Chapter 52: The More You Know, The More Dangerous It Is

Yang Xiao's voice had just fallen when a discordant voice rang out, "Hey! Who are you people?"

Looking toward the sound, outside the dilapidated wall stood a woman with dark skin; the right half of her face was burned by fire, and she looked quite fierce.

"We are here to find someone. May I ask if you know..."

"Don't know, leave, get out quickly!" The woman's attitude was very poor, and as she spoke, she was about to come in and chase the two of them away. "I'm warning you, no matter how much wine money Qiu Dianzi owes you, you are not allowed to touch anything here. He still owes me two qian of silver!"

Qiu Dianzi... so this must be the name of One-Night-Fish. Taking out small silver in a place like this would likely invite trouble, so Yang Xiao smiled and fished out a few copper coins.

Sure enough, upon seeing the copper coins, the woman's attitude changed immediately. Yang Xiao walked up and stuffed the coins into her hand. "We aren't here to collect debts. A friend of ours has a history with Qiu Dianzi and entrusted us to bring him a message. May I ask where he is now?"

The woman beamed as she tucked away the coins, taking the opportunity to glance a few times at Yang Xiao's chest, where he had pulled the coins from. "Hah, where else would Qiu Dianzi be? He's definitely at the wine shop in the back alley running up a tab!"

Following the woman's directions, the two arrived deep in the alley. Unexpectedly, it was even livelier here than at the alley entrance, though it was also significantly more chaotic. Some rooms were packed tightly together, and inside, the sound of dice clattering, betting, men's wild laughter, and vicious cursing were all mixed together; this area was a gambling den.

Looking further away, some more secluded houses were gathered to the south. Each door was shut, and some gaudily dressed women sat on stone stools outside, while older ones stood by the walls soliciting customers; it seemed this was a red-light district.

On the right side of the alley were eateries flying flags—some were restaurants, but more were wine shops hanging red-fringed flags.

Just then, a gust of wind blew, and one could smell the rich aroma of Incense and wine.

Su Tingting had originally thought that finding a wine shop meant finding One-Night-Fish, but she never imagined there would be so many people begging for wine here.

Bare-chested and barefoot, covered in filth, and spewing foul language, a group of such people gathered at the entrance of a wine shop, making a ruckus and bickering cheekily with the sharp-tongued proprietress, all wanting her to let them have a bowl of wine on credit, promising to pay it back double once they earned some silver.

But the proprietress, holding a wine ladle, knew exactly what kind of people they were; with hands on her hips, she gave them no pleasant looks at all, and in a few sentences, she nearly dug up the ancestral graves of these ruffians.

Su Tingting had never seen such a scene and was momentarily too afraid to move. Yang Xiao patted her arm and lowered his voice: "Don't be afraid, stay close to me."

The two arrived at a quiet little wine shop. Yang Xiao went to the counter, shook out a few dozen copper coins, bought a pot of good wine recommended by the shopkeeper, and asked for a tattered towel, which he folded a few times to cover Su Tingting's face.

After the two walked out, Su Tingting asked hurriedly: "Why didn't you ask the boss just now who Qiu Dianzi is? How are we supposed to find him ourselves?"

Yang Xiao gave her a "keep calm" look and tilted his chin, signaling her to look at the person squatting behind the ruffians begging for wine not far away. "He is the person we are looking for."

Su Tingting was stunned for a moment. The man was short, as if he were just squatting there watching the excitement, and she couldn't see his face, only half of his profile. "You know what he looks like?"

"I don't, but I know he is an Old Water Ghost." After leaving this sentence, Yang Xiao had Su Tingting stand outside the shop where they bought the wine, and he walked over with the newly purchased pot of wine tucked in his robe.

After getting close, he squatted down beside the man, mimicking his posture. Without needing to say a word, he just took out the wine pot and shook it, and the man's eyes went straight.

Yang Xiao leaned in to confirm that this dark, thin old man was indeed One-Night-Fish. On his calf, exposed beneath his right pant leg, was a tattooed Fish Dragon Pattern; this thing warded off evil while also suppressing one's life force—ordinary people working in water-related trades wouldn't dare touch this.

Using the pot of wine to lure the old man to a less crowded place, Yang Xiao stated their purpose: "One-Night-Fish, we have come to ask you for advice."

The old man, who was just sipping the wine, felt his eyes instantly narrow at the mention of the name "One-Night-Fish." Su Tingting shivered for no reason; the old man, who had looked utterly decadent just a moment ago, seemed like a different person.

"Who exactly are you people?" The old man gripped the wine pot tightly. "I have never mentioned the name One-Night-Fish to anyone here. How did you know it?"

"Introduced by a friend." Yang Xiao didn't have time for small talk and pulled a piece of silver directly from his robe. "We came to ask you a few questions. If you tell us the truth, I will cover your wine money for a month, and I will keep it absolutely confidential."

"Fine." One-Night-Fish agreed quite readily, his slightly murky eyes giving Yang Xiao the feeling that he had long since seen through their origins.

Yang Xiao couldn't help but become vigilant. "You know what I'm going to ask?"

One-Night-Fish looked Yang Xiao and Su Tingting up and down. "What else would two Town Guests be looking for me for? It must have to do with the Shipwreck Case from 10 years ago."

After saying this, One-Night-Fish walked deep into the alley with his hands behind his back. "Follow me. It seems you have a way to deal with that thing."

"Wait!" Yang Xiao called him to a stop and smiled: "Old senior, let's go to your residence instead; it's more convenient there."

One-Night-Fish turned around, a strange smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Youngster, I didn't expect you to be so alert. What, are you worried that this old man will harm you?"

"That's not it, it's just that we have friends waiting for us outside, and we are just taking people's money to resolve their troubles," Yang Xiao said naturally.

They were strangers in a strange land, and who knew if this One-Night-Fish would suddenly turn on them? Moreover, One-Night-Fish's left wrist hadn't moved much, maintaining a strange, stiff posture. Yang Xiao had once seen in a book of strange tales that some old-school water ghosts would use a Dried Fish Intestine to strap a Clam Knife under their wrist; this was considered a water ghost's last-resort weapon.

But One-Night-Fish just nodded and sat down on the ground. Slowly, his emotions shifted, as if he had returned to that rainy night. "Honestly, I'm glad you could find me. That matter has entangled me for 10 years, and I haven't gone back into the water since."

"Aren't you curious about who sent us?" Yang Xiao asked.

"Not curious, and don't tell me. The more you know, the more dangerous it is. I only need to know that you are specialists in handling these things and have the ability to solve it; that is enough. If this matter isn't dealt with, I'm afraid this old man won't live many more years."

As he spoke, One-Night-Fish extended his leg and slowly pulled up his pant leg. The next second, both Yang Xiao and Su Tingting were stunned; on the deep green scales of the tattooed Fish Dragon Pattern, there were five extremely clear, dark-blue claw marks.

The most critical thing was that the claw marks looked very fresh; one could see the flesh wriggling inside, as if it had happened just yesterday.