Chapter 716: Twins in the Garbage Pit
"The salt field started working through the night, and my friend's maternal uncle found it strange. With so many people around, what was there to guard? Without a second word, he planned to head back."
"But just then, someone walked out from the edge of the salt field and waved at him from a distance."
"My friend's maternal uncle thought the person had seen him, so he waved back. Unexpectedly, the other person beckoned him to come down."
"My friend's maternal uncle took two steps down the slope, then thought it wouldn't be interesting anyway—he might even be dragged into work—so he simply pretended not to have seen anything, turned around, and went back."
"When he got home, he found the door locked, so he crawled through a hole in the wall to the attic and went to sleep. Meanwhile, his family and that relative rushed to the salt field all night, couldn't find anyone, and only returned at dawn. The whole family wailed in grief. My friend's maternal uncle was woken by the noise and came downstairs, startling the family into asking if he was a human or a ghost."
"Then my friend's maternal uncle recounted what had happened. Later, the relatives who went to look for people also visited the salt field but hadn't seen anyone he described."
"At that point, my friend's maternal uncle belatedly realized something was off. The people he'd seen working at the salt field at night were all wearing clothes from decades ago—nobody wore those anymore. And supposedly, a major case had occurred at that salt field in the past, where all the workers were killed. Perhaps what my friend's maternal uncle saw were the ghosts of those who once worked there."
Long Aotian finished his story there and looked at the others. "What do you think of my story?"
Xu Huo and the other two were silent for a moment, then Xie Ling said, "This is a story about how laziness can save your life."
Her comment instantly wiped away the faint horror that had just been building. Long Aotian propped his feet up on the table. "I think my story is better than Xu Ruosi's. The whole salt field is full of ghosts! Wouldn't you be scared?"
Whether they were scared or not was unknown, but the room started rising again.
Long Aotian's story was mediocre, and his narration wasn't as engaging as Xu Ruosi's—at least Xie Ling hadn't been frightened. So when the room returned to ground level, the others didn't even spare him a glance and directly moved on to the next round.
The third story was told by Xie Ling.
"This happened when my mother was a child. She was the youngest in the family, with several older brothers, so everyone doted on her and let her run wild all over the village and hills."
"One day, she went with some other village kids to pick wildflowers. When they reached a patch of woods, they suddenly heard a very strange sound coming from a garbage pit ahead."
"Back then, garbage collection wasn't widespread. Some villages would dig holes in the hillsides, with openings a bit like wells. Whatever trash or unwanted old items they had, they'd dump in. The pit's interior was usually quite spacious, and looking in from the outside could sometimes give you the creeps. Plus, aside from dumping trash, adults rarely came here, so children were especially afraid of this place."
"My mother was quite bold back then. Encouraged by a few playmates, she ran over to the garbage pit to see what was making the noise inside."
"She didn't see anything, but the other kids started chattering, saying that a pair of twins from the village had accidentally fallen into the pit and died a couple of years ago. Half-scared, half-excited, they speculated that maybe the twins were playing down there."
"The group of kids scattered in all directions. My mother wanted to run too, but she slipped and accidentally tumbled into the garbage pit."
"Because a lot of trash had been dumped in over those two years, there was a sloped mound inside. My mother wasn't injured when she fell, but the other kids had all run far away. No one answered when she called for help. Remembering that the twins had died here, she was overwhelmed by shock and fear, slowly exhausted her energy, and drifted into unconsciousness."
"The kids who had been with her all returned to the village. My grandmother realized my mother hadn't come back, went door to door asking, and learned they'd gone to the garbage pit. She gathered people to search along the way and finally found my mother in the pit."
"My mother started running a fever the day she came back. Even with medicine and injections, she remained unconscious. Someone in the village suggested finding a shaman to take a look."
"In my hometown, people who do fortune-telling, divination, and deal with spiritual matters are called shamans. The shaman came and immediately said my mother was in trouble. After feeding her some special potion, she suddenly woke for a moment and told my grandmother that the twins were standing hand in hand on her bed, asking her to play with them..."
Xie Ling couldn't help swallowing hard at this point. She took a moment to compose herself before continuing. "My grandmother was terrified. After my mother fell asleep again, the shaman prepared some tools and had my grandmother take a toy from home to the place where the twins had died, burning paper money to send them off."
"My grandmother did as instructed. Whether it was psychological or not, she thought she heard children's laughter while burning the paper. She was scared too, so she hurried home as soon as she finished."
"The ritual for my mother was already done. The shaman told my grandmother she'd be fine the next day."
"My grandmother couldn't sleep all night, staying by my mother's side. Sure enough, at dawn the next day, my mother woke up. But after waking, she didn't remember anything about the twins asking her to play. My grandmother was afraid she'd get sick again, so she told the whole family never to mention it. From then on, she also forbade my mother from going into the woods."
"However, I heard that occasionally people would still hear sounds coming from the garbage pit nearby, but no one dared to go near anymore. That pit gradually fell out of use."
Xie Ling let out a long breath. "My story's done."
Xu Huo noticed her eyes were red and said, "In a place where trash is dumped, there might be rats. Strange sounds aren't unusual."
"Your mother might have fallen ill after hearing the rumors and developed hallucinations. It's not even certain whether those twins really died in that pit."
Xie Ling looked at him in surprise. "Why do you say that?"
"If two children had really died there, the pit would have been filled in long ago." Without needing detailed analysis, whether for superstitious reasons or to prevent further incidents, if children had died inside, the first choice would have been to fill the pit.
Bai Wenxian nodded beside him. "You said the pit's opening was like a well. Its actual depth probably wouldn't exceed ten meters, otherwise, the interior space would be wasted."
"Your village probably kept dogs and pigs, right? That means there wouldn't be much kitchen waste. What got dumped in were mostly plastic items and old clothes that couldn't be thrown away casually. That's like having a soft cushion. How could it be so coincidental that both children fell in and died?"
"Your mother didn't even have any external injuries when she fell in."
Xie Ling was stunned for a moment. "That... actually makes sense. After you analyze it like that, I'm not so scared anymore."
The room began to rise. As she left, she said, "I'll wait for you outside with the clue. Hurry up and come out."