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墨書 Inktalez
We sat outside the house, gazing at the stars in the sky. It had been a long time since I had seen such a starry night. It truly could be described as a sky full of stars and a bright moon, unlike the few stars visible in the city. The surroundings were quiet, with some villagers enjoying the cool evening air at their doorsteps. Like us, they looked up at the stars, lost in their thoughts. Occasionally, the sounds of insects chirping and soft conversations from the villagers broke the silence, creating a pleasant atmosphere.
I slowly spoke up, "If that's the case, Yang Shuai is likely being held captive by those three individuals who left the village. They must have found out Yang Shuai's address from his business card and tracked him down. It's very possible that the money Yang Shuai gave them has run out. Unlike the elderly villagers who adhere to their last line of morality, these people have no boundaries. If they use Insect Eater to kill, the consequences would be unimaginable!"
Everyone nodded in agreement. Yan Junde said, "Now that we know the identities of those three individuals, we can figure out what they look like. Following this lead will significantly increase our chances of capturing them. Yang Shuai must have known this too, which is why he left us clues."
I nodded again. If that was the case, things were more complicated than I thought. If the person who died in the factory was one of the Jade Chasers, then he wasn't affiliated with the other three young men. But if they weren't working together, then that piece of ink jade wasn't something he willingly gave away. What exactly happened in that factory?
As we gradually uncovered Killer's identity, more mysteries emerged.
Mary said, "It's a pity there's no electricity or internet here. Only when we get outside can I look up detailed information about those three individuals."
By this time, it was already eight o'clock at night; darkness had completely enveloped the sky, making the stars shine even brighter. The villagers began to rise and head back to their homes; it seemed they were ready for bed. Juan Juan stood up, brushed off the dust from her clothes, and said, "Alright then, when in Rome, let's go to sleep."
We stayed in a house arranged by an elder in the village. The house was divided into two rooms—inside and outside—each containing a large bed similar to a communal sleeping arrangement that could easily accommodate four people. The two women naturally stayed in the inner room while Yan Junde and I occupied the outer room. There was no nightlife in this village; there wasn't even a mobile signal here. We could hear light and whispers coming from inside; it seemed like they were watching a movie on a laptop.
It was no surprise; this village didn't even have electricity, and its residents went to bed early. Perhaps they had lived their entire lives without ever knowing what a laptop was. It was around seven or eight o'clock at night—far too early for city dwellers like us to sleep. Lying in bed, we both felt unusually awake.
While Juan Juan and Mary could watch movies on their laptop, Yan Junde and I were left staring blankly.
I nudged Yan Junde with my elbow and whispered, "Dezi, how's it going with Mary? You two seem quite compatible—a scholarly type paired with a martial one; one handsome and charming, the other pure and adorable. Dezi, I'm not trying to meddle here, but look at you—you're almost twenty-five! It's time to find yourself a girlfriend."
Dezi replied, "Brother Shao, do you think there's any chance for me and her? Our values don't align; we'd end up arguing every day when we get home! I'm an atheist!"
I shook my head and said, "Look at me and your Sister Juan. We don't argue every day; we still make it work! Besides, you're marrying a wife—not some ideological figure like Marx or Mao or Deng! Why does it matter if she's an atheist? Young Man, you're still quite naïve."
Just as Yan Junde was about to retort something else, we suddenly heard a loud crackling sound from outside. Both of us quickly jumped out of bed as numerous buzzing sounds filled the air. My heart sank—I realized someone had released insects to bite us at night.
In the darkness, I couldn't see where they were coming from. I immediately pulled out my lighter without hesitation and set my blanket on fire while shouting inside, " Juan Juan, Mary! Wrap yourselves tightly in your blankets and don't stick your heads out! Whatever you do, stay inside!"
Yan Junde had already shaken the blanket up, sparks flying everywhere. By the faint glow of the fire, I could see thousands of insects swarming in the room, rushing towards us incessantly. I felt an unbearable pain all over my body; it seemed that many insects had already burrowed into my skin. Suddenly, it felt as if I was being pricked by needles, and I could sense my blood flowing out.
Yan Junde was likely not faring much better. If this continued, we would end up like Sun Bikun and that police officer from the factory, gradually consumed from within by these insects. I grabbed another burning blanket, draping it over myself while shouting, "Wrap yourself in a blanket and charge out with me! There's a pond in the village!"
With that, I dashed outside with the flaming blanket, Yan Junde closely following. I kicked open the door and was met by a figure standing outside, holding a jar. We knew he was the one controlling the insects, but he was too far away, and it was nighttime. By the time we managed to kill the black insects inside, we would likely be dead.
"Don't mind him!" I yelled. "Jump into the water!"
As we spoke, we ignored the man and ran straight towards the pond. He followed us closely behind, shouting, "You all will die! No one can stop my son! They are not traitors! What they are doing will bring more jade back to the village; you understand nothing! I want you dead!"
At that moment, we heard doors opening around us; our commotion had awakened the villagers. Without hesitation, Yan Junde and I jumped into the village pond. The insects indeed feared water and hovered above the surface, unwilling to enter. However, those that had already burrowed into our bodies continued to cause us excruciating pain.
"Asdiku!" came the voice of the old man from earlier.
Before long, the insects swirling above us disappeared, and only then did Yan Junde and I dare to surface. Several villagers pulled us out of the water; I could barely stand. This was the most painful experience of my life. I scratched at my skin where the insects had burrowed in; it was unbearably itchy but utterly futile since it was an itch beneath the skin.
Then someone began feeding me something; gradually, that pain and itchiness started to fade away. I even felt some insects crawling out of my body. But the wounds continued to bleed profusely as if they couldn't be stopped. The torches around us grew brighter, revealing a woman in her forties kneeling on the ground beside shattered jars and dead black insects.
Several villagers were applying some sort of ointment on Yan Junde and me. At that moment, Juan Juan and Mary rushed out from inside the house. Upon seeing us lying on the ground with villagers hovering over us, Juan Juan shouted, "What are you doing?!"
The old man muttered something incomprehensible while Mary translated, "The old lady says if they don't use herbs to stop the bleeding, you will lose too much blood!"
Only then did Juan Juan agree for them to continue treating us. After some exchanges between Mary and the old woman, we finally understood what had happened. One of those three young men was this woman's son. She insisted they were not traitors; their intention in stealing jade was to obtain Yang Shuai's address and lower his guard.
They knew Tianyu Company was a large corporation specializing in jade and had vast amounts of it. When the time came, they planned to find Yang Shuai and use these insects' sensitivity to jade to steal his treasures. Not only would they bring back that piece of black jade from our village but also acquire even more jade.
This way, the village would no longer suffer; there would be plenty of money for road repairs and electricity installation—no more enduring such hard times. The woman realized we were here to investigate this matter; if exposed later on, her son and the other two young men would be captured. Therefore, to prevent us from returning with this information, they had to kill us.
I listened, my heart suddenly racing. It turned out that these three young men had such grand ambitions! They actually planned to steal all the Jade from Tianyu Company! Once they managed to get the Jade, in order to avoid exposing their whereabouts, they would certainly kill Yang Shuai to silence him! The three young men were unaware that we had already traced them to this village; they still believed that Yang Shuai was the only one who knew anything, so the likelihood of them killing him was almost a hundred percent!
At that moment, the elder spoke up, and Mary translated simultaneously: "Outrageous! The skills passed down by our ancestors were not meant for stealing, nor for killing! If what we are doing now goes against the original intent of our ancestors, then what use do we have for these skills?"
"Bring it here!" the elder said angrily. "Gather all the jars here! I want to burn them all!"
"No way, Grandfather!" a villager protested. "These have been passed down through generations. Only by keeping the seeds can we continue to control the insects. If we burn all these jars, we will have no seeds left and will never be able to utilize these insects again!"
"Hmph!" The elder struck the ground with his cane repeatedly, his voice trembling as he said, "Bring them all here! I am the oldest in this village; do you not even listen to me? Bring them here and seal them shut! Roast all the Worm Kings inside!"
As he spoke, a circle of stones had already been arranged in front of him, with fierce flames burning inside. The villagers took turns placing jars containing Black Beetles into the fire; we could even hear the loud thuds of the large insects banging against the jars. The big bugs wanted to escape but couldn't get out at all.
The banging sounds gradually diminished while the fire continued to blaze. The villagers stared blankly at the flames.
If something invented goes against the inventor's original intent, what is the point of keeping it? Could this saying only apply to these insects? I thought about the tragedies unfolding around the world every day and felt that it was far more than just this.
A Charming Widow sent a letter to a Young Man, inviting him over for dinner in the middle of the night. Afterward, she let him take her husband's Gallop for a ride. Coincidentally, on his way back, he encountered a Young Woman hitchhiking. Her actions after getting into the car made it hard for him to contain himself; more benefits for homebodies awaited with just a click...
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