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墨書 Inktalez
One, two, three.
Three Missing Person Notices covered the old one beneath. Two of the old notices had names that were barely legible. If Ye Chenfeng didn't see Su Bei, did that mean Shen Binghan lost the bet?
"Not necessarily."
Shen Binghan squinted, her gaze directed towards the village under the gray sky. Above the village, there was a faint chill in the air. This was not a natural phenomenon but an aura of something that ordinary people could not see—evil energy.
Men'er Gou Village was filled with evil energy.
The houses in Men'er Gou Village were not clustered together; they were scattered, primarily surrounded by trees, with homes hidden among the foliage. If it weren't for the wisps of smoke rising from the treetops, one might think this was an abandoned mountain village.
It was already sunset, and the last remnants of sunlight sank slowly among the dense trees. Feeling a slight chill, Ding Li hugged her arms and stomped her feet, urging them to hurry along as she was hungry too; staring at the Missing Person Notices wouldn't fill her stomach.
Ding Li was unaware of the bet between Ye Chenfeng and Shen Binghan, which is why she was impatiently pushing them to leave. Ye Chenfeng had convinced her that this place was fun, with plenty of shrimp and crabs in the small river, and fish swimming in the water.
At this moment, she wanted to go to the riverbank, but Ye Chenfeng dared not take anyone there lightly.
According to his plan, they needed to visit Grandma's House first.
Grandma's house was at the end of a winding path.
As night fell, there were hardly any signs of people walking on the road, only piles of burnt joss paper ashes neatly arranged along the roadside.
With a flicker of his phone screen's cold light, a startled shout came from Ding Li. "There's a bowl!" she exclaimed in surprise. At the same time, she noticed there was rice in the bowl. Ye Chenfeng recognized this as an offering left for wandering spirits during the Ghost Festival. Although he remained somewhat skeptical about ghosts and deities, he knew it was better to be cautious and quickly urged Ding Li not to shout recklessly and to hurry along.
Shen Binghan remained silent, her hands clasped together as if she were mute. The dark night made it difficult to walk, and as if that weren't enough, a light drizzle began to fall from the sky—perhaps this was the last rain of late summer?
The cold wind and rain felt like wandering spirits on a lonely night.
To break the silence, Ye Chenfeng suddenly mentioned that he had dreamt of Red Butterfly.
Shen Binghan was taken aback and asked, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"It was just a dream, and I have never seen the kind of Red Butterfly that appeared in my dreams," Ye Chenfeng said, keeping a close watch on Ding Li. He took the initiative, preventing Shen Binghan from getting close to her, feeling secretly pleased and disdainfully replying.
Shen Binghan said seriously, "Fortunately, it was just a dream. If you saw the Red Butterfly in reality, you would be in trouble."
"You silly boy, I wouldn't be afraid of you. Tell me what the Red Butterfly is all about?"
"Whenever the Red Butterfly appears, it means that a vengeful spirit is nearby." Shen Binghan scanned the surroundings warily, feeling as if there were malicious eyes watching them from the darkness. This feeling had started as soon as they entered Men'er Gou Village.
Several times, Shen Binghan tried to reach out to this chilling gaze but found it cleverly evading him. It seemed his opponent should not be underestimated; his abilities were still insufficient to contend with it. Everything had to be approached with caution. Once they arrived at Ye Chenfeng's grandmother's house, he planned to ask her carefully and consider whether to join forces with her against this lurking evil.
Ye Chenfeng held Ding Li's hand, enjoying the sensation of her small, gentle hand being clasped in his palm. As they walked, he replied, "Don't be alarmist; this is my Grandma's House. If anything happens to me, she will take care of it."
As they reached a rocky bridge, they could faintly hear the sound of flowing water. The darkness and rain made it difficult to see their surroundings clearly. At one of the bridge's stone supports stood a crooked tree.
Ding Li looked at the crooked tree with its twisted branches stretching out menacingly. Beneath its branches was a white shadow swaying in the wind, appearing as if it were floating. "Ah... a ghost," Ye Chenfeng seized the opportunity to pull the trembling Ding Li closer and strained his eyes to look.
At that moment, Shen Binghan quickly walked over and yanked down a piece of white plastic film hanging from the branches. Frowning, he brushed off his hands and said, "Do people here enjoy playing pranks?"
"Not really; during the day, children like to sit here and listen to stories from the elders."
Ding Li steadied herself upon realizing it was just plastic film. She let out a sigh of relief and focused her gaze; indeed, on one side of the branches was a seat made of piled stones. Between the seats lay scraps of paper and sunflower seed shells.
Raindrops hit their faces coldly, and soon their hair was glistening with droplets.
Regarding the tales of water ghosts eating people, Ye Chenfeng dared not tell Ding Li; he had only discussed it privately with Shen Binghan. Thus, unaware of the danger, Ding Li became excited after being startled by the plastic film and then realizing it wasn't a ghost but merely plastic. She looked forward to playing by the river the next day.
Meanwhile, Shen Binghan felt the malevolent energy emanating from the village and spoke less, taking careful steps with each move.
Fortunately, Ding Li had an amulet for protection; Ye Chenfeng didn't need to worry since she had her grandmother.
He had heard about mediums from his master long ago.
Mediums typically dealt with malevolent spirits causing trouble—especially during rituals like divination or spirit possession—where greedy spirits sought offerings. His master had warned him that dealing with mediums often meant that while summoning spirits might be easy, sending them away could be quite difficult!
It is best not to take risks with the Evil Spirit if one lacks sufficient skills; it would be a loss without gain.
A piercing cat's cry echoed through the quiet village, sounding particularly jarring.
Typically, cats are most vocal during the spring and summer seasons, a fact that Shen Binghan learned from his master. He quietly asked Ye Chenfeng, "Are there many cats around here?"
"Not too many, just a few. My grandmother's cat passed away."
Cats are friends to humans, helping to catch mice and even field rats that steal grain. Ding Li loved talking about cats; when they discussed them, she became particularly animated.
"I really want to have a cat, but I've been delayed by various matters."
Both Shen Binghan and Ye Chenfeng felt happy. Previously, due to Ding Li's mother's situation, everyone had been in low spirits, especially Ding Li, who appeared gloomy and unhappy. It was heart-wrenching to see her like that. Now that they had come from the county town to the village, her mood had clearly improved; she looked quite cheerful.
Even after experiencing a scare, she soon wore a smile again. With the protection of the two boys, she gradually approached Ye Chenfeng's Grandma's House.
The mountain path was sticky with water, and before long, all three felt their shoes becoming heavy.
As they walked, their footsteps echoed with a series of slaps, startling them as if someone were clapping nearby.
After listening for a while, they realized it was merely an echo.
They had entered the heart of Men'er Gou. Surrounded by mountains on all sides, a river encircled the village where Ye Chenfeng's grandmother lived.
Ding Li waved her phone around to capture the limited space.
Shen Binghan reminded her to be careful not to step on the ashes left by burning offerings.
As they got closer to the village, broken bowls, incense sticks, and burnt black ashes littered the roadside, fields, and ditches. The scene was chilling, causing Ding Li to tightly purse her lips and remain silent.
Then came the sound of barking dogs.
Hearing the barking, Ye Chenfeng said, "We're almost at Grandma's House."
In the cold drizzle and biting wind, a cluster of graves appeared ahead, with a fresh mound piled high with white objects. Ding Li shone the cold light of her phone screen on it, startled and hurriedly exclaimed to Ye Chenfeng, "So many flower wreaths."
Ye Chenfeng knew this was a girl's grave.
According to her grandmother, the girl's bones had never been found, so her family had made her a ceremonial grave.
"It's fine; there's no body in the grave."
Ding Li was trembling with fear, eager to leave this place as quickly as possible.
However, Shen Binghan was curious about Ye Chenfeng's words and asked, "No body? What's going on?"
Considering Ding Li's fear, Ye Chenfeng whispered, "I told you it's true; their daughter was taken by a water ghost."
Even though she spoke softly, Ding Li still heard her. She nervously asked, "Water ghost..."
"That's not true; Ye Chenfeng is just trying to scare you," Shen Binghan scoffed, glancing again at the fresh grave surrounded by wreaths. The grave stood in solitude amidst the cold rain and wind; it was the family's private plot. In rural areas, when someone passes away, they are either buried in their family's land or in the woods.
One couldn't help but wonder what the girl's parents were thinking when they chose to make her ceremonial grave in such a public place. If someone were to walk by alone at night and see it, they might be frightened out of their wits.
Finally distancing themselves from the grave, Ding Li dared to ask, "How did she die?" She hadn't clearly heard Ye Chenfeng's earlier conversation with Shen Binghan; if she had known, she wouldn't have dared to ask at that moment.
"Shh!" Shen Binghan hushed them and instructed Ye Chenfeng and Ding Li to stand still while he took out a breath-holding talisman.
"What for?" Ye Chenfeng complied and pressed the talisman to her forehead, feeling rather like a zombie.
"If you don't want to see it, I can open your ghost eyes for you so you can see what's around us right now," Shen Binghan said mysteriously, lowering his voice to a whisper.
Ye Chenfeng couldn't see anything but felt an undeniable chill.
Ding Li felt it too. She clung tightly to Ye Chenfeng's arm, who could feel her trembling.
This cold is unusual.
Shen Binghan did not specify, nor did he want to. He feared it would frighten the two of them.
In fact, there were things surrounding them.
These entities had no breath, cold and intangible. Yet he could feel the chilling gaze that had been following them since they left the village, and even now it lingered behind. Shen Binghan did not dare to look back; he could not afford to.
He also could not speak loudly.
At his signal, Ye Chenfeng and Ding Li quickened their pace. They could not look back, nor could they stop.
The purpose of the Breath-Hiding Talisman was to conceal their presence; even if something saw them, it would not detect any human essence and would not pose a threat to them.
The three hurried forward.
Ahead, a fork in the path led toward the riverbank, with waist-high wild grass swaying in the wind, rustling softly.
Ye Chenfeng felt particularly uneasy; a talisman on his forehead swayed and obstructed his vision. He yanked it off, and for a moment, everything blurred before him. It seemed as if a white shadow swiftly darted toward the path leading to the riverbank.
He rubbed his eyes vigorously and focused again, but all he saw was a mass of darkness where nothing remained. In the distance, a piercing cat's wail echoed, startling him so much that his hair stood on end. His grip loosened, and suddenly Ding Li was nowhere to be seen.
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