Chapter 83: Great Fortune

The two captains turned pale and hurried after the woman.

Xu Yuan heard every word the woman said, yet for some reason, he didn't believe her.

Xu Yuan frowned inwardly, suddenly understanding: this was the resistance of "Nothing Is Taboo" against occult arts.

So he opened "Wang Ming" and saw—it was indeed a malevolent spirit.

The fate of a malevolent spirit is different from that of a living person.

Quietly, Xu Yuan clutched the Craft Pill in his hand, feigning terror, and hurried after the woman.

The woman turned to lead the way; Xu Yuan drew his great spear and thrust it straight through her.

"Ah—"

The woman screamed as her form dissolved into a wisp of black smoke, but her true body shrank and landed in the grass, frantically wriggling—squeak squeak squeak—like a fish gasping on land, desperately trying to leap back into the river.

The two captains snapped awake, staring hard—the thing in the grass was a scarlet tongue over a foot long!

Xu Yuan didn't care about anything else—he spat out a blast of "Abdominal Fire."

Hu—

Amid rolling flames, the tongue writhed and twisted in agony; instantly, the murmurings of countless gossipy women across miles—whispered slander, malicious gossip, backstabbing words—rose in a chaotic, shrill din, leaving the two captains dizzy and nauseated.

Only when Xu Yuan's Abdominal Fire had utterly reduced the tongue to ash did the voices vanish.

Yan Lao stared at the small river and sneered: "They sent only a 'Shaking-Tongue Ghost'? Out of tricks."

The black mist seemed enraged—it churned, spewing forth massive, grotesque faces: some like demonic beasts, some like evil ghosts, others merely giant eyes.

They stared down coldly from dozens of zhang above.

From within the black mist came a gurgling sound, like a starving beast catching the scent of meat.

"Clang!" The big house's door swung open, and out stepped an extremely tall woman.

She looked about Uncle Mao Si's age, with thick eyebrows, large eyes, rough hands and feet, wearing a faded robe with seven or eight patches.

Xu Yuan didn't recognize the garment, but Yan Lao found it vaguely familiar.

As soon as the woman appeared, she glared fiercely at the black mist—the entities within it showed profound revulsion mixed with fear, and vanished one by one.

The woman strode toward the four of them, but halted halfway before a stone stele, slapped it with her hand, and asked sharply: "What do you people from the Purification Office want here?"

The four of them stepped closer and stared at the stele—carved in large characters:

River Authority, Miaopocun Public Office.

Yan Lao smacked his forehead—he remembered: the woman's robe was the uniform of a River Authority "Water Supervisor."

But the River Authority had changed uniforms over a decade ago—this woman wore the old one.

Xu Yuan stared at the woman with a strange expression and ventured: "Wang Laoshi?"

"It's me!" the woman barked. "Speak up. Or spit it out."

Xu Yuan remembered—he smiled: "Aunt Wang, don't you remember me? When I was little, you used to buy me candy. I'm Xu Yuan from River Worker Alley. Uncle Mao Si sent me."

Back then, Xu Yuan was about four or five years old; a woman often came to visit Uncle Mao Si, bringing gifts for every household.

Xu Yuan always got three pieces of malt candy.

During that time, Xu Yuan truly looked forward to this "aunt" coming every day—he never realized "aunt" was such a plain name.

Then suddenly, she stopped coming altogether.

Now he recalled—it was clear Uncle Mao Si had something to do with this Aunt Wang.

Wang Laoshi studied him closely, clearly not recognizing him; Xu Yuan quickly pulled out Uncle Mao Si's token.

Seeing the token, Aunt Wang's expression darkened; after a long pause, she took it and said softly: "Come inside."

The interior was spacious and bright; Aunt Wang told them to sit anywhere, then went to pour water.

Xu Yuan glanced around and said: "You've got a nice place here."

Every piece of furniture in the room was complete—Xu Yuan recognized at a glance: all were crafted by Uncle Mao Si.

Aunt Wang smiled: "I built this house myself—even the bricks and tiles, I dug and fired myself."

Xu Yuan gave a thumbs-up: "You're amazing."

Aunt Wang poured several bowls of water and sighed helplessly: "I've lived here for decades—nothing ever happened. But the Authority won't shut down this Public Office, so I had to find something to do."

Yan Lao, bursting with questions, finally got his chance: "Why is there a River Authority Public Office here? You've lived alone by the river, holding back the entire river's horrors for decades?"

"I don't have that kind of power," Aunt Wang rose. "Follow me."

She led the four to the back of the house—the large house was built along the riverbank.

Behind the house, a small stone pavilion with upturned eaves lay submerged in the water.

Inside the pavilion stood a stone stele, carved with a single character: "Ping." Along its side were water-level markings.

Today's ban on the river: all water was pitch-black as ink!

The narrow river surface churned with violent waves, the crashing sounds like ghosts wailing and wolves howling.

Yet within a ten-zhang radius of the stone pavilion, the water remained clear and calm.

Aunt Wang said: "This is the Water Regulation Stele the River Authority erected here. That character, they say, was written by the River Dragon King himself!"

Xu Yuan and Yan Lao were stunned: "Is this what's holding back all the river's horrors?"

Aunt Wang nodded: "When we conquered Southern Jiaozhi, the river was extended to Ghost Wushan. The River Authority built thirty-seven Public Offices to monitor local hydrology."

But they failed to contain the evils within Ghost Wushan—the river was forced to reroute.

Yet this Public Office couldn't be abolished, because this Water Regulation Stele concerned… the face of the Authority."

Aunt Wang didn't need to finish—Xu Yuan understood.

Couldn't be removed, yet useless to keep—so they dumped a poor fool here to guard it.

Aunt Wang took a deep breath: "The previous Water Supervisor died here of old age."

Xu Yuan silently shook his head, not knowing how to comfort her.

Wang Yi waved her hand: "Enough, go back."

Back inside the room, Wang Yi said, "Back then I... had a promise with Mao Sishu. Whoever brings his token, I will give them an item."

Xu Yuan nodded: "Uncle Mao Si sent me to retrieve something."

"Follow me."

Wang Yi led them out, to the side of the house, where there was a pen woven from bamboo, raising seven or eight large geese inside.

Wang Yi grabbed one, thought for a moment, and said, "Enough, I'll give you that one."

After releasing this one, she shouted into the pen: "Da Fu."

A white goose, a size larger than the rest, wobbled out from the very back.

Its eyes stared straight ahead, appearing arrogant and disdainful.

The other geese quickly scrambled aside.

Wang Yi pointed at Xu Yuan: "From now on, he will raise you. Go."

Da Fu tilted its goose head, stared fixedly at Xu Yuan for quite a while, its gaze finally focusing—it seemed to be memorizing the appearance of this future meal provider—then stepped out of the pen and stood right beside Xu Yuan.

Xu Yuan saw that as this fellow came out, he didn't know what it had just eaten; a streak of blood stained its flat beak!

"Uncle Mao Si sent me to retrieve an item..."

"Who said an item can't be a goose?" Wang Yi said. "Rest assured, my geese are easy to raise; just feed it whatever you eat."

Xu Yuan felt a bit of a headache; I'm going to Ghost Wushan to investigate a case, and bringing a goose along is very inconvenient.

"I... can I leave Da Fu here in foster care first, and take it away when I return?"

Wang Yi said without hesitation: "No. Da Fu is stubborn. I just said you will raise it from now on, so it will only eat what you feed it. If I feed it again, it won't eat, and it will think I have ill intentions, planning to fatten it up to kill and eat."

Xu Yuan:...

Many foreshadowing points; everyone be patient, there will be arrangements later. If I explain them in the comments, it wouldn't be interesting, would it?

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(End of this chapter)