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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 445: Human Skin Puppet (Part Eight)
Ling Juan pouted defiantly and said, "I'm not a girl, and you two aren't old folks either, hum!"
She was quite amusing, and both Qin Jian and I couldn't help but chuckle silently. I thought to myself, Ling Juan, if you're not a girl, then what are we if not old folks?
"I'm an adult, and so are you. What’s there to be afraid of regarding girls or old folks?"
Her words made sense, leaving me momentarily speechless.
"Hahaha..." Qin Jian let out a hearty laugh, as if mocking me, Ma Qi, for having a moment of being at a loss for words.
Laugh all you want!
I coldly snorted and turned to Ling Juan, saying, "If you're an adult and know so much, then let me ask you—have you ever been in love?"
Upon hearing this question, Qin Jian glanced back at me with a look of surprise, as if wondering how on earth I could ask such a foolish question.
I was also puzzled about why I had asked something so childish.
"What do you ask that for? You don't actually like me, do you?"
What the heck!
I had thought Ling Juan was just a little girl; we two grown men should be careful not to influence her innocent heart. I never expected her to be so bold as to suggest that I liked her.
"Fun. Girl, don't think that Brother Ma Qi is easy to deal with." I said, "I like it. How about we start dating..."
"Lao Qi, don't go too far."
I, Lao Qin, thought too much. What I meant was a date, not the inappropriate things you might be thinking of. I guessed that Ling Juan must have watched the movie "Human Shape Girl," which has a lot of unsuitable scenes.
That movie is simply a bad influence on friends and a complete distortion of values.
"Qin, doesn't that mountain over there look like a woman's chest..."
Hearing Ling Juan shout this, I turned my head hurriedly to look, even though I had no interest at first. It really was a mountain with two peaks, just like a woman's breasts. I laughed and said without thinking, "Isn't that just a pair of jade peaks..."
Qin Jian angrily retorted, "Lao Qi, shut up." Damn it, why does he always scold me? It was Ling Juan who saw it first! I felt frustrated, furrowing my brows and letting out a sigh.
Along the way, I had been scolded by Qin Jian several times. This time his tone was heavier and harsher, making Ling Juan behind us giggle uncontrollably.
Sigh! A tiger fallen in the plains is bullied by dogs!
If this were on my turf, neither Qin Jian nor Shi Lingjuan would dare to joke about me, Ma Qi, so openly.
Cutting to the chase, I just wanted to lighten the mood with some cold jokes. Before long, we arrived at our destination. I regained the cold demeanor of a handsome guy as I got out of the car and walked silently toward the gray-tiled house in front of me.
A semi-new trailer truck was parked in the open space. Is this the vehicle Xie Ke drove back? Qin Jian and I carefully checked the license plate number; it indeed belonged to City A.
Before I saw "Thank you, Master," I couldn't be sure this was his home. There was a well at the entrance, with a rusty iron handle. Ling Juan asked what it was; it seemed to be one of those pumps that worked by pushing up and down. Our voices startled the chickens and ducks inside, and I could faintly hear their clucking and quacking. Under the eaves, strings of red chili peppers and golden corn cobs hung down.
Inside, the sound of a cleaver chopping something echoed, producing a hollow noise. Behind me, Ling Juan and Qin Jian were whispering to each other. Standing at the door, I couldn't see clearly into the house; it was dark and shadowy. I cleared my throat but received no response, so I called out, "Thank you, Master."
As soon as I shouted, the hollow sounds inside ceased, and then a hoarse woman's voice asked, "Who is calling 'Thank you, Master'?" An old man appeared at the door, leaning on a cane. His cloudy eyes looked somewhat frightening, and his face was covered in deep wrinkles. His toothless mouth was thin and flat. He stared at us for a while before finally responding slowly, "Thank you, Master is my eldest son; he is on the back mountain."
This was Xie Shi's mother. Looking at the old man, he must have been quite old—at least in his nineties. Although he walked slowly and spoke somewhat incoherently, for someone of his age, he was doing remarkably well.
It was clear that the old man's mind was still sharp; hearing our accents and what we shouted made him realize we were looking for his eldest son.
"Thank you, Master is on the back mountain." I attempted to call him but found there was no signal here. With no other choice, I approached the old man to ask where the back mountain was.
The old man pointed toward the back of the house—just beyond it lay the back mountain. Qin Jian, Ling Juan, and I exchanged a silent smile; it was truly foolish of us not to know such a simple fact.
We then told the old man we were going to find "Thank you, Master." He nodded but seemed unsure if he had seen us clearly. Regardless, he stood at the door for a long time, gazing at our departing figures.
"Her eyes are quite frightening; I can't even look at her," Ling Juan remarked as she tested whether Qin Jian and I were also avoiding eye contact with the old woman.
Neither of us responded as we focused on climbing up the slope.
The slope was muddy and slippery; if it rained, it would stick to our shoes. This kind of yellow mud has excellent adhesive properties; many people in the mountains use it to plaster their walls for this reason. When I explained this about yellow mud, Qin Jian dismissed it; he didn't need my explanation—he understood these things better than I did.
Then we finally spotted "Thank you, Master."
The once robust figure of Thank You, Master had grown frail and haggard, his voice lacking strength. Behind him loomed a dark hole that resembled not a cellar but rather an air raid shelter. He gestured towards the opening, saying, "Xie Ke is inside."
Thank You, Master had informed me over the phone that Xie Ke was dead. I had expected him to call the police or take necessary measures to protect the scene and his son Xie Ke's body, but instead, he had moved the corpse into this cave. True to his nature as an old policeman, he sensed our skepticism and our reluctance to enter the hole. With a sorrowful smile, he said, "This boy meant well; his body cannot be moved. You three should go in and see for yourselves."
Qin Jian, Ling Juan, and I were taken aback by his words. We couldn't just stand there; we complied with Thank You, Master's wishes and approached the cave's edge.
As we neared the entrance, Thank You, Master took it upon himself to explain the cave's history. Just as I had suspected, this mountain cave was an old air raid shelter from long ago. Moreover, there were many such caves in this area; most had been repurposed by locals—some for storing crops and others as habitats for forest guardians.
What we saw was a charred mass resembling burnt charcoal; Xie Ke was nowhere in sight. Just as we were puzzled by this, Thank You, Master broke down in tears, exclaiming, "That is Xie Ke! When I found him, it was too late. His body was burnt beyond recognition. Next to him lay a pure shroud; there were ropes used for binding the corpse in the trailer, along with a piece of paper mentioning Gousi's tomb raiding activities. It seemed unfinished. This boy was loyal and brave but never expected to die in the grave he prepared for himself."
Hearing Thank You, Master's words felt like listening to an unbelievable tale of horror—shrouds, fire, and graves.
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