Forbidden Land – CH 097

Upon hearing “western swamp,” Zhang Chao immediately thought of the woman in ancient costume and the strange creature, both of whom had ventured there. He anxiously asked, “What powerful thing is it?”

Chen Demao shook his head. “I don’t know. You can’t go into the western swamp; it’s all wet, soft mud. In some places, you might sink. I checked local records; that swamp has been empty for hundreds of years, since the Qing Dynasty, and no one has cultivated it into farmland. But during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, local monks were invited to perform grand rituals near the swamp. I haven’t found any information on why.”

Zhang Chao thought for a moment and said, “Professor, if you say your daughter was truly killed by a water ghost using a substitute, then what I can’t understand is that one night, I met a girl by the lake. Later, after comparing photos, I confirmed it was your daughter. I was disoriented at the time, and she dragged me into the water. Luckily, someone passing by called me back, and I saw that I was holding a clump of water plants. Is my situation… is it because your… daughter used a substitute?”

Mentioning his daughter, Chen Demao paused for a moment, then slowly said, “The one you saw wasn’t my daughter.”

Zhang Chao was puzzled.

Chen Demao pondered for a while, then said, “Although I don’t understand these things very well, I’ve heard it said that after a person dies, although their spirit may still exist, the spirit’s thoughts are different from those of a living person. Humans can think, while spirits only have a few thoughts and don’t think as deeply as humans. So, I say, even if what you encountered was indeed the spirit of my daughter after her death, it wasn’t my daughter anymore; it was just something unclean. Do you understand?”

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Zhang Chao nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

Chen Rong thought for a moment and asked, “Professor, if your daughter really was possessed by a water ghost, why did you come to the School of Medicine and even tell us not to come? Is there something evil about the School of Medicine too?”

Chen Demao sighed, and after a long pause, said, “There’s a rumor, but I don’t know if I should tell you; I’m afraid it’ll scare you.”

Zhang Chao smiled. “Professor, if it’s about evil spirits, please tell us. That’s exactly why we came to ask you. If I hadn’t personally experienced many evil things, I wouldn’t believe in their existence.”

Chen Demao nodded and slowly said, “The School of Medicine was the last one built; it was only completed last year. I heard that when they were building the School of Medicine, they dug out two black coffins from underneath.”

Zhang Chao and Chen Rong weren’t particularly surprised by this. Chen Rong’s classmate had mentioned that mummies had been unearthed there before.

Chen Demao continued, “Those two coffins were larger than usual, completely painted black, and marked with cinnabar symbols. Although the burial site was a wetland, normally coffins would have rotted away long ago. But those two coffins were well-preserved, basically intact. I don’t know if it was the wood or the coating. The construction workers weren’t very educated; they initially thought there were antiques inside and wanted to break them open immediately. Some workers said opening coffins in the sun would be unlucky and disturb the deceased. So they moved them to a shady spot and opened them. Inside were two mummified women’s corpses. Judging from their clothing, they were probably from the Qing Dynasty. One of the corpses was heavily pregnant. There wasn’t anything else of value.

“Logically, this was a swampy area, and a body unearthed should have been almost completely decomposed, even the bones. Yet, not only were the coffins intact, but the inside was also very dry, and the body was remarkably well-preserved. How the ancients managed this, no one knows. The construction workers, lacking education and knowledge of preservation, upon seeing it was a mummified corpse, reported it to their supervisor, who said they would handle it the next day. The workers simply left the coffin aside, neglecting to even put the lid back on. Then, that evening, during construction, one worker remembered that disturbing the deceased was unlucky, so he went to get incense to offer prayers. And that’s when the strange thing happened.”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chao’s and Chen Rong’s expressions became tense.