Dry Well

The sky was overcast, as if water could be wrung from it. Old Man Li stood by the reservoir with his hands behind his back, puffing on his pipe. The water level of the reservoir was getting lower day by day, almost to the bottom. Normally at this time of year, the reservoir would be bustling with jumping fish. This year, however, not even a ghost of a shadow could be seen.

"Something's not right," Old Man Li exhaled a smoke ring. "I'm afraid something's going to happen."

No sooner had he spoken than someone shouted, "Come and see! Something's come out!"

Old Man Li's heart skipped a beat. He threw down his pipe and hobbled forward. When he got closer, he saw it: at the bottom of the reservoir, a dark stone was exposed, with some strange patterns carved on it.

"What's this?" someone asked.

"It looks like... a tombstone?" another voice said tremulously.

The crowd erupted. Underneath the reservoir, there was a buried ancient tomb! The news spread like wildfire, flying through the entire village, then to the town, the county...

Within a few days, the area around the reservoir became lively. First came a few people wearing glasses, claiming to be experts from the Cultural Relics Bureau. They set up a cordon around the ancient tomb and used brushes to carefully clean it bit by bit.

Then, all sorts of people arrived. There were reporters carrying cameras, villagers holding shovels, and bosses in suits and ties driving luxury cars...

Old Man Li still came to the reservoir every day, but he stopped smoking his pipe and switched to eating sunflower seeds. He watched those people busily working around the ancient tomb like ants, unable to describe the feeling in his heart.

The experts said it was an ancient tomb from the Han Dynasty, and there might be treasures inside. As soon as this news spread, the crowd went even crazier. Some people started digging secretly, trying to grab something under the cover of night.

"Greed knows no bounds," Old Man Li shook his head. "This ancient tomb is likely to become a man-eating dry well."

Sure enough, it wasn't long before something happened. First, two villagers fought over a jade pendant they had dug up, and one was seriously injured. Then, several outsiders were buried inside when the tomb collapsed while they were digging at night.

The police from the county came and sealed off the scene. Those bosses all wilted, losing their previous arrogance.

Old Man Li still came to the reservoir every day, but this time he didn't even eat sunflower seeds. He looked at the dark mouth of the tomb, like a dry well, swallowing hope and also swallowing greed.

"This reservoir used to be a living water source, feeding so many people," Old Man Li sighed. "Now, it has become a dry well, swallowing so many lives."

The sky was still overcast, as if it was going to rain. But Old Man Li knew that this rain couldn't wash away the filth in people's hearts. The ancient tomb remained, like a giant question mark, hanging over everyone's head.