“A deep pool, huh…” Bei Qian mumbled to himself. Even though they were from modern times, they knew of the culture of this historical era from movies and dramas. They were not fully shocked.
“She was the main culprit. Even if she died, didn’t the police come to search for her body?” Zhou Rong asked the village head, “Or else who could prove that she really had died?” When Zhou Rong asked that question, his eyes casually wandered over to Jiang Cheng as if anticipating the latter’s response. However, he was disappointed. Jiang Cheng narrowed his eyes as he poked the fire. He was as comfortable as a lazy cat.
Zhou Rong pulled back his gaze helplessly. He thought the village head’s description of Zhao Xiangmei would make the latter think of someone… namely, the scary woman who was hidden inside An Ping Inn’s hidden room. A hypothesis appeared in Zhou Rong’s mind. ‘Is it possible that Zhao Xiangmei didn’t die but survived through some miracles and was saved by An Ping Inn’s boss?’
Even though that sounded crazy, Zhou Rong, who had been through five missions, knew that everything was possible in the nightmare realm. The only thing now was to find the evidence or clues to support his hypothesis.
“Zhao Xiangmei is really dead,” The village head sighed. “I can guarantee you that. Because… when they tossed her corpse into the pool, her body was as cold as ice. I touched it, and I was haunted by nightmares for days. She no longer had the body temperature of the living.”
Zhou Rong pressed, “Then… where is her body now?”
“Down at the bottom of Cold Virtue Pond.”
“Did the police not assign people to salvage her body?” It was Ben Fu who spoke. He hugged his knees. He looked like a kid listening to ghost stories.
The village head shook his head. “You are not familiar with the back mountain pool. It’s a very strange place. The water temperature is always cool, no matter the season. Things or people who waded into it would disappear without a trace.” He licked his lips. “The elders in the village said that the pool is connected to hell.”
“Tomorrow, we’ll head to the pool to see it for ourselves.” Zhou Rong spoke. Then, he added, “Is the plaque with the curse still there?”
“Yes.” The head nodded. At this point, the silent, tanned man suddenly leaned over to remind the village head awkwardly, “Chief.” Then, he shot a glance out the window. Everyone looked out. The sky was fully dark. The village head suddenly became very anxious. He thought he hid it well, but everyone saw through him.
“Perhaps the village is not safe at night.” Zhou Rong turned his head back and smiled at the village head, trying to gauge his reaction.
“Erm… Masters, you should rest early. We won’t disturb you any more.” The village head stood up rapidly. He shared a look with the tanned man. The man quickly packed up their things. After he was done, the two left in a hurry.
Before the village head left, he promised he’d bring them to the back mountain pool the next morning. He also warned them to stay indoors at night and not wander anywhere. He didn’t say why.
Then, the travellers had a quick meeting. Zhou Rong insisted on going to the back mountain pain, believing that there were clues there.
Bei Qian was still more conservative. He suggested they stay in the village to gather information first. They could visit the pool later. Then, he provided a very scary but reasonable assumption. “Perhaps going to the pool or witnessing the bloody curse on the plaque will trigger the murders.” He glanced at everyone. He sounded confident and reliable.
“Is… that possible?” Ben Fu’s face paled. He, who was a fence-sitter, immediately sided with Bei Qian. Just as they were arguing whether they should head to the pool, Jiang Cheng suddenly raised his right hand. It was less than ten seconds from the first person noticing him to everyone stopping their arguments to look at him.
Zhou Rong was confused. “Mr. Yi, do you have something to say?”
“It’s not that.” Jiang Cheng put down his hand and then looked around. “I just think this yard is quite strange. It looks like it has been abandoned for some time already, but there are signs that people come here to clean it often.” There was no shortage of clever people in the group. They instantly understood what he meant.
From the outside, this courtyard did look destitute. The front gate was old. The ground that was used for flowers was overgrown with wild grass. However, from the inside, that was not the case. There were charcoal ashes in the stove, and there were a few bamboo baskets filled with charcoals leaning against the walls.
The tanned man arrived at this place empty-handed. However, he soon showed up with a bundle of firewood. This meant that there was a storage room for firewood near this yard. All these proved that someone stayed at this place often. And… Jiang Cheng stood up and pulled open one of the bedroom doors. The room was rather dim, but one could still see a few plain blankets stacked neatly on top of the clay bedframe. The blankets had a few patches, but they looked clean and didn’t smell.
Yu Man lowered her head. Her face flickered against the fire. “In other words…” She began slowly, “The people who stay here won’t help with cleaning the yard. They are just sleeping here and do not plan to take root in this village.”
Once she said that, Bei Qian, Zhou Rong and Chen Xiaomeng’s eyes glowed. Didn’t that… describe them perfectly?
They were there for a case. Therefore, they naturally wouldn’t move to stay at Little Ravine Village. There was no reason for them to clean the yard and water the plants. They just needed a place to rest their heads.
Zhou Rong looked at the rest. “Do you remember what the inn boss said?”
“Those… exorcism experts who went missing?” Jiang Zhongyi widened his eyes.
Everyone’s eyes flashed with fear.
So… did those experts whom the villagers hired once stay in this courtyard, and then… they all mysteriously disappear?
And never to be seen again.