Chapter 7 Blood Well: Mummified Corpse
The calamity of the Blood Well originated from somewhere.
"I wonder if Your Highness has had this blood tested?" Xiao Fangliang spoke first, breaking the silence softly.
“It has been tested.” King Xia Nan nodded, his brows furrowed, his voice slightly hesitant: “But there is no poison in the water, and… it is not real blood.”
Upon hearing this, Tang Yu's eyes flickered slightly, her gaze falling on the bucket of water. The water was a deep crimson, like blood, yet it was clear and transparent as it rippled, neither murky nor sticky, and certainly didn't resemble blood.
She took a step forward and said softly, "Your Highness, may I inquire further?"
King Xia Nan nodded hurriedly and gestured for her to do as she pleased.
Tang Yu walked to the bucket of bloody water, half-squatted down, first sniffed it lightly, then took out a silver needle from her bosom and probed it, but saw no change in color. Then, she boldly put her hand into the water, dipped her fingertips in a little liquid, and carefully rubbed and smelled it.
"It has a rusty smell and a bloody odor... but it's definitely not poisonous, and it's not blood."
She murmured to herself, her gaze fixed on the bucket of water, then on her fingertips, and suddenly chuckled softly.
"Brother Su, have you noticed something?" Xiao Fangliang asked gently with a smile.
Tang Yu stood up, wiped her fingertips clean, and said slowly, "Ordinary people are used to describing blood as having a rusty taste, but they overlook another taste in blood that is different from real rust, which is a salty and fishy taste."
"Upon closer inspection, the water has only a cold, metallic smell of rust, mixed with the putrid smell of earth, but no trace of the saltiness of blood. Although the water is unusually red, like blood, it is not turbid at all. If a large amount of blood were dissolved in the water, it should not look so clear."
Tang Yu paused, then opened her palm, revealing some fine brownish-red powder remaining on her fingertips.
"More importantly... what's in the well water isn't bloodstains, but rust powder."
No wonder King Xia Nan ordered people to inspect the Blood Well, but found no clues whatsoever.
Xiao Fangliang seemed to be deep in thought, then suddenly raised his eyes and asked, "May I ask Your Highness, have you investigated the underground water veins? If the wells are connected, the entire city should have fallen at the same time, so why did they appear in batches?"
King Xia Nan sighed, "All have been investigated. Most of the blood wells do indeed share the same water veins, but a small portion are completely different, with no branches intersecting at all."
Xiao Fangliang nodded upon hearing this, but he wasn't particularly surprised.
After all, if all the blood wells were the source of the water veins, the entire city should have been affected at once, rather than this bizarre phenomenon appearing in batches.
He changed the subject and said with a smile, "I wonder if Your Highness could borrow Zhang Xiaonan's map?"
King Xia Nan immediately summoned someone to fetch the map. The group returned to the inner hall and unfolded the map on the table. King Xia Nan personally marked the location of the Blood Well and indicated the direction of the corresponding water vein.
Xiao Fangliang then picked up a brush and seemingly casually circled a few places on the map.
"If we follow the water veins, the tributaries of the water veins that produce blood wells are different, but they all originate from three sources. However, if the sources are polluted, then blood wells will appear in more than just these places. Therefore, the problem is not at the source, but most likely somewhere in the middle. If the three water sources are to be polluted, this place must be close to a section of one of the three tributaries at the same time."
After saying that, he crossed out several places that did not fit the terrain, leaving only three.
Xiao Fangliang lightly tapped the map with his finger and said softly, "These three places are where the water veins converge, the locations are hidden, and they are close to the three water sources, making them the most suspicious."
His gaze was deep and serious. "Perhaps... the calamity of the Blood Well originated from somewhere."
When King Xia Nan received the three suspicious locations circled by Xiao Fangliang, he was overjoyed and immediately sent someone to notify the government to prepare manpower for a search.
The group, who had originally planned to return to the capital immediately after delivering the goods, would inevitably have to stay a few more days to help the people of Xia Nan resolve the mysterious "blood well disaster."
*
The next morning, Tang Yu used the excuse of preparing medicine for the Ghost Cry Village's woodlice to go out and buy medicinal herbs. As he passed a deserted street corner, he suddenly spotted a small, dusty figure squatting against a wall. His clothes were tattered, but his eyes shone with a cleverness as he sized up the passersby at the street corner, his gaze darting around. It was none other than the "master thief" little beggar.
She bought two hot naan breads from a nearby stall, walked over, and sat down next to him without any hesitation.
The little beggar glanced at her warily, but still obediently accepted the fragrant naan bread.
"I have something to ask you." Tang Yu's voice was completely different from her gentle and elegant appearance as a traveling doctor; it was a playful and clear female voice.
The little beggar's eyes lit up immediately, and he exclaimed, "Sister, it's you! How come you've changed your appearance again? You're amazing! Can you teach me?"
Tang Yu said with a smile, "The art of disguise is not easy to learn, and besides, it is a family secret that I do not pass on to outsiders."
"Hmph!" The little beggar was somewhat disappointed, but he still took a big bite of his naan bread. "Then what do you want to ask?"
"Are there any bodies in Xia Nan City that died because of the 'Blood Well' but haven't been buried yet?"
“Old Mrs. Zhang, who lives next door to Lian’er’s house in the west of the city.” The child blinked and answered subconsciously, then leaned close to Tang Yu’s ear and whispered, “Many animals have died on Mangshan Mountain in the west of the city recently, I heard it’s because they drank that blood. That old Mrs. Zhang is greedy, she insisted on taking the dead rabbits from the foot of the mountain home, saying that if she stewed them for an hour, they would be free of poison.”
Tang Yu astutely grasped the key point: "You said, many animals have died during this period?"
“Yes.” The little beggar nodded, munching on a biscuit as he recalled the incident. “Half a month ago, Brother Wang, a hunter from the north of the city, carried a wild deer down from Mangshan Mountain. Deer are usually very wary animals and difficult to hunt. Someone asked him for advice, but at first he wouldn’t tell them. Later, he got drunk and finally told them. Apparently, when he saw the deer, it stumbled towards him, looking like it was about to die, and he hunted it down with very little effort.”
"Several hunters went up Mangshan to try their luck and found a lot of animal carcasses. But no one dared to eat dead things. What's even more terrifying is that a few days later, the hunter Wang died inexplicably at home. When he was found, there was no trace of blood, and his whole body was just skin and bones, just like that old woman Zhang."
Tang Yu nodded slightly, clearly interested in the matter. "Are those animals also like mummies?"
He thought for a moment and shook his head. "No, otherwise the old lady wouldn't have picked them up to eat. But everyone says that those animals drank the water from the blood well, so their bodies are no longer blood, and it's no use cooking them."
interesting……
Tang Yu curled the corners of her lips and asked again, "Where does Old Lady Zhang live?"
The little beggar pointed in the distance, and Tang Yu didn't delay, getting up and leaving.
After taking a few steps, she suddenly stopped, turned back and smiled at the small figure still munching on a naan bread, her tone light and cheerful: "If we have the chance to come to Xia Nan again next time, I'll teach you the art of disguise."
The little beggar was taken aback, then exclaimed with delight, "You keep your word!"
*
West of the city.
Tang Yu found Old Lady Zhang's residence with very little effort.
From a distance, white silk hung under the eaves, and lanterns made of white paper swayed gently in the wind. Although it was daytime, the whole street was as deserted as a deserted village, and not even a chicken could be seen.
As she approached, she discovered that the body was lying in the courtyard, covered only by a thin cloth, with a few wooden pillars casually supporting a makeshift shelter, a scene of utter neglect and indifference.
After a brief exchange inside and some money slipped to him, the other party finally nodded in agreement.
Tang Yu lifted the white cloth, revealing the mummified corpse.
Her skin was shrunken and clung to her skeleton, as if all the flesh and blood had been drained away. Her entire body was withered and twisted, and only her old and frail appearance could be vaguely discerned in her lifetime.
Tang Yu first tested the corpse with a silver needle, but there was no reaction to the poison. Then she took out the herbs she had just bought that morning from her bosom, lit them, and slowly fumigated the corpse. Her eyes were fixed on the withered skin, searching for any possible trace of movement.
But after going around once, nothing seemed amiss.
She frowned, a hint of doubt flashing in her eyes.
Could it be... that she guessed wrong?
Just then, footsteps sounded behind her. Startled, Tang Yu reflexively hid the herbs behind her back and turned around to look.
It turned out to be Xiao Fangliang and Wang Shanyue.
The former smiled slightly, his eyes revealing an undisguised probing intent, and glanced discreetly at her hand hidden behind her back and the uncollected herb ash on the ground.
The latter, on the other hand, seemed enthusiastic, waving to her from afar, "Brother Su!"
Seeing that it was two people, Tang Yu breathed a sigh of relief and replied with a smile, "Last night, the prince mentioned the water from the Blood Well, where a person's blood is drained overnight... As a doctor, I am naturally curious about such a bizarre and strange event."
“What a coincidence,” Wang Shanyue turned and smiled, “A Liang is also very curious about this.”
Xiao Fangliang stepped forward, his gaze sweeping over the mummified corpse, and said with a smile, "Brother Su, have you made any gains?"
Tang Yu sighed and shook her head, saying, "The body was too clean, without a single external injury, and the silver needles didn't detect any poison."
As he spoke, he spread out his left hand, showing the herbs that had not yet burned out in his palm. "These are my specially prepared herbs. They can be used to ward off Gu worms when fumigated, but I have not found any."
Wang Shanyue asked curiously, "If that's the case, why not try the silver needle method as we did yesterday?"
Tang Yu explained calmly, "That's a method used on living people. This corpse has been dead for two days, so its blood vessels are no longer flowing. Even if the Gu worms are parasitizing it, they will mostly be dormant deep inside the body and won't move."
As the two were talking, Xiao Fangliang had already strolled to a corner of the courtyard. Suddenly, he raised his hand and pointed to the stone well in the neighboring courtyard: "Why don't we try it with blood?"
Tang Yu was taken aback, then a glint of light appeared in her eyes.
If, as she suspected, it was the work of a Gu worm, the corpse's flesh and blood have dried up and it has no intention of causing any harm. But if the "blood" is indeed its medium of transmission, perhaps... it can awaken the sleeping Gu worm.
The physical labor was naturally left to Wang Shanyue. Before long, he brought over a large bucket of blood and placed it next to the corpse.
Tang Yu used a silver needle to pierce the tip of the mummified corpse's finger and slowly immersed its finger in blood.
Silence fell for a moment.
Just when the group thought nothing was happening, a drop of dark red blood suddenly seeped from the corpse's finger, thick as blood, and quickly dispersed into the scarlet water, leaving no trace.
The group exchanged glances, their expressions changing, clearly having all witnessed the scene.
Sunlight shone on the water's surface, and the well water remained as clear as a mirror, yet it gleamed with a terrifying blood-red light that sent chills down one's spine.
Xiao Fangliang's gaze darkened, and he said in a low voice, "It seems... we'll have to make a trip to Mangshan."
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