Chapter Thirty-Two: The Ominous Rumor and Curse

  Gaba put on a cold face and changed my medicine, bringing me a bowl of porridge to drink. The porridge tasted very bitter, I didn't know what material it was made from, but after drinking it down, it cooled my lungs and I suddenly had some energy!

  He had wanted to ask him about the stone and the big cow's death, whether they had found out the cause of their deaths, but remembering his previous warning, he suppressed the doubts in his heart.

  Gaba was busy in the house for a while, carrying a medicine box and went out again. Until nightfall, he didn't come back. I lay alone on the bed, feeling stuffy and my stomach growling with hunger. Trying to move my body, I surprisingly felt that the pain at the left shoulder blade wasn't so severe anymore. Overjoyed in my heart, I struggled to get out of bed and went to the kitchen to find something to fill my stomach.

  The cold moonlight shines into the thatched cottage, and the surroundings are eerily quiet. Suddenly, a woman's voice comes from outside in the darkness, "Come out, I'll take you to a place!"

  It's actually Yatou's voice!

  I was startled, and immediately walked out of the thatched cottage, seeing Ah Dou's silly smile appear in front of me, her expression completely different from when she sent white chrysanthemums at the Phoenix Inn that night!

  Are they the same person? But it's absolutely impossible to find two identical faces in this world! I was stunned for a moment, and asked vaguely, "Where are we going?"

  The girl smiled foolishly and gestured with her hand, saying, "That place is really fun, just follow me and you'll see!"

  Is this girl really stupid or pretending to be crazy? I grasped her wrist with my right hand, exerting a slight force, and said in a low voice, "Who are you?"

  The girl cried out in pain, and I also strained the wound on my left shoulder blade, and a cold sweat seeped out of my forehead.

  Ya Tou pulled her hand out with force, shouting as she did so, "Didn't I tell you earlier that my name is Ya Tou... Let me go, let me go!"

  I involuntarily released the hand that was holding hers, calmed down slightly, and then said, "Alright, you lead the way in front, I'll go with you!"

  The girl rubbed her wrist which I had grabbed painfully with her hand and surprisingly smiled, "Alright, let's go!"

  In the darkness, I and Yaotou left the thatched cottage filled with Chinese herbal medicine scent, heading towards the village. Her slender figure was like a spirit in the black night, reminding me of the black-clothed woman who attacked me that night, as well as the red-clad female ghost...

  The eerie and majestic mountains surrounding us made me feel a chill run down my spine. What kind of storm is brewing in this strange village?

  I don't know, I don't know... this feeling is almost suffocating me! Is everything really related to that sketch as little brother said?

  The girl led me to the left and right, dodging and hiding, and soon came to the back of a magnificent wooden building. The wooden building was lit up, and through the paper-covered windows, I could see the shadows of people inside.

  Whose wooden building is this? Why did this silly girl bring me here? Before I could even think, a gentle breeze brushed against my ear, and the girl leaned in close to my ear, "Big brother, look who's inside?"

  What's left of the silly tone in Ya Tou's words? I was startled, turned my head to look at her, and saw that a pair of eyes as clear as autumn water were staring at me!

  I was startled in my heart and asked in a low voice, "Who are you after all? Why did you bring me here?" In such an eerie environment, it's still better to be careful!

  The girl's eyes suddenly had a hint of melancholy, "You have to believe me, I absolutely won't harm you..." This expression instantly returned to the same one as when I first saw her that night at Feng Huang Inn.

  This is what she really looks like! But why does she pretend to be silly?

  I was hesitating, considering whether to leave here and go back to Gaba's house, but the girl had already taken a few steps closer, put her hand on her lips, took a small amount of saliva, and gently poked at the paper window with her finger, instantly creating a hole the size of a fingertip.

  She leaned forward and looked into the hole, then motioned for me to come forward and take a look.

  What kind of person is in this house? What's the purpose of bringing me here? I nervously approached the hole and was stunned at a glance!

  I saw the village chief who almost burned me to death with a big fire sitting in an antique armchair with a gloomy face, next to him was a middle-aged man with a terrified face, who was the one who reported the death of the cow.

  "Yang Zheng, I've told you before not to come here for no reason. Did anyone see you when you came tonight?" The village chief's tone was filled with annoyance.

  Yang Zheng stole a glance at the gloomy and unpredictable village chief, and replied in a low voice, "No, absolutely not. I only came over after making sure that no one had discovered me."

  "That's good! What did you say, what's going on?"

  "Village chief, three people have already died in our village. Is this thing really related to the old well rumor?"

  "Hum! How would I know that? But one thing is for sure, things are not as simple as they seem. Maybe someone is stirring up trouble to muddy the waters and their goal might be the same as ours!"

  "You... you mean, besides us, there are others who have their eyes on that thing too?" A hint of panic flashed across Yang Zheng's face.

  Another death in Huanglong Village? A chill ran down my spine. What on earth were they talking about? Was it the rough sketch that Xiao Ge mentioned?

  "You're a blockhead! Who doesn't want something that's truly valuable in this world? Oh, right, what's the little brother up to today?"

  "Xiao Ge seems to have stayed at Yan Long's house all day and didn't go anywhere!" Yang Zheng replied.

  "He's a tough nut, and now that he's back in the village at this critical moment, things are going to be even more difficult. You keep an eye on him!" The village chief said with a wave of his hand, "You should also leave, and don't come running here for no reason in the future, lest you arouse other people's suspicion!"

  "Yes." Yang Zheng said, turning around and walking towards the door, but suddenly stopped again. "Village head, in two days it will be Old Man Ba's 80th birthday celebration, with one death after another in the village, will the banquet still be held?"

  The village chief thought for a moment and said, "Let's do it! Why not? And we'll make that old man's birthday banquet even more grand than before! If possible, hehe..."

  What could it be, the village chief didn't continue, but his laughter sent shivers down my spine and made all the hairs on my body stand on end.

  In an instant, Yang Zheng had already agreed to open the door and walk out. I was worried about being discovered, so I gently pulled at the hem of his clothes and said in a low voice, "Hurry up!"

  The girl hastily followed me and slipped away from the village chief's house, hiding in the nearby dense forest.

  I saw Yang Zheng walk out of the village chief's yard, look around in terror, and then quickly walked forward.

  I was scared to death! I closed my eyes and took a long deep breath. Suddenly, I heard the maid's low whisper beside me, "Look, who is that?"

  The girl's voice was particularly urgent, and my heart, which had just been put at ease, was immediately tightened again! I opened my eyes and looked in the direction she was pointing, and suddenly saw a slender black-clothed woman with a fleeting shadow walking in the direction Yang Zheng had left, and in the blink of an eye she disappeared...

  She is following Yang Zheng?

  I recalled the incident that night when I was ambushed by her, and my heart was filled with rage. I stood up from the dense forest and shouted at the servant girl, "Let's go and follow them to see who it is!"

  The girl grabbed me and whispered, "Forget it, let's hurry back, or else Gaba will find out you're not there and get suspicious!"

  I thought about it and felt that the girl was also right, so I didn't insist on it anymore. I followed her out of the dense forest towards the direction of the thatched cottage deep in the mountains.

  All the way I asked Ya Tou about the ancient well legend, what's going on? Ya Tou hesitated for a moment and nodded, saying to me, "Big brother, since you've come to our village, it seems that some things can't be hidden from you..."

  The girl said slowly, "This ancient well song doesn't know when or who created it. Anyway, since I can remember, I've heard Ga Ba uncle recite it. Other people in Huang Long Village have also heard their elders recite it. It's said that this ancient well song is related to the peace of our entire village. Have you ever heard about the bronze bell on the old locust tree at the entrance of our village and the ancient well?"

  "I've heard Grandpa say it before!" I replied.

  "Uh-huh." The girl continued on her own, "The whole nursery rhyme only has six sentences, 'Bronze bell warning, ancient well dead person; Back mountain noisy ghost, chicken dog not peaceful; Birthday guest coming, whole village desolate……' Bronze bell fell, stone and big cow died in the ancient well at the village entrance, already fulfilled the first two sentences of the old rhyme. And today, the second dog in the village mysteriously died on the Broken Soul Mountain behind the village, I'm afraid the second sentence of the old rhyme is also starting to come true! And..." The girl looked at me with fear in her eyes in the darkness and stopped talking.

  "And what's more, isn't it Lao Ye's birthday in two days?" I muttered to myself like a sleepwalker, "Birthday guests, the whole village is deserted..."

  "Hmm, yes. You said that two days later, on Eighth Grandfather's birthday, our entire village will become desolate like in the ancient well legend..."

  This vicious old well rumor! I couldn't help but shiver with a chill, a piercing coldness rising from the bottom of my heart! No, it can't be! How could the whole village be desolate?

  It's not as simple as that!

  From the moment I entered Huanglong Village, I had a particularly strange feeling. The copper bell that fell from the sky, the black-clothed woman and red-clothed fierce ghost who attacked me at midnight, the stone and Ah Niu who died mysteriously by the ancient well, being sent to the gallows, the mysterious tattooed man Ga Ba, this weird girl and the two-faced village head Yang Zheng...

  What's going on here? I feel like I've entered a maze and want to find a way out, but can't think of where the key is!

  Maybe little brother can think of it?

  Thinking of Xiao Ge, an unusual feeling rises in my heart. If I can still trust one person in this village, it's Xiao Ge!

  I didn't answer Xiaotou's words and followed her all the way to the thatched cottage of Ga Ba Shu.

  The girl whispered in my ear, "Don't mention tonight's events to anyone else!" After finishing speaking, she instantly returned to her silly appearance, and with a flick of her body, disappeared into the boundless night.

  What is this girl up to? I stood there for a moment before walking into Gabada's thatched hut, which was filled with the strong smell of medicine. Forbidden spirit

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