Volume 1 Chapter 011 Cold Corpse
I hesitated whether to go down. This well gave me a bad feeling, and it made my scalp numb for no reason. But when I thought of the little girl covered in water, I felt uneasy again, and vaguely thought of a creepy possibility.
I still have to go down and take a look!
I lowered the rope again, took off my shoes and socks, and then grabbed the rope and crawled into the well. The well was not very big, but it was more than enough for one person.
I climbed the rope and stepped on the wall of the well to lower myself down. The wall of the well was also made of the same stone slabs, fortunately it was relatively dry and had no moss or anything like that, so it was not easy to slip.
The industry our family is engaged in originally deals with corpses and tombs. This kind of work like climbing down holes is basic skills. My third uncle has been training me since I was a child, so it is not too difficult and it is something I can do with my eyes closed.
But after going down about 7 or 8 meters, I felt something was wrong. My feet could not even touch the wall of the well. It was then that I realized that the space around me was getting bigger and bigger. When I first came down, the well hole was only a little over half a meter, but now it is more than one meter.
I could only hold the rope with my legs and slide down without relying on the wall. The further I went down, the larger the space became. The wall of the well was actually tilted downward, getting wider as I went down, like an inverted trumpet shape that was narrow at the top and wide at the bottom.
Could this be... a trumpet jar?
I suddenly remembered something my uncle had told me about. This inverted trumpet-shaped underground space is called a "trumpet urn" in our industry. It is said to be a reverse deduction of the Yin-Yang layout theory based on the burial principles of the Warring States Period.
Most of the kings' tombs in the early Spring and Autumn Period were box tombs. That is, the tomb chamber was straight up and down, square, like a box. This structure can theoretically gather a lot of Yin Qi and ensure that the body of the tomb owner will not decay, which is more effective than the Egyptian mummies. However, this tomb structure also has a fatal disadvantage, which is that it is easy to collapse over time. Not to mention if there is an earthquake or something.
Later, in the late Spring and Autumn Period, an amazing ancestor emerged in our industry, who invented a bucket-shaped tomb. This tomb structure has a ground area similar to that of a box-shaped tomb, but the walls of the tomb are inclined downward, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, and the entire tomb is like a bucket for scooping rice, so it is called a bucket-shaped tomb.
Compared with the box tomb, the design of the fighting tomb not only makes up for the defect of the box tomb that is easy to collapse, but also has an unexpected function. With the special structure of the four inclined walls can quickly dissipate the resentment of the deceased. This is called "dispersing resentment" in our industry.
In our industry, "dispelling grudges" is something that our colleagues have paid great attention to throughout the generations. Because most of the strange things that happen after death, such as corpses rising and souls returning, are closely related to the grudges of the deceased. So this kind of tomb-diving that can dispel grudges quickly became popular, and even many tomb robbers were later called "grave robbers", which is derived from this.
However, as time went by, a new type of tomb was designed. The structure of this tomb was completely opposite to that of the Dou Tomb, creating a special structure that was narrow at the top and wide at the bottom. This was the Trumpet Urn.
What it aims to achieve is the exact opposite effect of "dispersing resentment", which is what we in the industry call "banning".
I didn't expect to see the legendary tomb structure of "Trumpet Urn" in this well. According to the principle of "Trumpet Urn", is there something sealed in it?
I continued to slide down the rope. The mouth of the well had become a round spot of light. The well was freezing and very damp. After descending about six or seven meters, I finally touched the well water.
I shivered as soon as I got in. The water was freezing cold, and the chill went straight to my bones. I floated on the water, felt the wall of the well, and walked around. I estimated that the width of the well was two meters.
I adjusted to the water temperature for a while, took a deep breath, and dived in. The water was pitch black, and I couldn't see my hand in front of me, so I could only feel my way with my hands.
Fortunately, the water in the well was not deep. After sinking about five or six meters, I stepped on the mud. I squatted down and searched at the bottom of the well for a while, and grabbed a handful of mud. Just when I couldn't hold my breath and wanted to go up to breathe, I suddenly touched something soft.
I touched it again and felt a slippery, silky mass. I immediately realized that I had touched a handful of hair. I was startled and immediately drank a few gulps of ice water. I quickly floated up and took a deep breath.
My face turned pale, I coughed a few times with lingering fear, and dived down again. This time I sank directly to that position, and felt down along the hair, and I knew it should be the body of a girl. I put my arms around her waist, picked her up and floated up.
But I soon felt something was wrong. The girl's body was surprisingly heavy, and I couldn't float even holding her. Later I found that she was tied with a stone, which was why she had been sinking to the bottom of the well.
I went up and took a breath, then sank down again to untie the rope, and then floated to the surface holding her.
I couldn't see the body in the dark, but I knew it had long hair and a petite figure, probably shorter than me. It was completely naked, and its skin pressed against me, and it felt cold and slippery. I didn't know if it was because of the strangeness of the well, but the body was slightly swollen, but not seriously.
I tied the rope around her and tied a knot firmly, then climbed up along the rope, lying on the ground to recover some strength, and then I started to grab the rope and slowly pull the body up.
He pulled the last section, hugged the body and dragged her out of the well, then carefully put her on the ground.
This was obviously a little girl of about 11 or 12 years old, completely naked. Her originally fair skin had turned pale due to the water. Two talismans were pasted on her chest and back. Even after being soaked in the well water for a long time, there was no sign of them falling off.
Five circles of stitches were found on her snow-white neck and the joints of her limbs, exactly the same as those on Liu Nan's body.
I sat by the well for a long time with my face covered, then I walked over to her, squatted down, and gently lifted her long hair that was covering her face.
A familiar little face. The pair of bright eyes were now tightly closed, and the rosy lips were pale and purple, lifeless.
It’s the girl from the Lin family.
I sat down on the ground dejectedly and took off my clothes and put them on the girl. Although they were soaked, at least there was a piece of clothing covering her body. I held her blankly, my eyes were hot, and I felt an inexplicable sadness that I couldn't express.
We hadn't seen each other for just a few days, but I didn't expect that when we met again we would be separated forever.
People in our line of work are used to seeing the death of the living, so it's not a big deal . I also often think that I am a freak who has been in contact with corpses since I was a child, and my heart is hard enough, so I should be able to face the death of anyone calmly.
But at this moment, the cold body of the girl from the Lin family was lying in front of me, but I couldn't calm down at all. My heart was filled with a huge sense of confusion and loss.
Only then did I realize that I was just an ordinary child.
I tore the two talismans that I had torn off her body into pieces and threw them into the well. Then I combed her hair and planned to carry her home. At this moment, the girl from the Lin family in my arms seemed to open her eyes, her pale lips curled up, and she smiled at me strangely.
My eyes went dark and I heard a sharp howling sound, like an electric drill drilling into my ears. I covered my ears like crazy and rolled on the ground.
The extremely clear tearing sensation almost made me think that there were two nails constantly piercing my eardrums. The heart-wrenching pain made me feel like I was dying.
I don't know how long it took, but the horrible howling suddenly stopped. I let out a long breath and collapsed to the ground like a pile of mud.
I was half asleep, and I heard someone calling me. I opened my eyes and saw a face floating in front of me.
"How are you, kid? Are you okay?"
I seemed to hear Uncle San's voice, but I couldn't hear it clearly. My body was completely soaked with cold sweat, like noodles just pulled out of the water. I was dazed and grabbed Uncle San's arm, subconsciously asking him why he was here.
