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墨書 Inktalez
Su Yang told me that he rushed into Brother Scar's room and saw me covered in wounds, blood spilling from my mouth. He didn't know where he found the strength, but he flipped Brother Scar over in one swift motion. The Old Bastard didn’t even have time to resist before he was knocked unconscious.
Su Yang grinned, revealing a set of neat white teeth, gasping in pain yet still trying to comfort me. " Yue Yue, don’t be afraid. Brother will always protect you." I looked at his swollen face and burst into tears. Su Yang was the best brother in the world, my only family.
That night, he developed a fever, his face flushed red as he kept mumbling, "So cold, Mom, I’m so cold." I rummaged through our supplies for two bottles of water, wiping his forehead and body, but nothing seemed to bring the fever down. He began to babble incoherently, repeating, "Mom, don’t leave me. Please, don’t leave me."
I wiped my face hastily to remove my tears and limped outside. To escape Brother Scar, Su Yang took me to the Urban-Rural Fringe. It was filled with abandoned houses occupied by homeless people. I knocked on doors one by one, kneeling and bowing my head to anyone who answered, begging them to help Su Yang.
Perhaps it was bad luck; I banged my head until it bled, yet no one could assist us. Just when I was about to lose hope, I finally met a kind-hearted person. "Girl," the old woman said, "I only have these two pills left. Take them all back to your brother quickly; they’ll help him get better."
The elderly lady hunched over, small and frail, but to me, she seemed like a goddess descending from above. I clutched the tiny pills tightly in my hands as if they were treasures.
I hurried back to Su Yang, prying his mouth open to feed him the medicine and wiping his body down again. Finally, it worked; his flushed face began to cool down and turned pale and transparent.
I held his hand and lay beside him, resting my head against his chest and listening to his strong heartbeat until I gradually fell asleep. In my dreams, Brother Scar appeared before me again, his foul breath nearly hitting my face. "Go away! Hurry up!"
I jolted awake to find Su Yang mumbling in his sleep, " Yue Yue, hurry! Run..." His body was burning hot again. Ignoring the remnants of my nightmare's fear, I scrambled up to carry him to find a doctor.
But I forgot—I was just a child under six years old—and together with Su Yang on my back, we fell to the ground. I spat out blood and crawled over to check on him; thankfully he wasn’t hurt from the fall.
I propped him up and pulled myself forward with all my might, dragging him along and leaving a deep trail behind us. The early morning in Kun City was eerily silent as I gritted my teeth and strained with every ounce of strength; each step meant more life for Su Yang.
Fate often plays cruel tricks; I knocked on several pharmacy doors but found no one who could save him. It wasn’t until I dragged him to the entrance of the welfare home that I happened upon Director Liu returning from a business trip.
He helped me get Su Yang to the hospital. The doctor took one look and immediately rushed Su Yang away. "Quick, prepare for surgery."
The doctor told me that we were lucky to have brought him in on time; Su Yang had broken ribs that punctured his lung. If we had waited just a few more minutes, even a miracle wouldn't have saved him. My legs went weak, and I fell to my knees, desperately bowing my head. "Thank you, doctor. Thank you, kind people. Thank you for saving my brother."
Director Liu bent down to help me up. "Get up now, good child." "My surname is Liu. I am the director of Bright Welfare Institute. You can call me Director Liu."
"Child, what is your name?" Director Liu held me in his arms as he sat on a chair in the hospital, not minding at all that I was dirty. Just as I was about to answer, my stomach betrayed me with a loud growl.
Director Liu smiled warmly and bought me milk, bread, and a sweet lollipop. I devoured the food while answering, "My name is Lin Yue, and my brother's name is Su Yang. We are both orphans."
Director Liu gently patted my head with concern. "It must be tough living on the streets; you must have suffered a lot."
"It's not tough. Being with my brother means I can still eat meat; it's not tough at all." I finished the crumbs of bread in my hand while Director Liu took my hand and pulled out a disinfecting wipe to clean it.
I felt a bit uncomfortable and wanted to pull my hand back but feared he would get angry and neglect Su Yang. I had no choice but to endure it until he finished cleaning carefully.
Later, Director Liu helped us pay for the hospital stay and took us back to the welfare institute. He asked us to help take care of the children there as a way to repay the medical expenses. Our years of wandering came to an end as we settled down safely in the welfare institute.
Every day we had enough to eat and warm clothes to wear; we no longer had to fight stray dogs for food or worry about being chased away or beaten. If kind-hearted people donated money, the institute improved our meals, and we could even have unlimited chicken legs. We finally lived the good life that Su Yang had spoken of.
At that time, Director Liu felt like a deity in my heart.
As far as I know, the director has worked at Bright Welfare Institute for thirty years, helping countless children. Major media outlets in Kun City have reported on his deeds, and he has even been named a charitable pioneer in Kun City.
How could such a kind-hearted person be met with betrayal? officer Chen couldn't understand how this girl, only eighteen years old, could have orchestrated such a crime called revenge. It had been exactly twenty-four hours since her arrest; she appeared well-behaved and cooperative. Her answers were clear and logical; it was hard to imagine she was a mentally disturbed person.
"Yeah, why is that?" I chuckled softly, "Hehe, because he's just a demon in human skin."
"Weren't you supposed to investigate the orphanage? Didn't the people there tell you that the children are born weak and often fall ill, with some dying each year?" officer Chen asked, puzzled.
"The children at the orphanage were abandoned precisely because of their disabilities or congenital diseases, weren't they?"
"We checked the records; every year one or two children die. It's nothing unusual," I scoffed. "Ask the kids who have been to the Secret Garden, and you'll know."
No matter how officer Chen pressed me, I refused to say more. That demon had a knight in police uniform; who knew if they were the Dark Knight?
If they asked, they would surely get answers. Indeed, no one among the orphanage children was unaware of the Secret Garden. No matter how mischievous they were, mentioning the Secret Garden would instantly quiet them down.
Not a single child who entered the Secret Garden came out alive—except for me.
---
Su Yang forbade me from wandering outside at night and from having any contact with the director. Every night at nine o'clock, I had to return to my room on time; he would lock the door to prevent me from sneaking out.
I was unhappy and had caused a scene before. Even when I ignored him in anger, Su Yang never budged on this matter. He never told me why.
It felt as if he had isolated me within layers of protection, leaving me completely unaware of any danger. The orphanage was eerily quiet at night; the children lay still like corpses, not making a sound—not even snoring.
In the past, there would be children talking in their sleep at night, but that evening was different; it was utterly silent. Outside, there was no sound at all—this is what Su Yang told me.
Yet I could clearly hear cries coming from the garden. I pulled up my blanket tightly around me. The cries still seeped in, as if a child were weeping right beside my ear.
I tossed and turned in bed, covering my ears in a futile attempt to block it out. The cries grew louder, echoing relentlessly in my mind.
Finally, I threw off the blanket, slipped on my slippers, and rushed to the window to peek outside.
The night was shrouded in mist; the garden was lush and dense with foliage, obscuring everything from view. Only the solitary moonlight shone down like silver snow.
Unable to endure those wails any longer, I decided to seek their source outside. Climbing down the drainpipe by my window, I slid down from the second floor and made my way through the bushes deep into the garden.
Everything was silent in the garden at night, and the sound of my heartbeat gradually diluted the crying. From fear to excitement, I walked faster and faster, feeling an unprecedented freedom. Until I saw a nightmare scene that I will never forget. That night, I disobeyed Su Yang's instructions for the first and only time. I paid a painful price for it, and I lost my brother, my Su Yang, forever. 11 "What did you see?" "Is it what happened that night that made you hate Dean Liu and hack him to death?" officer Chen seemed to have thought of something, and his tone was urgent, eager to confirm. "That is the fear hidden deep in my soul, the beginning of all nightmares, and the starting point of the destruction of gods." Many chaotic fragments suddenly emerged in my memory, most of which did not belong to me. A man with a blurred face, a crying and struggling girl, a bloody baby who had just been separated from his mother, and a woman twisting under the dim red light. I shook my head and put those fragments behind me. I picked up the water glass on the table, took a sip, and continued to tell the story. "Director Liu's clients are very powerful. How can you policemen find out?" "The garden hides all the evils. The missing children are all there." officer Chen retorted without hesitation: "There is no garden in the welfare home. We didn't find the place you mentioned during our investigation." "Of course you can't find it," I curled my lips. "If it was so easy to find, the children might not have died." "Well, according to what you said, Director Liu is indeed engaged in criminal transactions. How do you know?" officer Chen still doesn't believe me. If I hadn't been troubled by nightmares, I would have doubted whether those pictures were real. That day, I walked through the bushes in the dark night and saw a piece of snow-white in the depths of the garden. Under the white robes, the figures of men and women could not be seen, and they gathered together. They sat in the middle of the garden and chanted in a low voice. I couldn't understand the language they were speaking, but I felt it was ethereal and evil. In the middle was a large vat, the body of which was covered with green, and some patterns could be vaguely seen, twisting and entwining like a snake. I was about to lean over to take a closer look when they suddenly became quiet. A man in white, holding a naked child, walked to the side of the vat. The child's face was pressed against the man's chest, and his arms drooped limply, as if he was dead. The silver blade flashed with cold light and quickly slashed across the child's wrist. Blood flowed down the pale arm into the vat. The green on the vat quietly faded, revealing red, and the patterns on the vat seemed to come alive, swimming and circling. Something was circling in the vat, making a rustling sound. It was like a beast struggling in the vat, and its sharp claws scratched across the vat, making a harsh sound.
The people sitting around began to chant again, their voices laced with an uncontrollable excitement. Blood continued to drip down, lessening with each drop. When the last drop fell, the man in white threw the child he was holding into the vat. As his body twisted, his robe and hood fell away, and in the moonlight, I saw the face of the director.
The child in his arms was someone I had seen just yesterday; I had personally carried him to the infirmary. His name was Gao Gu, and he had only arrived at the orphanage a week ago. During dinner yesterday, he suddenly clutched his stomach in pain and collapsed, foaming at the mouth. We were all terrified. I quickly picked him up and rushed him to the infirmary. The doctor had clearly told me it was food poisoning; how could he be here now?
And the director—
Before I could unravel my confusion, a crunching sound came from the vat as a skeletal figure erupted from it, as if it had been spat out. The bones were devoid of any flesh or blood. The group of people in white erupted into a frenzy.
A milky liquid flowed down the patterns on the vat, dripping into small bowls that had been prepared long before. An exotic fragrance spread through the air. I twitched my nose and caught a whiff; instantly, my blood surged, my chest felt ablaze, and I cried out in pain.
A long, pale hand pressed firmly over my mouth. I turned my head to see Su Yang's face before me. He shook his head, signaling me to remain silent, and pulled me back into the room. I glanced back one last time at those people in white, entangled under the moonlight in an eerie dance.
"Is this the truth?"
"You saw what exactly?" officer Chen pressed for more details.
"I don't know. After Su Yang dragged me back, he warned me to forget everything I saw immediately. He said that none of the children who entered the garden ever returned alive. He and I are among the only two who have lived to witness the director's crimes. One day, we must find a way to expose the truth so that everyone knows what kind of person the director really is."
A thought crossed my mind; perhaps Liu's death was the opportunity Su Yang had left for me. I urgently asked, " officer Chen, did you really not see Su Yang?"
officer Chen stared intently at my face, his gaze piercing yet silent. Another officer interjected, "There’s no such person as Su Yang. Lin Yue, I advise you to tell us the truth; given your age, you might receive a lighter sentence."
"That’s impossible! I've grown up with Su Yang; how could he not exist? Have you been bribed by Director Liu? You must have covered up those children's information for him!"
I slammed my fist on the table and shouted at the person across from me, "Director Liu has done nothing but harm. The children in the orphanage are either sold to wealthy couples without children or used as sacrifices, becoming offerings for those rich people seeking to have children. And those perverts who take pleasure in abusing children—Director Liu has recorded it all. How can you not find any evidence?"
"Lin Yue, when you tell lies repeatedly, you end up deceiving yourself. Let me tell you, we have checked the records of the orphanage for the past three years, and there is no Su Yang, nor is there any child missing under the circumstances you described. Lin Yue, what exactly are you hiding?"
"Tell me where the video is, where the secret garden is. Besides you, who else has seen the director performing rituals for children? Have you ever met those wealthy people?"
"We have checked the household registration records and visited the train station area; there is no Brother Scar as you mentioned, and no one has seen your Su Yang. And yet you claim you're not lying," the officer said, slamming his hand on the table.
"It’s impossible! No, it can’t be! Su Yang raised me, stayed with me, protected me—how could he not exist?" I stared wide-eyed at officer Chen. " officer Chen, do you not believe me either?"
officer Chen squatted down to meet my gaze and replied firmly, "I believe you."
"Hahaha," I laughed until I bent over, tears spilling from my eyes. "Su Yang, look! We finally made it."
I looked at officer Chen and promised, " officer Chen, I will tell you everything I know. Please make sure to give justice to the children."
The children in the orphanage were divided into three tiers by the director. The Red Star children received the best care; they were good-looking, well-behaved, and under five years old. They would be well taken care of until chosen by a guest and then sold off.
Boys over five years old with average looks could still be bought by families without sons; they were considered yellow star and were not as desirable as the Red Star children.
The last tier consisted mostly of unattractive boys or unchosen girls. They could only become sacrifices in fertility rituals or entertain wealthy individuals with peculiar tastes until their bodies were worn out and then sold to organ traffickers as "raw materials."
The secret garden gradually became a taboo within the orphanage; no child who knew about it ever returned. No child could stay in the orphanage for more than three years—only Su Yang and I remained there.
Su Yang repeatedly urged me to find a chance to escape from the orphanage. I had asked him countless times, but he never revealed anything and always avoided my questions.
I dared not think about what role Su Yang played in that endless cycle of evil. All I remembered was that he was my brother—the brother who raised me.
I grew increasingly silent, unable to face the other children in the orphanage. I devoted myself even more to caring for them, doing everything I could to make them happy. Yet misfortune still did not spare me.
One morning while washing dishes in the kit officer Chen, Director Liu appeared at the door. His gaze was icy as he pressed me with questions: " Yue Yue, I heard you went out a few nights ago and were frightened. Did you see something?"
I kept my head down, focused on washing dishes. "No, my brother doesn’t let me go out at night."
"Oh really? I didn’t expect Yue Yue to be so obedient." His cold gaze slid down from my chest to my waist and abdomen as he chuckled softly, " Yue Yue has really grown up; your heart has become wild."
He extended his hand toward me, palm open, revealing a colorful crystal bracelet lying in his hand.
"Do you recognize this bracelet?"
My pupils constricted; what lay in his palm was my bracelet—the birthday gift Su Yang had given me after working tirelessly for a month to save up money for it.
I have always cherished it, only taking it out to wear during the New Year.
" Yue Yue has recognized it. Su Yang truly holds you dear. After all these years in the orphanage, I haven't even touched Yue Yue's hand. He really dotes on you to the core," Director Liu said as he saw me reaching out to grab it, quickly tucking the bracelet back into his pocket.
"Tsk tsk tsk, Yue Yue is too impatient. The director taught you that good things should be saved for last."
I became so anxious that I started to cry, kneeling on the dirty floor, pleading with Director Liu. "Director, please give it back to me. This is my only birthday gift. I beg you, please give it back."
Again and again, I bowed my head to him, admitting my mistakes and begging for mercy, desperate in my pleas. He grabbed my hair and pinched my chin, his smile warm and friendly.
"I'm a soft-hearted person. If Yue Yue wants it, come to my room tonight."
I trembled all over, collapsing onto the ground, not even aware of when Director Liu left. I was terrified, filled with dread at the thought of nightfall.
The entire day felt like a haze; I couldn't concentrate in class, constantly distracted by the director's words, not even hearing when the teacher called my name.
Finally enduring until school was over, just as I was about to pack up and leave, the homeroom teacher called me into the office.
"Lin Yue, do you have something on your mind? Is something wrong?"
Seeing me shake my head, the teacher continued, "Your grades have always been excellent; you're ranked among the top three in school. This is a crucial time—don't let up. Nothing is more important than the college entrance exam. Our school has a partnership with key universities in the province; as long as you maintain your grades, I can help you secure a recommendation spot. You absolutely cannot relax."
"Thank you, teacher. I will definitely work hard."
I felt happy; my life was finally about to embark on a new journey.
That day, I asked for leave from the restaurant owner and hurried back to the orphanage to share my joy with Su Yang. As soon as I entered the courtyard, I spotted Su Yang walking towards the staff building.
I opened my mouth to call out but couldn't make a sound. I wanted to quietly follow him and surprise him. Su Yang loved it when I suddenly appeared behind him, watching him nearly cry from fright while he laughed like a mischievous little mouse.
Seizing this rare opportunity, I planned to do the same and give him a scare. I quietly followed him into the staff building but couldn't find an opportunity.
As he entered the director's office, I had no choice but to hide behind a large locust tree outside, watching the door for him to come out.
I waited from dusk until sunset and then into the deep night without seeing him emerge. I circled around the locust tree to relieve my numb legs. The cold wind brushed against my neck, raising goosebumps on my exposed skin.
I stomped my feet and cupped my hands over my mouth to warm them with my breath.
The night in Kun City was truly cold, and I couldn't stop thinking about Su Yang and the bracelet in the director's hand. I was too afraid to leave. A vague sense of unease lingered in my heart, as if something important was about to slip away from me. I couldn't help but mock myself; as an orphan who had never even seen my parents, what could I possibly lose? Yet my feet seemed to have a mind of their own, refusing to move.
So I stood at the director's door all night, and Su Yang never came out again. The next day, when the director found me at the door, I had already fainted from the cold.
When I woke up again, everyone had forgotten about Su Yang, but I was frantically searching for him. I remembered Su Yang clearly; I had watched him walk into the director's room and never come out again. In a frenzy, I smashed the lock on the director's door and searched everywhere, but found not a single trace of him.
Director Liu said I was sick and sent me to a mental hospital in the neighboring city. But I knew I wasn't insane.
"But our investigation shows that you were abandoned at the gate of the orphanage right after birth, raised in the orphanage until last year when you were sent to the mental hospital for schizophrenia. You have never been a beggar, never gone to school outside, and you haven't even stepped out of the orphanage gate," officer Chen laid out the evidence before me.
After I finished looking through everything, he placed a computer in front of me. With a gentle click, he played video after video—surveillance footage from the orphanage that clearly documented my life there.
In the videos, I was always alone, never interacting with anyone else. I would hide in corners, talking to myself as if everything around me had nothing to do with me. Su Yang was nowhere to be found.
I refused to believe it; videos could be fabricated, files could be altered, but those missing children—their remains were still in the orphanage. If only we could find those bones, it would prove that everything I said was true.
I struggled to recall where the secret garden was located. Every time I thought of a crucial moment, pain shot through my temples like fire. I slammed my head against the iron plate in front of me, trying to stop the pain.
Su Yang existed; Director Liu must have erased all traces of him. And those children—I had seen their bones emerge from a vat, milky liquid flowing down its sides. It all felt too real; how could it possibly be fake?
The pain in my head intensified as I slammed harder against the table. officer Chen and others rushed over, grabbing my arms to pull me back and stop me from hurting myself further. I struggled fiercely until with a loud bang, my head hit the table—
Countless fragments of memories surged in, gradually piecing together images that unfolded before my eyes one by one. I remembered everything.
It was actually Director Liu who violated me when I was six years old, not Brother Scar.
When I was six, Director Liu assaulted me. Afterward, he comforted me with a lollipop, making me swallow the secret. For the next ten years, I became his forbidden fruit, forced to endure his unspeakable desires. He grew increasingly brutal, torturing me in various ways, even transforming a room into a chamber of torment specifically for me. He called it the "Secret Garden."
The child who became a sacrificial offering to wealthy men was none other than me. I was given to rich men who shared his perverse tastes, using my young body to fill the voids in their hearts. Until I turned fifteen, I had to accompany seven or eight different men each week, enduring their twisted desires. After I turned fifteen, they found me too grown-up, lacking the youthful innocence I once had.
Director Liu then turned me into a mobile womb, using me as a surrogate for those wealthy men. Each year, a child would be born from my body, and once they were ready to leave, Director Liu would take them away. I could feel their heartbeats and movements as they grew inside me. Without ever seeing their faces, I lost them forever.
I tried to escape but was caught before I could even get out of the orphanage's gates. I attempted to seek help and even contemplated ending my own life in despair. Each attempt only resulted in further beatings. Gradually, I became numb and stopped resisting, hoping that life would pass quickly so I could reach bliss sooner.
Su Yang was my first child; all I knew was that the wealthy man’s surname was Su, so I named him Su Yang. This name once represented my salvation and the light in my dark life. After being tortured to the brink of collapse, Su Yang became another version of myself, protecting me from bullying as I had wished.
I disclosed everything to the police; there was a hidden passage in the director's office leading to the "Secret Garden." To control those wealthy businessmen, Director Liu had built a special room designed as an exclusive club for their entertainment. He secretly installed pinhole cameras in the room to satisfy his perverse voyeuristic desires. The storage cards and transaction ledgers were hidden together in the safe in his office.
officer Chen personally led the team and found the ledgers and storage cards based on my testimony. Following the secret passage, they discovered a hidden space beneath the orphanage. It was lavishly constructed, resembling a palace. At its deepest point were numerous individual compartments, each containing a girl.
It turned out I was not the only one; I was merely the first experiment of Director Liu. After achieving success with me, he replicated his methods, relying on the welfare institute to select suitable girls from abandoned orphans. He trained them from a young age, brainwashing them to willingly become tools for his profit. The oldest among them was only sixteen, while the youngest was not yet seven.
That beast, Director Liu, imprisoned them, isolating them from the outside world, turning them into playthings for wealthy businessmen. Some of them were even pregnant, becoming mere vessels. Even seasoned detectives like officer Chen couldn't bear to look at it, wishing they could drag Liu back to life just to give him a few punches.
After three months of investigation, the police finally uncovered the entire industrial chain. Employees of the welfare institute involved in the crimes were arrested one after another, piecing together a shocking list of secret transactions. The police apprehended each client listed, including several well-known entrepreneurs. Those who appeared glamorous and righteous on television were secretly engaged in filthy dealings.
As suspects fell one by one, this shocking "Bright Welfare Institute Murder Case" that had stunned Kun City finally came to a close. The police promptly reported the details of the incident, restoring justice and light to society. As for me, I received my due punishment. But I had no regrets; if killing Director Liu could save those girls, I would do it again without hesitation. Only then could they live under the sun.
I was charged with intentional homicide, and officer Chen pleaded for me in court. A psychiatrist from the mental hospital also testified on my behalf, confirming that I was unable to control my actions during the incident. After comprehensive consideration, the judge ruled that I was guilty of intentional homicide but recognized that I suffered from mental illness and lacked self-control during the act. Therefore, I could not be held fully responsible for my actions.
Ultimately, I was sentenced to compulsory isolation and treatment in a mental hospital until I recovered and no longer posed a social threat before being released and regaining my freedom. Upon hearing the verdict, I let out a long sigh and silently told Su Yang—
We finally got that chance we had been waiting for.
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