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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 17: Hallucination
"There really is a hole under Grandpa's bed, and it leads to the lifeline. Did you call me this early just to tell me that?" I was so tired, my eyelids felt heavy, and with the bumpy ride, I just wanted to fall asleep.
"Hearing him say it like that scared me too, so I hurried to call you."
"You know how Fatty is; he exaggerates! Ugh, I can't take it anymore. I need to sleep." This time, I truly fell asleep, ignoring Qin Jian no matter how much he called.
Sleeping felt so good.
My body and mind relaxed; I didn't want to think about anything or do anything. My brain was completely at rest. I saw a beam of light, and beneath it was a massive pillar, which seemed to be crawling with many bugs.
The bugs all had legs, climbing up rapidly. Up close, I realized they weren't bugs at all. They were all deformed creatures with horns on their heads, eyes as large as cow's eyes, and mouths split open to the roots of their ears, revealing two sharp fangs. Their ears were pointed like those of some kind of elf.
In an instant, countless ghostly spirits surrounded me, closing in tightly. They opened their wide mouths and bared their sharp teeth, gnawing at me fiercely. Startled, I jolted awake, and Qin Jian was also startled and asked, "Did you sleep well?"
"I dreamt of the Dark Elf."
"What Dark Elf?"
"You showed Fatty a hole; the hole is under the bed, and you also saw Boss Lei?"
"Are you out of your mind? When did I tell you there was a hole under his bed?"
"You... hey, just now your..." My head was spinning. After getting into the car, Qin Jian asked about the situation in Xinfeng Town and then told me about Fatty's situation. He didn't have a hole under his bed; I couldn't remember if I heard it while sleeping or if it was before I fell asleep.
Qin Jian denied telling me about the hole under the bed and had no idea what the Dark Elf was.
"So what if something happens to Fatty?"
"After Fatty handled Boss Lei's funeral, something happened that night. Peng Yan mysteriously disappeared, and Peng Hai pressured Fatty for her. If he didn't hand over his sister, he would smash the Ma Wu Funeral Home."
So that's what happened. But in my mind, I could still hear Qin Jian telling me about a hole under the bed, where many man-eating Dark Elves resided.
"Let's go to the Funeral Home!"
Qin Jian and I headed straight for the Funeral Home.
Fatty was crying and resting his chin on the counter. When he saw me return, it was as if he had seen a savior; he immediately spilled everything about Peng Yan's disappearance.
They had just had dinner, and the two of them were still bickering over Peng Hai's situation.
Peng Yan insisted that Peng Hai stay at the Funeral Home. "He's my only brother; you can't kick him out."
"If he doesn't leave, Brother Qi won't come back. If Brother Qi doesn't come back, this Funeral Home will collapse."
"It can collapse, but you still can't kick my brother out." Peng Yan sulked and stormed into the room, slamming the door shut. Even when Fatty called for her, she refused to open it.
I remained silent during Fatty's recounting; I couldn't draw any conclusions about what was really going on. I wondered if this was some sort of ploy by the couple to gain my sympathy so that Peng Hai could continue staying at the Funeral Home while Peng Yan and Pang Da reconciled.
Seeing my indifferent expression, Qin Jian nudged me with his arm. "Lao Qi, go check it out."
Reluctantly, I got up and walked toward Fatty's bedroom. This room used to be mine but had been expanded a bit to become a love nest for Fatty and Peng Yan. The thought of them doing those things in there made me feel nauseous.
I couldn't even bring myself to look at Fatty properly; he seemed increasingly disheveled, his complexion dull and lifeless, his eyes vacant—signs of someone down on their luck. There was also something I couldn't quite pinpoint: a faint aura of darkness behind him.
Upon closer inspection, however, it vanished.
Qin Jian followed me into Fatty's bedroom. There were no unusual phenomena in the room. I recalled dreaming about a hole under the bed and bent down to take a closer look; there was no hole beneath it.
“Peng Yan has disappeared in this room?”
The fat man nodded. Why was he avoiding my gaze? I frowned and glanced at Qin Jian, signaling him.
Qin Jian asked again, “Peng Yan wouldn’t have left out of anger, would she? She must have scared someone to make them think she’s missing. Look around, a living person can’t just vanish like that; she must have gone out without you knowing.”
“She really is gone…”
Just then, a voice shouted from outside, “Where’s my sister, Fatty?”
“It’s Peng Hai here for someone.”
I noticed the fat man didn’t seem too anxious. He walked slowly to the front Counter. I saw Peng Hai, who had shaved his head and was wearing a jacket, looking like a thug. He held a cigarette, took a deep drag, then threw it on the ground and stomped on it, rubbing it out with his foot. “Hey, everyone’s here. I’m not afraid of how many of you there are; as long as Fatty hands over my sister, I’ll leave without a word.”
“I haven’t seen your sister; she might have gone somewhere else.”
Peng Hai ignored the fat man’s explanation and shouted that if Peng Yan wasn’t handed over soon, he would set fire to the Funeral Home.
Qin Jian was getting increasingly anxious. He turned to me and said, “Lao Qi, say something.”
“What do you want me to say? The fat man isn’t going to hand her over; how could Peng Hai expect that?”
“What do you mean?”
I glanced at the fat man, who was pretending to negotiate with Peng Hai. I leaned closer to Qin Jian and whispered in his ear, “The fat man is fake.”
The fat man is fake? Qin Jian looked astonished, clearly not believing my words.
I scratched my nose meaningfully. “If you don’t believe me, who else will you trust?”
Qin Jian nodded, taking a step back as I had suggested. I approached the fat man nonchalantly, reaching out to tap his shoulder as I said, "Don't stoop to Scum's level. Let's go inside and discuss what to do."
Peng Hai, hearing this, was furious and jumped up and down, cursing, "You little sparrow! You've got quite a few tricks up your sleeve. You caused my sister's death, and now you want to drive me away. Everyone knows that sparrows have some magical abilities; they can turn a Paper Man into a living being and fool people in all sorts of ways."
His words did not incite the crowd as he had hoped; instead, it drew laughter from onlookers. "Hahaha..." Peng Hai was digging his own grave. The neighbors all knew my reputation as Ma Qi. No matter how bad I was, they would still respect my grandfather.
Seeing his first plan fail, Peng Hai resorted to another tactic, pretending to fight with the fat man. His goal was to put on a show for everyone.
I didn't have time to waste with Peng Hai; saving people was more important. The fat man and Peng Yan were currently missing, their fates unknown. My fingers pressed down on the Fake Fatty's shoulder, but he sensed my move and ducked away just in time, causing a talisman to flutter down to the ground.
The fat man sneered, "Ma Qi, you really are something. I didn't expect you to have some skills."
As he attempted to escape, I grabbed him tightly. We wrestled back and forth until I yanked at his face mask with all my strength. With a swift motion, the human-skin mask slipped off and fell to the ground, revealing his true identity—he was Dengke Qi.
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