Night fell.
Ding Yudie leaned against a rock, holding a monocular night vision telescope, watching a working boat in the distance. From time to time, he would glance at the location-sharing display on his phone screen beside him: the orange dot representing Yi Sa was slowly moving closer to him.
Hearing footsteps behind him, Ding Yudie didn’t turn around, just pressed his phone off and said, “You’re here?”
Yi Sa dropped her bags and plopped down on the ground, fanning herself with her hand. She lifted her foot to nudge Wu Gui: “Go on, go play in the water.”
Wu Gui, likely still traumatized by the electric shock, adamantly refused to go.
Yi Sa asked Ding Yudie, “What’s the situation now?”
“That woman, the one wrapped up from head to toe, she left the boat.”
“Where did she go?”
“Couldn’t see. She got off the boat and went into the water. Once she was in the water, how could I know where she went? Poyang Lake connects to the Yangtze River. I wanted to follow her, but you insisted I keep watching the boat.”
He was puzzled: “Why are you so interested in this boat?”
The focus should be entirely on that woman, shouldn’t it? She wasn’t a water ghost but had the abilities of one. Could she be some new breed? Coming to steal their livelihood?
Ding Yudie didn’t want to see water ghosts mass-produced.
Yi Sa answered indirectly: “On the boat, who did you see? How many people?”
“Couldn’t see much. Except for the two who were always outside, didn’t see anyone moving around. I guess they’re all in the belly of the boat… Hey, aren’t you getting your priorities mixed up? Don’t you think that woman was strange?”
Yi Sa took the telescope from his hands and slowly focused it on the boat’s direction: “Has Ding Changsheng arrived?”
“Why would Ding Changsheng come?”
Yi Sa had a headache, not knowing how to explain: “Anyway… A Pa is on this boat. I need to get him out, understand?”
Ding Yudie was completely confused.
— Jiang Xiaoguang wasn’t at home arranging Jiang Jun’s funeral but appeared on a working boat at the Old Master Temple, and had contact with a mysterious woman.
— Ding Changsheng was also coming.
— A Pa was on the boat, and Yi Sa, instead of directly asking Jiang Xiaoguang for him, wanted to secretly “get” him out.
This was too complicated; everyone had their little secrets.
Ding Yudie instantly became wary, feeling it best not to meddle in murky waters: “Then there’s nothing for me to do here, I’m leaving.”
He moved efficiently, getting up to slip away, but Yi Sa grabbed his shorts: fortunately, he was wearing swimming trunks underneath, or half his backside would have been exposed.
Yi Sa said: “I can’t do it alone, you need to help.”
This was exactly what Ding Yudie feared: “No, no way.”
He pointed at the working boat, then at Yi Sa: “That side is the Three Families, this side is also the Three Families. If you’re going to fight, don’t make me choose sides. I don’t even know what’s going on here… At most, given our friendship, if you get beaten up, I’ll hire a nurse for you.”
Yi Sa wouldn’t let go.
Ding Yudie was always like this, a butterfly that flits through flowers without picking any, avoiding trouble.
She gripped his waistband even tighter: “It’s not about fighting or causing trouble. You won’t be seen, I won’t be seen, we’ll just rescue someone secretly.”
That still wouldn’t work.
“Who knows what A Pa did? What if he did something terrible…” Ding Yudie suddenly gasped, “Jiang Jun! Did A Pa harm Jiang Jun? Is that why Uncle Jiang caught him, to avenge his son?”
Yi Sa let go in frustration, the elastic snapping back with a force that made Ding Yudie yelp.
“It’s too complicated, and you don’t need to know, to avoid getting involved—I just want to rescue A Pa, but I don’t know the situation on the boat, having someone help would make it safer. How about this, one for one, you help me once, I’ll help you once.”
Ding Yudie rubbed his sore waist: “What do I need your help for? I’m a proper water ghost…”
Yi Sa interrupted him: “Final offer, you help me rescue someone, and I’ll go down to the lake with you.”
Ding Yudie didn’t catch on at first: “What… go down to the lake?”
“Don’t you want to investigate the secrets of the sunken ship? Aren’t two people better than one? Moreover, I’m a water ghost, where else will you find another water ghost to accompany you? If something happens to you underwater, wouldn’t having me there increase your chances of survival? Troublemaker, I’ll give you three seconds to consider, do it if you want, if not, get lost!”
Three seconds later.
Ding Yudie said: “Wu Dalang, you’re being too formal. We’re family, no need for such talk.”
The boat across from them appeared simple, but in reality, there were three forces at play, inside and out: the boat, Ding Changsheng, and the mysterious woman.
The boat wasn’t difficult to handle. Yi Sa could roughly guess what methods the Three Families’ people would use and what precautions they would take. “Exploring” the boat wasn’t exactly like entering a dragon’s lair; the key was creating a “disturbance”—making diversions to draw attention away would make it easier to go in and find someone.
Ding Changsheng wasn’t a major problem either, since he hadn’t appeared yet. Dealing with him meant focusing on “blocking”—ensuring he continued to not appear in the coming time.
Ding Yudie called Ding Changsheng and was delighted to confirm he was still in the county town: “Uncle Ding, I have something important to tell you, yes, in person. Send me your address, I’ll come find you later…”
After hanging up, he had already planned the follow-up: later he’d make another call saying it was too late, couldn’t get a ride, and wouldn’t be coming.
If Ding Changsheng asked what the important matter was, he’d make something up, like wanting to search for sunken ships at the Old Master Temple and needing Ding Changsheng to assign some people to help—that was important too, right?
As for the mysterious woman…
Yi Sa suspected she hadn’t gone far, so they needed to split up: one person to board the boat and rescue A Pa, while the other person stayed underwater to keep watch, look out, and provide backup.
Ding Yudie actually wanted to stay underwater—he wanted to meet this mysterious woman, but looking at the whole plan, his going on the boat to rescue people made the most sense—Jiang Xiaoguang knew Yi Sa too well, it would be too difficult for her to openly get on the boat.
Jiang Xiaoguang looked at Zong Hang, then at the fish, shrimp, clams, and shellfish on the plate, feeling a bit puzzled.
Yi Xiao had said this kid was special and might be able to save Jiang Jun but didn’t explain what was special about him, just asked him to prepare seafood, saying she wanted to demonstrate something.
He figured the seafood was probably for eating, but what good would that do? Could it be that this kid had once had the same symptoms as Jiang Jun, ate seafood, and recovered? That seemed too far-fetched.
He could only wait patiently for Yi Xiao to reveal the mystery, but unexpectedly, Yi Xiao suddenly asked if Yi Sa was doing well, then said she had recently escaped from Ding Changsheng, and with her current appearance, hadn’t dared to reveal herself to her sister.
Jiang Xiaoguang felt some sympathy for her and replied: “Don’t worry, Yi Sa has been doing very well these years. She’s made something of herself too, becoming a water ghost.”
People who could become water ghosts were treated like royalty, living a life of luxury, so he didn’t need to elaborate on how Yi Sa was doing—the term “water ghost” said it all.
Hearing the words “water ghost,” Yi Xiao’s expression changed slightly. After a pause, she said: “Two water ghosts in one generation, wasn’t there any objection?”
There was. Jiang Xiaoguang knew Yi Xiao must dislike Ding Changsheng, so he specifically mentioned Ding Changsheng’s misdeeds, like how he had suspected Yi Sa of being “infected” and advocated for “confining” her.
He also emphasized his own righteous words: “I told him we couldn’t act just on suspicion. We all knew what symptoms infected people showed, and Sa Sa showed no symptoms at all.”
He smiled at Yi Xiao: “If he could have given just one example of someone having something wrong inside but appearing normal on the outside, everyone might have believed him, but he couldn’t…”
Yi Xiao smiled too and said, yes indeed.
As she said this, the freshly prepared seafood was brought over. He thought he would finally see the “demonstration,” but Yi Xiao suddenly said she had something to attend to and needed to excuse herself for a moment.
This “moment” had stretched on for so long that the seafood had gone cold, losing its freshness and giving off a strong fishy smell.
Jiang Xiaoguang looked at Zong Hang.
This kid was on high alert, refusing to answer any questions, and showed clear disgust at the sight of the seafood.
Would he have some reaction if the seafood got close to him?
On second thought, since it was all cooked, it must be meant for eating.
He couldn’t hold back anymore, picked up a shrimp, and said to Zong Hang: “Open your mouth.”
Zong Hang wouldn’t open it, keeping his lips tightly sealed.
Something was wrong. Jiang Xiaoguang’s heart pounded as he grabbed Zong Hang’s jaw, forcing his mouth open and stuffing the shrimp in. But he wouldn’t swallow—as soon as Jiang Xiaoguang let go, he spat out the shrimp along with his saliva that had touched the shrimp juice.
Not swallowing wasn’t a problem—there was broth in the bowl. Jiang Xiaoguang picked up the bowl and tried the same method, attempting to pour it into his mouth…
Just then, the boat suddenly shook, as if something had crashed into it.
Jiang Xiaoguang froze for a moment.
Soon, shouting could be heard, along with metallic clanging sounds of something hitting the boat’s hull. Jiang Xiaoguang sensed something was wrong, his expression turned stern, and he quickly walked out.
As soon as Jiang Xiaoguang left, Zong Hang began kicking frantically, knocking over all the bowls of seafood.
But overturning them was useless—there was no drain in the room, no way to flush these things away…
Zong Hang was sweating anxiously, his heart pounding, when suddenly a spark lit up in his mind.
Damn, why hadn’t he thought of this earlier!
With his hands tied behind his back, unable to use force, his ankles bound tightly, feet unable to separate, Zong Hang lay down and rolled to one side, then rolled again.
Finally, he rolled next to an overturned bowl, grabbed it with his teeth, and then scooted his bottom across the floor, trying to get as far from the wall as possible.
He sat up straight, his chest heaving heavily, eyeing the solid wall, mentally counting one, two, three…
On “three,” he violently whipped his head toward the wall.
The bowl flew out and shattered with a bang.
Zong Hang’s face flushed with excitement. He rolled over again, his bound hands behind him feeling for a piece of broken porcelain, laboriously trying to saw at the ropes binding his hands.
When Jiang Xiaoguang came out, the deck was already in chaos.
Two water handlers from the Jiang family were trying to reason with the other side, but were overwhelmed by their numbers: at a glance, at least six or seven people had come aboard, all dressed as local fishermen, sleeves rolled up and barefoot. With light rain on the lake, half wore straw hats, some wrapped in rain gear.
A middle-aged man at the front stood at the ship’s rail, pointing to a fishing boat pressed against the working vessel, with three or four more people sitting in it: “Look at our boat, the side panel is cracked, paint’s peeled off, pay up!”
The younger water handler could no longer contain himself: “Our boat was stationary, you crashed into us, and you want us to pay? This is a scam!”
Jiang Xiaoguang observed coldly.
These people were likely professional scammers who knew how to create a scene. At the slightest disagreement, they started banging and hitting the boat’s sturdy parts with fishing spears and shovels. Some even tried climbing to higher parts of the working boat, waving flashlights and making a commotion, clearly wanting to escalate the situation.
Better to avoid trouble, Jiang Xiaoguang instructed the older water handler: “Just give them a few hundred yuan and be done with it.”
The troublemaking middle-aged man had sharp ears, and immediately raised his voice by several octaves: “Our boat cost a fortune! Eight thousand, not a cent less!”
These people were all idle men from nearby villages, playing cards and drinking when Ding Yudie gathered them, promising each five hundred yuan for their trouble to help them “make money”: it was clearly explained that they didn’t need to fight or break things, just create a commotion and make noise. If things got serious, they should run—though the other side probably wouldn’t dare cause trouble, preferring to pay to avoid problems…
When they crashed the boat, Ding Yudie had also snuck aboard wearing a raincoat but had now disappeared somewhere.
Eight thousand? Such easy money—Jiang Xiaoguang almost laughed in anger. Even though he had money, he couldn’t just waste it so pathetically.
He threatened: “If you continue like this, we’ll call the police!”
Those with nothing to lose fear nothing. Living off the water, the middle-aged man became even more brazen: “Call the police! I’ve been watching your boat for a while, sneaking around here, who knows what you’re up to, either illegal fishing or illegal sand mining! Call the police! We’ll report you, everyone makes calls, quick, call the Water Police Headquarters! Fishery Bureau! Water Administration Inspection Team!”
These idlers knew their stuff, several pulled out phones pretending to dial, joining the uproar: “Call the police! The boat must have contraband! Since it’s a working boat, do you have permits? Do you have approvals?”
Jiang Xiaoguang suddenly had a massive headache.
He couldn’t afford to let this escalate. He could satisfy his anger by having these troublemakers beaten up—there were more than a dozen capable men on board, though they’d been told to stay below deck to avoid attention—but what then?
These were all local thugs, clearly here to extort money.
He gestured downward with both hands, barely containing his anger: “Fine, fine since it’s our first meeting, let’s be friends. Eight thousand it is!”
Ding Yudie tiptoed into the cabin, wearing a newly bought silk stocking—black silk at that—over his head.
Some cover would be better, in case someone saw his face and recognized him.
Just about to turn a corner, he cursed internally and quickly withdrew.
Along that corridor were several rooms, and someone had heard movement and was opening their door to look.
Just as he steadied himself, footsteps could be heard coming down from above.
Ding Yudie silently cursed Yi Sa to hell and back, but fortunately, there was a bathroom nearby. He yanked open the door and rushed in before the person arrived.
Outside, the person’s voice passed by: “Don’t look, go back to your rooms, it’s nothing serious, just scammers, I’m coming down to get money.”
Ding Yudie cracked open the bathroom door, watched the person hurriedly leave with money, and then slipped out again.
He was getting nervous now.
Hopefully, the friends upstairs would be considerate and delay a bit longer, not just leave after getting the money.
A working boat wasn’t like a passenger ship, there weren’t many rooms. From his quick glance earlier, he could roughly remember which rooms had people peek out—they probably wouldn’t keep prisoners in the front rooms, right? The rooms at the end seemed quiet, better start there.
Ding Yudie ran lightly to the end, chose a room, first pressed his ear against the door to listen, then worked a thin piece of wire in the keyhole for a while, gritted his teeth, and pushed the door open forcefully.
A smell of incense ash mixed with faint decay hit him.
Taking in the scene, countless expletives flashed through Ding Yudie’s mind.
What the hell was this thing? A person? An alien? Why was it crouching on the ground? And what was with all these bloody characters? Wasn’t A Pa supposed to be held here? It had only been two days since he’d last seen him, how had A Pa been tortured into this ghostly state?