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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 455: Human Skin Puppet
This was my first time witnessing someone floating down the stairs. I was surprised that there was not a single sound as they walked down. They exited the hotel lobby, passed through the entrance, and stepped into the open space. In the darkness of the night, the buildings appeared as a mass of black, and within that darkness, a figure floated towards Branching Stream.
I followed cautiously, afraid of losing sight of them, feeling both anxious and suppressed.
Suddenly, Xie Ke stopped. His vertical arms slowly raised, pointing directly at the bottom of the Branching Stream stairs.
I followed his finger's direction and saw a woman standing quietly on the last step of the staircase. Using the dim light from a streetlamp, I strained to see her silhouette, trying to discern who she was and why she was here in the middle of the night. Was she contemplating suicide by jumping into the river?
Unfortunately, no matter how hard I tried to see her clearly, I couldn't make out her figure. I thought that since Xie Ke had brought me here, he must know who she was. I turned to ask him, but to my surprise, in the blink of an eye, Xie Ke vanished as if he had never been there.
In that instant, it dawned on me that what I was seeing wasn't real. It was just like the last time I had seen many things in a car that didn't exist in reality; I was actually dreaming.
Realizing that I was dreaming made me less anxious about what lay before me since I would surely wake up soon.
I looked at the woman before me. Her slender waist and perfectly tailored outfit were so fitting; I had never seen such a graceful figure in my life. I wished it weren't a dream and desperately wanted to see her face.
At the same time, I could sense an aura of malevolence emanating from her, leading me to conclude that she was certainly not a good person! As I cautiously approached her, she moved—she truly moved—taking steps toward the water. Suddenly, I wondered if I had misjudged her; perhaps she was just a good girl who had encountered something terrible and wanted to end her life here!
Thinking this, I hurriedly shouted, "Wait..."
The woman descending the stairs halted but did not turn to look at me. I rushed over and reached out to grab her arm when unexpectedly she turned to face me—at that moment, my heart felt like it was about to burst from sheer terror. The face before me was not human; it resembled a plastic model with high-quality hair—a lifelike imitation—but when my hand grasped her arm, I felt warm human skin.
My God! She is a Human Skin Puppet! The realization sent shockwaves through my body, and I screamed in horror. At that moment, I finally woke up and understood that everything had indeed been a dream. However, just as I thought I had truly awakened, something beside me startled me so much that cold sweat broke out all over my body.
I didn’t know when it happened, but someone had appeared beside me. With the night’s shadows filtering through the window, I could clearly see that she lay facing inward with long hair cascading loosely around her waist. Her figure was exceptionally delicate; her slender hands were pure and slightly glimmering with chill as if devoid of warmth altogether, sending an icy shiver down my spine.
I wasn’t afraid of ghosts; besides, I had something on me that kept them at bay. Unless she wasn’t a ghost—if she wasn’t a ghost then perhaps she was Ling Juan?
When did she come over? There was also a strange feeling, as if she were Ling Juan, and despite being so close, I couldn't feel her warmth.
Damn, am I still dreaming? The thought of whether this could be a dream made me furrow my brows. I reached out and pinched my own face. I pinched hard, and the pain spread through me, leaving me stunned. If I could feel pain, then what I was seeing now wasn't a dream?
It wasn't a dream; it was real. Ling Juan truly wanted to be with me, but the suspicious fact that she had no warmth made me cautious. I quickly withdrew my hand from the air and turned on the light.
Once the light was on, the woman lying on her side remained completely still.
I got out of bed and called out, "Ling Juan?" She still didn't move, so I walked over to take a closer look.
Seeing her face made me smile; it really was Ling Juan.
With her here, I felt relieved. I reached out to shake her awake and ask why she had come here. I wasn't scared before, but as I extended my hand, it froze before it could touch her shoulder. At some point, she had opened her eyes and was quietly staring at me.
I don't know if you've ever experienced being silently stared at like this; it's quite an unsettling feeling. While I stood there frozen, an inexplicable chill ran down my spine.
Honestly, I'm not afraid of anything—ghosts, monsters, or even the Evil Sorcerer—but being stared at so intensely by someone is terrifying.
"What are you looking at me for?"
Ling Juan continued to stare at me without moving, as if there were something wrong with my face. Instinctively, I touched my face—nothing unusual! "You were scared and left this room; why did you come back? How did you get in?"
Asking these questions felt like a reminder to myself that the door hadn't been opened; no one could have entered. I remembered leaving Ling Juan behind and locking the door to Room 10 without a second thought. She didn't have a key; she couldn't get in.
But this person in front of me was indeed Ling Juan—exactly the same face, the same figure, even wearing the same clothes.
Ling Juan remained silent, and I couldn't just keep staring at her like this. "You need to leave; it's not proper for a man and woman to be alone in a room." As I spoke, I opened the door and gestured for her to step outside.
At that moment, Ling Juan seemed reluctant to get up from the bed. Her gaze remained cold as she looked at me. I felt that there was not a trace of warmth in her eyes; they were fixed on me like those of a corpse staring at a living person.
I just didn't sense the Deathly Aura from her, but there was another strange presence.
She seemed like a living person, lacking only that spark of vitality, the lively emotions, and the animated expression.
Ling Juan walked to the door with a stiff posture, not looking back as she exited. However, instead of heading to the room I had booked, she walked out into the corridor, which led downstairs to the front desk. What was Ling Juan doing? I stared at her in confusion. Could it be that she was angry because I had driven her away?
As Ling Juan reached the stairs leading down, a door from my previously booked room opened, and a head peeked out. She asked, "Brother Qi, what are you doing up at this hour?"
I glanced at the person who spoke and lost my composure. This person was the real Ling Juan. She stood in the doorway with half her body exposed, her hair tousled and wearing a bathrobe. It seemed she had taken a shower while I was away.
Up close, I could feel her warm human presence. The Ling Juan I had seen earlier felt icy all over; she was neither ghost nor human—so what was she?
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