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墨書 Inktalez
As I descended the mountain with Ruo Yu, I heard the mournful cries echoing from above.
I couldn't help but chuckle. We were adults, having lived most of our lives; why did we always prefer to entrust our troubles to the elusive spirits and deities?
If there was something we wanted, we should strive for it and fight for it. If we truly encountered an insurmountable problem, we could only do our best. The key was to avoid regret.
As the sun set, let those heartbroken souls cry a little longer! After all, with one Wong Tai Sin gone, countless Huang Daxian were on their way. Who knows? Soon enough, a remarkably effective Bai Daxian might appear!
By the time we reached the city, it was already dark.
Ruo Yu and I casually found a street stall to settle our dinner. After a satisfying meal, it was only natural to want to sleep soundly.
After all, the bus back to the sanatorium would not leave until tomorrow morning. My flight ticket had expired, and I would still need to seek Han Che's help when I returned.
Unconsciously, Ruo Yu and I walked for a while. When I looked up again, the familiar dim sign caught my eye.
A dilapidated building.
Huangquan Inn!
Feeling slightly tipsy, courage surged within me, along with an insatiable curiosity that felt like roots deeply embedded in the soil.
“Ruo Yu, tonight let's have a good look at this Huangquan Inn,” I said as I slapped Ruo Yu's shoulder with enthusiasm.
Ruo Yu smiled and replied, “Ling Feng, wherever you go, I will follow. There’s always a surprise when I'm with you.”
“Alright! No matter if it's a den of spirits or demons, let’s go in and take a look!” I exclaimed boldly, bursting into laughter.
I pushed open the glass door with a creak and shouted, “Room for rent! Is anyone here?”
A nearly bald head with a wrinkled scalp peeked out from behind the bar. “You again?”
I pulled out twenty dollars and slapped it down on the weathered tabletop.
The old man's eyelids drooped, making him look like a piece of rotting wood, devoid of vitality.
He took the money and wrote a receipt. Then he turned around and retrieved a set of keys from a compartment behind him.
“Old Woman, take the guest to the second floor. Room 14!” The old man shouted toward the depths of the first-floor corridor. His voice was hoarse, reminiscent of a muted erhu, creaking and unpleasant to hear.
The Old Woman emerged from the shadows, still hunched over as she led the way.
Curiously, I asked, “Elder, is it just you two running this inn? Where are the children?”
Suddenly, the old woman stopped in her tracks and whipped around to glare at me.
A chill ran down my spine; what kind of gaze was that? What kind of face?
It was as if she wanted to kill me to keep a secret from being exposed. One of her eyes was covered by a dark brown growth that nearly obscured half her face, resembling overcooked meat.
“Don’t ask what you shouldn’t. Don’t wander around at night; check out by dawn,” she said, her voice surprisingly pleasant, a rich contralto with a slightly husky tone.
I fell silent. After the old woman escorted us to our room and turned to leave, I asked again, “Elder, is there a place to bathe in the inn?”
Without pausing, she replied, “There’s a bathroom at the corner of the first floor; hot water is available twenty-four hours!”
I thanked her and closed the door. Everything in the room looked exactly as it had during my last visit, as if no one had stayed here or cleaned since we left.
On the bed where I had slept before, I found several twisted strands of hair.
I looked closely; could they be mine?
“Ling Feng, are you going to have a good show tonight?” Ruo Yu asked with a smile.
I replied, “I should, I guess!”
Ruo Yu appeared somewhat dull, but deep down, there was still a primal impulse within him.
I grabbed a towel and my toiletries. “I’ll go take a shower first, and then I’ll come back to switch with you.”
Ruo Yu made a face. “There are female ghosts in the Heart Bathhouse that will devour you completely…”
His teasing laughter was suggestive, but I ignored him, draping the towel over my shoulder and whistling as I headed downstairs.
The wooden stairs creaked under my weight, as if they might collapse at any moment.
As I passed by the bar, I glanced inside and noticed an old man lounging in a chair beneath the bar, listening to the radio.
The radio crackled with static, likely due to poor reception.
The bathroom was just a small space where one could stand to shower. Fortunately, it was tiled, making it look relatively clean.
I turned on the Qiu Longtou faucet and tested the water temperature; it was just right.
The bathroom was quite small, with only an exhaust fan and no other windows. It didn’t take long for steam to fill the room.
A piece of glass was embedded in the wall near the door, now fogged up from the steam.
It had been quite a while since my last shower. The hot water not only washed away my drunkenness but also revitalized me.
Men tend to shower quickly, and I was no exception.
As I finished my shower and prepared to open the door, my eyes inadvertently glanced at the mirror.
That fleeting glance nearly made me drop the basin in my hands.
Damn it, Ruo Yu's ominous words turned out to be true.
There was a female ghost!
Although the mirror was fogged up, I could still clearly see that besides my own reflection, something seemed to be crawling on my back.
I steadied myself, murmured a prayer, and then reached out to wipe away the condensation on the mirror. What reflected back was my strong upper body.
With a buzz cut, my face was slightly flushed from the shower.
Other than that, there was nothing else!
I chuckled self-deprecatingly, realizing I had scared myself and was being overly paranoid.
As I pushed the door open and stepped inside, towel in hand to dry my hair, I called out, "Ruo Yu, you should go wash up. The water temperature is quite nice."
There was no response. I paused my movements; in the cramped room, there was no sign of Ruo Yu anywhere.
I walked over and felt Ruo Yu's bed. The blanket was slightly sunken and disheveled, clearly indicating that Ruo Yu had been lying there just moments ago. I touched the blanket again; it still held a bit of warmth.
So where did Ruo Yu go? In such a short time, a nearly two-hundred-pound giant couldn’t just vanish like magic!
I forced myself to calm down and meticulously searched the room from top to bottom, yet found nothing.
Frustrated, I stormed downstairs and slammed my hand on the bar counter, shouting, "Where have you taken my friend?"
The noise was so loud that I thought even a deaf person could hear it.
The old man slowly got up from his recliner, his eyelids drooping, and his skin sagging like tree bark. "Your friend is missing? But so far, no one has left!"
I glanced at the registration log; apart from the two of us, there were no other guests!
A chill ran down my spine as I felt that this inn was like a moving, mutated coffin.
Tonight, only I and Ruo Yu had been let in!
I grabbed the old man's shirt. He was so light that I felt I could almost pull him out from behind the counter without much effort. "If anything happens to my friend, none of you will get away."
I threatened him and then began searching each room.
In such a small place, I refused to believe I couldn't find her.
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