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墨書 Inktalez
The rumbling sound overhead grew closer, resembling thunder as it rolled and crashed above them. The noise pierced through their eardrums, sending shivers down their spines. Ziya covered her ears and crouched down, while Zhiqing felt that this sound was maliciously destroying their will to survive.
First came a terrifying scene of murder, followed by a foul smell, and now the deafening noise. It seemed that the hidden Demon Leader was intent on trapping them, scaring them to death in this unfamiliar place. The sound came from above; they could escape to another location. With this thought, Zhiqing grabbed Ziya, who was still crouching on the ground, and pushed open the nearby door, rushing inside without a second thought.
Upon entering the room, they realized it was a suite. The outer room was cluttered with decaying furniture. There was a window at the back wall, and seeing it sparked hope in both of them to escape. They rushed to the window, straining to push it open, but it seemed stuck.
The window creaked painfully under their efforts. With a loud crack, it shifted slightly, but when they saw the warped shape of the window behind it, their hearts sank. Before them lay dark soil; seeing it twisted their hearts further. Was this house underground? If not, why couldn’t they see an open space filled with light and air? Why were there no trees, flowers, or paths?
Ziya suddenly went wild and reached out to grab the dark soil. She refused to believe what she saw was real; only the dead would be trapped underground. Could it be that they were both dead? Zhiqing struggled to hold onto the frantic Ziya. Her tear-filled eyes looked helplessly at Zhiqing through her tears, and that heart-wrenching gaze tore at Zhiqing's insides, leaving her mind in chaos and doubt as if she were dreaming.
An unprecedented sense of despair filled their minds as they stepped back to look at their dirt-covered hands. An unsettling feeling washed over them. Zhiqing pinched her own arm hard; a sharp pain spread throughout her body—if she felt pain, then she wasn’t dead.
“We’re not dead; I can still feel pain. Ziya, we need to stay calm… calm…” Zhiqing embraced the trembling Ziya, who was crying uncontrollably, offering her a faint smile as she whispered words of comfort.
“What is this place? How did we end up here?” Ziya had asked herself this countless times before. Now she poured all her anguish onto Zhiqing. What would they do in the days ahead? Was there an exit? And who exactly was that hidden Demon Leader? Many questions swirled in their minds.
Suddenly, a loud crashing sound echoed from the inner room, shaking the floor beneath them. Ziya and Zhiqing jumped in alarm, their hairs standing on end as they rushed toward the door, eager to escape.
Just as they reached the doorway, they heard a muffled sound coming from within—the sound of someone struggling to speak as if something was lodged in their throat.
“Should we check it out?” Ziya recalled what the player had said about others being present in this house; perhaps this sound came from another person.
“Yeah, let’s take a look.” Zhiqing tightly grasped Ziya's hand as they slowly turned back toward the source of the noise. The doorknob was rusty; with one hand holding onto Ziya and the other cautiously turning the knob with a click, she found that the door was stiff from moisture. The hinges creaked against the floor as she finally managed to push it open.
After entering the room, the two were engulfed in darkness. The light inside was dimmer than outside, and although there was movement, it was impossible to discern whether it was a person or something else. After a while, they adjusted to the low light and noticed a hanging energy-saving bulb, covered in layers of grime that obscured its glow. This was why they had failed to see the person suspended from the ceiling fan above.
The person hanging beneath the fan seemed to sense their presence; her head was wrapped in a tattered cloth bag, and she emitted muffled sounds. Her body spun aimlessly, her hands bound and dangling from the edges of the fan blades. Blood dripped from her ankles, and her toes were bloodied and crusted over, with a large pool of dried blood accumulating on the floor beneath her. It appeared that her tendons had been severed, and judging by the hair spilling out from under the bag, it was clear that she was a woman. She wore a blue-and-white checkered outfit that resembled a patient’s gown.
“Save her,” Ziya said, looking at the pitiful woman.
“Of course,” Zhiqing replied, recalling the decaying objects outside. She thought there might be something useful among them to help free the woman before bringing her down to the floor.
While Zhiqing searched for something outside, Ziya attempted to speak with the woman. She reached out to touch her bleeding ankle but felt an unusual chill and quickly withdrew her hand.
Zhiqing returned with a wooden stick that could reach the woman's neck. She carefully pulled away the cloth covering the woman's face. As the woman's head emerged, Ziya recognized her familiar features and focused intently as Zhiqing began to pry open the cloth stuffed in her mouth.
“Help me…” As soon as the cloth was removed, the woman screamed frantically for Ziya and Zhiqing to save her. In her terror, she recognized them both, her face contorting into a grimace of despair.
“Ziya? Zhiqing? Why are you here? Wuwu…”
“Do you remember me?” Ziya asked, though she felt she had heard that voice before without any clear memory attached.
“Tell us your name,” Zhiqing urged, lifting the woman’s foot slightly to ease her distress as she quickly brainstormed ways to rescue her.
Ziya suddenly thought of a plan. She instructed Zhiqing to crouch down while she climbed onto Zhiqing's shoulders to untie the woman’s bindings. With their plan in mind, they sprang into action. However, things changed faster than they could adapt.
The fan suddenly whirled violently. “I am… Wuwu… save me… everything is…” The woman's voice trailed off with a loud crash, abruptly silencing as blood sprayed into the air, splattering both Ziya and Zhiqing from head to toe. The woman’s head tilted unnaturally as her eyes bulged wide open in a horrifying expression of death; her fingers had been cleanly severed and lay scattered throughout the corners of the room.
With a thunderous crash, the woman fell from the sky like a meteor. Zhiqing and Ziya were stunned, blood dripping from their bodies, tears streaming down their faces, mingling with the blood.
Zhiqing looked up at the still-spinning Fan. The woman's fingers were severed, and her neck had a gaping wound that seemed impossibly large. Beneath Fan lay an invisible blade; Fan's leaves had sliced through her fingers, and the blade had cut her carotid artery.
"Ahhhhhhh!" Ziya screamed frantically, staring at the unfamiliar face. Due to the loss of blood, her complexion turned pale, resembling a sheet of transparent white paper. What was she trying to tell us before she died?
Zhiqing scanned the corners of the room, trying to figure out where the hidden cameras were installed. How could they have struck when they were just about to devise a way to save her?
Gently, Zhiqing brushed his fingers over the woman's wide-open eyes, feeling an overwhelming heaviness in his heart. Witnessing such a bloody scene firsthand reminded him of this deceased woman and the name of the first woman who had died.
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