Translator: Cinder Translations
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"The police initially suspected an organized prison break and sent people to watch the village, but we had no idea what was going on," the village head explained.
"Eventually, a merchant who had returned to Anping Town from another place hurriedly reported to the town that he had seen many corpses hanging in a small forest not far from the town."
"The bodies were bloody, mutilated beyond recognition. At first, the merchant thought they were slaughtered livestock."
"Were they the men from the prison?" Jiang Zhongyi's expression changed slightly.
The village head's face darkened. After a long pause, he nodded. "Yes, initially it was the men from the prison. Once everyone from the prison was dead, the next victims were the villagers."
"Everyone who had any contact with Zhao Xiangmei, she spared not a single one. The entire Qian family shop was nearly wiped out."
At this point, the village head seemed to realize he had lost his composure, and his tense body relaxed slightly. He no longer spoke in a hoarse voice and quickly explained.
It turned out that the former village head of Xia Shijian Village was surnamed Qian.
The Qian family was the largest family in the village. Back in that era, the power in some remote areas was still tightly held by these large families.
So, what Zhao Xiangmei did back then was allowed, and even supported, by the Qian family.
However, when questioned by the police, the Qian family shifted all the blame onto Zhao Xiangmei, which eventually led to their own tragic fate.
The Qian family was the first to suffer retaliation. In just one month, the once mighty Qian family was shattered, with only a few survivors.
Some of the Qian family members who escaped the village also disappeared without a trace.
The abandoned houses before them mostly belonged to members of the Qian family.
"Is there really no one who survived?" Li Lu hugged herself. She hadn't even gotten over Ben Fu's death when she heard such chilling news.
"No," the village head shook his head.
Zhou Rong, with his keen eyesight, noticed a temple-like building around 100 meters away on the left. It was in a similarly dilapidated state as the surrounding houses.
From a distance, the building's main door was wide open, and several windows, possibly made of paper, were completely ruined. The interior was pitch-black.
"What is that place?" Zhou Rong stopped and turned to the village head.
When the village head saw the building, a look of nostalgia appeared in his eyes. He sighed before answering, "That used to be the Qian family's ancestral hall. After the Qian family fell from power, no one took care of it anymore."
Chen Xiaomeng looked at the Qian family's ancestral hall from afar and thought to herself that it wasn't just about no one daring to clean it; it seemed the villagers didn't even dare to approach it.
As they walked and talked, time passed quickly.
By the time the sun was fully up, the stone-paved road disappeared, and they entered a mountain valley.
This mountain path was much more rugged and winding compared to the road that led from the town to the village. In some places, they had to help each other to make it through.
The village head explained that this path hadn't been used for a long time because the original road had been washed away by a mountain flood, so they had no choice but to take a new one.
"How much longer?"
Jiang Zhongyi was surprisingly less fit than Pei Qian and Li Lu. After walking for a while, he was already gasping for breath, and he could taste blood in his throat.
With his cane, the village head still needed the help of the dark-skinned man to walk. He quickened his pace and suddenly said, "We've arrived."
They pushed aside the obstructing branches, and before them appeared a vast, open space.
A tranquil spring, like the Milky Way pouring down, lay nestled between the mountains.
On both sides, towering peaks and giant trees stood like guards, blocking the view, almost as if trying to suffocate the spring.
Pei Qian looked around, then gazed into the distance. The ridgelines of the mountains stretched out in a long, unbroken line.
"Strange," he suddenly said.
Jiang Zhongyi, who was closest to him, heard Pei Qian muttering to himself. He frowned and asked, "What's strange?"
Pei Qian ignored him and instead turned to the village head, "Village Head Liu," he asked, "When did the villagers first discover this deep pool?"
"Oh, that was a long time ago," the village head said, pursing his dry lips and coughing a couple of times. "It definitely wasn't in the last hundred years, it's much older, but exactly how long ago, I'm not sure."
Jiang Cheng cautiously walked to the edge of the pool, squatted down on a relatively safe-looking rock, and reached out to touch the water. He immediately felt the water's icy chill.
In an instant, he shivered all over.
He had never thought water could be so cold without freezing.
"This water is really cold," the dark-skinned man appeared not far from Jiang Cheng. He had developed a good impression of Jiang Cheng after secretly giving him a steamed bun earlier.
He reminded Jiang Cheng, "Be careful, if you fall in, it's impossible to get back out."
Jiang Cheng retracted his hand and stared at the deep, cold water. After a while, he suddenly asked, "Are there fish in this water?"
"Fish?" The man didn't seem to understand Jiang Cheng's question, his thick eyebrows knitted together.
This place was once where the village executed unfaithful women. After over a hundred years, there were certainly more than a few hundred bodies down there.
And Zhao Xiangmei's body was also in it.
Such a cursed place, and he was wondering about fish?
"I don't know," the man swallowed hard and answered honestly. "There shouldn't be any, I think."
The water here is so cold that even a brief touch can leave you numb for days. An old blind woman had once visited, leaning on a snake-headed cane. She claimed the water carried the vengeful spirits of the dead women. If anyone fell in, the spirits would hold them fast, and they'd never make it back out.
The dark-skinned man didn't understand such things. He just knew this place was very dangerous. If possible, it was better not to come, and if they did, they should stay far away from the water.
"Ada!"
Suddenly, the dark-skinned man heard the village head calling him. After responding, he hurried over, as he was very obedient to the village head.
The area was slippery, and the village head likely intended to lead them to the stone monument with the curse.
Jiang Cheng lowered his head, gazing at the dark pool.
The pool spanned several hundred square meters. The water near the edges was clearer, but the closer it got to the center, the darker it became. The very center was so dark that it seemed to swallow the light.
After staring for a long while, Jiang Cheng began to feel dizzy. Strange images started flashing in his mind, and he felt an impulse to jump into the water.
He struggled to suppress the urge, and in the moment he broke free from it, he saw a woman's face in the center of the dark water.
By the time he realized it and looked again, the area was pitch-black once more.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something behind him in the reflection of the water—someone had quietly appeared behind him.
From the shape, it was undoubtedly a woman.
The woman raised one foot, as though preparing to strike.
(End of the Chapter)
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