I never expected to find a female corpse at the bottom of the well.
It wasn't the corpse itself that frightened me. In our line of work, we've seen all kinds of bodies. What scared me was losing my breath the moment I saw her. Without oxygen at such a depth, I needed to surface quickly or risk drowning.
Thanks to the buoyancy, I ascended much faster than I had descended. Even so, I nearly lost consciousness during the final stretch.
Just as I was about to pass out, I burst through the water's surface, gasping for air. Despite the strong smell of bleach and decay, breathing fresh air felt incredibly good.
But then, I glanced up and was stunned.
The rope that had been hanging into the well was gone. Worse, the well's mouth seemed blocked by something, plunging me into darkness. The blue sky was no longer visible.
"Senior Officer! Senior Officer!" I called out.
There was no response, only my echo reverberating off the well walls, making me uneasy.
The eerie atmosphere reminded me of the corpse I had seen at the bottom, sending chills down my spine.
"Old Ge! Officer Li!" I shouted again, but still no response.
What was going on? I started to panic. Despite the cold water, sweat began to form on my forehead.
"Is anyone up there? Help! Help!" I cried out.
The silence that followed was unbearable. Floating in the water, I pondered what might have happened.
I estimated that my dive and return had taken less than three minutes. They couldn't have left so quickly.
Damn, did I encounter a ghost?
Glancing down, I feared the female corpse might float up. This well was indeed unusual. Typically, wells were ten to twenty meters deep, but this one was at least fifty or sixty meters. It must have been dug decades ago when tools were less advanced, making such a depth unnecessary and suspicious.
But now wasn't the time to think about that. I needed to figure out how to get out.
Although the well's diameter was small, climbing up by pressing against both sides was nearly impossible. My arms couldn't extend straight to brace against the walls.
I tried using my feet and back to push against the walls, but the wet surfaces made me slip.
Now I understood how the previous scratch marks were made. This feeling of utter helplessness was truly miserable. I regretted not bringing a climbing axe; it would have made the climb out much easier.
Just as I was nearing despair, there was a sudden "boom" from above, and the well cover was moved aside.
I looked up to see Zhang Yihan squatting at the well's edge.
"What do you mean, trying to drown me in here?" I shouted angrily.
"Wow, getting bold now, daring to shout at me?" she sneered. "Do you want to come up or not?"
"You..." I knew arguing with her wouldn't get me anywhere. "Heh, Senior Officer, I didn't realize it was you. How could I yell at you?" I said, though internally I cursed her and her family.
I decided that if she didn't give me a reasonable explanation, I'd confront her once I was out.
Soon, Officer Li threw down the static rope I had used earlier, and I climbed up.
I was ready to demand an explanation as soon as I surfaced, but Zhang Yihan handed me a bottle of water.
"Lin, you've done a great job. When we finish this task, I'll make sure you get a commendation."
"A commendation?" I was puzzled.
"You'll see soon enough," she said, pulling me out of the yard.
Outside, a dozen villagers of various ages, men, women, and children, stood on the small path.
Leading me to them, Zhang Yihan asked, "What did you all hear just now?"
"I heard ghost calls again, like someone crying for help..." a middle-aged woman said, trembling.
Her words prompted the villagers to speak up all at once.
"I heard someone shouting 'Senior Officer'..."
"I heard someone calling Old Ge and Officer Li..."
"No, usually I hear a female ghost crying, but this time it sounded like a male ghost..."
Seeing the scene before me, I finally understood Zhang Yihan's intention. She had used me as a guinea pig for her experiment!
Clearly, Zhang Yihan had gathered villagers who had previously heard the so-called "ghost calls" at the Guo family yard. She had them come here to hear my screams from the well, confirming what they had heard before.
I had to admit, Zhang Yihan's method was quite effective.
Hearing the villagers' testimonies, I realized that someone had thrown a living person into the well, explaining the scratch marks on the walls.
Throwing someone into the well and covering it, letting them drown... the killer was incredibly cruel. But Zhang Yihan's ruthlessness surpassed even that.
At that moment, I remembered I intended to confront her. Now, it seemed fitting to settle old and new grievances together.
However, just as I was about to unleash my anger, Zhang Yihan said, "You did well. Once this task is completed, I'll request your permanent status."
"Really?" I almost jumped for joy. The thought of my two stars turning into a bar with a flower made me so excited I forgot everything. Clearly, I was no match for Zhang Yihan; she could easily manipulate me with a few words.
This was not the time to argue with her. The case was becoming increasingly complicated, and I had lost confidence in solving it.
After changing clothes, I joined Zhang Yihan to gather the villagers at a small field near the village entrance. We took their statements, not using pen and paper or a computer but recording their accounts with a voice recorder.
We needed them to recall when they had heard the "ghost calls" at the Guo family yard.
After questioning, we obtained the following clues:
Officer Li was right; the haunting began about three years ago. Most villagers recalled hearing the "ghost calls" within that timeframe.Each time someone heard the ghost calls, a person would commit suicide by jumping into the well within a few days. These incidents reinforced their belief in the well's deadly curse. Sadly, the villagers were too superstitious and timid to save anyone.They all heard a woman's voice. We inferred the killer only targeted women.When asked why suicides occurred in the Guo family well, villagers consistently said it was the deepest well in the village.Some villagers mentioned outsiders coming to the Guo family yard to commit suicide, claiming they were lured by the ghosts of the well.Villagers also claimed to have seen a ghost: a long-haired woman in black standing at the yard entrance. One young woman, Xiaohong, said she saw the ghost there just last night.
Although they spoke convincingly, we disregarded the ghost sighting.
For the villagers, this was merely a haunting. For us, it pointed to our investigation's direction.
Since the haunting began two to three years ago, we could ask the Guo family if anything unusual happened then. It was clear someone was faking supernatural occurrences to kill.
We also needed to gather information on recent victims to find commonalities. If they all died in the same place, it suggested the same person or group was responsible. These commonalities would be crucial in identifying the killer.
What started as a case of a child's eyes being gouged out had quickly escalated into a horrifying serial murder investigation spanning two to three years.
I couldn't help but wonder what the local police were doing. With so many suicides in the same village over several years, hadn't they noticed something amiss?
This led me to a strange thought: could there be something wrong with the local police station itself?