Nine Desolate Records

The old horse took nearly an hour to travel the thirty-mile distance.

It was nearly midnight when we arrived at the post station. A crooked wooden sign stood in front of the gate. The characters on the sign were faded and mottled, but we could barely make out the words "snake molt". Below that, there was a line of smaller characters: "Two hundred li from Cangwu Mountain".

The post station was small, just a courtyard surrounded on three sides by low earthen houses. The main room was in the front, its door ajar, letting in a dim light. In the center of the courtyard was a well, with a windlass on the platform and a rope hanging down, its depth unknown. The stable was on the west side of the courtyard, where several horses were already tethered and grazing.

Lin Qingyuan dismounted first and handed the reins to the courier who came out to greet him. The courier was a hunchbacked old man with droopy eyelids. He would only glance at people through the gaps in his eyes and would not say a word. He took the reins and led the horse into the stable.

"Two superior rooms." Lin Qingyuan took out a small piece of silver and handed it over.

The old man took the silver, weighed it in his palm, and then looked up at Lin Qingyuan and then at Lu Li.

"There's only one left," the old man said, his voice hoarse like a broken bellows. "The one on the south side, the window is broken, it's drafty."

Lin Qingyuan frowned, then took out a slightly larger piece of silver: "Please make an exception."

This time, the old man didn't take the money; he simply turned and walked towards the main room, saying, "Take it or leave it."

Lu Li pulled Lin Qingyuan back: "One room is fine, it's better than sleeping outdoors."

The two followed the old man into the main room. It was warmer inside than outside. A charcoal brazier sat in the center, the fire burning weakly with a dim red glow. Several square tables stood against the wall, but only one was occupied. At one of them sat a one-eyed man, wrapped in a dirty fur coat, drinking wine with a dish of salted peanuts. Hearing someone enter, he didn't even look up, simply bringing his wine bowl to his lips.

The old man pointed behind the counter: "The key is there, take it yourself. The hot water's gone, fetch some well water yourself. Breakfast is tomorrow morning, at 7 AM, no exceptions."

After saying that, he hunched over, lifted the curtain of the inner room, and went inside.

Lin Qingyuan walked behind the counter, where a row of nails were driven into the wooden board, with only a brass key hanging from it. He took the key down; a wooden tag was attached to it, engraved with "Jia San".

"Let's go," he said.

The third room was at the very back of the courtyard, next to the back wall. The door was made of thin wooden planks, the hinges were rusted, and it made a jarring creaking sound when pushed open. Sure enough, the room was drafty; there was a large hole in the paper window, and cold air was whistling in. The furnishings were extremely simple: a kang (a heated brick bed), a square table, two stools, and a chipped chamber pot in the corner.

The kang (heated brick bed) was covered with a straw mat, which was blackened and hadn't been replaced in a long time.

Lin Qingyuan closed the door, took out three talismans from his pocket, and pasted them on the door, windows, and the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed). The talismans glowed faintly and quickly disappeared into the wood, leaving only faint traces of cinnabar on the surface.

"A soundproof talisman, a miasma-avoiding talisman, and a warning talisman," he explained. "Although this post station looks normal, it's always better to be safe than sorry."

Lu Li nodded, took off his cloak and draped it over the stool, then sat down on the edge of the kang (heated brick bed). The kang was cold, and a musty smell filled his nostrils. He rubbed his temples, feeling all the day's fatigue wash over him.

"Let me see your injury." Lin Qingyuan walked over.

Lu Li rolled up his sleeves, revealing several abrasions on his arms—all from being scraped by rubble while struggling underground. The wounds weren't deep, but the edges had an eerie dark green tinge, like remnants of the Earth Mother Puppet's pus.

Lin Qingyuan took out a small porcelain bottle from his bag, poured out some white medicinal powder, and sprinkled it on the wound. The powder made a slight hissing sound upon contact with the skin, the dark green color quickly faded, and the wound began to scab over at a visible speed.

"This is 'Purifying Powder,' which can remove the filth left by demons." Lin Qingyuan put away the porcelain bottle. "But the black mark on your shoulder... I can't do anything about it."

Lu Li tensed up slightly, but his expression remained calm: "What black mark?"

"Stop pretending." Lin Qingyuan straightened up and looked down at him. "When the Earth Mother Puppet's pus was poured on you, the clothes on the back of your shoulder were corroded through a hole. I saw a black mark on the skin there, still pulsating."

The room fell silent, with only the sound of the wind outside the window.

"What is that?" Lin Qingyuan asked. "Don't tell me you don't know."

Lu Li remained silent for a moment before finally speaking, "If I said I didn't know what it was, would you believe me?"

"I don't believe you," Lin Qingyuan said bluntly. "But it's okay, everyone has secrets, I won't force you to tell me. I'll just warn you, that thing gives me a very bad feeling, like it's alive. You'd better find a solution before it fully comes to life."

After he finished speaking, he stopped looking at Lu Li, turned around and walked to the square table, taking out a map from his bag and spreading it out. The map was made of sheepskin, already yellowed, with mountains and rivers marked on it in cinnabar and ink. His finger touched the three small characters "She Tui Yi" (Snake Shedding Post Station), then moved westward, stopping at a place marked with a hot spring.

"We're here now," Lin Qingyuan said. "We'll set off early tomorrow morning, riding at full speed, and reach the foot of Cangwu Mountain by evening. But Jiangjia Village isn't at the foot of the mountain; it's halfway up. The road up the mountain is difficult, and..."

He paused, then drew a circle on the map with his finger: "According to my father's notes, there's a phenomenon called 'ghost wall' in the Cangwu Mountain area after nightfall. No matter which direction you go, you'll end up back where you started. You have to go up the mountain before dark, otherwise you'll have to wait until the next day."

Lu Li walked to the table and looked at the map. The map of Cangwu Mountain was very detailed, even showing several streams and cliffs. However, there was a blank area halfway up the mountain, with only a line of small characters: "No Entry, Beware of Evil Spirits."

"Is Jiangjiazhuang right here?" he asked, pointing to the empty space.

"I'm not sure." Lin Qingyuan shook his head. "My father only went to the foot of the mountain back then, he didn't go up. But based on Jiang Yin's records of purchasing supplies over the years, the manor should be in this area."

He took out the "Peace Under Heaven" copper coin from his pocket and placed it on the edge of the blank area on the map: "Moreover, this copper coin originated from this area back then."

Lu Li stared at the micro-carving on the back of the copper coin. In the dim light of the oil lamp, the twisted, intestine-like patterns seemed to come alive, slowly writhing. And the mouth deep within the crack seemed to be grinning even wider.

"Senior Brother Lin," Lu Li suddenly asked, "was your father really just going to Cangwu Mountain to serve as a county magistrate back then?"

Lin Qingyuan's fingers stiffened for a moment.

"What do you mean?"

"It's nothing." Lu Li looked away. "I just think that a county magistrate wouldn't investigate the strange events in his jurisdiction in such detail, let alone keep the clues for decades and pass them on to his son."

Silence fell in the room again.

This silence lasted even longer. The flickering firelight in the charcoal brazier cast shifting shadows on Lin Qingyuan's face. His expression became incredibly complex in that instant, a mixture of wariness, hesitation, and a hint of...pain.

"My father didn't die a natural death." He finally spoke, his voice very soft. "Thirty years ago, he was transferred from Cangwu Mountain back to Beijing, and three months later he went mad. He talked nonsense all day long, saying there were dragons in the mountains, that the hot springs were tears, that... 30,000 lives weren't enough."

"And then?" Lu Li asked.

"He died later," Lin Qingyuan said calmly, but his fingers gripped the edge of the map tightly. "He died on a rainy night, his body submerged in the pond in the back garden. Like the dead on Cangwu Mountain, his internal organs were all empty, and his skin had scaly patterns. The court said it was an accident, gave him compensation, and that was the end of it."

He raised his eyes and looked at Lu Li: "But my mother doesn't believe it. She found this copper coin and half a diary in my father's study. The diary recorded some things my father investigated in Cangwu Mountain, about sacrifices, about dragons, and about... Jiang Yin."

"Does Jiang Yin know something?"

"The diary wasn't finished," Lin Qingyuan said. "The last page was torn out, leaving only half a sentence: 'Jiang Yin isn't crazy, he's a gatekeeper, he's waiting—' Waiting for what? I don't know."

Gatekeeper?

"So you went to Cangwu Mountain not just for the 'Yu Gong Tu' (Tribute of Yu)." Lu Li said.

"Yes." Lin Qingyuan readily admitted, "I need to know the real cause of my father's death. If Jiang Yin knows the truth, I will force him to tell. If something in the mountains killed my father, I will kill that thing."

When he said this, there was murderous intent in his eyes, cold and real.

Lu Li didn't ask any more questions. Everyone has their own obsessions. Lin Qingyuan's obsession was revenge for his father, while his obsession was to survive.

"Go to sleep." Lin Qingyuan put away the map. "We'll take turns keeping watch. I'll do the first half, and you do the second half. We need to travel tomorrow, so we need to be well-rested."

Lu Li nodded and lay down on the kang (a heated brick bed) fully clothed. The straw mat was prickly, but he was so tired that he fell asleep soon after closing his eyes.

In a half-dreaming, half-awake state, he heard other sounds mixed in with the wind outside the window.

It sounded like many people were talking in hushed tones, their voices overlapping and making it impossible to understand what they were saying, only a sticky, viscous quality. There was also the sound of water, not the sound of a well pulley drawing water, but a gurgling sound coming from deeper places, like something breathing.

The dark mark behind my shoulder began to throb.

Lu Li tried to open his eyes, but found his eyelids as heavy as lead. He couldn't move his body, but his mind was unusually clear. He could feel a cold, damp aura seeping up from the floor under the kang (a heated brick bed), seeping into his clothes and clinging to his skin through the gaps in the straw mat.

The smell was heavy and fishy, ​​like water from a corpse that had been soaking for a long time.

It was testing, testing the dark mark on his shoulder.

Lu Li gritted his teeth, trying to mobilize his internal energy to resist, but his Qi Sea was empty. The battle during the day and the Earth Escape Talisman had almost exhausted all his reserves. He could only watch helplessly as the cold aura grew closer and stronger, finally like an invisible hand gently pressing down on the black seal.

The instant of contact, an extreme chill swept over, so cold it felt like it would freeze to the bone. Then, as if scalded, the chilling aura receded abruptly. But in the next instant, it returned, this time even more turbulent, directly penetrating the interior of the black seal.

Lu Li saw an illusion.

It wasn't a visual image, but a feeling. He felt himself sinking, sinking into an endless expanse of black water. The water was cold, bone-chillingly cold. Something was moving at the bottom, a huge, long shadow, coiling in circles. In the center of the shadow, two points of red light, like eyes, were slowly opening.

Her eyes were fixed on him.

Then, a voice rang directly in his mind:

"The offerings... have finally arrived..."

Lu Li tried to struggle and shout, but no sound came out. He felt his body being dragged deeper into the water by the dark shadow, his lungs were getting sparser and his consciousness was fading.

Just before he completely lost consciousness, the black mark on his shoulder suddenly erupted with intense heat.

A surge of heat exploded from the center of the black mark, instantly engulfing the entire body and burning away the invading chilling aura. The underwater illusion shattered, and the black shadow let out a silent shriek before rapidly disappearing into the distance.

Lu Li suddenly opened his eyes.

He was still lying on the kang (a heated brick bed), the room pitch black. Lin Qingyuan sat at the table, his back to him, seemingly meditating and regulating his breathing. The wind outside the window continued to blow, but the sound of water from underground had completely disappeared.

Only the dark mark on his shoulder was still slightly warm, pulsating more powerfully than ever before.

He quietly raised his hand and touched his back.

Beneath the clothes, the skin around the black mark seemed to have an extra ring of fine lines. Like scales, or like the strokes of runes.

He withdrew his hand, his palms covered in cold sweat.

What was that just now?

"You're awake?"

Lin Qingyuan's voice suddenly rang out. He had turned around at some point and was now looking at Lu Li. The oil lamp had been relit, its dim light illuminating his face; his expression was calm, but his eyes were sharp.

"I'll keep watch for the rest of the night," Lu Li said, sitting up.

"No need," Lin Qingyuan shook his head. "It's almost dawn."

Lu Li looked out the window—through the hole, the sky was indeed beginning to lighten. Had he actually slept until almost dawn?

"You weren't sleeping well," Lin Qingyuan said. "You kept talking in your sleep."

Lu Li's heart skipped a beat: "What did I say?"

"I couldn't hear you clearly." Lin Qingyuan stood up and stretched his shoulders. "But I did hear one sentence clearly. You said, 'There are eyes underwater.'"

He walked to the window and looked at the gradually brightening sky outside: "This post station is called 'Snake Sheath,' do you know why?"

Lu Li shook his head.

"Legend has it that a hundred years ago, a giant snake shed its skin here, and the snake skin piled up into a mountain. Later, a post station was built on the spot and named it Snake Shedding." Lin Qingyuan turned around, his face expressionless. "But there is another version of the story. 'Snake Shedding' is not snake skin, but human skin. Every thirty years, someone dies at this post station, and the deceased's skin is completely peeled off and hung on the roof beams, just like the skin shed by a snake."

He paused for a moment: "The last thirty years was exactly fifty years ago, the year when the 30,000 rebels of Cangwu Mountain were wiped out."

Lu Li felt a chill run down his back.

"You suspect there's something wrong with this inn?"

"It's not a suspicion." Lin Qingyuan walked to the door and peeled off the warning talisman he had posted that morning. The talisman was charred, its edges curled, and the cinnabar runes were completely faded. "It's confirmed. Something tried to come in last night, but the talisman blocked it. But it didn't leave; it stood outside the door all night."

He opened the door.

Outside the door, on the ground, was a puddle of water, a thick, dark green liquid, exactly like the pus from the Earth Mother Puppet last night. Around the edge of the puddle were several shallow footprints, not human footprints, but more like webbed feet.

The footprints led towards the well in the center of the yard.

Lu Li walked to the door and looked at the well. The well platform looked particularly eerie in the morning mist. The rope of the well pulley hung silently, but there was a clear wet mark around the edge of the well, as if something had just crawled out of it.

"Pack your things," Lin Qingyuan said. "We need to leave immediately. We can't stay at this post station any longer."

The two quickly packed their bags.

As Lu Li left the room, he glanced back at the kang (a heated brick bed).

Where he had slept, a shallow, human-shaped indentation remained on the straw mat. In the very center of the indentation, a small, dark green water stain, shaped like a hand, was clearly visible.

He looked away and followed Lin Qingyuan quickly out of the room.

Inside the main room, the hunchbacked old man had already gotten up and was squatting by the charcoal brazier, adding charcoal. Hearing footsteps, he didn't even look up: "Breakfast is ready. The porridge is in the pot; help yourself."

"I'm not eating anymore," Lin Qingyuan said.

The old man finally raised his head, his drooping eyes appearing particularly cloudy in the morning light. He looked at Lin Qingyuan, then at Lu Li, and a strange smile suddenly appeared on his lips: "In a hurry to leave? Scared?"

Lin Qingyuan did not respond.

The old man slowly stood up, his hunched back cracking loudly. He walked to the door, pushed it open halfway, and looked at the well in the yard: "That well...no water comes out."

Lu Li paused in his steps.

"We haven't been able to draw water for thirty years," the old man continued, his voice hoarse. "But there's always a gurgling sound at night, like something is bubbling down there. Sometimes when I wake up in the morning, the well platform is wet, and there are footprints on it."

He turned his head, his wrinkled face looking like a crumpled piece of paper in the morning light: "Did you hear that last night?"

Lin Qingyuan had already drawn his sword.

The old man laughed, his voice dry and strained: "Don't be nervous, I'm just a gatekeeper. Those who should leave can leave, and those who should stay can stay; it's none of my business."

He stepped aside from the doorway: "Let's go, before it gets too dark."

Lin Qingyuan pulled Lu Li along and quickly walked out of the main room. In the courtyard, their horses had already been led out by the postmen and were pawing restlessly. The two mounted their horses and rode out of the post station gate without looking back.

Lu Li didn't dare to look back until he had run two miles.

The post station was no longer visible, only a blurry outline shrouded in morning mist. But whether it was his imagination or not, he seemed to see a figure standing on the roof of the post station.

The figure was very thin, with a hunched back, gazing in the direction they had left.

It looks like he's holding something in his hand.

It looks like a... skin.

Lu Li withdrew his gaze and tightened his grip on the reins.

The old horse seemed to sense something and galloped away at breakneck speed. The morning breeze swept in, carrying the earthy scent unique to the wilderness, dispelling the faint stench of decay in the post station.

But the dark mark on his shoulder still throbbed.

Moreover, with each beat, it felt as if the weight increased.

It looks like something is growing inside.