148 Ancient Painting

Suddenly, I caught a glimpse of a pale, ghostly human figure in the water, resembling a woman swimming inside. Was it a female ghost, or was my vision playing tricks on me? Even under the bright midday sun, the sight filled me with hair-raising terror.

I instinctively stepped back. Noticing my terrified expression, Fatty exclaimed in surprise, "What did you see? Why are you looking so scared?"

Still shaken, I stammered, "I don't know if my eyes were deceiving me, but I thought I saw a pale figure drifting back and forth down in the well..." Hearing this, Sister Yang asked in alarm, "Did you see a female ghost?"

I shook my head and replied, "Hard to say!"

Fatty scoffed, "You were all bravado on the way here, but now you're scared? Weren't you the one saying there are no ghosts in broad daylight?"

Seeing his mocking expression, a mischievous urge welled up inside me. I chuckled and said, "Just kidding with you. How could there be ghosts in broad daylight?"

Fatty asked, half-convinced, "You really didn't see anything just now?"

I smiled and lied, "I saw it. It was just a huge, pale fish swimming around in the well! If you don't believe me, go take a look!"

Prompted by my words, Sister Yang and Fatty walked over. When they looked down, they saw nothing but well water—absolutely nothing else.

Sister Yang complained, "Ah-Feng, you're so mean, making up stories to scare me."

This ancient Lou family well was much larger than an ordinary one. I estimated the wellhead was about three meters square, with walls built from neatly cut stone blocks.

I guessed that back when they were hauling up rubble and mud from the bottom, stone steps leading downward had been built into the well lining. It was evidence of a massive engineering feat in its time, though most of those stone steps were now submerged beneath the water.

We peered into the depths. The water was very clear, but it was pitch black underneath, indicating that the well was exceptionally deep.

Fatty picked up a small stone and tossed it in. A faint "splash" echoed, but it took a long time for any sound to return.

Fatty remarked, "This well is so deep, but there doesn't seem to be anything inside." I smiled and said, "Fatty, if you want to find something, you'll have to jump down yourself—provided you have the guts!"

Fatty laughed and cursed, "Do you take me for a fool? In this freezing weather, even if there are no ghosts down there, a man would freeze to death."

Seeing nothing unusual in the well, everyone began chatting and laughing, and the atmosphere relaxed considerably.

Suddenly, I noticed that Guying had not followed us over. Normally, this little creature stuck close to me and was practically inseparable, but now it looked as though it had seen something terrifying and refused to come near the ancient well.

I had heard that dogs are extraordinarily sensitive to supernatural entities—things humans might not perceive, yet dogs can easily detect. Could there truly be something sinister about this Corpse-Well?

I buried my doubts in my heart. Since everyone agreed there was nothing left to see, we took a few final glances and turned to leave. At that moment, I faintly heard the sound of splashing water echoing from the well once more.

I thought to myself that whether the well was haunted or not, as long as whatever was down there wasn't coming after us, it was best not to provoke it and invite unnecessary trouble. So, pretending I hadn't heard a thing, I walked away slowly.

We left the ancient well and walked up to the towering, dilapidated wooden building. Fatty observed, "All these antiques around here probably came from these carved stone things. But they weigh at least a few hundred pounds each; we couldn't possibly carry them away."

I smiled. "There's an old saying about foolish thieves trying to steal heavy stone mortars. Why don't you give it a try?"

Fatty chuckled, "I'm not that stupid! Even if you strained yourself to steal these stone carvings, you'd be caught in no time."

Suddenly, my eyes fell upon a tattered bed on the upper floor of the wooden building. The bed gave me a vague sense of familiarity, as if it were the very one I had slept in as a child.

I remembered Granny Li telling me that when I had a high fever years ago, she had brought me to Granny Lou to be cured, and at that time, I had stayed right here in the Lou family's ancient courtyard.

Granny Li was eccentric, and the villagers looked down on her and even bullied her, yet Granny Lou seemed to treat her very kindly. Perhaps they shared a bond of mutual sympathy.

I had been too young back then, and my impressions of the event were faint and hazy, like a dream I couldn't verify. But now, seeing that dilapidated wooden bed, I faintly felt I had seen it before.

There was another lingering impression in my mind: out of childhood curiosity, I had once secretly glimpsed a pale woman in the ancient well. I simply could not be certain whether it was a dream-induced illusion or something I had genuinely sneaked out to see when I was little.

Seeing me stare up at the wooden building, Fatty asked, "Are there any antiques or treasures up there?"

I smiled. "If there were, someone would have taken them long ago." Suddenly, I remembered an ancient painting that used to hang at the head of the bed when I was a child. I recalled it depicted a remarkably beautiful woman in traditional costume. I wondered if that painting was still there.

If the painting still existed, it would prove that I truly had lived here as a child, and the memories in my mind were not mere hallucinations from a dream.

Seeing me standing in a daze, gazing at the broken old bed upstairs, Fatty remarked, "You look half-witted. Don't tell me you're thinking of climbing up there to look for antiques."

I checked the wooden stairs leading to the upper floor to see if they had rotted away.

Stepping forward, I tentatively placed my foot on a step. Perhaps because they had been built with superior timber back in the day, so many years later, I felt the wood had not completely rotted and should still be able to support my weight.

Seeing my intention to climb up, Sister Yang cried out in alarm, "Ah-Feng, come down right now! It's dangerous to go up like that." I ignored her and continued upward. Fatty also shouted anxiously, "Ah-Feng, have you lost your mind looking for antiques? Get down here right now!"

I called back, "Stop making a fuss, you two. I know what I'm doing."

I walked up cautiously, my footsteps causing the old floorboards to creak loudly. Seeing that I had already made it up, both Fatty and Sister Yang stared at me in terror, falling completely silent out of fear that a loud noise might cause the rickety wooden structure to collapse.

My gaze swept across the upper floor. It felt vaguely familiar, but aside from the utterly ruined ancient bed, the space was practically empty, devoid of any other old objects.

Suddenly, my eyes lit up. Beneath a tattered bamboo blind, the ancient painting from my memories was still there!

I hurried over and retrieved the scroll. A thick layer of dust covered its surface, but I could still faintly discern the artwork beneath.

As I picked it up and casually wiped at it, to my utter astonishment, the painting was not torn or rotted.

By all logic, after enduring wind and rain for so many years, the ancient painting should have long since disintegrated into dust. How could it possibly remain as good as new?

What kind of materials was this painting made of to survive all these years? Seeing me standing in a daze, Sister Yang called out, "Ah-Feng, come down! Stop daydreaming, that building looks like it's about to collapse!"

Sister Yang's shout snapped me out of my trance. My primary purpose in risking the climb had been to find this ancient painting. Now that it was in my hands, I needed to get down immediately.

I hurriedly scrambled back toward the stairs. But when I was halfway down, the entire wooden structure began to sway violently...

From below, Fatty yelled, "Run, Ah-Feng! The building is coming down!" With that, he and Sister Yang bolted away.

Sensing the violent swaying, I realized the building was indeed collapsing. With a flight of stairs still left between me and the ground, there was no time to walk down normally; I had no choice but to leap.

I hit the ground running, scrambling wildly for dozens of paces until a thunderous crash erupted behind me. The lonely, towering wooden building collapsed into a heap of ruins.