Chapter 33: The Ninth Well (5)

  There were five or six people crowded in front of He Lao's gate, each stretching their necks to look inside. I was also curious, normally speaking, He Lao's house should be able to hold so many people, could it be that a large group of guests suddenly arrived at his house?

  As I walked in, I realized my speculation was wrong. The faces of these people all showed a hint of fear, as if there was something scary inside the house, but they couldn't bear to leave.

  I quickened my pace, at which point someone outside the house saw me and shouted something I couldn't make out. The people surrounding me immediately parted to let me through, their eyes fixed on me like they were staring at a monster. I also caught a glimpse of fear in their eyes.

  Something must have happened in the few hours I was away, but these people didn't even have time to hide, let alone tell me. I walked into the house and saw a bed made of wooden boards with someone lying on it, who turned out to be Tao Dingtian.

  I was shocked and rushed up, Old He walked all the way to the side, saw me coming back, held my hand and wanted to talk to me, I gestured him to wait a bit, then bent down to take a look at Tao Dingtian.

  Tao Dingtian's face was pale, his eyes tightly closed, seemingly in a coma. I was about to ask Old He what had happened when Tao Dingtian suddenly opened his eyes, grabbed my hand and stared blankly at me, saying: "I know where the ninth well is!"

  "Where is it?" I asked loudly at once.

  Tao Ding Tian obviously hadn't fully woken up yet, although his eyes were still fixed on my face, but he was dull and lifeless without a hint of spirit. I asked again in a loud voice, and he seemed to have come back to himself, but suddenly an expression appeared on his face that I couldn't forget, and then he shouted loudly: "In..."

  He didn't say where the ninth well was, because I saw the light in his eyes gradually fade away. My heart was racing fast, and I stretched out my hand to try on his nose tip, Tao Ding Tian really died, with that expression I had seen before but never wanted to see again, he died in front of me. That expression was exactly the same as when Er Liang had an accident.

  I don't know what Er Lang saw in the moment before he died, but now Tao Ding Tian is standing alive in front of me, his face also with an expression of fear to the extreme. His last glance should have been at me, but I don't believe he was scared like this because he saw me. So the only possibility is the ninth well he mentioned.

  The ninth well is where? I feel that now the head is particularly big, I asked Old He: "What happened?"

  He Lao Die was so scared by Tao Ding Tian's appearance that he didn't know what to do. I asked him several times before he came back to his senses, stuttering and telling me that not long after I left, Tao Ding Tian came out of the old house and asked him for something to eat. The two sat down and chatted, with Tao Ding Tian asking the most questions about the well. Unfortunately, He Lao Die wasn't clear about this either, and he had already told Tao Ding Tian everything he knew earlier. What else was there to say?

  Tao Ding Tian, seeing that he couldn't get anything out of him anymore, completely gave up and was about to leave for his old mansion to continue with his own business. Just as he stood up, he suddenly fell backwards and remained unconscious. He Lao Die called for help, but the people who came all said that Tao Ding Tian must have offended the ghost in the old mansion, so they were all unwilling to lend a hand for fear of being affected by the bad luck. However, they didn't dare to leave either, fearing that the ghost would bring harm to the village, so they all waited outside the house, refusing to leave.

  From what Lao Ye said, Tao Ding Tian should be fine after I left, and he didn't even find the so-called ninth well. So why did he say he knew where the ninth well was when he saw me? What happened during this period of unconsciousness?

  All of this is unknown now, at this time the sky was already late, I can only set off tomorrow to inform Tao Dingtian's family, as for the contact information, it's easy to find, his phone has it.

  But where to put Tao Dingtian's body at night became a problem. According to local customs, the corpse of someone who is not a close relative cannot be left in the house overnight. I tried my best to persuade Old Man He, but he refused to agree. Although there were only a few old people left in the village, it was still impossible to find an empty house, and even if we did, these old people might not agree. I couldn't just watch Tao Dingtian's body be thrown outside, after all, he was already dead, no need to make things difficult for him. After thinking about it, my eyes finally fell on the old mansion.

  It was only after much persuasion that Old Man He finally helped me move Tao Ding Tian's body to the entrance, and then he refused to take another step into the old mansion. I had no choice but to move him inside myself. As I did all this, I wasn't fearless - on the contrary, I was terrified. But I always thought that the deceased should be treated with respect, and no matter what, we couldn't leave him outside in the wind. What if it rained in the middle of the night? So, despite my fear, I still had to move Tao Ding Tian's body inside the old mansion. Of course, all this was done under Old Man He's watchful eye from a distance - if I were alone, I wouldn't have dared to do these things.

  I hastily retreated from the old mansion, although I had seen too many dead people and experienced too many strange things recently, but I didn't have the guts to spend a night in this old mansion with Tao Dingtian. This place was full of all sorts of legends, it would be terrifying even for one person to sleep here, let alone accompanying a dead person. So I went to Lao He's house to borrow a room for the night.

  One night, neither I nor Old He slept well. Old He was worried about getting into trouble, while I was thinking about the location of the ninth well. I remembered what Tao Ding Tian had told me about the secret of this piece of Feng Shui treasure land. Suddenly, a ridiculous idea popped up in my mind: I wonder if Tao Ding Tian's ghost would be able to condense his spirit here and be seen by countless people.

  In a daze, I arrived at dawn and was urged by He Lao to go to a place with signal to call Tao Ding Tian's family. This is the road I just walked through, the first time I walked with Tao Ding Tian we had the same goal in mind, but little did I know that the second time I walked this road would be to inform his family of his death.

  Several hours later, I walked to a place with signal and made a phone call to Tao Dingtian's home. His mother answered the phone, initially thinking it was Tao Dingtian calling. After I told her what happened, there was an instant burst of loud wailing on the other end of the line. I had to patiently wait for her to calm down before telling her how to take a bus and reporting the name of a village. I said that after arriving at the station, she could just ask locals and find it along the mountain road.

  Originally, I should have waited for Tao Ding Tian's family at the station, but I really couldn't afford to waste any more time. I had to rush back immediately to figure out where the ninth well was. It was no longer a question of whether I could write better articles or not, but it had become a matter of life and death for me.

  The mountain wind blows a bit cool, it was here that I found that doll last time. I involuntarily looked at that tree, there was no one there, I didn't dare to look if the doll was still there. Every time I think of its empty, gray and white eye sockets, my heart will inevitably tremble with fear.

  I took out my mobile phone and called Xiaorui again, but no one answered. I sent a text message to the Dream Club, still asking about the ninth well, and soon the other party replied: "It's right next to you."

  It's just another sentence, it seems I can't expect to get any useful instructions from the Dream Club. Looking at the time, I hurriedly turned around and left. Actually, it wasn't particularly late, it was only noon, but I always felt a gloomy atmosphere here, even with the sun shining above my head, I felt a chill all around me. I quickly ran back along the original path, not daring to look back, vaguely, as if there was another person standing under that tree, watching me leave in this desolate mountain.

  I rushed back to the village, Tao Dingtian's body was still in the old house. After some thought, I decided to go in and take a look, maybe I could find something. With this idea in mind, I walked through the old house again, but still found nothing. I stood dejectedly in front of Tao Dingtian's body, muttering to myself: "Where is the ninth well after all? You clearly knew but couldn't tell me."

  Just then, I suddenly stiffened my body, hastily took out my mobile phone, opened the text message, looked at Tao Dingtian beside me, and then looked at the phone again. The two sentences on it suddenly became startling: "Why must a well be a well? Why can't it be something else?" "It's right next to you."

  My heart gradually cooled down, I think I finally knew where the ninth well was. The ninth well might not refer to those water wells, but a person, Tao Ding Tian is the ninth well I've been searching for!