Chapter 23 The River Opens: "This is a miscarriage of justice."
The bailiffs were forced to drink a bellyful of murky water, while Hei Zi was torn apart by the undercurrents but remained unconscious.
Master Fang was battered by the huge waves, his heart and lungs felt like they were about to shatter, but he held on to his last breath and frantically tried to float upwards. Unfortunately, above him was a layer of ice three feet thick, as hard as rock, wide enough for people to pass through, and he couldn't break through it even if he smashed his head open.
This is a surging wave hidden beneath the ice. The group managed to escape from the Taiyin/Dao Body, only to be trapped under the thick ice and nearly suffocated. What a miserable and damned fate!
Just as Master Fang was desperately smashing the ice, almost to the point of death but without even scraping off a single shard, he rolled his eyes and saw several sharp white rays shooting towards him from the water.
Like a cold sword slashing through the air, Master Fang dodged in terror.
Wherever the white light passed, the ice above his head cracked, and then the entire river's ice began to shatter into pieces...
Just then, a farmer who worked from dawn till dusk was leading his mule to cross the river. As soon as he stepped onto the ice, the ice beneath his feet cracked and he slid.
The farmer nearly fell into the pit and quickly retreated to the bank, staring dumbfounded at the unbelievable scene before him. The seemingly solid ice path crumbled in an instant, and the river's waves rolled down, carrying large chunks of ice.
"The river...the river has thawed?" The farmer, after his initial shock, suddenly shouted, "The river has thawed! The river has thawed!"
The farmer, completely oblivious to the unusual nature of the event, turned and ran towards the city, shouting as he went, "The river is thawed! The river is thawed! Folks, the Yellow River is thawed! The river is thawed!"
His voice was loud and clear, carrying for miles around, filled with an undeniable excitement.
The small house at Mengmen Wharf was the first to light up. The laborers guarding the wharf heard the noise, put on their patched cotton-padded coats, and came out with lanterns, only to shiver from the biting cold wind.
The young laborer, still half-asleep, peered into the river and before he could even be surprised, was drenched in boiling water.
At the same time, the ice layer was violently ripped open at the bottom of the water, as if a dragon was stirring up giant waves at the bottom of the water, and the river was instantly filled with turbid waves and splashing water everywhere.
A disheveled woman in white leaped from the water, ice crystals exploding around her.
The surging waves crashed against the shore, and a vast expanse of mist, like billowing white smoke, spread out in the middle of the river, almost completely shrouding her in it.
The dockworker suffered an unexpected misfortune when a piece of icicle exploded and hit his right eye. He cried out in pain, clutched his eye socket, and collapsed to the ground.
The great river roared and raged like a churning dragon, causing great alarm among the dockworkers. Was the river's opening too earth-shattering?
Immediately afterward, a pale, waterlogged hand emerged from the water and grabbed his ankle. The laborer screamed in terror, kicking and thrashing about wildly, nearly kicking the Taoist priest, who had just barely escaped death, back down with him.
The Taoist priest, suffering from a barrage of kicks and shoves, was in agony. He had no choice but to retract his pale arm, revealing a terrifyingly large head, and cried out weakly, "Pull...pull me up..."
"A ghost! A ghost!" The dockworker was so frightened that he scrambled away, crying and screaming, leaving behind only a extinguished lantern that was swept away by the surging river and crushed by the ice.
Master Fang watched the laborer's retreating figure, shivering in fear, and weakly argued, "I'm not a ghost, I'm a human."
But that lifeless voice sounded exactly like a water ghost demanding a life.
The farmer's loud shouts of "Opening the river!" echoed for miles and reached the city.
The dockworker followed closely behind, howling and screaming, "Ghost! There's a ghost!"
Then there was Master Fang's weak explanation, "I am not a ghost," which was drowned out by the thunderous roar of the waves.
With a gentle scoop, Bai Yuan pulled an unconscious person from the water. Her gaze swept across the turbulent current and locked onto a figure in green who had just climbed ashore.
Bai Yuan stepped onto a piece of floating ice and swam downstream, throwing the unconscious man in his arms in front of the other man.
"Lu Bing." Zhou Yaren caught him off guard and looked up at him.
Bai Yuan looked down at his disheveled and somewhat dazed appearance and said calmly, "I'll do you a favor."
After saying that, she turned around, and Zhou Yaren quickly called out to her, "Wait..."
"Hmm?" Bai Yuan turned to look at him.
Zhou Yaren gasped for breath: "Why are you trapped in the Taiyin/Dao Body?"
He really wanted to ask next: "What sins have you committed?" But he held back.
Bai Yuan stared at him silently, her icy gaze making Zhou Yaren think she wouldn't answer.
However, a moment later, she said, "This is a miscarriage of justice."
Whenever Zhou Yaren overuses his ears, a buzzing sound rings in them, and he needs to concentrate to hear what the other person is saying.
Yes, this is a wrongful prison. Those imprisoned in Taiyin/Dao Body are all people who died unjustly, so is she one of them?
But she was clearly the one imprisoned by all those who died unjustly.
Bai Yuan's tone was eerily calm: "This is a prison built specifically for the dead souls, and it is also a prison specifically used to imprison me."
Zhou Yaren stared at her in disbelief: "What do you mean?"
After careful consideration, she calmly replied, "My name is Bai Yuan, and what can trap me is naturally an injustice that is not clear."
Zhou Yaren stared in disbelief. It was a sentence that sounded very simple, yet he seemed to understand it somewhat, but also not quite.
Zhou Yaren's mind raced for a moment before he managed to piece together a few thoughts from his chaotic jumble. But before he could even ask a question, the other person had already turned and disappeared into the white mist. Zhou Yaren jumped up and shouted at the rushing river, "Where are you going?!"
The only response he received was a roaring torrent of sound.
Zhou Yaren's heart was pounding, because he didn't know what he had just released.
Is she a demon? Is she dangerous? Will she harm people?
Zhou Yaren grew increasingly terrified as she thought about it. She bent down to check on the unconscious Lu Bing, but her hands trembled slightly involuntarily.
"Lu Bing, Lu Bing..."
Lu Bing suddenly choked on some water and struggled to wake up. His whole body ached terribly, as if he had been ganged up on by seven or eight tall, strong men, and his bones were broken. But the most painful part was his right shoulder, where there was a penetrating wound. Even the slightest movement caused him to almost faint from the pain, and he grimaced and howled in agony.
"...Awooo..."
"Lu Bing, just bear with it for now."
"Are we out now?" He was still in a daze, as if he were dreaming.
"Yes, you're out, you're alright now." Zhou Yaren carefully helped him up.
"I never imagined we'd survived such a hellish place." It was like a brush with death. Lu Bing, gritting his teeth against the pain, asked, "Where are Hei Zi and the others? And Master Fang?"
Zhou Yaren shook her head: "I don't know."
They were all scattered by the tide. If the woman hadn't pulled Lu Bing out of the water, he would probably have been in grave danger.
The two fell silent.
Lu Bing's face was deathly pale. Just then, someone behind him suddenly called out breathlessly, "Boss..."
Lu Bing suddenly turned around, and the movement aggravated his shoulder injury. He let out a howl, which actually woke up Hei Zi, who was on the back of the yamen runner.
Seeing these two subordinates, who looked like drowning dogs, both with bruises and blood on their faces, they were in a terrible state, but at least they were still alive and hadn't lost any limbs.
Lu Bing suddenly felt a lump in his throat and his eyes welled up with tears. Fortunately, it was dark, and he didn't know what time it was, so no one would notice his embarrassed and flustered appearance.
Lu Bing spoke in a gruff voice, with a somewhat pretentious air: "Are you two badly injured? Hurry up and come back with me to see a doctor, lest you develop some chronic illness."
The constable immediately cried out in pain: "Ouch, that's not necessarily true."
Hei Zi, lying on the back of the yamen runner, was clearly weak: "I feel like I have suffered a serious internal injury."
After the constable finished shouting, he didn't forget to ask his superior, "Boss, are you alright?"
Lu Bing stubbornly insisted, "I won't die."
Hei Zi nodded weakly, too exhausted to keep up his banter, and simply said, "As long as I'm alive, that's enough."
The constable was the least injured among them, but he was still shaken: "I thought I was really going to die. I was thinking, what would happen to my mother if I died? Her eyesight is not good, and she broke her leg while fetching water and cooking a few days ago. She is counting on me to take care of her in her old age."
Upon hearing this, Lu Bing felt a tightness in his chest and a wave of guilt towards the two of them. Although he tried his best to solve the case, he never thought of risking anyone's life in the process.
Everyone has a family and loved ones, especially their parents, spouse, and children. What will happen to the orphans and widows left behind if they are gone?
Lu Bing admitted that he was also afraid of death; who wouldn't want to live a peaceful and stable life?
Besides, he wanted to be more filial to his grandmother and to see his father off when he passed away; he couldn't let a white-haired person bury a black-haired one. So he valued not only his own life but also the lives of his men.
Zhou Yaren, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up: "I shouldn't have let you take this risk."
The constables and the black-clad man immediately shut up and looked at Lu Bing in unison, their expressions clearly indicating that they were just grumbling and had no intention of blaming anyone.
Lu Bing immediately said, "What are you talking about? It's not because of you. Besides, who could have predicted this? That Taoist priest Fang usually seems like a very steady person, who knew he could be so impulsive, tripping and falling right into the well. Oh, I was so angry I almost died..."
The constable asked, "Where is Master Fang?"
Master Fang climbed into the dockside hut, stripped off his soaked Taoist robe, wrapped himself in the thick cotton quilt on the bed, and shivered violently. Then, while shivering, he lit the charcoal fire in the hut. He could vaguely hear several shouts rising and falling, lost in the raging waves of the river, as if they were calling him, yet also as if they weren't.
"……long……"
"Fang...long..."
"……road……"
"Taoist Master..."
"Master Fang—"
Master Fang was startled. He heard the last sentence clearly. Someone was indeed calling him, and it should be the voice of Constable Lu.
Master Fang immediately got up, wrapped himself in a thick cotton quilt, and ran out of the house, extremely excited.
With such a massive flood, he thought everyone had perished, and that he was the only one who had survived by sheer luck. But he never expected…
Half a figure vaguely appeared in the darkness. Master Fang almost burst into tears of joy and hurriedly limped over to greet him: "Hey, I'm here, Officer Lu—"
However, just as he was about to get close, the shadow hidden in the darkness suddenly leaped several feet and pounced on him.
Master Fang's eyes widened suddenly as he was thrown into the vast river, blanket and all.
...
"Master Fang."
"Master Fang."
Several people were too exhausted to walk, so they helped each other and took turns calling out to each other.
Zhou Yaren followed them for a while, seemingly lost in thought, then suddenly stopped: "Lu Bing."
“Fang…” Lu Bing had just started to speak when he was interrupted and turned to ask, “Eh?”
"Are you able to get back by yourselves?"
"Yes, it's possible, so what?"
“That’s good. I have something to attend to and I have to go ahead. The three of you be careful. It’s too cold now, and the wind will pick up soon. You’re all soaked, and it’s easy for you to get hypothermia if you stay outside for too long. If you can’t find Master Fang along the way, don’t linger by the river. Get into the city as soon as possible to bandage your wounds, and then send someone else to look for him.”
After giving her instructions, Zhou Yaren turned and left.
Lu Bing didn't have time to stop him, completely baffled: "Wait, where are you going? What could possibly be wrong all of a sudden?"
Zhou Yaren did not intend to reveal: "It's a private matter."
"You're new here, what personal business could you possibly have?!" Seeing that he was walking quickly and getting further and further away without stopping, Lu Bing had no choice but to take a deep breath and shout at the top of his lungs, "Zhou Yaren, you still have an injury on your neck, come with me to see a doctor!"
Lu Bing wanted to give chase, but as soon as he took a big step, he aggravated the injury on his shoulder, which hurt so much that he dared not move much and could only watch the figure disappear.
Lu Bingzhen found it very strange. He was also injured, so how could he move so fast? Didn't his neck hurt?!
Lu Bingben was worried that he might suddenly decide to go back and risk it again, but Zhou Yaren was heading towards Beiqu County, which was the same road they were taking. Why was that person in such a hurry?
The constable, observing the nimble Zhou Yaren, questioned, "Boss, do you think this official from Chang'an is truly blind? I don't think he's blind at all!"
Hei Zi was also quite puzzled: "And he didn't even use a white cane anymore."
Lu Bing clicked his tongue impatiently. He didn't blame others for their doubts; he had also thought that Zhou Yaren didn't seem like a blind person, since she moved around so freely in her daily life.
Therefore, Lu Bing had tried to test him a few times in Chang'an, but the other party was indeed blind. His ears were just too sharp, even sharper than most people's eyes.
Zhou Yaren could sense the movement of wind and air to determine if there were any obstacles around him, and then he could walk unimpeded through mountain valleys and open fields, step into the city gate, and rush through the long street like a gust of wind.
If he wasn't mistaken, the first place Bai Yuan would go after entering the human world was that ghostly government office standing in Bei Qu.
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