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墨書 Inktalez
A woman had given birth to two children every year, totaling seventeen so far, and her purpose for having these children was to repay a karmic debt.
One night, she quietly took her seventeen children and left home, heading to a bridge where she planned to throw each child into the water one by one.
Fortunately, at that critical moment, her husband arrived just in time. He thought she had calmed down, but unexpectedly, in the next second, she suddenly broke free from his arms and jumped over the railing with a splash.
She slowly sank to the bottom of the water, showing no intention of struggling.
What kind of story could lead a woman to such despair?
...
The story takes place several decades ago. To fulfill her mother's dying wish of returning to her roots, A Mei returned to her rural hometown after many years, unaware that a nightmare awaited her.
Using her vague childhood memories, she found her old family home, but it had long been abandoned, with no traces of life left.
Since the house was too dilapidated to live in, she found a nearby inn to stay at.
The owner was an old woman named Sister Lan, who had only one eye. Although her appearance was somewhat frightening, she was very kind to others.
After settling A Mei in, Sister Lan left.
Little did they know that from this moment on, terrifying events would begin to unfold.
Late at night, Sister Lan placed prepared meals at the door. Strangely enough, two chopsticks stood upright in the food.
In folklore, this is known as "head-down rice," meant for the deceased. Clearly, this place was not clean.
Not long after, A Mei heard the sound of someone smacking their lips outside, which sent a chill down her spine.
She cautiously stepped outside to investigate, unaware that a malevolent spirit was lurking behind her, watching intently.
Suddenly, Sister Lan appeared right in front of her. She advised A Mei not to go out at night, but didn’t explain why.
After returning to her room, Sister Lan took the initiative to help A Mei tidy up. In the process, she stumbled upon a childhood photo of A Mei and immediately recognized the man in it.
"Who is this?" she asked.
"My parents," A Mei replied.
Upon hearing this, Sister Lan's expression changed drastically, and she hurriedly ran out of the room in a panic.
A Mei didn’t think much of it; she assumed that the old woman was a bit unhinged. She then lay down, ready to get some good sleep, completely unaware that there was something lurking under her bed.
The next day, Sister Lan seemed like a different person, nagging A Mei to leave immediately.
"Why?" A Mei asked.
"Don't ask questions, just go!"
A Mei felt irritated. This was her hometown; why shouldn’t she be allowed to stay here?
Taking advantage of the gentle breeze and the pleasant sunshine, A Mei decided to step outside and see how her hometown had changed.
As soon as A Mei stepped outside, she saw her neighbor setting up paper figures, which sent a wave of fear through her. Then she noticed an older man talking to the air.
"Leave me alone."
"I need to do business, go play over there."
"Go, go, go."
A Mei found it quite strange and, out of curiosity, decided to follow him.
When A Mei arrived at the man's house, she crouched by the window to take a look. What she saw nearly scared her to death.
Terrified, A Mei hurried back to the inn, feeling that she needed to sleep in order to calm her racing heart.
However, terrifying things happened again. It seemed there was something dreadful under the blanket.
At that moment, A Mei sensed a movement behind her. Trembling, she turned around and saw a strange girl sitting on the bed. A Mei screamed in fright, and the noise quickly attracted Sister Lan. It turned out that this girl was Lan's Daughter, who suffered from mental illness and wandered around suspiciously every day.
Sister Lan pulled her daughter away and apologized to A Mei.
From that day on, A Mei avoided Lan's family as much as possible.
Unexpectedly, the next day Sister discovered that many people had gathered by the riverbank, seemingly holding a ritual for the deceased. These people occasionally glared at her.
Finally, A Mei couldn't help but voice her concern to Sister Lan: "I saw people holding a ritual by the river; it's really strange."
"More than ten years ago, a tragedy occurred by the river, resulting in the deaths of over ten people. I really don't know, whether you truly don't know or not."
With a loud bang, the door was slammed shut, leaving A Mei completely bewildered. What did this have to do with her? Why did she have to leave?
Determined to uncover the truth, A Mei sought out an elderly woman the next day to inquire about the capsizing incident. It was then that she learned it had happened ten years ago.
On that fateful day, a torrential rain fell, causing the steel cable towing the boat to snap under the strain. The boat lost balance in an instant and sank into the Jin River, mercilessly claiming 27 lives, including a bus carrying 17 middle school students.
Noticing A Mei's unfamiliarity, the elderly woman asked where she lived.
"I live in that house under the big tree on this street."
The elderly woman's expression changed to one of shock upon hearing this, for that house belonged to A Han, the bus driver.
" A Han is my dad. Do you know him?"
Suddenly, the elderly woman burst into a wailing cry, drawing the attention of nearby villagers.
When they learned that the driver from that tragic day was A Mei's father, they turned on her with harsh words, even accusing her father of being the murderer who caused the deaths of 17 students.
A Mei was left in a daze from the insults and could only flee back to her hotel in shame.
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