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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 59: Fateful Path
Perhaps it was an illusion, but I felt that Qin Jian looked at the dead with the same expression as he did at the living. He appeared even calmer than I was, as if he were accustomed to such sights.
"Let's begin!" Qin Jian had no intention of leaving; it was clear he wanted to watch me work. This was fine; he didn't like to chatter and wouldn't interfere with my task.
Just like with Sun Yue, I approached it from the bottom up, silently reciting the incantation, hoping that Hua Lu would cooperate with me.
Again and again, a chill seeped into my brain through my fingertips. An unbelievable scene unfolded in my mind: Hua Lu, unable to sleep, occasionally picked up his phone to look at the photos on the screen, muttering to himself, "The retribution has finally come; I really shouldn't have."
Then, Hua Lu got up, and my consciousness connected with his living awareness.
In his eyes, I sensed guilt, regret, and fear. He groped around in the darkness as if he were sleepwalking into the living room. He lit up a cigarette and took deep drags. Suddenly, he glanced toward the window; the curtains were fluttering as if stirred by the wind.
However, it seemed there was no wind outside. It was pitch black, with distant lights shining—streetlights illuminating the road beyond building after building. Hua Lu sighed, "What a place; even when the lights are broken, no one comes to fix them..." He then looked warily at the window again; the rustling curtains seemed to be moving more violently now, abruptly falling under his gaze.
Hua Lu jumped up in alarm and stumbled backward, his legs hitting the sofa before he stopped. His trembling hand rose as he asked in a shaky voice, "Who... who are you?"
Just as he asked who I was, the curtains suddenly stilled, hanging down as if they had never moved.
The "person" that had appeared at the window never showed itself. Frustrated, Hua Lu turned on the bright light and mustered his courage to approach and pull back the curtains.
Behind the curtains was only glass; there was no way for someone to hide there unless that person wasn't human.
Hua Lu tiptoed back to his bedroom, his brow furrowed as if burdened by heavy thoughts. He lay on his bed for a long time without falling asleep. This occurred in the early morning before he jumped from the building. In my consciousness, I saw him arguing with his wife; he was hiding in the bathroom not out of necessity but out of anxiety while looking at his phone.
His hands repeatedly pressed the delete button as he cursed under his breath, "Why can't I delete this? What is this? No! I can't die..."
Then came his wife's voice from outside the bathroom door: "Old Hua, what are you doing in there? You've been in there for half an hour! You can't keep this up; it's delaying so many things."
Prompted by her urgency, his hand trembled and his phone fell into the toilet with a splash. He didn't care about the filth and reached in to grab it. The moment he picked up his phone, he shivered all over; without washing his hands, he tightly gripped it and burst out of the bathroom.
His wife entered in confusion and muttered, "What on earth is going on?"
Hua Lu's trembling hand shook as he retrieved his phone from the water; miraculously, it seemed undamaged. The screen displayed an image that suggested he was terrified. Startled like he'd seen a ghost, he dropped the phone and dashed to the window. He climbed up for one last look at his phone before gritting his teeth and jumping out—
As I connected my consciousness with his, I leaped into a void of darkness. I remembered that the lights in the Morgue were on, but why was it so dark around me? I chanted a spell, activating Demon Eyes, and saw that I was in a passage resembling a pitch-black alley.
At the end of the passage, I heard the sound of footsteps, and finally, I caught sight of a figure.
It was a silhouette filled with loneliness, as if he were the only one in this dark space. The surrounding darkness felt bottomless, creating an oppressive atmosphere that made it hard to breathe, as if a weight was pressing down on my chest. I longed to tear apart the endless darkness, desperately hoping to see light.
Dark Realm?
If this wasn't the Dark Realm, then Hua Lu must have brought my consciousness into his inner world. The inner world of the dead is terrifying. You can lose yourself in this realm, always thinking that darkness is just night, believing it will still be bright like in the real world—unless a Ghostly Enforcer comes to take his soul away, only then will his dark inner world cease to exist.
But why did Hua Lu bring me into his inner world? Did he have something to tell me?
Hua Lu kept walking, moving forward until a glimmer of light appeared ahead.
I was astonished; the inner world of the dead shouldn't have any light unless he had someone deeply concerned about him in the Underworld. That longing would manifest as that flicker of light. Generally speaking, once someone has passed away, living people should refrain from incessantly mentioning the deceased; doing so day and night would give them thoughts that keep them from leaving the Underworld, ultimately turning them into restless spirits.
I thought perhaps it was Hua Lu's wife who was remembering her husband. It couldn't be blamed on her; deep marital affection is inevitable.
That flickering light resembled an eye hidden in darkness, more like an eerie glow drawing me and Hua Lu forward.
I maintained my distance from him; this was the distance between the dead and the living. If I could easily catch up to him, it would mean I was not far from death myself. But I couldn't linger in the inner world of the dead for too long; staying too long might cause me to lose myself.
Finally, I saw what that light was—a white candle. Strange!
In a dead person's inner world, there was a white ceremonial candle meant for honoring the deceased—something only seen in real life. There had to be something unusual about this; I cautiously followed it. Just as I was about to get close to that white candle, poof! The white candle extinguished.
With the white candle gone, the entire world plunged into darkness; Hua Lu vanished—everything was black! I scoffed and said, "If you have guts, come out and face me; don't hide behind the dead and play tricks."
"Xiao Xiao..." A chillingly gleeful laughter echoed through the darkness. In an instant, my Demonic Needle shot toward the sound. All I heard was a strange cry before everything fell silent. Just as I prepared to chant a spell to exit this dark inner world, a voice called out.
"Brother Qi."
"Mi?"
I was all too familiar with Mi's voice, crisp and sweet, like a spring of fresh water. Just hearing her voice brought a sense of tranquility.
“Brother Qi, I miss you.”
In the darkness, a pair of hands gently wrapped around my waist, a face pressed against my back. I didn’t move, reciting an incantation as the Demonic Needle turned. Suddenly, a scream erupted from behind me. I staggered slightly and heard Qin Jian shout, “Ma Qi…”
I opened my eyes; this was indeed the Morgue. My eyes were adjusting to the darkness, and returning to reality felt somewhat disorienting, especially with the brightness.
Qin Jian was beside me, flustered and exclaiming, “You scared me to death! You wouldn’t wake up no matter how much I called. Then Han Lan appeared, and you screamed; she got so frightened that she turned and ran.”
I frowned and muttered, “Aren’t we the only two here? How did Han Lan get in?”
“I don’t know when she arrived. She was just standing silently behind you. My attention was entirely on you, and the lights in the room were flickering. I didn’t know what to do until I noticed her appear behind you, and then your reversal happened—she got so scared that she ran away.”
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