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墨書 Inktalez
"Once upon a time, there was a scholar named Qiao who lived alone and felt bored. Not wanting to go out, he stood by the door at night, gazing at the stars.
As the clock struck midnight, the scholar suddenly saw a maid carrying a Peony Lantern leading the way, followed by a Beauty, around seventeen or eighteen years old, dressed in a Red Skirt and Brocade Sleeves, looking like an ethereal being. The scholar gazed at her under the moonlight, captivated, and followed the beauty. She turned back and smiled, enchanting him completely. Gathering his courage, he invited her to his home. The beauty smiled again and indeed called for her maid to follow him home with the Peony Lantern!
Once they arrived home, he chuckled…
At this point, Luo Dachun's smile took on a meaningful expression, while Nie Qiuyuan frowned slightly. In front of us, a bonfire blazed brightly. Melan seemed to understand his implication; her round face flushed as she pretended not to hear, continuously twirling the branch in her hands. The aroma of roasted mountain chicken wafted from the end of the branch.
Han Meilan's illness took a full seven days to recover. We were all Jianghu Heroes and didn’t fuss too much; we packed our gear and saddled our horses to set off.
Except for me, the other three were martial arts experts. Once they made their move, Rabbit Mountain Chickens fell victim one after another, making this kind of mountain barbecue scene quite ordinary. Ancient Barbecue was ready; all that was missing was Cumin.
Luo Dachun began telling the story because we had just seen a Peony Lantern hanging from a tree in the mountains.
The lantern was made of paper, light pink in color, delicately painted with peony patterns—exquisite indeed. However, it hung high atop a tall tree; it was unclear how it got there.
"What a beautiful lantern!" I exclaimed.
"Ah, the Peony Lantern!" Luo Dachun clicked his tongue. "Haven't you heard the story of the Peony Lantern?"
During lunch while we were having barbecue, I suggested he tell us this story. Although I lacked humor, I loved listening to tales. However, I never expected that the Peony Lantern would turn out to be my least favorite type of story—a ghost story.
"You are all ladies; I won't speak of what happened afterward!" Luo Dachun said with a lewd grin as he nudged Nie Qiuyuan with his elbow. The latter remained expressionless, silently expressing his disdain through his actions.
"This woman is named Fu Liqing; she is the daughter of the late Judge and now resides with her maid Jin Lian by the Lakeside. From then on, Miss Fu visited Qiao Sheng's home every night and left at dawn without anyone noticing until half a month passed.
Qiao Sheng's neighbor was a lecherous old man who found it strange that Qiao Sheng was so pleased with himself. One night, he secretly drilled through their shared wall to take a look. What he saw shocked him! Sitting across from Qiao Sheng at the lamp was a powdered skeleton!
Upon hearing this, I gasped and instinctively moved closer to the person beside me. The warmth radiating from them enveloped me lightly, providing comfort.
Autumn did not reject my closeness.
"The next day, the old man warned Qiao Sheng that he was living with a ghost without realizing it—he was in grave danger! Terrified by this news, Qiao Sheng went to Lakeside to investigate but could find no trace of Li Qing despite asking everyone he met. Eventually, Qiao Sheng entered Lake Heart Temple for some rest and wandered around until he discovered a hidden chamber inside the temple containing an unmarked coffin. On white paper above it were written: The coffin of Li Qing, daughter of the late Judge Fu. Hanging above it was a Peony Lantern with a paper maid standing beneath it; on her back were written the words Jin Lian!"
It was truly a ghost! Just imagine the scene back then; I felt a chill for Qiao Sheng. But more than that, I was curious, so I couldn't help but ask him:
"What happened next? Did the female ghost come back to life?"
"Come back to life?" Luo Dachun scoffed. "Qiao Sheng went to a Taoist priest for a talisman and stuck it on his door, so the female ghost couldn't get in!"
More than a month later, Qiao Sheng went out to visit friends, got drunk, and forgot the priest's warning, taking the route back home through Lake Heart Temple. When he arrived at the temple gate, he was welcomed inside by Li Qing and Jin Lian. Li Qing reproached him for being ungrateful, saying that although she harbored deep resentment, she could not part with him.
A few days later, people discovered that Qiao Sheng was missing. The old man from next door inquired far and wide until he reached the temple, where he found Qiao Sheng dead in a coffin beside Li Qing's body, her appearance as lifelike as ever. The monks in the temple buried both of their coffins outside the west gate of the city. From then on, whenever there was a dark and windy night, one often saw Qiao Sheng walking hand in hand with a woman, with a maid carrying a Peony Lantern leading the way...
This is the complete story of the Peony Lantern.
It’s somewhat reminiscent of Strange Tales. I must admit, I have quite a strong constitution, but I am afraid of ghosts; even the stories from Strange Tales seem too frightening for me, so I never read them. Tonight is likely to be another night of nightmares.
After hearing the story, I found myself unconsciously inching closer to Nie Qiuyuan, inadvertently brushing against my idol—a small consolation.
"Let’s finish eating and leave quickly; otherwise, we won't make it to the next county before dark and will have to spend the night in the wilderness!" Luo Dachun said deliberately, noticing my fear.
By the time we reached Feng County, it was already dark. Thunder began to rumble as large raindrops started pouring down. We chose the largest inn in town, Dulai Shun, quickly settled our horses, and shook off the rainwater from our clothes as we prepared to head to our rooms for some rest.
At that moment, a flash of lightning illuminated everything around us, momentarily blinding us. Immediately after, a piercing scream came from the eastern wing of the inn.
"Ah!!!! Someone's been murdered!!"
We instinctively jolted and rushed toward the eastern wing. At the entrance stood a man in plain clothes—Shop Two—his lamp had fallen to the ground and was barely flickering.
His face was pale as he stared fixedly at the door of the eastern wing.
What’s going on? The door hadn’t even opened.
Nie Qiuyuan walked ahead and slowly reached out to push open the door of the eastern wing. The door flickered slightly inward before bouncing back; it was clearly locked from within.
It was an ancient double door that pushed inward, commonly seen in the past. Although it was bolted from the inside, with enough force, one could still manage to pry it open just a crack. The one who had screamed earlier, Shop Two, had pushed it open slightly and when peering inside, a loud crack echoed, illuminating the pale face of the Corpse on the ground.
"Because... it's time to deliver food, but... why won't the guest open the door... I..." The second person was so frightened that their words stumbled.
In fact, even without the thunderous sound, one could see the Corpse's face through the crack in the door. Next to the body hung a flickering Pink Lantern. The lantern was suspended by a fine Silk Thread from the Backrest, and on the thin Paper Wall, exquisite patterns of Red Peony were drawn.
I gasped and took two steps back.
Oh dear! Isn't that the Peony Lantern!
Beside me, Qiu stood silently like a tree, his expression calm as water. Clearly, his attention was not on that eerie lantern.
We had arrived first; Luo Dachun was still several steps away. Yet Nie Qiuyuan casually remarked something that left me uncertain if it was directed at me.
"The door is locked, and all the windows are shut."
A chill ran down my spine. Indeed, the focus wasn't on the Peony Lantern; it was on this!
This meant that the scene of this death could very well be a locked room mystery!
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