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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 50: The Visitor
As night fell, darkness enveloped the surroundings, with only the faint glow of scattered streetlights struggling to pierce through the blackness. Leaves rolled across the ground, and a car sped by, sending them and bits of paper flying for a moment before they fell back down, defeated.
The sign for Ma Wu Funeral Home hung in its usual spot, casting shadows under the dim light, resembling a tall figure swaying slightly in the wind. This scene was familiar to me; the only difference tonight was that Ma Wu Funeral Home was closed to visitors.
Inside, we turned off the lights and quietly lurked in the shadows. It was very quiet—so quiet that we all knew how far apart we were but dared not make a sound. As time ticked away, Fat began to grow impatient. It was always him who caused trouble; I should have excluded him from this.
Several pairs of eyes were fixed on the door of the dark room.
Fat crawled over to me and asked, “Brother Qi, there’s no movement at all.”
I hushed him with a low curse, “Get lost.”
Just as we were waiting in silence, an unexpected knocking sound came from the door; “Tap tap, tap tap.” In that dead silence, those few knocks startled everyone inside. Every nerve in our bodies instantly tensed.
Our attention immediately shifted to the roll-up door. We didn’t dare speak or make any noise, holding our breath and staring intently at that door. “Bang bang bang~” The person outside seemed impatient and didn’t believe there was no one inside; they pounded on the roll-up door with force.
I shifted slightly.
Mi, startled, grabbed my arm: “Brother Qi, what if it’s a robber? Why else would they be knocking like that?”
I remained silent, signaling for everyone else to keep quiet as I moved closer to the door. As long as I paid attention to my steps, I wouldn’t make the heavy thudding noise Fat did when he walked. Behind me, several pairs of eyes silently watched.
I approached the roll-up door and listened intently; outside there were no sounds of human breath. Instead, there was an overwhelming Deathly Aura. I grasped the door handle and slowly began to open it just a crack.
Through the narrow opening stood a man.
With the help of the streetlight's glow, I could see his face.
“I’m sorry, but we can’t conduct business tonight,” I said firmly. Regardless of whether he was human or something else, I couldn’t change my plans tonight and had to turn away this visitor's request for help.
"Help me, help me..." The person was enveloped in a strong Deathly Aura, unmistakably a New Soul. As I questioned him, his drooping gaze slowly lifted, revealing a pale, corpse-like face with two streaks of blood flowing from his eyes. Despite my extensive experience with ghosts, I was taken aback by his appearance.
"Ma Qi, I am Wei Chenggang from Stone Alley, Fu Shiyi. I've heard you help both the living and the dead. Please take care of my son. My wife ran off with someone, and my son is unconscious. We both accidentally ingested expired food and got food poisoning. I’m dead, but he can't die too. Please help me keep him safe."
"Wei Chenggang, you really don't need to look so ghastly. I can tell you're not human. I'll remember your situation; don’t worry. I have friends at City Hospital, so you can rest easy!" I noticed two ghostly figures standing quietly not far away.
The two figures were likely there to escort Wei Chenggang; they were Ghostly Enforcers.
Wei Chenggang expressed his gratitude profusely and managed a sheepish smile reminiscent of his living self. "I didn't mean to scare you; I just had to appear this way for you to understand I'm a ghost."
"Alright, I get it. You can go now!"
As Wei Chenggang took a few steps away, he seemed to remember something. Unable to withstand his cold gaze any longer, he said, "What you're waiting for has already left; that hidden passage is invisible to you."
A hidden passage? Watching Wei Chenggang vanish with the two Ghostly Enforcers, I turned back and walked away, turning on the lights. Everyone in the room looked surprised.
Qin Jian asked with a frown, "Wasn't it supposed to be dark? Why are the lights on?"
"We got the location wrong."
"The location wrong?"
Han Mi, Chi Xinrong, and Fatty all looked puzzled.
Qin Jian scratched his head, looking serious and giving off an air of 'stay away from me.'
"Rongrong, I need to ask you for a favor."
Chi Xinrong looked quite surprised as she stepped away from Han Mi. I moved closer and, seemingly concerned, glanced at Mi and asked, "Is there something you need my help with?"
"There's a child at City Hospital who is in a coma, named Wei Lou. Could you possibly pull some strings and give him special treatment?"
Hearing this instead of the other things she had expected, Chi Xinrong appeared somewhat disappointed. She took a step back, smiling teasingly, and said, "Is Wei Lou a relative of yours?"
"No, it's a request from someone else. Are you willing to help or not?" I felt a bit anxious. This girl clearly had a warm heart, but at crucial moments, she would hesitate. Why couldn't she just show a little more kindness in front of Qin Jian? If she could win over the handsome guy's favor, things could develop smoothly, and I could successfully hand her over to Qin Jian's friend.
"Cut it out, Ma Qi. Who do you think you are? Why should I give you special treatment? If it's something good, maybe I can help; if not, forget it."
Chi Xinrong was truly being difficult. She didn't even realize this was an opportunity for her to shine. If she didn't get her act together, she had no one to blame but herself. What a pain! I was too exasperated to argue with her any longer and turned directly to Qin Jian. "Lao Qin, will you take me to the hospital to check it out?"
Qin Jian seemed confused and snapped back at me, "Wait a minute, who is this person to you? Why should we care? And now you want us to wait here while the lights are off? What does this sudden change of heart mean?"
I was overwhelmed with urgency. Qin Jian's questions were valid; I had been so scatterbrained that I couldn't blame Chi Xinrong for being difficult. Mi looked worriedly at me while Fatty continued his work with an air of indifference.
He was preparing colored paper for Paper Figurine wreaths or something similar.
"Who heard the knocking just now?"
"I did..."
"And me."
"I heard it too."
Fatty was the last to respond, saying, "I heard it as well." His eyes flickered when he said this—an obvious sign that he was lying.
"The knock on the door was from a middle-aged man. He came to me with a request, explaining that due to his family's financial struggles, he couldn't afford medical expenses and hoped I could help him by reaching out to a friend at City Hospital for special assistance."
"Are you out of your mind? Why would you help someone you don't even know?" Chi Xinrong expressed her confusion at my words.
"I'm not crazy. Saving a life is more valuable than building a pagoda," I replied, feeling genuinely upset by Chi Xinrong's attitude. Mi, with her kind heart, seemed like she wanted to say something to persuade her, but I raised my hand to stop her.
"Qin Jian, let's go!"
Once the decision was made, Qin Jian drove us. Chi Xinrong walked ahead in her high heels, making a clicking sound with each step.
Qin Jian followed behind Chi Xinrong. It was rare for him to speak up at this moment, but he couldn't help himself: "Rongrong, you're great in many ways, but you lack femininity." Upon hearing this, Chi Xinrong's face instantly turned green with anger. However, not fully understanding the situation, she forced herself to suppress her rage and placed her hand on the car's rearview mirror, using the streetlight to check her reflection.
As we all stepped outside, Chi Xinrong suddenly let out a shriek while looking into the rearview mirror. Her face turned pale as she trembled and pointed inside the door.
Chi Xinrong's car was positioned with its back to the door, and the rearview mirror reflected precisely what was inside. She had seen someone in the mirror. I counted—one, two, three, four, five—there were five of us at the door. Who could be inside?
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