely unfamiliar yet oddly familiar at the same time.
As the car started moving, Chi Xinrong demonstrated impressive driving skills. She made a sharp left turn and executed a beautiful maneuver to return the way we came. Her agile handling of the vehicle was hard not to admire.
From the earthquake's devastation to encountering Fat Yi and now being in this car, I shook my head, feeling a headache coming on. I wanted to close my eyes and rest. The more I thought about how disheveled I felt under the girls' questioning gazes, the more chaotic my thoughts became. So I decided to shut my eyes and relax. With Han Mi's company and Chi Xinrong's caring attention, Fat Yi wisely moved to sit at the front.
"I want to know how you found me," I said with my eyes closed, feeling the slight bumps of the wheels beneath me as sleepiness began to creep in.
"GPS tracking."
"Who the hell installed GPS tracking on my phone?" I didn't even know where my sudden anger came from as I shouted at everyone.
"Why are you yelling? That GPS tracking system was installed by me," Chi Xinrong said, gripping the steering wheel and staring ahead. Despite her calm demeanor, I could sense her frustration; her brows were furrowed as she glared at me. Then she confessed that she had tampered with my phone when it had somehow ended up in her possession after her father's funeral.
I felt like I'd encountered a ghost; I truly had no idea when my phone had fallen into her hands—I couldn't remember or recall it at all. All I wanted was to smash my phone into pieces right then and there.
Seeing my gloomy expression, Mi cautiously called out, "Brother Qi, don't dwell on how we found you; Chiang is in trouble."
"Chiang is in trouble? What happened?" I asked in surprise.
Chi Xinrong emphasized her words, worried that I might not hear: "He’s dead." My mind went blank at the mention of Chiang; it felt like a short circuit had occurred in my brain. Everything vanished from memory—Chiang had indeed been in a bad situation. If it weren't for the incident involving Supernatural Growth, perhaps I would have intervened to help him.
But how could he be dead?
Seeing that I was no longer angry, Fatty mustered his courage and pretended to be Alexander, letting out a deep sigh as he sat down across from me and Mi. He spoke seriously, "You left the Funeral Home second. Rongrong came to find me; something happened at Uncle's house. Chiang had a minor car accident and was supposed to just rest at home. But when he got back, he suddenly acted strangely, shouting, 'Don't look for me, don't look for me,' then started convulsing and foaming at the mouth, losing consciousness. He died on the way to the hospital."
Chiang's death was indeed bizarre; he had only sustained minor injuries and should have been fine! I hadn't seen it with my own eyes and had no idea what really happened. I shrugged helplessly, "He's dead now; there's no point in looking for me. I'm not a god; I can't bring him back."
"No, Brother Qi, Chiang's death is strange, and even more terrifying things have happened." Fatty spoke with an unusual seriousness, his expression devoid of any pretense as he looked directly into my eyes. I could see fear in his gaze, so I didn't interrupt him but continued to listen. "That night after Chiang died, blood-red characters appeared on the wall by his bed—eighteen of them!"
"Eighteen? You guys are just making wild guesses." I didn't want to think about anything right now; I wanted to sleep. At the same time, I noticed that Fatty and Chi Xinrong were agitated about Chiang's situation. Han Mi beside me was restless, glancing around and hugging her arms tightly as she leaned closer to me.
Fatty's eyes were sunken deep into his flesh; no matter how hard he tried, they remained that way. As if afraid I couldn't hear him, he raised his voice seriously, "Brother Qi, I'm not trying to scare you. Chiang is the first one; it means there are still seventeen more people who will die—or maybe even the sixteenth."
"Damn it, am I supposed to be scared?" I crossed my legs and glanced at the silent Mi, asking, "Are you cold?"
"A little." Mi's pale purple lips moved slightly. "Rongrong, turn off the air conditioning."
"Don't turn it off; I'm afraid of heat." Isn't it typical for a fat person to be afraid of heat? Why is Mi so cold?
Is it really cold in the car? I thought it shouldn't be that cold!
I looked outside; the sun was shining brightly with clear skies. The yellow-brown soil on the steep hillside was overgrown with purple flowers among the weeds. The slope had bare patches that seemed to have been washed away by rainwater into deep grooves, some of which had turned into loose sand that could slide down at any moment. This kind of terrain could easily lead to mudslides or other disasters. At the bottom of the slope was a tightly woven barbed wire fence—an emergency measure to prevent road blockages caused by mudslides during heavy rain.
Chi Xinrong said, "There’s a thin towel in the back; pass it to Mi."
I quickly leaned forward slightly and reached out my arm effortlessly to grab the towel from Fatty and drape it over Mi myself. She smiled warmly at me, and for a moment, I caught a glimpse of those wild, enchanting eyes again. Lost in thought for a moment, the car swayed slightly as Chi Xinrong muttered something under his breath that I couldn't catch before Mi gently pulled me back down into my seat.
Let's continue discussing the matter of the fat one.
"Why is there still a seventeenth?"
Fat scratched his head, pondering for a long time. He might have had an answer in his mind but didn't know how to respond. It was Chi Xinrong who spoke up first: "My dad, aside from serving time for him, was also involved in a hit-and-run incident that hurt someone. It affected a lot of people; those were just bystanders passing by, and as a result, that child was directly run over by the wheels of passing cars."
Hearing this, my heart trembled.
Chiang, how could someone so young be involved in such a serious incident? What does the hit-and-run have to do with the bystanders?
"I still don't understand."
"Well, if you don't understand, then you don't. When you go to Chiang's funeral, maybe you'll figure it out. Next, you should tell us where you've been and what you've encountered. Why is it that some people seem to have evaporated from existence, as if GPS can't even locate you?"
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