Chapter 27: The Mysterious Ancient Well

  It wasn't you who killed him, was it me? I asked discontentedly. My uncle only let out a deep sigh and began to talk about Chen Dapao's affair.

  It turned out that Chen Dapao was a pervert who lured his uncle to the mountain and said they would discuss something important, but it was actually about discussing a perverted and dirty transaction, asking his uncle to use his body to repay the debt he owed. However, his uncle was a normal man and did not want to do such things at all, but Chen Dapao tried to force him. He was pushed away by his uncle and fell to the ground, unable to get up again. His uncle touched Chen Dapao's nose and found that he had stopped breathing, and Chen Dapao actually died like this. His uncle was scared silly at the time, killing someone would mean being shot! So he dragged Chen Dapao's body into a mountain cave, gave his clothes to Chen Dapao to wear as a funeral dress, and told Chen Dapao not to come looking for him at night.

  After returning home, Uncle calmed down and thought it was strange. How could someone die from just a push? Could it be that Chen Dapao had some underlying illness and died suddenly from an attack, rather than being killed by him?

  After thinking about it, his uncle felt a little less guilty and was no longer worried that Chen Dapao's ghost would come back to haunt him. However, a few days later, some relatives of Chen Dapao from the neighboring village came to look for him, and his uncle, who had been hiding at home, became afraid that the police would catch up with him, so he ran away to Guigang to hide. After arriving in Guigang, he snuck into a large house to steal things, but was caught on the spot, however, the owner of the house not only didn't do anything to him, but instead treated him to good wine and food, as for the reason, he couldn't understand it either, and the owner of this big house turned out to be Chen Erbing, the old man who raised ghosts.

  My uncle also told me the reason why he was addicted to gambling, it's because there were ghosts in his house at night, that thing is Wang Kouba, the old landlord who was beaten to death during the Cultural Revolution. This Wang Kouba appeared in my uncle's room every night, so he didn't dare to sleep at night and could only go to the village to watch people gamble, coming back home to sleep during the day. After watching people gamble for a long time, he got addicted to it.

  My uncle finished speaking and slapped himself several times, saying that he owed me an apology for something. The money my grandparents had left me to study was all lost by him, so I didn't get to go to school until I was in my teens. My uncle told me a lot of things in one breath, finally telling me to tell the old man everything, otherwise I would lose my life. He said that I am the only descendant of four generations in our family and if something happens to me, how will he face our ancestors?

  I said that since it's like this, you should let me go now and we can run together. But my uncle shook his head and said, what's the use of untying the rope? You won't be able to escape anyway! They've already asked you everything, what's more important than your life?!

  Looking at my uncle's helpless and worried face, I thought of my sister who had not been found yet. If she died like this, it would be really regrettable. However, thinking back, I couldn't believe the old ghost's words. Even if I told him the origin of that yellow cloth, he wouldn't let me go. As for Tiantian, she had long since disappeared without a trace, and I didn't know where she went.

  I don't know what's written on that yellow cloth, but judging from the old ghost-raising man's behavior, it should be something unusual, perhaps a prophecy of a major event or the location of a super treasure, of course this is just my speculation.

  After my uncle's earnest exhortation, I decided to tell the old ghost-keeper the origin of the yellow cloth, but I'm not a fool either, because I thought of a reason that would temporarily prevent him from killing me.

  My uncle got up and walked over to the old man who raised ghosts, and whispered a few words in his ear. Then the old man came over and asked me to tell him where this yellow cloth came from.

  I made up a story, saying that the yellow cloth was something I got from a cave on Mount Xishan in Guiping. I was catching geckos on the mountain when I suddenly saw a ball of light flying through the air. I chased after it and followed it into a cave, where the light finally disappeared into a pool of water. I jumped into the pool and picked up a box from the bottom, and when I opened it, inside was this piece of yellow cloth.

  The old man who raised the ghost still had an expressionless face after hearing my words, and I added that I saw the light ball again the next night, there should be other objects in that cave, if you can let me go, I can lead the way for you.

  The old man who raised the ghost listened to me finish, and only responded with a faint "oh". He then said that leading the way was definitely your job, but not for you as a person, but for your soul. After he finished speaking, he took out three thin red needles from somewhere, along with a red string and a golden weight the size of a finger tip.

  Soul retrieval! I was so scared when he took out these things that my whole body trembled, almost losing control of my bladder. To know that death is not as frightening as becoming someone else's tool after death. Although my relationship with Tiantian can also be said to be a ghost-keeping one, I have no ulterior motives towards her, nor do I expect her to help me fulfill any wishes, let alone harm anyone.

  But if I become a ghost raised by the old man, who knows what he will use me for, but it's definitely not good. A six-year-old girl like Tongtong can harm over a dozen people, let alone someone as excellent as me becoming a fierce ghost, to be honest, I'm really scared.

  Tonight I got nothing, but instead lost everything, including my young life. The old ghost tied a red rope around my two feet, then tied the weight to the red rope between my legs, and then picked up a needle against my forehead ready to pierce in.

  The best outcome for me is to become a madman, that is, a mentally ill person. The worst outcome is to die on the spot.

  My uncle got anxious too, although he often scolded me in the past, it was because he lost money and had a bad mood, not that he really disliked me to the bone. After all, we are relatives. My uncle knelt down at the feet of the old ghost cultivator, begging him to spare my life, but the old ghost cultivator knocked him unconscious with one punch.

  Just as the red needle was about to pierce my forehead, Tongtong suddenly swooped down from somewhere and was about to reach the old ghost when I saw a triumphant smile on his face. Then he suddenly turned around, stretched out his hand and grabbed Tongtong's neck.

  Tongtong, caught by the neck by the old ghost-raising man, was now like an ordinary child without any strength to fight back. Her legs were suspended in mid-air and her face quickly turned black, looking extremely painful and uncomfortable. The old ghost-raising man calmly reached behind his waist and pulled out a black bag, from which he took out a handful of glittering golden ash and sprinkled it all over Tongtong's body. Poor Tongtong instantly looked like she had been set on fire, screaming in pain and frantically struggling wildly.

  The old man who raised the ghost asked the woman to take out a small wooden box, about the size of a matchbox. The object was made of wood and had many strange symbols carved on it, probably used for containing ghosts. Now it was being used to contain Tongtong. If she were really put inside, even if I managed to survive tonight, in this lifetime, it would be hard to see such an innocent Tongtong again. She would become a malevolent spirit once more.

  I was extremely anxious but couldn't think of any way to save Tongtong. I was even tied up myself, and shouting at the top of my lungs was useless. Later on, my own fate would also become a malevolent spirit.

  Just as the old man who raised ghosts received something from the woman, Tongtong suddenly spat out a pearl. The pearl sucked Tongtong away from the old ghost-raising man in mid-air.

  The old man who had been holding onto Tongtong's neck was suddenly stunned, his hand still in the same position, and his eyes locked onto the woman for a long time.

  I shouted out Tiantian's name, I don't know if she can come out after entering this bead, at least those animal spirits and tree spirits can't come out. This bead is the eyeball of a stone duck, it has the function of absorbing spiritual bodies, but it doesn't absorb Tiantian. Now that Tiantian has crawled in by herself, I don't know if she will be lucky or unlucky, what situation is inside the bead, I really can't imagine.

  The pearl sucked away by Tóng Tóng fell to the ground, and the old ghostly man was stunned for several seconds before picking it up. He held it in his hand, his eyes wide with wonder, bigger than a cow's eyes. All he could hear was himself muttering repeatedly, "It's incredible, truly incredible! Tonight I've picked up a treasure!"

  The old ghost-raising man bit his finger, dripped a few drops of blood onto the pearl, and seemed to be waiting for something, but nothing happened. Finally, he clenched his fist, put the pearl in his pocket, turned around with a ferocious expression, and said with great satisfaction: "Tonight's harvest is really big, not only did I find back Xiao Gui and Yu Yao, but also got this magical pearl, it's truly worthy of...

  Thank you so much!

  At this time, the uncle woke up and asked the ghostly old man to let me go once. The ghostly old man sneered and asked the uncle if he knew why he wanted to bring him along.

  He had calculated that he would have a great disaster this year, but if he could find a noble person, not only could he avoid it, but also get unexpected wealth. The first time he saw his uncle, he knew that this was his noble person, so when his uncle stole from him, he didn't make things difficult for him, instead treating him with courtesy. Tonight proved that the old ghost's calculations were correct, and his uncle was indeed a noble person. Not only did he recover the fish demon he had spent many years cultivating, but also obtained this precious pearl.

  The old man who raised the ghost suddenly changed his tone, pointing at me and saying to my uncle: "Your nephew is indeed a top-notch material. I need one of his souls and three spirits. Don't worry, he won't die, but his brain will become stupid."

  The old man who raised the ghost finished speaking and fainted again, then took out the three red thin needles from earlier. He pricked one on my forehead, the second on the thumb of my right hand, and was about to prick the third needle into the thumb of my left hand when the old locust tree behind me, which had been burned to charcoal, suddenly fell down with a loud crash.

  The big fire had been burning for so long that the old locust tree was completely burned into a charcoal tree, and the whole tree turned into red hot charcoal. Perhaps because the roots could not support it, it happened to fall down at this time.

  The old locust tree broke off at the roots, and the whole tree crashed to the ground, shattering into countless pieces of charcoal of varying sizes. Suddenly, sparks flew everywhere, flames shot up to the sky, and thick smoke billowed out. A piece of charcoal the size of a basketball rolled onto Uncle's stomach, scalding him awake with a loud cry. The rest of the people, including Old Man Nourishing Ghosts, couldn't stop shaking off their clothes, which also had many sparks flying off them, and if they weren't careful, their bodies would catch fire.

  My situation is not much better, with a lot of charcoal splashed on my body, some as big as ping-pong balls and others as small as peanuts. I struggled to shake off the embers from my body, otherwise my clothes would have caught fire and I would have been burned alive.

  After the thick smoke faded a bit, I noticed that where the old locust tree had broken its roots, a well mouth appeared, and on the edge of the well there was a thick black iron chain.