Chapter 243
Chapter 243
An antique-style wooden windlass stood over the Bagua Well at the Hu Family Manor, wound with hemp rope and attached to a wooden bucket.
It did not appear to be an original antique. Most likely, it had been added later when the manor was restored to recreate the old scene.
Of course, none of that mattered. What mattered was the thumb-thick hemp rope on the windlass. Qin Ying and the others now had a rope they could use to climb down and explore.
Xie Shao removed the rope from the windlass frame and gripped a section in both hands.
He gave it a hard tug, then said, “It’ll work. It’s pretty sturdy.”
There was no time to waste. He retied that end to the windlass and looked at Qin Ying. “Maybe you should stay up here. Brother Han and I can go down.”
Compared with his earlier reticence, Xie Shao had become noticeably more talkative, and even his tone sounded livelier. Perhaps it was because he no longer had to wear a trench coat in the sweltering heat and could now go shirtless in his shredded shorts, or perhaps it was an effect of the Monstrous Beast he had fused with.
Either way, he was showing concern for Qin Ying, telling her that he and Han Lie could handle it alone.
Qin Ying shook her head. “Let’s get down there first.”
She stood at the rim and peered inside. The mouth of the well, roughly the size of a square dining table, was filled with darkness.
Xie Shao and Han Lie secured the hemp rope to the windlass again. Xie Shao said, “My leg’s recovered. I’ll go first.”
He rotated his ankle. The foot that had been crushed and broken moments earlier no longer showed any sign of injury.
Even the crooked bridge of his nose, which he had smashed out of place himself, had straightened.
Qin Ying marveled inwardly at his terrifying recovery speed.
After flexing his limbs, Xie Shao grabbed the rope and climbed into the well.
Qin Ying glanced at Han Lie. “You’ll bring up the rear?”
Han Lie shook his head. “We’ll go down together.”
Even with Xie Shao in front and Han Lie behind, Qin Ying could still be attacked while caught between them.
Han Lie turned his back to her and crouched. “I’ll carry you.”
Qin Ying considered his workhorse-level strength and stamina, then climbed onto his back.
“Hold tight.”
As soon as he spoke, Han Lie gripped the well rope and slowly descended.
The Bagua Well was very wide.
As Han Lie lowered himself on the hemp rope, Qin Ying clung to his back with her arms and still had enough attention to spare for the walls around them.
She could just make out countless tiny claw marks covering the bluestone lining.
“Those bats came out through this well,” Qin Ying said.
Her voice was amplified inside the shaft, its lingering echoes rolling through the darkness.
Below them, Xie Shao suddenly exclaimed, “Huh? There’s a stone platform here.”
A moment later, Qin Ying heard the heavy thud of him landing.
Within seconds, Han Lie had also reached the platform.
Xie Shao switched on his phone’s flashlight, then reached out and lifted Qin Ying off Han Lie’s back and onto the ledge.
Sure enough, a recessed cavern had been carved into the well wall. A platform had been built before it, connecting to a Stone Path that led to parts unknown.
Qin Ying smelled the stench first. Then she felt the soles of her sneakers sink into something soft.
She looked down and saw bat droppings covering the entire stone platform.
Her face twisted in disgust, only for Xie Shao to say, “What a waste. All this medicinal bat guano…”
Han Lie, the last to step onto the platform, replied, “There is little cause for regret.”
The changes brought on by Monstrous Beast Transformation seemed to affect a person’s temperament to some degree. Before shedding his trench coat, Xie Shao had barely spoken. After his transformation, he could hardly open his mouth without launching into a whole string of words.
Hearing Han Lie’s reply, he snapped irritably, “Why are you talking like some ancient scholar? This stuff’s worth a fortune once it’s processed into medicine.”
Han Lie said, “It has been sitting in damp air and was also trampled by the Earth Womb. It can no longer be used medicinally.”
As they spoke, the three of them followed the Stone Path deeper inside.
Qin Ying took out her phone, turned on the flashlight, and aimed it overhead. “This was built in modern times.”
The ceiling was even reinforced with cement.
But why had the Hu Family built something like this beneath the well?
The Stone Path was dark and cold, and the farther they ventured, the more oppressive it felt.
Just then, the Thunderbird, which had stayed behind to cover them with lightning, flapped down the well and landed on Qin Ying’s shoulder.
At its current size, constantly releasing lightning and electrical arcs had already left it somewhat exhausted.
Qin Ying stroked it sympathetically.
The instant her attention slipped, Xie Shao let out a howl from up ahead.
Even Qin Ying flinched in the darkness.
Han Lie, who had been guarding the rear, strode forward.
Xie Shao’s warped body after his Monstrous Beast Transformation occupied most of the Stone Path, so Qin Ying had to peer through the gap beside his elbow to see ahead.
The moment she did, she went rigid.
At the end of the Stone Path was an iron door that had been broken open. Someone was hanging in front of it.
The figure dangled from a rope, gray with dust, swaying gently.
Qin Ying could practically imagine the teeth-grating creak of the rope as it swung.
The hanging figure’s hair was disheveled, and no one knew how long it had been there. Its body had been stretched unnaturally long by its own weight.
The Chinese-horror atmosphere instantly went off the charts.
Xie Shao had probably been shining his phone’s flashlight around when the hanging corpse abruptly appeared in the beam, startling that cry out of him.
Both Xie Shao and Qin Ying had been born and raised in the modern era. They had little resistance to creepy relics from ancient times.
Han Lie was different. He had stepped straight out of that bygone era and into this one.
He showed no fear at all, his keen eyes sweeping their surroundings.
“This hanged corpse may be connected to the Earth Womb.”
The Earth Womb was enormous, yet when it passed through the Stone Path, it had not simply barreled forward. Instead, it had detoured to one side to avoid damaging the corpse.
The shattered section along the right side of the Stone Path was proof. Wherever the Earth Womb passed, stone cracked and earth collapsed.
By now, Xie Shao had recovered from the shock. He stepped forward and shone his phone over the hanging corpse.
Qin Ying was still studying it, wondering whether it might be the same shadow she had seen, the one invisible to Xie Shao and Han Lie, when the disheveled corpse swayed twice, perhaps disturbed by the presence of three living people and one enormous living bird.
The entire body below the head broke free and crashed to the ground. The head remained hanging for several breaths before slowly tipping backward and falling after it.
“That had nothing to do with me! I didn’t touch it,” Xie Shao hurriedly explained, breaking out in a cold sweat.
Qin Ying grunted in acknowledgment. As the corpse fell, the bat guano caked onto it crumbled away, confirming that it was indeed the transparent figure she had seen outside.
So… had she really seen a ghost?
Qin Ying’s eyes widened in shock as Han Lie stepped forward and nudged the fallen corpse with the tip of his boot.
Xie Shao grimaced at the sight, fighting the urge to bite his fist. At last, he could not help saying, “Brother, you…”
As he trailed off, Han Lie flicked his toe and dislodged a faded swaddling cloth from the pile of remains lying amid the bat guano.
The white floral pattern on the blue fabric had faded almost completely. When the cloth fell open, a small wooden tablet rolled out.
Qin Ying took Xie Shao’s phone and shone its light over the tablet. The red paint on it had almost entirely worn away.
A few characters remained barely legible. “Con… tract.”
She continued reading aloud. “By this contract, the woman of the Chen clan shall serve as… Wet Nurse?”
The writing that said whose Wet Nurse she was supposed to be had blurred beyond recognition.
But a Wet Nurse?
Qin Ying suddenly recalled the transparent figure carrying a swaddling bundle.
“The Earth Womb’s Wet Nurse?”
They had hanged a living woman to death and bound her by contract to serve as the Wet Nurse of that monstrous Earth Womb?
It sounded absurd, but Qin Ying had seen that transparent figure anxiously chasing after the Earth Womb.
Her words came faster as she voiced her theory.
As for who had issued the contract, Qin Ying was almost certain it had been the Hu Family.
She patted herself down, looking for a piece of cloth to wrap the tablet in so they could take it outside and verify their theory later.
When she failed to find anything suitable, her gaze landed on Xie Shao.
His pants had already burst open under the strain of his swollen thigh muscles.
“Xie Shao, tear off a piece of your pants for me.”
Xie Shao was still mulling over the Wet Nurse business and reacted a beat too slowly. Han Lie had already bent down, seized the fabric in both hands, and forcibly ripped off an entire pant leg.
Instead of handing it to Qin Ying, Han Lie picked up the small tablet himself.
“This object was hidden on a corpse and may be tainted with corpse poison. It would be best if I kept it.”
The two of them discussed and settled the matter between themselves. Only then did Xie Shao look down at his pants, now missing one leg, and fall silent for a moment.