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墨書 Inktalez
“‘Creak’ I don’t know, I was still very young back then. After that, no one dared to bring up anything about their family; anyway, that child just disappeared.” Severe Cold pushed open a door on the second floor, the heavy sound of the door creaking was uncomfortable, jarring enough to make one’s heart race.
Stepping through the open door led into a Living Room, where the area by the window was in disrepair, littered with white bird droppings. It seemed various birds had made this place their home, having flown in through the window to roost.
Entering a Small Bedroom from the side of the Living Room, it was a world of toys—various kinds of toys, including a large brown bear from China, cars, Transformers, and more… leaving Ziya dazzled. Remembering her own sachet, she couldn’t help but chuckle; her childhood memories made her see the sachet as a guardian.
“Do you have faith?” Ziya quietly asked as she noticed Severe Cold was also stunned by the toys before them.
“Faith… I don’t seem to have any particular belief in any god. I’m not even interested in foreign Christ; I only believe in myself. The villagers are all afraid to come here, but I’m not scared; it’s not like anything is happening,” Severe Cold said, not your typical energetic person. As he spoke, he picked up a Monkey Clock Toy and dusted it off, boasting shamelessly.
“You really are like a big kid; I’ve told you not to touch other people’s things…” Ziya said, somewhat annoyed that he always needed reminding. She continued, “I don’t know if this counts as faith, but there’s always this strange feeling inside me.”
“That’s just your imagination running wild. Just like me being a bit sunnier and talkative; nothing bad comes from it,” Severe Cold put down the monkey and led the way out of the Baby Room.
As they walked toward the other end of the hallway, Ziya spotted another door at the end. “Where does that lead?” Just as Severe Cold was about to reach for the handle of another room, he noticed Ziya’s interest in the door at the end of the hallway and hurriedly headed toward it.
“This is my first time here with you too; don’t really think of me as a free guide. Let’s see what this place is!” As he spoke, he twisted the door lock vigorously, producing a series of ‘click’ sounds. The iron door opened silently, and an unusually cold wind rushed in, causing Ziya to shiver unexpectedly.
“Ugh… so cold.” She leaned forward to peek through the opening iron door. However, Severe Cold curiously continued to twist the lock carefully; he didn’t understand how the previously immovable lock had suddenly opened. He just didn’t want to scare Ziya by telling her earlier.
Ziya stood on the platform, gazing into the depths of the jungle; it seemed there were several Tombs… and beside one Tomb appeared to be a vague figure.
“Severe Cold, come look! There seems to be someone over there.”
“Over there?”
"Look! There's someone in a black cloak next to the Tomb."
"No way!" Severe Cold followed Ziya's pointing finger and indeed saw a figure standing beside the Tomb, though it was hard to make out clearly as it blended with the branches.
"Let's go down and take a look."
"Uh... okay!" Ziya replied to Severe Cold, turning his head again to where the figure stood, still seeing it unmoving.
"It should be someone from our Village, maybe here to pick something!" As they spoke, the two hurried down the stairs toward the main hall, then rushed out toward the graves on the back mountain.
When they arrived breathlessly at the graves, they only saw three or five lonely, cold stone tablets standing there, with not even a ghost in sight. "Damn, I clearly saw someone here just now," Ziya murmured.
Severe Cold looked at a branch in front of the graves and said, "Hey! We must have seen things; this branch looks like a person." He shook the branch casually, causing a few dry yellow leaves to fall from it.
Ziya examined the inscription on one of the tablets closely; it bore the name Li Darwen, and the date of death matched what Severe Cold had mentioned. He looked up into the endless forest and felt as if something mysterious was watching them from deep within, instinctively tugging at his collar.
"We should leave!" Ziya suggested, thinking it best to return to City A to check on Sun Meng's exact location before heading over there. After all, what they had seen here was merely an abandoned villa without heirs, some trees, and this lonely Tomb—nothing particularly interesting.
Once they emerged from the forest, they didn’t go back inside but instead got into their car and headed back the way they came. Ziya happened to glance back one last time at the three-story windows… just that one glance revealed a woman's face appearing behind the glass.
"Severe Cold… look! There's someone on that floor," Ziya exclaimed.
Severe Cold, who had just started the car, quickly turned off the engine and looked in the direction Ziya pointed. All he saw was the blue-tinted glass covered in a layer of pale dust and spiders crawling up and down.
"There's no one there! Where?" Severe Cold replied, glancing back at Ziya, who was frowning tightly. But indeed, just moments ago he had seen that mysterious woman's face; now when he turned back, she had vanished without a trace.
Ziya had been feeling down for a while, while Severe Cold chatted away about everything under the sun, but she didn’t respond. Her mind was occupied with thoughts of that mysterious woman’s face.
“Today, you should come to my house. The Landlady has a lot of merchants buying medicinal herbs there. Come on, say something!” When one person keeps talking and no one responds, it truly feels like being ignored.
“Is it convenient? I think… tomorrow I’ll go back to Severe Cold and gather my thoughts,” Ziya was still torn between whether to go home or stay and continue exploring the mystery of the villa.
“Wow, changing your mind so quickly? You finally believe your friend hasn’t been here, right?”
“Maybe I got the address wrong. When I answered the phone, the line kept cutting out, it was frustrating…” At that moment, Ziya really missed Sun Meng. It had been half a year since she last saw her, and she had no idea how she was doing after her breakup.
“Hmm, wanting to go home is a good thing. If you want to stay, that’s fine too; what we lack here is just some liveliness. As long as you’re willing to stay, there’s a way forward,” Severe Cold hinted.
Ziya was still conflicted. Having just stepped out from the shadow of the building, she didn’t want to get involved in anything related to ghostly events. Moreover, without Sun Meng by her side, it felt like sailing without seeing a lighthouse.
The two drove up to an old-fashioned two-story house. This was a genuine Chinese-style building with a main hall, living room, and east and west wing rooms. Severe Cold cheerfully pulled out Ziya’s suitcase as she followed him into the main hall.
“Grandma.” Severe Cold called out to an elderly woman with white hair sitting in the hall. The Old Woman had been dozing off with her head lowered but slowly lifted her wrinkled face upon hearing someone call her name, looking at Ziya and Severe Cold.
Ziya timidly called out, “Grandma.” She stared into the Old Woman’s eyes but found them hollow and devoid of pupils. A shiver ran down her spine as she instinctively took two steps back.
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