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墨書 Inktalez
It was a rather dilapidated house, with most of the plaster peeling off the walls, revealing the earthy brown surface beneath. A dim yellow light bulb overhead emitted a hissing sound, flickering rhythmically as if it hadn't been used in a long time and had become somewhat damp.
Jiang He looked out through the window, seeing nothing but darkness in the yard. Wang Chao understood Jiang He's concern and leaned closer to the glass to peer outside before speaking up, "Don't worry, there's no one out there. Er Dan isn't eavesdropping."
Upon hearing Wang Chao's words, Jiang He quickly said, "Have you all noticed something strange about this village?"
The others exchanged puzzled glances, unsure of what Jiang He was referring to.
Not wanting to keep them in suspense, Jiang He continued, "There isn't a single dog in this village."
At this revelation, everyone suddenly realized. When the team first entered the village, they had felt that something was off. It was only after Jiang He pointed it out that they recognized it. Earlier, Qiuju Niu's loud cries had nearly startled all the villagers awake.
Since everyone had been roused by Qiuju Niu's shouting, it was odd that not a single dog had barked. Anyone who had spent time in a rural area knew that almost every household kept dogs for protection and assistance in hunting rabbits or foxes.
But this village was different; there wasn't a single dog to be found, which was highly unusual.
"This village hasn't seen a single woman come out," Old Shao added. "That's strange too."
Jiang He, while feeling his bed, remarked, "Given our current time and space, there are wild boars, rabbits, foxes, weasels, and even wolves in these mountains. The only animal capable of standing up to wolves within human reach is a dog. So why aren't there any dogs in this village? Without dogs, what would happen if wolves came down from the mountains?"
And therein lay the crux of the issue: what had happened to the dogs in the village?
"Often, when a dog becomes feral, it transforms from a dog into a wolf," Old Shao said. "This village is definitely not simple. Let's investigate thoroughly tomorrow; for now, let's get some sleep. Xu Yiman and Qiuju Niu, you two sleep in the adjacent room. If anything happens, shout loudly."
Qiuju Niu nodded vigorously and replied, "I may not know much else, but I have a loud voice..."
After pulling the light cord to extinguish the bulb, darkness enveloped the room. Old Shao, Yuan Jun, Jiang He, and Wang Chao lay on the large kang bed; it was quite spacious. They remained fully clothed as they drifted off to sleep.
It was now around midnight.
"Wang Chao" instructed, "Keep a close eye on 'Xu Yiman.' Earlier, when we were on the road, I noticed how some villagers looked at 'Xu Yiman'—it was like hungry wolves eyeing a piece of meat."
The others nodded in agreement.
"Old Shao" glanced at the flower-patterned wall and said, "Jiang He, what did you see on the wall? I'm getting old, and I can't see clearly at night."
"Jiang He" replied, "On those walls covered in red paint, I saw deep scratches made by someone's nails. From the marks, it’s clear that this person was desperately clawing at the wall. The nail marks are about one meter sixty high. Judging by the way the marks were left, this person must have been slightly hunched over with bent legs. This suggests that the person was likely between one meter sixty-five and one meter seventy tall."
"It should be a woman," "Old Shao" remarked.
"However, many walls are painted red. This paint doesn’t seem to be meant to cover up the nail marks because even if it was sprayed on, you would still be able to see them. That 'Li Sanhan' seems like a reckless child; he gives me an unreliable feeling. I don't believe a single punctuation mark of what he says," "Wang Chao" added.
"Old Shao" turned over and said, "The red paint has a strong odor. It appears in patches and doesn’t look uniform, indicating that they applied it with a heavy hand in certain areas while using less in others. This behavior suggests a very utilitarian mindset—we can call it a purposeful cover-up."
"What are they trying to cover up?" "Wang Chao" asked.
Almost simultaneously, "Jiang He" and "Old Shao" responded in unison, "Blood."
In the darkness, "Old Shao" closed his eyes and pondered for a moment before speaking again. "Blood is a substance that's hard to clean up. Most people without chemical knowledge wouldn't know how to properly wipe away blood. Using 'Rumino' chemical reactions, even a drop of blood in a bucket of water can be detected. But we’re here to find someone, not to conduct tests."
"Jiang He" analyzed further, "I have an eighty percent probability that this is indeed to cover up blood. There’s a significant difference between earthen walls and cement walls. If blood splatters on a cement wall and you rinse it with water afterward, it won’t be visible on the surface anymore. However, with earthen walls, once blood splashes onto them, it gets absorbed by the soil; rinsing it later won’t help at all."
"If the wall will inevitably leave dark red marks that raise suspicion about what happened, then they might as well just paint over it," "Old Shao" chuckled. "But the interesting thing is that the people in this village are too lazy; if they had painted the walls more evenly, we might not have suspected anything."
"What about the mirrors?" "Jiang He" raised his question. "I noticed that every household has a copper mirror hanging above their door. What are those mirrors for?"
"You all remember what 'Li Sanhan' said before he left," "Wang Chao" seemed excited about this topic as he turned over and leaned back against his pillow, propping his head up with his hand. "We’re not sure if ghosts exist in this world or not, but placing copper mirrors at the entrance is meant to ward off evil spirits. However, I’m not quite clear on how exactly that works."
At this point, "Old Shao" thought of his old partner Mary. In her youth, Mary was a believer in spiritualism; she believed that ghosts existed as another form of human existence.
Old Shao continued, "A ritualistic item that has been consecrated is no longer an ordinary object. A bronze mirror that has been consecrated is called a demon-revealing mirror. Ghosts can change their appearance, but they cannot alter how they appear in the mirror. Once illuminated by a bronze mirror, their true form is revealed, and the ghostly figure will naturally flee in shame."
Jiang He countered, "There are no ghosts in this world."
Old Shao suddenly recalled Mary and Yan Junde in their youth; one was a staunch atheist while the other was a firm believer in the supernatural. They often argued about such matters.
Old Shao nodded, "Indeed, there are no ghosts in this world. If there were, murderers would have long been dealt with by them; we wouldn't need to catch them ourselves. It's just for amusement to listen to these tales. Besides these bronze mirrors, there are also the door gods on the main gate. The couplets on either side of the door are tattered beyond recognition, yet the door gods are affixed neatly."
"What does this indicate?" Old Shao asked himself before answering, "It shows that these villagers are afraid. What are they afraid of? They fear ghosts, and among these villagers, believers make up the majority. Following this logic, why do they fear ghosts? It’s because someone has died in the village. But even if someone has died, it shouldn't cause every household to be so terrified. This implies that the death of this person or these people is somehow related to everyone in the village..."
Old Shao's words trailed off, leaving a chill in the hearts of those listening.
His meaning was clear: following this line of reasoning suggests that the deceased person or people have a connection to everyone in the village.
Jiang He couldn't help but think of the red paint on the walls. Under the faint moonlight reflected by the bronze mirror, it emitted a sorrowful and dim red glow. There wasn't a single streetlight in the village; only shadows loomed ominously. Beneath that paint lay pools of dark red blood that had already congealed.
What could have happened to splatter blood across nearly every household's walls? What event could cause every family to fall silent as night fell at eleven o'clock, leaving the entire village devoid of sound and life?
The whole village felt eerily sinister.
Inside the house, aside from a few low whispers among them, there were only occasional chirps from insects outside. Accustomed to the hustle and bustle of city life, such profound silence was quite unsettling.
Wang Chao sighed, "This village is indeed strange. However, Er Dan doesn’t seem afraid of these ghosts or anything like that; look at Er Dan’s house—there are no door gods and no bronze mirrors on his walls. If ghosts truly existed in this world, they wouldn’t be able to enter anyone else's yard under the gaze of those mirrors; they'd just turn around and walk right into Er Dan’s home."
Wang Chao intended this as a joke to lighten the mood, but at that moment, rhythmic knocking suddenly echoed from the dark courtyard.
"Tap tap tap tap."
The sound inexplicably resonated from within the courtyard, breaking through the stillness with an unsettling clarity.
"What is that sound?" Wang Chao asked.
"Listen!" Old Shao whispered.
The sound was crisp, like an elderly woman tapping her cane as she walked through the yard, and it grew louder as if it were heading straight for the house.
Cold sweat suddenly broke out on Wang Chao's forehead. He strained to look outside but saw nothing.
What could that sound be?
Everyone held their breath, listening intently.
Suddenly, the sound erupted at the door with a thunderous crash.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Something was slamming against the door!
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