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墨書 Inktalez
A month later.
The ruins of the clock tower had been surrounded by barbed wire, with warning signs reading "Danger, No Entry" posted around it. But this did not deter Yang Su and Zhou Yue. Under the cover of night, they climbed over the wire and entered the ruins.
"This is the place," Zhou Yue said, pointing to a pile of rubble. "The entrance to the Underground Altar."
They cleared away the debris, revealing a familiar iron door. The door was deformed from being smashed, and a faint herbal scent seeped through the crack.
"Should we go down?" Yang Su asked.
Zhou Yue nodded. "We have to check it out. For the past month, I've felt that something is off."
Since that day, many changes had occurred in the village. Teacher Li had resigned and was said to have moved away for health reasons. Zhang San Shui had also vanished without a trace, leaving behind a pile of clutter in the small house behind the clock tower. Old Woman Zhong's stall had been dismantled, but it was rumored that someone had seen her figure on the night of the full moon still fiddling with Playing Cards.
Even stranger were those who had gone missing. They all returned alive, including Xiao Wangzi, but seemed to have lost their memories of that time. When asked where they had been, they all claimed they couldn't remember.
"This kind of forgetfulness might be a form of protection," Yang Su recalled a passage from Wang Lanzhi's notes: "Those who are taken away by the bell and return will lose that memory. The village elders say this is a tradition passed down through generations; they must not remember what they saw underground."
"What about Teacher Gu?" Zhou Yue asked.
"He left," Yang Su replied. "Before he went, he gave me this."
He pulled out a brown paper package from his bag and opened it to reveal a piece of bronze. The bronze was engraved with strange runes and several lines of small text:
"The bell's sound fades, souls find rest. But some things will never disappear. Even when sealed, they will continue in the Bloodline. I have found some clues about older secrets. If one day the bell rings again, follow what is written here..."
"Let's go," Zhou Yue said. "We need to be out before dawn."
They descended the steps. The Underground Passage had collapsed in many places but was still passable enough to navigate through. The symbols on the stone walls still emitted a faint glow, though their colors had faded significantly.
Finally, they arrived at the circular hall where the altar was located. The changes here were most pronounced—the stone tablet was gone, and the Bagua Pattern on the ground was indistinct. Strangely enough, the Bronze Bell that had once been there was also missing.
"Where's the bell?" Yang Su looked around anxiously.
"It's below us," Zhou Yue crouched down and touched the ground. "I can feel its presence. It seems... to have sunk deeper."
Her hand suddenly froze as she noticed a crack in the floor from which dark red liquid seeped out. The liquid emitted a metallic scent and glimmered ominously in the dim light.
"This is..."
"Blood," Zhou Yue said grimly. "The Bloodline underground is flowing. The seal may have been reinforced, but certain things are still growing."
She stood up and surveyed their surroundings: "Did you notice? The symbols on the walls are different from a month ago."
Yang Su examined the stone wall closely. The symbols had indeed changed; they were no longer just simple incantations but formed a massive mural depicting an ancient ritual—several figures in white surrounding a bell, with an unfathomable pit beneath it.
"Are these new symbols?"
"No," Zhou Yue shook her head. "They have always existed, but were covered by later incantations. Now that the seal has loosened, they have become visible."
She walked up to a wall and pointed at the inscriptions. "Look here. This is an even older script, predating the era of the White-Clad Witch. It says that this bell was originally used to suppress a type of Ancient Creature. That creature could pass on its lineage, so it was necessary to use special blood to forge the bell..."
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