Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
With no guests around, nearly all the doors were ajar. I finished checking the first floor and then went through each room on the second floor.
Still, there was no one!
I forced myself to recall every detail since we entered the inn.
After I went downstairs to shower and returned, Ruo Yu had vanished without a trace of struggle or fight.
Given Ruo Yu's capabilities, even if she encountered a Big Shot, unless they struck decisively, it shouldn't have been possible for her to be taken without a single cry for help!
What about Bai Ying in the mirror while I was showering?
Was there someone else hidden in this inn besides the elderly couple?
Back in the room, I meticulously examined everything, imagining what might have happened to Ruo Yu.
The floor was old, with a dark red hue. There were some scattered footprints on it. Excluding my own, there was a pair of larger prints that should belong to Ruo Yu; apart from that, there were no other footprints.
A bold thought crossed my mind: could it be that Ruo Yu was taken from the room?
After considering it thoroughly, this was the only reasonable explanation. Otherwise, how could one explain the warm blankets and the absence of any outsider's footprints or signs of struggle in the room?
The thought of Ruo Yu possibly being alive or dead sent me rushing downstairs again. The old man had returned to his recliner, eyes closed as he listened to the indistinct broadcast.
“Were there any innocent guests who went missing while staying here?” I shouted angrily. I directly lifted the bar counter's barrier and stepped inside, looking down at the old man from above.
What I saw startled me. No wonder I had been able to lift him so easily earlier; it made sense that even though he was frail and aged, he wouldn’t be that light!
The lower half of his body was completely severed at the thighs, leaving only two limp pant legs hanging over the recliner.
The chair appeared unusually large and long.
The old man opened his cloudy eyes, showing no sign of anger. He seemed like a withered tree, devoid of any emotions. “You can’t find anyone?”
Watching the scene unfold, I couldn't help but soften my tone a bit. "Old man, I apologize for my earlier rudeness. It's just that my friend has gone missing without a trace, and I'm worried..."
The old man's voice was like a creaking wind instrument. "It's nothing. I've lived long enough to have seen all kinds of people. You’re holding it together quite well!"
"Then, can you tell me where my friend has gone?" I asked. From the way he spoke, it seemed he knew something.
The old man shook his head, closed his eyes, and uttered a cryptic phrase, "What you see is not what you see; what you cannot see is not what you cannot see!"
Listening to this tongue-twister, my head buzzed with confusion. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't figure out where things had gone wrong.
After some thought, I decided to investigate the bathroom. Since there was something off about it, if I could just find a clue, I was sure I could unravel the mystery.
I must have made too much noise because as I turned around, I nearly bumped into an old woman who had silently appeared behind me. Her single eye glinted with malice. On one side of her face, covered in a tumor-like growth, something seemed to be writhing beneath the flesh.
It looked like worms crawling through veins!
I was too irritated to pay her any mind and sidestepped past her.
With a rush of water...
I turned on the faucet in the bathroom, letting hot water flow freely. Soon, the room was filled with rising steam.
Standing by the mirror, I stared intently at its surface as it transitioned from clear to blurry.
I didn’t dare blink, afraid of missing any subtle changes on the mirror's surface.
One minute passed, then five minutes, then fifteen...
Still no changes! My patience had worn thin. I slammed my fist against the mirror!
An eerie event occurred!
The mirror remained completely intact! With the force of my punch, it should have shattered like tempered glass. Yet this ordinary mirror stood firm.
The imagined crack did not appear! The surface of the mirror remained hazy, with only a small mark left where my fist had struck.
I bit my middle finger, ready to press it against the mirror's surface!
Suddenly, the mirror began to creak and groan. It sounded like long nails scraping against a blackboard, sending chills down the spine of anyone who heard it.
It seemed as if someone was writing on the blurred surface of the mirror!
I looked around but saw nothing else.
The writing was crooked and unclear; I couldn't make out what it said!
Search? Request? Text?
...
I stared blankly at the mirror, trying to decipher it for a long time. The hot water continued to flow loudly. Soon, the surface of the mirror began to blur again!
Just before the writing was about to disappear, in a flash of inspiration, two words suddenly popped into my mind.
Help me!
But those two words seemed to have been written inside the mirror.
So from my perspective, it looked a bit awkward.
Help me! Was this a message left for me by Ruo Yu? Or was it from Bai Ying?
Could Ruo Yu be inside the mirror?
I took down the mirror that was embedded in the wall and examined it closely, checking the wall as well. There were no abnormalities.
So who wrote those words? How were they written?
“Ruo Yu, is that you?” I shouted loudly at the mirror.
The surface of the mirror remained unchanged. Everything had returned to square one!
I couldn't feel even a hint of coldness in the room. Where could they be?
I must have been in the bathroom for too long; I felt a bit suffocated. As I pushed the door open, I was greeted by a refreshing coolness in the air. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, feeling my mind clear up a bit.
When I opened my eyes, I suddenly saw an old woman standing at the bathroom door.
She looked at me with a hint of disgust!
“Old lady, about the mirror in the bathroom…” I began to ask.
Before I could finish, she interrupted me with a sharp voice, “Don’t ask what you shouldn’t. Leave immediately after it gets bright…”
Her gaze was like a sharp dagger aimed at me, her expression fierce.
“If I can’t find my friend, I won’t leave,” I replied stubbornly, holding my head high.
Suddenly, the old woman burst into laughter, her voice as clear and pleasant as that of a young girl in her prime.
The old lady stood in the hallway, behind her was an expanse of deep darkness. The motion-sensor lights along the corridor flickered on one by one with her laughter!
She hunched over and slowly walked deeper into the corridor. With each step she took, one light would extinguish.
Silently!
I looked closely and noticed that her heels were touching the ground. She was barefoot, which explained why she made no sound while walking.
It seemed like the old woman’s foot was injured? She walked unsteadily, trembling as if she might fall at any moment.
As the old woman lifted her foot beneath the wide pant legs, I instinctively took a few steps back in shock.
Was that a foot? It looked more like an animal's hoof.
It was a strange mass, without any toes!
After the initial surprise, I suddenly realized—could this be the legendary three-inch golden lotus?
How old was this old woman? Was she immortal?
This Huangquan Inn was indeed filled with mysteries and oddities.
Were the two elderly people really unrelated to Ruo Yu's disappearance?
Comment 0 Comment Count