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墨書 Inktalez
Alright, Chapter Four officially begins: Night Walk, Don't Look Back! In fact, every place has its own stories and taboos, and the military is no exception. When I first joined the army, I was assigned as a Military Doctor to the Medical Unit. At first, I was very curious and followed the Old Comrade, asking questions left and right. Perhaps it was because I was likable that everyone paid more attention to me. Until one day, an Old Military Doctor asked me, "Have you been up at night?" I was taken aback; back then, I was still naive and healthy. After lights out during Roll Call, I would just cover my head and sleep until 6 AM. Even if I needed to relieve myself, I would hold it in until morning. Sometimes, it’s true what they say: "The unintentional listener hears intentionally." Many things go unnoticed until someone brings them up, and that night, I suddenly felt the urge to go.
Ten years ago, the army's restroom—I'm sure you haven't seen it before—stood alone in a Vegetable Garden. Oh no, not entirely alone; there was also a pigpen nearby. At that time, we were encouraged to grow vegetables and raise pigs during our leisure time to enrich our meals and improve our lives. One of our soldiers even earned a Third-Class Merit for raising pigs. Oh, I'm getting off track; let’s focus on that era and that restroom. It was quite simple: a brick enclosure with men on the left and women on the right, without any lights. After leaving the dormitory, you had to walk about 100 meters to reach the restroom. Around 11 PM, the army was shrouded in darkness (lights were out), with only a few scattered lights in the family quarters. A cold wind blew, sending a chill through me and blowing away any lingering sleepiness. At that moment, for some reason, the words of that Old Comrade echoed in my mind: "Do you get up at night?" Suddenly recalling his strange smile made me feel an inexplicable fear and panic.
Let me interject here: I'm not a staunch atheist. The education I received was relatively sound; my enlightenment teacher told me that many things in this world cannot be explained by science. Perhaps science hasn't developed to that point yet or perhaps things don't operate solely on scientific principles. Later on, when I attended Medical University, there were plenty of ghost stories circulating in medical school—you understand what I mean. If you're interested later on, I can share some with you; in short, that's how I see it. (My personal experiences are quite bizarre; I'll reveal more as we go along, so please be patient.) Anyway, as they say, suspicion breeds fear; I've certainly watched my fair share of horror films, so of course I was scared. Turning on the Electric Light, I ran all the way while glancing back nervously, fearing someone might be behind me. Once inside the restroom, I hummed a tune to bolster my courage while my heart raced; any little noise made me shine my Flashlight around nervously...
Fortunately, everything went smoothly on my way back to the dormitory. The human psyche is fascinating; after experiencing something—like touching a High Voltage source without harm—you start wondering why nothing happened and even consider doing it again. I felt similarly; during lunch the next day, I deliberately sat at the same table as that Old Comrade. Halfway through our meal, I casually asked him, "Last night when I got up to go to the restroom, it was so dark! Why doesn’t the unit install some lights?" The Old Military Doctor looked surprised and asked me, "Did something happen?" Of course not! It was just dark; why wouldn’t they install lights? The Old Comrade glanced around and said to me ominously: "If you go out tonight and someone taps your Shoulder, don’t look back!"
This nonsensical statement puzzled me for several days. Human curiosity can be boundless; it can make you restless or drive you mad with anxiety. In any case, I began to investigate this issue further. Every time I pressed that Old Yang (the Old Military Doctor) for answers, he would always say it was for our own good—that we shouldn’t know too much about it—and insisted that as long as we followed orders here everything would be fine. But I couldn’t suppress my curiosity and kept asking around; anyone who had spent a few years in the military remained tight-lipped or seemed hesitant about discussing it at all. However, not long after that opportunity arose where I learned the truth about these matters (or what everyone thought was the truth).
There was a retired Old Military Doctor who had participated in the Vietnam War. He limped due to an injury and lived near our Camp. During holidays we would often visit him with gifts; shortly after one such visit where I brought supplies for him, I found myself asking many questions about his experiences during combat. The old man spoke freely about everything we discussed with great enjoyment. Then somehow—I don’t know why—I blurted out: “Old man, do you know about a tradition in our unit?” He replied nonchalantly: “Which unit doesn’t have its own traditions?” “No,” I insisted. “It’s really Strange—it’s about how if someone taps your Shoulder at midnight you shouldn’t look back!” “Hmm?? Did someone tell you this?” In my mind, I thought this old man was being quite obvious—wasn’t he admitting he knew something about this? “Come on old man! Tell me!” I quickly pressed him for more information.
After pondering for a moment he said: “Alright then; but don’t be scared when you hear it.” “I won’t be scared! You can count on me!” “Before telling you more though! There’s one more thing you need to know!” Oh? There’s more? Could it be related? While guessing what he might say next he slowly continued: “In our area if someone taps your Shoulder at night—the best thing to do isn’t to not look back but rather to lower your head and look down behind you!”
Huh?! I was instantly bewildered. Look down behind? What should I be looking at? My legs?? The old man smiled oddly as he recalled how back in his day he was the only one brave enough to do such a thing—having fought in wars himself he wasn’t afraid of death—what could scare him? “Kid,” he asked me pointedly, “if you’re walking down a road at night and someone taps your Shoulder, what’s your instinctive reaction?” What could it be other than turning around to see who it is? The old man laughed even more strangely now: “Well if you see a person that’s fine; but what if you don’t see anyone?” Not seeing anyone?? A chill ran down my spine—what else could there be? At this moment he patted my Shoulder: “Remember this from now on—look down behind you to see if there are feet visible; if there are feet—it’s just someone trying to mess with you—if you’re mentally prepared then you won’t be scared. If there are no feet visible—you have two choices: run or shout—got it?”
Indeed! Old folks are wise while ghosts are cunning! His words truly opened my eyes; however—the question remained—did such things really exist here? Upon hearing my question he took a puff from his cigarette and sighed: “You know our camp is built over a graveyard?” This caught me off guard! But looking back now—it makes sense since many military camps are located on city outskirts or places like mass graves; later on people told me that our unit had strong masculine energy which could keep such things at bay. That’s another story though—the old man’s words still shocked me greatly.
He continued: “I participated in the post-liberation Anti-bandit War. Many bandits roamed this area causing havoc back then; later our unit (the predecessor) stationed here after winning numerous battles where both sides suffered heavy casualties—when clearing battlefields they buried many unclaimed bandit corpses here.” Years later another branch of our unit remained here for construction work which led to strange occurrences.
Initially soldiers standing guard reported incidents where they felt someone tapping their Shoulder while on duty at night—it felt light but they could sense it happening—some didn’t dare look while others fled immediately upon feeling it. Fortunately nothing serious occurred until one soldier who took over guard duty didn’t arrive at his post after half an hour—they sent someone looking for him only to find him passed out by the roadside—upon questioning he revealed he felt someone tap his Shoulder while walking halfway there—and instinctively turned around only to see nothing but black mist before losing consciousness completely.
The old man had encountered something similar before but being clever he first looked down between his legs before glancing back—and saw nothing which gave him peace of mind. Remaining calm he quickened his pace while shouting loudly: “Hey kids! Are you back again? Didn’t we teach you enough lessons last time? Come out if you dare—we’ll settle this once more!” Surprisingly after that there were no further disturbances.
Later on for reasons unknown our unit began renovations within camp grounds digging up foundations which unearthed those long-buried bandit remains—they then built an ammunition depot over them—and gradually life returned to normal within camp but as part of tradition this habit remained intact: if walking at night and feeling a tap on your shoulder—you simply don’t look back.
And so our story concludes here—but six months later when I transferred to headquarters—I heard another version from then-Political Affairs Director. It went like this: during nighttime there were no streetlights so many soldiers getting up would carry their own Electric Light. One mischievous soldier decided one night while taking over guard duty to shine his Flashlight under his chin before tapping another soldier's shoulder (have you ever tried scaring someone like this?). As expected—the soldier turned around startled nearly losing his mind requiring hospitalization for quite some time afterward! Eventually veteran soldiers summarized this incident into a tradition passed down through generations.
A bit far-fetched right? So I'd rather believe in the first version instead! Now tell me—who do you think owns that hand resting on your left shoulder?! Whatever happens—don’t look back!!
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