Chapter 12 The Death Umbrella In the dream, the sky and water merged into one, with the morning glow and the bright moon...

"Thump—thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!"

"Bang bang bang—"

The watchman's gong sounded at the same time as the gate of Baohe Hall. Lu Bing listened to the watchman's gong ringing five times along the street before he realized with a start, "It's already the fifth watch."

The night was incredibly long, so long that he was filled with anxiety, and he pounded on the door a few more times.

"Coming, coming... Who is it so early in the morning... Don't smash things..." The shopkeeper hurriedly got up and opened the door. When he saw several government officials standing outside, he was stunned. "Young Master Lu, what are you doing here?"

Lu Bing pushed the door open and entered, pointing to Qin San in Zhou Yaren's arms: "This girl just bumped her forehead and fainted. Call Doctor He to take a look at her."

Seeing the dried blood on her face and a large, purplish-black bump on her forehead, the shopkeeper immediately said with concern, "Oh dear, how did you get hurt so badly? Quickly, put her here and put her on the couch."

Zhou Yaren gently laid the person flat on the sickbed in the clinic. Lu Bing sat down on a chair next to him, while the two constables squeezed onto a stool, practically touching each other.

Lu Bing glanced at them but said nothing. Seeing that the shopkeeper only called over a medicine apprentice to treat Qin San's injuries, he asked, "Where is Physician He?"

The shopkeeper replied, "He was summoned away by people from Master Shen's mansion around midnight and hasn't returned yet. But don't worry, Young Master Lu, our Sanyang has been learning medicine from Doctor He since he was a child. He has taught us by example, so he can definitely treat any minor injuries."

Lu Bing nodded: "Alright."

Several people sat around the sickbed, watching the apprentice work.

The medicine apprentice pried open Qin San's eyelids to examine her, then took her pulse. He turned and went to the backyard to fetch a basin of clean water. He carefully parted the strands of Qin San's hair covered with blood clots, wrung out a cloth, and began to wipe the blood off her face.

The group had been terrified and exhausted all night in the Ghostly Courtyard, unable to sleep. Now, sitting around in the clinic, the strong aroma of Chinese medicine seemed to soothe their nerves, gradually relaxing their tense nerves, and their eyelids began to feel heavy.

Zhou Yaren turned around and asked the shopkeeper in a low voice. The shopkeeper then led him to the back courtyard, scooped a ladle of water from the water vat and poured it into a wooden basin: "Wash yourself here."

"Thank you, shopkeeper. I can do it myself. You can go ahead with your work."

"Alright, I'll go make some hot tea for Young Master Lu and the others. Please make yourself at home, and call me anytime if you need anything."

"Thank you for your trouble."

After the shopkeeper left, he squatted down and took out the blood-soaked bronze mirror from his sleeve.

Although the blood had been wiped away, traces of blood remained in the carved patterns along the edges and back of the bronze mirror, so he could still smell the lingering stench of blood.

Zhou Yaren frowned, immersed the bronze mirror in the basin of water, and began to carefully wash her hands, scrubbing each finger and even each nail crevices meticulously.

The water was extremely cold, freezing my hands until they turned white, and then he scrubbed them until they turned red.

Zhou Yaren squatted on the ground and changed the water several times, washing his hands and the bronze mirror countless times until the smell of blood faded, dissipated, and was finally gone. Only then did he feel clean.

Holding it in his hand, the bronze mirror reflected his elegant face. Zhou Yaren was blind, and his fingertips traced the bronze patterns inch by inch. The back of the mirror was carved with a full moon, in which there was a lush tree, a graceful woman dancing, and a rabbit and a toad pounding medicine.

Zhou Yaren thought to herself, "A picture of the Moon Palace?"

His fingertips gently caressed the woman carved on the bronze mirror. He knew, of course, that the moon palace was inhabited by Chang'e, a figure from a myth. However, just now, he had seen a woman imprisoned in this pool of blood mirror—the one dressed in white, her face filled with resentment, appearing like a ghost.

Zhou Yaren held the bronze mirror as if it were a piece of ice, staring intently at it for a long time, but still couldn't find any clues.

When Zhou Yaren finished cleaning up and returned to the clinic, he heard the steady breathing of several people. The shopkeeper carefully walked up to him and said in a low voice, "Young Master Lu and the others are asleep."

The shopkeeper looked back at the group of people, who appeared travel-worn and exhausted, covered in frost and snow. They had probably been investigating a case all night long.

Several deaths have occurred in the city recently, and the eldest son of the Shen family has gone missing. Lu Bing and his team often work on cases day and night, running around the streets and alleys in the freezing cold.

Occasionally, when Baohetang was busy until late at night, the manager would serve the officials a few cups of warm tea to soothe their stomachs.

The innkeeper said warmly, "Why don't you have a cup of hot tea and rest here for a while?"

Zhou Yaren nodded, borrowed a pen and ink from the shopkeeper, spread out a talisman and wrote a sentence. Then he summoned Fei Nu to deliver the message to a young friend in Taihang Dao.

After drinking half a cup of hot tea, Zhou Yaren dispelled some of the cold that had invaded her spleen and stomach. She sat down on a recliner in the north corner of the clinic. Perhaps she was too tired, because she fell asleep as soon as she rested.

In my dream, the water and sky blended into one, with the morning glow and the bright moon, but there was no sign of human habitation.

Day and night rotate in reverse, as if endless years have passed.

He walked alone through the years, traversing the long river of time.

Zhou Ya's heart skipped a beat. She lowered her head and saw the mirror-like water, realizing that she was indeed standing firmly on the long river.

He kept walking, but he didn't know where he was going or where he was headed.

He seemed to be searching for something, but his mind was blank. He vaguely forgot many people and things, and he also forgot where he came from and where he was going.

There was no guidance in the dream, until a gentle breeze brushed past me from behind, carrying a faint, almost ethereal sound, like a sigh, the sigh of the wind.

Yet, in that sigh of the wind, he sensed an unusual emotion, much like the unspoken words of an old friend, words left unsaid.

Zhou Yaren subconsciously tensed his back. Although everything was unspoken, he seemed to be able to discern something from it.

However, the next moment, the long river beneath his feet suddenly turned crimson blood, like a huge blood mirror, reflecting his panicked and bewildered appearance.

Zhou Yaren saw herself in a disheveled state, dressed in rags, wearing prison clothes and shackles, looking exactly like a prisoner.

He staggered backward, the heavy shackles on his feet clanging and jingling as they bound him tightly.

A wave of terror washed over him. He tried desperately to break free of his restraints and escape, but the shackles tightened, pulling him violently into the Red River.

The stench of blood filled his nostrils. He struggled desperately, but was dragged deeper and deeper, as if he were being pulled into the darkest depths of hell.

Just as despair overwhelmed him, the musical instrument at his waist rang. Zhou Yaren suddenly grabbed the instrument, opened his eyes, and saw a woman in white carrying a black umbrella upside down standing at the end. What he heard was a deathly melody.

He kept his lips tightly closed and didn't open his mouth, yet he vaguely heard himself asking, "What is that?"

This question seemed to come from the depths of his heart. He didn't know what he was asking, nor did he understand why he would ask it, but the other party seemed to understand and replied, "Report the death umbrella."

Why have you come?

"Here comes to report the death."

The music was low and hoarse, sounding intermittently, mixed with another voice from beyond the waves: "Young master... young master... wake up..."

Zhou Yaren suddenly opened her eyes, waking up from that suffocating dream.

His bloodshot eyes were wide open, and for a moment he couldn't tell what was real and what was not.

The shopkeeper was startled by his appearance, but quickly said gently, "Young master... are you having a nightmare?"

"What?" Zhou Yaren finally realized that she was in Baohetang after hearing the shopkeeper's voice.

The shopkeeper said with concern, "I noticed that you were holding this bronze mirror in your hand while you were sleeping, and your fingers were cut by the edge and were still bleeding."

Zhou Yaren groped around haphazardly and touched a sticky, wet liquid on the mirror surface, while her fingertips felt a slight stinging sensation.

The shopkeeper continued, "And is that a flute you're carrying? It's been making a few scattered sounds all of a sudden, but nobody's playing it. It's really strange."

Zhou Yaren suddenly looked up: "Did it ring?"

Seeking approval, the shopkeeper turned to look at the apprentice pharmacist in the shop: "Sanyang, you just heard the sound, didn't you?"

The apprentice was picking medicine in front of the medicine cabinet when he heard this and nodded: "I heard it, but it wasn't very loud." It was a continuous sound. At first, he was puzzled and looked around, thinking that some mouse or owl had crawled into the room and was making noise. But the shopkeeper found that the sound was coming from the man in blue.

Zhou Yaren clearly remembers having a dream, and in the dream she heard the sound of death...

As soon as the medicine apprentice finished speaking, the door of Baohetang was suddenly kicked open, and an elderly man stumbled into the room. A draft of cold air rushed in, and in that instant, the pitch pipe at Zhou Yaren's waist made a hoarse half-sound once more...

"Oh dear, Doctor He!" the shopkeeper exclaimed in alarm, rushing to the door to help the old man up. "What happened? Did you hurt yourself anywhere?"

The bump and fall that Doctor He had just made woke up the three sleeping officials. Lu Bingteng immediately stood up from his chair, looked at the scene on the ground, and asked, "What happened?"

Physician He, his face filled with panic, dropped to the ground and grabbed the shopkeeper who came to help him. He opened his mouth wide, desperately trying to say something, but perhaps because he had run too fast and held his breath for too long, he couldn't catch his breath for a moment: "I...I..."

The shopkeeper gently patted his back, saying, "Don't worry, calm your breathing."

Doctor He gasped for breath, but this caused him to lose his balance and cough violently, his face turning red. He gripped the shopkeeper tightly with one hand, causing the shopkeeper pain.

Between bouts of coughing, Doctor He managed to squeeze out a hoarse sound from his throat: "Cough...cough..."

Seeing his disheveled state, having not even brought back his medicine chest, and collapsing empty-handed at the door, the shopkeeper asked with concern, "What happened? Did you encounter robbers in the middle of the night? Was your medicine chest stolen? Oh, it's good that you're alright. Don't worry, Young Master Lu and the others are at Baohetang. Catch your breath and tell me slowly."

He Langzhong turned to look at the three constables standing in the shop, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets, and managed to utter a coherent sentence: "Someone has been killed!"

Lu Bing's expression hardened: "Where?"

At the same time, Zhou Yaren had already bypassed He Langzhong and rushed out of Baohetang.

He Langzhong lay on the ground coughing loudly: "Shen... Shen family..."

Lu Bing rushed out without a moment's delay. Seeing that Zhou Yaren was heading in the direction of the Shen family, he chased after her without hesitation: "Yaren."

Zhou Yaren followed the wind trail and hurried along. In the distance, he heard countless screams coming from ahead, which were amplified many times over by the swirling wind.

One scream after another pierced his ear canal, stabbing his eardrums painfully. The screams gradually faded from shrill to lifeless, making his heart sink.

The nightmare from earlier kept flashing through my mind: the woman carrying the death-announcing umbrella stood in the blood mist, her cold and ruthless voice echoing in my ears: "Announce the death—"

Someone died in the Ghost Office just now, will it be the same this time?

It was pitch black all around him, he couldn't see anything, and he was running frantically in the darkness where there was no light. He heard screams all around him, getting closer and closer, and then he smelled the blood in the wind, which was extremely strong.

A note from the author:

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