“The police suspected it was a premeditated group prison break and sent people to guard our village. However, we really didn’t know everything.
“In the end, it was a merchant from An Ping Town who came to make another police report. He said he saw a lot of corpses hanging in the forest not far from An Ping Town. The ground was flooded with blood, and the corpses were heavily mutated. At first, the merchant thought they were cut-up livestock.”
“Were they the men from the prison?” Jiang Zhongyi asked nervously.
The village head took a while and answered, “Yes. However, once the men in the prison were completely wiped out, the villagers started to disappear.
“Those who interacted with Zhao Xiangmei were targeted. She massacred the entire Qian Family.” At this point, the village head realised he brought up a new character. His tense body relaxed slightly as he changed the topic. He started to explain the situation. The village head back then had the surname Qian. The Qian Family was the biggest family in the area. Back in that era, these large families fully controlled the villages on the outskirts of the city. In other words, the Qian Family supported Zhao Xiangmei's activities both on the surface and below. However, when they were questioned by the police, the Qian Family instantly threw Zhao Xiangmei under the bus. That wrote their future death sentence.
The Qian Family was the first family to be hit after all the prisoners perished. The large family was shattered, and only a few survivors remained. The survivors escaped from the village and were never heard from again. Most of the empty houses before the travellers were left behind by the Qian Family.
“Did really no one survive?” Lee Lu hugged her body. She still hadn’t recovered from Ben Fu’s death.
“No.” The village head shook his head.
Zhou Rong looked around. There was a building about 100 metres to their left. It looked like a temple. However, compared to the nearby buildings, it was even more dilapidated. From afar, he noticed there was a giant hole in the front door. The windows made from paper were broken down. The place was dark.
Seeing the building, the village head’s eyes coloured with memory. He sighed, “That was the Qian Family’s ancestral hall. After the Qian Family fell, no one came to take care of it anymore.”
Chen Xiaomeng looked at the place. She believed none of the villagers dared to get close to it, much less take care of it.
They chatted as they walked. Time passed by quickly. After the sun was fully out, the pebbled road ended, and they entered a valley. The mountain roads here were different from the ones that led to the village. This road was more bumpy. Everyone had to rely on each other to move forward. The village head said that this path had been abandoned for a long time. The original path had been washed away by a flood, so they had to use this rarely-trekked path.
“How… much longer?” Jiang Zhongyi’s stamina was worse than that of Bei Qian and Lee Lu. He was already panting heavily. The scent of blood came out of his throat.
Holding the cane, the tanned villager helped the village head. Then, he said, “We’re there.”
He moved away the branches. Then, a large space appeared before them.
A mountain spring was hidden inside the mountain valley. Mountains rose around it. Giant trees rose into the sky. Nature appeared to wish to swallow this pool up.
Bei Qian looked around before staring down the distance. The meandering mountains formed a line that seemed to stretch indefinitely.
“Strange…” He suddenly said. Jiang Zhongyi was closest to him, and he heard Bei Qian’s mumblings. He looked at the elder and frowned. “How is it strange?”
Bei Qian ignored him and turned to the village head, “Elder, when was this pool discovered?”
“It was a long time ago.” The village head coughed twice and licked his dry lips. “It’s definitely more than 100 years ago. No one know the exact time now.”
Jiang Cheng carefully walked to the side of the pool. He knelt down and reached out to feel the water. Then, the spine assaulted his nerves. He shivered involuntarily. He didn’t expect the water to be so cold… and the pool was not even frozen.
“This pool is very cold.” The tanned man said. When Jiang Cheng snuck him a steamed bun, he had a good impression of Jiang Cheng. He reminded him, “You have to be careful. There’s no saving you if you drop in.”
Jiang Cheng pulled his hand back. He looked at the deep water and asked, “Are there fish here?”
“Fish?” He didn’t seem to understand the question. His thick brows were furrowed. This pool was once used to drown unfaithful women. At least a hundred years had passed. There were at least 100 corpses in the pool. Plus, Zhao Xiangmei’s corpse was in there too. Why would someone want to fish there?
“I don’t know.” He answered honestly, “Probably… not.”
The pool was so cold that touching it would drain one of one’s energy instantly if one fell into it. One time, a blind old lady came to Little Ravine Village. She had a snake-headed cane. She was apparently quite famous. Based on her words, Cold Virtue Pool carried the resentment of the women who died there. Once someone fell in, they would be bogged down by the resentment. The tanned man didn’t understand all that. He only knew that this place was very dangerous and they had to stay far away from the pool. This pool… was cursed.
“Ah Da!” The tanned man suddenly heard the village head call him. He answered and ran over. He listened to the village head obediently. The place was very slick and wet. The village head probably wanted to lead them to the stone with the curse next.
Jiang Cheng lowered his head to stare at the cold pool. The pool was about several hundred cubic metres in size. The water quality was clear. However, the closer it got to the centre, the deeper the colour. The centre of the pool seemed to absorb light.
After staring at it for some time, Jiang Cheng felt dizzy. Suddenly, many strange images appeared in his mind, and he felt an urge to jump into the pond. He resisted the urge. For a moment, he saw a woman’s face in the dark pool water.
When he tried to get a closer look, all he saw was darkness. He saw a reflection in the pool from the corner of his eyes. A human silhouette appeared behind him. It looked like a woman from the silhouette. The woman raised her leg as if to gather energy.