CH 11

translator: baumkuchen  editors: juurensha, c3ltic

Having grown a full head of thick hair, Zhu Miaomiao was ecstatic. At long last, she didn’t need to wear a hat all the time. Of course, besides feeling grateful, Zhu Miaomiao also felt an unparalleled respect towards the well in Lu Qingjiu’s home and even sought out  Lu Qingjiu to confirm that people had really died in that well, rather than ascending to godhood…

Faced with Zhu Miaomiao’s questioning, Lu Qingjiu felt rather helpless. He explained what had happened with the well and expressed that even he also had no idea why the well could do this kind of thing.

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“The reason doesn’t matter. Anyway, I managed to grow a full head of hair,” Zhu Miaomiao continued, “In the future, can I bring other people here to grow their hair…”

“I suppose you can,” Lu Qingjiu answered, “but you need to explain it to them first. Most people would probably be too scared, right?”

“That’s true,” Zhu Miaomiao said.

In the end, even though they could grow their hair, people had died in that well. Perhaps some people wouldn’t be able to accept it, but to her, balding was far more terrifying than the female ghost inside the well was.

To celebrate her hair growth, Zhu Miaomiao specially took a few photos to send to her friend group. The before photo was her previously balding head, while the after photo was her current luscious locks. In the comments, the majority of people were all asking her how she’d done it, and there was no shortage of people questioning if she’d secretly gotten a hair transplant…

Seeing this, Zhu Miaomiao was incredibly satisfied, thinking that in this life, she’d never dreamed that there would come a day when she could fix her hair.

Her leave wasn’t long, only lasting four days. Since she’d come to such a remote place, she naturally wanted to witness the beauty of the great outdoors, and therefore  wanted Lu Qingjiu to bring her around to explore.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

Lu Qingjiu agreed and led Zhu Miaomiao on a trip around the village. Seeing the thick forest nearby, Zhu Miaomiao asked, “I want to go up the mountain. Is that okay?”

Lu Qingjiu originally wanted to agree but suddenly thought of the puddle he and Bai Yuehu had come across on their last trip up the mountain. He hesitated for a moment before replying, “I’ll go ask.”

“Ask what?” Zhu Miaomiao asked curiously.

“Sometimes wild beasts will appear on the mountain,” Lu Qingjiu said, “So we need to first check if going up the mountain will be safe or not.”

“Alright,” Zhu Miaomiao didn’t ask any further.

Afterwards, Lu Qingjiu returned home and asked Bai Yuehu if there would be any problems with going up the mountain at this time. Bai Yuehu checked the sky, then responded, “In clear weather, there’s no problem. On clear days, they don’t usually appear, and even if they do, they won’t really do anything. If you guys do come across one, don’t get close. As long as you circle around them, you’ll be fine.”

Only after hearing this did Lu Qingjiu relax. He let Zhu Miaomiao know that he’d take her up and around the mountain in the afternoon.

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Yin Xun plucked down two rose fruits for Zhu Miaomiao. Seeing her face wrinkle up  due to the sourness, he laughed, “These fruits aren’t bad for making alcohol, they just don’t taste very good.”

“Then why’d you give me this to eat.” Tears were forming in Zhu Miaomiao’s eyes.

“Isn’t it because I could see the yearning in your eyes,” Yin Xun replied, “And when you shoved it into your mouth, you didn’t hesitate at all.”

Zhu Miaomiao, “…Who asked it to look so delicious.”

The two of them had extroverted personalities and quickly became familiar with one another.

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As the three people walked further and further inwards, the woods became thicker and thicker. The towering trees blocked out the sun, leaving only mottled shadows on the ground. Seeing that it was getting late, Lu Qingjiu said, “Let’s go, it’s about time to go home now. Yesterday, I bought some cured pork ribs and bacon from the neighbours next door, I braised some for you to eat.”

Zhu Miaomiao happily nodded.

They began to make their way down the mountain, but as they passed a thick cluster of trees, Zhu Miaomiao suddenly paused. She asked, “Yi, did you guys hear something just now?”

“What did you hear?” Lu Qingjiu stiffened.

“It was…” Zhu Miaomiao seemed scared as she continued in a small voice, “A little child crying.”

“No?” Lu Qingjiu replied, “I don’t……” Just as he wanted to say that he hadn’t heard anything, he heard the sobs of a young child coming from somewhere within the deep woods. The sobs sounded spasmodic,  as if the child was quickly running out of energy for tears.

“I also hear it,” Lu Qingjiu corrected himself.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

“Could it be some kid from the village?” Yin Xun also heard the crying noise. When he spoke, his brows were furrowed.

“Did they get lost?” Zhu Miaomiao worried, “Let’s go take a look.”

Yin Xun’s mouth opened and closed, as if he was about to say something. In the end, he decided against it, merely replying, “It looks like moving around in there will be difficult. How about I go over to check it out, and you two just stay here and wait for me?”

“I’ll go with you,” Lu Qingjiu replied, “Miaomiao, wait here for us, Yin Xun and I will be going over to check it out.”

Zhu Miaomiao rubbed her arms, inexplicably feeling a little cold. “No, I’m scared. I don’t want to be alone, I’ll go with you guys.”

“Fine,” Lu Qingjiu didn’t try to argue any further. The child’s sobs were becoming weaker and weaker, as if it would disappear any moment.

Having reached a consensus, the three then began moving towards the area of the woods where the sound was coming from.

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Yin Xun’s brow was still furrowed. Seeing his expression wasn’t right, Lu Qingjiu asked quietly, “What’s wrong?”

“Oh… This child sounds rather unfamiliar,” Yin Xun replied, “Doesn’t really sound like any of the children from the village.” Furthermore, the kids from the village spent every day running around on the mountain and would know it better than any of them. How could any of them still need their help?

Just as Lu Qingjiu was about to ask a question, he thought of something. His heart squeezed in his chest.

As the three people went deeper into the forest, the sobs also started sounding closer. Lu Qingjiu kept a close eye on the surrounding patches of grass, but the entire time, he didn’t see any traces of a child. Suddenly, from behind him, Zhu Miaomiao reached out a hand and tugged at his shirt. In a shaky voice, she asked, “Why… why doesn’t it seem like it’s a child that’s crying.”

Lu Qingjiu looked back at her, a questioning look in his eyes.

“There seems to be something in the grass…” Zhu Miaomiao was a little scared now. She retreated back two steps and pointed at the patch of grass in front of them.

Yin Xun looked over at the grass. He walked forward two steps, bent down, and felt out something from within the patch of grass. Lu Qingjiu was standing right next to him and instantly recognised what Yin Xun was holding with just one look. …It was actually a pair of kids’ shoes. The shoes were dirty and worn, the canvas was stained with mud, and whatever details it had had been completely obscured.

As Yin Xun picked up the shoes, his expression instantly changed. Lu Qingjiu hurriedly asked, “Yin Xun, what’s wrong?”

Yin Xun looked over at them, replying in a hoarse voice, “Do you still remember what I told you last time, about how a kid from our village drowned to death?”

Lu Qingjiu answered, “…I remember.”

“When they found his body, it was missing a few things,” Yin Xun smiled bitterly, “Including a pair of red shoes…” Clearly, the pair of shoes in his hands, were the very ones missing from the remains of the child who had drowned. What he just couldn’t understand, was why they would appear here, in the patch of grass before them.

A layer of cold sweat formed on Lu Qingjiu’s palms. The most frightening thing was, just as Yin Xun had picked up that pair of tiny red shoes, the child’s sobs had suddenly stopped.

“What do we do?” Zhu Miaomiao was a little panicked, she said in a small voice, “Let’s just go.”

“Let’s go,” Yin Xun agreed.

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However, just as they walked forward two steps, the voice of a little child rang out once more. But this time, he wasn’t crying. He was giggling merrily. The sound of laughter made the skin on their scalps crawl. Unconsciously, they quickened their pace, wanting to quickly leave this place. But the original short journey had suddenly become excruciatingly long. The three people travelled through the woods for a long time, but never made it back to their original path, and their surroundings just became more and more unfamiliar.

“I’m really scared.” Next to Lu Qingjiu, Zhu Miaomiao asked in a small voice, “Are we lost?”

“Seems like it,” Lu Qingjiu smiled bitterly.

Next to them, Yin Xun who had been silent up till now, finally spoke softly, “Should we throw these shoes away?”

“What do you mean?” Lu Qingjiu asked.

“There’s a custom in the village,” Yin Xun said, “It’s said that one shouldn’t carry with them clothing dead people wore at the time of their death, or else they’ll have lingering attachments and won’t be able to reincarnate.” He waved around the pair of little red shoes he was holding, and continued, “Could it be that these are the reason why we can’t leave this place?”

Lu Qingjiu replied, “Then just toss them.”

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Actually, he had no knowledge whatsoever on such things. Even though he’d occasionally run into some strange things, as long as he’d pretended to not see them, they’d just go away. Only when he returned to this village, did he finally have some real contact with such things.

Yin Xun nodded, then carefully placed the shoes in the patch of grass beside him. The minute he released his hand, the sound of a child’s crying once again started ringing in their ears. These cries were shrill with despair, causing Yin Xun to stumble in shock.

“Ah… Seems like it’s started to rain,” Zhu Miaomiao said, “How long have we been on this mountain?”

At some unknown time, the sky had already turned completely dark. Heavy black clouds drifted along in the sky. The forest was abnormally quiet, to the point that they could even hear pitter-patter of raindrops falling onto the leaves of the trees.

“It’s already 8pm.” Lu Qingjiu looked at his phone. There was no signal. They been wandering around here, utterly lost, for a full two hours, but from beginning to end, they had no way of finding the correct path out of the increasingly eerie forest.

“Oh no, we need to walk faster,” Yin Xun had an ugly look on his face, “If it gets dark and starts raining, it’ll really be troublesome.”

As to why exactly this would be troublesome, he didn’t say.