Exploring the Well

At noon, the blazing sun hung high overhead, and Yang Fire boiled.

In another three quarters of an hour, it would be the ideal time for an executioner to behead a criminal. At that hour, the Yang energy between heaven and earth would reach its peak; no matter how vicious a criminal was, after death they could forget about becoming a Fierce Ghost.

Before such power of heaven and earth, every demon and monster had to keep far away.

"Bang, bang, bang!"

It was at this moment that Yu Zhensheng and his disciple knocked on the gates of the Zhu residence.

Seeing Doctor Yu, the servants hurriedly invited them in. Zhou Sheng followed quietly behind, though his peripheral vision kept surveying the surroundings.

The residence had been lavishly renovated. It was a grand three-courtyard estate, complete with artificial hills, flowing water, pavilions, and towers, carrying the air of a Jiangnan garden.

Zhou Sheng knew nothing of feng shui, but he possessed Dao cultivation, and his spiritual senses differed from ordinary people's. The instant he stepped inside, he felt an inexplicable oppression.

It seemed colder than outside—not the naturally refreshing coolness of a house open from north to south, but the clammy chill of a cellar.

He was not surprised. A place that could raise savage spirit soldiers could hardly be bright and upright.

"Please rest for a moment, both of you. Allow me to inform the master."

The Zhu household servant had an overbearing cast between his brows, yet he was extremely respectful toward Divine Doctor Yu, who was renowned throughout Qinggu County. After all, no one could guarantee that they would never fall ill.

The two sat down. The rosewood chairs and finest Da Hong Pao tea all revealed the Zhu residence's extravagance.

Before long, they heard a hearty laugh.

"Doctor Yu, I must thank you for treating my wife with acupuncture this morning. Her dizzy spells have already improved greatly."

Zhou Sheng's gaze flickered. He knew that the speaker was Zhu Zong, magistrate of Qinggu County.

He looked closely and saw a middle-aged man walking over with a smile. The man wore a costly silk robe, a jade thumb ring, and held a silver tobacco pipe.

The man was around forty, with refined features, a long beard, and a build neither fat nor thin. He always wore a smiling expression.

Zhou Sheng gave him a swift glance before withdrawing his gaze.

He could not sense the slightest trace of cultivation on the other man, only somewhat heavier Yin energy.

Could this man's Dao cultivation be far beyond his own?

At that thought, Zhou Sheng adjusted his breathing and reined in his sharpness. His bearing became even calmer and steadier, without exposing the slightest flaw.

"Magistrate Zhu flatters me. Acupuncture can only relieve the immediate problem. To cure her completely, she still needs medicinal treatment and careful recuperation. There were matters in your residence this morning, so it was inconvenient to examine her pulse in detail. Might I examine madam once more now?"

Yu Zhensheng cupped his hands in salute, smiling warmly and appearing most cordial.

"Of course. Then I'll have to trouble Doctor Yu!"

Magistrate Zhu led the two toward his wife's room, chatting cheerfully with Yu Zhensheng along the way. Just as they were about to arrive, his tone abruptly shifted.

"This must be Doctor Yu's talented disciple. But why have I heard that this disciple of yours seldom helps at the clinic and instead enjoys... performing opera?"

Zhou Sheng's heart tightened. Raising his eyes, he met Magistrate Zhu's faintly smiling gaze.

Was this a test, or mere curiosity?

"Alas, this disciple of mine has amounted to nothing. Since childhood, he has had no interest in medical texts and instead loved opera. He even hired Old Xu to train his voice before, but well, he never made much of it."

Yu Zhensheng shook his head with a smile, his expression natural and his response smooth.

"Old Xu? The one in Flower Willow Alley who plays the fiddle and performs for money?"

Magistrate Zhu asked.

"Magistrate Zhu knows him as well?"

"Heh heh, Doctor Yu, you are a poor judge of character. That Old Xu may have decent skills, but his character is crooked. Some time ago, he even came to my residence to steal things and was beaten out with random clubs."

"Even the maidservant he sent into this residence once stole my wife's jade hairpin. Birds of a feather flock together; snakes and rats share the same den."

After a pause, he gave Zhou Sheng a deep look and patted his shoulder.

"As the saying goes, if one cannot become a renowned minister, one should become a renowned physician. Young man, with such a fine master at your side, do not stray onto the crooked path and become one of the lowly rabble like that Old Xu."

Expressionless, Zhou Sheng slowly lifted his eyes, his voice exceptionally calm.

"The magistrate's lesson is correct. Danshan will remember it."

"A person must never stray onto the crooked path. For while people act, Heaven watches."

Magistrate Zhu stroked his beard and smiled. "A child that can be taught."

Not long afterward, the three entered madam's room.

The magistrate's wife lay on the bed behind a curtain, and only the vague outline of her figure could be seen.

She extended a wrist as white as snow, with a thin embroidered handkerchief, light as cicada wings, laid over it.

"Doctor Yu, I'll have to trouble you."

Her voice was clear and gentle, every word crisply articulated. Zhou Sheng raised his brows slightly.

After years of studying opera, he could tell that it was an exceptionally suitable voice for singing. If she performed female roles, the streets would surely be emptied by the crowds.

This was no longer merely an innate voice. It had definitely been polished and trained afterward.

Otherwise, it could never have possessed such jade-like smoothness and pearl-like roundness.

Could it be that the magistrate's wife also enjoyed opera, or had she once been an opera performer herself?

Yu Zhensheng stepped forward and took her pulse.

A moment later, he opened his eyes. "Her pulse is already stable. Madam's dizzy spells stem from years of overwork and depleted blood and vital energy. Recently, she also appears to have suffered some fright, greatly exhausting her vitality. She needs golden needles applied to her acupoints, supplemented with restorative medicine. With over a month of treatment, she should recover completely."

Having said that, he turned back. "Danshan, bring the golden needles."

Zhou Sheng immediately opened the medicine chest. After searching for a while, however, he pulled a long face. "Master, it seems we forgot to bring the golden needles."

Yu Zhensheng glared at him and scolded, "You muddleheaded fool, careless all day long! Why aren't you hurrying back to get them?"

Magistrate Zhu asked, "Will ordinary silver needles not do? I have silver needles in my residence as well."

"You do not know this, sir. Golden needles are softer and suited to areas where the skin is thinner or the acupoints are shallower, reducing harm to the body. Your wife's vitality has already been greatly depleted. If silver needles are used, I fear it would be like adding fuel to the fire."

"I see. Then I'll have to trouble you, little brother."

Magistrate Zhu smiled at Zhou Sheng with great courtesy, seemingly without the slightest official arrogance, exceedingly warm and friendly.

Zhou Sheng nodded, then turned and left.

After leaving the Zhu residence, he calculated that it was precisely the third quarter of noon, when Yang energy was at its strongest. He immediately sped off, then doubled back and climbed over the wall into the Zhu residence once more.

His target was clear: that ancient well.

For Uncle Xu had once said that after Cui Cui went mad, the words she said most often were, "Madam is not madam. There's a ghost in the well. Don't kill me..."

There had to be something strange about that well!

Sure enough, when he returned to the well, he discovered that a trace of Yin energy still lingered there.

The well mouth had also been sealed by a heavy bluestone slab.

One had to know that the Evil Corpse was already gone. This meant that the Yin energy in the well came from something else!

Without hesitation, Zhou Sheng stepped forward and shifted the bluestone slab aside. The muscles in his arms bulged sharply; even he found its thousand-plus pounds somewhat strenuous.

Peering down, he saw that the ancient well was bottomless and utterly dark. Its walls were covered in mottled green moss, exuding a chilling odor.

He took out the incense ash of Patriarch Huaguang that he had prepared and scattered it below. Seeing no abnormality in the well, he understood.

This showed that whatever lay beneath the well was not dangerous. It should merely be a dead object.

Zhou Sheng hesitated no longer. He removed his outer robe and trousers, leaving only his inner garments. After taking a deep breath, he jumped in.

With a splash, he plunged into the freezing well water.

First, his entire body sank beneath the surface, then he floated back up.

Something seemed to be scurrying wildly around him. Zhou Sheng reached out casually and caught a furry animal that squeaked in his hand.

A rat!

And there were quite a few of them.

An ordinary person would have been scared half to death by now, but Zhou Sheng had seen plenty of Fierce Ghosts and vengeful souls. Naturally, rats could not frighten him.

Throwing it aside, he took a deep breath and dived down.

Cui Cui's madness must have begun when she accidentally saw the Zhu residence's secret. She said there was a ghost in the well, so something should be hidden beneath this water.

That thing might be the secret the Zhu residence was desperately concealing.

Because he had practiced martial arts since childhood, Zhou Sheng's Dantian energy was abundant and full. He quickly dived to the bottom, while his eyes gradually adapted to the underwater darkness.

Following his perception of Yin energy, he began digging in one spot.

The mud was mixed with dead branches, rotting leaves, and decayed rat carcasses. Even while holding his breath, he seemed able to smell a stench engraved into his bones.

Very soon, he dug up something.

It was furry and slick, with a texture like waterweed.

When he pulled it out, he found it was a woman's long hair, trailing a head that had long since soaked into decay beyond recognition.

Zhou Sheng frowned and studied the head carefully. He brought himself close to the rotted eyes and met their gaze, yet found no lingering remnant soul at all.

This head was likely what had frightened Cui Cui mad.

But there was neither a remnant soul nor any lingering resentment within it. It could not possibly have crawled out of the well to harm anyone.

What exactly was missing here?

Did he still have to ask the Book of Luo?

His brows furrowed slightly. Since he needed to accumulate energy to deduce the true Immortal's Cloud Mica Pill formula, Zhou Sheng did not intend to use the Book of Luo lightly.

Otherwise, why would he have gone through the trouble of descending into this well?

"Forget it. I should return first."

Holding the head, he prepared to climb out of the well.

Yet the instant he surfaced, he was violently startled, and his scalp went numb.

When he looked up, there was not a shred of light—only absolute darkness, as though the entire world had abandoned and forgotten him.

The heavy bluestone slab he had moved away had, at some unknown time...

Been placed back over the well.