Chapter Thirty-One: The Divine Doctor in Seclusion in a Mountain Village

  "Ballad? Village head...... Are you talking about the ancient well ballad?" The middle-aged man's face turned pale.

  "Yes." The village chief's voice was like a murmur, "The ancient well omen, the curse of the ancient well has begun, and none of us can stop it..."

  A middle-aged man's face turned pale, "Yes, the old well omen! I remember that the first sentence of the old well omen says that the bronze bell warns of death in the old well. The stone and the big cow died in the old well, and the curse is coming true."

  I feel that what they said is like summoning the soul of a dead person, it's eerie and terrifying, even more painful than the gleaming cow ear knife that was just pressed against my body.

  But the villagers who were watching felt much more intense than me, those who brought their children immediately pulled them to their side, nervously looking around.

  "It's started, it really has..." The village chief nodded heavily, "Everyone go back home first, tomorrow morning we'll deal with the stone and the big cow's corpses! As for him..." The village chief pointed at me and said to Xiaoge in a low voice, "Xiaoge, trouble you to take him back to the village to find Gabba to treat his wounds... But before things are cleared up, he still can't leave the village!"

  As soon as the village chief's voice fell, the dense crowd dispersed quickly and cleanly, and what had just happened was like a dream.

  The little brother walked onto the stage and put me down from the gallows. Next to him stood a embarrassed Yuelong. I was angry with him for not testifying for me earlier, almost getting burned to death by the big fire, and glared at him furiously!

  The stone dragon statue didn't see my angry gaze and came forward to support me!

  I was supported by Xiao Ge and Yan Long, stumbling for about half an hour, until we entered a simple thatched hut at the far end of the village.

  The thatched hut stood alone, looking very conspicuous. As soon as I walked in, a strong medicinal smell hit me in the face. The four walls of the house were filled with all sorts of herbs, occupying most of the space. In other places, there were several stoves, burning fiercely, on which were copper pots, copper cauldrons, and strange purple copper instruments that couldn't be named. Each copper instrument emitted a strong medicinal fragrance.

  A strong medicinal fragrance turned into a swirling mist that filled the entire room, like a fog, adding to the mystery of the house.

  The little brother and Yan Long helped me lie down on a bamboo bed made of bamboo, the wound hurt to death, I was panting loudly.

  The young man walked into the inner room and came out with an emaciated, waxen-yellow old man after a while. "Uncle Gaba, my brother here has been stabbed, can you treat him?"

  "This old man named Ga Ba snorted, 'Is this another one of the village head's troubles?' He said coldly, 'Put the person here, and you all get out of here first.'"

  The old man's apathetic attitude was out of place with the entire Huanglong Village, which surprised me. The young fellow glanced at me and called for Yan Long to exit the thatched cottage.

  They should have gone back by now, right?

  Gaba bustled around the house for a while, then walked towards me with a copper plate in her hands. I opened my eyes wide and looked around, but the fog was too thick and I couldn't see anything clearly.

  Gaba walked closer to the bamboo bed, and I suddenly saw the ugliest face in the world!

  I absolutely can't believe there's such an ugly man in this world? His face can only be described with two words: disgusting!

  The man in front of him, called Ga Ba, was short and small, with white hair, dull eyes, and a face that was not quite human, but rather a tattooed face!

  Although I have never seen a tattooed man in person, I once looked up information about tattoos online. Generally, people who get tattoos only tattoo their face, or forehead, or chin, just a little bit. But this old man not only had his forehead covered with dense texts and pictures, but even his ears had them, the whole face emitting a faint blue glow, very scary!

  "You don't have to be afraid, everyone looks at me with this expression." Gabba stared with a pair of white and black eyeballs, unspeakably terrifying.

  Wave after wave of pain washed over me, and I closed my tired eyes. Next to my ear, I could only hear the "clanging" sound of instruments and the occasional sighs, those sounds seemed incredibly distant in no time... I fell asleep dazedly.

  When I opened my eyes again, it was already daylight. A ray of sunlight shone into the thatched hut, making the room brighter than last night, but the air inside was still filled with a strong medicinal smell.

  The flavor is very strong, but it smells so comfortable in my nose!

  I struggled to move my body and felt a sharp pain coming from the left collarbone. I vaguely remembered what had happened last night.

  Thanks to that damned village chief, my left clavicle was hit by a sharp cow horn, and I almost got burned to death on the gallows. Fortunately, the death of that big cow helped me escape the god of death's notice!

  Stones, big cows mysteriously died in the village entrance of the cursed ancient well, whether they fell and died or were killed by others. Or is it really dead from the "bronze bell warning, ancient well death" curse?

  Is the curse of the old well really so terrifying?

  If I had known that something so eerie would happen in your village, it almost cost me my life. I'd rather have stayed at the Phoenix Inn in Fenghuang Town.

  Thinking of Phoenix Inn, I suddenly remembered the black-clothed woman who attacked me on the village path two nights ago. Could the person wearing a black and white dress really be the young girl from the inn, Autumn Swallow? But that person's face was not Autumn Swallow's at all...

  And if it was really Autumn Swallow, why did she come to Huanglong Village? And besides, she had no reason to attack me!

  I couldn't understand, when suddenly I heard a female voice coming from one corner of the house. The voice was devoid of any emotion, like a curse from hell.

  "The bronze bell tolls a warning, an old well claims a life; the mountain behind is haunted by ghosts, chickens and dogs are restless; guests come for birthdays and longevity celebrations, but the whole village is desolate, oh so desolate..."

  As I listened to this sound, I felt a chill run down my spine and goosebumps all over. Could this be the ancient well legend that the village elder mentioned last night?

  I struggled to look towards the corner of the house where the sound was coming from, and saw a woman wearing a light blue long dress, with canvas shoes on her feet, and black long hair covering her face, crouching in front of a stove, adding fuel to it while murmuring a song like she was in a dream.

  The figure of this woman is not unfamiliar to me. It turns out that she was the girl who sent white chrysanthemum flowers at the entrance of the inn that night!

  Who is she? How did she appear in Gaba's house? And singing such a strange song?

  I was taken aback and turned sideways, calling out in a low voice, "Little sister, is that you?"

  The girl sitting by the stove smiled at me and said, "It's me, I'm Yaotou! How come you're awake?"

  "I woke up early, how did you end up here?"

  "How did I end up here? This is Huanglong Village, it's my home, don't you know?"

  Huanglong Village, how could I not know? It's just that this woman who sent white chrysanthemum flowers and was called "Ya Tou" at the Phoenix Inn suddenly appeared in front of me, which made me a bit surprised. "Ya Tou, we've met before, at the entrance of the Phoenix Inn! Do you still remember?"

  "Is that so? I don't seem to recall..." The young girl looked bewildered, "It's as if I've never seen you before..." She muttered to herself, "The bronze bell tolls a warning, the old well claims lives; the mountain behind is haunted, chickens and dogs are restless; on birthdays and festivals, the whole village is desolate, the whole village is desolate..."

  Her voice sent a shiver down my spine!

  How did she end up like this?

  I didn't dare to respond, when suddenly a cold voice came from outside the house, "Girl, what nonsense are you spouting? Get out of here quickly!"

  The girl's whole body trembled as she looked at Gaba walking in, and immediately stopped the chanting in her mouth.

  It's clear that the girl seems to be very afraid of this man named Gaba. What is their relationship? Could they be grandfather and granddaughter?

  Before I could even react, the girl got up from in front of the stove as if she had lost her soul, walking away while making silly "heh heh" giggles, and then exited the thatched hut.

  This girl must be pretending to be silly!

  Gaba put down the medicine box on his shoulder and walked to the bamboo bed, asking me, "How are you? Are you feeling better?"

  To be honest, the wound on the left clavicle has indeed improved a lot. I couldn't help but smile with gratitude, "Gaba uncle, thank you, I'm much better!"

  "Hmm." Gaba's tone remained icy, "Apply the ancestral golden wound medicine, it should get better!"

  "Thanks, Uncle Gaba!"

  "Never mind, you don't have to thank me. In this Huanglong Village, the village head has committed too many atrocities. If it weren't for me, this village would have added many more lost souls..."

  "Lost soul? So you're saying that Uncle Mo has saved many people like me before?" I asked in a low voice.

  Gaba shook his head, "It's not all! In Huanglong Village, the village chief's words are authoritative. You were able to survive last night is already a miracle!"

  "Can the village chief really be lawless?" I still had lingering anger from last night's scene.

  "Xiao Lan, there are some things I don't know whether to tell you or not... In their Huanglong Village, the village chief's words are authoritative, even more than what Eighth Grandfather says. You're an outsider, so it's better to be careful!"

  "Is he more powerful than Eighth Grandfather?"

  "Yes, Old Man Ba is the clan head, but after all, the village chief is an administrative official, so most of the villagers in Huanglong Village still listen to the village chief's words!" Ga Ba said.

  I recalled the village chief's expression of being pleased with my impending doom last night, and I couldn't help but shudder. "So to speak, your village chief in Huanglong Village has the power to control life and death!"

  "It can be said!" Gabba replied expressionlessly.

  I caught a piece of information that when Ga Ba mentioned Huang Long Village, he was referring to their Huang Long Village. Could it be that this strange-faced person in front of us is not from Huang Long Village?

  I was shocked by this idea in my heart, "Gaba uncle, aren't you a person from this village?"

  He let out a deep sigh and said, "Young man, in Huanglong Village, if you don't want to shorten your own life, it's best not to randomly ask about anything."

  What does Uncle Gaba mean by this? Yin soul taboo

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