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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 10: Ghost Month Taboos
As I reached the door, I pushed it open, only to find it locked.
I took out my key and unlocked the door, stepping inside. The house was eerily quiet. I closed the door behind me without thinking much of it, and made my way through Fat's old room into the hallway. Before me lay my grandfather's master bedroom and my own room.
I didn't enter my room; instead, I headed straight for my grandfather's master bedroom.
Fat was still awake, the door slightly ajar.
I pushed the door open. He probably didn't expect me to return. In his hands, he held a few incense sticks, and on the bed lay a Paper Man. He was focused on adding details like eyebrows, a nose, and a mouth with a vermilion brush. When he suddenly saw me, he jumped up in shock as if he had seen a ghost, quickly hiding the paper and incense behind his back.
I stepped closer and shouted in a low voice, "Show me what you have."
"Brother Qi, I..." Fat was sweating profusely, as if it were raining. He slowly moved, still refusing to show me what he was hiding.
"Not going to show me, huh?" My grandfather used to say that Fat and I were like brothers; no matter what he did, I should be forgiving. But now, his behavior made me increasingly suspicious. Given all that had happened before, I could overlook many things, but I had a strong feeling that what he was hiding wasn't good at all. I urgently wanted to see and understand it.
Fat's head looked like a giant soccer ball perched atop his chubby body. He clutched tightly to whatever he was trying to protect and quickly ran toward the door.
"I didn't tell you to run! If you dare to run, Maregebi!" I lunged forward and firmly grabbed his hand. Despite his pig-like struggles to break free from my grip, it was futile.
I knocked him down to the ground effortlessly and seized what he desperately tried to protect.
The Paper Man wasn't an ordinary Paper Man; the incense wasn't ordinary either—it was the Soul-Absorbing Incense that my grandfather strictly forbade!
Seeing the Soul-Absorbing Incense brought back memories of that time I lay in the coffin. In a fit of rage, I punched him in the stomach. With so much fat, my fist merely bounced off. He screamed like a slaughtered pig, begging for mercy: "Brother Qi, spare me! If I don't do this, he won't spare me!"
"Who can't spare you?" As soon as I heard Fatty say this, a name jumped into my mind, and I wondered if it was the same person he was referring to.
"Li Gui."
Sure enough! A sharp pain shot through my heart. This was the brother I spent every day with, yet he secretly colluded with the Evil Sorcerer Li Gui to plot against me.
"You were involved in Grandpa's matter?"
"Yeah, Grandpa drank the tea and felt something was off, but he didn’t want me to tell you. Actually, I drank the tea too, but he gave me the antidote to control me, so I didn’t have any issues."
"What were the conditions for him giving you the antidote?"
"To put on a good show, let Grandpa return early, take your soul for himself, and claim the Ma Wu Funeral Home as mine."
I was so furious that I slammed my fist into the ground, blood bursting from my knuckles. I wanted nothing more than to snap his neck. But in the end, I suppressed my anger and asked, "What about Uncle Luo?"
"It was Li Gui who gave me the drug and put it in Lao Luo's teacup. If Lao Luo doesn’t die, it’ll be hard to deal with you."
"Fatty, I'm going to kill you." In that moment, I lost control of my emotions and grabbed Fatty by the throat, squeezing harder and harder. If I continued like this, he would surely die; he had no strength to fight back now. His face turned a deep purple as his legs weakly kicked out while his hands tried to grasp mine.
If I applied just a bit more pressure, Fatty would be finished.
But at that critical moment, Grandpa's words echoed in my ears, along with the image of him placing our hands together appearing in my mind. Gradually, I loosened my grip and stood up from him, my chest heaving as I struggled to contain my rage. I pointed toward the door and said, "Get out."
In the past, Fatty had taken advantage of Grandpa's favor towards him; he acted without fear and did whatever he wanted—gambling and driving me away twice. He even pretended to be a good person when seeking me out. If it weren't for Chiang's incident and Chi Xinrong being unaware of the truth, he would never have brought her to find me and Han Mi.
He was like a deflated balloon now. He got up from the ground, covered in dust, and walked to the door with a weary look.
At that moment, I felt the most heartbroken. My nose tinged with sadness as memories of the times with Fatty flooded back, and my eyes became moist. Yet, I had to force a stiff expression, standing rigidly in place as he glanced at me with reluctance. I turned my head away, suppressing the bitterness in my heart, not wanting to say much.
I thought he would run out and never come back, but just as he stepped over the threshold, he turned around, grabbed me, and knelt down with a thud, tears streaming down his face as he pleaded in regretful tones, “I was wrong, Brother Qi, please forgive me.”
“Forgive you? I forgive you! Uncle Luo can come back; Grandpa can come back! You scoundrel, get lost!” I forcefully shook off his hand. He held on tightly, and through gritted teeth filled with frustration and disappointment, I shouted, “Get away! Don’t ever show your face again!”
Then I dragged him outside and slammed the door shut. Leaning against the door, I let the tears flow freely.
Fatty's sins were unforgivable.
If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be trapped in a coffin unable to escape; Uncle Luo wouldn’t have fallen into his trap. If it weren't for him, Grandpa wouldn’t have left us so early. Grandpa—I’m useless; being too soft-hearted is also a fault. I pressed my hands against the wall separating the dark room, crying bitterly as I poured out my grievances about all the dirty deeds Fatty had done over the years.
“Clang clang... Brother Qi... please forgive me! Please! I have nowhere else to go!”
The rolling shutter door made a harsh noise. Anger surged within me as I picked up a broom tightly and walked toward the door, striking the shutter with a loud bang. Outside immediately fell silent; for a long time, I didn’t hear him banging on the door anymore.
I was exhausted. I walked into the room and collapsed onto the bed, not wanting to get up again.
Tears continued to flow; my mind was blank, not thinking about what he would do next. I just wanted to stay quiet for a while, to rest peacefully for one night.
Before doing all this, I turned off my phone and lay sprawled on the bed. Tears blurred my vision; in my hazy state, it seemed like I saw Grandpa. His old eyebrows knitted together in a frown as he spoke earnestly: “Qi, Fatty has made mistakes repeatedly; he deserves punishment. But this isn’t the time for that. Don’t forget your enemies are watching you closely; Fatty can save…”
“Grandpa…”
“Cough, cough…” Grandpa's pale, bloodless face trembled violently as he coughed. The skin stretched over his bones shook incessantly. He continued to cough, relentless in his efforts, “Cough, cough… cough, cough…”
“Grandpa.” I nervously stepped closer to him.
“Don’t come over here.” Grandpa trembled all over, his white face contorted as his wide eyes seemed ready to pop out of their sockets. His mouth opened wide, and a dark, multi-legged creature spilled out.
A centipede!
I was terrified of multi-legged creatures.
I stumbled backward in fear.
A strange smile spread across Grandpa's ghastly face as he beckoned me, “Qi, come here. Grandpa has a secret to tell you.”
Looking again, the centipede was gone; the person standing before me was indeed my grandfather. For a moment, I forgot that he had already passed away and foolishly walked toward him. Just as I got close, he unexpectedly grabbed me and began to inhale deeply toward my mouth and nose.
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