Chapter 16

To save my gravely ill mother, I ventured into the Dry Bone Forest in search of the legendary Tooth Well. Legends say this well is built from countless teeth and can grant any wish. Facing the writhing teeth filling the well, I made my wish: "Let my mother recover." The next day, my mother was already able to get out of bed and walk. Meanwhile, the village bully, Chén Sān, vanished without a trace. The morning of the third day, three sharp new teeth grew in my mouth. When I bared my teeth in the Mirror, I was horrified to discover—these were unmistakably Chén Sān's teeth. The moment my fingertips touched the new teeth, I saw memories of Chén Sān being buried alive.

FOR THE PAST THREE DAYS, MY MOUTH HAD A METALLIC, RUSTY TASTE. AT FIRST, I THOUGHT IT WAS EXTREME HUNGER, A BURNING IN MY STOMACH THAT MADE MY GUMS SWELL AND ACHE. BUT THIS MORNING, BARING MY TEETH AT THE MIRROR, I SAW THREE PALE, SHARP POINTS PROTRUDING FROM THE ROOTS OF MY UPPER GUMS, BRUTALLY PIERCING THE FLESH. THEY WERE LIKE OMINOUS TOMBSTONES JUST ERECTED OVER NEW GRAVES. I SNAPPED MY MOUTH SHUT, THE IMPACT SENDING A SHOOTING PAIN THROUGH MY TEETH. A COLD FEAR SNAKED UP MY SPINE, COILING AROUND MY HEART. THE FACE IN THE MIRROR WAS PALE, EYES BLOODSHOT, A FINE COLD SWEAT BEADING ON MY FOREHEAD. THESE TEETH... THESE TEETH ARE WRONG! THEIR POSITION, THEIR ABRUPT CURVATURE, WERE IDENTICAL TO CHÉN SĀN'S FANGS! THREE DAYS AGO, I HAD STOOD BEFORE THE MIRROR JUST LIKE THIS. BUT THEN, THE MIRROR REFLECTED MY MOTHER'S WAXEN, WITHERED FACE, AND THE FACE OF THE TRAVELING PHYSICIAN, BLIND ZHOU, HIS SKIN TIGHT AGAINST BONE, SHROUDED IN SHADOW. "SHE CAN'T BE SAVED," BLIND ZHOU'S WITHERED, STICK-LIKE FINGERS MOVED FROM MY MOTHER'S THIN WRIST. HIS VOICE WAS AS HOARSE AS A BROKEN BELLOWS. "HER PULSE IS THIN AS A THREAD, HANGING BY A HAIR. UNLESS..." HIS CLOUDY EYE, AS IF COVERED BY A FILM OF WHITE CATARACT, TURNED TOWARDS ME. HIS EYE SOCKET WAS DEEP, LIKE A DRY, WITHERED WELL. THERE WAS NO COMPASSION IN HIS GAZE, ONLY A TROUBLING, NEARLY GREEDY CURIOSITY, LIKE A VULTURE FIXATED ON A DYING CORPSE. "UNLESS you can find the 'Tooth Well.'" "The Tooth Well?" I heard my own voice tremble. The room was filled with the bitter despair of herbal medicine, and my mother's weak, pained moans were almost swallowed by it. "Deep within the Dry Bone Forest," Blind Zhou lowered his voice, with the secrecy of an ancient, forbidden rite. "A well. Its walls... are made of teeth. Living teeth, dead teeth, old teeth, young teeth. Packed tightly, grinding and clattering day and night..." THE IMAGE HE DESCRIBED MADE MY STOMACH CHURN. I FELT AS IF I COULD ALREADY HEAR THE SCRAPING AND CHEWING SOUNDS OF COUNTLESS TEETH RUBBING AGAINST EACH OTHER, TINY AND STICKY, DRILLING INTO MY EARDRUMS AND DOWN TO MY BONE MARROW. HE DIPPED HIS GREASY, WORN-OUT SATCHEL AND PULLED OUT A SMALL OBJECT, DROPPING IT ON THE EDGE OF THE KANG. IT MADE A FAINT, GRINDING SOUND AGAINST THE HARD SURFACE. I LOOKED DOWN. IT WAS A SMALL PIECE OF BONE, PALE WHITE WITH A STAIN OF DIRTY YELLOW. ITS SHAPE... WAS DISTINCTLY A HUMAN MOLAR! THE ROOT STILL HAD TRACES OF DARK BROWN, DRIED BLOOD. THE TWISTED ROOT RESEMBLED THE DEAD TENDRILS OF SOME STRANGE INSECT. A STRONG, FOUL ODOR OF DECAY IMMEDIATELY ASSAILED MY NOSTRILS. "TAKE THIS," BLIND ZHOU'S SINGLE EYE GLEAMED WITH AN UNNATURAL LIGHT UNDER THE DIM OIL LAMP. "THIS IS THE 'Guiding Tooth.' The Dry Bone Forest is full of illusions and disorientation; getting lost is common. Only this tooth, imbued with human resentment, can guide you. As you get closer to the well, it will grow warm." HE PAUSED, HIS SKINNY FACE LEANING CLOSER. HIS BREATH HIT MY FACE, HEAVY WITH THE SCENT OF AGED TOBACCO AND SOME INDESCRIBABLE ROTTENNESS. "FIND THE WELL, SPEAK TO THE TEETH FILLING IT, AND MAKE YOUR WISH. REMEMBER, BE CLEAR, BE FIERCE! BUT THE PRICE... HEH HEH..." HE EMITTED A LOW, UNINTELLIGIBLE, CHILLING LAUGH AND SAID NO MORE. OUTSIDE, THE WIND WHISTLED THROUGH THE BROKEN WINDOW FRAME, MAKING EERIE SOUNDS LIKE COUNTLESS WRANGLING SOULS CRYING OUT. MY MOTHER GROANED AGAIN IN PAIN ON THE KANG. I LOOKED AT THE COLD, BLOODSTAINED TOOTH ON THE EDGE OF THE KANG, THEN AT MY MOTHER'S PALE FACE. GRIPPING MY RESOLVE, I SNATCHED UP THE Guiding Tooth. IT FELT COLD AND HARD IN MY HAND, THE FISHY SMELL RUSHING TO MY HEAD. "I'LL GO!" MY VOICE WAS AS DRY AS SANDPAPER RUBBING. BLIND ZHOU GRINNED, REVEALING SEVERAL UNEVEN, YELLOW TEETH, AND SMILED SILENTLY, LIKE A PIECE OF RAGGED PAPER GLUED TO DRY BONE. HE SAID NOTHING MORE, SHOULDERED HIS SATCHEL, AND MELTED INTO THE IMPENETRABLE NIGHT OUTSIDE THE DOOR, AS IF HE HAD NEVER BEEN THERE. THE DRY BONE FOREST. THE NAME WAS NO EXAGGERATION. THE MOMENT I STEPPED TO THE EDGE OF THE FOREST, THE AIR SUDDENLY BECAME COLD AND STAGNANT, FILLED WITH THE SCENT OF AGED EARTH AND ROTTEN BONE MARROW. THE DAYLIGHT WAS TORN TO SHREDS BY THE TWISTED, INTERTWINED BRANCHES, CASTING ONLY STRANGE, CLAW-LIKE SHADOWS ON THE GROUND. WHAT I STEPPED ON WAS NOT SOFT LOAM, BUT A THICK LAYER OF GRAYISH-WHITE BONE FRAGMENTS. EACH STEP CRACKLED "KACHA, KACHA," LIKE TREADING ON THE REMAINS OF COUNTLESS THE DEAD. THE GNARLED, STRANGE TREES HAD BRANCHES TWISTED LIKE SPASMING HUMAN ARMS. WHERE THE BARK WAS PEELING, IT REVEALED GLEAMING WHITE BONES! DEEP WITHIN THE FOREST, DOTS OF GHOSTLY GREEN PHOSPHOROUS FIRE DRIFTED, SOMETIMES NEAR, SOMETIMES FAR, LIKE COUNTLESS WATCHING EYES. THEY FLOATED SILENTLY, SOMETIMES GATHERING, SOMETIMES SCATTERING. OCCASIONALLY, THEY WOULD MORPH INTO VAGUE, DISTORTED HUMAN FACES, THEIR MOUTHS OPENING AND CLOSING SILENTLY, ONLY TO VANISH AGAIN. WORSE STILL WAS THE SOUND—FAINT WAILING, WHISPERS LIKE CRAWLING INSECTS, SUPPRESSED GROANS OF PAIN... SEEPING FROM ALL DIRECTIONS CLOSE TO MY EARS, INDISTINGUISHABLE IN DIRECTION, BUT DRILLING STRAIGHT INTO MY BRAIN. SOMETIMES THE WHISPERS WOULD SUDDENLY RISE IN PITCH, SHARP AS NAILS SCRAPING AGAINST IRON, FILLED WITH ENDLESS MALICE AND CURSES: "GIVE... ME... MY... LIFE... BACK..." "IT HURTS... IT HURTS SO MUCH..." "MY TEETH... MY TEETH..." EVERY HAIR ON MY BODY STOOD ON END, MY HEART POUNDING LIKE A DRUM. MY PALM, CLUTCHING THE Guiding Tooth, WAS COLD AND SWEATY. THE TOOTH IN MY HAND WAS INITIALLY JUST COLD, BUT AS I STUMBLED DEEPER INTO THE FOREST, IT BEGAN TO EMIT A STRANGE WARMTH, GROWING HOTTER AND HOTTER. EVENTUALLY, IT FELT LIKE HOLDING A LUMP OF COAL JUST PULLED FROM A HEARTH, BURNING MY PALM. EVEN MORE STRANGE WAS THAT, WITHIN MY CLENCHED FIST, IT BEGAN TO PULSE SLIGHTLY, ONCE EVERY SECOND, AS IF IT HAD A LIFE OF ITS OWN, LIKE A HEART. THIS STRANGE PULSING GUIDED MY STEPS, LIKE AN INVISIBLE, MALICIOUS GUIDE. I FOLLOWED THE PULL NUMBLY, AFRAID TO LOOK AT THE BONE-WHITE BRANCHES ON EITHER SIDE THAT SEEMED READY TO COME ALIVE IN THE GLOOM, AFRAID TO DISCERN THE ORIGIN OF THE WAILS THAT SEEPED INTO MY BONES. THE BONE POWDER UNDERFOOT GREW THICKER, AND THE "KACHA" SOUND OF MY FOOTSTEPS WAS PARTICULARLY HARSH IN THE DEATHLY SILENCE OF THE FOREST. I DON'T KNOW HOW LONG I WALKED, IT FELT LIKE SEVERAL REINCARNATIONS TRAVERSING THE REALM OF THE DEAD. THE Guiding Tooth'S TEMPERATURE SUDDENLY INCREASED, ITS PULSING BECOMING SO VIOLENT IT WAS ALMOST SPASMODIC. I STOPPED ABRUPTLY, ALMOST BURNED BY THE SCALDING THROBBING IN MY PALM. BEFORE ME, THE FOREST SUDDENLY OPENED UP INTO A SMALL CLEARING. IN THE CENTER OF THE CLEARING, THERE IT WAS—THE WELL! THE MOONLIGHT WAS DEATHLY PALE, SPARINGLY SHEDDING A FAINT GLOW, BARELY OUTLINING THE RIM OF THE WELL. IT WAS NOT BUILT OF ORDINARY BRICK OR STONE, NOR WAS IT WOODEN. AS I GOT CLOSER, USING THAT FAINT, GLOOMY MOONLIGHT, I SAW IT— THE WELL WALL! THE WRITHING, LAYERED WALL! IT WAS ALL TEETH! DENSELY PACKED, FITTING TOGETHER SO TIGHTLY THERE WASN'T A SINGLE GAPE. LARGE MOLARS, SMALL INCISORS, SHARP CANINES, WORN WISDOM TEETH... YELLOW, BLACK, DEATHLY PALE, STAINED WITH BROWN BLOODSTAIN... THEY WERE NOT STILL. THEY WERE WRITHING EXTREMELY SLOWLY, CONTINUOUSLY! LIKE BILLIONS OF TINY MAGGOTS WRIGGLING IN ROTTEN FLESH. COUNTLESS TEETH GRINDED, PRESSED, AND CHEWED AGAINST EACH OTHER, EMITTING A SOUND THAT MADE MY SCALP TINGLE AND MY TEETH ACHE: "KALA... GENGZHI... XISUSU..." THESE SOUNDS MERGED TOGETHER, LOW, VISCOUS, NEVER-ENDING, LIKE A MILLSTONE FROM THE DEPTHS OF HELL GRINDING SOULS, OR LIKE COUNTLESS DEAD SOULS CHEWING ON THEIR OWN PAIN AND RESENTMENT. AN OVERPOWERINGLY SWEET, FISHY ODOR, MIXED WITH THE SCENT OF STALE EARTH AND ROTTEN FLESH, SURGED FROM THE WELL MOUTH, CHARGING INTO MY NOSTRILS, MAKING MY VISION DARKEN AND MY STOMACH HEAVE. BESIDE THE WELL, A STONE STELE, HALFA-PERSON HIGH, STOOD ASKew. ITS SURFACE WAS COVERED IN A THICK LAYER OF SLICK, STICKY MOSS AND A DARK RED, VEIN-LIKE GROWTH. SUPPRESSING MY DESIRE TO VOMIT AND THE FEAR THAT SEEPED INTO MY BONES, I STUMBLED TO THE STELE, VIGOROUSLY WIPING AWAY THE SLICK COVERING WITH MY SLEEVE. BENEATH THE MOSS AND RED GROWTH, SEVERAL LINES OF ANCIENT SEAL SCRIPT, CARVED LIKE AXE BLOWS, INCISED DEEPLY, EXUDING AN UNSPEAKABLE SAVAGERY AND WARNING: "THE TOOTH WELL CONNECTS TO THE BEYOND, WORDS GRANTED WILL BE FULFILLED. FLESH AND BLOOD AS GUIDE, AN EYE FOR AN EYE, A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH! BEWARE... BEWARE..." THE FOUR CHARACTERS "AN EYE FOR AN EYE, A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH" WERE PARTICULARLY PROFOUND, LIKE FOUR COLD CHISELS DRILLED INTO MY EYE SOCKETS. THE GRINDING SOUND OF THE WELL WALL SEEMED TO GROW LOUDER, ENVELOPING ME LIKE A THICK SAUCE, WITH A MOCKING, SEDUCTIVE QUALITY. I STARED FIXEDLY AT THE WRITHING TOOTH WELL. THE COLD WARNINGS ON THE STELE BOOMED IN MY MIND, BUT MY MOTHER'S DYING, PALE, DESPAIRING FACE LYING ON THE RAGGED KANG OVERPOWERED ALL FEAR AND REASON WITH EVEN GREATER FORCE. THE Guiding Tooth PULSED FIERCELY IN MY HAND, AS IF URGING AND INSTIGATING. "LET MY MOTHER RECOVER!" I LUNGED TO THE EDGE OF THE WELL, MY HANDS CLENCHED ON THE COLD, SLICK RIM MADE OF COUNTLESS TEETH, AND ROARED WITH ALL MY MIGHT INTO THE BOTTOMLESS, WRITHING DARK ABYSS BELOW, MY VOICE DISTORTED BY EXTREME FEAR AND DESPERATE MADNESS: "LET HER ILLNESS BE HEALED! NOW! IMMEDIATELY! I WANT MY MOTHER TO LIVE!" MY ROAR ECHOED IN THE DEAD SILENCE OF THE FOREST, STARTLING A FEW SHRILL HOOTS FROM NIGHT OWLS IN THE DISTANCE, ONLY TO BE COMPLETELY SWALLOWED BY THE VISCOUS GRINDING SOUND. AFTER ROARING, AS IF DRAINED OF ALL STRENGTH, I COLLAPSED BY THE WELL, GASPING FOR BREATH. THE TEETH IN THE WELL WALL SEEMED TO HAVE RUBBED MORE FIERCELY AND RAPIDLY THE MOMENT MY ROAR FELL SILENT, EMITTING AN ALMOST EXCITED "GEGE" SOUND, LIKE COUNTLESS INVISIBLE MOUTHS SNICKERING. THE Guiding Tooth IN MY PALM, THAT BURNING HEAT AND PULSING SUDDENLY VANISHED, BECOMING COLD AND STILL, LIKE AN ORDINARY STONE. I LOOKED DOWN. OVER THE SURFACE OF THAT PALE TOOTH, WHEREVER IT HAD COME FROM, SEVERAL FINE, SPIDERWEB-LIKE CRACKS HAD SILENTLY APPEARED. I SCRAMBLED AND FLED FROM THE CLEARING, FROM THE DRY BONE FOREST. THE GRINDING AND WAILING SOUNDS FROM BEHIND ME CLUNG TO ME LIKE A SHADOW, AS IF COUNTLESS COLD FINGERS WERE SCRATCHING MY BACK. I RAN WILDLY UNTIL I SAW THE VAGUE OUTLINE OF THE CROOKED OLD LOCUST TREE AT THE VILLAGE ENTRANCE. ONLY THEN DID I DARE STOP, HOLDING ONTO THE TREE TRUNK, VOMITING VIOLENTLY UNTIL ONLY BITTER GALL CAME UP. THE HORIZON WAS ALREADY TINTED WITH THE ASH-GREY OF A DEAD FISH'S BELLY. I ALMOST SHOVED OPEN MY OWN RAMSHACKLE WOODEN DOOR AND CHARGED IN, CARRYING THE DEW, THE ROTTEN SMELL OF THE DRY BONE FOREST, AND EXTREME TERROR. "MOTHER!" THE EXPECTED SCENE OF WEAKNESS ON THE SICKBED DID NOT APPEAR. THERE WAS A FAINT SOUND COMING FROM THE KITCHEN. I FROZE AT THE DOORWAY, UNBELIEVINGLY LOOKING AT THE FIGURE. MOTHER! SHE WAS CROUCHED BY THE STOVE, HOLDING A NOTCHED WOODEN SPOON, TREMBLING AS SHE STIRRED THE STEAMING CONGEE IN THE POT! ALTHOUGH HER MOVEMENTS WERE SLOW AND WEAK, AND HER FACE STILL PALE AND GAUNT, THE EYES THAT WERE CLOUDY AND LIFELESS JUST A FEW DAYS AGO NOW HELD A FAINT SPARKLE! HEARING MY SHOUT, SHE TURNED HER HEAD WITH SOME EFFORT, A FAINT SMILE APPEARING ON HER FACE. HER VOICE WAS AS FAINT AS A WHISPER: "Ā SHENG... YOU'RE... BACK? MOTHER... MOTHER FEELS... A BIT BETTER... WANTED TO... COOK YOU SOMETHING HOT..." A FEELING OF UNIMAGINABLE JOY GRIPPED ME INSTANTLY, WASHING AWAY ALL THE COLD AND FEAR BROUGHT BY THE DRY BONE FOREST. IT WORKED! THE TOOTH WELL! THAT EVIL WELL, IT REALLY CAME TRUE! THE IMMENSE, REGAINED RELIEF MADE MY WHOLE BODY TREMBLE, ALMOST MAKING ME KNEEL. MOTHER WAS REALLY IMPROVING! WHAT DRY BONE FOREST, WHAT GRINDING WELL, WHAT TERRIBLE STELE WARNINGS, ALL BECAME INSIGNIFICANT AT THIS MOMENT! AS LONG AS IT COULD SAVE MOTHER, WHO CARED IF IT WAS GHOSTS OR DEMONS! I RUSHED FORWARD, CAREFULLY SUPPORTING MOTHER, AFRAID THIS WAS JUST A FRAGILE DREAM. "MOTHER! PLEASE SIT DOWN! DON'T TIRE YOURSELF! I'LL DO IT! I'LL DO IT!" MY VOICE CHOKED WITH THE TREMORS OF SURVIVAL. JUST THEN, A SUDDEN COMMOTION APPROACHED FROM AFAR, BREAKING THE BRIEF, SICKLY WARM ATMOSPHERE IN THE SMALL HUT. IT WAS AUNT WANG'S DISTINCTIVE, LOUD VOICE FROM NEXT DOOR, FULL OF EXAGGERATED SHOCK AND A FAINT, HARD-TO-DETECT SCHADENFREUDE: "OH MY! SOMETHING BIG HAS HAPPENED! DID YOU HEAR? CHEN SĀN! THAT DAMNED BULLY CHEN SĀN! HE'S GONE! NO SIGHT OF HIM ALIVE OR DEAD!" MY HEART LURCHED, GRIPPED BY A COLD IRON HAND. THE REMAINING WARMTH OF MY JOY INSTANTLY FROZE. AUNT WANG'S LOUD VOICE PIERCED THE THIN EARTHEN WALLS, CLEARLY REACHING MY EARS: "SOMEONE SAW HIM LOITERING OUTSIDE LI WIDOW'S YARD AT THE EAST END OF THE VILLAGE LAST NIGHT! THIS MORNING, HIS PETTY HOODLUMS WENT TO KNOCK ON HIS DOOR, BANGED AS HARD AS THEY COULD, BUT NO ONE ANSWERED! THEY BROKE DOWN THE DOOR AND SAW THE ROOM WAS EMPTY, THE BEDDING STONE COLD! ALL THE VALUABLES WERE STILL THERE! A LIVING PERSON, JUST VANISHED INTO THIN AIR! ISN'T THAT WEIRD?" MORE AND MORE PEOPLE GATHERED OUTSIDE, THEIR MUTTERINGS BUZZING, FULL OF SHOCK AND A SUPPRESSED EXCITEMENT. "HE DESERVES IT! KARMA! HEAVEN'S EYES ARE OPENED!" "SHH! SPEAK SOFTLY... WHAT IF HE OFFENDED SOMEONE HE SHOULDN'T HAVE..." "WHERE COULD HE GO? WITH HIS BEHAVIOR, HE MUST HAVE MANY ENEMIES..." "COULD IT BE... SOMETHING FROM THE MOUNTAIN CARRIED HIM OFF?" I STOOD RIGIDLY, MY HAND SUPPORTING MOTHER INVOLUNTARILY TIGHTENING. MOTHER SEEMED TO SENSE MY STRANGENESS, RAISING HER LIFELESS EYES AND LOOKING AT ME BLANKLY. CHEN SĀN... VANISHED? JUST LAST NIGHT? JUST AFTER I MADE MY WISH AT THE TOOTH WELL? A COLD CHILL SHOT UP MY SPINE, INSTANTLY SPREADING TO MY LIMBS. THE FOUR BLOOD RED CHARACTERS ON THE WELL SIDE STELE—"AN EYE FOR AN EYE, A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH"—BURNED LIKE RED-HOT BRANDING IRONS IN MY MIND. "Ā SHENG? WHY ARE YOUR HANDS SO COLD? WHY ARE YOU SHIVERING?" MOTHER'S VOICE WAS FILLED WITH CONCERN. "NOT... NOTHING, MOTHER." I FORCED A SMILE THAT LOOKED WORSE THAN CRYING, MY VOICE DRY, "MAYBE... I RAN TOO FAST, I'M A BIT... A BIT COLD." I HELPED MOTHER LIE DOWN, TUCKED HER IN WITH THE WORN, THIN BLANKET, AND SAID, TRYING TO REMAIN CALM, "YOU REST WELL, I... I'LL GO OUT AND SEE." ALMOST FLEEING THE HOUSE, LEAVING MOTHER ON THE KANG TO LET OUT A FEW WEAK COUGHS. OUTSIDE, THE SUN WAS DAZZLING. THE VILLAGERS WERE STILL EARNESTLY DISCUSSING CHEN SĀN'S MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE. I STOOD AT THE EDGE OF THE CROWD, MY BODY FEELING AS IF IT WERE IMMERSED IN AN ICE CAVE. THE SUNLIGHT SHONE ON ME, BUT I FELT NO WARMTH. THE STICKY GRINDING SOUND FROM THE DRY BONE FOREST SEEMED TO RING IN MY EARS AGAIN, ACCOMPANIED BY CHEN SĀN'S SMIRKING FACE. THAT WELL... THE PRICE IT EXACTED... WAS IT CHEN SĀN? FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS, MY MOTHER'S HEALTH RECOVERED AT AN ASTONISHING RATE. ALTHOUGH STILL WEAK, SHE COULD WALK A FEW STEPS ON HER OWN, HAD IMPROVED APPETITE, AND COULD EVEN DRINK HALF A BOWL OF THE THICK PORRIDGE I COOKED. THE FAINT SPARKLE IN HER CLOUDY EYES PERSISTED TENACIOUSLY, LIKE A MIRACLE. EVERY TIME I SAW MOTHER LEANING ON THE DOORFRAME, SQUINTING AS SHE FELT THE FAINT SUNLIGHT, A BURNING ACHING JOY AND RELIEF FLOODED MY HEART. THE FULFILLMENT OF THE TOOTH WELL WAS LIKE A FORCE INFUSED HEART STIMULANT, SUPPORTING ME AS I CONSCIOUSLY IGNORED THE EVER-GROWING, COLD UNEASE DEEP WITHIN MY HEART. HOWEVER, THAT UNEASE DID NOT DISAPPEAR; IT MERELY CHANGED FORM, BEGINNING TO TAKE ROOT AND GROW IN MY MOUTH. IT STARTED WITH A CONTINUOUS, FAINT SWELLING PAIN, COMING FROM THE DEEPEST ROOTS OF MY GUMS, AS IF SOMETHING WAS SLOWLY BUT FIRMLY PUSHING AGAINST THE BONE. I THOUGHT IT WAS DUE TO THE DAYS OF TRAVEL AND WORRY CAUSING INTERNAL HEAT, BUT DRINKING POUNDS OF COLD WATER DID NOTHING TO HELP. NEXT, THE RUSTY, METALLIC TASTE IN MY MOUTH GREW STRONGER, IMPOSSIBLE TO RINSE AWAY NO MATTER HOW OFTEN I GARGLED. WHILE EATING, I FELT AN UNFAMILIAR TARTNESS AND A STRANGE RESISTANCE WHEN MY TEETH CAME TOGETHER, AS IF SOMETHING NOT MY OWN HAD SUDDENLY APPEARED IN MY MOUTH, GETTING IN THE WAY. BY THE NIGHT OF THE SECOND DAY, THE SWELLING PAIN BECAME SHARP AND SEVERE, LIKE COUNTLESS TINY NEEDLES PRICKING MY GUMS SIMULTANEOUSLY. I LAY IN BED, TOSSING AND TURNING. THE PAIN FELT ALIVE, PULSING WITH MY HEARTBEAT, SHOOTING STRAIGHT TO MY FOREHEAD, DISTURBING ME SO MUCH I COULDN'T SLEEP. IN THE DARKNESS, THE RUSTLING SOUND OF BILLIONS OF TEETH GRINDING IN THE DRY BONE FOREST SEEMED TO RETURN, LOCATED RIGHT BESIDE MY PILLOW, IN MY MOUTH. ON THE MORNING OF THE THIRD DAY, I WOKE UP TO AN UNBEARABLE ITCHING AND STABBING PAIN. MY MOUTH FELT DRY AND TART, AND THE SWEET RUSTY SMELL WAS SO STRONG IT WAS NAUSEATING. A STRONG PREMONITION GRIPPED ME. I ALMOST STUMBLED TO THE HALF-BASIN OF MURKY WASHING WATER IN THE CORNER. THE WATER'S SURFACE SHIMMERED SLIGHTLY, FAINTLY REFLECTING MY DISTORTED IMAGE. I OPENED MY MOUTH. IN THE DIM MORNING LIGHT, REFLECTED IN THE WATER, DEEP WITHIN MY ORAL CAVITY, AT THE BASE OF MY UPPER GUMS, THREE NEW TEETH HAD APPEARED! THEY WERE NOT NORMAL NEW TEETH! THEIR POSITION WAS ABNORMALLY FAR BACK, RIGHT NEXT TO MY MOLARS. THEIR SHAPE WAS SHARP AND SLENDER, LIKE THE FANGS OF A BEAST! THEIR COLOR WAS A DEATHLY PALE WHITE, IN STRIKING CONTRAST TO MY OWN SLIGHTLY YELLOWISH TEETH, SO WHITE IT WAS BLINDING, SO WHITE IT WAS TERRIFYING! IN THE DIM LIGHT, THE TIPS OF THE TEETH SEEMED TO SHIMMER WITH A COLD, METALLIC LUSTER! WHAT TRULY SENT ME INTO A PANIC WAS THEIR SHAPE! THAT ABRUPT, MALICIOUS CURVATURE! I COULD NEVER BE MISTAKEN! CHEN SĀN! THESE WERE UNDOUBTEDLY THE DISTINCTIVE, HATEFUL FANGS OF CHEN SĀN! EVERY TIME HE GRINNED SHOWING THOSE SHARP TEETH TO SCARE THE VILLAGERS, I REMEMBERED HIS UGLY APPEARANCE VIVIDLY! "URGH..." A SUPPRESSED, NEARLY DEAD GASP ESCAPED MY THROAT. THE FACE IN THE MIRROR INSTANTLY LOST ITS LAST TRACE OF BLOOD, TWISTING INTO A MASK OF EXTREME TERROR. ALL THE BLOOD IN MY BODY SEEMED TO FREEZE AT THAT MOMENT, AND IN THE NEXT SECOND, IT RUSHED MADLY UPWARDS TO MY HEAD! TEETH! CHEN SĀN'S TEETH! GROWING IN MY MOUTH! THAT WELL... ITS SO-CALLED "AN EYE FOR AN EYE, A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH"... A BOUNDLESS FEAR AND SENSE OF ABSURDITY WASHED OVER ME LIKE A COLD TIDE. I INSTINCTIVELY RAISED MY HAND, MY TREMBLING FINGERS UNCONTROLLABLY, WITH A SELF-ABUSING DESIRE FOR CONFIRMATION, REACHED INTO MY MOUTH TOWARDS THE THREE NEWLY GROWN, COLD, HARD FOREIGN OBJECTS. THE SKIN OF MY FINGERTIPS FINALLY TOUCHED ONE OF THE SHARPEST FANGS. THE SENSATION WAS COLD, HARD, WITH A HORRIFYING SLICKNESS THAT DID NOT BELONG TO ME. THE MOMENT MY FINGERTIPS CONTACTED THE COLD TOOTH TIP—"BOOM!" IT WAS AS IF A SILENT THUNDERBOLT EXPLODED IN THE DEEPEST RECESSES OF MY MIND! EVERYTHING BEFORE MY EYES—THE DIM EARTHEN HUT, THE SHIMMERING WATER BASIN, MY TERRIFIED REFLECTION—LIKE A WATER SURFACE DISTURBED BY A STONE, INSTANTLY TWISTED, SHATTERED, AND DISAPPEARED! DARKNESS. A HEAVY, SUFFOCATING DARKNESS, WITH A MOIST, COLD, EARTHY SMELL THAT PRESSED IN FROM ALL SIDES. I WAS ENCASED, UNABLE TO MOVE, NOT EVEN ABLE TO LIFT A FINGER. EVERY STRUGGLE, EVERY FUTILE INHALE, ONLY BROUGHT MORE CHOAKING EARTH POURING INTO MY NOSTRILS AND THROAT, WITH A SENSE OF HOPELESS SUFFOCATION. FEAR! PURE, OVERWHELMING, DEATHLY FEAR! A HUNDRED TIMES MORE TERRIFYING THAN THE GLOOM OF THE DRY BONE FOREST! THIS FEAR WAS NOT MINE, YET LIKE A POTENT POISON, IT INSTANTLY FILLED EVERY NERVE IN MY BODY! FRAGMENTS OF VISION, NO, OF PERCEPTION, LIKE TORN SCROLLS, WERE FORCED INTO MY CONSCIOUSNESS: A FAMILIAR RIVERBANK... TURBID WATER... REEDS ALONG THE BANK... NO! THIS IS NOT MY MEMORY! THE PERSPECTIVE WAS LOW... LIKE A CHILD'S HEIGHT... A HAND COVERED IN MUD, BELONGING TO A CHILD, WAS GRIPPING ANOTHER CHILD'S HAIR AND FORCEFULLY PUSHING THEIR HEAD INTO THE COLD RIVER WATER! THE CHILD BEING SUBMERGED STRUGGLED DESPERATELY, SPLASHING WATER ECERYWHERE, EMITTING FAINT, MUFFLED CHOKING AND WHIMPERING SOUNDS. THE HAND GRIPPING THE HAIR... ON THE BACK OF THAT HAND WAS A CLEAR, OLD SCAR FROM BEING SCRAPED BY A STONE... I RECOGNIZED IT! IT WAS A SCAR CHEN SĀN GOT WHEN I HIT HIM WITH A STONE IN A FIT OF ANGER DURING A FIGHT WHEN WE WERE CHILDREN! THE SCENE SUDDENLY FLASHED, LIKE A BROKEN LAMP. IT CHANGED INTO A SMIRKING TEENAGE FACE—MY FACE! THAT FACE HAD A CRUEL JOY AND CONTEMPT AS IT SPAT AT THE CURLING FIGURE ON THE GROUND: "SPIT! YOU ILLEGITIMATE BASTARD WITHOUT A FATHER! HOW DARE YOU COMPETE WITH ME?" ...THAT WAS... THAT WAS WHEN I WAS TWELVE, WHEN CHEN SĀN SNATCHED THE MALT SUGAR I HAD HARD-WON FROM A PEDDLER, AND I FURIOUSLY SHOVED HIM TO THE GROUND... COUNTLESS FRAGMENTS! FILLED WITH CHEN SĀN'S PERSPECTIVE, WITH STRONG EMOTIONAL IMPRINTS—ANGER, HUMILIATION, JEALOUSY, RESENTMENT AT BEING LOOKED DOWN UPON, DISTORTED DESIRE FOR REVENGE... LIKE SHARP ICE PICKS, THEY PIERCED MY BRAIN! ONE SCENE WAS PARTICULARLY CLEAR: COLD EARTH KEPT FALLING DOWN, HITTING MY FACE AND BODY. MY VISION WAS COMPLETELY OBLITERATED BY DARKNESS AND EARTH. MY LUNGS BURNED, AND EVERY FUTILE INHALE FILLED WITH THE STALE SMELL OF SOIL. BOUNDLESS, COMPLETE DESPAIR AND MALICE, LIKE BLACK POISONOUS VINES, GREW WILDLY IN MY DYING CONSCIOUSNESS. A VOICE, FILLED WITH BITTER HATRED AND UNWILLINGNESS, SCREAMED AT THE LAST MOMENT BEFORE MY SOUL DISSIPATED: "MY TEETH... I... CURSE..." The COLD FANG I TOUCHED SUDDENLY FELT LIKE A RED-HOT BRANDING IRON, SHOCKING MY FINGERS! "ARRGH—!" A SHRIEK, UNLIKE ANY HUMAN SOUND, BURST FROM MY THROAT. IT WAS AS IF AN INVISIBLE, IMMENSE FORCE SHOVED ME BACKWARDS. I STUMBLED AND FELL HEAVILY AGAINST THE COLD EARTHEN WALL, SHAKING DUST FROM THE ROOF. I CURLED UP IN THE CORNER, CLUTCHING MY MOUTH WITH BOTH HANDS, MY FINGERNAILS DIGGING DEEP INTO THE FLESH OF MY CHEEKS. MY WHOLE BODY TREMBLED LIKE A SIEVE, MY TEETH COLLIDING UNCONTROLLABLY, MAKING A RAPID, CRISP "GEGE" SOUND. THE THREE NEW SHARP TEETH IN MY MOUTH, DURING THE VIOLENT TREMBLING, SCRAPED AGAINST MY TONGUE AND THE INSIDE OF MY CHEEKS, CAUSING A COLD, HARD, FOREIGN-FEELING TACTILE PAIN. EACH SCRAPE SEEMED TO REMIND ME OF THEIR EXISTENCE—THOSE VENOMOUS FANGS FROM CHEN SĀN, FILLED WITH THE ENDLESS MALICE FROM BEFORE HE WAS BURIED ALIVE! I TASTED BLOOD, BUT I DIDN'T KNOW IF I HAD BITTEN MY TONGUE OR SCRATCHED MY FACE WITH MY NAILS. HOWEVER, THAT MINIMAL PAIN WAS FAR LESS THAN THE TERROR BROUGHT BY THE REMAINING DYING SUFFOCATION AND BITTER RESENTMENT FROM CHEN SĀN IN MY MIND. The Dry Bone Forest... The Tooth Well... That evil object built from countless teeth... It granted my wish, causing my mother to miraculously recover. But the price it demanded was not some illusory "luck" or "lifespan"! It demanded "teeth"! An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth! It exchanged Chén Sān's life for my mother's life. And now, Chén Sān's teeth, carrying his final dying curse of malevolence, had rooted themselves in my flesh like living beings! The billions of teeth on the well wall... their owners... were they all... all victims "exchanged" like this? One wish, one life? Using the flesh and teeth of others as fuel to achieve a wish?

My stomach churned violently, and I could hold back no longer. I collapsed onto the ground, retching uncontrollably. The three sharp teeth in my mouth scraped against my lower lip, inflicting a sharp sting and an intense sensation of a foreign object. All that came up was sour liquid and bile, but the strong, rusty, metallic scent stubbornly lingered in the depths of my mouth, refusing to dissipate.

Outside the window, the light seemed to brighten slightly. Faint sounds of roosters crowing and dogs barking could be heard from the village, a normalcy that was heartbreaking.

I curled up in the cold corner of the room, my body still trembling uncontrollically. My gaze was fixated on the half-basin of murky, dirty water in the corner. The water's surface rippled slightly, reflecting a sliver of dismal daylight filtering through a hole in the roof, and also my face, distorted by extreme fear.

My mother's cough, weak and suppressed, drifted intermittently from the inner room. That sound, once the sole salvation and hope in my abyss of despair, now sounded like a rusty, blunt knife, slowly slicing at my heart with each cough.

Every cough seemed to remind me of the price paid for the weight of this so-called 'life'.

What should I do? These teeth growing in my mouth, teeth belonging to the dead... were they merely the beginning? The Tooth Well... its law of 'An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth'... had it truly ended? That monster, hidden deep within the Dry Bone Forest, composed of endless resentment and teeth... would it be satisfied just like this?

My fingertips still retained the searing pain from touching those icy fangs and the chill from the phantom visions. I slowly raised my trembling hand, using all my strength, and clamped it tightly over my mouth, covering the three newly grown, accursed fangs along with it. It was as if doing so could stifle the desperate whimper about to escape, could block the silent mockery from the well transmitted through my teeth.