NOVEL NEXT Chapter 30: The Old Well
Chapter 30: The Old Well
The voice from the old well said, “Come down and join me; I miss you.”
Only someone with a brain disorder would go down there… Xu Lian probed, “Come out, let’s talk.”
The eerie voice sighed. “I can’t come out. If I could, I would have come out to look for you a long time ago.”
As long as it can’t come out, that’s good… Xu Lian felt relieved when he realized that whatever was in the well was probably bound by something.
Why did he assume that it was a demon or a ghost? After all, who would be normal enough to bathe in a well in the middle of the night? He understood this simple logic.
“Why are you in the well?”
Xu Lian tried to calm his tense nerves.
He tried to gather information, thinking that the entity in the well seemed mentally unstable… and not very intelligent.
The voice in the well said, “I don’t know why I’m in the well. Don’t you remember? From the moment I regained consciousness, you were by my side. I thought of you as my sister, and we relied on each other through the long years. One morning, you suddenly left me, and I’ve been so lonely, sob sob sob.”
As she spoke, she began to cry.
The crying sounded like that of a woman and an infant, making Xu Lian’s hair stand on end.
He almost turned to run away, but he calmed down and carefully analyzed the information from the words.
First, the being in the well was born there and was initially unconscious. After gaining consciousness, it discovered another entity by its side.
Second, the other entity had been with it for a long time, but for some reason it suddenly left and never returned.
Third, it called the other entity “sister,” indicating that the other entity was female… or had some female characteristics, such as a female spirit, demon, or witch.
To continue gathering information, Xu Lian decided to play along and said in a high voice, “Sister, I finally remember. My dear sister, I’ve come back to see you.”
The words made Xu Lian tremble.
“Sob sob sob, sister, you finally remember.”
The voice in the well cried excitedly, “Sister, come down and let me hug you.”
“….” Xu Lian’s face darkened. “Sister is old now and doesn’t want you to see my old appearance. I’ll talk to you from up here.”
The voice in the well was confused. “Sister, you’ve attained great powers and have eternal youth and longevity. How could you be old? Did you get hurt outside and become old?”
Eternal youth?
Longevity?
Damn it… Xu Lian was shocked. The other being was so powerful, so this one should be formidable as well.
He coughed twice. “Sister’s been injured… Do you have any elixirs to help sister heal?”
The voice in the well said guiltily, “I’m sorry, sister, I don’t have any elixirs. I’m completely naked and have nothing.”
Poor spirit… Xu Lian could only use his imagination to picture what a naked entity looked like in the well.
Xu Lian didn’t give up. “Do you have any cultivation methods?”
The voice in the well said, “No, I don’t need to cultivate. Sister, haven’t you remembered?”
No need to cultivate? Xu Lian learned another piece of information and sighed. “Sister only remembers a small part, there’s still a lot I don’t remember. Tell Sister more.”
“Mm-hmm, I’ll tell Sister.”
The voice in the well said, “Back then, we were trapped in the well, relying on each other through the long years. Then you left, sob sob sob.”
That’s it?
Xu Lian was stunned. “Anything else?”
The well fell silent as if recalling, and after a while it said, “Sister’s temper was very bad, often hitting and scolding me, disliking me, always wanting to leave me. But I liked Sister and always held onto her, not letting her leave. But Sister was getting stronger and I couldn’t hold on anymore. Sister left, sob sob.”
“…” Xu Lian’s eyes widened in disbelief.
The entity in the well had been clinging to the other entity, not letting it leave, causing the other entity to be trapped for a long time?
Damn… crazy!
No wonder the other entity never came back after she left; who could stand being clung to by a neurotic all the time?
She kept calling the other entity “sister” so affectionately, making it seem like they had a great relationship!
Xu Lian asked, “Anything else?”
The voice in the well said, “Sister was very greedy and ate all the small fish, shrimp, clams, and snails in the well.”
“…:”Xu Lian said, “Anything else?”
The voice in the well said, “When we were together for over a thousand years, Sister angrily said that once she got out, she would kill everyone in the Yin Dynasty, Yu Dynasty, Qian Dynasty, and Liang Dynasty.
After three thousand years, Sister was a bit discouraged and said she would only kill everyone in Green Bamboo Town.
After five thousand years, Sister was calm and said she wouldn’t kill easily anymore; she would only kill those who provoked her.
After six thousand years, Sister broke through to the Void realm, and I couldn’t hold her back anymore. Sister left, sob-sob.”
Which realm is the Void realm? Xu Lian said, “All right, I remember everything about Sister. Now tell me about yourself.”
The voice in the well cried, “After Sister left, I miss her every day.”
Sister doesn’t miss you… Xu Lian said, “Why are you trapped in the well?”
The voice in the well said, “I’m locked in and I can’t get out.”
“What do you look like?”
“Sob sob, sister, don’t you even remember what I look like? I’m naked, black, and segmented.”
“…” Xu Lian used his imagination. Could it be… a centipede spirit?
Time passed slowly.
No matter how much the voice in the well pleaded, Xu Lian refused to go down and keep it company.
As the night sky began to lighten with the dawn, it was almost daybreak.
“Let’s talk about this another night. The sister will come to see you when she has time. Be a good girl and stay in the well, okay?”
Xu Lian yawned. Chatting with the “crazy well” for half the night, he was tense the whole time and felt a bit tired.
The voice in the well shouted loudly, “Sister, don’t go. Come down and keep me company.”
Xu Lian turned around and left without paying any attention.
He was thinking.
On his own, he certainly couldn’t handle the entity in the well.
Should he inform the Quarry Patrol inspector White Fox and report it to the Yi Sect for them to handle?
If the entity in the well spoke the truth and was extremely powerful, even the entire Yi Sect might not be able to defeat it.
Could he avoid it?
Could he leave this house and go back to the old house on the old street?
That wouldn’t work either. Once the entity in the well got out, the entire Green Bamboo Town might be doomed. Moving anywhere would be the same.
“Let’s keep the status quo.”
Xu Lian made his decision. Since the entity in the well couldn’t get out and didn’t threaten the safety of Sister Xiya and the others, he might as well leave it alone and deal with it when he had the strength.