Mysterious Death and Unsettling Superstitions in the Rural Village

This incident occurred in a rural village, right next to my home. Although I wasn't present to witness it firsthand, the accounts I've heard are far from fictional. The story takes place during the summer of 2015 and revolves around a woman in her fifties, who met an inexplicable death in the small pond just in front of her house.

She and her husband were farmers, taking care of their grandchildren, while their son and daughter-in-law worked in a distant city. The woman was known to be quite assertive and had quarreled with several villagers in the past. On the day she passed away, she had visited a neighbor to chat about their everyday lives. In the evening, she mentioned that she intended to go to a distant location. She even washed her hair, changed into clean clothes, and helped bathe her grandchild. The couple slept on the upper floor of their house.

Her husband woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't find her. He searched everywhere but couldn't locate her. His search extended into the next morning. It was then that my mother, who was near the pond chasing ducks, discovered her lifeless body. Her appearance was indescribable, covered in dirt and blood, and her death was unimaginable. The pond in front of her house, where she was found, was too shallow to drown someone, only reaching thigh-height. If she had intended to end her life, she could have chosen the cleaner and deeper river near the house.

It baffled everyone that she had met her demise in this pond. On the day of her death, she hadn't argued with any family members, and there was no apparent reason for her to take such an extreme step. People later speculated that during the Ghost Festival (a time for offerings and ceremonies for the deceased), when a table leg was accidentally placed outside her house, it might have invited malevolent spirits inside. This woman's father, brother, and a sister had all drowned, and another sister had disappeared mysteriously, likely also met the same fate.

Rumors circulated that three spirits might have carried her outside and drowned her in the pond. Though these accounts appear mysterious, they persisted in the community. When her daughter consulted a local medium, she heard a similar story, emphasizing the need to prepare for the possibility of others in her family facing a similar fate. This period was marked by eerie occurrences, with neighbors locking their doors early in the evening due to heightened fears.

During the days after her death, her husband even claimed that he felt as though she was still sleeping beside him, but her presence was ice-cold. He even claimed that in his dreams, she expressed her unwillingness to die and even threatened him with a kitchen knife. In summary, these incidents were truly unsettling and sent shivers down the spines of those who heard them.