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墨書 Inktalez
I thought I was seeing things again, so I rubbed my eyes. Just as I opened them, I felt a sharp pain on the back of my hand, and the black blood had already vanished. However, a black spot slowly emerged at the base of my hand, gradually taking on a shape resembling a seedling, about half the length of my finger. Then it stopped growing. As the black spot ceased its growth, the pain also subsided.
Lao Yang saw me standing at the door in a daze and walked over to ask, "What's wrong? Are you daydreaming again?" I kept a sullen face and said nothing. Turning around, I raised my right hand for him to see. Lao Yang looked puzzled and asked, "Where did you get this?" I frowned and replied, "It just suddenly appeared a moment ago." Lao Yang glanced at the box I had left there and then turned back to me with a serious tone: "Do you feel anything unusual right now?" I replied, "I only felt a bit of sharp pain when this thing grew out; other than that, I don't feel anything else." Lao Yang exclaimed, "I think I've seen this pattern somewhere before; it feels familiar. This shouldn't be a good sign. And since it appeared suddenly, it shouldn't be due to any disease. You should go home and keep an eye on it. If you notice anything abnormal, call me immediately. I'll help you see if it's related to something I've encountered before. I'll let you know as soon as I have any news." "Alright, then I'll trouble you to help me out more. If I notice anything strange, I'll call you." After thanking Lao Yang, I turned and left.
On my way home, I couldn't help but reflect on what had happened earlier. For some reason, doubts began to creep into my mind: "Today's events are too bizarre. First, I was inexplicably drawn into Lao Yang's shop by that broken box; then I experienced a series of hallucinations that nearly cost me my life; and now this strange black spot has inexplicably grown on my hand. Lao Yang seems particularly interested in this tree-like black mark on my hand. Everything seems to revolve around me, but is it really because of me... or is it because of Lao Yang? Did he deliberately let all this happen?" Though this thought flashed through my mind briefly, it planted a seed of suspicion towards Lao Yang.
Silently and heavily, I returned home. Looking at the time, it was already past eight in the evening. Without changing clothes, I lay down directly on the sofa. Raising my hand to look at the strange black spot, I thought to myself, "Tomorrow I'll go to the hospital to see if they can get rid of this damned thing." Just as I was thinking this, my eyelids felt heavier.
Suddenly, a rumbling sound echoed through the room. I sprang up from the sofa in shock and shouted, "Who’s there!" But the room was utterly silent. Another rumble followed. "Oh, it turns out I'm just hungry; I've become so jumpy," I muttered to myself as I got up from the sofa and rummaged through the fridge for something to eat. After eating a couple of bites and seeing that it was still dark outside, I lay back down on the sofa and fell into a deep sleep.
The next morning, exhausted from yesterday's events, I slept until after ten o'clock. Climbing off the sofa, I checked my phone—no missed calls. "Looks like Lao Yang hasn't come up with a solution yet; it seems I'll have to rely on science," I said to myself while glancing at the black spot on my right hand. But as soon as I lifted my hand, it froze in mid-air.
The black spot seemed to have grown slightly; it looked like a tree slowly developing—there were even tiny patterns resembling leaves sprouting from it—though there were only a few scattered ones. Letting it grow like this wasn't an option; could this be a sign that I'm turning into a plant person? In a panic, I grabbed my phone and dialed Lao Yang's number. When he answered, he said, "Hello? Is this you, Shen?" "Yeah! What's going on?" "Why are you so anxious? Did something happen?" "You can drop the 'ma'... just tell me what's wrong!" "What do you mean drop 'ma'? If something's wrong with you and you're still joking around..." "Yesterday that tree-like black spot on my hand—it sprouted today!" He sensed my anxiety and calmly replied: "Don't panic; do you feel any other unusual symptoms?" "What other symptoms could there be? I'm about to turn into a plant person! How can I not be anxious?!" "Wait—what do you mean by 'plant person'?" "Forget it! It's too complicated to explain! The point is that black spot has grown bigger! Other than that, there's no pain or itchiness—nothing else abnormal." "Then come over so we can take a look together." "Okay! I'm heading over now!" After hanging up the phone and washing my face quickly, I headed out without having breakfast. On the way, I stopped by a street vendor and bought two buns before hailing a taxi straight to Lao Yang's shop.
When I arrived at the shop, Lao Yang examined my hand closely. "From when you left here around seven last night until now..." He glanced at the clock on the wall and continued: "It's now ten fifty-two—let's say eleven o'clock for convenience's sake—it's been fifteen hours since then. It has grown slightly and even sprouted two leaves; we can't delay any longer." I replied: "Yes! If this continues... never mind that for now; we need to think of something quickly! Even though we still don't know what kind of impact it'll have on me based solely on its color—it clearly doesn't bode well." Lao Yang nodded in agreement: "In that case, go see if there's any way at the hospital to deal with it—even if it's just delaying its growth—while I'll keep looking for information here and let you know as soon as there's news." I nodded: "I was just thinking about going to the hospital myself." After saying goodbye to Lao Yang, I took a taxi to the hospital.
I went to one of the better local hospitals. After paying and getting registered, I took my paperwork to see a doctor. Briefly explaining my situation without mentioning anything about Black Blood—I only said that I'd possibly come into contact with something unclean—I asked if there was any treatment available.
The doctor flipped through some medical records while frowning: “This spot doesn’t resemble common skin diseases; it looks more like something caused by rapid melanin deposition—a sort of mole.” Seeing that the doctor was also puzzled made me say: “What matters isn’t what this thing is but whether you can help me remove it.” The doctor replied: “We can remove it using laser treatment for spots; however, since we haven’t confirmed what it is yet blindly removing it could lead to side effects.” Eagerly asking: “What kind of side effects?” The doctor adjusted his glasses perched on his nose: “Right now we haven’t confirmed anything yet; everything is still uncertain. After using laser treatment for spots there’s a possibility that this thing could grow back even faster than before.” Hearing this made me shake my head repeatedly: “That won’t do! We can’t let it continue growing! Is there any other method—even if it's just one that delays its growth?” The doctor thought for a moment before shaking his head: “Nope! Otherwise how about trying some whitening cream?” Inwardly thinking: “Whitening cream would take years to work! By then this thing would have spread all over my body!” With that thought in mind, I decided not to waste any more time there and hurriedly left the hospital.
Stepping outside and glancing at my watch revealed that it was already past noon. Thinking about calling Lao Yang to check how things were going on his end when suddenly my phone rang—it was Lao Yang calling! Just as I'd been about to call him! But when I looked at who was calling—it wasn’t Lao Yang but rather my mom. Realizing it's been quite some time since I'd called home—ever since starting business with friends—I rarely returned home anymore. So without delay, I answered her call: “Hello Mom.” “Son! How have you been doing lately?” “Not bad; same old same old,” I thought about telling her what happened yesterday but figured she’d probably scold me for being superstitious instead: “How about you? Make sure to wear more clothes since it's getting cooler.” “Your dad and I are going out for fun—we're doing great! You should also bundle up so you don’t catch cold!”
After chatting with Mom about family matters for a while—and her nudging me about finding a girlfriend—I thought finding one must’ve been her main concern during our conversation.
After hanging up the phone, I thought about grabbing something to eat before heading over to Lao Yang's place. I casually looked around on the street but didn't see anything that particularly appealed to me, so I chose a noodle shop and sat down. The waiter rushed over as soon as he saw me and asked, "What would you like to eat?" I glanced at the menu hanging nearby and replied, "I'll have a bowl of fried sauce noodles." "Sure thing, one bowl of fried sauce noodles coming right up!" the waiter shouted as he headed into the kitchen.
Before long, a steaming bowl of fried sauce noodles was placed in front of me. Just as I picked up my chopsticks and was about to dig in, my phone rang. I looked at the screen and saw it was Lao Yang. I quickly put down my chopsticks and answered the call, starting with, "Hello... Lao..." Before I could finish, Lao Yang hurriedly interrupted me, "What you have on your hand isn't a black spot; it's a mark called Hao Yin..." "Hao Yin? What is that?" "All I know is that it's a mark representing the star constellation. As for its purpose, I'm not sure; I just heard about it from someone else."
"Who? Is there someone else who has had the same experience as me?" "It seems so; he's here with me now. How did it go at the hospital?" "Don't mention it; it was useless." Just as I finished speaking, I heard someone on Lao Yang's end snicker coldly. "Hmph, if going to the hospital was useful, then I wouldn't have to..." I couldn't catch the rest of what he said, but that cold laugh sent chills down my spine. I quickly urged Lao Yang to keep him there and told him I was on my way over before hanging up.
I hastily took a couple of bites, left money on the table, called out for the bill, and left.
When I arrived at Lao Yang's place and pushed open the door, I saw a young man about my age examining a box back and forth in one hand. Upon seeing me, Lao Yang hurried over and said, "Come here! Let me introduce you to this person; he's Shen Xu." The young man raised his hand to stop Lao Yang from continuing his introduction and turned to stare at my right hand while I sized him up.
He was slightly taller than me and had an attractive face, but there was an unsettling chill in his expression. The two of us stood there in a tense silence for a moment until Lao Yang stepped in to ease the awkward atmosphere. "Why are we all standing? Come on, sit down." He grabbed two chairs from the side and gestured for us to take a seat. I thanked Lao Yang and pulled a chair closer to sit down while he remained standing. He handed the box to Lao Yang and then approached me, grabbing my right hand for a closer look. "Fortunately, it's not too late; otherwise, you'd end up like me," he said as he glanced at his own right arm. Following his gaze, I noticed that his right sleeve was empty—he had lost his hand.
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