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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 09: Nothing is Real
In the dim, pitch-black light, our footprints were everywhere, and this place resembled a circular chamber with no exit, much like my previous Tomb.
The Tomb was perpetually damp throughout the seasons, and this place shared that characteristic.
A barren wasteland—an absolute grave, and then there was the Yinshan Tomb.
But if this were a Tomb, how did we get in here?
That whirlpool! My grandfather's figure replayed in my mind.
Did he help me, or did he intentionally lead me here?
Looking up, the faint light flickered intermittently, making it hard to see the surroundings.
In dire straits, I activated my Demon Eyes.
With the Demon Eyes activated, it signified a successful connection with the Yinling.
I heard rustling sounds, somewhat reminiscent of a swarm of cockroaches scuttling about.
A massive horde of cockroaches crowded together, their trembling antennae detecting our scent; they would rush forward recklessly to tear me apart and devour me.
In fact, my guess was correct.
The synchronized twitching of their antennae and their glossy backs—wasn't that a characteristic of the Oil Stealer?
Run—
All around me were cockroaches, each one larger than the last. I felt like an ant, destined to become a feast for these creatures.
How did it come to this?
Could it be that someone had blocked the exit, changing the direction and trapping me in a dead end?
The only one capable of such a feat was Lao Luo; there was no way that Fatty had the skill or the means to do this.
Did Lao Luo want to put me to death?
Impossible. He had been so sincere in helping me and was an old friend of my grandfather's.
I couldn't figure it out.
The cockroaches were closing in, their antennae twitching as they stared at me with malicious intent.
Do these things have eyes?
I couldn't afford to hesitate. I recited an incantation and formed a hand seal for the Five Thunder Spell: "Boom boom..."
With a series of hissing sounds, a large number of cockroaches fell dead. The stench of their decaying bodies filled the air, overwhelming enough to suffocate a bull.
Ugh, disgusting. In a panic, I took off running with Yin Yin clinging to my back, seemingly too scared to make a sound.
"Brother, we can't escape," Yin Yin suddenly said in a soft voice, startling me and making me break out in a cold sweat.
"What did you mean by that? Did you see or hear something?" If it weren't for Yin Yin speaking, I would have truly thought she wasn't with me at all. However, the chill enveloping me was undeniably real, like carrying a block of ice that penetrated to my very bones.
Yin Yin's voice was haunting, carrying a coldness and a resolute tone as she said, "You are currently trapped in Deadlock. Ma Wu Grandpa wants to help you, but his spirit has been shattered."
How could this be? I froze in shock and asked, "Who wants to harm me?"
"One, not two, many..." Yin Yin's voice turned sharp and terrifying, tinged with a sobbing tone before fading into silence.
What on earth? Is there something more terrifying than cockroaches in this place? Well, I hadn't seen any cockroaches yet.
No cockroaches might seem like a good thing, but I had a bad feeling creeping in. I had been running with Yin Yin for what felt like ages, yet it seemed we hadn’t escaped the circle; it was as if we were treading water. Suddenly, not far away, I caught a glimpse of shadows. In an instant, a mass of gray shadows lunged at us with claws outstretched.
I shook my head, trying to calm myself down: This is just an illusion; it must be an illusion.
Wait—Lao Luo hadn’t mentioned anything about illusions occurring in this place.
The shadows were closing in on us. I couldn’t hesitate; I needed to come up with a plan immediately. I decisively set Yin Yin down, formed hand seals, and chanted, "Qian, Zheng, Yi, Wu, Exorcism..." As the incantation concluded, I felt an emptiness in my dantian that was uncomfortable. In an instant, a wave of sickly sweetness surged up, and I spat out a mouthful of blood. My body swayed; darkness engulfed me as I stumbled and collapsed to the ground.
Time passed—what felt like a century—before I slowly regained my senses. A faintly beautiful female voice echoed in my ears.
"10 Xie Ming Manor, if you dare come, let’s meet without fail!"
Suddenly remembering my appointment, I had reminded myself while lying in the coffin that this was my first date and that I absolutely could not be late. Moreover, the other party was Mi Li—the strong woman I vowed to protect.
It was Mi Li's voice that awakened me. Gradually opening my eyes, I saw a familiar face filled with urgency exclaiming, "Brother Qi! You're awake! That's great!" It was Fatty. Then I noticed Grandpa silently smiling at me with his beard trembling.
Strangely enough, when I woke up and looked around, I wasn’t in the coffin at all. Instead, I found myself lying on Grandpa's favorite rattan chair under the sunlight.
I suspect that in my weakened state, it would have been impossible for me to crawl out and sit back in the wicker chair by myself. It must have been Fat who moved me from the coffin and carried me to the chair.
I covered my face with my hand to shield my eyes from the blinding light, trying to get a clearer view of my surroundings. As I looked around, Fat hurriedly explained, "Brother Qi, you've been invaded by Yin Qi. You need to soak up some sunlight to drive the Yin Qi out of your body so you won't experience hallucinations."
"Hallucinations? Is that really a thing?" I looked around the room and noticed there was no one else there—Lao Luo was absent. Not knowing what time it was, I asked, "What is Lao Luo doing?"
Fat hesitated for a moment before saying, "Don't ask about Lao Luo. He’s still lying in bed after you injured him."
I injured Lao Luo? How could that be possible! Was Fat mistaken or trying to scare me? I didn't believe it, but his expression didn't seem like he was lying. Sitting up straight, I quickly asked, "What happened? Tell me what happened!"
Fat kept talking about the paper effigies he had made; now he was holding a half-finished animal effigy that looked somewhat like a grasshopper. He glanced at me and sighed as he focused back on the effigy. "Lao Luo used magic to send you to that place. The coffin wasn't closed; we just watched you lying there. I went outside for a bit, and when I came back just a short while later, you suddenly jumped up and punched Lao Luo right in the forehead. He fell down and couldn't get up. People from the Station came and took him away, and then you woke up."
His explanation was nearly flawless, leaving me speechless. Seeing my bewildered expression, Fat unnecessarily elaborated, "You were invaded by Yin Qi; your Shen Zhi was unclear, and you completely lost your judgment. Everything happening around you seemed like something sinister. You hit Lao Luo and wanted to hit me too; I dodged quickly, or else I would have been in trouble as well."
"Did anyone from the Station mention Yin Yin?"
"They found her body by the Mud River on the outskirts of town, buried deep by a Villain..." Fat's voice grew quieter as his expression turned heavy with sorrow.
"Your sister just turned eighteen..." This was Fat's ringtone—a terrible sound with a hint of sleaziness. He glanced at me, set down what he was holding, and casually walked off to a secluded spot to take the call.
As he went to answer the phone, I quietly rolled up my sleeve to look at my arm, wondering how these scars had come about. If it were as simple as Fat said, then what about the dark purple bruises on my arm?
Could they have come from bumping around in the coffin? That seemed impossible; although I could be careless at times, my memory was excellent. I still remembered these marks were left from fighting an Evil Spirit in the Dark Realm and the chilling sensation when I grasped Yin Yin.
But if Yin Yin's corpse has been found, does that mean I have nothing to do with it anymore?
Yin Yin had hinted at my entrapment in Deadlock within that space—what did that mean?
Perhaps I was overthinking it.
Fatty and Lao Luo were my only family now, friends and elders; they could never have the heart to harm me.
Fatty's phone call seemed endless. I wanted some water, so I forced myself to get up, feeling weak and unsteady. I nearly fell; it was due to the emptiness in my stomach.
I shuffled step by step to the kitchen, searching for something to eat.
At this point, I couldn't care less about whether the food was good or bad. It was just like that night—I wolfed down whatever I could find to fill my belly, hoping to gather enough strength to head back to the bedroom. My mind felt a bit hazy, as if I were still trapped in that terrifying space.
I almost lost myself in that tomb-like place and had no idea how I managed to escape. It wasn't Fatty who woke me up; it was Mi Li. The thought of Mi Li made my chest ache slightly; right, I still had a date with her.
Thinking about the date lifted my spirits, and suddenly I felt a surge of energy in my stomach. However, as I turned around, I couldn't shake off the confusion about what had happened just before I woke up.
So for now, I pushed aside thoughts of the time I was supposed to meet Mi Li and took advantage of Fatty's incessant chatter on the phone to sneak into the coffin room and find the coffin through which I had entered the Dark Realm.
There were four coffins in the room; three were made of solid wood.
The three solid wood coffins were quite heavy, suitable only for funerals in rural areas with better conditions.
One coffin was lighter and made of thinner material; it was the one I usually used for meditation.
This was a calming technique taught to me by my grandfather.
I closed my eyes and recalled lying inside that coffin.
I remembered lying in this very coffin while Fatty adjusted its position, with my head facing south—because in the Underworld, a bed facing south is where the dead lie. However, in the Underworld, a coffin facing south signifies the entrance to life.
Suddenly, I spotted a bowl of deep red chicken blood that had formed a layer of skin, carelessly placed in the corner of the wall.
If I wasn't mistaken, this bowl of chicken blood was used by Lao Luo to break the evil formation. He must have seen the abnormalities happening to me; if that's the case, my awakening should be credited to Lao Luo.
I exited the coffin chamber.
Leaning against the wall that was just a partition away from the dark room, I suddenly missed my grandfather. If he were still around, would these events have unfolded?
I closed my eyes to sense all possible energies in the space, hoping to feel my grandfather's divine guidance.
As soon as I shut my eyes, I sensed something swirling like particles of dust, akin to Ashes, appearing in my perception.
Instinctively, I reached out to catch it.
The gray Ashes fell into my palm, and in a shocking moment, the Ashes directly merged into my fingerprints and vanished.
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