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墨書 Inktalez
Ha ha, let me add a little note: The First Volume of Strange Tales. I am writing in chronological order, and I plan to finish the first part by mid-2005; the style will mainly focus on Thriller cases. It will be around one hundred thousand words. The second part is a bit watery, Impermanence Force (Eight Generals Legend). I intend to write it in the first person, describing a series of stories after I arrived at another unit, processed through artistic refinement, which can be written as a long urban Thriller fantasy. It will extend to 2008 and is estimated to be three hundred thousand words. The third part, Reverse Fate, is still in the early stages of conception, so I won't say much about it. As for the word count? Unpredictable!
Now, let's begin tonight's story, Soul Bell. Do you have wind chimes hanging at home? Those that can produce sound through the collision of various bells or other objects when blown by the wind? They come in many shapes and types, such as Japanese Wind Chime, Octagonal Wind Chime, and so on. But do you know? Wind chimes can also be used for summoning souls; some are best not hung carelessly.
At the end of 2000, it was the time for soldiers to take exams. Because I excelled in foreign languages and physical chemistry, I was assigned by the Cadre Section to be the captain of the soldier exam training team for a month. Here, we could skip morning exercises, wake up at seven, and lights out was at eleven. As the captain, my role was essentially to arrange a quieter place for the soldiers to review and answer their various questions. Then in May, we would participate in the military's elimination exam before finally being eligible for the military entrance examination.
I remember that I brought along a group of about ten soldiers who lived in an old Barracks on the first floor of A Row halfway up the mountain, quite far from the main Camp. The nearest Camp was the driver training team up on the mountain, about one or two kilometers away. We were assigned twelve large rooms in this Barracks, with the shower room and toilet on the far left and the Unit activity room on the far right. Since we were few in number, we arranged for four rooms next to the activity room for soldiers to stay in; my room was the fifth one from the right. To my right were several empty rooms. It wasn't until much later that I learned this row of Barracks was once where soldiers had knelt and hanged themselves.
After some cleaning, our luggage had already been moved into our rooms along with the assigned bunk beds; it was simple—just one box each. I laid out bedding on the lower bunk of my only bunk bed and casually placed my box on the upper bunk. Looking at this empty room that could fit six bunk beds, I felt particularly uncomfortable. Ever since entering military camp, I had always slept in crowded quarters with many people around; it was lively and full of energy. This empty room felt quite unsettling for someone with my extroverted personality. However, there was no choice; as a cadre member, none of the soldiers wanted to share a room with me. I casually took out a wind chime from my box and hung it by my bedside. The sunset's afterglow streamed into the room and illuminated that string of Purple Wind Chime. I thought quietly to myself, "Perhaps having you here will make me feel less lonely." As if sensing my thoughts, the wind chime jingled lightly, its clear sound spreading throughout the room as a gentle breeze blew in.
This purple paper-folded wind chime was a gift from my girlfriend during college; she was my first love. We dated from our sophomore year until I enlisted, while she worked back in my hometown after graduation. Initially, everything was fine; we often exchanged letters and she even visited me during New Year’s. However, just a month before I transferred to this exam training team, she decided to break up with me and cut off all contact. That period was one of the hardest times for me; I often found myself distracted and longing to return home to ask her why she had made that decision. But as a newly enlisted Cadet, how could I take leave? So when asked by the Cadre Section, I immediately agreed to lead this exam training team because I wanted something to occupy my mind—whenever I had free time, thoughts of her would flood back.
As dusk deepened into night on that summer evening halfway up the mountain with gentle breezes blowing by, the Purple Wind Chime swayed continuously in my room, producing soft sounds that transported me back to my university days when that beautiful figure spun before me while emitting melodious laughter... “Squad Leader, dinner time!” Suddenly someone interrupted my reverie; startled, I realized tears were streaming down my face without my control. “Okay, I know; I'll be right out,” I replied while turning away from that soldier and wiping my eyes. What was wrong with me? Hadn't I told myself to forget? Why did it suddenly come rushing back? Glancing once more at that wind chime made my heart ache again as I turned and walked out of my room with only its gentle jingling behind me.
Our training team was small and didn’t cook for ourselves; we shared meals with the driver training team at the top of the mountain. After dinner, I led my team back to the Barracks for review without saying a word along the way. Once we dispersed after reaching our rooms for study time, I entered mine again and felt an inexplicable wave of loneliness wash over me upon seeing its emptiness. “This is really dull,” I muttered to myself as if echoing my sentiment; once again, the Purple Wind Chime chimed softly. My gaze fell upon it—how are you doing now? My mood inexplicably sank lower as I stood there dazed for quite some time without knowing what to do or wanting to turn on any lights until a soldier called out asking for English grammar tutoring before snapping me back to reality. Since I needed to be available for any questions from soldiers at all times, I began patrolling between rooms again; seeing my Buddys studying earnestly made me feel responsible again and eased some of that emptiness within me. It seemed like I could no longer hear the sound of wind chimes.
Having just moved in, everyone was excited; after lights out, I took another round through each room again. By the time everyone finished washing up it was already late; due to heat issues, I opened a window while lying in bed listening to those wind chimes’ sounds mixed with a light breeze before quickly drifting off to sleep. Perhaps due to what occupied my mind during daylight hours, that night brought many dreams—some were about walking together with my girlfriend during college while others depicted her visiting me—so many dreams blurred together until faintly hearing a voice repeating “Will we meet again?” “Will we?”… It was very weak yet clear; I didn’t know whose voice it belonged to nor did I think much about it—I simply ignored it and fell into deeper sleep until morning.
The next morning during our run routine, as usual, I led ahead while one third-year soldier who had just been promoted named Li Dongri (I still remember him well; he helped me greatly during the Soul Bell incident) ran alongside me asking if "Squad Leader" missed his girlfriend last night? With a wry smile on my face, I replied that "Squad Leader" didn’t have a girlfriend anymore. “Then why did you shake your wind chimes so loudly? You woke me up!” he exclaimed! Startled awake by his comment—I had been sleeping soundly—why would I shake any wind chimes? Wasn’t it you who called everyone up this morning? Li Dongri scratched his head saying regardless we all heard it—if not you then it must have been caused by wind! With that said he sped off leaving me standing there dumbfounded alone. Did I really shake those wind chimes while asleep? It’s possible; back when we hadn’t broken up yet I'd liked holding them gently shaking them—but never vigorously! Maybe it really was just strong winds outside! To avoid disturbing everyone else’s studies further along this path towards exams—I decided I'd close windows tight tonight because ensuring they had good conditions mattered most—even if they ordered takeout late at night—I’d pretend not knowing anything about it.
On that second night after lights out once again found myself being last one asleep—I remembered closing windows tightly this time while lying down gazing at Purple Wind Chime. Again thoughts about her flooded back—I couldn’t understand why we broke up? She was older than me by years; though my family wasn’t entirely supportive they didn’t oppose either! We were doing well together—she stayed behind working at an advanced hospital back home waiting until years later when I'd transition back or she’d come visit where I'd be stationed! How could things change so suddenly? After pondering endlessly without answers or meaning—I drifted off into deep slumber once more hearing faint sounds resembling those wind chimes…wasn’t there something wrong with how tightly I'd closed them? My last conscious thought before sleep overtook me.
In hazy dreams again emerged voices repeating “Will we meet again?” “Will we?” The voice grew clearer—it belonged to a man! Yet sounded soft accompanied by faint sobbing sounds—a very real sensation—as if right beside me! Struggling hard trying opening eyes but couldn’t manage—it felt like limbs lost control altogether…
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