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墨書 Inktalez
For several consecutive nights, Cui Shuigen lay on the upper bunk telling Hu Ruoyun in the lower bunk about the folklore from their hometown.
In their rural village, there were certain phrases that should not be carelessly uttered, such as "I don't want to live anymore." The elders warned that if such words were spoken too often, the spirits would take note, and eventually, they might take you away.
There was a girl in the village known as Second Sister, who constantly fought with her brother, Second Brother. After being beaten by him yet again, she would cry out, "I want to die! I’m going to hang myself!" One day, after another quarrel with Second Brother, he stormed out. Feeling wronged and with nowhere to vent her frustration, Second Sister thought she heard a voice whispering in her ear: "Come on, hang yourself! Come on, hang yourself!"
Though she didn’t truly want to die, it seemed her limbs had a mind of their own. She found a rope in the storage room, tossed it over a tree branch in the yard, fashioned a noose, and brought over a stool to stand on. Despite her overwhelming fear, her body moved against her will.
Just as Second Sister was about to slip her neck into the noose and kick away the stool, Second Brother's mother burst through the door. Seeing this scene, she screamed and rushed to steady the stool while calling for help. The kind-hearted villagers quickly gathered to assist.
It was only then that Second Sister regained her senses. From that day forward, even when she and Second Brother fought fiercely, she never mentioned death again.
Perhaps it was last year or the year before that a relatively young man in the village passed away. Those who worked with him later said he often remarked how wonderful things were "over there," and now he had literally talked himself into leaving this world.
The elders would say that one should not speak recklessly about death. The comedian known as The Little Black Chubby One once said: "To gain wealth and longevity is not up to me." Some events may seem trivial at first but later reveal deeper meanings; it always feels like there is some hidden truth behind them.
Long ago, before electricity reached the village, Second Uncle met his demise due to electrocution. At that time, the village had wired broadcasting systems (which we called "Talk Box" or "School Broadcast Speaker"), with exposed wires that were not insulated. Villagers didn’t mind; they even used these wires as clotheslines.
On hot nights, Second Uncle would tie his cart to a tree and sleep on it in the yard. One night, an overhead high-voltage line broke and its live wire fell onto the broadcasting line below. Half-asleep from his slumber on the cart, Second Uncle was jolted awake by electric sparks crackling above him. He sat up abruptly and was immediately drawn into a powerful electric current.
After handling Second Uncle's funeral arrangements, neighbors speculated about his last words from the day before his death. At that time, farmers were piling up manure for fertilizer; to prevent chickens from scratching and pigs from rooting through it, they would seal off the piles with mud. When someone greeted Second Uncle while he was mixing mud, he replied: "Yes, I won’t be mixing mud anymore today."
It turned out to be an ominous statement; that very night he died from electrocution in a village still without electricity.
Some words may seem casual but appear to foreshadow something significant. There are also certain customs observed during festivals; for instance, on New Year’s Day one should not splash water—if there is dirty water it must be stored in a bucket until after the holiday before being disposed of. Elders say water represents wealth; splashing water on New Year’s Day is akin to splashing away fortune.
Additionally, sweeping on New Year’s Day is avoided because sweeping is believed to sweep away wealth.
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