Chapter 53: The Demon Person

"This wound has been here for 10 years. Over these 10 years, I have used many medicines, and even hardened my heart to use a knife to gouge out the rotting flesh, but the result was always the same. Whenever the wound was nearly healed, as long as it touched water or encountered a rainy day, it would rot again."

Lowering his pant leg to cover the shocking scratch marks, Master Yixu sighed slowly, "I have had seniors in the Yin Hang take a look; this is Yin baleful evil energy entering the body, and it is extremely vicious. Unless that thing is thoroughly dealt with, this wound will never heal."

The old dock laborer had once mentioned to Yang Xiao that the first thing this Master Yixu shouted after being rescued that night was: "Don't pull my feet, there's a floater in the water!"

Seeing the scratch marks with his own eyes, Yang Xiao confirmed that this statement was true, "What exactly did you see that night?"

Master Yixu's eyes were dazed, and his breathing grew rapid, as if he had returned to that windy and rainy night, with a wooden boat teetering in the wind and waves, "That day was the sixth day of the ninth lunar month in the Gengyin year; I remember it very clearly."

"Our boat set out from the dock at dusk, just as it was getting dark. Usually, we wouldn't set sail after dark, but the weather was very good that day, and there wasn't a ripple of wind or wave at Laoniu Bay Ferry." After a pause, Master Yixu looked at Yang Xiao and pulled out a bitter smile, "The most crucial point was that a group of people arrived. They found the manager, spent silver, and said they wanted to leave overnight."

Yang Xiao had an idea in his mind, "It was those people from the White Family Gatehouse."

Licking his cracked lips, Master Yixu nodded, "Right, it was exactly Troupe Leader Bai and his group. These people arrived when it was already dusk, carrying large and small bundles of luggage, and were in a rush to board the boat."

"At that time, the rooms on the boat were all full, leaving only the cargo hold at the very bottom. They weren't picky, saying that as long as there was a place to stay, it would do. Oh right, Troupe Leader Bai pulled the manager aside, and after the two chatted for a few sentences, he secretly stuffed a large piece of silver into the manager's hand—at least 10 taels. I saw it clearly!"

"I was the boatman who handled the pole on that boat. Later, the manager called me over and told me to set up the plank to help Troupe Leader Bai's opera troupe board the boat."

"But just as they were boarding, two laborers carrying crates didn't hold them steady, and a crate actually fell off. The two laborers were terrified and immediately wanted to jump down to fish the crate back up."

"Actually, the river water there was shallow, and it wouldn't have taken much effort, but Troupe Leader Bai actually... actually stopped the two laborers, saying don't fish for it, they didn't want it anymore."

"The laborers thought Troupe Leader Bai wanted them to pay for it and begged bitterly, but unexpectedly, Troupe Leader Bai didn't even pay them any mind and went straight to me, urging me to set sail quickly."

"I felt strange at the time; that crate contained the tools the opera troupe used to make a living. They actually didn't even want their livelihood."

"After Troupe Leader Bai urged me a few times and saw I didn't react, he stuffed a piece of broken silver into my hand. After I shouted to the manager, we set sail."

Speaking to this point, Master Yixu's complexion turned ugly, "But who could have imagined that just as the boat reached the deep part of the river channel, the weather suddenly changed. I don't know where a few dark clouds drifted from, and a torrential rain poured down with a splash, while a large patch of fog surged up on the water's surface at the same time."

"I... I have been poling at the ferry for 30 years, and I have never seen such strange weather, nor such an eerie fog."

"In the fog... the fog was tinged with the gray of a dead person. As the fog spread, even the firelight on the dock was blocked out."

"I had a bad feeling at the time. Sure enough, not long after, the hull of the boat shook violently. This was extremely sudden; many people fell over, and the cabin was in chaos. The most terrifying thing was that the boat... the boat actually stopped and wouldn't move!"

"I often travel this waterway; the water is deep enough, and there are definitely no large rocks at the bottom to snag the hull. But I was too familiar with this feeling; it was clearly that we had hit something, and that thing was huge, very huge."

"The fog was too thick. I was just planning to go to the front of the boat to see what the situation was, but then a commotion broke out in front. A crew member came scrambling over, his face scared blue, shouting that there was something under the water, and that it was that thing blocking our boat!"

"It's the River Dragon King! The River Dragon King is angry! Someone on the boat didn't follow the rules of the Old Master!"

Yang Xiao also knew a thing or two about the rules of sailing. These crew members who made a living on the water all year round worshipped the River Dragon King, and anyone who boarded the boat had to follow their rules.

There were many taboos on the boat, such as not easily allowing people with surnames like Chen or Cheng to board, and there was also the so-called "mouth wind," also known as "hitting the mouth words." Dragon, Tiger, Ghost, Dream, Flip, Roll, Fall, Sink—these eight characters were the famous "Eight Great Taboo Words" for boatmen.

It is said that as long as one breaks the River Dragon King's rules, they will be entangled by the River Dragon King. If the person who broke the rules is not thrown into the water as a sacrifice to it, everyone on the boat will be buried with them.

Master Yixu's face was pale, and he took a hard gulp of wine before barely continuing, "Mentioning the River Dragon King, the boat captain took some crew members to question everyone on the boat one by one, asking if anyone had hidden their surname or said something they shouldn't have. If they had, they should stand out quickly; one person does the deed, one person takes the responsibility, don't implicate the others!"

"At this time, someone with sharp eyes noticed and asked why Troupe Leader Bai and his group hadn't come out. They were in the cargo hold at the very bottom, so I took a few crew members down to look for them."

"But as soon as we got down to the cargo hold, we were dumbfounded. The hold was full of water; the pitch-black water had already submerged our knees!"

"The boat is leaking!"

"I told the young crew member to hurry up and report to the boat captain, then I led the men deeper into the hold. I had already heard someone calling for help."

"But it was too dark inside. When we got closer and looked, a water column erupted from the bottom of the boat, and a large amount of black water was surging into the cabin. The people from the White Family Troupe were almost all gone; I could only see Troupe Leader Bai desperately pulling on someone's arm, and that person's body was mostly trapped in the hole where the water was erupting, sinking down right before our eyes!"

"The two crew members beside me hurried to help, but I didn't move. I felt that something wasn't quite right. If the bottom of the boat was leaking, the water should be surging upward, so how... how could the person be falling downward? It felt like... like something under the water was pulling the person down."

"In the blink of an eye, that person was pulled down. Troupe Leader Bai fell backward into the water, shouting 'Yao Ren! Yao Ren!' in his mouth."

"He... he immediately grabbed a crew member nearby. He was crazy; he actually... actually told us to accompany him to save the Yao Ren!"

"But before he could finish speaking, he fell violently, then his body slid directly toward the hole in the bottom of the boat, and then he was gone."

"This time I saw clearly: the thing pulling him was under the water. It... it wasn't any Yao Ren, it was an arm soaked until it was white."

"It was a floater!"

"I and two other crew members immediately ran outward, but in the end, only I ran out; those two crew members were also dragged away by the floaters."

Lifting his right leg and stroking the deep green Fish Dragon Pattern scales tattooed on it, Master Yixu sighed, "If it weren't for the protection of the River Dragon King, I fear I would not have escaped this disaster either."

"You said Troupe Leader Bai shouted 'Yao Ren' and asked you to accompany him to save the 'Yao Ren'." Yang Xiao seemed to realize something.

Master Yixu's expression was strange, "That's right, that is indeed what he called it. He... he seemed to have gone mad."

"Yao Ren... Yao Ren..." The next second, Yang Xiao suddenly realized, "No, he wasn't saying 'Yao Ren' (demon person), he was saying 'Yao Er' (young child), 'Save the young child!'"