Chapter 14: Tug-of-war With Death
The altar was located in the depths of the haunted house, and in a position not open to the public for close contact, separated by a fence connected with chains.
When Yu Lianyun and the others found the altar, the inverted cross standing on the altar had already become rust-stained due to years of neglect, with mottled rust covering the entire inverted cross, and weeds growing in the gaps of the altar, quietly thriving with the help of the sunlight and moonlight filtering through the broken hole in the haunted house ceiling.
“This is it.” Yu Lianyun’s heartbeat accelerated, an unknown fear wrapping her entire body—that was exactly the feeling brought by the nightmares that had not stopped these past few days; she was all too familiar with it.
Soon, with the help of He Jia’an and the others, Yu Lianyun used the shovel and spade carried on this trip and vigorously dug at this altar.
The cement and stone of the altar were terrifyingly hard, and the interior was very moist; every chisel strike caused a viscous liquid carrying a foul smell to flow out from the chiseled gap.
Sometimes, Yu Lianyun and the others even felt that what they were digging was not stone and cement, but a piece of flesh, even though it was very solid.
It was unknown whether it was a psychological effect, but as the digging work progressed, everyone gradually felt the environment becoming cold and damp.
Bang!
Suddenly, amid the rhythmic digging sounds, a different sound rang out; He Jia’an was the first to spade into a hollow spot, and he said in surprise: “There really is a well?”
Before he could say anything more, a gust of cold damp air erupted from the chiseled black hole; everyone present clearly felt the environmental temperature drop several degrees, and they subconsciously hugged their arms, caressing their skin.
“I feel something’s not right.” In this quiet space, Li Yingqi could hear her own gasping and heartbeat; after sensing that shiver-inducing aura, she immediately voiced her opinion, looking at Yu Lianyun, “After you find the Woman in White’s corpse, what do you plan to do?”
“I want to properly bury her.” Yu Lianyun explained.
“Why do that?” Li Yingqi expressed confusion, “Do you really believe in something unscientific like a person dying unjustly with deep resentment, then causing all sorts of weird phenomena?”
Yu Lianyun was silent for a moment, “I have to believe it, because I’m experiencing it.”
After saying that, Yu Lianyun immediately added: “Whether it works or not, I have to try; it’s the only thing I can do now. Calculating from the time I received that phone call, around 3:32 p.m. tomorrow will be the seventh day, which is my death date.”
“Whether you believe it or not, all of this now is about whether I’m willing to do it; since you chose to help me, please respect my decision.” Yu Lianyun’s eyes were complex, but her tone was firm, “If you have reservations and don’t want to get involved in this troubled waters, then leave now; it’s not too late. Everything can be handled by me alone now.”
He Jia’an and the others exchanged glances and said no more, continuing to help Yu Lianyun chisel the altar.
About an hour and a half later, the four finally dug a bottomless hollow in the altar; when they tried dropping a stone into the hollow, everyone could hear the echo of the stone hitting the water.
This confirmed that there had indeed once been a stone deep well here.
What came next would be extremely risky; Yu Lianyun had no intention of letting He Jia’an and the others continue following, and He Jia’an and the others had no intention of following either; they just secured the rope around Yu Lianyun’s body, then stood at the well opening, quietly waiting for news after Yu Lianyun descended the well.
“Be careful.” Li Yingqi patted Yu Lianyun’s shoulder; as a fellow woman, she knew how difficult Yu Lianyun’s mood was at this moment, but she could only offer this insubstantial encouragement.
Yu Lianyun nodded heavily, then, with the help of He Jia’an and Wei Jiang, two males, slowly climbed down from the well opening.
But during this descent, Yu Lianyun felt two kinds of difficulties; the inner terror goes without saying—as she climbed further down, the light from above grew dimmer, the wet chill grew heavier, and fear was about to burst out from her intensely pounding heart; the other difficulty was from the objective environment: the walls inside the stone deep well were covered with moss and unknown sticky slippery liquid, making it extremely hard to grip the gaps in the wall.
It was unknown how much more time passed, but Yu Lianyun finally felt the cold well water with her tiptoes; the near-zero-degree low temperature surged from her toes all the way to her brain, making Yu Lianyun shudder violently.
“I’ve reached the bottom!” Yu Lianyun shouted toward the well opening, but when she looked up, she found the top pitch black, and the so-called rope wrapped around her waist had long disappeared without a trace; terror instantly filled her brain—she felt like she had become a second Woman in White; her only way out had actually been blocked, and she was to be drowned alive in this cold deep well, nestling with the Woman in White’s bones.
“Hallucination, it’s all hallucination.” Yu Lianyun told herself; everything she saw now was not fact—as long as she calmed down and thought carefully, she could discover many contradictions in what had happened to her.
If He Jia’an and the others had really resealed the well opening and cut the rope from her body, then the section of rope around her waist should still be there, not the entire rope disappearing.
Soon, the people above, He Jia’an and the others, also noticed the anomaly below; the rope suddenly swayed violently, with a great force pulling on the other end—this was not normal.
He Jia’an and Wei Jiang could not let the rope continue descending; the two men braced one foot against the edge of the altar, while pulling the rope with all their strength to confront the force below, and Li Yingqi took the opportunity to check the situation below; she took out a DV with built-in night vision from Yu Lianyun’s backpack, filmed the scene in the deep well, and kept zooming in; what she saw next made Li Yingqi’s scalp nearly explode.
She saw a faceless woman in white all over, soaking in the water, then deadening pressing down on Yu Lianyun’s human head, pushing her into the water, trying to drown her alive.
“Hey!” Li Yingqi’s palms and forehead broke out in heavy cold sweat; she pretended to be strong and righteously shouted, “Let her go now!”
The faceless woman seemed to hear it but did not budge, still strongly pressing Yu Lianyun’s head into the water, merely lifting her head, facing her with a face without eyes, mouth, or nose, as if targeting Li Yingqi as the next.
Nearby, He Jia’an and Wei Jiang heard Li Yingqi’s words and immediately guessed that there really seemed to be something down the well, putting Yu Lianyun in danger; they dared not be careless, pulling the rope even harder, wrestling from afar with the unknown being below the well.
“I’ll help too!” Li Yingqi saw that He Jia’an and Wei Jiang could only match the faceless woman below in power; she immediately joined the fray to turn the tide, leaping behind the two males to tug-of-war for life with the faceless female death god below.
There’s one more chapter tonight, seeking collections, recommendations, etc.~~~
