Lu Lianxue was shocked.
She knew a little about the Dragon Locking Well.
Dragon Locking Wells were things that existed all over the country. Many people thought they were just myths, but in reality, Dragon Locking Wells truly existed.
Dragon Locking Wells were found in various places.
For example, in Yuzhou, Longtan Mountain, Jiushuitan, East and West Temple Pagodas, Beixin Bridge, and many other locations, there was a well known as the Dragon Locking Well.
There weren't many Dragon Locking Wells, but there were quite a few.
Although each well had its own unique appearance, they all shared one common feature.
That was, each Dragon Locking Well had a thick chain extending from the wellhead to the inside. No one knew why a large, thick chain hung from the wellhead.
And there were many legends about the Dragon Locking Wells.
However.
Regardless of the specific legend.
Every account was unified on one point: the Dragon Locking Well must not be disturbed!
Once the Dragon Locking Well was moved, great disaster would surely follow.
This point.
One could find related stories by simply looking up any one of the Dragon Locking Wells.
Take the Dragon Locking Well at Beixin Bridge, for instance.
According to the memories of the older generation in the area, the Dragon Locking Well had existed for a very long time. Since their childhood, the Dragon Locking Well had been a famous ancient well. Because they lived nearby, they often played by the well.
And unlike other wells.
Whenever they threw stones into the well, they rarely heard an echo. No one knew how deep the well was, nor what the chain was used for. The chain was rusty and worn, making it impossible to tell its original appearance.
What was even more bizarre was.
Whether it was some unlucky children who accidentally fell in while playing, or women who attempted suicide, anyone who fell into the well could never be retrieved, no matter how much they searched. Not even their bodies, let alone their clothes.
Over time.
Even though people knew the ancient well was dangerous, and some suggested sealing the wellhead to prevent people from falling in, no one dared to do it.
It was said that even earlier, during the warlord era, the warlords of that time, whether they believed or not, dared not disturb this Dragon Locking Well.
Even.
Tracing back to the Qing Dynasty, and even the Ming Dynasty, the rulers of those times dared not touch the well. Instead, whenever there was a flood, they would invite sorcerers for rituals.
Thinking of this.
Lu Lianxue couldn't help but recall the past.
She distinctly remembered.
When she first learned about the Dragon Locking Well, she was quite curious about the legends. She specifically looked into whether anyone had truly never disturbed the Dragon Locking Well, and if disturbing it would lead to bad outcomes.
As a result of her research.
Lu Lianxue did find some records.
According to her findings.
About 83 years ago, during a war, enemy forces occupied the Beixin Bridge area. Due to the need to build military barracks, they requisitioned the location of the Beixin Bridge Dragon Locking Well.
At that time, the local people believed in the Dragon Locking Well and resolutely prevented the enemy forces from damaging it. However, the enemy forces were dismissive, as their culture did not believe in the legends of Dragon Locking Wells at all.
Therefore, the enemy captain led his men to the Dragon Locking Well. Upon arrival, he immediately ordered the chain of the Dragon Locking Well to be broken.
The result...
A bizarre situation occurred. The chain of the Beixin Bridge Dragon Locking Well, despite being rusty and worn, was unexpectedly strong. The enemy forces could not break the chain no matter what.
With no other option.
The enemy captain could only order the iron chain to be pulled out and the well to be buried, intending to build structures on top of it.
They forced the locals to pull it. The locals were afraid. The enemy captain, enraged, threatened them with his saber to pull it. Reluctantly, the locals had to send a squad to pull it with trepidation.
However, when they pulled the chain.
They pulled out dozens of meters, and the chain still wasn't finished. It became increasingly difficult to pull.
For this reason.
They had to send out another squad to pull, and eventually increased it to a company.
However...
More than a hundred people pulled the chain for half an hour. The chain, pulled out to a total of several hundred meters, was still not finished. The pulled chain was rusty and covered the street.
A bizarre situation.
The locals became even more frightened and dared not pull any further. The enemy captain, still disbelieving, fired a shot to threaten them to continue pulling.
Finally.
After pulling for a few more minutes, the Dragon Locking Well stirred...
Without any warning, a stream of dark water surged upwards from the well, accompanied by a loud noise like thunder, a rumbling sound.
Along with the black water, a foul, fishy odor spread, like the stench of corpses.
The people pulling the chain were terrified, dropped the chain, and ran.
This scene.
Let alone them, even the enemy soldiers were scared. Especially the enemy captain, who was so terrified he couldn't speak for a long time and also ran away.
From then on.
Although the enemy forces still built military barracks, they deliberately bypassed this Dragon Locking Well.
But the matter did not end there.
According to the reports of nearby residents at that time, from that day onwards, the well continued to emit black water intermittently day and night, accompanied by loud noises. People in the vicinity dared not approach.
Out of curiosity.
Some residents bravely looked into the well.
And without exception.
The residents who looked claimed to have seen various strange objects, which scared them into scrambling away.
For a time.
No one dared to approach this place again.
Until a few months later, a massive flood, unseen in 100 years, erupted here, causing many deaths. All the people were indignant, believing it was caused by pulling the chain of the Dragon Locking Well.
In response.
Whether the enemy forces believed it or not, they feared public opinion and were forced to order people to put all the chains back into the Dragon Locking Well.
Only then did the Dragon Locking Well in this area become quiet.
Until 20 years later.
With the arrival of a new era.
Roads were being newly built and renovated across the country. Due to the need to widen the road, the Dragon Locking Well and the temple where it was located were in the way. The construction foreman ordered the temple to be demolished and the well filled to widen the road.
But it was stopped by the elders who had experienced the incident 83 years prior, who warned that disturbing it would cause problems.
Immediately after.
Just like that year, as the workers pulled out the chain, a dull rumbling sound came from the well again, followed by black water surging upwards, and a foul stench like rotting corpses.
The workers were so scared that they threw the chain back, and then it returned to peace.
Finally, the workers could only cover the wellhead with large stones and build a road on top.
The well was located in the center of the intersection at that time.
It seemed as if nothing happened even after disturbing the well.
But in the second year after disturbing the well, this place experienced another major flood, unseen in fifty years.
It was also after the flood.
For some reason, the foreman brought workers to re-route the road that had been built, bypassing the Dragon Locking Well. The workers also repaired the wellhead of the Dragon Locking Well and cordoned it off again, preventing ordinary citizens from approaching.
This was the second time something happened after disturbing the Dragon Locking Well.
For the next 10 years, no one touched this well again.
Until 10 years later, this Dragon Locking Well was targeted once more.
Subsequently.
A similar scene unfolded once again.
Black water, the stench of rotting corpses, and terrifying loud noises reappeared.
And compared to the previous two times, this time it was even more severe!
This was because the people who pulled the chain that time used cars to pull the chain, and the pulled chain was the longest.
However, even with the use of cars to pull.
The chain was still not finished, as if the chain was endlessly long.
And when it was pulled to an even longer length than before.
The terror struck again.
It was no longer black water, but a stream of dark red well water suddenly gushed out, spraying three to four meters high. This scared the people pulling the chain so much that they threw the chain back, and then it returned to peace.
According to the memories of the elders at that time.
Those people were so scared they wet themselves. Everyone scattered, but the local residents knew the severity and quickly sealed the wellhead with stone slabs.
And.
The elder watching the well muttered a prayer: "Please don't let anything happen next year! Please don't let anything happen next year!"
Unfortunately, the prayer did not work.
Something did happen the following year, and this time the incident was even more serious, with a larger flood than the previous one.
As the saying goes, three strikes and you're out.
After disturbing the chain three consecutive times and experiencing bizarre situations.
From then on.
No one dared to touch the Dragon Locking Well again.
Lu Lianxue recalled.
At this moment.
Facing Lu Lianxue's question.
Zhang Wei nodded and said directly:
"Yes, I was just talking to Zhang Chao about the Senluo Division. Zhang Chao and Wu Nian told me that the Dragon Locking Well is related to the Senluo Division."
At this moment.
Zhang Chao chimed in:
"I was browsing the Weidao Division forum before, and an anonymous user posted a thread suggesting that what's below the Dragon Locking Well might not be some so-called evil flood dragon, but rather a great terror is imprisoned there."
"And... this great terror is related to the Senluo Division."
"At first, I didn't really believe it and told Wu Nian about it."
"As a result, Wu Nian told me it was not impossible."
"Because... he previously found in our local Weidao Division's archives that the last time a ghost king from the Senluo Division, wanted by the Weidao Division, appeared was at our local Dragon Locking Well."
"Moreover, a ghost expeller from the Weidao Division personally saw that the ghost king from the Senluo Division seemed to have gone to the Dragon Locking Well specifically, because he saw the ghost king jump into that Dragon Locking Well."
...
(ps: The content of this chapter is purely fictional and should not be associated with reality.)