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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 17: Ghost Month Taboos (Part Seven)
In the intensive care unit, the nurses and doctors were busy for a while before finally emerging with weary expressions. The loud sound of the door slamming open interrupted my thoughts. They didn’t pay much attention to my presence, only exchanging a few words with Hou Dequie before hurriedly leaving.
I couldn’t tell what the doctor had said to Hou Dequie, but he looked quite pleased as he flashed me a grin. “Master Ma, my wife is pregnant! The doctor said she fainted due to her weak condition and external stress, but she’s fine now. I need to go check on her; my cousin needs my attention too…” I understood that he couldn’t manage both situations at once—his wife needed care, and his cousin’s fate was at stake.
I waved my hand dismissively. “Go ahead and take care of your business; I’ll keep an eye on things here.”
“Thank you so much!” Hou Dequie awkwardly extended his hands, shaking mine vigorously before leaving in high spirits.
As the sun set, pedestrians on the street hurried by. Inside the hospital, the outside noise was muted; even the distant sounds of car horns seemed faint.
Time passed, and night fell at seven o'clock. It was the third day of Ghost Month, and Hou Dewen was in critical condition. Lin Tai had no way to help him; perhaps his body had already been sent to the funeral home. They knew that during Ghost Month, bodies could not be buried until after the Ghost Month Taboos were over.
Lin Tai must have joined Chiang by now! What kind of mindset they had in that world was beyond my knowledge.
In this place, it was easy to close my eyes and drift into a state of rest. I felt hunger creeping in, heard the gentle rustling of branches outside in the wind, and could hear the soft sounds of a food cart rolling by.
I knew it was time for dinner, yet I struggled to wake up immediately. The dim corridor lights flickered on like orderly stars, their faint glow unable to penetrate the darkness lurking in the corners.
Suddenly, a ghostly Evil Spirit lunged at me with a twisted howl. Startled, I stood up and quickly performed a hand gesture. As I chanted a calming spell, a strange sound echoed through the air. The menacing aura vanished like smoke.
In my dazed state, I tried to wake up but couldn’t. In my haze, I noticed someone dressed like a Taoist priest squatting beside me. His skeletal face wore a sinister grin that sent chills down my spine. Suddenly, his long claws shot out and clamped around my arm, causing sharp pain as I struggled to break free. A chill brushed past my ear as he screeched in a high-pitched voice, “Friend, I hear you’re looking for me.”
No way! This can’t be real! I fought against what felt like nightmare-induced restraints and focused on the Calm Heart Spell. Stretching out my arm, I shouted, “Get lost!” At that moment, there was a loud clattering sound as if something had fallen to the ground. Slowly opening my eyes, I saw Hou Dequie frantically picking up a food container lid from the floor. Upon noticing I was awake, he hurriedly offered me some food.
“How long did I sleep? Why is it already dinner time?”
“I went to get dinner; my wife was eating so I brought you some too. You slept through it all! When you suddenly yelled just now, you scared me so much that I almost dropped the food container—hahaha!”
Hou Dequie looked honest and flustered as beads of sweat dripped down his forehead without him bothering to wipe them away. He eagerly handed me the food container. With no extra words to say, I simply accepted it and replied with an unremarkable “Thank you.”
As I reached out to take the lunchbox he handed me, a sudden weakness washed over my hand, accompanied by a faint pain. I struggled to maintain my composure as I accepted the lunchbox. I had no appetite and was desperately trying to recall what had happened earlier, how I had inexplicably fallen asleep. In front of him, I refrained from rolling up my sleeve to look.
In our mutual silence, Hou Dequie walked to the glass window of the intensive care unit, pressing his hands against the glass as he gazed inside at Hou Dewen, who was covered in tubes and bandages.
I was still lost in thought about what had transpired before. Initially, I felt thirsty and noticed a bottle of water on the bench—pure water that Chi Xinrong liked. Without thinking, I picked it up and drank it all. Then I fell asleep; I remembered the empty bottle of pure water lying on the ground, but now it was nowhere to be found.
Who had left that bottle of water there? It certainly wasn’t Hou Dequie who bought it for me. Look at me; I'm almost becoming paranoid—what could a bottle of water do to me? Sighing, I hurriedly rolled up my sleeve to reveal five distinct dark purple finger marks on my arm.
The marks were long and resembled skeletal claws, deeply embedded in my skin. Each touch sent a sharp pain coursing through me. If this had happened to an ordinary person, I might have attributed it to some supernatural misfortune, but this was happening to me.
I pressed my fingers against the dark purple marks, closing my eyes slightly as a faint whisper echoed in my mind.
"Friend, I've planted a curse on you; our war is just beginning."
I thought back defiantly, "Li Gui, you cowardly creature, I'm not easily frightened. If you have the guts, come at me directly instead of lurking in the shadows like a turtle."
There was no response from Li Gui.
I knew that last time I had been careless, allowing this creature to escape unnoticed. Then Qin Ye went to Ten-Mile Temple and hadn’t returned for a long time. Coupled with the strange occurrences at Ma Wu Funeral Home and the fat guy denying he chased me away—how did all this happen?
Could all of this be related to Li Gui?
And then there was Grandpa’s Soul Stone—while he was alive, the Soul Stone was too; when he passed away, so did it!
But the Soul Stone had been missing for so long while I remained here—what did that mean? The Soul Stone existed but not where it should be; it was in the hands of someone with ill intentions. Yet at that time, it was just Han Mi and me—no one else. The Soul Stone must have fallen into an abyss; that too was possible.
Perhaps Grandpa's warnings were overly dramatic; the Soul Stone had nothing to do with me—it was useless without it.
After a while of daydreaming in the suffocating silence, I faintly heard an ethereal sigh. Alerted, I scanned my surroundings—the dim corridor was empty. It was just me sitting alone on the bench across from where Hou Dewen lay in intensive care.
The finger marks on my arm hurt, I took out the talisman paper, played the formula with my hands, chanted the mantra, pressed the burning talisman paper on the finger marks, gritted my teeth and held back the burning pain, and slowly moved my left hand away Covering the area with finger marks, the color of the black purple finger marks just faded, I blew open a small amount of Ashes with my mouth to arms, revealing five light brown like birthmarks. There is no bumpy feeling, no previous pain. I successfully broke the ghost curse Li Gui planted on my arm, and I was a little carried away , this is what the doctor told Hou Dequie when he left Mi's message has not replied Come to give you together Do you want me?” “Mi, I want you to death Really…”
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