Chapter 193: The Ghost in the Well (2/2)

After her death, it was rumored that the well became haunted by her ghost, and there would often be incidents of young and beautiful women mysteriously falling to their deaths into the well. Some people said that it was because the girl’s soul was lonely, so she had to pull other people down there to accompany her. Others said that it was because she envied the women’s beauty. Whatever the reason, the villagers decided to seal the well, but on every seventh night of the month, a haunting cry could be heard coming out of the well, because that was the day she died.

Then the middle-aged man sighed and remarked, “What a pitiful girl!”

Yuanchao and I were pretty much unimpressed. I even thought what a waste of time it was. I never believed that ghosts could ever kill people, and the police didn’t either.

“What does it have anything to do with the murders?” I asked.

“You’re not a smart policeman, are you?” the man sneered. “Think about it! Those dead women were all disfigured! They all wore red dresses—that’s what brides wore in the olden times! The ghost of that girl must’ve killed those women, obviously!”

“Were you present when the bodies were found?” I asked.

“No,” he replied stiffly. “I was working. You can go ask Old Wu over there. He knows.”

I mentally made up my mind to return to the police station after that, then come back here later. We excused ourselves and were about to leave the man’s house when he shouted, “I won’t be sending you off then! Nice talking to you!”

We got into the car, and Yuanchao tried to start the car but it just wouldn’t start. He checked the gas meter and found out that the car was out of gas, yet he remembered that it was full when we came here.

I suddenly detected the smell of gasoline. When I looked out, I found the village completely empty—everyone had gone inside and closed the doors!

“Get out of the car now, Uncle Wang!” I shouted.

When we got outside, we saw a hole punctured through the fuel tank and a pool of gasoline on the ground underneath the car. At that moment, a number of villagers surrounded us. Their eyes were full of murderous intent, and they were all holding iron rods, bricks, sickles and other weapons.

I now understood that the middle-aged man shouted before we got out to signal these people to get ready. The story he told us was probably meant to buy them some time to prepare themselves. I couldn’t believe how bold these villagers were—they even dared to attack the police!

This would be my first time in this kind of situation, so I’d be lying if I told you I was not afraid. Still, I knew that I had to keep calm and not panic. I yelled at the men, “Don’t you know that assaulting police officers is a serious offence?”

“We’re just stupid villagers, aren’t we?” a man sneered. “Why should we care about anything like that? All we know is that we must protect our people from outsiders! Get these city boys, lads! I’ll give you one fat pig for each limb of theirs you manage to tear off!”

They swarmed towards us the moment that man uttered those words.

“Get in the car!” urged Yuanchao. “I’ll deal with them!”

I wished I could’ve stayed outside to help him, but I knew the truth that if I was there, I would only be in his way.

“You must be careful!” was all I could say.

“Don’t worry about me,” replied Yuanchao calmly. “Get inside and protect yourself!”

1. Lasted from 1644 to 1911.

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