Chapter 56: Two Men and Women in a Wooden Boat
Wang Jingzhe silently watched the fishing girl summoning the souls of the old Zhao family. He didn't expect that the other party was actually a fellow fisherman and her technique was quite authentic. She was definitely not a greenhorn When they were fishing on the Wei River before, she looked particularly quiet and peaceful like a girl next door. That tranquil temperament made him blush inexplicably.
Wang Jingzhe blushed firstly because he had urinated on someone, and secondly because he felt like he had desecrated the girl, as if there was a piece of white paper in front of him and he accidentally put a bunch of stains on it, which was too abrupt.
In fact, what Wang Jingzhe didn’t know was that sometimes blushing is also due to heartbeating.
The soul-guiding lantern on the ground flickered with its candlelight. Old Zhao's son, wearing his father's clothes, suddenly shouted towards the river: "Zhao Changzhu, Zhao Changzhu... Zhao Changzhu , please come back soon!"
"Whoosh!" A gust of cold wind suddenly blew over from the surface of the Wei River, and the water surface began to surge quietly, followed by a "splashing" sound of flowing water gradually coming over.
The fishing girl suddenly said: "Don't be too alarmed no matter what you see, it's nothing serious."
As soon as the girl finished speaking, the "splash, splash" sound of flowing water became more rapid. Suddenly, a figure emerged from the river. He waded towards her in a blue work suit. The figure was wet all over, as if he had been soaked in the water for a long time.
His body was swollen, his face was pale, and blood was dripping from all his orifices.
Lao Zhao's wife and children were immediately frightened. Although they knew it was Lao Zhao, they could not help but take several steps back in fright. Lao Zhao seemed to be out of his mind, and walked towards the soul-guiding lamp on the shore in a daze. When he got close, he was stunned and motionless, staring at the flickering candlelight.
Old Zhao had just died not long ago. At this time, his soul was still unstable and his intelligence was not yet fully developed. His shadow was so vague that it seemed like it could be blown away by a gust of wind.
Lao Zhao's wife and family looked at him in horror, covering their mouths and almost screaming. The fishing girl stretched out a finger and shushed him: "Don't shout, or you will scare him. Just stand still and watch. I want to ask him a few questions."
After the woman finished speaking, without waiting for anyone from the Zhao family to reply, she came to Old Zhao, bent down, picked up the soul-guiding lamp and passed a piece of talisman paper to the candle flame. In an instant, the candle flame burned brighter, and Old Zhao's soul seemed to gradually stabilize.
Naturally, if the candlelight goes out, his soul will also dissipate.
"What happened to Zhao Changzhu in the river at that time..."
Zhao Changzhu opened his mouth blankly after hearing the question. He thought carefully for a long time, and his expression suddenly became terrified, with all his features grim. "Yes, someone pulled me down. He, he grabbed my feet tightly, and I couldn't struggle free. Then, he pulled me into the water and I couldn't get out... Someone was pulling me, and he kept pulling me. I tried my best to swim downstream but couldn't."
Lao Zhao's son shouted, "It's impossible. The waves were so big at that time. How could there be someone under the river?"
The fishing girl glared at her son, who was startled and kept silent. She then asked, "Where is your body? Did it float away or is it under the river?"
Old Zhao looked back, raised his hand and pointed again. The fishing girl said "Oh" and indicated that she understood, and then Old Zhao's soul gradually dissipated.
It was only a few minutes from the time Lao Zhao appeared to the time he disappeared. His soul could not last long. This was the first day of his death. By the time of Lao Zhao's seventh day, his soul would probably be much tougher than it is now. It is even possible that he has transformed into a wronged soul, because Lao Zhao's death was indeed a bit unfair.
"You guys go back first, come and collect the body tomorrow morning..." The fishing girl thought for a moment, then said uncertainly, "I think we can get it soon."
Old Zhao's wife asked in surprise, "Don't you need to keep vigil?"
"The soul has already been here, what are you still guarding?" said the fishing girl with a frown.
Afterwards, Lao Zhao's wife and family packed up and left. There were not many people on the bank of the Wei River at this time. The woman came to the river bank and untied a wooden boat with ease.
Wang Jingzhe was watching from the side, and he didn't interrupt her from beginning to end. When he saw that she seemed to be about to get on the boat and row into the river, he couldn't help but ask, "Are you going to fish out Lao Zhao's body?"
"Yes and no, I want to see what is under the Wei River," the fishing girl explained, "I lived here when I was a child, and I liked boating and fishing on the river when I grew up. I was raised by the Wei River, so I really don't want to see what is in the river that disrupts the lives of people on both sides of the river. After fishing out Lao Zhao's body, I have to see what could have drowned an old boatman who has lived by the Wei River for decades."
"Then you have to find a corpse retriever, right?"
"Do they dare?" the girl asked back.
Wang Jingzhe was suddenly speechless.
After the girl untied the rope, she pushed the canoe into the river and got on the boat. Wang Jingzhe held it in for a long time and finally said, "I'll go with you. It's a bit dangerous for you to go alone."
"Come up." The girl did not refuse. She must have known that Wang Jingzhe had stayed here from beginning to end, so he must have ordered something.
The wooden boat entered the water with a splash. The woman paddled the boat skillfully and said, "The area where Lao Zhao had the accident was not deep, only about five or six meters. The visibility was definitely not good, but I can almost sense where the body is based on his soul just now."
Wang Jingzhe just made an "oh" sound but didn't say anything. The woman glanced at him and said nothing more. It didn't take long for a small boat carrying the two of them to reach the place where the boat capsized before on the silent Wei River.
The woman stopped rowing, rolled up her sleeves and tied her hair up. Wang Jingzhe looked at her white and tender arms and was suddenly stunned.
There is a bright red mole on the right forearm of the fishing girl, which is very conspicuous and probably slightly smaller than the little finger.
Wang Jingzhe knew that it was not a mole, but a toad sand. In ancient times, virgin women or women who were going to enter the palace to become concubines would put a toad sand on their forearms to show their chastity.
However , this habit has probably disappeared in the last hundred years, and it is hardly seen at all now. Wang Jingzhe is curious about why this woman has this habit.
The fishing girl stood up after tying her hair. When she was about to jump into the water, she suddenly turned around and said, "Under normal circumstances, shouldn't you say, 'Let me go down'? That would be more appropriate, right?"
Wang Jingzhe: “…”
Seeing Wang Jingzhe's confused expression, the girl chuckled: "I was just teasing you."
Wang Jingzhe's face turned red again. He held it in for a long time and said with a grunt, "I can't swim."
