Arc 3: Luodong Village
Chapter 30: Well
Source: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=5039729
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com
Various kinds of erotic pictures appeared in front of her, and Qin Dongwan instinctively held up her hand to block them from Luo Shu.
Qin Dongwan had read countless infinite flow novels and knew almost all the scary patterns, but she never thought that such a disharmonious thing could exist in a dungeon covered by the shadow of death.
The night was not deep black, but like the overturned deep sea filling the sky. Strange and sinister air seeped in the cold through the cracks of the window.
The atmosphere felt heavy on the head. The few stars were like frozen fish fry in the sea, flipping their pale bellies, lifeless.
If someone was afraid of the deep sea, standing here would be terrifying. The heavy air made it hard to breathe. A faint light made the originally black-and-white dead pictures look a bit alive, and soft bodies in the paintings moved restlessly.
“This room belongs to Pingping.”
Hua Qingjiu, entering the little girl’s room, kept his usual calm style, not showing any panic or shyness. Even among the porn pictures on the floor, he recognized the room’s owner.
This stilt house was not decorated in a modern way, but the pretty decorations inside clearly showed it was a room that a teenage girl would like.
Why would so many erotic pictures appear in a young girl’s room?
No one could answer that question.
The simple black-and-white drawings were unexpectedly powerful. The women looked soft and graceful, but with a hint of innocence. The men were strong and tall, their arm lines showing power and strength.
Qin Dongwan let go of her hand covering Luo Shu’s eyes. Her own gaze only glanced over the pictures for a few seconds before quickly looking away. For some reason, even at her age, she had little interest in these things. It was not shyness, but simply no feeling at all.
Aside from being shocked by the strange pictures, they searched the room up and down. Except for the sour soup barrel, they didn’t find anything for now.
Time was limited. They all returned to their seats and ate a bit of rice. When they learned the sour soup was made from such ingredients, Tang Zihang almost vomited in front of everyone, but Luo Shu slapped him hard to stop him.
Her brows slightly frowned, not hiding her disgust: “If you want to vomit, go outside. Don’t make others sick.”
“Luo Shu, you are too much!”
“Do you have something to say?”
Tang Zihang: “…”
Of course, he didn’t dare say anything. At most, he muttered a little under his breath.
The previous pickled cabbage soup hit him exactly wrong, so the others only ate the rice, which was still okay, with a little vegetable. The nearly cold food didn’t taste good, at most it could barely fill the stomach. When Lin Fengque finished eating slowly and put down his chopsticks, the family of three downstairs came up under the dim starlight, talking and laughing along the way.
The weak light cast two shadows, one tall and one short.
Before they could see which shadow was the shorter one, the three of them had already walked quickly into the stilt house. Seeing a few people still sitting at the table, Pingping covered her mouth and smiled, hurrying to clear the dishes. A short while later, Pingping’s mother also came up. She greeted the guests one by one and didn’t show anything suspicious.
“If you need to get up at night, go downstairs. Recently we have been busy with the bonfire party, so today our service is not good. Tomorrow night, all of you can come to the party with us. It’s our local feature.”
Pingping’s mother looked simple and plain. There was no strange tone in her words, so everyone nodded in agreement. Just as the woman was about to leave, Qin Dongwan smiled and rested her hand lightly on her shoulder. The warm touch made the girl slightly release a quiet breath, but her face remained calm:
“Auntie, will our tour guide go with us too?”
“Yes yes yes, everyone will go, all ten of you together.”
The number that came out of her mouth felt like a sharp blade across Qin Dongwan’s heart. She instinctively avoided Pingping’s mom’s hand that wanted to touch her again. The woman didn’t mind. She just told them where the hot water for washing was, then turned to leave. Pingping followed closely, looking very tired.
They didn’t stay in one place for long. After quickly washing up, they all returned to the bedroom. As the door clicked shut, the night outside seemed even heavier, pressing down like a huge lid, covering the powerless people inside.
“In the dungeon, counting the tour guide, there should be eleven outsiders. Those who stayed there with the guide probably won’t survive. That means the guide is a ghost, or at least on the ghost’s side.”
From the second level, the number of monsters usually decreases, but their quality increases. They are not as easy to kill as before. Intelligence battles become especially important here.
Qin Dongwan lay on the bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. She looked toward the deep, oppressive night outside the window and couldn’t help whispering.
The only answer she got was Luo Shu’s steady breathing.
……
After lying on the bed for a while, Qin Dongwan saw nothing through the window, and the slow arrival of sleep finally dragged her into dreams. She didn’t know how long had passed when a rustling sound suddenly woke her.
Qin Dongwan was alert. Sleep in such a situation was always light. She opened her eyes and instinctively turned to look at Luo Shu, but saw the girl sleeping soundly with eyes closed.
It was late at night. The world was completely quiet. Even the slightest insect sound was unusually clear. She carefully lifted the quilt and moved to the window, only to see a bright moon appearing in the sky.
A plump crescent of white light spilled softly, like a thin veil over the earth, giving the small village an eerie yet peaceful beauty.
Sparse stars were swallowed by clouds in the sky. Under the bright moonlight, a delicate girl stood by the well, looking at her reflection with sadness. She held a comb and slowly brushed her hair.
She wasn't tall. Her reflection in the water was unclear, but her figure felt strangely familiar to Qin Dongwan. Her long black hair fell like ink, blown by the wind. The girl lifted her legs and sat on the well edge, softly humming a scattered song in a language Qin Dongwan couldn't understand.
It seemed the girl sensed a gaze from upstairs. She slowly lifted her head, a pure and flawless smile blooming on her lips.
Tick.
A layer of mist had appeared on the window without her noticing. Dew melted and dripped down, making it hard for Qin Dongwan to see what was below. Her curiosity felt like a thin thread pulling her, tightly holding her and urging her to go downstairs to see.
She glanced at Luo Shu, still sleeping soundly, and suddenly felt her heart race. The girl’s bright face strangely made her mouth dry and her throat thirsty.
It was a kind of…
Evil thought rooted deep in her heart, which had grown over time. From a new green seed, it quickly sprouted. Luo Shu’s delicate features became especially attractive in her eyes. That pull made Qin Dongwan want to use the sharpest weapon to destroy, to take.
She was startled by her own thoughts. Cold sweat soaked her back. The idea of going back to bed to continue resting had to be completely cut off. The floor under her feet was icy wood, damp from the night’s cold. Qin Dongwan stepped on it barefoot.
She mechanically turned and walked step by step toward the outside.
The watching eyes vanished in the dark, like a coiled poisonous snake hissing, waiting for the right moment to strike fatally.
****
Although the small village was by the mountains and water, the night was unusually cold. Lin Fengque, sleeping at the edge of the bed, was repeatedly woken by the cold. He glanced at Tang Zihang, who was snoring loudly and taking up space, and a trace of undisguised annoyance flashed across his handsome brows. He decided to get up and go to the toilet.
The toilet was downstairs. Before nightfall, each room had an old kerosene lamp. He and Hua Qingjiu spent a long time figuring out how to use these almost antique things. Now, feeling his way in the dark, he lit it and walked down. A faint light revealed the slender figure of a girl ahead.
Qin Dongwan was tall among girls, especially in this dungeon where other female NPCs and players were short, making her easy to spot. He immediately saw that this was a tall, beautiful girl with curly hair, hesitating alone at the door.
Cool moonlight flowed over the steps like water, making the girl’s bare feet look even paler. Qin Dongwan hesitated, but when the girl by the well, hummed her song again, she suddenly made up her mind.
The chirping insects stopped, the wind and grass were calm. Only the gentle breeze softly stirred the girl’s long black hair.
Seeing Qin Dongwan, she slowly turned her head. On her pale, swollen face there were no features at all, only a pair of unusually large eye sockets taking up much of her face. The deep hollows had no eyeballs, seeming to wait for something to fill them.
“Come over.”
Her voice was hoarse and rough, like a piece of sandpaper worn almost to pieces. It was no longer sweet and charming like the song she had hummed before. Speaking with a commanding tone, the tall girl moved forward slowly, each step staggering as if she were struggling hard.
From the empty sleeve stretched out a pale, thin arm. The twig-like hand reached for Qin Dongwan, trying to pull her forward, only a few steps away from falling into the dark, bottomless well.
Lin Fengque gritted his teeth and stopped watching from the side. He swung the kerosene lamp in his hand and smashed it to the ground. Hot lamp oil splashed, and one drop fell on Qin Dongwan’s arm, instantly making her eyes clear.
Source: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=5039729
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com
Just as the fear resurfaced in her eyes, the girl sitting on the well suddenly roared and reached out her hand, trying to drag her down.
