Chapter 1 Heed the Ballad

Feng Bujue had arrived at the well, but he didn't get too close. Instead, he lowered his body, trying his best to look straight ahead with a slanting gaze, without sticking his head out to look inside the well.

He remembered the ballad word for word, "Don't look at him, or be buried beneath the withered well." This was already as clear a hint as it could get. Feng Bujue had no doubt that as soon as he glanced at the thing at the bottom of the well, he would immediately trigger a death fLAG… He didn't want to be suddenly dragged down by some irresistible force, instantly reducing his Survival Value to zero or something.

"Hey, you..." Feng Bujue shouted, raising his voice, "How about I find a rope and throw it down to you?"

After a few seconds, the voice from the bottom of the well sounded again: "I... can't... climb up... alone..."

When Feng Bujue heard this sentence, he had a sudden feeling of enlightenment. He tentatively asked, "Then... how about I carry you up?"

The voice from the bottom of the well replied simply: "Okay..."

Feng Bujue simply asked directly, "I'm not familiar with this school. Do you know where there are any ropes nearby?" He wanted to test how far the hints for this task would go.

But this time, the other party did not answer. The voice only repeated: "Save... save... me..."

So, Feng Bujue said, "You wait, I'll be back when I find a rope."

The voice didn't voice any objections and continued to call for help.

Feng Bujue was actually a little curious about what would happen if he left and never came back. But after thinking about it carefully, even if the guy at the bottom of the well couldn't climb out and settle the score with him, he would have to come back and do this task sooner or later.

Leaving the well, Feng Bujue trotted towards the sports equipment room. He had passed by there earlier and wanted to go in and scavenge. Now, he returned there familiarly, used a pipe wrench to smash the lock on the door, and went inside to rummage through the boxes and cabinets.

Before long, he found a thick rope that was bundled together, probably used for tug-of-war. He tested its sturdiness and, feeling that it was okay, Feng Bujue coiled the rope, stuffed it into his bag, and then went out and returned to the withered well.

Approaching the withered well, the cry for help from the bottom of the well came out again. Feng Bujue pretended not to hear it, walked over quickly, found the thickest tree next to it, and tied the rope tightly to it, making a knot. Then he came to the well and threw the other end of the rope down. He estimated that this well was at most ten meters deep, and possibly only six or seven meters. The rope was definitely long enough.

Now, the most troublesome problem was the phone. Whether he went down or came up, he would definitely have to use both hands. He couldn't hold the phone in his mouth, could he… Besides, even if he really held it in his mouth, he wouldn't be able to answer it if it rang halfway up. If there was a mishap and the phone fell into the well, he would definitely be hunted to death...

Looking at the time, there were still seven minutes until the next call. Feng Bujue felt that this time was okay. He guessed that the one calling for help at the bottom of the well was the male student who appeared in the death clip earlier. That little appearance, even the stronger of his peers could lift him up. After becoming a ghost, he should be even lighter.

Feng Bujue made up his mind and no longer hesitated. He put the phone on the ground, grabbed the rope, faced the tree, turned his back to the well, and sat on the edge of the well. Then, he stretched his legs down separately. Next, he faced upwards, stepped on the well wall, and alternately gripped the rope with both hands, moving downwards as quickly as possible. From beginning to end, he never looked down, just kept his back to something that was most likely a ghost.

"Look up at the sky… the moon is smiling…" After entering the withered well, Feng Bujue maintained his back-down position, looked up at the sky from the well, and unknowingly hummed two lines. Then he immediately stopped and muttered to himself, "Damn… I accidentally sang this brainwashing melody… Luckily, no one is around. I feel so embarrassed…"

After reaching the bottom of the well, Feng Bujue's feet seemed to be stepping on soft soil. He stood against one side of the well wall, not turning around, only leaving the other party with his back: "Where are you? I'll carry you…"

Before he finished speaking, two bloody arms stretched out from both sides of Feng Bujue's head and wrapped around the front of his neck. At the same time, he felt "half" a person sticking to his back. Feng Bujue was sure that even a female player could carry this ghost, because this ghost was very light, or rather… its limbs were not complete.

"Um…" Feng Bujue hesitated. He originally wanted to habitually complain, the words were already on the tip of his tongue, but after thinking about it slightly, that wasn't right… In this situation, pointing out some obvious differences between the other party and humans might also lead to bad developments. Things like, "With your nimble skills, why don't you climb up yourself?" "Why is the skin on your arm rotten?" "Why do I feel like you don't have anything below your waist?" "Is fluid flowing out of your abdominal cavity?" were all forbidden sentences.

In the endings of countless ghost stories, countless protagonists would say to someone who looked like a human: I just ran into a ghost, it looked like this… And what they got was the same response, "Is it like this!" Then they were killed.

Feng Bujue didn't want to take this risk. His neck was still in the other party's grasp. If this ghost suddenly realized that it really was a ghost after being reminded by him, then it would definitely be a death fLAG, absolutely could not mention those things.

"Hold on tight, I'm going to climb up." Feng Bujue completely ignored the various strong hints brought by the smell and sound, and also ignored the two bloody arms below his chin. He greeted and climbed up with the ghost on his back.

When he went down the well just now, he didn't look down at all. The overall feeling was like walking backwards. When going up, he was moving forward in the direction he was looking, so he climbed up very quickly. And the thing he was carrying on his back was indeed not heavy, not a big burden.

It only took a little over four minutes to go up and down this withered well. Feng Bujue stood outside the well and steadied his breath. He still didn't dare to be careless. He didn't rush to pick up his phone. Instead, he took out the pipe wrench again and said to the thing clinging to his back, "You're out now. You can go home."

A voice sounded from behind Feng Bujue's neck, like a cold wind passing over the back of his neck: "Go... home..."

The next few seconds were suffocatingly quiet.

"Thank you..." This was the last response of the ghost.

At the same time that Feng Bujue heard these words, the bone-chilling coldness around him suddenly disappeared, and the feeling of carrying something on his back was also gone. At this time, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and turned around.

Under the silver moonlight, the withered well had changed. The well opening was not open, but was sealed with a concrete slab. One end of the thick rope in Feng Bujue's hand was still tied to the tree, but the other end that had been thrown into the well was now piled up beside the well.

Perhaps Feng Bujue had never gone down into this well at all, perhaps he went to... another place. And it was from that place that he rescued the male student.

…………

The last paragraph of the clipping in Si Yu's hand read:

Heisei 10, Autumn.

Some students' parents invited an onmyoji to perform a ritual. When leaving, the onmyoji claimed that he had wounded the vengeful spirit, but his own cultivation was still powerless to help it achieve Buddhahood.

After the author repeatedly inquired, the onmyoji left the words, "Do you want me to go to 'that place' and carry him out?" and left in anger.

After that, the well was resealed with concrete and has not been abnormal since.