There is a trick

Chapter 33 Bride's Pond

Zhou Chang's pupils trembled!

Even if he saw Li Xiamei killing people and dissecting corpses with his own eyes, the shock he felt would not be as strong as the scene before his eyes!
How tragic is this?
She was clearly about to become someone else's bride - she should have been happy at this time, but she chose to end her life at this moment!

Zhou Chang's mind was full of thoughts, and his expression gradually became calm.

The people surrounding the wedding sedan watched the bride hang herself in the sedan, and they all became panicked.

Their undisguised shouts were carried by the wind into Zhou Chang's ears.

"Why did she hang herself? If she had married a good family in the city and become a concubine, she would have never had to worry about food and drink. Why did she hang herself?"

"How are we going to explain this to the nobles in the city?"

"Oh no! How did we end up on this road to Bride's Pond?"

"Eight out of ten brides who take this road to get married will commit suicide along the way. Why did we end up here?!"

"Go! Go!"

"If Grandma Bai is still alive, please bless your descendants. We can't ask all the girls in Baijia Village to 'wander in the garden' like you did back then..."

"Shh! Shut up! Do you really think Grandma Bai can't hear you?!"

……

The rope around the bride's neck was untied, and the purple and red marks on her neck made Zhou Chang inexplicably think of Bai Xiu'e.

The bride's body was stuffed back into the wedding sedan, which became a coffin chamber.

The group of people were shouting and clamoring, no longer caring about playing any musical instruments. They carried the wedding sedan and hurriedly returned along the same route before it got dark.

When Zhou Chang heard them mention words like "Bride's Pond", "Grandma Bai", and "Touring the Garden", he instinctively felt that there were many unknown things hidden in these words, so he secretly memorized them in his heart.

In the blink of an eye, the group of people walked down the hillside and disappeared.

Zhou Chang looked at the sky and guessed that Shidanzi must be getting impatient by now.

He didn't dare to delay any longer and continued walking along the path with his head down.

Suddenly a gust of wind blew by, and Zhou Chang felt a little cold in his heart.

He lowered his head and walked out of the wild woods, and finally saw human traces outside the woods.

Several carts carrying large water jars were pushed and pulled by the winery employees and passed by Zhou Chang.

Those people looked at Zhou Chang who was walking alone with strange eyes, but they didn't say much to Zhou Chang.

The water trucks soon left.

Zhou Chang walked to the quiet and clear pond. He looked at the trees with huge crowns growing opposite the pond. The crowns of the trees covered the sky above the pond, making the water surface look dark and deep.

There was not a ripple on the water.

“This is the Bride’s Pond.”

Looking at the big pool of water, Zhou Chang suddenly realized something.

The Bride's Pond that those who are sending off the bride refer to is actually the Jade Maiden Pond where Yongsheng Winery gets its water for brewing wine.

"Brother Zhou!" Not far away, Shidanzi was hiding behind a few wild trees. He saw Zhou Chang approaching the Yunu Pond. His originally anxious face suddenly turned into surprise, and he hurriedly called out to Zhou Chang.

While shouting, Shidanzi jumped out of the bushes and ran towards Zhou Chang.

He saw Zhou Chang also turned to face him and waved at him.

'Brother Zhou' had a gentle smile, and his face looked much paler than usual. As he waved to Shi Danzi, transparent holes gradually appeared on his body.

Snow-white and delicate lotus root threads passed through the holes, turning into wandering little hands, waving towards the stone egg: "Come, come..."

Shidanzi was suddenly frightened, looked away and stopped abruptly!

He came back to his senses and looked hastily towards where Zhou Chang was standing - by the cold and gloomy pond, where could he see Zhou Chang? The sky was getting darker and darker, and the rosy clouds in the distant sky were about to disappear.

There was silence beside the Yunu Pond. The wild trees with huge crowns still grew lush green leaves even in this chilly spring season. It seemed as if there were human figures hidden among the lush vegetation.

They quietly observed the stone eggs by the pond.

"what!"

Shidanzi could no longer bear the silence that sent chills down his spine, so he screamed and fled in panic!

……

Zhou Chang did not see the stone eggs nearby.

He walked around the Bride Pond. The chirping of birds could be heard among the branches of the lush green trees. Occasionally, a breeze blew, causing ripples on the surface of the pond.

The brilliant sunlight poured down through the huge crowns of the wild trees, making the light at the edge of the pond dim and bright.

The breeze is blowing, the grass is growing and the birds are flying.

It seemed like a lazy late spring season.

On this beautiful spring day, Zhou Changxing was walking in the woods beside a pond when he heard the sounds of some girls laughing and playing.

Their laughter is as bright and beautiful as this spring day.

"Oh, we are now at Bride's Pond... The wind here is so cool. During the day we have to feed the pigs, cut grass for the pigs, cook, and do farm work... It's rare to have such a leisurely time."

"Lying on the grass with the wind blowing, I feel like I can fall asleep in no time."

"The villagers said that the great-grandmother of the Bai family was buried in the Bride's Pond. She would take the life of every young woman who passed by. The village witch also said that the great-grandmother Bai under the Bride's Pond was sleeping in a garden paradise. The girls who were taken away by her were all going to enjoy happiness and did not have to suffer like us..."

"I've suffered so much... My father promised me to be the concubine of the eldest son of the Wen family in the city, but it is said that the eldest son has been paralyzed for many years..."

"Your father just wants to exchange you for silver dollars - but my family is the same. I am also getting old enough to get married. I wonder what kind of family my family will promise me..."

"To live is to suffer!"

"Yes, to live is to suffer!"

"I work day and night for my family, and they arrange for me to marry a husband I don't like, and then serve him for the rest of my life - it would be great if there was a nice place like a garden under the Bride's Pond..."

The laughter and chattering of the women in the woods slowly turned into bursts of mournful sobbing.

The sound of wailing lingered in Zhou Chang's mind, sometimes near, sometimes far away, but always lingering.

He heard a woman singing softly and gracefully amid the crying: "On the seventh day of the winter month, I wandered the garden, trapped in the mud, and my soul was restless..."

The sunlight shining through the treetops dimmed for a moment.

The water in the pool is glistening, reflecting the desolate and decayed scenery around it.

The beautiful scenery of spring is gone in a flash, never to return.

Zhou Chang was still standing by the pond. He felt as if someone was looking at him from above, so he suddenly looked up - he saw seven or eight young girls in coarse flowery clothes, with vines wrapped around the branches and their necks hung on them.

His mind suddenly became dazed, and those bright and youthful young girls turned into shriveled and rotten corpses wrapped in torn and faded coarse cloth.

Zhou Chang suddenly retracted his gaze——

By the pond, there was a woman in a bright red wedding dress, squatting by the pond and burning paper money:

"On the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, I visited the garden. I was trapped in the mud and my soul was restless. My lover came to collect my beautiful bones. We will never leave each other, no matter life or death..."

Listening to the song coming from the woman's mouth and looking at her profile, Zhou Chang's eyes moved slightly.

Why is Bai Xiu'e here?

(End of this chapter)