“Cui Shenzi was too careless, how did she end up by the reservoir?” Wu Deli, who had been busy with the funeral all day, was now sitting at the table with his parents, casually shoving a large piece of braised pork into his mouth.
“This is a bit strange,” Wu Deli’s father, Wu Dazhu, paused with his chopsticks, deep in thought. “Cui Shenzi usually doesn’t like going to the reservoir. Why did she suddenly go there quietly and drown?”
Seeing that both men had finished their rice, Wu Xiuzhi took the two empty bowls and stood up to go to the kitchen, planning to serve her husband and son another bowl. Just before entering the kitchen, she heard Wu Deli asking Wu Dazhu, “What about those people from outside…”
The kitchen door accidentally closed when her arm brushed against it, isolating the voices outside. Wu Xiuzhi didn’t mind; she placed the bowls on the table, lifted the pot lid, and saw there was still quite a bit of rice left. She took a wooden spatula and began to scoop rice into the bowls.
Once both bowls were piled high with rice, she cradled one in her hand and walked towards the kitchen door. Just as she was about to open it, she heard a faint rustling sound coming from the cupboard nearby.
Wu Xiuzhi frowned, suspecting a mouse had entered the house. She set the rice down on the table, picked up a broom, and quietly approached the cupboard. Gripping the broom tightly with one hand, she grasped the cupboard door handle with the other, took a deep breath, and then yanked it open!
The cupboard was filled with many bowls and dishes, and some miscellaneous items were piled in the back. The lighting was poor, and it was too dark to see if there was indeed a mouse. She squinted, leaned her head into the cupboard, and gently tapped the door with the broom handle, trying to scare the mouse out.
Suddenly, she felt something unusual on the side of her face, as if there was… wind?
Blowing towards her face.
She turned her head…
A pale, bloated dead face was almost pressed against hers. When it saw her looking over, it opened its toothless mouth and revealed a blood-soaked smile.
Wu Xiuzhi’s body, which was outside the cupboard, suddenly struggled violently. Her hands gripped the edge of the cupboard as she tried to pull her head out, but she was still being pulled inch by inch into the cupboard. The cupboard shook violently but strangely made no sound until…
“Bang!” A loud noise erupted as the cupboard door slammed shut.
“Damn, that old hag scared me!” Outside, Wu Dazhu nearly jumped off his stool, his heart racing. He yelled towards the kitchen, “Be gentle! That cupboard is about to break, don’t knock the door off!”
No response.
Wu Deli found it a bit strange. Given his mother’s usual temperament, she would have already yelled back. What was going on today? He called out, “Mom, what’s wrong?”
Silence filled the kitchen.
Wu Deli felt something was off. He got up and walked to the kitchen door, pulling it open.
Empty.
In front of the cupboard, a single slipper lay awkwardly on the ground, the very one Wu Xiuzhi had just been wearing.
“Mom?” Wu Deli’s expression gradually turned to terror. “Mom—!!”
The once quiet Xiusheng Village suddenly became bustling, with villagers pouring out. Without flashlights, they used the most primitive torches for illumination. Soon, the entire village was lit up, and everyone’s faces were serious.
“Have you found her?”
“No, what about Kuizi’s side?”
“Not there either!”
The anxiety on the villagers’ faces was genuine, but after searching the entire village, no one had seen Wu Xiuzhi, who had suddenly disappeared from her own kitchen. In the end, everyone looked at each other, and without a word, they all turned their gazes towards the direction of the reservoir.
The crowd surged, and from a distance on the mountain, it looked like a galaxy filled with starlight, flowing towards the back of the village.
Wu Xiuzhi floated silently on the water’s surface, silently welcoming the villagers she had known for decades.
“Mom—” Wu Deli cried out, trying to rush into the water, but his friends held him back tightly.
“Deli, don’t be impulsive!” Wu Qiang advised. “It’s not safe to go into the water at night. We’ll use a pole to fish her out; you can’t go in!”
“Yeah, cousin, don’t go in,” Wu Xuehua said, hugging her arms, her eyes filled with fear as she looked at the water’s surface. “Otherwise, you’ll be taken by the water ghost as a substitute!”
“Water ghost? What the hell is a water ghost?!” Wu Deli shouted through tears, yelling at Wu Xuehua, “My mom didn’t even go near the reservoir; she just disappeared from the kitchen! How could a water ghost come to my house to take a substitute?!”
No one could answer him. Everyone stared at the dark water, their hearts filled with dread.
Xin Meng and the five of them stood far behind, watching from a distance, not daring to approach.
“Another person is dead…” Li Yougen trembled, “Is it because of what we did during the day…”
He recalled the terrifying ghostly wails and, like Xin Meng, connected it to something, but was suddenly silenced by Dong Xiu, who fiercely whispered in his ear, “Shut up! Do you want these people to hear and suspect us?”
Li Yougen widened his eyes in fear, nodding repeatedly, no longer daring to say anything. Dong Xiu then warned the most outspoken Xiong Jiabao, but Xiong Jiabao, still upset about the previous incident, ignored him, seemingly wanting to confront him and talk to the villagers.
However, Xin Meng quickly stopped him, feeling exasperated with this guy who was all talk and no brains. He helplessly said, “Don’t do anything just to spite him. If the mission fails, it won’t be good for anyone. You still want to leave here alive, right?”
Xiong Jiabao pouted, finally becoming a bit more obedient.
Their voices were low, and the villagers didn’t hear them, all focused on the shore, trying to retrieve Wu Xiuzhi. However, the bamboo poles they brought were too short to reach, and they had to go into the water. In the end, a few young men volunteered. After decades of knowing each other, no one could bear to let her stay in the water overnight.
The three young men—Wu Qiang, Wu Kuizi, and Wu Xu—were all close friends of Wu Deli. They tied ropes around their waists and slowly waded deeper into the water, while Wu Deli, due to his emotional turmoil, was held back on the shore, accompanying his father Wu Dazhu, who was on the verge of fainting. Wu Deli could only support his elderly father, anxiously watching his three good friends swim towards his mother’s body.
Although they were mountain kids, the village had a reservoir, and during the hot summer, the children came to play almost every day, all of them having developed good swimming skills. At least in this reservoir, they could frolic without issue, even at night, as long as they tied a thick hemp rope around their waists, it was quite safe.
Everyone watched as the three young men got closer to Wu Xiuzhi, but when they were about three meters away, they suddenly stopped.
Wu Deli stretched his neck anxiously, seeing them not swimming forward, unsure of what they were doing, and muttered, “What are they doing? What’s there to discuss? Hurry up and bring her back!”
The night was too dark, and the three were a distance from the shore, so the villagers couldn’t see what was happening. They only vaguely saw the three turning their heads repeatedly, as if searching for something, waving their hands, but no sound came.
Village chief Wu Dacheng frowned and shouted towards them, “Qiangzi, Kuizi, hurry up and bring Xiuzhi back! What are you doing?!”
But just as his voice fell, three splashes erupted from the water, and then the three of them, in front of everyone, without a sound, seemed to be pulled down by something below, their heads disappearing into the water!
“Qiangzi! Kuizi! Xuzi!” Wu Dacheng was shocked and immediately shouted anxiously, “Quick! Pull the rope! Hurry up!”
The villagers holding the other end of the rope were stunned by the scene before them. Only when the village chief called out did they snap back to reality, quickly pulling the rope back with all their might. Others joined in to help, but the more they pulled, the more something felt off. Why… why was it getting lighter?
When the other end of the rope finally emerged from the water, everyone was horrified, and screams and cries erupted!
In the loop formed by the rope, there were no traces of the three young men; instead, there were three human leg bones!
Looking at the water’s surface, it had long since returned to calm, with only Wu Xiuzhi’s body gently drifting with the waves…
The next morning, the bodies of the three young men were neatly placed on the shore, alongside the finally retrieved Wu Xiuzhi. In total, there were four people, four corpses. Everyone from Xiusheng Village had come, surrounding them, silently watching, no one saying a word, lost in a strange silence.
In just one day, five people had died in Xiusheng Village.
This was an extremely urgent matter in a usually peaceful small village. Wu Dacheng was puffing on his hand-rolled tobacco, taking one drag after another, his brow furrowed enough to crush a mosquito.
Xin Meng and the others were hiding far away, not daring to approach.
Li Yougen nervously twisted his hands, pacing back and forth. “What do we do? What do we do? People are starting to die!”
Dong Xiu shot him a glare. “It’s not you who’s dead, why are you so anxious?!”
“If I were dead, could I still be anxious?!” Li Yougen was flustered, his words becoming incoherent.
“This must be related to the small grove we visited earlier,” Xin Meng said. “Otherwise, it’s too coincidental that people started dying right after we returned.”
Dong Xiu adjusted his glasses. “So what? They’re just NPCs. As long as we’re safe, that’s all that matters. So far, the dead are all from the village. Are we supposed to investigate the truth and find the murderer?”
After discussing for a while, they still had no clue. Suddenly, Xin Meng remembered the mission card that had been forgotten by several people. He quickly took out his own, holding it in his hand and staring at it for a while, then suddenly said, “I just remembered, of the five people who died… three of them ate a lot of meat that day!”
The three young men—Wu Qiang, Wu Kuizi, and Wu Xu—had all eaten at the village chief’s house with Xin Meng that day. Xin Meng remembered that they had devoured almost half the table of meat, and he had envied their good digestive systems at the time. But now, looking at his card and recalling the situation, he felt a chill run down his spine!
At this moment, Li Yougen and Dong Xiu also remembered that they had indeed seen Wu Xiuzhi and Cui Shenzi eating; they had also eaten a lot of meat!
Li Yougen rushed to the tree and started gagging, wishing he could vomit all the meat he had eaten. Xiong Jiabao, arms crossed, coolly said from the side, “It’s been a day since you ate; it’s already turned to shit. Have you pooped today? If not, go find a place to do it; maybe it’ll come out. What can you possibly vomit up? If you can, show us some shit.”
“You!” Li Yougen had only been pretending, but upon hearing this, he felt both angry and nauseous, nearly throwing up for real. “Don’t forget, you ate meat too!”
“But I barely had a couple of bites,” Xiong Jiabao grinned, maliciously. “If we’re counting by how much meat we ate, I’m still safe for a long time! Just don’t know if you’ll make it to that time.”
Xin Meng suddenly felt that Xiong Jiabao was acting a bit strange, as if he had been possessed by Dong Xiu.
Author’s Note:
Did you guess that those who ate meat died quickly? Haha~~【laughs with hands on hips】
************
Little Theater 1:
Shamate unifies the rivers and lakes: You guys say I’m possessed by a ghost one moment, then say I’m possessed by Dong Xiu the next. Can’t we just have fun?!
Meng: According to my calculations, you’re a medium!
Dead teammate not dead: …I’m not dead yet.
Shamate unifies the rivers and lakes: Don’t come! You’re holding onto your old attack with both hands; how can you free a finger to calculate?!
Dead teammate not dead: Damn, I said I’m not dead! Can’t you hear me?! Don’t compare me to a ghost!
Shamate unifies the rivers and lakes: Oh, it’s just a matter of time, anyway. We’re all going to die; I’m used to it~
Dead teammate not dead: …
Meng: Silly teammates bring a lot of joy.
************
Little Theater 2:
Dead teammate not dead: Author, come here, I promise not to kill you. Why don’t you write me like this in the main text… cough, Meng?! Look at how many readers want me to die quickly!
Tang Tang: Because Meng is the only one, it’s Xin…
Most beloved little Meng Meng: Mine.
Tang Tang: Okay, okay, yours, yours. I didn’t say he wasn’t yours; put the knife down a bit…
