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墨書 Inktalez
A beam of morning sunlight slipped through the window, steaming the damp floor of the hospital room. Wisps of moisture evaporated and twisted the light.
Mooncake stretched and sat up, trying to suppress a laugh while maintaining a calm demeanor. He reached for his shoes but grasped at nothing. "Huh?" He tried again, but the shoes that were clearly in front of him remained elusive.
I maintained a blank expression. "What's wrong?"
After a moment of thought, Mooncake's face changed. "Pumpkin, be careful! There's a problem! You might have picked up a Mysterious Ghost when you came back last night!" Mysterious Ghosts are often found in dirty alleys, in filthy and foul places unfit for living, thriving at night and often attaching themselves to drunken individuals. Some drunken men find themselves dead on the streets the next day, having been possessed by a Mysterious Ghost.
Some people who drink too much tend to act out, crying and shouting uncontrollably when they get home, speaking incoherently—these are the ghostly words spoken under the influence of a Mysterious Ghost. The remedy is simple: after taking a hot shower, apply some mint oil to specific acupressure points; this scent is unbearable for the Mysterious Ghosts that thrive in filth and decay, causing them to detach from their hosts.
I learned all this from those two books.
Mooncake jumped off the bed barefoot, nervously rummaging around the hospital room, sometimes deep in thought and other times counting on his fingers. I figured I should play along and feign terror. "What did you find?"
Mooncake looked puzzled. "There's no negative energy or any objects that could harbor spirits..."
I kicked my shoes over to him. "It's just a pair of shoes; you're making a big deal out of nothing!"
Mooncake was sharp as ever. "Pumpkin, how did you do that?"
"I simply set up a 'Confusion Formation,'" I said, waving the two books.
"Confusion Formation?" Mooncake asked as he put on his shoes. "I don't quite understand."
This surprised me. "The book explains it clearly! Directions, hexagrams, heavenly stems and earthly branches, five elements, calculating sand numbers with candles—all laid out plainly! How can you not understand?"
"According to Du Wang, very few people can comprehend these two books. You understand them all?" Mooncake seemed intrigued.
"What books?" Jack asked suddenly, now awake.
Mooncake shot me a glance. "Nothing much; how are you feeling?"
Jack smiled wearily. "I feel much better physically, but I had a dream last night where I actually ate an earthworm! Oh, that was just terrifying."
I exchanged glances with Mooncake...
Two days later, Jack was feeling much better and completed his discharge procedures. He joined us at school, but under the guise of a psychological counselor, specializing in alleviating students' various pressures.
During this time, Mooncake and I subtly probed him for information. Jack was quite honest; he answered every question and was very talkative, often rambling on about unrelated topics. Even when we asked how to contact "Du Wang," he could go on about the beauty of Eskimo igloos, calling them a miracle of the world.
I felt like my ears were about to develop calluses from listening, while Mooncake simply stepped outside for a smoke, choosing to ignore the conversation entirely.
Jack was baffled by the idea of being cursed. After several inquiries, Mooncake couldn’t be bothered to respond, so I spun an elaborate tale about how "Du Wang" practiced sorcery, tricking several foreigners each year into being cursed to create new spells, only to be discovered and thwarted by Mooncake and me. Of course, I made sure to embellish my role as the heroic savior who rescued Jack from peril.
In the end, I mysteriously urged him not to disclose this matter, claiming that no one would believe it anyway.
Having personally experienced this situation, Jack listened with wide eyes and exclaimed in typical Western fashion, "Oh! My God!" He expressed great admiration for me and promised to keep it a secret.
The reason behind why Jack was cursed by "Du Wang" remained unanswered, and the person who had cast the blood curse never reappeared. A sliver of unease lingered in my heart.
Mooncake shrugged it off: "What’s meant to come will come; why worry so much?"
I pondered this as well. After all, as my half-hearted protector known as the "Red-Eyed Person" for so many years, what hadn’t he experienced? Now that he had finally rid himself of his inner demons, he naturally felt that life should flow freely without leaving traces.
Since the matter had passed, I decided to let it go. We could deal with any future issues when they arose. Besides, I was genuinely exhausted; I would rather pretend none of this had ever happened and secretly pray that nothing else would occur. I just wanted to finish my studies peacefully and return home as an overseas returnee. Although I would merely be a Southeast Asian returnee, at least it would still be a layer of Thai gold, wouldn’t it?
I should also add that mysterious disappearances of teachers are not uncommon at universities in Thailand. The reasons are rather amusing; these disappearances have nothing to do with supernatural or horror events. In Thailand, where drugs, firearms, and prostitution are rampant, criminal organizations naturally do not spare students on campus.
Some teachers exploit their respected status to secretly engage in illegal activities. Incidents of selling drugs to students or luring female students into prostitution occur frequently. Once discovered by the police, in order to maintain the university's honor, they are quietly taken away without public announcement. The school pretends ignorance; however, this is merely an unspoken secret.
When Man Ge Rui tricked me into participating in the Battle of the Buddha Curse and then disappeared, I was puzzled by the school's lack of response and how students seemed unfazed. It wasn’t until later that I learned about the underlying issues.
Now, what Mooncake and I needed to do next was extremely important!
That is—study!
"Since we've left the country, we can't embarrass our homeland!" Yue Bing said seriously, patting my shoulder. "The results of the Jack of All Trades depend entirely on you!"
"You've spent so many years learning sorcery and picking up all sorts of strange skills, can't you just focus on your studies?" I sighed helplessly. "Back home, you were always copying me during exams, and now you've brought that habit all the way to Thailand."
"Scholar, let's be friends!" Yue Bing slipped on his Converse sneakers, paired with jeans and a plain black T-shirt, and tidied his messy long hair as he prepared to head to class with me.
I looked him up and down; Yue Bing quickly checked to see if his shoelaces were tied or if his zipper was up...
"Yue Bing, don't you have a school uniform?"
"School uniform? By the way, why does Pumpkin dress like a ladyboy?"
At Thai University, students show great respect for their teachers and must wear uniforms to class, typically in black and white. It’s said that in recent years they are trying to align with international standards; female students' white shirts have been changed to tight-fitting short sleeves that reveal their body curves, while the black skirts have transformed from knee-length wide skirts to low-waisted mini pleated skirts that barely cover mid-thigh. To make walking easier, the mini skirts even have slits on the sides—quite eye-catching.
The male students' uniforms are even more exaggerated, with tight white shirts paired with ultra-low-rise jeans. Just imagining how those outfits fit makes it clear that bending over could easily reveal half a butt...
However, many male students have bought pretty underwear specifically to match their uniforms, leading me to often joke that the uniform supplier must be related to the underwear manufacturers.
I had two spare uniforms and lent one to Yue Bing for emergencies, but he adamantly refused to wear such a "feminine" outfit, insisting that "Chinese people should dress in a Chinese style!" I was also tired of looking like a ladyboy every day, so I simply switched to a shirt and jeans. After a few days of classes, I hadn’t noticed what the teachers were saying at all, but the rate at which female classmates turned their heads increased significantly, which made me secretly pleased.
Until one day when the second-ranked student in school shyly handed me a love letter. My heart raced as I opened it, only to find it was meant for Yue Bing. My delight quickly turned into frustration.
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