Just as my feet were about to touch the water, I kicked off the well wall with both legs.
I braced my body in place, then grabbed the rope with one hand and reached for the corpse with the other.
When I turned the body over, I jumped in fright. Its face had swollen badly.
Its whites had bulged out, and tiny worms were burrowing through its flesh.
Just then, Qianqian came out of the wooden plaque as well. She said this was not her corpse.
I froze. The corpse was so badly bloated, and the light at the bottom of the well was poor, so I had not seen clearly either.
Then I asked Qianqian, "Are you sure? I couldn't see very clearly.
"I only saw its bulging eyes and its face covered in dense little worms."
Qianqian said there was no mistake—this was not her corpse. For a moment, I had no idea what to do.
I pondered it briefly, thinking that since I was already down here, I should get this corpse up first.
I tied the remaining rope around the corpse's waist, then climbed upward.
Once outside, I pulled on the rope until I dragged the corpse out and laid it on the ground.
Qianqian stood beneath the great locust tree, staring blankly at the corpse I had brought up.
Suddenly, Qianqian let out a shriek.
Then she said it was her classmate, the classmate who had come here with her that day.
I asked Qianqian where the others were. Qianqian said she did not know.
I grabbed the rope and went down into the well again to look it over. There was nothing in the well.
After climbing out, I sat on the ground, gasping for breath, wondering whether only Qianqian and this female student had been harmed.
Then I asked Qianqian, "Didn't you see this girl when you were in the well?"
Qianqian thought back for a moment, then said no.
Hearing that, I wondered whether the person behind this had taken Qianqian's corpse away first.
Then thrown this girl into the well afterward. What was the purpose of doing that?
But I stood there thinking for ages and still could not figure it out.
Coming back to my senses, I planned to find a place to bury the girl's body.
Otherwise, in broad daylight, if someone saw it, even if I had a mouth all over my body, I would not be able to explain myself.
Just as I was about to deal with the corpse, Qianqian said from beside me,
"Brother A Tong, I feel like my corpse is nearby, not far from here.
"Because it's daytime, this connection comes and goes, so I don't know the exact location."
A surge of joy rose in my heart when I heard that. I told Qianqian to try again, and she closed her eyes and gave it a try.
Then she shook her head and said it would not work. She could only sense that it was nearby, but could not pinpoint the exact location.
I thought we could only wait until dark. For now, I would deal with this girl's corpse first.
I found a wooden stick and tested the soil. Luckily, it was fairly loose.
I dug a shallow pit in the loose soil.
Then I placed the girl's corpse inside and covered it with the soil I had dug out.
I scattered some weeds over the dirt, then leaned against the great locust tree, panting heavily.
I told Qianqian to wait until nightfall. It would be much easier to find then.
Qianqian agreed and returned to the wooden plaque. I planned to go into town to buy a flashlight and get something to eat while I was at it.
When I reached town, I ordered a bowl of noodles and ate them at an unhurried pace.
After eating, I wandered around for several hours, then strolled over to a phone shop to have my phone repaired.
I had broken it when I fell during my last trip home, and it had not been able to turn on since. I spent fifty yuan to replace the battery.
When I turned on the phone, I felt a little excited. I thought that if my father had escaped, he would definitely have called me.
But after checking the call log for a long time, I saw nothing. My heart sank, and I switched the phone to silent mode before putting it in my pocket.
I bought a shovel nearby for protection. Seeing that the sun was about to set, I hurried back toward the well.
By the time I arrived, it had just turned dark, and Qianqian came out too.
I asked Qianqian to try and see if she could locate her corpse precisely.
Qianqian did as I asked. Then she opened her eyes and told me she had found it—it was in the woods on the right side of the lake.
I looked around, then said to Qianqian, "Let's go take a look."
Qianqian agreed and led the way. The moonlight was bright that night, so I switched off the flashlight.
Afraid the person behind it all might spot us and startle the grass and alert the snake, I watched every step carefully.
I did not dare make a sound. Qianqian floated as she moved, so she did not have to worry about that.
After winding this way and that for about half an hour, Qianqian stopped beneath a tree.
I asked Qianqian if we had arrived. She said it was inside the cave ahead.
I raised my head and looked carefully. Sure enough, there was a cave.
Then I told Qianqian to return to the plaque. Two people made too large a target. Qianqian nodded and went back inside.
Even after returning to the plaque, Qianqian could still speak to me. She said her corpse was inside the cave.
After understanding the situation, I took a deep breath, holding the shovel in one hand.
With the other, I pushed aside weeds and branches as I slowly approached the cave entrance.
When I got closer, I saw light inside the cave—a faint flickering firelight.
I could not see clearly, so I slowly made my way toward the entrance.
At the entrance, I poked my head in and looked. The cave was very deep.
At intervals inside the cave entrance, white candles gave off faint light.
Seeing no one, I walked into the cave, moving with extreme caution.
I did not dare make the slightest sound. After walking for more than ten minutes, I saw a brightly lit cavern.
Faint sounds came from within, like crying.
I could not hear them clearly, so I slowly moved toward one side of the cavern entrance.
I pressed my back to the cave wall and edged forward, then poked my head out for a look.
At that single glance, my pupils contracted sharply, and I nearly cried out.
I covered my mouth with my hand. Inside were more than a dozen jars like the kind used for pickling vegetables in the countryside.
A girl's head protruded from each jar. It looked as though they were not dead yet.
Some were crying, some were begging for mercy, and some stared blankly.
Some did not move at all. How could such tiny jars possibly hold an entire person?
Beside the jars was a sheet of human skin hung from a wooden frame, the entire hide spread open.
It was secured to the wooden frame, and long hair still hung from it. It looked like a girl's skin.
Finally, someone stood on a stone platform, looking at a corpse. There was not a single thing covering the corpse's body.
It lay just like that on the stone platform, with what appeared to be strange runes I could not understand drawn over it.
Qianqian said that was her corpse. Startled, I asked her, "Are you sure?"
Qianqian said she was sure. Her corpse had a connection with her soul; there was absolutely no mistake.
I asked why he had drawn those strange symbols on her corpse.
Qianqian replied, "If Brother A Tong doesn't know, how could I know?"
That made sense, so I ended the conversation with Qianqian.
Because the person had his back to me, I could not see what he looked like.
But why did his silhouette seem somewhat familiar? For a moment, I could not remember where I had seen him before.
Just as I was thinking about what to do next, my nerves got the better of me.
The shovel in my hand struck the cave wall, making a tiny ding.
Damn it. Sure enough, that person's hearing was sharp too.
He suddenly spun around and shouted, "Who's there?"