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墨書 Inktalez
The middle-aged man's tone suddenly turned eerie, and I looked at him in surprise. His face was as pale as paper, and he seemed to exude a ghostly aura.
"You saved my life?" I retorted, not really believing him. After all, I didn't have a terminal illness; how could he have saved me?
The middle-aged man suddenly coughed and said, "That box has a problem. You must let it stay with you overnight."
The Wooden Box had originally belonged to my grandmother; it was an heirloom passed down to me. I had been too afraid to open it myself, but I knew there was a wedding dress inside. I might have worn that dress during my sleepwalking episode last night.
Thinking back to that scene from last night made me shiver involuntarily because I knew it was an Unspoken Secret that could only be hidden away.
At that moment, my gaze toward the middle-aged man changed; he seemed to know something.
"Go on," I urged.
He looked at me with a teasing glint in his eyes and said, "Eyes vacant, palms sweating, unable to sleep at night, right?"
"Yes," I instinctively replied.
In truth, I had been through enough turmoil these days. Both doctors and psychologists had seen me and declared that I was fine, yet here I was again in the hospital.
Ever since I discovered some unsettling clues, it felt as if I had become entwined with the hospital.
The middle-aged man pulled out a cigarette but didn’t light it. Instead, he glanced at me. At first, I didn’t understand, but when he pretended to cough dramatically, I finally got the hint.
I stepped forward to help him light the cigarette.
The middle-aged man took a deep drag from his cigarette and said to me, "Open it tonight!"
I stared at him with suspicion, but I had received a phone call that evening. The voice on the other end warned me not to open the Wooden Box.
Her tone was quite certain. I hesitated because I still didn’t know much about this middle-aged man.
I couldn’t help but ask, "Why should I open the box?"
The man suddenly lowered his voice and said, "Do you not trust me?"
I was momentarily at a loss for words, but I felt that the box should not be opened.
Seeing that I remained silent for a long time, the middle-aged man called out to me, "Do you think that Wooden Box is strange? It can actually enchant your mind."
His words struck a chord with me. Enchant my mind? Was that why I was dressed in a red wedding gown and made up so elaborately at this late hour?
I unconsciously began to breathe heavier.
"What should I call you?" We were both lying on hospital beds.
"My surname is Wang, just one character: Wei. I'm older than you, so you can call me Brother Wang."
"Brother Wang." I called out without hesitation. "You say I should open this Wooden Box; surely you must give me some proof."
Wang Wei chuckled softly a few times before saying, "With such heavy Yin Qi in your home, don't you realize it?"
I thought to myself, how would I know? I'm not a fortune teller. Confusion was written all over my face.
"Wang Wei said, 'Let me ask you, do you believe that there are evil spirits in this world?'"
I shook my head at first, then fell silent.
"You still believe, don't you?"
I remained quiet. I did have some belief; otherwise, I wouldn't have made such strange actions in the dead of night. In the early morning hours, I had no idea who I had called for an entire month.
And besides...
"Don't hesitate. Open it tonight, and after you do, bury the contents directly in that old temple in the east of the city."
"Is there a temple in the east of the city?"
"There is. If I say there is, then there is. Young man, to put it plainly, this matter has nothing to do with me. If you listen to me and do as I say, you might just survive. If you don't listen, I won't lose anything."
I lay on the hospital bed.
Wang Wei continued, "You're already on borrowed time; it's not too late to listen to me now."
Just as I was about to respond, the doctor walked in. He said to me, "The test results are out. Your body is fine; just make sure to rest more. You can be discharged this afternoon."
I nodded and thanked him.
After the doctor left, I began to pack my things in preparation for discharge.
Just as I was gathering my belongings, Wang Wei suddenly grabbed my wrist. His eyes held a wild intensity as he said, "You can't leave. If you want to go, you have to take me with you."
I was momentarily taken aback, and by the time I processed his words, Wang Wei was already panting for breath.
I replied in confusion, "This is a hospital. If you want to go out, just go by yourself!"
At that moment, Wang Wei had lost the rationality he had just moments before and insisted, "Only you can take me out."
He held onto my hand tightly, and I began to think he might be losing his mind in broad daylight.
"Take me out."
"You went out last night, didn't you? You even came to my house," I said to Wang Wei.
Wang Wei sneered, "If it weren't for you not being here, I would never have left this place."
His words were becoming increasingly incomprehensible to me.
"I can't help you. I'm leaving," I said firmly and continued packing my things. Holding the wooden box, I prepared to leave. It wasn't that I didn't want to help him; I simply didn't understand what he meant. The hospital's main door was wide open—if he wanted to leave, he could just walk out himself instead of insisting that I take him with me.
Once I finished packing, I headed for the door. Just before stepping outside, I glanced back at Wang Wei. He had calmed down significantly; it was puzzling how someone who had been so agitated just moments ago could suddenly appear so composed.
"Are you okay?" I asked unexpectedly.
Wang Wei's lips curled into a strange smile as he said, "You can go now, but you'll come back to find me tonight."
I couldn't help but wonder if he was truly insane. Carrying a suitcase and a backpack, I left the hospital, my mind filled with Wang Wei's eerie smile and his words that I would definitely seek him out later. Well, I decided I wouldn't.
It felt like an act of defiance.
Once home, I set the Wooden Box down and took a shower to wash away the hospital's gloom.
After my shower, it was around three in the afternoon.
Bored, I turned on the television. Just then, my phone rang; it was Zhang, the chubby guy. I answered, and he immediately said, "Saning, you got out of the hospital without telling me? You made me come all this way for nothing! I'll come by tonight to take you out for dinner."
I acknowledged him and hung up. Around six in the evening, Zhang showed up at my door.
We went out together and found a barbecue stall. We sat down and started eating, continuing until after ten at night when Zhang finally headed home.
I returned home as well.
Restless, I couldn't enjoy my meal; it felt like there were eyes watching me closely, monitoring my every move.
Upon entering my house, I flicked on the light switch. Before I could even sit down, I suddenly realized that my Wooden Box was missing.
That box was my grandmother's heirloom; I had placed it beside my bed, making it one of the most important items in my room. Whenever I entered, my gaze would naturally fall upon it.
But this time it was gone. For some reason, its absence made me anxious. I began searching for the Wooden Box.
But the house was not big, and after searching through it, I still couldn't find anything. Panic surged within me as I thought about the situation.
Wang Wei, it must be Wang Wei. That bastard must have taken my Wooden Box while I was away.
Fuming with anger, I rushed to the hospital. However, since it was already late at night, the hospital was eerily quiet when I arrived.
There weren't many people around. I headed straight to the previous ward and found Wang Wei's room, but when I entered, I discovered that it was empty.
Breathing heavily from my haste, I thought to myself, where the hell did that bastard go?
I stepped into the ward, hoping to search for the box, but there was hardly any place to hide anything in there, so I quickly turned everything over.
As I stood up, suddenly a pair of hands clamped around my neck.
In an instant, I felt a wave of suffocation wash over me. He came at me with deadly intent, as if he wanted to strangle me to death in one go. Reacting swiftly, I struck back with my elbow.
Yet he refused to let go.
Just when I thought I was about to die, his grip suddenly loosened.
"Take me away now, or it will be too late."
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