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墨書 Inktalez
The special train on the Beijing-Shanghai Line gasped in the rainy night, the kerosene lamp in the third-class carriage casting uncle Zhao's shadow on the front page of the Central Daily News.
The block news read "Assets of Jinling Chamber of Commerce Nationalized," but the accompanying image was a profile of Zhang Tianshi, dressed in a suit, standing before Zhongshanling.
Suddenly, the fetus doll in the glass jar opened its eyes, and even through the pocket, one could see the pupils reflecting the Azure Sky White Sun Emblem.
"Would you like some tea, sir?" A young man in a Zhongshan Suit sat down next to the aisle, his gold-rimmed glasses fogged up.
uncle Zhao caught a glimpse of the Soul Lock Chain peeking from his cuff; the chain pendant with the Seven Star Pattern matched the bloodstains on the Human Skin.
In the Qingci Cup handed to him by the young man, Biluochun tea surprisingly steeped with half a child's finger bone.
The train whistle suddenly blared, piercing through the night.
uncle Zhao dashed toward the restroom compartment, but his reflection in the mirror was that of a young man in a long gown—his self from a cargo ship in Republic Year Six was locking Seven brides into the cargo hold!
A birthmark on his neck burned painfully; he tore open his collar to reveal a tattoo of "Xuan Ming" beneath his skin.
As the train jolted violently, a girl wearing a newsboy cap dragged him into the luggage compartment.
Cedar boxes spilled Heavenly Blood onto the floor, their seals stamped with the national government’s emblem.
"This train is headed for the military line at Purple Gold Mountain!"
The girl ripped open her clothing; embedded in her chest was an Azure Sky White Sun Emblem with half a copper coin. "The secret telegram you sent has been swapped out, Li Mansion Cellar..."
Before she could finish her sentence, the young man kicked open the train door.
After his gold-rimmed glasses shattered, blood-red eye sockets appeared, and his mouth stretched to his ears: "Brother, it's time to return."
The Soul Lock Chain coiled around uncle Zhao's neck like a venomous snake, and blood light burst forth from the Seven Stars pendant.
The girl shot at the iron chain, and as her bullet pierced through the train wall, an outside sign read "Ming Hongwu Twenty-Seven Year · Rebirth Ferry."
The two jumped off the train and fell into a reed marsh.
Amidst the fishy smell of river water, the girl removed her newsboy cap; among her long hair was a string of human teeth forming a Buddhist Rosary: "Barefoot Monk is my master."
Her copper coins on her wrist formed a Bagua under the moonlight: "Zhang Xuanzhen plans to bury the Qixing Town Artifact into Purple Gold Mountain's Dragon Vein to revive millions of souls..."
A thunderclap split a dead tree. uncle Zhao finally recognized her face—it was Xiao Cui, the accountant's daughter who had drowned herself twenty years ago!
Memories surged like tides: that stormy night, he had personally sunk the girl who had stumbled upon Li Zhongwen’s secret meeting with mysterious figures into Qinhuai River simply because she had overheard them.
At midnight, phosphorescence rose from the dense forest at Purple Gold Mountain.
Xiao Cui opened the Abandoned Observation Station with a copper coin, revealing seven bloody handprints nailed to the wall on the Military Map. Inside the safe, a yellowed copy of Secret Pact of Fengtian recorded that in the sixth year of the Republic, a certain Bald General had secretly met with Zhang Tianshi from Longhu Mountain while selecting a site at Zhongshanling.
"The Qixing Town Artifact requires borrowing seven corpses from the realm of the dead," it stated.
Xiao Cui lifted the cover of the observation lens, aiming the tube at Zhongshanling's Altar. "The corpse of the Seventh Concubine from the Li Mansion went missing this morning..."
Before she could finish her sentence, a figure dressed in a wedding gown suddenly appeared in the lens, burying a blood-soaked town artifact into the Altar's underground chamber.
At dawn, the roar of armored vehicles echoed through the mountains. uncle Zhao crouched behind a pile of rubble, spotting a Bald Man in a yellow military uniform giving orders. His heavy Zhejiang accent mingled with the river breeze: "...the project must be completed before the Double Tenth Festival..."
Beside him, an aide held a Liujin Box, from which protruded half of a Human Skin, faintly revealing the tattooed characters "Xuan Zhen."
Suddenly, Xiao Cui let out a muffled groan and collapsed. A copper coin-shaped brand appeared on her neck, and white ants surged beneath her Skin and Flesh. "They planted a tracking symbol on me when they cursed me..."
Before she could finish her words, her entire Human Skin shed like a snake's skin, and her skeleton clattered to the ground like copper coins.
uncle Zhao clutched the still-warm Copper Coin String and heard chains rattling behind him. Zhang Tianshi emerged through the morning mist, wearing a Zhongshan Suit with an Azure Sky White Sun Badge pinned to his chest. "Junior Brother, it's time for this play to come to an end."
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