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墨書 Inktalez
Ye Chenfeng followed Ding Li's gaze to the ground, where pale, irregular shapes resembling wet footprints appeared, scattered haphazardly. He had seen such footprints before—the ones that appeared on the night Shen Binghan disappeared!
Could it be that Shen Binghan had returned here? Ye Chenfeng's heart raced, but he dared not voice this thought.
Seeing Ding Li was visibly frightened, he feigned calmness and said nonchalantly, "What's there to be afraid of? It's just the marks left by moisture rising from the damp rural ground. There's nothing scary about it."
Ding Li was indeed scared; at least the moment she stepped inside, a chill made her grip Ye Chenfeng's arm tightly. Now, hearing him say it was merely moisture marks, it seemed less terrifying than she had imagined. Still, she stubbornly muttered, "What? I'm not scared! They're just footprints, it's only a bit cold."
"Really, there's nothing to fear." To prove there was nothing amiss inside, Ye Chenfeng strode confidently into the house.
Ding Li hesitantly followed.
With only a few days left until the Ghost Festival, the season shouldn't have felt this cold. Yet inside this house, it felt like mid-winter. The icy wind howled outside, making the Purple Bamboo rustle ominously, while strange noises from branches brushing against the roof sent chills down their spines.
The first order of business upon entering was to take care of their basic needs.
Due to time constraints, they would inevitably have to spend the night here. Of course, they needed to inform their families so they wouldn't worry. While telling his parents, Ye Chenfeng made sure to remind them not to mention this to Grandma.
Once he had settled on what to say, Ye Chenfeng briefly explained to his parents that he wanted to stay at Grandma's house for a night because he had left something behind and hadn't found it yet.
Night fell quickly.
Surrounded by darkness, Ye Chenfeng felt as if Grandma's house was isolated from the world, like it sat on a lonely island surrounded by water.
And within that water lurked terrifying things that could crawl ashore at any moment to harm them.
With a man and woman working together, things were less tiring. Ye Chenfeng and Ding Li prepared noodles in the kitchen; a simple meal to fill their stomachs before embarking on their adventure. It could only be said that having a girl around was quite troublesome; even the reflection on the wall could trigger Ding Li's screams.
Several times, Ye Chenfeng jumped at her shrieks only to find there were no monsters—just plant shadows creeping in through the window that looked like demons ready to pounce if one wasn't careful.
After some initial scares, Ding Li gradually grew braver and became immune to the shadows. Occasionally, she would use the opportunity to frighten Ye Chenfeng; though she wasn't afraid, he felt uneasy inside.
He recalled seeing a shadow flit by when they first entered. After stepping inside, he paid special attention but found no one else around.
As he was walking with full concentration, Ding Li suddenly exclaimed, "Do you smell something foul? A rotten odor."
Ye Chenfeng took a deep breath, and indeed, a nauseating stench filled his nostrils.
"What is that smell?"
He turned on all the lights in the room, illuminating everything. The furniture and the paintings on the walls were clearly visible, but nothing seemed particularly odorous. Could it be that food in the refrigerator had gone bad? With that thought, he hurriedly led Ding Li to check the fridge.
Ye Chenfeng remembered that his parents had cleaned out the refrigerator when they came to pick up his grandmother. He seemed to recall seeing a jar of stinky tofu and a can of Nestlé drink granules inside, but nothing else.
What could be causing the smell now? He opened the refrigerator and was instantly taken aback.
Inside was a large piece of bone wrapped in a food bag.
Why did Grandma buy so many bones? Under Ding Li's puzzled gaze, Ye Chenfeng pulled out a plastic bag and tipped the bones out.
As he poured them out, Ding Li's eyes widened in shock, covering his mouth and forgetting to scream.
This was clearly a rotting, blackened human calf bone.
Gulp—Ye Chenfeng nervously swallowed hard and continued to pull out more plastic bags, pouring out what were clearly other bones from the human body.
He stared blankly at the bones, his body swaying slightly.
"Ye Chenfeng..."
Ding Li quickly steadied him, astonished. "What's wrong with you?"
"Can't you see?"
Ye Chenfeng pointed at the scattered bones and asked Ding Li.
Ding Li looked at Ye Chenfeng, whose face was pale, and pointed to a pile of moldy, foul-smelling cakes on the ground. "Do you see that? It's just a rotten cake, isn't it?"
Ye Chenfeng squinted at the cakes again, realizing that indeed, they were rotten. A layer of fuzzy mold covered the surface, and as soon as these things were taken out, the stench filled every cubic meter of the room.
This was supposed to be a grand cake ordered by his parents from the city for Grandma's seventieth birthday. He had been reluctant to eat it and had stored it in the fridge, only for it to end up like this.
But that didn't make sense; he remembered checking the fridge earlier, and there hadn't been any of this.
Ding Li shook her head, covering her mouth as she used a dustpan to clean up the rotten cake. The smell lingered, so she sprayed a generous amount of air freshener.
As Ye Chenfeng watched Ding Li spraying air freshener, a thought crossed his mind.
This thought traced back to half a month ago, during the days he had fallen ill at Grandma's house. A few guests who had come to stay over that day had also been sprayed with air freshener in abundance by Grandma.
After much effort, Ding Li finally cleared away the rotten cake and stood back with her hands behind her back, admiring the cross-stitch on the wall made by Ye Chenfeng's mom.
She noticed something and walked over, pointing at it—then nervously took a step back, her face changing dramatically as she trembled slightly. She raised her finger at Ye Chenfeng and said, "Look at what this is!"
Ye Chenfeng looked up at the cross-stitch; it was still the same as before, but it seemed to have accumulated more dust over time.
From the dust emerged something damp; he reached out to touch it and brought his fingers to his nose. Ugh—there was a pungent smell of blood.
"What is it?" Ding Li asked from a distance.
"It's... blood..."
Ye Chenfeng yanked down the cross-stitch. There was blood on it; having been in a damp environment filled with bloodiness for so long had caused an odd smell in the room. The dust on the cross-stitch must have come from this too. In nature, there are certain microscopic organisms that particularly thrive on blood; these creatures multiplied increasingly, appearing like dust.
Tearing down the Cross-Stitch, there stood a wall, a wall stained red with blood. The area that was stained was just about the size of the Cross-Stitch itself.
The blood must have seeped in from the other side of the wall.
"What is that place over there?"
"The old house."
It was Grandma's House, the old residence. Ye Chenfeng had heard from his mother that their family home was filled with a heavy, eerie atmosphere. As a child, she had seen headless figures wandering inside and even caught glimpses of her grandfather, who had passed away many years ago, waving at her.
Because of this, his mother had always been too afraid to stay home alone.
Grandma, however, was unafraid. Upon hearing the stories, she would grab a handful of rice and scatter it while cursing loudly.
Ye Chenfeng's mother told him that some things were actually afraid of being cursed at. If one encountered them during a stroke of bad luck, shouting curses would still have an effect.
Because of these experiences, Ye Chenfeng's Mom became quite paranoid and developed a severe case of anxiety.
"We should go check out the old house," Ye Chenfeng said as he grabbed Ding Li's hand, feeling her palm was sweaty. "If you're scared, you don't have to come. I'll just take a quick look."
"No, I'm going with you."
This was not the image of the old house he had seen online; it was a place he had never set foot in before. His grandmother had strictly forbidden him from coming here, and in Ye Chenfeng's memory, there was not a single impression of this old house.
He had only occasionally felt and shared in his mother's fear through her fragmented recollections of stories about the house.
Ding Li looked up at Ye Chenfeng as he spoke about this old residence.
On the surface, it appeared to be just a green wall.
It was composed of thick vines that covered everything; there was a text called "The Climbing Tiger's Feet." The climbing tiger's feet were all over the old house—on the walls, the roof, the doors, and the windows—leaving not a single gap untouched.
Ding Li watched Ye Chenfeng, who was eager to try his hand at cutting through the vines with his sickle. She felt a deep sense of unease about the old house, a mix of reverence and perhaps fear. She whispered, "Ye Chenfeng, it seems quite late. Why don't we come back tomorrow?"
"It's fine, there's still a few hours until dawn," Ye Chenfeng replied. It was then that Ding Li realized what persistence truly meant; Ye Chenfeng was relentless in his pursuits. With the sickle flying through the air, he cleared away a patch of green debris, revealing the true face of the old house hidden beneath the vines.
The house appeared to have some history. The lower half was made of gray bricks, while the upper half was filled with mud and wood. Upon closer inspection, the mud surface was uneven and pockmarked, as if it had never been smoothed out.
"There are five rooms in total," Ye Chenfeng explained. "There's a wooden door leading into the hall, which is generously called a hall, but inside it usually just holds some potatoes and farming tools." He based this description on stories his mother had told him about the structure of the old house.
Ye Chenfeng remembered visiting Grandma's House; she would often disappear for a few minutes when night fell. He had secretly followed her one time and discovered her standing quietly before this very place, gazing at the old house concealed by vines.
As he cut through the dense foliage, the dilapidated structure of the old house emerged under the flickering beam of his flashlight.
A cold wind swept in, causing Ding Li to shiver involuntarily as she hugged her arms. "It's so cold. Are you really going in there, Ye Chenfeng?"
Ye Chenfeng turned to look at Ding Li and saw her fear. He smiled reassuringly and moved closer to her. "It's okay; if you want to come back tomorrow, we can."
Their plan to explore the old house that night was temporarily shelved due to Ding Li's concerns and fears.
Inside the house, the two exchanged glances, finally realizing that their biggest issue for the night was how they would arrange to rest.
"Ye Chenfeng, you... I..." Ding Li stammered, lowering her head as her face flushed red.
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