Chapter 85: The Second Water Ghost
"By the way, where did you hide that kid from the Ying family?" Wang Fengxu poked Ruan Meng with his arm.
Ruan Meng chuckled and smacked his lips to keep the secret: "That can't be said."
"He looks like a vengeful person. Don't look for a chance to take revenge on you in the future." Wang Fengxu judged based on his experience in physiognomy.
Ruan Meng: "Come on then. I've been living such a peaceful life these past few years that I don't even know who to try out new tricks with."
Long Zhu and Meng Caiyun squatted beside the black box, watching Ying Zhiwei happily pull things out one by one. "This is a ghost book. I've heard about it in my parents' notes. It records all kinds of sneaky tricks and abilities that can be used as servants. There's also the Seven Star Sword. My dad made it himself and originally intended it for Ah Xu..."
People in the Xuanmen sect often deal with strange and bizarre things, and they can be said to be wandering around the world with their heads tied to their waists. Occasionally, when two families become enemies like the Ruan and Hu families, their lives will be in danger at any time.
Therefore, there was actually no detailed account of the death of Ying Zhiwei's parents. It was only said that they seemed to be involved in some factional dispute, and both of them were fatally injured. Fortunately, they managed to escape and knocked on the door of their second brother's house at night to entrust their son to him.
Ying's parents were also cautious, fearing that when Ying Zhiwei and Ying Zhixu grew up, their second uncle would not give them the things at the bottom of the box. So they secretly left a notebook for Ying Zhiwei, who was two years older. The notebook recorded in detail the property and artifacts they left behind, as well as some introductory methods of the Ying family's alchemists' ghost-controlling techniques.
This note came in very useful. The second uncle of the Ying family appeared generous but was actually petty. He had been coveting the Lotus Eight Immortals Pagoda since the division of the family property. As a result, the old grandfather gave all the treasures to his eldest brother.
Although he didn't say it, he felt resentful in his heart, so when he saw that the young Ying Zhixu fell seriously ill, he felt a little gloating - there was one less child left by the eldest wife, and in the future, there would be one more thing in the box for his family.
As Ying Zhiwei counted, her nose couldn't help but feel sore. She rubbed the corners of her eyes and tried to look cheerful: "Oh, if Zhixu could have gotten through it, he could have... could have..."
"It's okay now. You can separate from that family from now on. If you have no place to live, just come to me. My family has nothing but a lot of empty rooms." Meng Caiyun patted her shoulder gently.
Ying Zhiwei smiled at her gratefully: "Actually, I'm already satisfied. Zhixu is with me now. The world is so big, and I can take him to explore more. He doesn't even need to buy a ticket to go out. It's great!"
Long Zhu was curious: "That radio?"
Ying Zhiwei's eyes turned red again: "Ah Xu got into trouble because of me."
Ying Zhixu was born with poor health, and he couldn't learn half of the techniques listed in his parents' notes. However, he was optimistic at a young age, believing that as long as his sister could learn, the Ying family wouldn't need him. Later, when the siblings moved in with their second uncle, they discovered that his uncle refused to teach them even the basics. Whenever they asked him about it, he would simply say they were too young to learn.
However, the brother and sister Ying Siqian and Ying Simeng were not more than two years older, but they had already started learning to collect their own ghost servants.
Ying Zhiwei was unwilling to give up. On the surface, she studied diligently, but secretly took out her notes and read them by lamplight at night. She also secretly found opportunities to peek at her second uncle teaching Ying Siqian and Ying Simeng. After several years of half-self-study and half-secret learning, she actually got a glimpse of the art of summoning ghosts.
Finally, when she was in the sixth grade of elementary school, she secretly took Ying Zhixu out to capture the first ghost in her life. Although she was successful, she was self-taught after all, and had no experienced guide. During the process, she inevitably attracted some resentful and evil ghosts. At the critical moment, it was Ying Zhixu who desperately blocked a ghost claw mark for her.
After returning, Ying Zhixu fell seriously ill.
Injuries caused by resentment cannot be diagnosed in ordinary hospitals, so one has to seek medical advice from the Xuanmen.
When the man was on the verge of life and death, Uncle Ying delayed the rescue because of a little greed in his mind. That night, Ying Zhixu died.
Young Ying Zhiwei had no time to cry. Her pale face cast a glance at the table, where an old-fashioned radio, covered by a lace cloth, sat. The notebooks she had flipped through a thousand times in her arms clattered to the floor, scattering in the wind. Finally, whether intentionally or not, they settled on a page in the middle. On it, in a flamboyant blue-black pen, were written: "Several Wonderful Uses of Weapon Refining Techniques."
The past came flooding back to him. Ying Zhiwei wiped his eyes and solemnly took out a lotus-patterned banner from the box. "Okay, now that we've finished our work, I want to take Ah Xu to an island with two weeks left before school starts. He's never seen the ocean, and he's been wanting to record the sound of the waves."
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Shucheng is located in the southwest, with rich cultural heritage and long history and culture. Thousands of years ago, several dynasties chose it as their capital. Everyone speaks fluent and authentic Southwestern Mandarin.
There are many ancient towns in the surrounding area. In order to take advantage of the tourism economy, some counties and towns in the suburbs have built some ancient towns even though they did not have any, just waiting to divert some traffic from the city during holidays. Hulu Town, more than 30 kilometers away from Shu City, also has this idea. Although this place is small, it is surrounded by mountains and rivers, with a turquoise Luhua River at the door. The town has built an ancient street on the river bank and has many ferries. The water here is calm, and as long as it is not a windy or thunderstorm day, tourists can go boating on this agate-like river, looking at the towering green mountains on both sides of the river, and looking up at the clear sky, which is extremely comfortable and relaxed.
Tourism boomed, easing the pressure on locals to find jobs. Lin Zhou's father even borrowed a boat from the government, promising to pay it back in three years and keep the net profit for his family. However, before two years had passed, his alcohol addiction returned. While others were out soliciting customers at the dock early, he was nowhere to be seen all day. Lin Zhou returned from school to look for him and found him sleeping by the bridge, having kicked over eight or nine glass bottles. The air was filled with the stench of alcohol, and his body stank even more than the under-marinated fish.
Lin Zhou didn't dare to count on his alcoholic father, so he took over the shifts himself during the winter and summer vacations, leaving the boat early and returning late every day.
Although he is young and only in the second grade of junior high school, he is quick and mature in his work. Tourists often feel pity for such a poor child who has to grow up early, and will go to ride his boat specifically and give him some extra change. Most of the time, Lin Zhou refuses to accept it, but occasionally, he can't resist the kindness of tourists and accepts it, and then goes back to row them one more time on the river.
At noon, boatmen usually gather under the bridge to eat lunch, most of which are brought from home. The snacks at the bridge are expensive, and only tourists consume them there.
Lin Zhou put away the boat, took a few steps to the bottom of the stairs, put down the bamboo pole with water, and saw that the atmosphere of the crowd gathered in front was not right.
These hard-working boatmen usually talk a lot while eating, taking a mouthful of rice and a sip of soup, chatting about national current affairs, family matters, and making their saliva fly. Or they play chess with their deputy long cards while eating. Their deep and loud voices can echo several times in the bridge hole. But today, they are unusually silent. Several familiar faces have secretive expressions on their faces. Lin Zhou intuitively feels that something has happened.
"Uncle Liu, what's wrong?" Lin Zhou sat down with his chopsticks in his mouth and opened his lunch box. "Did you lose the game?"
"Oh, Zhou," Uncle Liu smiled at Lin Zhou, greeted him perfunctorily, and said vaguely, "Alas, something happened in Wanzi yesterday... Your Uncle Zhong is sick."
Lin Zhou didn't understand. Is there any causal relationship between the accident in Wanzi and Uncle Zhong's illness?
At this moment, someone suddenly shouted, "What's wrong with being sick? It's just that a water ghost hit you! There's something in the river! You guys just don't believe this."
The people around him suddenly looked extremely unnatural, and they all said "Okay, okay" to comfort the man, but their eyes revealed the same panic as that man, and they were deceiving themselves and avoiding something.
Lin Zhou turned in surprise, looking at the man yelling. It was Old Man Zhu, who had been sailing with him. He was usually good-tempered and friendly, and he and Uncle Zhong were distant relatives, so they usually sailed together. Today, Old Man Zhu looked vaguely agitated, his forehead furrowed. It wasn't so much anger as it was masking his inner unease, a clear sign of his cowardice.
"Old Zhu, don't worry. The doctor said it's just overwork. You just need to rest for a few more days." Uncle Liu comforted the other party embarrassedly.
Old man Zhu also felt that he had made a fool of himself just now. He took a bite of the dry steamed bun in his hand in a sullen manner. The veins on his forehead were still bulging, and he was depressed and didn't know what he was thinking.
Lin Zhou was very curious at his age. He secretly pinched the corner of Uncle Liu's clothes and asked, "Uncle, what is this water ghost he was talking about?"
Uncle Liu glanced at Old Man Zhu, turned his head, lowered his voice, and said mysteriously: "Oh, I can't talk to you for a while, let's go to the archway building after dinner to talk."
After everyone finished their meal in a hurry, they each took their boat poles and went to work.
The summer vacation is not over yet, and the tourists come in waves. Not as many as last month, but it is still busy during the day.
Uncle Liu pulled Lin Zhou aside, and seeing that no one was around, he said, "When you row the boat these two days, don't go to the bay. Just row straight back and forth in a circle."
Generally, the ferry only circles back and forth on the other side of the river. You get off at the same place you get on the boat. Some boatmen are enthusiastic and want to take tourists to see the scenery for a while, so they like to pass through a small island in front. The small island in the middle of the river is actually a few huge reefs covered with weeds, and there is a small abandoned pavilion. There is a concave pond in the middle, which is the bay. Generally, only one boat can pass through. When the boat is in the bay, it is like there are several natural barriers, and you can't see inside from the outside.
This place was not originally a tourist attraction. It became popular after being posted on Red Book by a tourist. Later, some young people would specifically ask the boatman to row into the bay and take wide-angle photos to check in.
"Lao Zhong picked up a tourist that day, a woman wearing a mask and with a slight limp in her right leg. She gave him cash and asked him to take her to the other side," Uncle Liu said. "Hey, the other side is a barren mountain that hasn't been opened yet. Who would run there for no reason? Lao Zhong thought she was joking, so he half-jokingly agreed. When the boat reached the bay, Lao Zhong heard a noise. He turned around, but the woman was gone."
Lin Zhou opened his mouth, then lowered his voice nervously: "Jump into the river and commit suicide?"
"If it was suicide, it would be easy..." Uncle Liu gave a wry smile and continued, "Old Zhong was panicking at the time. He searched the water for a long time with a pole, but couldn't find the person. Think about it, even if it was suicide, how could he not show any reaction when drowning? The water was calm, not even a bubble. Old Zhong thought that maybe he had stepped on the shallow reef and ran to the island while he wasn't paying attention. So he temporarily parked the boat by the reef, climbed up to the island and searched everywhere, but he wasn't in the pavilion, he wasn't anywhere!"
Lin Zhou's heart began to beat fast: "What happened next?"
"Old Zhong was scared. After searching for an hour without finding her, he hurried back. He wanted to report the case to the police station, but his wife said that the bay was a blind spot. What if the woman died and her family came to sue him, accusing him of murder for money or for her sexual reasons? How could the family afford to pay compensation? He didn't report it at the time."
Lin Zhou leaned on the bamboo pole, wiped the sweat from his palms, and muttered subconsciously: "We should call the police."
Uncle Liu also said: "Yes, if we had called the police, maybe nothing would have happened later."
Lin Zhou was startled: "Is there something else going on?"
He originally thought that the woman was missing and that Lao Zhong was hiding something, so he was frightened and fell ill.
"Yeah, that's right. These are all what Old Zhong's wife said. Before Old Zhong fell ill, he told her everything." Uncle Liu frowned. "It was last night. At six o'clock in the evening, don't they hang lanterns on the ancient riverside street? With the lanterns on, fewer people take the boats. The water is dark, so it's better to go to the observation deck to watch the night view. Old Zhong was about to pack up the boat at about that time. Suddenly, he noticed that the bow was not in the right position in the waterline. He looked up and saw that there was another person on the boat. It was actually the woman who disappeared that day! She was soaking wet, and she was sitting on the boat watching him!"
When Lin Zhou heard the last sentence, goose bumps broke out all over his body.
"Then the woman asked a question."
Lin Zhou's scalp tingled: "What?"
"She said, 'Didn't you say you'd take me to the other side? Why did you turn back halfway?' Think about it, three days had already passed. Who could wait in the water for three days?"
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