Chapter 115: Li Er, Wuding Water

Many people lived in the dilapidated alley at the East Gate; there were no wealthy households here, and even those living in single-family courtyards were multiple families with children and elders mixed together.

In a place like this, if any family made a baby at night, all ten or so people in the courtyard could hear it; it was truly inconvenient, and truly poor.

And the Daoist Water Worker grew up living in such a place.

At that time, the Daoist Water Worker had a childhood name: Li Er.

Simply because he surnamed Li and was the second child in the family, he earned this nickname.

Li Er was diligent in his work; every day before dawn he rose to clean the chamber pots in the courtyard, and he could exchange these chamber pots with the night-soil collectors for many copper coins; when the sky grew bright, Li Er, not yet twelve years old, still had to care for his younger sister, just turned one year old, changing her diapers.

Li Er's birth mother, her belly swollen with pregnancy, had two children by her side, and two more children behind her were fighting over a picked-up, tattered rattle drum.

One of the beads on that rattle drum had already fallen off, and the drumhead had turned yellow, yet this did not stop the two children from fighting fiercely over it.

Passing through the old, wind-leaking door, there was little household goods inside the room; apart from some tattered quilts and ragged jackets, there were earthenware jars, ladles, and basins scattered everywhere.

These items were placed with care and served a great purpose: when it rained, they could catch the rainwater leaking through the roof.

We do not know why such a poor family still had so many children; young Li Er would not consider it even more; he would only happily help his father and mother raise the children, for as long as they gave birth, he would help raise them.

After all, they were all brothers and sisters, and should take care of each other; Li Er had never felt anything was wrong with this.

Until one day, Li Er met Zhang the Butcher, who had come to propose marriage.

Zhang the Butcher was big and burly, with a full beard, around thirty years of age, yet he wanted to take Li Er's older sister as a concubine.

"Zhaodi is already over thirteen and has reached the age for marriage; although I have a wife, she is unproductive, having given birth only to a daughter and then ceased to bear children."

"I have heard that Zhaodi is a good woman; shortly after your wife gave birth to her, she truly bore a big, fat boy."

"I heard he is called Li Er; this must be that boy, right? He looks truly clever."

Zhang the Butcher wanted to pat Li Er's head, but Li Er dodged aside.

This butcher does not seem like a good person!

Sure enough, the next moment Li Er heard Zhang the Butcher say: "I have come for no other reason; I truly wish to take Zhaodi as my second wife to continue the Zhang family line."

Li Er's mother, her belly swollen, cracked the melon seeds brought by Zhang the Butcher, her face full of mercenary air.

"My Zhaodi is only thirteen this year, while you are already over thirty; moreover, asking my Zhaodi to become a concubine, I say I will not agree, and even my husband will not agree."

"Lady, do not rush to refuse; I see our family has little household goods; if Zhaodi is willing to marry over, I am willing to provide tables, beds, quilts, and all other items for my mother-in-law. I will also have craftsmen come to repair the roof tiles; additionally, during festivals and holidays, I will bring some greasy food."

Seeing his own mother's expression change, Li Er did not know what came over him; he only instinctively felt he could not let Zhang the Butcher continue speaking, so he immediately picked up the broom beside him and wanted to drive Zhang the Butcher away.

"Li Er, you rascal, what do you think you are doing? Put down that broom quickly!"

Li Er's father, who had been silent all along, finally spoke to stop him.

But it was not directed at Zhang the Butcher, but at his own child.

The broom in Li Er's hand was snatched away; then Li Er's father held the broom handle upside down and struck him, beating him out the door, only stopping after slamming the door shut with a clang.

Li Er clutched his buttocks; the pain on his body was far less intense than the pain in his heart.

His older sister Zhaodi married Zhang the Butcher in the end; at night, Li Er's father and mother repeatedly counted those two strings of cash, as if in their eyes, those two strings of cash were the daughter they had given birth to.

Li Er could never forget the look on Zhaodi's face before she crossed the threshold, crying and calling out for his rescue.

In the days that followed, the dilapidated alley at the East Gate seemed to return to calm; Li Er continued to dully raise four or five children, until when Lady Li gave birth to her seventh child, sudden bad news came from Zhang the Butcher's household.

Zhaodi, pregnant for nine months, died from a miscarriage; neither mother nor child survived.

Li Er's parents remained unmoved by this; only Li Er could bear it no longer; holding a sharp blade, he ran to Zhang the Butcher's stall at the vegetable market and fiercely slashed at that fat, pig-like man.

Zhang the Butcher had thick skin and flesh; although he was not stabbed to death, he was greatly frightened.

After learning of this matter, the Prefect of Jinmen personally judged the case and asked Li Er why he had suddenly attacked and injured someone.

When Li Er spoke of the matter of Zhaodi, the Prefect asked Zhang the Butcher what the true cause of Zhaodi's death was.

Zhang the Butcher lied, claiming she was too young, her body not as strong as a mature woman, and thus died from premature birth.

At this time, the Prefect of Jinmen was still an old friend of Guo Dongyang; seeing Zhang the Butcher's expression was strange, he called the midwife forward to answer.

That midwife stammered and could not say anything definite; seeing this, the Prefect already had some certainty in his heart.

He immediately ordered the attendants to use the clamping sticks; the midwife could not endure the torture and identified that Zhang the Butcher's original wife had often mistreated Zhaodi; the neighbors had also heard of this and could testify for her.

Hearing this, the Prefect summoned the Butcher's wife and falsely claimed that Zhang the Butcher had confessed and signed, saying she was the jealous woman who murdered Zhaodi.

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Zhang immediately refused to accept it.

"My Lord of the Clear Sky! Such words cannot be spoken recklessly; it was clearly that conscienceless one who insisted on sharing a bed with that young lady; it was also that wanton wench's fate to meet this calamity; if she had not been so fair and clean, looking like a fox spirit, how could so many things have happened?"

In these times, human life was cheaper than grass; a purchased concubine was even less than grass!

According to the Great Yong laws, a husband, let alone accidentally beating a concubine to death, even if he openly killed her, would only be sentenced to exile or fined; if the fine was paid in full, he could even be exempted from criminal liability on the spot.

Zhang the Butcher, due to his greed for pleasure, caused the death of his concubine, yet in the end was only fined twenty taels of silver.

The Prefect took ten taels as funeral expenses for Zhaodi, and the remaining ten taels were given to Li Er's family.

As for Li Er, who had injured someone, he was subjected to more than ten lashes as a slight punishment.

After that day, Li Er returned home, only to see Li Er's father and mother again in the room, shamelessly counting silver coins back and forth.

At night, Li Er, sleeping on the large communal bed, heard the creaking and groaning sounds from the bed separated by only a curtain.

Faintly, the voices of the couple talking could be heard.

"Third Sister must be twelve or thirteen this year, right?"

"How could she be that fast? Second Brother is only thirteen in virtual age."

"That is not small either; next year we find someone for her, and we can save quite a bit of silver."

"She is still too young."

"You blockhead; our mouths are on our own bodies; when the time comes, who says how old she is? We decide ourselves."

Li Er remained silent; when dawn broke the next day, he found the old man selling medicine in the alley and took two full large bags of rat poison.

That day, Li Er stewed a large pot of meat; Li Er's father cursed him for wasting money, yet ate more happily than anyone else.

When the young younger brother and sister asked Li Er why he was not eating, he said he had already eaten and was just going out to digest, telling the younger brother and sister to eat slowly.

Leaving the house, he hadn't gone far before Li Er heard wailing and screams of agony coming from the courtyard.

Without looking back, a sharpened knife hidden in his sleeve, he headed straight for the vegetable market entrance.

Along the way, he walked while muttering incoherently to himself.

At one moment he said, "Third Sister, do not blame Second Brother; rather than let you follow the same path as Big Sister, it is better to find release sooner."

At another moment he said, "Fourth Brother, Fifth Brother, do not be afraid. Once I finish my business, I will buy you new rattles, one for each of you, so you never have to fight over them again."

"Little Sister, you are still young and understand nothing; Second Brother is doing this for your own good."

Along the entire road, Li Er mentioned neither of his biological parents.

At the vegetable market entrance, Butcher Zhang was still there selling meat with a cheerful smile; upon seeing Li Er approach, Butcher Zhang's face immediately fell.

"Give me twenty jin of minced meat, chop it into a paste; there must not be a single chunk of meat."

As he spoke, Li Er took out all the silver money he had stolen from home and threw it onto the chopping block.

"Got it, little nephew, just wait; the meat will be ready in a moment!"

Butcher Zhang, greedy for money, disregarded any past grievances between them; under the scorching sun, he swung his arms and began chopping the meat.

Li Er repeatedly asked Butcher Zhang to flip and chop again; although the latter was annoyed, he also harbored malicious intentions, merely waiting until the chopping was done to manipulate the scales, so he did not speak up in protest.

Seeing that nearly a cup of tea's time had passed chopping, sweat poured down Butcher Zhang's body like rain; Li Er, preoccupied with his own affairs, also occasionally wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.

When the commotion from a distance reached his ears, Li Er's heart tightened; without further hesitation, taking advantage of the moment Butcher Zhang used a towel to wipe his face, he drew the short knife hidden on his person, swiftly moving to the butcher's side.

Then, with both hands, he pulled and slashed, as if he had practiced this countless times in his mind.

As the blade fell, scalding fresh blood sprayed out from Butcher Zhang's neck without restraint.

Li Er was still not satisfied; after stabbing the wound at the other's waist another dozen times, he finally trembled, dropped the short knife, and stumbled away, running toward the distance.

Passing the previously noisy crowd, Li Er initially thought news of the incident at the East Gate Alley had reached here, but as he passed through the crowd, he discovered it was not a case exposed, but rather an old Taoist traveling the Jianghu performing 'Drinking the River and Swallowing the Sea' at the crossroads.

"Everyone watch closely; this basin of water will be swallowed in one part whale, two parts tiger, and three parts dragon!"

"Now watch how this old Taoist sucks this basin dry."

The water basin weighed over a hundred jin, and with half a basin of water inside, it must have been at least two or three hundred jin, yet the street performer Taoist merely planted his horse stance firmly, wrapped his arms around the basin's rim, applied slight force, and the large basin before him lifted off the ground.

The old Taoist's nostrils flared; suddenly inhaling, the water in the basin indeed, like a dragon sucking water, was entirely drawn into his belly.

Li Er watched in awe; by the time the basin fell, not a single drop of water remained inside.

"Drinking the river and swallowing the sea is nothing; this old Taoist also possesses a crude technique named Auspicious Dragon Spitting Water."

Upon reaching this point, the old Taoist did not immediately perform the water spitting; instead, he took out a white cloth, spread it on the ground, and then bowed to the crowd in the Taoist manner.

Everyone naturally understood these Jianghu customs; some spectators whose appetites had been whetted generously opened their purses, throwing money onto the white cloth.

"That child, come here; this Daoist has a request," the old Taoist, seeing Li Er standing nearby, waved his hand, beckoning him over to help collect the scattered copper coins on the ground.

Li Er, as if possessed by a ghost, agreed; while holding the white cloth to gather the money, he watched the old Taoist spit water into the basin.

In no time, the basin was full of water.

Just at this moment, officials arrived from Butcher Zhang's pork stall, pursuing the culprit.

Seeing this, Li Er panicked, quickly hiding behind the old Taoist, daring not to show himself.

The old Taoist, traveling the Jianghu with a keen mind, instantly realized these officials had come for Li Er.

The old Taoist pulled Li Er to the front, placed his hand on the other's body to feel, and immediately froze in surprise.

"Good lad, this old Taoist will save you once; are you willing to return with me?"

Li Er nodded repeatedly without hesitation.

"Very well, swallow this pill; no matter what you encounter later, do not make a sound." After the medicine was taken, the old Taoist picked up Li Er and threw him into the water basin before them.

The officials followed the stalls, questioning each one; finally, someone reported that a boy of similar appearance had hidden inside the old Taoist's water basin.

Hearing this, several officials immediately came to the water basin to inspect.

Yet the water basin was clear as glass; where was there even a shadow of a person?

Questioning the old Taoist, the latter claimed complete ignorance.

At this moment, Xu Qing, who was watching the revolving lantern, knew that Li Er had been squatting inside the water basin from start to finish; through Li Er's perspective, he could see the reflected ripples before him, and through the water surface, the scene of the officials peering in and the old Taoist negotiating with them was clearly visible.

After the officials departed, the old Taoist found a cart, had the water basin lifted onto the carriage board, and drove Li Er, swaying along, toward the city gates.

After that, Li Er, having no relatives or friends and standing alone, became a disciple of the Clear Water Gap Tianwu Temple.

Xu Qing continued to look down.

Abandoning his secular name and calling himself the Water Worker Taoist, Li Er, after becoming a disciple of the Tianwu Temple, began learning arts under his master.

He studied diligently; whether it was written characters and ink, or Taoist scriptures and techniques, nothing could stump him.

In less than ten years, the Water Worker Taoist surpassed the old Taoist.

"Your bone structure is rare in the world; however, your mind is restless and depressed, likely to be exploited by heart demons. I have one word for you: only by forgetting the past and seeing your true nature can you find freedom."

After the old Taoist died of natural causes, the unbound Water Worker Taoist went completely mad; whenever he encountered a child crying at night in any household, he would act, causing the child's elders to drown in their own homes, yet he would specifically leave the crying child behind to live or die on its own.

Xu Qing watched, his brows furrowing tightly.

It is said that when the human heart becomes deluded, it becomes a demon; this Water Worker Taoist was already on the verge of becoming a demon.

The Sutra of Saving Beings continued to turn pages; Xu Qing saw the reason behind the Water Worker Taoist's transaction with the Jinmen Gang regarding the Water Filtration Bowl, and also saw the method the other party used to refine the Water Filtration Bowl.

"So it requires a person close to water to wield it using the Water Curse."

After learning the usage of the Water Filtration Bowl, Xu Qing quickly skipped over the scenes of the Water Worker Taoist battling him.

The revolving lantern finished quickly; the Sutra of Saving Beings granted rewards: the Kan Yuan Breathing Method, the Water Commanding Curse, and a lump of Upper Grade Earth Character Indeterminate Black Water.

Among them, the Kan Yuan Breathing Method is a true cultivation technique that absorbs the water spirit qi of heaven and earth to nourish the body; the Water Commanding Curse can control and command water; the old Taoist's performances of Drinking the River and Swallowing the Sea and Auspicious Dragon Spitting Water belonged to the art of Water Commanding.

Besides these spells, what concerned Xu Qing most was that floating, indeterminate lump of Black Water.

Being listed as a reward of Upper Grade Earth Character naturally meant it was extraordinary.

Legend has it that Jiao Lan possesses water, flowing from the southeast and pouring into the Sheyan Water. This water, due to its dark and deep black color, is also named the Hun River, and is also called the Lugugu River.

People hated this river, believing it brought misfortune, and thus called it the River of No Constancy.

The words "No Constancy" themselves signified misfortune.

Xu Qing stared at the black water, lost in thought.

The yin-sha energy carried by the No Constancy Black Water was far more potent than that of the Water Worker Daoist; if he were to refine it, even as a zombie, he would likely be influenced and fully transform into a demon.

"The Book of Raising Corpses states: 'A buried corpse undergoes three transformations: Fur Zombie, Fire Zombie, Black Zombie.'"

"The three transformations of the buried corpse are the key to becoming a Kui Ba; when a Fire Ba emerges, it scorches a thousand li of land; when a Water Ba emerges, it floods a thousand li of land."

Xu Qing's eyes flickered — for a zombie to become a Kui Ba, it must use the most potent yin-sha-infused celestial treasure as a catalyst to refine and cultivate its body.

And the No Constancy Black Water before him was precisely such a supreme treasure brimming with intense yin-sha energy.

As for how to avoid being affected by the yin-sha energy, Xu Qing's mind stirred slightly as he turned his gaze to the Mountain-River Map.

Among the mountains and rivers, a snow-white lotus emitting a soft luminous glow drifted upon the river's surface.

(End of Chapter)