Chapter 058: Leaping into the Pool of Blood

Li Tianque hadn’t expected to break through the encirclement so easily; a flicker of excitement rose within him. Yet he dared not let his guard down. He ran for a long time, only slowing his steps when the mist finally began to thin and the ghostly figures seemed to have lost his trail, leaving him gasping for breath.

Stumbling forward, Li Tianque heard someone calling his name:

“Li Tianque… Li Tianque…”

He looked back and caught sight of slender, elongated shades wandering in the distant fog; they appeared to have given up the chase. The voice, however, was not coming from those spectral figures, but rather from ahead, where the mist was thinner.

Li Tianque staggered in that direction and soon realized something was amiss as the fog cleared. The surroundings felt strangely familiar. Looking closely, he found himself once again near the pile of white rocks.

He turned to the rock face, discovering that what had once been a smooth wall was now riddled with fractured, narrow, irregular openings—resembling the shapes of human forms.

It seemed those elongated ghosts had crawled directly from the cliff, leaving these humanoid fissures behind.

I’ve somehow come back again… Could I be trapped in an endless loop by these ghosts?

Li Tianque opened the compass app on his phone and memorized his current direction.

The voice calling him continued. He quickly replied:

“I’m here…”

“Tianque, hurry over!” urged Fatty Bi.

Li Tianque now recognized the voice as belonging to the Fatty Bi whom he had rescued earlier, and hurried over.

The mist was thinning, and the surroundings gradually became clearer. The restless yowling of stray cats and dogs had disappeared, leaving an ethereal silence, as though the entire valley had fallen into slumber.

Upon returning to the old well, he saw that its outer stones, previously soaked in blood, had turned a deep red. A chilling, oppressive aura surged from the well’s depths, making the very air feel suffocating.

Bi Youqian had also returned, looking even more disheveled. Next to him was a large black mountaineering pack—clearly his companion’s. He was setting up equipment, apparently preparing to descend into the well.

The blood that had overflowed from the stone well had now receded, but streaks of blood around the rim remained wet, and the air was still thick with a foul, metallic stench.

“Why are you back? Did you get trapped in a ghost loop too?” Li Tianque asked.

“Yes, but that’s not important now. I ran into my companion just now—he jumped into the well too. I have to go down and rescue him, quickly!” Fatty Bi said seriously.

Li Tianque gazed at Fatty Bi, bewildered by his sudden seriousness and the anxiety in his expression.

“Don’t act rashly… Although the blood has sunk back down, it might surge up again at any moment. We have no idea what’s below, and the ghosts are still around—it’s too dangerous to go down now!” Li Tianque said worriedly.

“No, I have to go now. Watch from above, and if those ghosts come, follow me down! They’re physical beings—those tall bodies can’t fit in here,” Fatty Bi insisted.

Li Tianque hesitated, glancing back at the lingering mist. Though the elongated ghosts were nowhere in sight, the memory of their horrific faces still sent chills down his spine.

He glanced at the large backpack by Fatty Bi—left behind by his companion, who, like Wu Miaoran, had leapt into the well.

“Are you sure you want to go down?” Li Tianque asked.

“Yes!” Fatty Bi nodded solemnly.

Although Li Tianque couldn’t understand what had made him so determined, he knew he couldn’t dissuade Fatty Bi.

Fatty Bi continued to set up the rescue tripod at the well’s edge, explaining as he worked:

“We don’t know what’s down there yet. If the well goes straight down and the blood surges up again, just retract the winch and pull me out.

If it’s more complicated down there and I don’t come back, just escape! The radio might not work here, so if I lose contact, go by the clock—if I’m not up in twenty minutes and you haven’t heard from me, run!”

“All right… Be careful! If you find my companion down there, let me know immediately!”

Unable to change his mind, Li Tianque agreed to let him descend, keeping in touch via the radio Fatty Bi had left.

“Got it!” Fatty Bi replied. Once ready, he began to lower himself down the well wall.

The winch whirred softly as the safety rope uncoiled. Li Tianque watched as Fatty Bi was swallowed by the black maw of the well, the scene chillingly reminiscent of what had come before.

So Fatty Bi went down too. Counting his companion who had jumped earlier, this was now the third person to descend; the first two had vanished without a trace.

This time, though, they had the walkie-talkie left by Fatty Bi’s companion, allowing timely communication. Fatty Bi reported his progress at intervals.

Li Tianque stood guard outside. The mist gradually receded but never fully cleared, and the elongated specters did not reappear.

He waited anxiously. After about ten minutes, the rope stopped descending. Nervously, he pressed the radio:

“Hey, have you reached the bottom? What’s the situation?”

A minute passed, static crackling, before Fatty Bi’s voice replied from the depths:

“Don’t worry, I’ve found your companion’s climbing rope down here—looks like she took it off herself. I haven’t seen my friend’s body either. When he jumped in, the well still had blood inside, so he might be fine. It’s spacious down here, but I still don’t know what’s going on with the blood. You—”

Before Fatty Bi could finish, that strange laughter echoed again, this time drawing nearer.

Glancing around, Li Tianque saw the elongated ghosts appear suddenly, surrounding him completely. This time, they had stepped out from the haze, their monstrous visages sending a shiver down his spine.

“Damn it, I’m surrounded by these things!” Li Tianque swallowed hard, slipping on his thousand-volt gloves, though he knew such a weapon wouldn’t be enough to defeat so many.

He still had three chewing-gum bombs, but even if all three worked perfectly, he’d only take out three or five at best. There were over a dozen ghosts now—far too many for any attempt at escape.

“Get ready to catch me, I’m coming down!” Li Tianque shouted into the radio.

Fatty Bi hesitated, then replied, “All right, be quick—and be careful they don’t destroy the tripod.”

“There’s no other way. I can’t get out, so you have to cover me!”

Only then did Fatty Bi realize Li Tianque’s intent—if the rope snapped, he’d be a human cushion for the fall! But with no better option, he agreed.

Without wasting another moment, Li Tianque gripped his phone between his teeth and shone its light down the well’s black, bottomless depths. Fatty Bi was already far below.

The ghosts pressed in. Li Tianque clipped himself to the safety rope, told Fatty Bi over the radio, “I’m coming down!” and got a brief reply, “Okay!”

Securing the rope, Li Tianque mimicked Fatty Bi’s descent, slowly lowering himself into the darkness. The winch grated as he slipped into the abyss below.

End of chapter.