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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 78: The Dream of the Red Chamber (Part Seven)
Without a second thought, I picked him up and walked out the door. Lao Lai saw the old man and gasped, his jaw dropping in shock. "Lao Shi, what happened to you?"
"He’s injured. Keep an eye on this place while I take him to the infirmary."
"Okay, okay." I hurriedly carried Lao Shi, running swiftly. Qin Jian and two police officers were coming toward us; they spotted me carrying someone from a distance and rushed over to help. They took the old man from me and instructed the officers to escort him to the infirmary and take a statement.
Once the officers took Lao Shi away, Qin Jian looked at me in astonishment and asked what was going on.
I replied, "He is the real Gravedigger. He was set up and trapped in the Mortuary. If I hadn’t gone, he might have frozen to death."
"I never expected things would escalate to this extent."
"Sigh! Let’s hurry and check the bodies."
Qin Jian and I headed straight for the Mortuary, while Lao Lai watched us silently from the side, not daring to speak. He dutifully waited at the door as Qin Jian and I entered the Mortuary. Qin Jian instinctively tightened his collar and handed me a card. "Find someone according to this number."
This was the body receipt number that Qin Jian had requested from the nurse at the front desk; having this number would prevent any delays. Li Luwen's mother was a fresh corpse, not placed in the Freezer Drawer, but lying on the Mortuary Table next to Lao Shi.
Qin Jian put on gloves and glanced at the bloodstains on the floor. The spots seemed to have faded somewhat, congealed on the frosty ground.
I didn’t wear gloves; I lifted the sheet covering the body and looked at a face weathered by time, which seemed far younger than its actual age. Then, gathering my thoughts, I recited a calming incantation for the deceased: "Dust returns to dust, life must end in death; spirits will fade away, all things will perish. No matter how glorious, it all ends as a handful of dirt or ashes. May you rest well."
Afterward, I whispered, "Auntie, before you leave, could you tell me what happened? Since you asked me to help your daughter, please cooperate with me." With these words, I moved my fingers up and down four times.
"What did you find out?"
"Her soul has been taken away; there’s no response at all—just like a stagnant pool of water."
Qin Jian furrowed his brows, anxious. "What should we do? It can't just end like this without any explanation!"
"Don't worry, I'll try another method," I replied. Reaching into my bag, I pulled out a long incense stick, lit it, formed a Bagua hand seal, and chanted, "Soul-Tracking Incense, I command you to rise!" The fragrant smoke spiraled upward and drifted toward the door without any wind.
"What is this?"
"This is Soul-Tracking Incense. It seems the soul was taken not too far away. I'll follow it while you check on Lao Shi; he might have some information for us." Qin Jian agreed to check on Lao Shi. Meanwhile, I took a talisman and transformed it into protective water for Lao Lai to drink. With that, no malevolent entity would dare approach him.
"If this method doesn't work and you hear anything unusual or see anything out of the ordinary, call the police." I thought there shouldn't be any other issues; as the saying goes, a guilty conscience makes one timid. The person I had spotted earlier would surely be hiding now, too afraid to take risks again.
Holding the Soul-Tracking Incense, I walked out the back door of the hospital and saw a winding road stretching southward. The City Hospital was newly built in an area undergoing urban renewal, so many old buildings remained that had not been demolished yet.
These buildings were slated for demolition and were considered unsafe; since residents didn't have to pay rent here, they attracted many outsiders looking to settle down.
As I walked with the Soul-Tracking Incense in hand, some passersby curiously asked what I was doing. I remained silent; speaking would render the incense ineffective.
Looking up, I noticed that autumn sunlight was fleeting, quickly retreating behind clouds and refusing to show itself again. At this rate, darkness would soon fall, and I needed to find Li Luwen's mother’s soul before then. I figured that only a few could stealthily take her soul without anyone noticing; it must be that Evil Sorcerer lurking in the shadows.
The wind picked up, and the Soul-Tracking Incense consistently drifted toward one direction. However, as I ventured deeper into the area, my confidence waned. After crossing the road and passing through rural paths, I had reached the outskirts. Occasionally, I spotted remnants of abandoned vegetable greenhouses—tattered plastic sheeting and frames left behind—along with a few neglected tomato vines and waist-high weeds; nothing else seemed worth a second glance.
A little further on was a planting base with muddy pits and clusters of thriving greenery. There were a few farmhouses nearby, but there were no sounds of roosters crowing or dogs barking; from a distance, it looked eerily quiet—like a ghost town.
The Soul-Tracking Incense was long but couldn’t burn indefinitely; with the wind blowing, it burned even faster.
I estimated that before nightfall, the incense would burn out completely; fortunately, I still had more in my backpack.
After walking for a while longer, the Soul-Tracking Incense flickered as it neared its end. I quickly stopped and crouched down to prepare another stick when Qin Jian's call came through. I couldn't answer or speak; all I could do was hang up and silence my phone before lighting another stick of Soul-Tracking Incense.
The new incense continued to guide me as I walked further along an increasingly desolate path. This stretch was difficult to navigate; it felt remote and unfamiliar to me. How had this place turned into such a bleak scene?
There were many remnants of walls and a crowd surrounding a large area of farmland that had grown wild. It was a pity to see it like this. Following the Soul-Tracking Incense, I finally arrived at a place enclosed by a plastic fence. I couldn't get in, so I crouched down to look through the gaps in the crowd.
Amidst the dense weeds stood a two-story western-style house, completely surrounded by trees. At first glance, it seemed as if no one lived there, and there was no one around. If I wasn't mistaken, this area should be an Industrial Planning Zone, but it had been abandoned and overgrown since it wasn't being utilized.
If it weren't for the Soul-Tracking Incense, I wouldn't have come to this place. What puzzled me was how Li Luwen's mother's soul ended up here for no apparent reason.
While I was lost in thought, I tried to push against the plastic fence. It swayed heavily but didn't budge at all. Frustrated and unsure of what to do, I suddenly heard a voice behind me that startled me: "Hey, what are you doing?"
I turned around to see who it was. The person appeared to be in their fifties, not very tall, thin and wiry, with sharp eyes that seemed to pierce right through me as if I were a thief. When I remained silent, he frowned at the incense stick in my hand and asked, "Are you mute?"
Yes, I am mute. I nodded and turned back to push against the plastic fence once more with all my strength.
"Kid, stop messing around. If you don't leave, I'm calling the police."
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