Chapter 27: The Well Dries Up

  I guessed that a mouse or something had really gotten into the box, so I put it on the shelf and opened the door. After my mother came in, I said that I had already chased the mouse away, and she didn't ask any more questions either. She took a look around my room and then left.

  After closing the door, I carefully opened the trunk and found that except for a few books and an iron box containing a yin-yang knife, there was nothing else inside, let alone any small animals like mice.

  Since there is no living thing, how did the sound just now come out?

  Isn't it a ghost?

  The next morning, when I returned from grazing the cattle, I saw a guest in our home. At a glance, I recognized him as my cousin Wen Xiang, a legendary figure in my heart. He is twenty-eight years old this year, with a flowing head of long hair, a scar above his left eyebrow, and an upright and majestic demeanor that has captivated countless young girls. Since childhood, he has been my idol, and I think he would be very suitable to become a star, but the scar on his face greatly detracts from his good looks, which is truly regrettable.

  When I was young, my cousin Wen Xiang came to my house several times. He is about ten years older than me and has a very cheerful personality, getting along with me well. Every time he saw me, he liked to touch my head. This time after meeting again, he came to touch my head again, saying that Xiao Dao (me) had grown so tall and caught up with him. I dodged and said that I was already eighteen years old, how could I still let you touch my head? Besides, I am a man, if you touch me like this, others will think we are gay.

  After a conversation, I learned that my brother had heard from my mother that my father had been away from home for a long time and couldn't be contacted, so he was slightly worried and came to visit me. I told him about the situation of my father leaving with Li Shenniang and the mysterious old man Song. Wenxiang looked thoughtful and said that in the Jianghu there is a famous person named Song Wei, who is a golden armorer, if my father followed that person, then the situation would be complicated.

  I asked what Mokam School Lieutenant was, is it an official? Wen Xiang said that Mokam School Lieutenant is a school of tomb robbers in ancient China. Simply put, it's a group of grave robbers. I was shocked and asked if Wen Xiang had ever seen Song Wei before. He said he hadn't either, because that person has a special occupation, always appearing and disappearing suddenly, very few people have seen his true face. My father is a famous shaman doctor, how could he be with a tomb robber? This probably isn't true, that old Song must be someone else.

  After finishing breakfast, several women came to the house again, each with a shocked expression. They said that last night, the dogs in the village were like they were possessed and ran around the village frantically. Even more bizarrely, all the wells in the village had dried up!

  There are several wells in our village, the largest one is near the pagoda tree, and villagers usually fetch water from it for drinking and washing. Many families have also dug their own wells in front of their homes, which are traditional pressure wells. Our village is surrounded by mountains on all sides, with lush greenery and beautiful waters, and since ancient times, we have never run out of water. So how come the water in our village's wells has suddenly disappeared?

  Is there going to be a great disaster?

  The women thought this was too strange, there must be evil spirits at work, and they discussed what to do. Aunt Liu said it's probably related to Huang Pizi, we need to invite Li Shenpo to calm things down, I said Li Shenpo is not home, but we can ask her daughter Zhong Ling'er to take a look.

  "Is his daughter all right?" someone asked.

  Dahai's mother said that the last time Zhong Ling'er came, she helped Dahai find his soul. Liu Dajie asked her if she found it, and Dahai's mother replied disdainfully: "What need is there to find a soul? Dahai just had a heart attack from anger, fainted, and my nephew came to give him an injection and he was fine."

  I'm afraid Mother's words will tarnish Zhong Ling'er's reputation, so I quickly said that actually Zhong Ling'er has a good side. Last time I was haunted by a ghost and fainted for two days without waking up, she came to help me and I woke up immediately. My mother also echoed, saying yes, that girl really has some skills. Liu Da Shu said since she has skills, let's invite her over to take a look.

  Big Brother Wen Xiang snorted in disdain, puffing out a mouthful of smoke and saying, "What ghosts are there in this world? It's all feudal superstition. Everything can be explained rationally. What era is this? You guys shouldn't be digging into the pile of superstition."

  If this were in the past, I would have agreed without hesitation. But now is not the same as before, I not only saw ghosts but also treated illnesses for them, so I deeply believe in the existence of ghosts.

  The women looked at each other in dismay. Wen Xiang's voice was loud and clear, and this statement was made with such certainty that even if someone wanted to refute it, they couldn't think of anything to say for the time being.

  I'm not in a hurry to deny Wen Xiang, so I asked him to explain why the dogs in the village were running around like crazy last night, and why all the wells in the village dried up overnight. Wen Xiang said that there are many reasons for the dogs to run around, it's possible that they were competing for a certain female dog... As for the drying up of the wells, this is a natural phenomenon, the water in the well comes from underground, it's possible that the underground stream was cut off, or maybe the well hasn't been dredged for many years and the mud and sand blocked the spring eye, this has nothing to do with ghosts.

  Liu Da Shu said since the mud and sand have blocked the spring eye, can't we just go down to the well and get rid of the mud and sand?

  We then came to the old well in the village, shone a flashlight into the bottom of the well, and it was dark at the bottom of the well. The light from the flashlight couldn't shine all the way down, and it disappeared halfway down.

  I went to Dahei's house and carried a ladder back. I slowly lowered the ladder into the well and was the first to jump down.

  The bamboo ladder under my feet made a "creaking, creaking" sound, which sounded particularly loud in the empty well. The further down I went, the heavier the cold and damp smell became. Looking up, the mouth of the well was only as big as a pot now.

  I estimated that I had reached the bottom, so I stopped and shone my flashlight downwards to take a look. There was still about half a person's height left until the bottom of the well. The bottom of the well was all damp sand, without a single drop of water. I jumped down and stood on the soft sandy ground, shining my flashlight upwards at the people above, indicating that it was okay for them to come down. Wen Xiang and Da Hei each carried a flashlight and climbed down.

  After we stood firm, we started cleaning the spring eyes. But strangely, several bowl-mouthed thick spring eyes were not blocked, all of them were naked in the rock crevices, with big black mouths open.

  "Damn it, I'm done for!" Wen Xiang cursed.

  The three of us stood at the bottom of the dark well, dazed for half a day. In the flickering light of our flashlights, people's faces were somewhat distorted and became a little frightening. The huge shadows on the wall of the well flashed back and forth.

  "It's no longer a matter of mud blocking the spring." I said.

  The voice sounds hollow and echoing, as if it came from another world, making us feel a little creepy. Dahei said in a trembling and tiny voice: "Let's go up first, don't stay here all the time." I looked up at the high wellhead, and indeed staying here has a feeling of being far away from the human world, as if in a dark and gloomy place.

  "Alright, let's go up first and see if we can still get water out tomorrow." The three of us climbed out of the deep well and came outside. Everyone rushed over to ask about the situation, and I told them the truth. Then I looked at Wen Xiang, waiting for his explanation. He lit a cigarette slowly and said, "The well water is dry, probably due to some other reason." Then he turned to me and said, "Xiao Dao, I suddenly thought of your dad's matter while we were in the well. I'm worried that he really got into trouble. I've decided to go look for him."

  I was anxious as soon as I heard it, and asked him what kind of trouble my father would encounter. He said he couldn't be sure either. I wanted to go with him to find out, but he patted me on the shoulder and said: "You're about to start school, so just focus on your studies and let me take care of finding your dad."

  After waiting for Wen Xiang to leave, I went back to the well and took another look. Still no water came out. Feeling that this matter was too strange, I decided to go find Zhong Ling'er to take a look.

  As I walked to the village entrance, I saw a red off-road vehicle coming from afar. The car was speeding by, kicking up countless dust particles. I had no choice but to stop my motorcycle and curiously gaze in that direction. We were in a rural area, although cars occasionally came by, this was the first time we'd seen an off-road vehicle.

  The off-road vehicle stopped beside me and a head popped out of the car, asking me: "Brother, is this Li Village?"

  That guy looked like he was eighteen or nineteen years old, wearing a yellow hat with five stars printed on it. He had thick eyebrows and a robust build, his eyes were slightly narrowed, and he looked like he had been traveling for a long time. I thought to myself, "I'm eighteen, he's eighteen too", I ride a motorcycle, he rides an off-road vehicle, how cool is that!

  I said we are from Huangjiayuan, the Li family is over there, and I pointed in the direction of Lichun Village. The man responded with a "oh" and looked at my motorcycle, seemingly wanting to say something. I said I'm also going to Lichun Village, I can take you there. He suddenly smiled and said: "That's even better, why don't you just come on my vehicle?"

  That's okay!

  I parked my motorcycle by the side of the road and jumped onto his car.

  As soon as he sat down, he stretched out his hand to me and said: "Brother, what's your name?" I shook hands with him, reported my name, and asked him what his name was and what he was doing in Lichun. He said his name was Zhang Yunhao and that he had come to Lichun to find Li Shenpo.