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墨書 Inktalez
In his sleep, Ye Chenfeng felt something in his mouth trying to crawl out. Groggy and confused, he instinctively reached for it.
His fingers touched a small, cold object, startling him. With a jolt, he woke up, opening his eyes to find everything around him shrouded in darkness. The ticking clock had fallen silent after its battery was removed.
He found it strange that he felt no drowsiness at all.
Then he faintly heard someone knocking at the door.
It was a young boy knocking, accompanied by two others behind him.
They were all high school students.
They were around the same age as Ye Chenfeng, but since they lived in different cities, they wouldn’t know each other.
The three students—a boy and a girl—had come to play together. They had set off from home on their bikes but got lost on their way back. Spotting a light, they had followed it and ended up at Ye Chenfeng's Grandma's House.
Ye Chenfeng continued to fumble in his mouth.
The voices of the three outside drifted into his ears.
“Old lady, it’s very dark outside. Can we stay here for the night?”
Ye Chenfeng heard his grandmother cough, her voice sounding like a weathered wind instrument. “Sure, but you three can only squeeze into one room.”
One of the boys noticed Ye Chenfeng's bedroom and curiously said, “Isn’t there a small room here?”
His grandmother replied, “No, you can’t stay there. Come this way.”
Among the three boys, Ye Chenfeng was particularly fond of the girl whose voice was bright and slightly timid.
Her voice was pleasant, and one could only imagine how beautiful she must be.
Ye Chenfeng couldn't go outside; the door was locked. He could only press against it, peering through the crack to look outside.
His grandmother led the three of them into another large room. Ye Chenfeng couldn't see them enter, but his gaze reached a corner where he could barely make out the portrait of his grandfather hanging on the wall of the main room, along with a faded and seemingly dirty cross-stitch picture.
The cross-stitch was his mother's masterpiece.
It was for his grandmother's birthday, personally stitched and framed by his mother as a gift. The cross-stitch depicted a laughing Maitreya Buddha with a big belly, holding a gold ingot in one hand and wearing a necklace of golden prayer beads. Ye Chenfeng's mother was skilled; she had embroidered the Maitreya Buddha so vividly that it looked lifelike.
His grandmother liked it but didn't know how to take care of it, which was why it appeared dirty.
Ye Chenfeng shifted his gaze and saw a pair of feet lightly approaching his room. Just then, those feet stopped in their tracks. Ye Chenfeng was surprised because there were no lights in the main room; his vision seemed to penetrate the darkness, allowing him to see what was happening outside.
He watched as the feet suddenly lifted off the ground, flailing wildly. It was as if their owner had been yanked up by something unseen, struggling violently while their legs hung motionless.
Then, a massive shadow swiftly enveloped the owner of those feet and disappeared from Ye Chenfeng's sight.
Ye Chenfeng felt an intense wave of anxiety. He wondered if it could be the water ghost from the river, using his grandmother's fish tank as a medium to invade and harm people.
He shouted and banged on the door, hoping to alert his grandmother and the few young boys and girls still inside.
But no matter how hard he pounded on the door, there was only silence outside; not a single sound could be heard, nor did he see any lights turning on in his grandmother's room.
Something must have happened.
Ye Chenfeng paced anxiously in the room. He desperately wanted to break down the door but found himself too weak to do so. After several failed attempts, he collapsed onto the floor in exhaustion.
Just then, he heard the sound of a key turning in the lock at the door.
Ye Chenfeng hurriedly jumped onto the bed, pretending to be asleep.
From the sound of footsteps and breathing, he knew without looking that it was his grandmother who had entered. She touched him with her calloused hands, murmuring in a strange language he could hardly understand. Then he felt himself being gently lifted from the bed, and he saw his grandmother with her eyes closed, chanting softly. Slowly, he found himself uncontrollably moving to the position she had suggested, and it felt as if he had undergone a long and exhausting journey. He was tired and weary, finally drifting into a sweet dream.
Ye Chenfeng had another dream.
In this dream, a strange boy was chasing him, repeatedly shouting for him to return his body.
He saw many blood-red butterflies dancing behind the boy. Among the blood-red butterflies, his grandmother watched him silently with a smile, her eyes filled with affection. Suddenly, a scene of immense fear unfolded; his grandmother's body became transparent, and the blood-red butterflies seemed to be sucking her blood—piece by piece, bit by bit—his grandmother was fading away like a decaying painting, disappearing little by little.
"Grandma..." Ye Chenfeng cried out in alarm, opening his eyes. The soft light in the room and the chirping of birds outside felt so real; he had finally woken up.
The lotus leaf porridge his grandmother had prepared was fragrant and delicious, its pale green color appealing. Ye Chenfeng took a sip of the porridge, savoring its delightful taste.
"Sweetheart, seeing you well makes me feel so relieved," his grandmother said.
"Was I sick?" Ye Chenfeng didn't feel unwell; he had just been having nightmares lately. He thought of Red Butterfly and casually asked, "Grandma, do you know what Red Butterfly means?"
Upon hearing him mention Red Butterfly, his grandmother's lips twitched slightly as she unnaturally set down her chopsticks and pulled out a tissue to lovingly wipe Ye Chenfeng's mouth.
"I can do it myself." Ye Chenfeng wasn't used to being pampered by his grandmother like this; he felt he had grown up enough to take care of himself and her as well. He took the tissue from her hand and casually wiped his mouth but suddenly recalled the strange taste from last night. He frowned and wiped his lips vigorously with the tissue.
His grandmother smiled at him, her gaze growing more affectionate.
Feeling embarrassed under her gaze, Ye Chenfeng turned away and changed the subject. "What about the people who stayed over last night? Why haven't they gotten up?"
"They all left early," she replied.
"Oh." Ye Chenfeng felt a bit disappointed; he had wanted to talk to that girl with the lovely voice. It would have been nice to make some friends in this small place, but he hadn't expected them to leave so early.
"You can eat and continue playing games or reading, but don't go out," Grandma said while tidying up the dishes, reminding Ye Chenfeng.
"I'm feeling down, Grandma. I want to ask you about the cat and the goldfish, and also why Mao Mao is missing."
Grandma paused for a moment, then smiled and replied, "The cat has died, the fish tank broke, and the goldfish didn't survive. Mao Mao is tied up outside!"
As long as Mao Mao was okay, Ye Chenfeng thought. When he first arrived, the dog had been hostile towards him, barking furiously at the sight of him.
Grandma had taken it outside to isolate it.
While Grandma washed the dishes, Ye Chenfeng picked up a half-finished glass of milk and went to find Mao Mao.
Mao Mao was a Beard Dog with slightly bulging, quirky eyes. Upon seeing Ye Chenfeng, it lunged at him aggressively, making him too scared to approach. This prompted Grandma to come out and scold Mao Mao for a while.
Mao Mao whimpered, curling its head in a pitiful manner, its tail drooping weakly between its legs as it hid behind a tree trunk, too frightened to come out.
"Sweetheart, go inside and read."
"Grandma, please don't call me sweetheart." Ye Chenfeng covered his ears in confusion, unable to understand why Mao Mao hated him so much. He had been there for several days now; it should have gotten used to him by now.
He remembered that when he was very young and visited, Mao Mao had not been like this at all. It had been affectionate, wagging its tail and constantly rubbing against his pant leg.
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