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墨書 Inktalez
I snapped back to reality and hurriedly burned the Paper Man. Seeing that the situation had been resolved and there was nothing more to watch, everyone began to leave. A Yao approached me, her face pale, clearly shaken by what had just happened. I couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy; I hugged her and reassured her that everything was fine.
"Wang Niu, where's my aunt? How did the Paper Man end up in her house?" A Yao stammered. I frowned; this seemed complicated and hard to define, so I had no choice but to ask Uncle Tiger.
Uncle Tiger shook his head, his expression strange as he continued to survey the room. I stepped closer and quietly asked him if there was something wrong with the house. He nodded and turned to A Yao, saying, "Miss, could you fetch a piece of your aunt's clothing and a fire basin?"
A Yao hesitated for a moment, perhaps realizing Uncle Tiger's capabilities, but she quickly complied and brought him what he needed. Uncle Tiger took the items from her and used scissors to cut the clothing. Upon closer inspection, I noticed he wasn't actually cutting it.
"Wang Niu, what is he doing?" A Yao asked in confusion. I made a shushing gesture, and she understood, falling silent to watch.
Then Uncle Tiger placed the clothing into the fire basin, setting it ablaze. With a loud pop, a huge spark shot out from the basin, and the flames turned green. Both A Yao and I were startled by this sight and stepped back. In mere seconds, the clothing was completely consumed by the fire.
"Uncle, what's going on?" I asked in bewilderment.
Uncle Tiger's expression grew serious as he explained, "Something might be wrong. Normally, when living people's clothing burns, it produces regular flames. But this green color indicates that the Vital Spirit has left the body, and this house is filled with Yin Qi, which is why the Paper Man transformed into a human."
Upon hearing this, A Yao burst into tears. "Uncle, does that mean something has happened to my aunt?"
Uncle Tiger paused for a moment, scooped some ashes from the fire basin into his pocket, and said we should leave immediately since the Yin Qi here is harmful to living beings. He added that we couldn't resolve Aunt A-Yao's situation right away.
A Yao looked even more distressed; she bit her lip and agreed quietly. I didn't press further; Uncle Tiger seemed to have an idea of what was going on.
After leaving Aunt A-Yao's house, I escorted A Yao back to her dormitory before finding a temporary place to stay with Uncle Tiger. The situation regarding Aunt A-Yao weighed heavily on my chest. As soon as we entered our room, I eagerly asked Uncle Tiger about it.
He smiled slightly and pulled out the ashes from his pocket, placing them into a cup on the table before mixing them with water.
"Uncle, what are you doing?" I asked curiously.
"Do you want to know where Aunt A-Yao is?" he replied.
I felt a surge of excitement at his words and immediately agreed. Uncle Tiger picked up a small bowl and instructed me to drink it; tonight we would find out.
His words ignited my curiosity even more. Knowing I'd find out soon enough, I didn't press him further and gulped down the ash-water in one go.
Afterward, Uncle Tiger told me to stay in the room while he went out to look for something. I nodded and lay down on the bed, pulling out my phone to check the news. Before long, I received a message from A Yao: "Wang Niu, can we continue?"
I took a deep breath; my mind was in turmoil as I struggled with how to respond. Rubbing my head in frustration, I tossed my phone aside and closed my eyes to sleep.
After some time passed, I suddenly felt dizzy; images flashed through my mind—trees and mountains appeared before me.
I couldn't tell how long it had been when my body became increasingly uncontrollable; there was a tightness accompanied by a heavy sensation as if a large stone were pressing down on me.
I felt extremely uncomfortable as an external force seemed to pull me up from the bed. It was as if I were in a trance-like state; I kept walking until my legs began to weaken beneath me and my feet felt like they were sinking into something soft.
However, this sensation only lasted for a moment; when I abruptly opened my eyes again, I found myself on a mountain.
Looking around in confusion at the dark surroundings punctuated by occasional eerie sounds sent chills down my spine. Steeling myself for whatever lay ahead, just as I prepared to leave, I stumbled over something underfoot that nearly sent me sprawling.
By moonlight's glow, I gasped in horror—it was a hand.
Taking several deep breaths to calm myself down, I gathered courage to look closer; it seemed like someone was buried beneath the ground with only their hand exposed.
Just as I was about to step forward, an icy breeze brushed against me from behind—like someone was blowing air on my neck.
My body began trembling uncontrollably as an eerie voice echoed in my ears: "Giggling..."
I gasped sharply and instinctively wanted to run away when suddenly something terrifying appeared before me. Before I could react, it opened its mouth wide and lunged at me ferociously.
I screamed aloud, expecting it would catch me when unexpectedly Uncle Tiger appeared with an angry shout: "You vile creature! Leave these people alone!"
Uncle Tiger moved swiftly; within moments that thing dissipated like smoke.
I called out excitedly for Uncle Tiger as he nodded at me while focusing on the hand lying on the ground.
"Uncle Tiger! What’s going on? How did I end up here?" I asked him.
He withdrew his gaze from the hand and explained: "Do you remember that bowl of water I made you drink?"
I nodded slowly as he continued: "The clothing contained Aunt A-Yao's essence; during the day you saw that green light too? To find Aunt A-Yao we needed to use her essence from the clothing to draw her Yin spirit into you. Then that spirit would guide you back to where her original body is—that’s why you drank that bowl."
I paused for a moment in confusion before asking: "So do I still have Aunt A-Yao's Yin spirit inside me?"
Uncle Tiger shook his head while looking back at the ground again: "No longer; however it's strange—the spirit that entered your body is merely a remnant!"
"Uncle! What’s a remnant spirit?" I queried.
Without answering directly he urged me first to extract Aunt A-Yao’s original body so we could see what was happening.
I nodded obediently as together with Uncle Tiger we pulled Aunt A-Yao out from wherever she had been trapped. When I finally saw her appearance it terrified me enough that I fell onto the ground.
Aunt A-Yao's eyes had been gouged out with sticks; strange talismans were plastered across her forehead while her body was bound tightly with coarse ropes—red flags placed upon her chest—and her legs bent unnaturally at odd angles.
"No wonder... no wonder..." Uncle Tiger muttered under his breath while staring at Aunt A-Yao.
"Uncle! What happened? Is Aunt A-Yao dead?" suppressing my fear inside me, I asked anxiously.
Uncle Tiger's expression darkened as he pointed at Aunt A-Yao explaining: "This is known as Soul Binding Technique! The person who wants to harm you intends not only for your demise but also seeks death for anyone close to you."
Cold sweat broke out all over me at Uncle Tiger's words; my speech faltered: "Uncle! Who is it?"
After pondering for some time he replied: "Such deep-seated hatred may relate back generations—Wang Niu do you remember planting those trees in front of your house?"
I nodded slowly as Uncle Tiger continued: "That person might have been watching your family all along; otherwise Aunt A-Yao wouldn’t have ended up like this—it's possible they’ve been lurking nearby all along or else how would they know about A Yao’s aunt?"
As Uncle Tiger spoke these words dread filled me further—I sensed things were becoming increasingly complicated—could it be that this person knew everything about those around me?
Uncle Tiger patted my shoulder reassuringly telling me not to worry too much since we finally had some leads regarding this matter.
Hearing this made my eyes light up with hope as I eagerly questioned him further about what we could do next.
Uncle Tiger approached Aunt A-Yao crouching down beside her while asking if I'd noticed anything unusual about her expression?
Following suit by crouching next to him taking deep breaths—I looked closely at Aunt A-Yao’s face illuminated by moonlight revealing an odd transformation—her expression shifted from shock into an unsettling half-smile almost mocking in nature.
Instantly my complexion changed dramatically upon realizing something unsettling about it all.
Suddenly Uncle Tiger remarked: "It seems like A Yao’s aunt recognized that person—and willingly followed them here."
I was taken aback by this revelation while Uncle Tiger continued explaining: "In typical Soul Binding Techniques one merely needs wooden sticks inserted into both eyes followed by sealing talismans affixed then binding them with ropes—but Aunt A-Yao has an additional red flag placed upon her."
"Uncle! What does that mean?"
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