Chapter 58 That Sentence (1)

  I thought that when I pushed open the door, I would see my parents. As long as I could see them, no matter what happened in front of me, I wouldn't be afraid and I would rush to their side to protect them at the first moment. But when I pushed open the door, it wasn't them that I saw, but a woman's back. At this time, it was early winter, and the temperature in the deep mountains was extremely low, but the woman was wearing a red long skirt, as if the cold had no effect on her at all.

  The woman should have also heard the sound of me pushing the door, but she didn't immediately turn around. I noticed that there was a thermos bottle on the ground at her feet, with some soup spilled on the floor, and I don't know what she brought this thing for.

  I let out a "hey" and the woman's body shook, then quickly turned around, her face filled with terror. In the instant I saw her face clearly, my heart which had just calmed down started racing violently again. I thought my face must have been very pale because this woman was someone I knew - she was my mother.

  The first thing that came to my mind was that strange dream, there were no desolate mountains or graves here, but I saw a woman, she wore a red long dress, holding a purse in her hand, her face pale, I didn't know if it was because of the sound of my voice startling her or if she had been startled before I came in, all I felt was that my lips were dry and my tongue was parched, I didn't know what to say, my eyes fixed tightly on the woman's mouth, afraid that as soon as she opened it I would see two rows of red teeth.

  Her body kept trembling, her eyes looked at me, as if there were many things she wanted to say to me, but because of tension and fear, not a word could be said. I took a deep breath, relaxed my voice, and asked: "Yi Niang, how did you end up here?"

  I deliberately kept a distance from the woman, because the dream had left too deep an impression on me. I always felt that as soon as she opened her mouth, I would see two rows of blood-red teeth, so I stood cautiously in place and spoke to her.

  The girl apparently didn't notice my vigilance, her body kept shaking, and after a while, she stuttered: "I... I don't know either."

  I was stunned for a moment, and at this time I also saw clearly that the old lady's teeth were not crimson red. Seeing her body trembling uncontrollably, I hastily took off my coat and put it on her, asking: "What's going on?" At this point, I believed that my parents must not be in the old house, otherwise they should be with the old lady together. It seems that what I thought before might be completely wrong. Since there was no use in being anxious, I'd better calm down the old lady first and listen to what had happened to her.

  A girl's body happened to say that it is very simple, she said dazedly herself did not know how to get here, and dressed in such a manner, after saying a few words she began to sob again, I frowned, gently patted her shoulder, asked: "Have you seen anyone else here?"

  I didn't directly say it was my dad and mom, I asked like this to see if you knew where He Lao Ye and the others were. Niang shook her head and said: "I just woke up and saw you, I haven't had time to look around everywhere, I haven't met anyone."

  I didn't answer her directly, but thought for a moment and said: "This can be told slowly later, I want to take a walk inside, there's something strange in here, do you want to wait outside?"

  I didn't want to say this to my sister, but I suddenly had a feeling that she was hiding something from me in her words earlier. When I first saw her, the look of terror on her face was not fake, but it definitely wasn't because she suddenly found herself in an unfamiliar place. If that were the case, she would have been extremely sensitive to my footsteps and would have run to my side immediately, as I'm the only familiar person she's seen in this strange place - it's a human instinct that can't be changed. But her various signs indicate that before this, she must have seen something even more terrifying, which she has kept hidden from me. I'm starting to worry if this might have something to do with our parents, and if she follows me around, I'm afraid she'll erase some clues.

  The girl's face changed slightly and she said: "I... I'm also afraid when I'm alone outside."

  Her expression only solidified the idea in my mind, I don't know what she's trying to hide, but after some thought, I nodded and agreed to her request. I think as long as I'm careful and keep an eye on Yiniang, nothing should go wrong. After all, Yiniang is Erlang's sister. Speaking of Erlang, that problem that once worried me involuntarily resurfaced in my mind: did Yiniang see the thing written by that idiot Mao?

  I couldn't possibly ask my mother this question, the sky was already bright at this time. Since I had promised my mother, I didn't say anything unnecessary and walked forward, my mother followed closely behind me. I glanced at her with the corner of my eye, seeing that her face was pale, looking around nervously, a bit afraid, a bit tense, and also a bit curious. It seemed like she had just arrived at this place too, but I always felt that every time her eyes fell on me, they would immediately be withdrawn. I was sure that my mother had something hidden from me, and it must have been related to me.

  With caution and vigilance, I slowly walked into the backyard, and once again saw that small black hut in the shape of a coffin. I saw my mother's body tremble slightly, then take a step forward to stand in front of me, staring blankly at the little black house. After a while, she asked: "Is this where you found that painting?"

  I heard a tinge of sadness in her voice, knowing she was thinking of Er Lang again, so I nodded and murmured "uh-huh". Niang stood still for a moment, then said: "I want to go inside and take a look."

  Without waiting for me to respond, the old woman had already taken a few steps forward and pushed open the wooden door of the small black hut. I had no choice but to follow her in immediately. Although it was already daylight outside, the inside of the hut was still pitch black. I turned on my flashlight, and the old woman looked down, saying softly: "That well is right under here, isn't it?"

  I had told Yiniang about what happened between Erlang and me here, so she should be familiar with the terrain. I nodded again, and Yiniang suddenly let out a soft sigh, looked up at me and said: "I want to go down and take a look."

  My heart suddenly tensed up, Mother clearly knew what had happened down here, why did she still want to go down and take another look? Was it because she didn't believe me, or was there some other reason I didn't know about? All the way, Mother seemed extremely frightened, sticking close to my body as we walked, but after seeing the small black house, she suddenly became abnormal and walked ahead. Now she's even asking to go down that dry well and take a look, her tone wasn't discussing with me, but rather had a resolute air about it, which made my suspicions even heavier: there must be something down here that I overlooked last time, or Mother was going down for some unknown purpose to do something unspeakable.

  I thought for a moment and said, "Let's go down together." I originally thought the old woman wouldn't agree, but she nodded without hesitation, even looking somewhat pleased. However, combined with the way she had looked at me earlier, my heart became even more vigilant, wondering what she would do downstairs.

  Because I had left in a hurry and hadn't thought that I would be entering this dry well again, there was no rope in my bag. I could only cut several jackets and the backpack into strips using the knife I carried with me, then added some belts to barely tie them together into a rope. Since there was nothing in the small black room, both of us had to go down the well, so we tied the rope to an iron ring on the door. I tested it with force and thought it should be able to hold one person's weight. I nodded at Er Niang and said: "Who goes first?"

  The girl looked at me and said: "You're more familiar with this than I am, you go first, I'll follow."

  I didn't say much, and slowly slid down the rope. Since it was a temporary rope, it seemed a bit short and didn't reach the bottom of the well. I had the flashlight in my mouth, looked for a position to jump from, then shone the light towards the top of the well and said: "Okay, you come down now."

  I didn't hear any response from the old woman, the rope at the well mouth was swaying back and forth, no one came down, no one replied.

  The rope was still swaying aimlessly in the air, my goosebumps rose involuntarily. I remembered the last time I came here with Erliang, standing inside the well and looking out, it seemed like the outside world was also a well. Now I'm inside this well, but Yiniang from another "well" is nowhere to be seen.

  A thought suddenly occurred to me: if my mother had also read what that idiot Mao wrote on Tianya, when she knew the truth, would she have deliberately taken revenge for Erliang, such as deceiving me into this well like now, and then taking away this rope? In that case, I will soon die of cold and hunger in this well.

  The more I think about it, the more anxious I become. I didn't even have time to check if there really was a place at the bottom of the well that I had overlooked last time. I jumped up with force and grabbed the rope, kicking my feet wildly in both directions. Finally, I managed to get some leverage on the edge and was about to climb up when I saw a flash of light above me. Then, the rope in my hand tightened, followed by a woman's voice: "Ary, haven't you reached the bottom yet? I'm coming down now."

  I lifted my head and saw that the woman had indeed climbed down along the rope, realizing that I had worried for nothing earlier, fearing that the rope could not withstand the weight of two people. I quickly let go of my hand and jumped down. I shone my flashlight at the woman as she slowly slid down along the rope. I noticed that her long hair was not tied up, and it fell down around her face, covering it completely as she lowered her head. The red nightgown seemed particularly eerie in the darkness. As I watched her body slowly falling, I suddenly thought of a question: when I reached the bottom of the well, I had shouted several times upwards, but why did the woman just say that I hadn't reached the bottom yet? And during that time, why didn't she respond to my calls?

  My heart suddenly tightened, I tried to open my eyes wide, shining the flashlight on the woman's face. Her long hair covered her face, I looked at her lowered head, the hair covering her face, that red dress swaying slightly in mid-air, her body slowly falling down. My heartbeat became more and more intense, my palms were all sweaty, my heart almost jumped out. She was getting closer and closer to me, I shone the flashlight straight on her face, I wanted to see who this person was.