PCJ – Chapter 284 The Dangerous Stone Cave

Luo A Pond was nestled in a valley, surrounded by mountains on three sides. It was rarely exposed to the sun, and even in the scorching summer, a cool shade lingered around the pond.

Zhang Jiaohua didn’t intend to release Jinhu and the others, but before they even neared Luo A Pond, they already showed signs of extreme fear. They refused to approach the pond, as if something terrifying resided there. Left with no choice, Zhang Jiaohua proceeded alone with the mountain leopard.

As he walked towards the pond, he too felt a creeping sense of dread, as though an icy chill was seeping into his body, making it hard to breathe. A powerful urge to flee overwhelmed him.

Luo A Pond held a mysterious reputation in Meizi’ao. Despite being such a large pond, no one raised fish there, nor had anyone ever drained it. Unless there was a severe drought, no one dared to release water from Luo A Pond. The villagers had a long-standing wariness of this place. Besides the incident last year, where Jinhu and his companions drowned, there had been deaths here before. During the days of the commune, a local landlord named Zhang Wanshan had been executed here after trying to escape. His body was found in Luo A Pond. What made this pond so strange? The village elders likely knew, but Zhang Jiaohua, having limited interaction with the villagers, had never heard the full story. After last year’s tragedy, no one dared mention anything about Luo A Pond around him.

Zhang Jiaohua couldn’t quite identify what was off about the pond, but it was clear something was wrong. Every part of it seemed suspicious.

Instead of going too close to the water, Zhang Jiaohua walked around the pond’s perimeter. In the most secluded spot, he found a fresh water source—a small stream flowing from the mountain into the pond. The water was crystal clear, and small fish could be seen swimming inside. However, these fish were unlike any he had seen before. Each had a distinct black line running down its body. Their heads were slightly larger, and their mouths appeared sharper than ordinary fish. These peculiar fish were wild and aggressive, darting through the water with a ferocity that frightened the smaller fish.

Suddenly, Zhang Jiaohua noticed something in the stream a piece of broken porcelain. This puzzled him. The mountain was several miles from the village, so it didn’t make sense for someone to discard porcelain here. Moreover, the porcelain shard looked ancient, with beautiful green patterns, far more delicate than the simple clay bowls commonly used in the village.

Curious, Zhang Jiaohua reached into the water to retrieve the shard, but as soon as his hand entered, the school of black-striped fish surged towards him aggressively. Startled, he quickly pulled his hand back.

“What kind of fish are these? Why do they seem like they want to bite me?” Zhang Jiaohua was taken aback. Something was definitely strange here. These fish were unusually wild, even aggressive.

“Woof! Woof!” The mountain leopard barked at the fish, causing them to scatter in panic. Zhang Jiaohua quickly seized the opportunity to retrieve the porcelain shard from the water.

The shard was indeed exquisite, unlike anything he had ever seen. It resembled the kind of fine jade he had only seen on television. The intricate designs on the shard seemed oddly familiar, and upon closer inspection, he realized that they matched the black lines on the strange fish.

A chill ran down Zhang Jiaohua’s spine, and without hesitation, he tossed the shard back into the water.

With a soft plink, the shard sank to the bottom, and for a moment, the green patterns on it seemed to bloom like a flower.

Zhang Jiaohua now suspected that the mystery of Luo A Pond was somehow linked to this strange stream. He decided to follow the stream upstream to investigate further.

As he walked, he kept finding more and more pieces of porcelain, some small, some large, scattered along the streambed. The discovery of so many shards deepened the mystery. Why were there so many here? Had someone once lived in this area? The stream came from a higher mountain range beyond Luo A Ridge, and Zhang Jiaohua knew that its source was not from this ridge but from the mountains behind it.

He followed the stream for about ten minutes, winding through narrow and wide sections, faster and slower currents. Each turn revealed more broken porcelain and strange pebbles in the water. However, Zhang Jiaohua refrained from touching anything else, wary of the eerie atmosphere.

Eventually, he reached the mountainside and found the stream’s source a deep, hidden cave. The cave was narrow and almost entirely concealed by dense bushes. Without the stream leading him there, it would have been nearly impossible to find. The area seemed undisturbed, with no signs of human presence.

Zhang Jiaohua had no intention of entering the cave, despite knowing it could hold some valuable secrets. He was not willing to take unnecessary risks. Whatever lay within the cave might not be directly related to the deaths of Jinhu and the others. Pushing aside some bushes, he uncovered a complete porcelain statue of a woman lying among the rocks in the stream. The statue bore the same black lines as the strange fish and the shards he had seen earlier, clearly from the same source.

Though tempted to explore further, Zhang Jiaohua knew better. The cave harbored a dangerous presence, one that filled him with fear. Suddenly, a cold gust of wind blew out from the cave, sending a chill through his body and forcing him to take several steps back.

“Woof! Woof!” The mountain leopard’s fur bristled as it barked furiously at the cave entrance.

“Let’s go!” Zhang Jiaohua didn’t think twice and quickly turned to leave. His experiences in dreams with his Daoist master had taught him how to handle dangerous situations like this. Without hesitation, he made his way back down the mountain, with the mountain leopard following closely behind.

As they left, a fierce gust of wind howled from the cave, whipping the surrounding bushes into a frenzy. But just as quickly as it had appeared, the wind vanished, leaving the area once again calm and still, as if nothing had happened.