More than an hour later, Shui Miao and his companions returned to Jing Shui Village, bringing with them five truckloads of bamboo and oilcloth. Under the operation of a group of workers, a massive tent, more than fifty meters in both length and width, was quickly erected. However, this cost Shui Miao over one hundred thousand yuan. The villagers, seeing all this, gathered together and began murmuring amongst themselves, speculating wildly.
The area around the dry well was considered cursed land—barren and lifeless. Locals rarely dared to approach it, believing that staying there could cause illness and accelerate aging.
As Shui Miao and his team prepared to head back to the city to buy daily necessities, they were stopped by an uncle who had gathered with others at the village entrance. This uncle was none other than the taxi driver. Having heard that someone had bought the village land, he hurried back to check it out, never expecting that the buyer was actually the young man he had met before.
“General Manager, you really bought that land?” The uncle pulled Shui Miao aside the moment he stepped out of the car, lowering his voice and whispering nervously, “That’s cursed land—the well is even poisonous! Why did you set up a tent over it? Did I end up harming you? I shouldn’t have told you that story if I knew this would happen.”
“Uncle, you’re overthinking it. It’s not like that,” Shui Miao replied. Seeing the villagers murmuring, he decided to adjust his explanation on the spot to dispel their concerns. “I set up the tent to seal off the dry well area. That way, the rest of the land can be used normally.”
As Shui Miao spoke, many villagers gathered around.
The uncle hesitated, then said, “Still, I don’t think it’s a good idea. The feng shui of that place is ruined…”
Shui Miao raised his hand to interrupt. “It’s okay, Uncle. I understand feng shui. I’ll find a way to change it. Everyone, please don’t worry. I have people to contact now—I’m planning to build a Taoist temple here, so I won’t say more.” He glanced at the villagers and returned to the car.
The uncle clearly felt uneasy but could do nothing. He sensed that Shui Miao had already made up his mind, having thought everything through—anything else would be superfluous.
Hearing Shui Miao’s words, the villagers were convinced. They even thought it was a good thing—if the cursed feng shui of the dry well could be neutralized, it would be a tremendous blessing for the entire village.
Just as Wang Xiaomi drove onto the main road, she saw a luxury car followed by over a hundred dump trucks, dozens of bulldozers, excavators, and many workers on the trucks, all heading down the narrow village road. Shui Miao was puzzled when he saw the convoy approaching, until the luxury car pulled over and Xiao Shuang, the beautiful assistant, stepped out.
Why were they here? Shui Miao wondered, quickly opening the car door and stepping out.
“General Manager, I’m here on Sister Huang’s orders. Tell me what you need, and I’ll have the team handle it—whatever you need, we’ve got it,” Xiao Shuang smiled, seeing Shui Miao’s surprised expression. She raised an eyebrow and added playfully, “Surprised? Hehe, Sister Huang said she wanted to give you a surprise. All these people and vehicles are on her tab.”
“…”
Shui Miao was so surprised he didn’t know what to say!
With Sister Huang’s strong support, he no longer needed to worry. He was confident that within a few days, the uneven land would be leveled, and the few acres around the dry well would be transformed into a Taoist temple.
“Anyway, let’s not stand here talking. Let’s get everyone to work first.”
Coming from a humble background, Shui Miao felt uneasy seeing so many vehicles idling on the road. Every extra minute wasted money. He needed to get everyone working immediately to save Sister Huang some expenses.
In truth, Sister Huang hadn’t planned to spend much time on this anyway.
“Sure, no problem.”
Xiao Shuang got back into the car and led the convoy into the village.
The villagers, witnessing such a grand arrival, marveled at how wealthy Shui Miao must be. Village Secretary Cheng Wan also hurried out to greet them, helping to mark the land sold to Shui Miao so that the bulldozers, excavators, and dump trucks could begin work. Following Sister Huang’s plan, a trench was dug around the purchased land, and a high wall was built inside the trench. Sister Huang even planned to dredge the river and build a dock by the riverside.
Unexpectedly, Shui Miao bargained for a few more acres of land.
After discussion with Secretary Cheng, six acres centered around the dry well were marked off. Bulldozers began leveling the land, and large quantities of bricks, cement, sand, and construction materials were transported in. A group of workers entered the site, first building a wall to enclose the six-acre area before gradually designing the layout of the Taoist temple.
Xiao Shuang assigned workers to work overnight on the river section, ensuring that the trench, walls, and temporary dock would be completed within three days. The walls around the dry well area also had to be finished within three days. After assigning all the tasks, Xiao Shuang, who was in charge of progress, finally relaxed and entered the tent where Shui Miao and others were discussing the temple’s layout.
According to Xiao Tudou’s suggestion based on his master’s instructions, the temple should be simple, spacious, and somewhat antique in style—no other special requirements. Shui Miao suggested that the temple should occupy about two acres, with the remaining four acres used for a factory area. Eventually, the entire area along Jing Shui River could be developed into an integrated industrial chain, allowing them to branch out beyond the hotel business. Xiao Shuang, entering the tent, strongly supported Shui Miao’s idea and even suggested reducing the temple’s area to just one acre.
In the end, Shui Miao decided to follow Xiao Shuang’s suggestion.
As an expert in planning and design, with a background in classical architecture, building an antique-style Taoist temple was a piece of cake for her.
With Xiao Shuang’s help, Shui Miao felt relaxed—there was no longer anything that required excessive mental effort.
That evening, Shui Miao hosted a dinner to celebrate at a hotel with everyone.
During the dinner conversation, Shui Miao learned from Xiao Shuang that Sister Huang had her own plans for bringing so many people and buying dozens of acres of land. She wanted to become a shareholder—essentially, to launder illegal money into legal assets and gain a legitimate business identity. With Sister Huang’s wealth, the expenses for all the workers and vehicles that day were negligible.
After the dinner, Xiao Shuang left, and Shui Miao and his group returned to Jing Shui Village, arriving at the tent outside the dry well.
The workers were working overnight, and the construction site was brightly lit and bustling with activity.
Shui Miao got out of the car and entered the tent.
Xiao Liu and others unloaded the prepared items from the car.
“Is everything ready?” Shui Miao checked his watch—it was already past nine in the evening. The villagers wouldn’t come around anymore. This was the perfect time for him to descend into the well.
Xiao Liu unzipped several bags, revealing many items. “Everything’s ready. I even bought gas masks and oxygen tanks. Oh, and here are some fluorescent lights.”
The bags were bulging with supplies.
“Good! Let’s proceed as planned.”
Shui Miao had made all the necessary arrangements during the day.
Xiao Liu nodded and immediately assigned people to guard the tent perimeter, ensuring no one approached.
Then they changed clothes, put on gas masks, took out ropes, and iron bars, prying open the concrete slab covering the dry well.
As soon as the slab was lifted, a strong earthy smell wafted out.
After smelling it, Xiao Tudou immediately felt refreshed and energized, rushing forward to tie the rope around himself, eager to go down first.
“The situation below is unknown. You have no experience. I was in the military—I have more experience. Let me go down first,” Wang Xiaomi quickly stopped Xiao Tudou. In her eyes, Xiao Tudou was still just a child.
Xiao Tudou was stunned. “Sister Xiaomi, are you sure you’re not mistaken? I’m a Taoist practitioner! I’m not as weak as you think.”
“Taoist practitioner…”
Wang Xiaomi was also taken aback. She indeed didn’t know how strong Xiao Tudou really was.
Shui Miao didn’t want to waste time arguing. “No need to rush. Let me go down first and check. In terms of experience, I have some. And as a Taoist, I’m not inferior. Come on, Xiao Liu, hold the rope for me. I’ll go down slowly.” Saying that, Shui Miao, with a backpack, holding a miner’s lamp in one hand and an axe in the other, walked to the edge of the well.
The dry well was spacious, about 1.8 meters in diameter. Shining the miner’s lamp down, it was pitch black and seemingly bottomless, like an abyss.
“Wait, let me throw a stone first to test the depth,” Wang Xiaomi said, unwilling to argue further. She threw a stone down and waited six seconds before hearing a crisp echo. “Wow, it’s really deep—over a hundred meters! Fortunately, there’s no water below. The sound suggests it’s all stone walls. Xiao Liu, is the rope long enough?”
“Plenty!”
Xiao Liu checked the pile of supplies nearby. “The thickest rope I bought for the tent is still around three or four hundred meters long.”
“With so much rope, let’s use two ropes. You don’t need to pull—just let me climb down myself.” Wang Xiaomi, not wanting Shui Miao to go alone, checked the ropes, tied one end to the stone slab, and lowered it into the well.
Wang Xiaomi was skilled and agile—descending a rope was like child’s play for her.
However, seeing Wang Xiaomi preparing to go down, Xiao Tudou also started preparing his rope.
With no choice, Shui Miao decided to go down first to scout.
Slowly descending, he carefully inspected the well walls.
For the first ten meters, the walls were made of smooth stone blocks, dry and free of moss. After about ten meters, the structure changed into a natural stone cave, vertically downward. The cave walls were made of large yellowish stones, the color deepening and the cave widening as he went deeper.
Shui Miao slowed his descent, cautiously navigating the unique and mysterious well.
“Huh? What’s that?”
Shining the miner’s lamp at a spot about ten meters below and slightly to the left, he thought he saw a human figure—but in the blink of an eye, it vanished.
At that moment, voices echoed from above the well.
Xiao Tudou insisted on descending, so Wang Xiaomi had no choice but to slide down with him slowly.
Shui Miao held his breath, tense, silently activating his Yin-Yang Eye. He shone the miner’s lamp again toward the stone wall below, determined to find out what—or who—had just appeared.
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