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墨書 Inktalez
Although I had seen ghosts many times before, I still felt a bit scared and instinctively wanted to lean closer to Su Anrong. To my surprise, he was already standing beside me, reaching out to take my hand and giving it a gentle squeeze, as if to say, "Don't be afraid, I'm here."
My heart immediately calmed down.
The gray shadow was very faint, almost as if it could drift away at any moment. I couldn't clearly see its specific form or appearance, only vaguely sensing it was humanoid. It raised its arm slowly, pointing towards the northeast direction. I quickly said, "It's over there."
Gao Lele and Fang Xiaonan looked at me in shock. "Wheat, how did you know?"
"Uh, I guessed," I hurriedly closed my mouth.
At that moment, Qiao Lianjiu also stopped chanting. The gray shadow gradually became even fainter.
I suddenly shivered as a chill swept over me. Just as it was about to disappear, I saw it turn its head and smile at me.
Su Anrong felt my tremble and tightened his grip on my hand. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Maybe I was just seeing things.
Qiao Lianjiu had finished sensing and, filled with frustration, yanked off the "scarf" from his head and threw it harshly to the ground. Then he violently tore off the dress he was wearing in a fit of rage.
Fang Xiaonan watched with wide eyes; there was something undeniably enticing about a muscular guy ripping his clothes like that.
Su Anrong disapprovingly covered my eyes.
Gao Lele quickly asked, "Is it done? Where's the aunt?"
"In a small grove about a kilometer to the northeast," Qiao Lianjiu said without waiting for us and ran bare-chested in that direction.
The old woman called from behind, "Young man, be careful over there, it's dangerous!"
We hurried to follow, running along the river. This river flowed east to west, and to head northeast, we needed to cross it. There was a small wooden boat on the river's surface.
Qiao Lianjiu was the first to reach it. He untied the rope and jumped aboard, using a bamboo pole to push off toward the riverbank, preparing to go across alone.
I quickly called for Su Anrong to hurry up. In the next moment, he arrived at the dock and stepped onto the mooring rope with one foot.
Indeed, being able to teleport was quite convenient.
"Grandma, you wait here for us. We'll be back soon," I said as I supported her, noticing she was out of breath from running.
"Oh no, you don't understand. You can't go over there," the old woman gasped.
"Why can't we go?"
"That place..."
"Wheat, hurry up!" Before she could finish her sentence, Gao Lele was already calling for me.
The others had already boarded the boat, so I could only throw back a quick "Grandma, I'm going ahead," before running over.
The old woman squatted in place, panting and waving her hands as if she wanted to say something but couldn't get the words out in her urgency.
Once we were on the boat, we left the rowing to the two boys. However, Qiao Lianjiu and Su Anrong seemed like they were born rivals; they couldn't find a rhythm together at all. After rowing for quite some time, we were still spinning in circles.
Su Anrong set down the bamboo pole and sat beside me.
I watched anxiously as the old woman gradually disappeared from my sight, a sense of foreboding weighing heavily on my heart.
"Garlic Paste, the old woman just said there’s danger over there, we can’t go."
Su Anrong wrapped her arm around my shoulder and gently patted me. "As long as you don’t fall into the river, there won’t be any danger, because I can’t swim."
Gao Lele and Fang Xiaonan both laughed.
I playfully scolded, "Shut your crow's mouth." This little wooden boat was so small that with all five of us on it, I really was a bit worried about falling in.
Just as my words left my mouth, our boatman suddenly fell into the water with a splash.
"Ah, Qiao Lianjiu!" I never expected it to end like this. After Qiao Lianjiu fell into the water, he vanished without a trace, not even making a sound.
"Qiao Lianjiu!" I leaned over the edge of the boat and shouted, panic rising within me.
"Qiao Lianjiu!"
"Shooting Guard!" Gao Lele and Fang Xiaonan shouted as well.
But all we could see was the ripple from where he had just fallen, gradually fading away, and nothing else appeared.
Tears streamed down my face. "Garlic Paste, you have to save Qiao Lianjiu!"
"What's the fuss? He just doesn't want to paddle anymore," Su Anrong said calmly, tilting his chin in the direction Qiao Lianjiu had pointed. I couldn't help but smile wryly as I saw Qiao Lianjiu splashing around in the water like a fish.
Before long, he emerged from the water and waved at us. "I'm tired; you guys can paddle yourselves."
Gao Lele shouted angrily, "Qiao Lianjiu, you jerk! Are you even a man?"
But it was clear that after being tormented by us so many times, Qiao Lianjiu had given up on being a proper man. He reached the opposite shore first and didn't wait for us, just walked off on his own.
Across the river was a small grove of trees. In fact, what we were looking at was just a small tributary; the grove was nestled between the tributary and the main river. Inside the grove, it was cool and shady, with lush leaves blocking out the sunlight completely.
I leaned closer to Su Anrong and whispered, "Isn't this the kind of place you like to live in?"
"I like wherever you are. If you wanted to live in a toilet, I wouldn't mind."
"You can't expect anything good from a dog." I decided to give up on chatting with him and started looking for Siyuan's mother. "Auntie?"
"Aunt Chen!"
"Siyuan's mom!"
"Damn that Qiao Lianjiu! He ran off by himself without waiting for us," Gao Lele said, fuming.
"Exactly," Fang Xiaonan agreed.
Su Anrong was observing the traces on the ground while I tried calling Qiao Lianjiu, but all I got was a cold voice saying, "The number you have dialed is not in service."
"He shouldn't have gone far; this forest isn't that big. Let's keep looking." Su Anrong took a few steps along the wet trail on the ground, but soon lost sight of any further traces. Given that Qiao Lianjiu was only wearing a pair of shorts, the water on him would probably dry up quickly.
"Aunt Chen, are you here?"
"Aunt Chen!"
As we walked and called out, a sudden cool breeze swept through the air, rustling the leaves.
The few of us girls, dressed only in skirts, shrank our necks. "It's so cold."
Su Anrong pulled us closer behind him. "Stay close to me; something feels off here."
Gao Lele scoffed, "What could possibly be off? The ground is so high; there won't suddenly be a pit or anything."
Just as Gao Lele finished her sentence, she fell into a pit.
Fortunately, it wasn't deep. She quickly climbed back up, dusting off the dirt with a disgruntled expression. "We should hurry and find someone."
"Aunt Chen!" we shouted again.
"I don't have the surname Chen." A voice suddenly came from behind us. She was holding an urn, and although her hair was long, her appearance made it clear she was Chen Siyuan's mother.
I ran over excitedly. "Auntie, you really are here!"
"Who are you all, and what are you doing here?" She looked at us with an unhappy expression, clearly displeased.
I quickly explained, "Auntie, we are all roommates of Siyuan. We are very saddened by what happened to her. We heard that today is her funeral, so we came to see her off."
"You live together with boys and girls?" Auntie looked at me with a fierce glare and distrust, making me feel uneasy. If it weren't for Siyuan, I would have turned around and left.
"No, no, that's not it. This is my..." I struggled to find the right way to introduce Su Anrong. I was still so young; if I said he was my husband, Auntie would probably accuse me of lying.
However, Su Anrong boldly took over my words: "Husband."
"At such a young age, instead of studying properly, you’re just fooling around with boyfriends." Auntie coldly finished her sentence and turned to leave. "You all should go back; Siyuan doesn’t need friends like you to send her off."
Gao Lele and Fang Xiaonan seemed even more afraid of her than I was, exchanging glances urging me to persuade her. I had no choice but to muster my courage.
I rushed in front of Auntie, arms wide open to block her: "Auntie," I thought to myself, this was a heavy responsibility. I wasn't very good at dealing with elders; just look at how I interacted with my parents.
Auntie slowly raised her eyes, her disdain and dislike glaringly obvious.
I gritted my teeth as a sudden idea flashed through my mind. I forced a smile to divert Auntie's attention and swiftly snatched the urn from her hands, darting behind Su Anrong.
"Auntie, if you don’t let us send Siyuan off for the last time, then you can forget about sending her off too."
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