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墨書 Inktalez
A person was following another, their tracking skills clumsy and easily detectable.
Even if the follower had mastered the art of stalking, after so many changes—getting in and out of cars, switching vehicles—they should have been exposed by now! Yet, Ding Li had turned around hundreds of times from Men'er Gou to the county town, and then to the city center, without once catching sight of the person lurking in the shadows. No, perhaps it wasn't a person at all, but merely a cold gaze.
Just a cold gaze? That meant the stalker was a pair of eyes—eyes that were anything but ordinary, cold and frightening.
Ye Chenfeng noticed Ding Li's pale complexion and her constant shivering. He thought she was just feeling uneasy in this unfamiliar environment after rarely going out in the county town.
But that wasn't it.
Ding Li quietly told Ye Chenfeng that someone was following her.
"No way, how could that be possible!"
Seeing Ye Chenfeng's disbelief, Ding Li felt wronged. She bit her lip and lowered her head, staring intently at her shoelaces. She was wearing a pair of pink travel shoes, the toes muddy from their trip to Men'er Gou together. She bent down to pull out a tissue and wiped at the mud, trying to suppress the urge to cry, forcing back her tears.
The stubborn gray-brown mud wouldn’t come off, so she gave up.
The bus quickly arrived at the terminal. This time, Ding Li was more cautious; as she stood up to get off, she deliberately glanced back at the remaining passengers in the bus.
There were only a few people left inside. One rural aunt was carrying several bags, seemingly visiting someone in the city.
An elderly man with a persistent cough hunched over, walking carefully while holding onto the back of a seat for support.
And there was a young man wearing a plaid jacket with a buzz cut and an oval face. He was clutching something wrapped in newspaper that looked about as long as a watermelon knife, his eyes darting around suspiciously. Just one glance made one think it must be a weapon.
Could it be him?
Ding Li shot him a hard look, memorizing his appearance in her mind before getting off at Ye Chenfeng's urging.
Ye Chenfeng also noticed the guy with the knife in hand, but it was because Ding Li kept staring at him that he became aware. He quietly reminded her, "Don't stare at people like that."
Ding Li was displeased but didn’t continue to look at the man.
Just a moment ago, she had still felt that cold gaze upon her.
The person watching her seemed so close yet also felt impossibly distant.
Ye Chenfeng was unaware of how heavy Ding Li's thoughts were. He comforted her all the way home, pondering what situation they might encounter—would it be "Grandma" opening the door, or her mom, or perhaps her dad?
There were vendors selling cotton candy and roasted chestnuts, especially one calling out for Pot Pie in Tianjin dialect, which added a unique charm to the atmosphere. Ding Li didn’t understand and asked Ye Chenfeng what the vendor was shouting.
Ye Chenfeng replied, "Pot Pie. Do you want some?" He was quite pleased; ever since Ding Li got into the car, this was the first time something had caught her attention enough for her to ask questions.
For several minutes, even over ten minutes, she had looked truly worried. She remained silent, appearing burdened with thoughts, always glancing around nervously.
"Is it good?"
Ye Chenfeng smiled and said, "It's delicious." Without hesitation, he took her straight to the Pot Pie stall.
The vendor was from Tianjin and was very friendly, speaking fluent Tianjin dialect. After greeting them and learning they wanted two Pot Pies, he quickly prepared them and handed them over.
After a long ride, they were both hungry. Ye Chenfeng, being a man, didn’t have many qualms about food and wasn’t used to eating in small bites. He took a big bite of the Pot Pie; the crust was slightly crispy, and the filling was rich and tasty!
However, as he chewed on his Pot Pie, Ding Li let out a sharp scream, causing her own Pot Pie to fall to the ground.
Startled, Ye Chenfeng stopped eating and kept asking her what was wrong.
"There's blood all over your mouth."
Ye Chenfeng was startled when he heard Ding Li's tearful voice, saying her mouth was full of blood. He quickly reached out to touch her, but it was clearly red oil—how could it possibly be blood?
Ding Li indeed saw that Ye Chenfeng's mouth was filled with blood. The way he chewed vigorously made him look like a monster devouring human flesh, with blood oozing from between his teeth.
Seeing her pale face and the look of shock in her eyes, Ye Chenfeng realized that recovering from being possessed by the Evil God wasn't going to be easy for her. Her anxiety and paranoia were all related to the possession.
He took a strip of cloth from his bag, a piece of fabric, and instructed Ding Li to behave. He wrapped the cloth around her eyes and then held her hand as he led her home.
Ding Li felt sweet inside being cared for by Ye Chenfeng and obediently followed his instructions. Strangely, after having her eyes covered with the cloth, she felt genuinely at ease; she no longer sensed any cold stares or danger, nor did she see any blood or anything unsettling.
Only Ye Chenfeng knew that this cloth was not just any ordinary fabric. It had been torn from a large piece of Red Silk Cloth that belonged to a classmate whose grandfather had passed away at the age of ninety. The Red Silk Cloth had been used to wrap the grandfather's ashes.
When an elderly person passes away, a priest performs a ritual to guide their soul to heaven, and the silk cloth used for wrapping the ashes has protective properties against evil spirits.
Ye Chenfeng had been skeptical when he placed this gifted Red Silk Cloth in his bag, but he never expected it would come in handy this time.
Yunxin Garden, Building B, Unit 5, Apartment 8 was his home. Now, standing at the entrance with Ding Li, he hadn’t heard any alarming news or strange incidents upon entering the Yunxin Garden community. The only issue was that the old man at the security desk had questioned him repeatedly before reluctantly allowing him entry.
Some things are simply unpredictable.
When Ye Chenfeng reached his front door and unlocked it, he discovered that no one was home.
"Grandma" was missing. The Ghost-Collecting Gourd on the bed was still there, and he recalled feeling something unusual during his phone call with his parents, an unsettling feeling creeping into his heart.
As Ding Li untied the cloth strip, she looked around Ye Chenfeng's home with delight.
The three-bedroom apartment on a mortgage was quite nice.
The living room connected to the kitchen and balcony, separated by frosted glass. On the balcony were two beach chairs and a small bookshelf. It was tastefully decorated; while not overly expensive, it was practical. It seemed that Ye Chenfeng's parents knew how to enjoy life.
"You have such a warm home."
Ding Li felt envious and turned on the television.
Seeing her finally happy, Ye Chenfeng didn't want to disturb her and smiled, saying, "You watch TV, I'll make a phone call."
Ye Chenfeng stepped out onto the balcony to call his parents.
From the phone call, he learned that his parents were in the hospital, and his grandmother was critically ill!
Hearing about his grandmother's condition, Ye Chenfeng didn't feel sad; instead, he felt relieved. This meant one thing: on the night of the full moon, his grandmother had failed to capture her prey and had not fed on blood. This was one reason for her weakness. Another reason was that the Ghost-Collecting Gourd had absorbed her spiritual energy, contributing to her frailty.
If he could force the Cat Spirit out of his grandmother's body in one go, would that mean he had eliminated the Cat Spirit?
The Ghost-Quaking Scripture contained various spells and scriptures, encompassing a wide range of knowledge.
Ye Chenfeng couldn't absorb everything at once; he could only learn gradually and carefully.
To be cautious, before leaving, Ye Chenfeng asked Ding Li to write a character.
Ding Li was puzzled. What was Ye Chenfeng up to? Why did he want her to write something? Despite her confusion, she obediently wrote the character for "horse" on a piece of paper.
The Ghost-Quaking Scripture stated: Horse; anyone who writes "horse" must do so without dots; if there are no legs, the horse cannot move.
Ye Chenfeng glanced at the character and seriously told Ding Li, "You stay here and watch TV. I'm going to the hospital. If someone comes looking for you, don't open the door. Remember to contact me if you have a landline."
"Are you leaving me all alone in your house? What are you thinking?" Ding Li protested, astonished and dramatically exclaimed.
"I'm going to take care of something. Do you remember what happened earlier on the road?" Ye Chenfeng lifted the Red Silk Cloth and said to Ding Li, "If it weren't for this Red Silk Cloth, would you have been able to come to my house so easily?"
Ding Li was not oblivious; she sensed that Ye Chenfeng had some abilities. Since he wanted to stay at home, there must be a reason for it. She didn't want to pry, so she simply nodded in agreement, on the condition that he kept his phone on. If anything happened, she wouldn't know what to do.
Ye Chenfeng took out the remaining talismans and began sticking them around the house, saying, "Don't worry, these talismans are useful. Just call me if anything happens." After finishing with the talismans, still feeling uneasy, he handed The Ghost-Quaking Scripture to Ding Li and said, "If anything bad shows up, use this to deal with it."
Ding Li looked at The Ghost-Quaking Scripture, filled with dense characters that she could only recognize but not understand. She asked in confusion, "Can this broken book really be useful?"
"It has great use."
"Alright then!" Ding Li glanced around at the talismans plastered all over the room and then at the worn book. Her anxious heart calmed down a bit as she watched Ye Chenfeng leave. After locking the door securely, she returned to the sofa, pulling the blanket that Ye Chenfeng had brought out over herself. She was utterly exhausted from everything that had happened and wanted to rest for a while.
Ye Chenfeng took a taxi to the hospital.
The hospital entrance was bustling with people. He headed straight for the inpatient department and inquired about his grandmother's name. It didn't take long for him to find her in C Ward, bed 14.
In C Ward, bed 14 lay an elderly woman who seemed barely alive. Her face was ashen, her gaze vacant as she stared blankly at the ceiling. Her lips moved slightly as if trying to say something.
A middle-aged woman, Ye Chenfeng's mother, approached the old woman and asked gently, "Mom, if you have something to say, just tell me."
Suddenly, the old woman's sunken eyes turned fierce as they locked onto her. With a claw-like hand, she unexpectedly grabbed Ye Chenfeng's mother's hand tightly. A chilling breath swept through her body in an instant as she saw the light of death in her eyes. Startled, she tried to pull away but heard a single word escape from the old woman's thin lips: "Blood."
Startled by the request for blood from a dying elder, Ye Chenfeng's mother was genuinely frightened. She forcefully pried open Ye Chenfeng's grandmother's hand and noticed a ring of purple bruises left on her own wrist after pulling away.
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