Master Zeng, whose given name was Yun and courtesy name Ruxuan, came from a family of officials.
Being an official meant power; power meant money. His ancestors had money, so he was born into wealth.
In those days, only the wealthy could afford schooling, so Master Zeng was not only wealthy but also had official rank.
Of course, that bit of rank only entitled him to hire servants—without rank, a household could not employ servants no matter how wealthy—and he had never held an office. Nor did he need to, for relying on his ancestral estates alone, even if he did nothing, he could live a life of fine clothes and good food all his days.
However, as the saying goes: if a man does not plan for the future, he will have trouble at his doorstep.
Master Zeng was no fool. He understood that no matter how wealthy you were, without the protection of power, in the long run it was not secure.
Therefore, years ago, he shrewdly married his only daughter to a promising young official at court, and spent quite a bit of money greasing palms up and down for this son-in-law. Now his son-in-law was already the Minister of Works, and he had two grandsons. The son-in-law was deeply grateful to him, and on top of that, the two families' interests were tightly bound together. So Master Zeng was not only influential locally but, considered across all of Da Ming, counted as a person of considerable power.
However, in the late summer of the eighteenth year of Yongtai, the Zeng Residence, which had always been peaceful and free of trouble, suddenly encountered a string of strange events.
Looking back now, the cause of the matter should have been half a month ago...
In the back kitchen of the Zeng Residence were two helpers, a pair of brothers—one named He Da, the other He Er. One day, as they pushed a slop cart out to dump the slop, He Er happened to see something flashing on the riverside grass under the sun. He curiously approached and discovered it was a carp made of liuli.
To modern eyes, this thing was roughly a degraded version of an "Eight Stars Eight Arrows 998 Crystal Diamond," with unimaginably low cost. But given Da Ming's chemistry and industrial capabilities, it was still fairly rare; even taken to a pawnshop, it could fetch quite a bit of money.
The He brothers were just ordinary people living at the bottom. They lacked the consciousness of "if you find something valuable, hurry to find the owner." After finding the thing, their first thought was: "Heaven finally opened its eyes, letting us brothers pick up such a bargain."
In their understanding, since they found it, it belonged to them. Even if the owner came looking afterward, they might not give it back—at least they'd have to collect some benefit first.
So, on the way back to the residence, the two were already eagerly discussing how to sell it afterward, how to split the money, and how to spend it after splitting.
That night, both were too excited to sleep. But because there were others around, they couldn't openly discuss it, so they could only keep it bottled up.
By the zi hour, they were truly tired and fell asleep one after another.
Wealthy households had separate rooms for servants to sleep in, similar to modern collective dormitories. The He brothers and four others slept in one room, a large communal bed, with the brothers' bunks right next to each other.
The "fish" found during the day was never taken out, because they feared being seen by others. It stayed tucked in He Er's bosom; he didn't mind sleeping like that, unpleasant as it was.
Thus it went until the early yin hour.
In modern terms, around 3 a.m., when people sleep the deepest.
Suddenly...
Outside the servants' room window, a strange rustling sound arose.
At first the sound was light, like tree branches blown by the wind brushing against the window paper. But later it became louder and more urgent.
The He brothers were too tired and slept too soundly to hear it. But Zhao Daqiang, a servant who slept in the same room, slept lightly. Not long after, he was awakened by the sound.
Zhao Daqiang was just over twenty that year, a big young man full of vigor. He didn't think much of it. He sat there a moment to compose himself, then got up and went out, wanting to see what the sound was about, and along the way relieve himself.
He thought what he heard might be a wild cat or an owl making noise in a tree. Unexpectedly, when he pushed the door open and turned his head, he saw, under the moonlight, a black mass emitting a fishy stench standing less than half a meter away. Its height was half a head taller than him.
As soon as this thing entered his vision, Zhao Daqiang instantly lost all sleepiness. His whole body felt as cold as if he had fallen into an ice cellar. In that breath, he felt a rush of hot blood from the soles of his feet straight up to his forehead, making him dizzy, his pupils contract, and his whole body tremble uncontrollably.
And his eyes, gradually adapting to the dim light, finally after a few seconds saw clearly: the black mass before him was a head of black long hair, wet and sticky like waterweed, unknown how long it had soaked in water. And from the gaps in the hair, a deathly pale human face, with a pair of eyes showing whites, glared at him.
Fortunately he was a young man. If it had been a woman or an old person, even if not scared to death on the spot, they would have fainted.
Zhao Daqiang was all right, but his legs went weak, and he plopped down on the ground. The shout in his throat was choked and couldn't come out.
A few seconds later, his pants were wet. That warm sensation let him regain his senses a little, and his throat was no longer blocked. He immediately shouted: "Help! There's a ghost!"
In the middle of the night, this shout caused a commotion. Not only servants and retainers, but even the masters and ladies were awakened by this hoarse cry.
The first to arrive at the scene were naturally the five sleeping in the room next door. But when they came out and looked, apart from Zhao Daqiang sitting on the ground with wet pants, there wasn't even half a person's shadow around.
Not long after, the steward and other servants also arrived. They gave Zhao Daqiang two mouthfuls of hot water and slapped him twice, which made him calm down, and he repeated what had just happened.
But when asked where his "ghost" had gone, he couldn't say. He only said that when he blinked, the ghost had disappeared.
Next, until the hour or so before dawn, it was very hard to endure. Everyone in the Zeng Residence, including Master Zeng who heard the steward's report, dared not close their eyes.
People of that era feared this. Even if they had never seen one, they had some reverence for ghosts and gods. So Master Zeng immediately ordered all servants to be called. Holding lanterns, they patrolled back and forth in their backyard—which was within the scope of Xiaoyao Ford—and were to report any abnormality immediately.
Thus it went until dawn. When the sun came out, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. After all, demons and evil things cannot stand the sun.
The matter was thus temporarily calmed.
But at this time, He Da and He Er still didn't feel this matter had anything to do with themselves.
That afternoon, they again took the opportunity of going out to dump slop to sneak to a nearby pawnshop, wanting to sell that liuli carp.
The pawnshop clerk, seeing this thing, called the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper took it, glanced at it, immediately let go, and told He Da and He Er to take this thing away, saying they didn't accept it.
The He brothers didn't understand. Was there any logic to a pawnshop not accepting things? But when they pressed for answers, the shopkeeper said nothing, only urging them to take the thing away quickly, otherwise he would throw it out.
The He brothers had no choice but to take the thing back, thinking that tomorrow when they came out, they'd go farther away and ask at other pawnshops.
So that day, they brought the liuli carp back to the Zeng Residence, still hidden in He Er's bosom.
That night, there was no disturbance; nothing was said all night.
Unexpectedly, the next morning, He Da opened his eyes and saw He Er was gone. He Da thought at once: Could it be that my younger brother took the thing and ran away himself?
He hurriedly got up and asked around and searched everywhere in the courtyard, but no one had seen He Er.
He Da was furious. He thought He Er definitely had abandoned him and run away. Perhaps He Er had already swallowed all the money from selling things, left Luzhou, and gone somewhere else to do small business.
But if he really wanted to search, the world was vast. He Er's appearance had no distinguishing features. Where could he go to find him?
Thinking of this, He Da regretted it so bitterly his intestines turned green. He had trusted his younger brother so much, always leaving the fish with him, only to end up with both person and money gone.
Another day passed. The steward found He Da, asking where his brother was and why he hadn't come to work. He Da could only say he didn't know either. The He brothers were just helpers, not people who had sold themselves into the Zeng Residence. As long as wages were settled, they could leave at any time. So He Er disappearing before wages were settled meant the steward wouldn't press further. After all, a great household didn't lack one or two people.
Thus, on the third day, two things happened.
First—Zhao Daqiang died. He died of illness.
Since the night he "encountered a ghost," Zhao Daqiang had been bedridden, unable to eat or sleep. They called a doctor, but no illness could be found. They could only say he was overly frightened and casually prescribed a formula to help calm the spirit and sleep.
But that medicine—he vomited as soon as he drank it. He had barely drunk a few sips.
He was just a minor servant. The residence couldn't arrange special care for him. Giving him a separate small room to lie in and recover was already good.
Thus, for several days straight he neither ate nor drank nor slept. By evening that day, when someone went into the room to check on him, he was already lying there breathless.
Almost at the same moment, likewise in this Zeng Residence backyard, a second thing occurred: He Er's corpse floated up from Xiaoyao Pond.
In just half an hour, discovering two corpses in succession was no small matter.
Zhao Daqiang's death was easier to handle. He had been sold into the Zeng Residence since childhood. Whether he died of illness or was beaten, no one cared. But He Er's death was not easy to deal with.
He Er had died inexplicably in your Zeng Residence, and he still had a brother alive. They weren't people of your Zeng Residence, just helpers. You must give the aggrieved party an explanation, right?
At first, Master Zeng didn't want to report to the authorities. He would just treat He Er as having slipped and drowned accidentally, give his brother some silver to send him away, and that would be that.
As for He Da, his thinking was simple. Although he didn't know how his brother drowned, since the person was dead, he thought: that "fish" on my brother's body is now mine alone. I'm not young anymore. Working as a helper for others all my life would never turn things around. But if I sell that fish and add the money the Zeng Residence compensates me, I can use this money to do a small business, marry a wife—not bad at all.
Thinking of this, he felt there was nothing sad about his brother's death. One could even say it was a happy thing. He was too lazy to investigate how his brother died.
Unexpectedly, afterward when he asked the steward if there were any belongings on his brother, the steward said nothing at all. And the money the Zeng Residence compensated him was less than what he had expected in his heart.
He Da was then driven to desperate measures. He felt someone had stolen "his fish," but it was hard to say outright because if people asked about the origin of the thing, he couldn't answer. So he made an exorbitant demand, asking the Zeng family to compensate him twenty taels of silver.
Twenty taels of silver—what concept was that in Da Ming? To put it this way: one tael of silver equals one guan of money, i.e., one thousand wen. In terms of purchasing power... in today's terms, roughly enough to buy 500 jin of potatoes.
Master Zeng was wealthy, but he couldn't agree to such a demand. If he agreed to you He Da today, tomorrow there might be ten hooligans a hundred times more shameless than you He Da coming to extort him with similar methods.
But human life was at stake. Master Zeng had a good reputation locally. Unless absolutely necessary, he didn't want to bully others with his power. So he could only report to the authorities.
When the authorities arrived, the common people who came to watch the fun and spread gossip naturally came too. Not only the matter of He Er dying strangely by drowning, but also the matter of Zhao Daqiang being scared to death by a "water ghost," quickly became a topic of common talk among Luzhou citizens after meals.
As for He Da, he didn't work anymore, but he had nowhere else to go. Even if he did, before getting the money he didn't want to leave. So he clung to the Zeng Residence.
The steward, fearing he would disturb other servants, arranged a separate room for him and also provided meals, saying he could stay until the authorities produced results.
One evening a few days later, He Da was sleeping alone in his room. In the darkness, the voice of his younger brother He Er suddenly rang in his ear: "Big brother, I died so miserably..."
After He Da heard this, he immediately woke up scared. He couldn't tell whether what he had just experienced was a dream or real. And just then, his hand... touched something—a liuli carp whose surface was still wet.
"Ah!" At that moment, He Da was scared out of his wits.
Before he could figure out what was happening, he suddenly heard:
Rustling—rustling—outside the window, strange noises began to sound.
Regarding this strange noise, He Da had personally heard Zhao Daqiang talk about it. As he recalled it now, a thought flashed through his mind: "Could it be... the ghost Zhao Daqiang encountered was after this fish from the very beginning?"
Rustle rustle rustle... The sound outside became more and more urgent. He Da, scared out of his wits, covered his head and threw himself under the bed, shouting for help at the top of his lungs.
I don't know how long passed. The sound stopped, and then came the sound of several people knocking on the door.
Presumably someone heard the cry for help and came.
He Da plucked up courage, crawled out from under the bed, and opened the door. Seeing it was the steward and several servants holding lanterns at the door, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Things having come to this point, he really couldn't keep it hidden anymore. That very night, he told the steward the whole story from beginning to end, and took out that "liuli carp." The steward then presented the thing to Master Zeng and recounted He Da's story.
Master Zeng was a scholar and didn't understand these things. He would just treat the liuli carp as an evil object, find a desolate mountain or wild place to bury it, and that would be that. As for He Da, give him ten taels. He could take it or leave it, and let him leave quickly.
The next morning, He Da took the silver and left the Zeng Residence. The aggrieved party having run away, the authorities stopped investigating his brother He Er's case.
As for that "liuli carp," the steward instructed several servants to pick a time when the sun was high in the sky and yang energy was most vigorous, run to a wasteland outside the city, dig a fairly deep pit, and bury it on the spot.
Everyone thought the matter was thus concluded, but...
A few days later, Master Zeng's second lady was suddenly found dead in her room. Moreover, the corpse's hands were clasped over her chest, tightly clutching a liuli carp...
...
Huang Donglai, at a roadside tavern, ordered a pot of wine for that strange old man, and listened to him tell this story vividly.
After listening, Huang Donglai's first question was: "Um... this old man, setting aside whether this matter is really so strange... why do you tell it in such detail, as if you had seen it with your own eyes?"
"Hey! Kid, don't disbelieve." The old man replied quite confidently. "I heard it from Old Lady Li next door at Old Li's house."
"Did Old Lady Li next door at Old Li's house see it herself?" Huang Donglai asked again.
"She didn't see it, but she heard it from her grandson's friend's maternal uncle," the old man said again.
"Her grandson's friend's maternal uncle..." Huang Donglai got to this point and could hardly bear to listen to himself. He changed the subject: "Hey~ just tell me, where is the source of this news?"
"It's the steward of the Zeng Residence, Zeng Su." The old man replied. "These things, from beginning to end, he knows best. He personally told Head Constable Zhou at the yamen gate. Head Constable Zhou knew, and his constable brothers naturally knew. Then afterward..."
"Enough, enough... no need to mention 'afterward.'" Huang Donglai stopped the other from continuing to harp on it, and then asked, "By the way, when did the Zeng family's second lady die?"
"Just yesterday." The old man said. "The corpse has been lying in the room for a day and a night. No one dared to touch it. Until today, after Master Zeng and the county magistrate discussed it, they simply had the constables take the second lady's corpse together with the liuli carp directly to the temple. They asked monks to chant sutras for a few days to liberate the soul, to see if they could settle this matter."
"Hmm... yesterday..." Huang Donglai stroked his chin and murmured. "Someone died yesterday, and today the whole city knows about it. You common folk here really love spreading gossip..."
"Kid." The old man laughed. "Heh... you don't also love hearing gossip? Otherwise why would you buy wine for me?"
Huang Donglai thought, indeed. This wasn't his previous world where people could stare at phones and computers all day, finding nearly infinite information and entertainment online. Here, there wasn't even a newspaper. Of course the common folk loved spicing up gossip and passing it around.
After a while, Huang Donglai remembered he still had things to do. So he put down the wine money, said goodbye to the old man, and hurried to the branch of the High-Speed Rail Gang.
Originally, today's matter was just something to hear and be amused by. He hadn't taken it to heart, nor intended to get involved.
But what Huang Donglai didn't know was... in this life he was fated to have connections with these ghostly, strange, and mysterious things. Ultimately, he hadn't gone looking for trouble, but trouble had come looking for him...
Chapter 13