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墨書 Inktalez
To prove to the pitiful woman before him that he truly did not know her, Ye Chenfeng pulled out his identification and student card, handing them over to the rude man with a foul mouth. The man eyed him suspiciously for a moment before examining the documents with utmost seriousness. When he returned the ID to Ye Chenfeng, he still questioned him, “So, who are you here to find?”
“Ding Li.”
The rude man's expression froze, his hand quickly retracting as he stuffed Ye Chenfeng's documents into his pocket. He turned to the woman, who was equally surprised by the name, and shouted angrily, “He knows your name and still claims not to recognize you. Let’s see how you two play tricks in front of me.”
Ye Chenfeng was confused. Was this woman also named Ding Li? Stunned, he quickly asked for confirmation, “You’re also called Ding Li?”
The woman nodded repeatedly, fear evident in her voice. “I don’t know you!”
Whether they knew each other or not was irrelevant now. The rude man, filled with hostility, swung a fist at Ye Chenfeng. He ducked just in time, causing the punch to hit the table with a loud bang.
Ye Chenfeng attempted to escape through the door, but the rude man had anticipated this and blocked it firmly.
The woman cried out desperately, pleading for him to stop hitting her.
The rude man seemed to be drunk, reeking of alcohol as he took out his frustrations on Ye Chenfeng. Inside the room, chaos ensued; the woman screamed in terror while outside, a curly-haired dog whimpered pitifully, its furry face contorted with emotion as it lay on the ground with its front paws resting on its nose.
………………………………………………
Meanwhile, in another villa within Evil Village, something strange was happening. Ding Li, a nineteen-year-old unmarried woman, was temporarily residing in a private residence owned by Su Dad.
The villa had a European style mixed with a hint of Eastern architectural elements that made it seem out of place.
The decor featured dark tones; the furniture was somber, the lighting dimmed, and her mood matched the atmosphere. She felt as if the entire world was shrouded in darkness as she curled up in bed, lost in thought day and night.
The calendar on the wall marked the very day Ye Chenfeng had arrived, a crude red line drawn beneath the date.
She had been in Evil Village for half a month.
No one truly wishes to die; even those who are mentally prepared often falter at the crucial moment.
Ding Li didn't know what it felt like in the moments before death, but each time her hunger gnawed at her insides, it forced her to rise and seek out food to fill her empty stomach.
The food in the refrigerator was enough to last her a month.
Her first thought was of starving to death.
Starving was certainly better than becoming an old and ugly monster!
Ding Li was still in her prime, and she didn't want to resemble her mother in her final moments.
She remembered how beautiful her mother had been when she was young.
Her mother was beautiful, and her father was handsome.
Her mother stayed at home while her father worked in sales, but he eventually changed his heart.
Then, her father died in a car accident.
Mother told Ding Li that Dad would be away on a business trip for a long time. Every day, she set the table with dishes and quietly sat by the table, waiting for a while, then forced a smile at her daughter and said, "Dad won't be coming back. Let's eat first."
It wasn't until Ding Li grew up that she realized Dad would never return, indirectly discovering that her parents had once hurt each other deeply.
Dad found a friend and pretended to be an online acquaintance to chat with Mom, even feigning interest in her.
Lonely and cold, Mom couldn't bear the unbearable solitude of living alone. When the other party invited her out, she rashly agreed to meet. As a result, Dad caught her red-handed and forced her to file for divorce. Since Mom was at fault, she could only leave with Ding Li empty-handed.
Mom hated Dad intensely.
She tried every possible way to deal with him and finally found a method that would ensure he wouldn't die peacefully—he died, and it was so pure.
No one desired a sense of home more than Ding Li did.
She didn't hate Dad for his betrayal; instead, it was what Mom did after Dad's death that filled her with disgust.
Some say daughters are their father's little lovers; Ding Li had to agree with this statement.
Without Dad, Mom lost her morals and began associating with women from massage parlors, becoming like a seductress.
From what she knew, Mom had four men in her life.
The first man Mom met was of unknown identity and background. They met for one purpose: to satisfy their physical emptiness. There was no love or emotion; they could simply indulge in their desires together.
Ding Li transformed her hatred for her mother into a disdain for all men.
If it weren't for those filthy men, she could still have her mother.
Her mother's second man was a guy who drove a Small Trailer.
She had seen this man before.
He was of average height, with dark skin, a long face, a prominent forehead, and he always had a cigarette dangling from his mouth, squinting at people. When he looked at Ding Li, she glared back at him, and that was the moment she pushed her mother away.
Rather than saying her mother was seeking revenge, it would be more accurate to say that her mother knew she would soon be heading down a path to death; it was a display of desperate struggle.
Today, Ding Li had specially prepared a table full of dishes.
She had a strong premonition that someone was coming.
Who was it? She wasn't quite sure; it was just an instinct.
Ding Li quietly waited by the dining table, her thoughts drifting back to the childhood she hadn't revisited in a long time. Her mother was busy in the kitchen, and warm sunlight streamed in at an angle, filling the entire room with golden light—it felt so warm and cozy.
Ding ding ding~ ding ding ding!
The phone rang unexpectedly, interrupting Ding Li's quiet wait.
She hesitated for a moment before answering the phone, "Hello..."
"Lily, it's Mom."
"Mom, is that you?"
"Yes, my dear daughter. Do you miss me?"
"I do."
"Then come over. Your dad and I are both here."
"Dad is there too?"
"Yes."
Ding Li's heart raced with excitement. She asked how far her parents' home was from where she was, and when she learned it was within walking distance, she felt overjoyed. She hurriedly tidied up and then took a moment to fix her hair in front of the mirror.
After trying on several of her favorite outfits, she finally felt satisfied and stepped out the door.
The home she had longed for was waiting for her return just around the corner.
Ding Li walked with an extra spring in her step.
The night breeze was gentle as Ding Li hurried down the road that stretched into the distance, her spirits unusually high.
Her mother had said that if she kept walking, they would reach Mountain Lodge A, number 44.
Home was the force guiding her forward.
Suddenly, Ding Li felt incredibly happy; she was about to have a home.
At home, there were also her dad and mom, along with delicious meals—
A small backpack rested on her back, filled with her personal items.
Toothbrush, nail clippers, chewing gum.
Travel shoes with laces that always seemed to come undone; she couldn't remember how many times she had tied them.
The road grew more desolate as she moved further away from the lights and people. It felt like entering another world. Ding Li stopped, looking around at the darkness that seemed unreal. This sensation was akin to dreaming, yet she knew it was not a dream.
It was real.
Now, she was on her way home.
Ding Li took out her phone but found no signal. Turning back was impossible now; she had come too far, and her parents were waiting for her to return home. She couldn't give up halfway. Gritting her teeth, she tugged at her backpack strap and continued onward.
"Mom said to walk straight down this road until I reach a dense forest, and then I would see the sign for Mountain Lodge."
But there was no dense forest here, only two paths on either side.
Mom hadn't mentioned any forks in the road. Could it be that I took a wrong turn? Ding Li pulled out her phone again, but still no signal. Both paths were rugged mountain trails, winding and treacherous like a giant brown python slithering upward.
Just as she was struggling to decide which path to take, a sudden chill swept through the air, lifting the hem of her clothes and sending a shiver down her spine.
After the cold wind, a thick darkness enveloped her surroundings, rising abruptly in the form of fog.
The mist swirled and danced around her, like towering waves that instantly swallowed everything in sight. The entire world fell into darkness, and even the two brown paths faded into obscurity.
Unable to see anything, Ding Li had no choice but to turn on her phone.
The weak cold light from her phone couldn't penetrate the black fog; it flickered like a fleeting glimmer. Ding Li slowly moved forward, unsure of where this path led or whether she was making the right choice.
At that moment, a group of people emerged from the mist.
They were dressed oddly, both men and women, holding tools that looked like they were meant for road construction. Each one passed by her with an expressionless face, their demeanor lifeless.
Ding Li noticed that behind these people followed someone dressed in black clothes, holding a Soul Guiding Banner and wearing a strange hat.
"Auntie, could you please tell me how to get to Mountain Lodge?" Ding Li asked one middle-aged woman who appeared honest and simple-minded but moved awkwardly.
The middle-aged woman's eyes were hollow, and frighteningly, her face was very pale. This reminded Ding Li of the appearance of Little Monk Shen Binghan when he was pulled from the river, causing her to instinctively take a step back.
However, the woman did not trouble Ding Li; instead, she raised her arm and pointed stiffly down another path before leaving with the crowd.
Where were all these people going? There hadn’t been any news about road construction around here; it was truly strange! Ding Li pondered to herself but still followed the direction indicated by the woman.
The path was difficult to traverse.
It was uneven and pitted, with deep abysses on either side that obscured her view, giving Ding Li an unsettling feeling. Her intuition warned her that one misstep could lead to a fall into oblivion. So she tread carefully, as if walking on thin ice.
She had no idea how long she walked until finally, ahead lay a dense forest.
The cold light from her phone screen flickered; it seemed like there was a sign, but it also seemed like there wasn’t.
Never mind that; when she saw a path overgrown with weeds, she hurriedly walked toward it.
This path was even harder to navigate, as if no one had ever walked it before. Under the cold light of her phone screen, she could vaguely see some grass that Ding Li recognized. She had seen similar plants back in her hometown, like snake leaves and other wild grasses whose names she couldn’t recall.
They all preferred to root in damp places.
After traversing this stretch of path, Ding Li suddenly froze in fear. Before her lay not a Mountain Lodge but a vast graveyard.
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