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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 08: End of the Demon Realm (Part Five)
"As a result, the Abandoned Child did not die; instead, he was taken away by a wolf and raised. Later, a few skilled individuals passed through here and brought a child with them. They left the child in the village. Strangely, this child crawled on all fours, unable to walk or speak. At first, people did not know who he was until someone noticed the Five Emperor Coins hanging from his neck. They realized he was the Abandoned Child because Qin Da Jie had a strange dream while pregnant, in which an old Taoist priest gifted her a pendant with Five Emperor Coins. When she woke up, she found a pendant with Five Emperor Coins around her neck."
"Then that pendant ended up on the Abandoned Child's neck?" I recalled the half of the Five Emperor Coins around Qin Jian's neck.
Qin Shuying nodded. "Yes, there was a string around the Abandoned Child's neck, and at the end of that string were the Five Emperor Coins."
I was speechless and remembered something else, so I asked, "How did he get a name?"
"He hadn't come for a long time. When he finally arrived tonight, he happily told me that he had a name now—it's Qin Ye."
What!
I had named Qin Ye? "What happened to him later?"
"A few years ago, the village was struck by a plague that killed many people. The villagers cried not because they lost their loved ones but because it was such a pity that so many died for no reason; those who died unexpectedly could not be eaten. Then someone saw him with me and came to catch us in the act, but they missed."
"He ran away?"
Qin Shuying shook her head. "Not exactly; he hid. About half a month ago, on a stormy night, someone saw a tall and terrifying man take him away. He was the best man in the village. Since then, I haven't seen him until one day when a snake appeared—he showed up too."
"A snake?" Was it the same snake I had brought? So it turned out that Qin Ye had transformed! It felt absurd, like something out of a movie, yet it was happening right before my eyes, and I was personally involved. It was unbelievable and utterly perplexing.
Qin Shuying said, "He is not a human child; he is a child of the gods."
"Actually..." I really wanted to tell her that he wasn't a child of the gods but rather an Underworld civil servant who had fallen into the mortal realm due to calamity and was born into the Qin family, wearing a human guise to survive. I glanced at Qin Shuying's belly and fought against my urge to uncover the truth for the first time but still couldn't believe everything I saw. I wanted to verify one thing: whether Qin Jian was truly her child. With that thought in mind, I asked, "Do you really have a child with Qin Ye?"
Qin Shuying smiled bitterly and lovingly caressed her belly, her expression turning sweet as she said, "My parents don't like him; we are in love with each other. We secretly pledged ourselves to one another, and I'm pregnant with his child." My goodness! The child in her belly truly belonged to Qin Jian—the bear from Grandma! What role was I playing at this moment? I was witnessing firsthand the process of Qin Jian sprouting like a bean sprout.
"Something's wrong, there's a fire!" Qin Shuying shouted, interrupting my thoughts. I looked up and, sure enough, flames were leaping in front of me, crackling and roaring. But there wasn't a soul in sight trying to put it out. Hearing her mention the ancestral hall made my heart sink; it felt like a cover-up for something sinister.
"Auntie, stay here. I'm going to check the situation."
"What did you call me?"
"There's no time for explanations. Saving lives is the priority now. Just stay put, and I'll go help." I took off running, quickly reaching the burning ancestral hall. Inside, I could hear desperate cries. Without thinking twice, I grabbed a stick that had been discarded on the ground and rushed in.
The building was indeed an ancestral hall, its eaves curling upwards as flames consumed it. The firelight illuminated everything around me with a harsh glow. Thick smoke billowed out, choking me and making me cough uncontrollably. The heat was overwhelming, and as I heard the sound of beams collapsing overhead, I thought to myself that this was it; I wouldn't die at the hands of zombies but rather be burned alive after this inexplicable journey.
Then came a loud crash, and I felt dizzy. Everything went dark as I collapsed, losing consciousness.
As petals danced in the air, it was just her and me below. She was right in front of me, so close that I could almost touch her. I closed my eyes and smiled.
I was all too familiar with this scent. Ignoring everything else, I kissed the dampness around me, wrapping my arms around her soft body, greedily inhaling her familiar fragrance while she tenderly caressed my cheek.
Even with my eyes shut, I could sense her presence. My beloved Han Mi wore a delicate gauzy dress that subtly concealed her perfect curves. I grasped at the layers of sheer fabric, peeling them away until we were face to face once more, sharing a long-awaited gaze filled with deep affection. I took in every detail: her smooth skin like jade, the delicate swell of her figure, her slender waist that seemed to invite touch, her smooth and fair abdomen, and her long legs that were nothing short of enchanting.
Han Mi was growing more beautiful by the day—more mature and alluring. She laughed joyfully, holding a kite that had appeared in her hand without me noticing. I had once promised that whenever we had free time, we would go to a quiet place together to fly kites beneath the blue sky dotted with white clouds.
"Brother Qi, come catch me... hee hee hee..." A warm light bathed the red flowers and green leaves as Han Mi danced about, pulling on the kite string as she ran ahead. She turned back to smile at me and called out playfully, "Brother Qi, if you don't hurry up, I'm going to fly away with the kite!"
"Don't!" I shouted desperately as I chased after her. An eerie scene unfolded before me: the kite began to grow larger and larger until it truly lifted Han Mi into the air.
I reached out to grab her but always fell just short. I jumped up; my fingers brushed against the sole of her shoe—just a millimeter away—but ultimately failed to catch her as she soared higher and higher until she vanished from sight.
With no way to hold onto Han Mi, I jolted awake suddenly.
Upon waking, I felt uncomfortable all over. The air was damp, and everything around me was shrouded in darkness. I moved slightly, realizing the space I was in seemed quite cramped. I tried to raise my hand to feel around and touched something cold. I attempted to arch my body and looked toward the end of my feet in a clockwise direction.
The end of my feet was just as dark, an endless abyss of black.
Rustling sounds came from that direction, faint and indistinct. In a moment of panic, I activated my Demon Eyes.
Once I activated the Demon Eyes, it was as if I connected with that world. I could see the people from that realm, and they could see me too. With the energy from the Demon Eyes, I finally discerned my surroundings.
I was inside a rectangular wooden box, lying within it. It wasn't buried very deep, allowing a small amount of fresh air to seep in. Moreover, I could see the darkness at the end of my feet; it seemed like something was crawling toward me within that blackness. The rustling sounds originated from whatever was moving against the ground. Slowly, I saw a head with disheveled hair emerge, followed by bony fingers stretching out. I had never been so terrified of a corpse before.
This time, fear gripped me completely; the reason being that I couldn't move or defend myself against this sudden danger.
Death threatened me. I screamed, "Help me..." But no matter how loudly I called out, it felt futile. Not only did my cries fail to summon anyone to rescue me, but the ghostly figure crawling toward me also quickened its pace. Finally, it reached my side, inching closer and closer until it began to crawl onto me. As it drew near, I could see clearly—Damn! It was a Li Gui!
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