Chapter One Hundred and One

Li Yue bit her lip slightly, pulled her hand away from the old man's grip, and walked quickly toward the wharf.

I took a deep breath and said, "Boatman, you should stop following us. If we just awakened that 'reincarnation guest,' we certainly cannot be the cause of harm to his wife and child. This Mount Yalong is the vital eye that suppresses the Yin Dragon Vein; letting people die unjustly in the river only adds to the Yin energy. Over time, that will inevitably cause problems for Mount Yalong."

I spoke quickly, and once finished, I followed Li Yue closely.

The old man took two steps after us, but clearly afraid to continue, he climbed back onto his boat and rowed away. He was terrified that if the incident were brought up later, he would be implicated.

Meanwhile, those men had already pulled over a small bamboo raft and were preparing to tie the little girl to it. The river stretched out, seemingly endless; it had taken us nearly a full day on the boat to reach this place. Even for a grown adult, being on such a raft would be perilous, let alone tying a small girl to it—this was essentially a death sentence.

The little girl was crying for her mother, begging not to be sent to join her father. Liu’s wife knelt on the ground, kowtowing and pleading, offering her own life if only they would spare the child.

The men, however, remained cold and indifferent. One of them said, "We’ve spoken plainly to you, but you don't listen. Your husband died with eyes wide open, and isn't that because you, you shameless woman, were out looking for wild men? Now he wants to take this bastard child with him and leave you your life, but if you don't want that, then we'll send you along with her! It will save our village from being disgusted by your presence!"

As he spoke, a man grabbed Liu’s wife by the arms and shoved her toward the raft. The little girl wailed heart-wrenchingly, screaming for them not to harm her mother.

It all happened in a split second.

Li Yue reached the bank, took a deep breath, and shouted, "Stop! You are about to push people into the water in broad daylight—isn't this just cold-blooded murder?"

A flicker of hope appeared on Liu’s wife’s face, but one of the men immediately slapped her across the face. With a crisp *crack*, she let out a cry of pain, covering her face. Another man grabbed her and forced her toward the raft.

The man who had struck her stared coldly at Li Yue and said, "Outsider, stop meddling in the affairs of Mount Yalong. The 'reincarnation guest' refuses to leave; that means his resentment is not yet quelled. If we don't send him the people he wants, he will come ashore and return to the village. Do you have any idea how many people he might kill then? You want to save this mother and daughter? Look around and see if anyone here agrees with you."

There were quite a few people on the wharf and the bank, and their gazes toward us all turned hostile. Li Yue’s expression shifted slightly. My own heart skipped a beat. This hostility was directed entirely at us. Thinking of the boatman’s earlier attitude and the reactions of the passengers when they heard Li Yue speak, I grew vigilant.

"Outsider! Stop interfering with the business of Mount Yalong!"

"The reincarnation guest won't leave because this woman was unchaste! The people from their village already said she bore the seed of a wild man! He doesn't want the bastard to live!"

"If she wants to die with her, that's her business. But if you try to interfere and bring harm to us, no one here will stand for it!"

Dozens of people surrounded us. The men looked triumphant. Liu’s wife had fallen into despair; one hand gripped her daughter’s arm tightly, while the other clung to a wooden piling on the bank. Her hair was disheveled, her face streaked with tears, and her pleading eyes met no pity from anyone.

Li Yue looked distressed and said loudly, "How can you be so certain that the dead man refuses to leave because of this? Are you truly certain that the child this woman is holding is not her own husband's daughter?"

"What if you are mistaken? Wouldn't that make you murderers?"

One of the men on the bank stepped forward, his face dark. "Once they are sent down, the reincarnation guest will leave. We have lived here all our lives, following the rules passed down by our ancestors. By what right do you call this murder?"

I walked to Li Yue’s side. Aside from preventing the man from attacking her, I kept my eyes fixed on the water in the distance. To my alarm, the raft was indeed moving against the current. Though slow, it would reach the shore in half a day at most. Furthermore, for a corpse to stand on a raft, it would require a significant amount of resentment.

I frowned. A ghost that dies with such unshakable resentment and resorts to reanimation is bound to bring harm. I glanced back at Mount Yalong; a dark cloud had appeared at the summit, obscuring the ray of sunlight that had been hitting it.

I squinted, suddenly understanding the cause of the reanimation. Mount Yalong suppressed the Yin Dragon Vein, keeping the Yang energy in a delicate balance. If there were too much, the Yin Dragon Vein would dissipate and the river would dry up. If there were too little, the suppression would fail, leading to a mountain collapse. The mountain and the water were interdependent; with the Yang energy of Mount Yalong weakening and the Yin energy of the Dragon Vein boiling, combined with the dead man's deep-seated resentment, the corpse was naturally surging against the current.

"Liu’s wife," I said, taking a deep breath, "your husband’s resentment is indeed lingering. If he hadn't died with such unfinished business, he wouldn't be reanimated now. Tell us why he is so resentful, and perhaps he will leave."

Over the past few days, studying the *White Paper* on Feng Shui and discussing things with Li Yue, I had begun to understand the grievances between the living and the dead. Often, solving a haunting does not require destroying the spirit; once the resentment dissipates, the soul will naturally move on to reincarnation.

Li Yue looked back at me, annoyed, asking why I was helping them when they were trying to commit murder.

I shook my head, looked directly at the woman, and said, "Every debt has a debtor. I don't want to believe a man would die with such resentment just to drag his wife and daughter to the grave with him. But if she knows why he died so bitterly, then the current situation is of her own making."

Li Yue stomped her foot and pushed my chest. I reached out, held her shoulder, and gave her a signal.

At this moment, the people on the wharf and the bank looked slightly more composed. Someone spoke up, "The young brother is right. Little girl, you don't understand the situation, so stop interfering. If the reincarnation guest doesn't leave, it won't just be one or two people who suffer."

However, the men who had forced Liu’s wife over began to show signs of panic. The man standing before Li Yue said coldly, "Our village affairs require no input from outsiders! You even admitted yourself that the reincarnation guest's resentment is what's keeping him here. Throw them both in, and all our problems will be solved!"

Liu’s wife, her face pale, suddenly fell silent.

I frowned. Li Yue bit her lip and whispered, "She seems afraid to speak."

I nodded slightly and then said softly, "Little girl, if you know why your father's resentment won't fade, tell us. If you tell us, my brother and sister here will protect you. Otherwise, you and your mother will be drowned."

The little girl stopped crying instantly. A man nearby tried to cover her mouth. Li Yue let out a cold snort and flicked her finger. Suddenly, the man let out a yelp and tumbled headfirst into the river.

"Great-Grandpa took off my clothes and said he was checking my body. Daddy came back, and he fought with Great-Grandpa. Daddy kept coughing, coughing up blood, and then Great-Grandpa pushed him... he fell under the stilt house..." The little girl gripped her hem tightly, her face full of terror.

"Mommy wouldn't let me talk. They all said I was making things up. They said Daddy fell on his own and Great-Grandpa went to help him, but Xiaoyu saw it all..."

The faces of the other men turned ghastly.

"Why should the words of a little girl count? She's babbling!"

"Liu’s wife, tell them she's talking nonsense!"

Liu’s wife’s face was deathly pale, trembling uncontrollably.

"Mommy, Xiaoyu isn't lying..." The little girl sobbed, "They are going to kill us, so why can't I talk? Aren't those big brother and sister saving us?"