Chapter Twelve: The Legend of the Drought Dragon Well

Based on the information from the tourist guide, Chen Chu started his journey to the next destination on his little motorcycle, all the while testing the effective range of the spirit stone base stations. The result delighted him: the connection between the hieroglyphs was solid, and the effective range between each spirit stone was around ten kilometers. In other words, as long as there was a spirit stone power bank within ten kilometers, he could recharge his spiritual energy anytime, anywhere...

Scientific cultivation advances so quickly!

The viewers in the live broadcast room were bewildered. They could see Chen Chu’s actions, but not his thoughts. They couldn’t understand why he was burying stones everywhere...

Chen Chu’s objective was simple: set a small goal, establish a Spiritual Energy Network for Xia Nation, like mobile signal towers, so that wherever he went, there would be signal. Cultivation had just begun, and he would surely need to search for rare treasures and materials later. He had to prioritize solving the logistics of spiritual energy consumption...

Carrying a bag full of spirit stones, Chen Chu gazed at the sun on the horizon. “Cultivating alone is too lonely. I’ll manually revive spiritual energy and see if insects, birds, beasts, and plants can become spirits. Then everyone can cultivate together and share happiness…”

The viewers commented:

[Charming Chuci: “Amazing, such a grand vision!”]

[I Dream of Feeling Qi: “Spiritual energy recovery, how wonderful. But I’m in space, so much pressure.”]

[Old City, Old People, Old Times: “Yes, if only I were on Earth, I could cultivate together with you.”]

A week passed, and Chen Chu had already left Baishui City.

He headed southwest to Lu City, a second-tier city divided into inner and outer islands. The inner island was an irregular, round island in the sea; when people still lived there, skyscrapers towered, traffic bustled, and housing prices soared. The outer island was a peninsula connected to the mainland, mostly industrial, presenting a different kind of prosperity...

Driving across the bridge that connected the inner and outer islands, Chen Chu admired the sunlight shimmering on the sea—so comfortable, so beautiful.

As his car entered the inner island, the high-rise buildings of this sea island city stood everywhere, deserted and eerily quiet, a stark contrast that amplified the feeling of emptiness several times over...

Though it was an island, the tourist guide listed many famous mountains and structures, as well as numerous miraculous tales of immortals.

Perhaps these stories had been exaggerated over generations, or maybe the local tourism office invented them to attract visitors—either way, they sounded magical...

For example, in a place called Well Village, there was a Dry Dragon Well.

It was a magical well in a seaside mountain village. Logically, wells by the sea should never lack water...

But this particular well produced water reluctantly and slowly.

Every few days the water would stop, and even when it flowed, it only kept a shallow layer, barely enough to cover the calf of a three-year-old child...

Here’s the question: why did a well with such a low yield still exist?

It turned out that though the well produced little water, its quality was exceptionally clear and sweet. Rice cooked or porridge simmered with it tasted wonderful...

According to someone, it also had effects such as refreshing the mind, beautifying the skin, and prolonging life...

Villagers regarded this well as divine—anywhere water was needed, they would fetch it from the well. People drew water constantly, and when water was scarce, some even risked their lives, tying ropes around their waists to climb down the well and scoop water with bowls...

The sweetness and effects of the well water spread, gradually gaining fame in nearby villages.

And as the legend grew more fantastical, some even claimed that drinking the well water could grant immortality...

Back then, literacy rates were low, transportation was difficult, and information was scarce, making it easy for people to be swayed.

So, upon hearing the phrase "immortality," everyone went mad, coming day and night to fetch water.

Originally, the villagers of Well Village barely had enough water for themselves. Now, with outsiders joining in, there simply wasn’t enough...

They began to bar outsiders from entering, declaring that anyone wanting well water must pay with grain or copper coins...

Immortality—a temptation so great! Who wouldn’t want it? Purchases by outsiders increased daily, and the well water truly ran out.

Some, unwilling to give up such a lucrative business, conspired in groups to fetch river water and pass it off as well water, deceiving outsiders for their money...

A profitable business inevitably attracts attention.

Some earned more, others less. The envious exposed the fake well water scheme, inciting outrage among outsiders, who stormed the village with hoes and sickles demanding answers...

In truth, "demanding answers" was just a pretext.

Their real aim was to seize and monopolize the "immortal well"!

The villagers of Well Village saw through the outsiders’ intentions and armed themselves in resistance. To protect the “divine well,” they fought fiercely, blood was shed, and lives were lost...

This clash resulted in over thirty deaths and more than two hundred injuries—a devastating, tragic conflict.

There were more villagers, but they couldn’t withstand the outsiders' alliance.

They pretended to agree to allow outsiders to fetch water, but only designated people could enter the village at set times!

For the first few months, things went smoothly, but then, outsiders began to suffer headaches, fevers, and stomach pains, with some dying at home...

They discovered that those stricken were all among the first batch allowed into the village after the agreement...

Suspicious but lacking evidence, they spent a fortune to invite a renowned doctor from the county to examine the patients.

True to his reputation, the doctor quickly deduced from pulses, facial features, diet, and even excrement that the patients had been poisoned—by an extremely rare herb...

The early stages showed no symptoms, but later, patients exhibited cold-like conditions, headaches, fevers, and general discomfort. Without timely treatment using the root of the toxic herb, death would ensue within half a month...

The outsiders, shocked and furious, followed the clues and soon learned that Well Village had recently gathered large amounts of herbs from the mountains—now, they understood. The villagers must have ground the poisonous parts into powder and smeared it inside the water buckets...

To save themselves, outsiders searched the mountains for the toxic herb, hoping to use its roots as an antidote. But places where the herb grew had been nearly stripped bare by the villagers, and the remaining roots were nowhere near enough to cure all the poisoned victims...

They returned to Well Village, this time seeking both the antidote and real answers...

But the villagers, anticipating this, laid ambushes in the village, using traps and poisoned arrows to slaughter the outsiders, resulting in over two hundred deaths!

The atrocity was so grave that it soon came to light, attracting the attention of the county magistrate! He immediately dispatched soldiers to apprehend the perpetrators. But the soldiers numbered only a tenth of the villagers; driven mad, the villagers turned on the soldiers and slaughtered them as well...