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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 451: Human Skin Puppet (Part Fourteen)
There was no one at the entrance. In the brief moment I had descended the hotel stairs, someone had managed to open the door and slip inside? As this thought crossed my mind, my hand instinctively pushed the door, which surprisingly opened silently. I looked down and noticed that the hinges were not wet with anything; I couldn't tell what it was. Was what I saw earlier not an evil spirit but a human?
If it was a human, who could it be? A thief or someone else? Entering the lobby, I found that just around the corner from the bar was a private room, and a little further was the health room. To my left was the hot pot restaurant's main hall, which was quite spacious and decorated in a mid-to-high-end style. During peak business hours, the entire hall could accommodate over three hundred diners.
I truly saw a shadow pressed against the wall. Was it really a person? Doubtful, I hurried a few steps closer and unexpectedly reached out to grab the back of whoever was pressed against the wall. To my shock, my fingers touched something icy and slippery. In an instant, that figure clinging to the wall darted away like a snake, quickly climbing up and disappearing into the private room.
That was precisely the private room where Gousi and his companions had encountered their misfortune. I quickly turned around and kicked the door, striking it several times before finally forcing it open. Without hesitation, I rushed inside and turned on the lights.
Once illuminated, I noticed a rough trail of slime near the window, resembling shiny mucus left behind by a giant slug. The trail extended to the back window. Below that window was a steep ditch bank, and I felt an immediate surge of anxiety. What kind of slug could leave such a thick trail? I suddenly felt discomfort in my fingers and instinctively looked down; they were covered in some sticky substance. Bringing my fingers to my nose, I recoiled at the foul smell of mud.
I didn't have time to clean off my fingers. Leaning down to inspect the steep ditch bank, visibility was poor. I took out my phone and turned on the mobile flashlight, shaking it downward. Unfortunately, the light was limited; however, during my movements, I thought I saw something long and white. Quickly extending my arm downward, I shook it vigorously.
That long white thing moved; it had no eyes or limbs—just round and smooth. This was unbelievable; no matter how much I tried to convince myself otherwise, what I saw could not be a slug. In rural areas, slugs are merely pests that eat vegetable leaves—could one really grow this large? It could open doors and climb through windows—impossible! To prove whether what I saw was indeed a slug or something else entirely, without thinking twice, I retreated outside and headed straight for the ditch flow bridgehead.
At the ditch flow bridgehead lay a vast expanse of artificial grass with wooden decorative steps leading down to the branching stream below. These steps were originally used for cleaning mud from the riverbed; later on, when this hot pot restaurant opened nearby, they took advantage of their location to decorate them attractively.
During summer days, people would often play on those steps. City A lacked oceans or rivers; for those who loved water, standing barefoot in the cool water during summer was a delightful experience.
However, because of this very reason, seemingly shallow branching streams had led to drowning incidents—most victims were children who slipped while playing on those steps when adults weren't paying attention. Thus, there stood an eye-catching wooden sign nearby.
The sign read: "Dangerous area! Do not play in water; keep children safe."
Years ago, when a child drowned and was pulled from the water, the adults cried inconsolably, regretting their negligence. As a result, anyone bringing children was strictly forbidden from letting them play near the steps. Yet, despite these precautions, some still perished in the swirling currents of the Branching Stream. These were not children who slipped and fell; they were individuals who deliberately jumped into the Branching Stream.
In my view, those who do not cherish life—regardless of gender or age—are foolish.
Because of the drownings, there were not only warning signs on the steps but also a protective railing.
The railing was meant for children; adults could easily step over it with little effort and then descend to wash their feet or play in the water.
Let me be clear: I would not drown because I am a Mortician. Having seen many dead bodies, I understand that both life and death have their limits. Now, as I step over the railing, I want to see if what fell from the back window of the private room is indeed the Slug I suspect.
I feel confident about what I saw earlier because this particular private room is closest to the Bridgehead steps and is downstream. If something did fall from that window, unless it had extraordinary buoyancy, it would have to be swept downstream by the current.
I focused intently on the water's surface as I descended the steps. Unfortunately, it was nighttime, and my phone's flashlight was limited. The streetlights along the shore illuminated only part of the surface. With my phone's light, all I could see was a dark expanse of water flowing silently like a massive sheet of black silk—no ripples, no sound of splashing. If what I saw earlier was indeed a Slug, it wouldn't float; it would sink.
As I pondered this, footsteps approached from behind. I turned cautiously to find a bright voice calling out: "Master Ma, it's me..."
Glancing back briefly, I saw Ling Juan. What was she doing here instead of sleeping at home? I asked, "Ling Juan, what are you doing here?" However, I couldn't keep my eyes off the water's surface for fear of missing anything moving through it.
Ling Juan stood quietly behind me without responding, seemingly captivated by my focused demeanor and looking in the same direction as me. A ball floated toward us on the water's surface—round and white. From my angle, it appeared like a white sphere bobbing up and down but also seemed to have a pair of legs beneath it standing upright in the water. This scene was particularly eerie; combined with the pitch-black surroundings and gusts of cold wind, I shivered involuntarily. Stretching out my arm to shake my Mobile Flashlight vigorously, I tried to discern what that white object really was. Just then, Ling Juan suddenly murmured something like a sleepwalker: "It looks like the head of an upright walking corpse."
Her words startled me; they triggered memories of stories my grandfather told about corpses standing upright in water. My hair stood on end as I instinctively took a step back but unexpectedly stepped on Ling Juan's foot. She let out a sharp scream that echoed eerily in the silence, heightening the tension in the air. My heart raced as I turned sideways; Ling Juan clutched my arm in fear and couldn't let go. In our struggle to regain balance, we both fell over. Scrambling to our feet again to look at the water’s surface revealed nothing—just calm waters without a trace of anything white.
Frustratingly, women can be such trouble.
I got up, clapping my hands, which were now covered in sticky mud. On top of that, I had touched some gooey substance earlier, making my fingers feel even worse. I had originally intended to summon Xie Kehun at Riverside Family, but after inadvertently catching sight of a moving shadow, things turned out this way. It was truly frustrating.
With nothing to show for my efforts and having wasted the best time for summoning, I stumbled to my feet alongside Ling Juan, whose face was pale with fright. Continuing on like this would surely yield no results; it would be better to return and rest for a while before looking for another opportunity.
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