It seemed like such a long time since Lin Qiushi had opened his eyes to a beautiful morning filled with pleasant sunshine and clear skies. The fierce winds had stopped, the heavy snowfall had stopped, and the radiant sun hung high in the sky, casting its warm rays upon the earth. It was as if the horrific experiences they went through last night were but mere nightmares not worth mentioning.
Lin Qiushi, who seldom lazed around, actually stayed behind and relaxed in bed with Ruan Baijie. They chatted, sang songs, recited verses, and even explored the philosophies of life.
At last, Ruan Baijie clamored that she was hungry, and she pressed Lin Qiushi to get her something to eat.
Lin Qiushi stood up and went to the kitchen, only to find that everyone had woken up early. They were currently eating their breakfast and discussing their plans to visit the carpenter later.
Xiong Qi caught sight of Lin Qiushi and greeted him, before asking where Ruan Baijie was.
"She"s still in bed." Lin Qiushi replied. "She said that it was too cold and that she didn"t want to get out of bed, so I came to bring some food back to her."
Xiong Qi hummed. He then told him they intended to go out later, indicating that it"d be best for Lin Qiushi to join them. If this were an ordinary day, everyone would"ve suspected that both Lin Qiushi and Ruan Baijie did something in the bedroom. But who would do such things after the events that broke out last night? If she and Lin Qiushi still had the energy and proclivity for such activities at such a time, then they truly were gifted and blessed in their own way.
They set off to the carpenter"s house today. Xiong Qi mainly wanted to inquire about the well. They didn"t know how they should fill it, when they should fill it, and most importantly, what they should fill the well with.
A while had pa.s.sed since they"d arrived here, and Lin Qiushi just now confirmed that there was one well in nearly every household. Most of the wells were positioned directly in the center of the courtyards, evidently obstructing the paths of the people entering and exiting the building. In terms of structure and composition, this was indisputably unscientific. It seemed as though this village harbored some strange, mysterious customs.
The carpenter"s false information led to the deaths of their two comrades yesterday, so when everyone met the carpenter again today, their moods were sour and their att.i.tudes, hostile. Even the polite and good-natured Xiong Qi had a rather cold expression on his face. But the old man could hardly care. As before, he grasped that tobacco smoking pipe in his hand and narrowed his eyes as he inhaled deeply then blew out a hazy cloud of smoke.
"Elder, we"ve finished paying our respects, what do we need to do next?" Xiong Qi asked.
"Naturally, you must fill the well." The carpenter unconcernedly responded. "Pick a night, dump something lifeless into the well, and then you"re done."
"Something lifeless? What do you mean by something lifeless?" A feeling of dread washed over Xiao Ke, and her tone suddenly became hoa.r.s.er, graver. "What do you mean?"
Shrugging, the carpenter stated, "The literal meaning."
"So, any dead creature can be used?" Xiong Qi quickly verified.
"Yes. Any dead creature will do," replied the carpenter. "Chickens, ducks, dogs, geese. If you can find them, toss them into the well within three days and cover it with soil, then the coffin can be built."
Upon hearing that any dead object would suffice, Xiong Qi sagged his shoulders and heaved a sigh of relief, but he hadn"t even finished exhaling, when Ruan Baijie suddenly pointed out, "We"ve been staying in this village for so many days, yet we haven"t seen a single living animal in this village. Just where in the world are we supposed to find chickens, ducks, dogs, or geese."
"But didn"t we eat some eggs?" Lin Qiushi thought of the basket filled with food that was just sitting in the house. "Since there are eggs, there should obviously be chickens."
"You didn"t examine that basket carefully." Ruan Baijie continued, "There were absolutely no outsiders that came into our house, and none of the villagers also came in. The basket automatically filled itself with more ingredients and food."
Lin Qiushi: "…Then where exactly did those eggs come from."
Ruan Baijie: "What"s the point in concerning yourself with where those eggs came from. In any case, they tasted pretty good."
Lin Qiushi: "…" His stomach began to churn.
Under Ruan Baijie"s reminder, everyone seemed to have realized there were no living creatures in this village. The season was winter right now, and these barren mountains contained no life. The clever Xiong Qi instantly caught on to the key issue. Blood drained from his face, his complexion soon turned ashen. "Elder, what exactly do you mean?"
The carpenter rasped, "I am merely one who builds coffins. I can only say and do so much. I would never deliberately harm you all."
When he said this, someone finally couldn"t hold back his wrath. A man slammed his hands on the table and furiously snarled, "Saying that you"d never harm us on purpose! You clearly told us to go into the temple one by one to pray! But if we had entered the temple alone, as you said to do, all of us would"ve died—”
The carpenter coldly hissed, "What is a coffin used for?"
Everyone was struck dumb.
"None other than to hold the dead. What"s the use of a coffin without dead people?" A treacherous grin crept onto his face, and the carpenter cackled. With those deep wrinkles marring his face, the old man looked frightfully eerie. "Furthermore, why didn"t you heed my advice…"
Ruan Baijie: "Heed your advice?"
The carpenter shakily lifted a finger and pointed at each and every one of them. "There are so many people left. She has yet to eat her fill."
"Eat her fill…?" When Lin Qiushi heard word "eat", he suddenly recalled the b.l.o.o.d.y remains of the corpses that had been chewed on the third floor and the account the others had described back then. Now, he finally knew where those corpses ended up.
"What the h.e.l.l is that thing." Xiong Qi couldn"t help but ask. "That woman…"
The carpenter indifferently waved his hand and refused to speak any more.
Ruan Baijie"s eye began to roam around the room, and they finally stopped at an empty corner. She gloomily muttered, "Why"d you put that stick away, ah."
The carpenter nearly burst into angry laughter. He sneered, thinking to himself, as if I"d just leave it there and wait for you to pick it up and threaten to beat me up like last time.
Ruan Baijie: "Although that stick is gone, luckily, I"ve prepared beforehand." As she declared this, she reached behind her and fished out a folding knife. "Old man, let"s come clean. Choose your words very carefully and speak loud and clear. At any rate, if you don"t make things crystal clear for us, we"ll all die here. But taking you down with us before we die doesn"t sound half bad."
The carpenter: "…"
Whether it was the stunned carpenter or even Lin Qiushi, who had been rendered speechless, everyone sank into an awkward silence. Practically all of them were thinking, there was still such a way to threaten him??
The carpenter was fuming. Once again, he was utterly defeated by this girl named Ruan Baijie. He had no choice but to gnash his teeth in indignation and grudgingly disclose the details pertaining to ‘The Woman."
As it turned out, that woman was indeed a G.o.ddess the village worshipped. Although she was a deity, she was nevertheless a nefarious deity. She would bless the village, maintain peace and protect the villagers from harm; however, she was also very fond of feasting on flesh and blood. Every winter, the villagers would slaughter animals and offer these sacrifices to the deity in order to live prosperously. But this year, misfortune had struck the village, and the sacrificial animals they had always offered to her disappeared…
But as luck would have it, a few outsiders, who were more than willing to help them build coffins, had arrived just in the nick of time.
There were no words needed, everyone understood it by now. In the villagers" eyes, they were merely livestock ready to be slaughtered, sacrifices to be offered to that deity.
"Do you have to feed her until she"s satisfied? What happens if you don"t feed her?" Xiong Qi wondered.
The carpenter responded, "If you don"t feed her until she"s full…she"ll come for you, and everyone who partic.i.p.ated in building the coffin would have to serve her. Which is why this year, n.o.body else, apart from you all, decided to help make coffins." He took a long drag on his pipe and exhaled. "Anyway, I can only say so much. As long as you fill the well, I can immediately start building the coffin."
Ruan Baijie didn"t utter a single word. She lowered her head and played with the knife in her hands. Swiftly pa.s.sing between her slender fingers, the glinting blade flew at her fingertips. Those who watched this fascinating spectacle were left dazzled.
The carpenter also fell silent. He seemed to be quite afraid of Ruan Baijie. As he spoke, he frequently shifted his eyes and glanced back her.
Just when everyone thought Ruan Baijie would say something, she sighed and stated, "Let"s go."
"You want to return?" Xiong Qi asked.
"What else is there left to do?" Ruan Baijie appeared rather vexed. "He knows so many things, yet he won"t answer our questions no matter how many times we ask." She turned on her heels and pushed the door open. Her att.i.tude as she exited the place was overbearing and utterly resolute.
Upon seeing her stomp out of the house, everyone followed in succession. Lin Qiushi felt that Ruan Baijie"s mood was particularly dark. He chased her out the door and asked her what was wrong.
Ruan Baijie warned, "Be careful tonight."
"What do you mean? Are you saying that thing might come to find us?" Lin Qiushi could only think of this reason for her solemn words of caution.
"Hah." Ruan Baijie grinned slightly. She suddenly twisted around, approached Lin Qiushi and leaned forward. A breath away from his ear, she softly puffed, "Sometimes, people are even more fearsome and terrible than ghosts."
Lin Qiushi froze.
"Let"s go back." Ruan Baijie swiveled back around and faced the front. Lin Qiushi stared at her retreating figure, and he suddenly felt as though he honestly couldn"t see through this girl.
Before they went over to the carpenter"s place and spoke to him, everyone occasionally said a sentence or two. But after returning home from the carpenter"s place, everyone"s mood collapsed, becoming a pool of stagnant water, one that was particularly filthy and motionless.
Lin Qiushi simply couldn"t understand why this was the case. Munching on a roasted sweet potato, Ruan Baijie slowly explained, "You"re quite dim-witted, ah. Earlier, everyone only thought of working together to complete the task, but now…"
"Now?" Lin Qiushi tilted his head in bafflement.
"Now, everyone is looking forward to the others" deaths." Ruan Baijie leaned her back against the chair. "As long as someone dies, there will be a dead body to fill the well. And when the well"s filled, the coffin can also be built. In short, everyone can leave this place with their lives intact…"
Lin Qiushi: "…" Such a thought never even crossed his mind. He was a bit absent-minded after hearing this. "Are all worlds that exist behind these gates like this?"
Ruan Baijie continued, "This actually isn"t that bad though. If anything, you just shouldn"t go outside tonight, or else…"
Lin Qiushi: "Or else we"ll run into that female ghost?"
Ruan Baijie merely shook her head. "Oh, we may run into something even viler than that female ghost."
Deep inside his heart, Lin Qiushi had already guessed what she was suggesting, but he simply didn"t want to admit it. After all, he was born in society governed by laws and social standards; his way of thinking wasn"t able to break away from the ideals he"d always conformed to, his mind just couldn"t accept anything other than the ethics that had been instilled within him since birth. Ruan Baijie hinted that some people would kill their own comrades in order to obtain a carca.s.s to fill the well, but Lin Qiushi was unwilling to believe that someone would truly commit such heinous deeds.
That night, Lin Qiushi, who suffering from insomnia, tossed and turned in his bed. As always, Ruan Baijie was sprawled out next to him, sleeping like a carefree pig.
Lin Qiushi gazed at the ceiling and sorted through all of the events that happened during the day. The windows and door were secured shut; he had originally wanted to barricade the door with a chair but, at that moment, Ruan Baijie strolled over to his side and uttered one sentence: "Are you not afraid that something might suddenly appear inside our room…?"
Lin Qiushi: "…!!!" That makes sense!
And so, he obediently moved the chair over.
Of course, things that were bound to happen would, obviously, happen sooner or later. At two o"clock in the morning, the restless Lin Qiushi, who was still having trouble sleeping, had once again heard the miserable shrieks of a human being.