nagpurpolice 001 Retrieving a Corpse from the Shadow River
001 Retrieving a Corpse from the Shadow River
Tian Song Dynasty, Yangzhou Circuit, Yugu County.
The summer heat is intense, and thunderstorms are imminent.
"A bunch of filthy bastards, beasts who bully others by relying on their master's power!"
Ning Kui, dressed in a brown short-sleeved shirt, sat with his legs apart on a small stool, skillfully cleaning fish. The seventeen-year-old boy had a handsome face and a tall, straight figure, but his mouth was like a cannon, spewing profanities at the ruffians who were heading to the end of the fish market.
The fishmongers around him, who were also suffering from the same exploitation, began to sigh and complain: "That's right! Last month we only charged 800 coins for our stall, but this month it's a whole coin! Who can afford such a price increase!"
"Alas, this is leaving no way for us lowly people who make a living on the water to survive!"
After handing over a string of cash each month, the fishermen toiled through wind and rain, never managing to save enough to start a new life.
If I can save some spare change to buy a piece of cane sugar for the child and a piece of coarse cloth to make clothes for my wife, I'll be grateful.
Ning Kui's situation was even more difficult.
He also has a young mother who is in a coma. A few days ago, while she was digging for wild produce in the mountains, she was hit on the head by a flying rock the size of a fist.
The money for herbal medicine and medical consultations emptied his hard-earned savings all at once.
"The prices of Bai Lian, Bai Ji, and Di Yu at the pharmacy are all too high. We haven't sold many fish these past few days. We need to think of a way to make some money. My young mistress's injuries can't be delayed; what if they get infected and she gets a fever..."
Thinking of this, Ning Kui's movements became even faster as he cleaned the fish. A dark, sharp knife scraped away the fish scales, and he gutted and removed the fish in one swift motion.
"Aunt Zhang, your silver carp is ready, it'll cost you forty coins."
"Good, as expected of Brother Kui, you've killed this fish very skillfully."
The kind-looking woman with nasolabial folds happily took out her money, and as she turned to leave after receiving the fish, she suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong, Aunt Zhang?"
Ning Kui stirred the water in the fish basin to wash away the bloodstains on the sharp knife, then raised his head and asked curiously.
Aunt Zhang hesitated for a moment, then leaned closer and whispered, "Um, don't blame me for being nosy, but on the way to the fish market, I think I heard Li Dalang and his gang of rascals talking about your mother in a sneaky way."
You're out making a living, and she's lying all alone in the house, I'm afraid...
"Splash!"
Ning Kui's sudden upright movement knocked over the fish stall in front of him, scattering live fish and shrimp all over the ground.
Grass carp, silver carp, and common carp helplessly gasped for breath with their mouths wide open on the scorching, humid yellow mud.
However, Ning Kui didn't care about any of that.
His right hand, gripping the fish-killing knife tightly, veins bulged and knuckles turned white; the tip of the knife trembled slightly. "Is Aunt Zhang really telling the truth?!"
"Oh, I... I only overheard it, Brother Kui, just pretend I'm talking nonsense!"
Seeing Ning Kui's murderous glint in his eyes, Aunt Zhang panicked, quickly distanced herself from the situation, clutched her vegetable basket, and turned to leave.
Deceiving too much!
Ning Kui's parents died early, and he was raised by his stepmother, who came with his mother as part of her dowry.
Although she was not Ning Kui's biological mother, she held a significant place in his heart!
What should be done if someone insults one's mother?
I shall draw my sword!
Amidst the suspicious gazes of the fishmongers, Ning Kui, carrying only a fish-killing knife, ran home.
"What happened to Kui-ge'er? Is the house on fire?"
"Who knows? It's a pity about that big carp on the ground, otherwise..."
"Ahem, the silver carp is mine, the carp is yours."
On his hurried journey home, Ning Kui's mind was also racing.
Li Dalang and his fellow ruffians rode on inferior horses assigned by the fish market owner, their speed far exceeding anything he could achieve on foot.
Moreover, all of them were burly and strong, skilled at street thuggery.
Even if he rushed back, what could he change with his weak and isolated position?
"I'd rather risk my life than live a cowardly existence!"
Ning Kui was not afraid of death; to be precise, he had "died" once.
In his previous life, after graduating from university, he received help from a benefactor and, by engaging in shady dealings, lived a life of extravagance and financial freedom at the young age of thirty.
Unfortunately, he didn't enjoy his carefree life for more than a few years before being diagnosed with an incurable disease—melanoma.
When modern medicine declared it helpless, Ning Kui turned to seeking help from gods, Buddhas, immortals, and demons.
Finally, in an abandoned temple on the southwestern frontier, he made a wish to exchange everything for a cure for his cancer.
Bow your head in reverence, then look up again, and you'll find yourself in this world.
Good news: He has indeed gained a healthy body without cancer.
Bad news: He's only five years old! And he has a high fever and is on the verge of death!
At that time, he was also sentenced to death by the best hospital in the county when he was a child.
It was his mother who, holding him on the verge of death, knelt all night in the mountain temple in the dead of winter, and that's how she saved his life.
A serious illness wiped out the Ning family's relatively well-off fortune.
If it were anyone else, they would have already taken the money and remarried, had their own children, and instead of raising a burden like that, acting as both father and mother!
"Young lady, wait for me!"
Ning Kui wiped away the sticky sweat that blurred his vision, endured the muscle soreness, and ran home with all his might.
About fifteen minutes later, we arrived at Youying River, which is just across the bridge from my home.
Strangely, a large, dark crowd had gathered on the usually deserted banks of the Youying River.
A hoarse shout pierced through the buzzing chatter of the onlookers: "Ahem, Master Wang is offering a hefty reward: two hundred taels of silver for anyone who retrieves the corpse from the Shadow River!"
"All you good swimmers should give it a try! Two hundred taels is enough to buy a two-courtyard house in a good location in the county!"
Ning Kui suddenly stopped in his tracks.
It wasn't that he was greedy for money, but rather that he noticed a group of burly men with bare chests and deliberately ferocious ghost and beast tattoos standing out in the crowd, each of them displaying a gloating expression.
The leader was a fat and tall man, whose ferocious face, which covered his chest, looked somewhat gloomy due to a drooping part of his body.
It was none other than Li Dalang, who was known by the nickname "Sorrowful Ghost".
Clearly, the hefty reward of two hundred taels of silver deeply enticed these hooligans, even slowing down their original intention to harm others.
According to the monetary system of the Song Dynasty, one thousand coins equaled one string, and two strings equaled one tael of silver.
Two hundred taels, that's a huge sum of four hundred thousand copper coins.
The 10,000 large silver carp that Ning Kui sold this morning are enough to feed an average family for 27 years!
Unfortunately, while wealth may tempt the heart, the River of Shadows...
Legend has it that this is a ghost river where drowning ghosts come to claim lives, and the people living along its banks are mostly beggars and destitute people with nowhere to go, whose lives are as worthless as weeds.
Every year, the bodies of beggars and drunkards, their faces mangled beyond recognition by fish and shrimp, float out of the river.
Normally, Ning Kui would rather go to Kunze Lake, which is further away, to fish than cast his net in Youying River, which is near his home.
The people of Yugu County also refuse to eat the fish caught from there, as it is said that the meat has a dead smell.
The fear of the Shadow River was deeply ingrained in the minds of the nearby residents. So many people were attracted to gather there, but not a single one dared to go into the river.
Only Li Dalang's eyes revealed a deep-seated greed and ruthlessness.
A drowned ghost seeking revenge? He's taken countless lives! Yet, I've never seen anyone seek revenge!
He stepped forward with a sneer and shouted, "Five hundred taels! Master Wang, if you're willing to pay five hundred taels, we brothers will go down into the river for you!"
"Don't accuse us brothers of taking advantage of the chaos; this is the money we paid to save five of our lives!"
What a huge appetite!
Ning Kui's heart skipped a beat; this was going to be a brutal exploitation of Master Wang, draining him dry!
It should be noted that although Master Wang had some wealth, he was only equivalent to a private shop owner with a few shops in his previous life, far from being comparable to those tycoons who truly controlled wealth and power.
However, upon hearing this, the old and desperate Wang Yuanwai's eyes suddenly lit up with light.
"Alright! As long as this hero can retrieve the girl's body, five hundred taels it is!"
Seeing this, Li Dalang and the other ruffians laughed heartily, as if they could already see the joyful life of squandering a large sum of money after it entered their pockets. Their bodies inexplicably became hot, and all their worries were thrown to the winds.
"Alright! Since Master Wang is so forthright, and we brothers are not the type to go back on our word, let's go down to the river!"
The five ruffians immediately lined up on the riverbank, took off their clothes one by one, revealing their fat bodies and the hideous ghost face tattoos covering their upper bodies.
In the Song Dynasty, everyone considered wearing flowers in their hair and getting tattoos to be beautiful; it wasn't a vice exclusive to local ruffians.
Even on Ning Kui's back, there is a birthmark that slowly appeared after he was seriously ill at the age of five. Its shape is very similar to a deity sitting cross-legged with his hands clasped in prayer. It is so lifelike that it saved him the expense of keeping up with the trend.
He once thought it was some kind of cheat code, but unfortunately, apart from becoming more and more agile over the past twelve years, it has not shown any special features.
"The Sorrowful-Faced Ghost—Li Dalang, the Four-Eyed Lion—Wang Erhu, the White-Faced Shadow Fox—Zhu Xiaowu..."
Ning Kui tightened his grip on the dagger in his hand. There's no such thing as being a thief for a thousand days, but not being able to guard against thieves for a thousand days.
"Go down into the river, and I'll take your lives!"
With his mind made up, Ning Kui turned and quietly made his way downstream along the Shadow River.
The Youying River is five zhang wide and three zhang deep, running east to west through the entire Yugu County. It is a dividing river that separates prosperity from poverty, and stability from turmoil.
The southern part of the city was wealthy and extravagant, while the northern part was desolate and chaotic. Even the prostitutes in the brothels along the riverbanks charged more money on the south bank than on the north bank.
Weeping willows are planted along the embankment. In the height of summer, the willow leaves turn a pale yellow, reflecting off the entire river surface and giving it a yellowish-turbid color.
"Splash!" "Splash!"
The ruffians plunged into the water one after another, each diving five or six zhang (approximately 10-13 meters) away, drawing cheers from the onlookers.
"What a hero! What a great swimmer!"
"Master Wang, you can rest assured, these heroes will surely help you find the young lady's body!"
The atmosphere instantly became lively, and even the oppressive, sweltering air seemed to lighten up a bit.
But the sultry thunderstorm seemed to have reached its peak, or perhaps God no longer wanted to watch this ridiculous and absurd farce unfold on earth.
"Snap!!!"
A white flash appeared in the sky, followed by howling winds, gathering dark clouds from all directions, and the gale made the willow branches on the bank dance wildly like ghosts.
Some onlookers who spoke recklessly were accidentally hit in the mouth by willow branches, screaming in pain and leaving red and swollen marks.
"Boom!!!"
The thunderous roar, like the howling of gods, surged through the ever-thickening dark clouds.
The eerie blue lightning that pierced the clouds emitted a ghastly white light, making everyone's faces pale as ghosts.
"Goodness, have we really messed with something dirty?"
"Let's go, lest we get our hands on something in the river!"
An atmosphere of fear gradually spread, and the sudden change in weather made people want to retreat.
The crowd scattered like monkeys, and a torrential downpour followed, pouring down from the sky.
"Brother! This weather is really ominous, shall we go back to shore?"
"Yes, brother, it's a rule passed down from our ancestors: don't retrieve corpses during thunderstorms!"
"Pah!" Li Dalang popped out of the river and spat out the sour and bitter river water in his mouth. Then he wiped his wet face and cursed, "You spineless coward! What are we five grown men afraid of?"
"Those who want to shrink their eggs, get out of here! But if you leave, you won't get a single penny!"
The other four ruffians immediately shut up; none of them were willing to part with a huge sum of five hundred taels of silver.
Compared to the ground where strong winds and torrential rain were blowing, the riverbed was much quieter.
The yellowish-green river water was murky and blurry, with a large number of broken algae roots suspended in the air. Countless mosquito and fly larvae writhed and slithered about, making one feel nauseous.
Zhu Xiaowu lagged behind the hooligans, reaching out to stir the dense water plants that swayed with the current.
He searched the entire clump of aquatic plants, and couldn't help but curse under his breath, "Damn it, it's so hot outside, but how come the water is so cold and damp!"
The river water was icy cold, and coupled with holding his breath for so long, he was already feeling quite weak.
"Alright, let me catch my breath first!"
Just as he was about to surface, he suddenly noticed a dark shadow rapidly approaching from the bottom of the murky river behind him. Its speed was comparable to that of the raging pig dragon in Kunze Lake!
"Ugh! Glug glug! Glug glug!"
Zhu Xiaowu shuddered as if struck by lightning, his soul nearly leaving his body. He instinctively tried to scream, but instead choked on a mouthful of river water and coughed up a string of bubbles.
Despite the excruciating pain piercing his nose and lungs, he immediately turned around and paddled his limbs, rising to the surface of the water at full speed.
No matter what kind of monster comes, he needs to catch his breath before he can deal with it!
However, as the ripples from the raindrops hitting the river surface became faintly visible, and the roar of wind and thunder reached their ears through the water, a glimmer of hope was within reach.
His ankle was gripped tightly by a cold, strong hand!
"Holy crap, there really are drowning ghosts?!"
The next second, a powerful force suddenly came from underwater!
"Glug glug! Glug glug!!"