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墨書 Inktalez
No one answered my questions; I could only keep running, keep chasing, my legs numb and moving purely on instinct, repeating the mechanical motions over and over.
The most primitive Cedar Forest, the most primal chase.
I had no idea how long I had been running. The heavy panting of A Li beside me grew louder, sounding almost inhuman—whoosh, huff, whoosh, huff…
I thought to myself, this is bad; could he have completely mutated?
Just then, someone suddenly lunged at me from behind, grabbing my head and sending all three of us crashing to the ground.
Liuzi cursed breathlessly, “What the hell are you running for? If you’ve got the guts, keep running!” He pressed down hard on my head a couple of times, nearly burying my face in the dirt.
I lost track of what happened in the next few seconds. All I knew was that three seconds later, Liuzi let out a piercing scream that shattered the night. He had seen A Li’s grotesque face—the idiot had finally made it known to everyone.
Third Granduncle Master and his group had somehow shaken off the Yellow Witch's people, leaving only A Chen and Liuzi by my side. Third Granduncle Master was always ruthless towards uselessness and deception. At this thought, I couldn’t help but shiver; clearly, I belonged to one of those categories. Perhaps in Third Granduncle Master ’s eyes, I was both.
I stood there dazed, waiting for Third Granduncle Master ’s judgment as my heart raced wildly, nearly bursting from my chest.
Third Granduncle Master crouched down and leaned closer to me, his snake-like eyes fixed on me without a word. The intensity of his gaze sent chills down my spine and made my palms sweat. Then he turned his attention to A Li, who looked even more helpless and terrified than I did. In front of everyone, he ripped away the gauze from A Li’s chest as if it were just an ordinary piece of cloth, making us three feel utterly embarrassed.
However, right at the blood-red wound, a patch of three-inch-long black hair sprouted unexpectedly, resembling the fine hair left on a child’s head after birth. Third Granduncle Master reached out his right hand toward the back and waited for a response. When none came after a moment, he shot Liuzi a glare. Only then did Liuzi snap back to reality and quickly hand over a sterilized dagger.
With a swift motion, Third Granduncle Master brought down the knife before A Li could even scream. A palm-sized piece of hairy skin fell to the ground, leaving everyone stunned and horrified… This old fox was truly ruthless!
A Li seemed to finally realize what had happened and let out a scream that sounded anything but human. She fell backward as if about to faint. Liuzi was quick to react and rushed to support her without a hint of disgust, clumsily pressing on a cotton pad to stop the bleeding.
Third Granduncle Master lit a fire and burned the hair on the ground completely: “You really lack vision compared to your master when dealing with tigers.”
I was taken aback, finally realizing he was talking to me. Then I was stunned again—damn! This old fox knows everything! He was aware of my "deal" with the Yellow Witch and even knew that the Yellow Witch had meddled with A Li!
"Master Nephew, put away your self-righteous cleverness, or someone else will suffer," he said, his gaze fleetingly glancing at A Li, who was groaning on the ground. "Remember, this is all thanks to you."
All I could do was stare in silence; I was simply no match for him.
Once a person tells their first lie, they must follow it up with a second lie to cover the first, then a third to cover the second... and so on. Thus, a person's life can become filled with countless lies.
Once I lied about the map, there was no turning back. That's life—sometimes you know it's wrong, yet you have to grit your teeth and carry on.
A Li was seriously injured and had a slight fever. The others were soaked through, so we made a fire right there to rest for the night and set off again early the next morning.
Except for A Li, everyone took turns keeping watch in pairs. The others could crawl into their sleeping bags and rest. After days of intense travel, everyone was exhausted; those not on duty fell asleep almost instantly.
A Chen and I were assigned to the first half of the night. A Chen was smoking, trying to keep his spirits up, and offered me a cigarette. I initially intended to refuse but felt incredibly drowsy; my eyelids were so heavy that I could barely keep them open. So I accepted it, lit it up, and held it under my nose to savor the smell.
I smoked one after another and managed to get through three hours. Turning around, I saw that everyone was sound asleep— Third Granduncle Master was snoring loudly, and Liuzi's snores were thunderous. Thankfully, we weren't on the same watch; otherwise, I definitely wouldn't have been able to sleep.
After thinking it over several times, I realized this rare opportunity to be alone with A Chen under such enchanting nightfall would be wasted if I didn't do something. So I moved closer to him and said, "A Chen, you're Xun Wu, right?"
A Chen looked slightly surprised and exhaled a puff of smoke. "I thought you already knew."
I quickly tried to build rapport: "Well, it wasn't certain! Thank you for helping me last time in the underground palace."
A Chen smiled but didn't say anything further. Gathering my courage, I continued, "You're the heir of the Turtle Breathing Technique, right? I've met your master... oh no, your master's master."
A Chen chuckled again, probably thinking I was just rambling in my sleep. So I picked up on some details and briefly recounted what happened with Lao Wantong. Mentioning it brought back painful memories that made my nose feel uncomfortably warm.
Little did I know, A Chen, after hearing this, lit another cigarette and showed no reaction at all. Instead, half-jokingly and half-reassuringly, he said to me, "Come on, just ask what you want to ask directly. You don't need to tell a story; I'm not a child."
"This isn't a story; it's real!" Seeing that A Chen still didn't believe me while puffing on his cigarette, I shook my head. Anyway, that wasn't my main goal. "Forget it... You asked me to ask, so here it goes—back then by the river, I asked Third Granduncle Master why the Shui Lai Tou didn't attack us. Third Granduncle Master had no response and seemed completely unconcerned. You all weren't worried either. Why is that?"
I still hadn't brought up the matter of the Yellow Witch. She could betray her loyalties, but I couldn't betray my trust; otherwise, what would be the difference between me and someone like her?
A Chen smiled and turned to glance behind him. Following his gaze, I saw Liu Zi, looking back at us with a puzzled expression. A Chen didn't explain but instead asked me, "Do you know what Liu Zi's skill is?"
I shook my head; I really didn't know.
A Chen pointed to his own mouth. "Lip reading. Liu Zi can not only read human lips but also those of animals, allowing him to mimic their languages and communicate with them. In other words, as long as there’s a living creature with a mouth in this world, Liu Zi can understand their language—this is why the Shui Lai Tou stayed in the water and didn't attack us."
I was taken aback and looked back again, unable to help but regard that jawless pig with newfound respect. Truly, one cannot judge a book by its cover!
We exchanged some casual chatter, and before long, the first half of the night passed quickly. It was time for Third Granduncle Master and Liu Zi to take over the watch. Liu Zi kicked Third Granduncle Master several times before finally waking him up. Before he realized it was me who had done it, I quickly slipped into Third Granduncle Master's sleeping bag and pretended to be asleep. Little did I know that less than a minute after lying down, I fell into a deep sleep, completely unaware of the passage of time.
Until someone yanked my ear and pulled me awake painfully. Just as I was about to explode in anger, my mouth was suddenly covered by someone’s hand.
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