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墨書 Inktalez
The first long head had already struck down... the second... the third...
Without any warning, the White Ribbon appeared again. I can confidently say that I didn't blink or lose focus; the White Ribbon just materialized out of thin air.
I tried to calm my racing heart, focusing intently on the White Ribbon. In the beam of light from my flashlight, it looked exceptionally enchanting and ghostly, hanging long before Hills.
I nervously watched the situation unfold. I wanted to wake Hills right away, but as I took a step forward, a bizarre scene unfolded. I saw Hills grasping the White Ribbon and rising into the air. My feet froze, my breath quickened, and beads of sweat formed on my forehead.
In the next moment, I rushed forward and wrapped my arms around Hills's waist, trying to pull her down. Hills suddenly looked down at me, and I caught her gaze. She gave me a signal with her eyes. However, I didn't react in time and continued to hold onto her. She seemed a bit anxious and kicked me with her foot.
Suddenly, it dawned on me that Hills's eyes were clear, proving she wasn't under any spell. I felt compelled to release her and stepped back a few paces.
I grabbed the flashlight; the beam never left her trajectory. Hills quickly ascended to the beams of the room. Just when I thought she would stop, an even stranger scene unfolded: suddenly, a skylight appeared in the ceiling of the Main Hall, and the White Ribbon slowly lifted Hills toward it.
I stared in disbelief, thinking this was bad news. I hurriedly called out for Hills, but she didn’t respond.
Panic surged within me as I dashed outside, but I couldn't see any trace of Hills. I quickly retreated but still saw nothing.
Then it hit me: the roof of the Main Hall was triangular in structure; from the front view, it was impossible to see anything. Shouting Hills's name, I rushed back into the Main Hall. Fortunately, I spotted an opening behind a curtain. I pulled aside the curtain and charged in, only to collide hard.
"Damn," I cursed as I realized there was just a wall behind the curtain. But when I looked at it again, I froze—this wasn’t a curtain at all; it was a painting, entirely in shades of black and gray. The colors were so dark that we hadn’t noticed it before.
I quickly scanned the painting and then found my gaze firmly captured by it.
“Muttering to myself, I said, ‘Isn’t this painting Hills?’”
I rubbed my eyes and pinched my arm, thinking I was still dreaming.
I reached out to touch the painting.
Suddenly, a voice rang out, “What are you doing?”
“What are you doing?” echoed in my mind like a haunting refrain. “If you hug me again, don’t blame me for being rude,” the voice continued.
Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain at the back of my neck. My vision cleared a bit, and I saw Hills standing right in front of me, eyes filled with anger and a hint of shyness as she scolded me softly.
I glanced at where my hand had been and quickly withdrew it, my face flushing with embarrassment as I forced a sheepish smile.
“Hey! Why are you still here?” I asked in surprise.
Hills replied, still fuming, “I’ve been here the whole time, okay?”
“What about White Ribbon?”
“What White Ribbon? I think you’ve lost your mind.”
“I…” At this point, I didn’t know what to say. My mind was a jumbled mess with no clear thoughts. Could it be that nothing had happened just now? That couldn’t be true! I pondered silently.
I looked at Hills again; her expression had returned to normal.
I scanned the Main Hall again; both the Spirit Platform and the Spirit Tablet were intact.
“How long have we been here?” I asked.
“Five minutes.”
“Five minutes?” I replied in disbelief.
What had just happened felt like it was far more than five minutes! Was I losing my mind? What was going on?
Suddenly, I remembered the act of bowing. Yes, bowing! I rushed to the Spirit Platform, knelt on the yellow mat, and without pausing, I knocked my head three times. After finishing, I immediately looked up at the beams of the room.
Where is White Ribbon? I wondered.
White Ribbon did not appear, and Hills stared at me with wide eyes as I performed this series of actions.
Perhaps I had experienced some auditory and visual confusion. Realizing this left me feeling empty inside.
“Are you okay?” Hills couldn't help but ask.
I wiped the cold sweat from my forehead. “I’m fine.” I regulated my breathing, trying to calm myself down. Looking at Hills, I thought how fortunate it was that I hadn’t done anything too outrageous; otherwise, I would have been utterly embarrassed.
“What are you staring at?” Hills said irritably.
I pulled my gaze back, feeling a bit lost.
Suddenly, a chill breeze swept through, and Hills' expression turned serious, while I felt a refreshing coolness.
"Something's off. Why is there wind?"
Hills' words reminded me to focus. I unconsciously touched my face and found it slightly warm, so I lowered my hand.
"Let's get out of here. I have a feeling something isn't right," Hills said.
Why does that sound so familiar? I wondered. Without waiting for my response, Hills stepped outside the Main Hall.
In the pitch-black surroundings, a beam of light broke through, guiding us as we walked out of the building. Once outside, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief.
Standing in the courtyard, I gazed at the Main Hall, an inexplicable unease spreading from deep within my heart.
I took a deep breath, wanting to pull out a cigarette to smoke, but despite searching my entire body, I found nothing but a lighter.
The rooms on either side of the courtyard must be guest rooms. According to Black Glasses, every guest room contained a Tomb; just opening the door led directly to a Tomb. It sounded utterly absurd.
However, after entering the estate and seeing that there was a Tomb right in the middle of the main path, it didn't seem so strange anymore. With that thought in mind, I glanced back but quickly returned my gaze because Hills had already headed toward the left room.
I hesitated for no longer and followed Hills closely.
Upon reaching the left corridor, we found ourselves in another wooden structure with two floors; the stairs to the second floor were located inside the first room.
But Hills and I started from the third guest room.
The door was already in a state of disrepair, with some not even fully closed. This must have been the work of Black Glasses.
Hills pushed the door open. Although I had mentally prepared myself beforehand, I couldn't help but feel a bit surprised when the door swung wide.
Inside was a circular Tomb, with a mound rising in the center, directly facing a gravestone. Even more strangely, the room contained some ordinary furnishings alongside the Tomb. It was truly baffling.
However, the entire room was laid out clearly before us, everything visible at a glance.
As we entered, the gravestone also bore no inscriptions; it was yet another blank stone, devoid of any carvings or writing. Were they hiding their identities? I pondered.
Behind the gravestone was a raised mound, surrounded by stones. What could this be?
Hills was pulled from his thoughts and quickly focused his gaze on me, waiting for my next words.
"Look at the Mound," I said, "it seems to show signs of having been honored."
Hills took a few steps around to the back of the gravestone and directed his attention to the Mound.
"See?" I pointed at the dead plants atop it. Their shapes were still discernible; if I guessed correctly, they should be flowers. The time since their death couldn't have been long.
Hills reached down to pick up the withered roots. As soon as his hand touched them, they snapped in two. Generally, when plants are broken off, they quickly decompose into nutrients for the soil. Isn't there a saying that goes something like this: fallen petals are not heartless things; they turn into spring mud to nurture flowers?
But these had not yet decomposed, which suggested that not much time had passed.
Moreover, the Mound seemed to have been cleared recently; there were signs of loosened soil on its surface. All these clues indicated that someone had been here. Although Black Glasses had also come, it certainly wasn't him who had done this.
I got up and looked at the other facilities in the room, all covered in dust.
"A mound has nothing to see, let's go," I said to Hills.
Just as I stepped out the door, suddenly, a black cat appeared at my feet, meowing softly. I looked down and saw it rubbing its head against my leg, behaving quite adorably. Just as I reached out to pet the black cat, my hand was pulled back by Hills.
An ominous word escaped her lips.
She tried to shoo the black cat away, but it continued to meow and refused to leave.
Hills' expression shifted between uncertainty and annoyance as she glanced at me.
"What’s there to be afraid of from a cat?" I attempted to reassure her.
"A cat? Do you think it's normal for living creatures to be in a place like this?"
I instinctively shook my head and glanced again at the black cat at my feet. Its eyes were sparkling with a hint of mischief.
"Get rid of it," Hills repeated.
I tried to shoo the black cat away, but it seemed determined to stick around. Whenever I took a step back, it followed closely behind, continuously meowing.
I crouched down, intending to catch it, but Hills stopped me again.
So when the black cat brushed against my foot, I gave it a slight shove. It stepped back a few paces, and I thought to myself that if it dared to come closer again, I would have to be more forceful.
But it did not come forward; instead, it collapsed, convulsing violently, frothing at the mouth and bleeding from all seven orifices. After about half a minute, the Black Cat met its untimely end.
Hills and I witnessed this horrifying scene, utterly terrified.
I was stunned, my mind in turmoil, but Hills quickly reacted, pulling me away from the lifeless Black Cat.
As I was about to leave, I glanced back at the Black Cat and suddenly saw it appear to stand up.
I called out to Hills.
Hills did not turn around but said to me, "Don't look."
I hesitated, my voice trembling as I replied, "The Black Cat is gone." A chill ran through me, and panic began to rise within. Hills froze in place, his face turning pale. The Black Cat had indeed vanished.
Encountering the Black Cat at night felt like a painful brush with something sinister, and there were legends that cats had nine lives, akin to being immortal.
Moreover, it seemed that if a Black Cat suddenly appeared when opening a coffin, the chances of a corpse turning into a Zombie would increase severalfold.
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