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墨書 Inktalez
Human Sacrifice
"You will have to walk your own path from now on," my mother said with a smile, dissipating into smoke amidst the roaring flames.
All along, Guo the Blind, Li Fugui, and the Snake Goddess knew that my mother had died over twenty years ago. Perhaps it was out of fear of Yang Sanqian's unpredictable methods, or perhaps it was due to my mother's kindness, that they allowed her to live peacefully in Futu Ridge without ever harming her.
The villagers of Futu Ridge believed that the extraordinary Yang Sanqian had miraculously saved my mother at a critical moment; no one could fathom that a dead person could still be alive.
She did not need to consume human Yang Qi. For over twenty years, she lived like an ordinary rural woman, concerned with daily necessities, cooking meals for me.
I did not know if she could kill using her own Ghostly Energy like Zhou Manman could, but she had never harmed anyone.
I recalled the anger I felt when I heard others gossiping about her, and the uncontrollable urge to kill when she was bullied by thugs while selling vegetables on the street.
I also thought of her loneliness during the years I was not by her side, or perhaps her fear.
She wanted to infect me with a peaceful mindset, teach me kindness, and guide me toward the light.
Even in death, she wished for me to harbor no resentment.
But she was wrong.
I witnessed the warmth and coldness of human relationships in the outside world, the complexities and ignorance of the thousands of villagers in Futu Ridge, the ambiguous morality of Guo the Blind and his conspiracies, and Li Fugui's ruthless nature.
I saw how Old Man and Old Scholar, despite being revered, could also make mistakes common to humanity.
My mother's endurance and willingness to be sacrificed led to my pain and emptiness now that she was nothing but bones.
It only deepened my despair because good people are often bullied; this is a timeless truth passed down from our Ancestors.
Several large snakes, each twenty to thirty meters long, swiftly slithered down the mountain towards me, their mouths open as they roared, driving me away.
"Don't provoke me," I said, my eyes burning red as I stared at the fierce-looking snakes.
The snakes seemed to be incited by my words, opening their gaping jaws and lunging at me.
"I will not be provoked!"
I shouted at the snakes, my eyes turning completely black. Dark energy coiled around my arms, tightening and nearly choking me.
In an instant, several snakes shattered into a mist of blood, a wave of dark energy radiating from me in all directions.
The mountainside crumbled into powder, colossal trees were torn apart by an invisible force, and sand and stones flew chaotically across the ground.
Behind me, Guo the Blind supported Guo Huaiyi with one hand on his back while shielding himself with the other. Dao Qi surged around him as he struggled to resist.
He looked at me in horror as I was enveloped in darkness from sheer rage, his face filled with fear and his brows furrowed, but then a smile crept onto his lips.
I turned around; the secret script on my body retracted and seeped into my skin. The black light in my eyes cleared as I walked towards the road leading to the county town, uncertain of what lay ahead.
Guo the Blind laughed heartily. "No matter where you go, you will always enter the Entrance to the Dao, Yang Hao. I can’t wait to see you stir up a storm of bloodshed in the future."
His laughter and words echoed like a spell in my mind, but what filled my heart more was sorrow and anger.
I was not my mother’s biological son.
I finally began to ponder that absurd question: Who am I?
Where did I come from? Who is my biological mother? Why was I sent to Futu Ridge by Yang Sanqian? Why did Yang Sanqian abandon me? Where is the Daoist Sect? Questions like these swirled in my mind, leaving me feeling utterly exhausted.
As I lay on the bed in a hotel in the county town, staring blankly out the window as day turned to night, the bustling traffic outside faded into a hazy silence. It struck me then that Futu Ridge was gone, my mother was gone, and home was gone.
Suddenly, I remembered the girl named Zhou Manman, who had left Futu Ridge with the Big Black Cat in search of a way to regain her physical form. Perhaps we would meet again someday.
But where was she now?
The world was vast, yet my heart felt so small.
I had no idea where Guo the Blind had taken Guo Huaiyi; when I woke up, it was already past noon.
The people in the county town continued their busy lives, seemingly oblivious to what had happened in Futu Ridge.
In that remote and isolated place, even with so many deaths, the prior communication breakdown and military news blackout had kept this tragedy from reaching anyone's ears. It was like a haunted wasteland in the eyes of outsiders.
And now it truly had become a wasteland.
The mysterious and eerie Futu Ridge saw everyone vanish overnight.
I pulled out my phone to call Huzi, but his number was already showing as disconnected. The classmates I had met during my school years in the county town were not close friends; after years at university, we had lost touch. Now I didn’t know who to turn to or where to go.
I spent half the day asking around in the county town, but no one knew about the military presence there, nor could I find Li Fugui or Huzi.
By evening, I arrived at the train station, watching as my phone battery dwindled. I dialed another number saved on my phone.
When the call connected, the other party first confirmed my identity before launching into a tirade: “What the hell? You only call me now? I've sent you so many messages without a reply! Where have you been?”
I replied, “Five. I’m coming to find you. My home is gone.”
“What? Where are you now? When will you arrive?”
"Five o'clock tomorrow afternoon, at Ancheng Train Station."
"You..."
The voice on the other end abruptly cut off; my phone had run out of battery. I went to the ticket hall and bought a train ticket to Ancheng for tonight.
I had never mentioned my university before. It was located in Ancheng, built against the mountains with a rich cultural atmosphere. It wasn't exactly a top-tier university, but it was decent enough.
The campus was large, filled with entertainment venues for students both inside and outside. As an ancient capital of sixteen dynasties, Ancheng was surrounded by mountains, yet the transportation was quite convenient. The place was teeming with wealthy people.
So when I arrived in Ancheng from Futu Ridge, I felt completely out of place.
During my four years in university, I seemed to have done nothing but study. I rarely participated in activities like gaming, karaoke, or even dormitory gatherings. To put it bluntly, I was quite unsociable.
I only had one friend in university named Lu Wu.
Wu was my close buddy who suddenly transferred to our class during my sophomore year. He was a chubby guy, and a wealthy and refined one at that. His father, Lu Baiwan, made his fortune in coal mining. I also knew he had gone through girlfriend after girlfriend, but beyond that, I knew little else about him.
Throughout our three years as desk mates, Wu spent half the time sleeping and the other half skipping classes. Sometimes he wouldn't return to the dorm for three to five days straight, and whenever I asked where he had been, he would never answer.
I was already considered an oddball at school, but Wu was even more unconventional. He never took exams and hardly interacted with anyone. When he looked at others, he wore an air of superiority that always puzzled me—how could someone like him walk around school without getting into trouble?
I often wondered why a rich kid like him would want to be friends with someone as poor as me. Our friendship didn't start over basketball or studying in the library; it began because of a movie shown in class.
At that time, he had just transferred and sat in the last row next to me. Initially, we pretended to pay attention in class, but soon enough, he was openly watching movies under his desk.
I couldn't tell if his phone was malfunctioning or if it had a virus; despite wearing headphones, the sound of a woman's voice blared out loud. Without missing a beat, he shoved his phone into my hands while looking at me with feigned surprise as if everyone else in class were watching too. His expression was a mix of disdain and schadenfreude as I got kicked out by the teacher.
However, Wu was quite loyal; in many ways, he reminded me of Huzi. He was much more clever and mischievous than Huzi and had a more optimistic outlook on life.
As soon as I arrived in Ancheng and stepped out of the station, I saw Wu waving at me through the crowd. He was wearing sunglasses and shouting my name at the top of his lungs. After I got in the car with him, he noticed that I was feeling down, so he took me to his house for a bite to eat.
I briefly told Wu about what happened in Futu Ridge. He neither believed nor disbelieved me. When he heard about my mother being gone, his playful demeanor faded, and we shared a drink together before he took me out for a stroll in the evening.
In a daze, I saw shadows moving around me and heard voices. I wanted to call out to Wu, but whether it was from being drunk or just exhausted, I couldn’t seem to wake up.
When I finally came to, it was already 11 PM. I was lying on the sofa with my mind blank.
I got up from the sofa and accidentally knocked over a cup on the coffee table. That’s when I noticed Wu Zheng squatting nearby, playing a game. When he saw I was awake, he said, “I thought you were going to sleep until morning! Since you’re up, wash your face and get ready to go out and have some fun!”
I wasn’t fond of the flashy nightlife, but Wu insisted on dragging me into the car and drove directly to a bar near our university. It was then that I realized how close his place was to school. I wasn’t familiar with the roads in Ancheng; during my four years at university, I had hardly ventured beyond the surrounding area. So when Wu picked me up from the station, I had no idea that school was so nearby.
The bar he brought me to was actually the same one where I had worked part-time during my time at school.
The men and women under the flashing neon lights were all dressed so stylishly. Sitting in a booth wearing Wu's slightly oversized clothes, I felt out of place as several attractive women in revealing outfits flirted with me. Perhaps it was just my personality; I found it hard to adapt to such an environment.
Moreover, thoughts of what happened in Futu Ridge lingered in my mind, refusing to fade away.
Wu was laughing, drinking and kissing the waitress beside him. Afraid of ruining his mood, I kept drinking quietly on my own.
Suddenly, a sense of panic washed over me as if someone were watching me. It felt strange—like walking home alone at night while sensing something following behind.
I turned around to look behind me; aside from a few unfamiliar young people chatting and drinking, there was no one else around.
Turning back around, perhaps it was just my recent experiences that made me feel uneasy and led to hallucinations. During those months back in Futu Ridge, I had been constantly on edge after witnessing Guo the Blind's methods and Snake Goddess's terror; maybe it left a shadow in my heart.
But after a while, that feeling returned once more.
I closed my eyes, trying to push away the intrusive thoughts flooding my mind. Wu slapped my face lightly and asked, “Haozi, what’s wrong? Why are you sweating so much?”
I said, "It's nothing, maybe I'm just a bit tired. You go ahead and enjoy yourself."
"Alright, I'll step outside to make a call and be back in a bit." Fifth Young Master stood up and called out to the nearby hostess, "Make sure my brother is taken care of, or you'll regret it."
"Got it, Fifth Young Master." The women responded with flirtatious smiles as he waved goodbye.
Once Fifth Young Master left, the women surrounded me, their hands roaming and their breath sweet. I coldly said, "Get away from me, thank you."
"Hey, handsome, don't be so aloof. Just have some fun while you're out," one woman said as she reached toward me.
"Get lost!" I shouted.
The crowd at the nearby tables turned to look at me, and the women around me noticed my displeasure. They immediately stood up, pouting as they left. One of them huffed, "What a creep."
Yet the feeling of being watched lingered. I turned to see a young man standing up, pointing at me. "What the hell are you looking at?"
I ignored him, took a deep breath, and downed most of the bottle of liquor in front of me before getting up to head toward the bar's restroom.
A group of young men stood up behind me as well. One of them casually remarked, "Hey guys, is this a challenge?"
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