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墨書 Inktalez
Ziya nodded affirmatively and replied firmly, "It's her. She has appeared in my sight several times."
"If that's the case, things just got more complicated. Li Darwen's wife supposedly went mad and hanged herself in the middle of the night. Why would she appear in the bathroom?" Severe Cold asked, his eyes filled with inquiry.
The album mostly contained photos of a family of three: a short-haired woman, a handsome man with an extraordinary demeanor, and a child in the middle. What was strange was that in every single photo, the child's face was indistinct. If the album had gotten damp, then all the photos should have been blurred as well. Why was it only the child's images that were a mess, as if covered by some green mold-like substance? The more one looked at it, the more uncomfortable it became.
Ziya continued to flip through the later photos, finding them similar to the earlier ones. The eerie images evoked a sense of fear. These photos seemed to have been taken many years ago; if not for their plastic coating, they likely wouldn't have survived to this day.
"Ziya, look at this one; it's very strange. The child and this Long-Haired Woman look fine together, but the image of this Short-Haired Woman beside them seems corroded," Severe Cold said as he handed the photo to Ziya.
Ziya leaned in for a closer look and indeed found it curious. "In this photo, between the two women is a child. The sweet and beautiful face of the Long-Haired Woman is strikingly similar to that of the child. Could they be sisters?"
As Ziya spoke, she pulled the photo out of the album to check if there were any notes on the back—usually, photos have dates or annotations about who was in them.
Turning the photo over revealed some writing that appeared to be smudged by water; several words were somewhat unclear. The issue seemed evident now. "Ah! Let's go home and rest for a bit before deciding what to do next," Severe Cold said, suppressing a yawn that threatened to escape.
"I think we should start with the child. If we can retrieve information about them from Silt, we might see how things develop."
"Weren't you saying that woman appeared in the bathroom? Why don't we clean up the bathroom and take a look?" Severe Cold boldly suggested that there might be undiscovered secrets hidden there. For the first time, their opinions diverged, but neither addressed it directly. After a few seconds of silence, they decided to leave.
A beam of natural light finally filtered through the corridor's exit, illuminating the walls of the study. Severe Cold glanced at his watch; it was 8:38 AM, and his stomach was growling. He slowly moved aside some clutter piled at the door and opened it.
"Wow! What great weather today!" Ziya exclaimed as she wrapped the album in a newspaper and placed it back into the desk drawer. Hearing Severe Cold's joyful voice outside, she hurried out of the study.
"You can't possibly know it's good weather; there's nothing different about it!" The sky remained overcast, showing no signs of blue skies or white clouds. Ziya glanced around, her timid eyes scanning the surroundings as if fearing something might appear.
"I'm a local here; how could I not know about the natural phenomena? After the clouds, there will be a rainbow, ha ha!" Severe Cold's intention was to help Ziya temporarily forget the embarrassment and fright from last night, deliberately trying to lighten the mood.
"Then tell me what's going on with Riverbank Silt! The local big shot?" Ziya raised an eyebrow, her pale face looking somewhat haggard, with noticeable dark circles under her eyes. The two turned back to close the study door and walked towards the stairs. To reach the stairs, they had to pass through the master bedroom, and from there, they would go by the bathroom. For some reason, Ziya felt a flutter of anxiety as they approached.
"This river is a tributary of the Min River. It used to be beautiful, with clear water and banks lined with white fluff. We loved playing here when we were young. After the elders of our village passed away, they were buried here. Then heavy rains brought mud and silt from upstream, and some factories directly discharged polluted chemical waste into this area. Over time, the riverbed gradually filled up, forming Riverbank, which became dirty and foul-smelling. No one comes here to bathe or play anymore."
"And then what? When did that white Mist Veil start appearing?" As Ziya followed Severe Cold closer to the bathroom, she felt an irresistible urge to glance inside; a long strand of women's hair slowly withdrew from the bathroom doorway.
Ziya's heart raced as if it might leap out of her throat. She quickly grabbed Severe Cold's arm and shouted, "She's in there..." Severe Cold was already on edge but tried to sound relaxed while explaining the Riverbank incident, thinking that talking more would help ease his own nerves. However, he was startled when Ziya suddenly pulled him back.
"What’s wrong?" Severe Cold hurriedly wrapped his arms around the trembling Ziya.
"Her... hair..." Ziya's face had turned as pale as paper, her words trembling and unclear.
Being a man, Severe Cold felt a pang in his heart seeing Ziya so frightened. He quickly shielded her behind him and took a few steps back toward the bathroom. They leaned against each other as they entered the bathroom, where Severe Cold immediately spotted a black strand of hair on the floor.
"Is this it? Is it your hair?" He bent down to pick it up with his fingertips and held it up to compare with Ziya's ponytail. The comparison shocked him so much that he nearly dropped it; the hair curled as it fell to the ground.
"Let's go!" Seeing that Severe Cold had compared the hair and realized it was much longer than before made Ziya's heart tighten with fear. What had once seemed like an adventurous idea to capture ghostly images now filled her with dread, making her want to leave immediately. However, Severe Cold seemed not to hear Ziya's plea; he was entranced by another strand of hair beneath Bathing White.
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