love on the turquoise land

Chapter 14

WARNING: This chapter contains elements of thriller and horror, including suspenseful and frightening scenes

Nie Jiuluo keenly seized on the keywords in Lao Qian's words. "Why doesn't anyone go to the west end of the village?"

Now thinking back, those two days spent in the dilapidated temples were indeed particularly quiet—although the east and west ends of the village weren't too far apart, she never saw anyone from the east heading towards the west.

Lao Qian said, "Ah, it's just a habit. Country folks are superstitious, they think the west end of the village isn't clean... But let's get to the point, when they went to the west end of the village, they found something suspicious."

Firstly, there were scattered, dried bloodstains, and secondly, broken and collapsed straw along the way. Following these traces, they finally found a hole near the mountain.

At this point, Lao Qian used one hand to steer the wheel while the other picked up his phone and kept swiping. "There were photos shared in the group as well, but oh well, with so much chatting, I can't find them anymore."

Nie Jiuluo reminded him, "You don't need to show me, just tell me. Pay attention to driving."

Lao Qian quickly put down his phone and did his best to describe the hole: the entrance was dug open, and the entire hole sloped downwards, about two to three meters deep, with a foul and nauseating odor.

Listening to this, Nie Jiuluo felt a bit confused. "But I thought you said she was attacked by wolves? Are there wolves in the hole?"

Lao Qian's response left her speechless. "They didn't find the person, nor did they find any wolves. But the hole looks like it was dug by wolves. Wolves like to dig dens, their claws are strong, and they can dig."

The person was missing, and there was a hole nearby that looked like it was dug by wolves...

The conclusion of attacked by wolves was derived from this.

Nie Jiuluo was speechless, but she still gave her opinion. "I think the possibility of wolves is unlikely. Even if the person was eaten by wolves, there should still be bones left."

Lao Qian vigorously nodded. "My aunt also said it wasn't wolves. She said... Ah, she's a 90-year-old woman, always talking nonsense."

Nie Jiuluo became interested. "What did your aunt say?" She felt that even if an almost ninety-year-old person was speaking nonsense, it was still worth listening to.

Lao Qian initially didn't want to say, but then he thought that Miss Nie seemed a bit superstitious and might enjoy hearing this. He said with some pride, "Miss Nie, it's because my aunt is old and knows these things. If you ask others, even those who have lived there since childhood, might not have heard of it. My aunt said, it's because the temple is ruined, and the Earth Guanyin is unhappy, so she came out causing trouble."

"What temple is ruined?"

"The temple in the cornfield, that one."

"Why would the Earth Guanyin be unhappy if the temple is ruined?"

"Because it's her temple, her home."

This was truly unexpected. Nie Jiuluo became energized. "That's a Guanyin temple? It doesn't look like one at all. I was in the temple and didn't see any Guanyin statue."

Lao Qian chuckled, "Miss Nie, did you really think it was a real Guanyin? It's just a demon, given a nice-sounding name."

***

Lao Qian told Nie Jiuluo a terrifying story from the mountain village.

He said that many years ago, tracing back to the late Qing Dynasty, Xingbazixiang was still just an unnamed small mountain village. At that time, there was no distinction between east and west in the village. About ten kilometers away from the village, there was a large swamp, like seasonal eczema: it froze into a hard crust in winter and became muddy and impassable in summer. No one knew how many chickens, ducks, pigs, and even people it had swallowed. As soon as the temperature rose slightly, the stench would permeate the air.