"Brother Kuang is benevolent and righteous!" Yang Xiao's words were full of admiration. Su Tingting finally breathed a sigh of relief and thanked Kuang Hongyi repeatedly.
The development of the matter was almost as they expected. After Kuang Hongyi took the initiative to follow the servants to see Master Feng, it didn't take long for someone to inform him that Yang Xiao and Su Tingting could leave the house.
The process was similar to the last time. We still left through the side door. When we walked out of the alley, there was a carriage waiting on the street for a long time.
The groom was an old acquaintance and he enthusiastically opened the curtain for them. It was this man who took them to Laoniu Bay Ferry last time.
"Tell me, gentlemen, where are we going this time?"
Yang Xiao recalled what the old coolie told him and repeated: "Go to Li Si Hutong first."
If we want to find out the truth about the Laoniu Bay shipwreck, the only survivor, Mr. Yi, is an inescapable link.
Unexpectedly, the groom was stunned for a moment when he heard the name of this place. Then he put down his riding crop, turned his head and asked with a smile on his face: "Master, did you remember it wrong?"
Yang Xiao slowly frowned, "What do you mean? You don't know this place?"
"No, sir, don't get me wrong, I don't mean anything else. I know this place, but... But this Li Si Hutong is very chaotic. There are everyone in it, porters, prostitutes, dog beaters, coolies, Liang Shangke, etc. Operators and small gambling houses are all low-class things. We usually go around that place. You...what are you doing there?" The groom seemed to be kindly reminding him.
Yang Xiao didn't care about the chaos, as long as this place was real, "Let's go find someone, ask a few words and then leave."
"Okay, then you two sit tight." The groom said nothing nonsense, shouted, flicked his whip, and set off.
Su Tingting sat next to Yang Xiao. After the carriage started, she kept changing positions, as if she couldn't sit still. "Can you calm down a little?" Yang Xiao frowned.
Su Tingting looked bitter and pointed to her buttocks with some embarrassment. She said in a low voice, "There are... injuries. It hurts when the carriage bumps."
Yang Xiao remembered that when Su Tingting was possessed by the evil spirit, he pricked her several times with the sharp thorns on the candlestick, "Sit over here, I have a cushion here."
The two changed positions, and Su Tingting became quiet now. Yang Xiao opened the curtain on the right side of the car window. There were a lot of people outside, but most of them were just immersed in driving, giving people a feeling of confusion.
The vendors hawking on the street are also weak, but the barefoot beggars are full of energy. Whenever they see people approaching the street from a distance, and they are reasonably well-dressed, they will swarm around them, holding up broken bowls and shouting loudly. Self-made begging pendant.
But the next second, an interesting scene appeared. When they saw the luxurious carriage that they were riding in, the beggars who were blocking the road instantly dispersed and hid far away. They stood in a far away alley before they dared to look back. .
"These beggars never stop the Feng family's carriage, do they?" Yang Xiao asked.
The groom laughed twice and explained in embarrassment: "These are the old rules set by the old man Feng. The old man... the old man is kind-hearted and doesn't want others to suffer, so these beggars are sensible and never bother him."
Su Tingting asked doubtfully: "But hasn't the old man passed away ten years ago?"
"Haha, but the old man's reputation is still there. Maybe these beggars...maybe they are used to it." The groom's explanation was a bit far-fetched, and Yang Xiao stopped asking. There was no point in embarrassing the groom. Besides, the situation was already very clear. It was not for nothing that he called Nan Batian back then. Even after ten years of death, his power is still there. One can imagine how arrogant and domineering Mr. Feng was back then.
Li Si Hutong was farther than expected, and the road under his feet became more and more remote. It was not until more than half an hour later that he finally stopped and said, "You two gentlemen, we are here."
After getting off the bus, Yang Xiao and the two realized how bad this place was. Looking at it, there were almost no complete tile houses. They were all pieced together wooden houses, separated by old earth walls. Stoves and other things were directly there. Set up outside.
The entrance to the alley was very lively, with many sellers carrying poles walking through the streets selling goods. Some vendors simply piled the goods for sale on the ground. There were also taverns and restaurants with flags hanging.
It is said to be a restaurant, but it is actually just a few square tables arranged side by side. The decoration is very shabby, and it is incomparable to that in the town.
However, the sounds of hawkers, noises, and shouts and curses with strong regional dialects were intertwined with each other, making Li Si Hutong much more lively than the town.
"Gentlemen, our carriage cannot enter this place. You two can go in, be sure to pay attention to safety, and go back quickly." The groom pointed to a shady spot nearby, "I'll wait nearby. you."
According to what the old coolie said, Yang Xiao found the third-to-last room on the west side of the alley. It was worse than the wooden houses outside. It was a shabby thatched house with several large holes in the mud wall, and it was dark inside.
If you look carefully, you can see a broken straw mat spread on the ground, a table and a chair. Other than that, they are all rags and debris.
"He's not at home." Su Tingting was a little disappointed. They had traveled more than half an hour to come here specifically for this Yi son-in-law.
A broken pot was propped outside. The fire had long been extinguished. When I looked closer, there was still half a pot of something like mush inside.
Yang Xiao touched the edge of the pot with his hand. It was cold. He had been gone for a while.
There was an old water bag beside the pot. It was empty, but after opening it, you could smell a strong smell of alcohol.
Su Tingting also found some dirty and wrinkled things wrapped in oil paper near the stone bench nearby. When he got closer, he could smell the residual fragrance of medicine.
"It seems to be plaster." Yang Xiao nodded to confirm, but the plasters had all been used.
Su Tingting turned to look nearby. This house felt strange to him, but he couldn't tell what was strange about it. "Is this really where Mr. Yi lives? It's too shabby. Will you be raped?" ...That old coolie didn’t tell you the truth?”
Throwing away the plaster, Yang Xiao stood up and said, "No, this is the residence of the Yi son-in-law. These old water ghosts who have been soaking naked in the river all year round have the habit of drinking alcohol to ward off the cold. When they get older, the cold and damp air enters their bodies. , my bones will ache every time it’s cloudy and rainy, so I have to put on plaster to relieve it.”
Turning around, Yang Xiao looked at the thatched house and raised his chin, "Don't you think this house is weird?"
Su Tingting nodded quickly, "Indeed, I feel weird too, but...I can't explain why."
"This house has no windows." Yang Xiao said bluntly.
Su Tingting's confused eyes suddenly became clear, "Yes, that's right! There is indeed no window, but why?"
"These old water ghosts worship the River Dragon King. It is said that the River Dragon King is an evil dragon that has not yet transformed into a dragon. Because it collided with a boat and bit people, it was punished and had to hide in the mud at the bottom of the river. It was punished to not see the light of day for eight hundred years and was not allowed to eat. As long as the fish dares to surface and be exposed to light, it will be counted again and locked for another 800 years."
"And in order to honor the River Dragon King, a water ghost sneaked into the bottom of the river at night, woke up the River Dragon King, and brought home good wine and meat to entertain him. The River Dragon King was very happy. After eating and drinking, he came to this house People fell asleep, but when they woke up it was already dawn.”
"Jiang Dragon King didn't dare to see the light, so he could only hide in the house and wait until dark. As a result, the water ghost's little daughter was naughty and curious about what Jiang Dragon King looked like, so she took advantage of her father's unpreparedness and opened the window of Jiang Dragon King's house, letting in the sunlight. After entering the house, the River Dragon King was taken away, and the scales on one of his claws were peeled off as punishment, and then he was tied up and thrown back into the mud at the bottom of the river."
"It is rumored that from then on, the Jiang Dragon King became jealous of people who stayed in homes with windows, believing that these people had bad intentions, so believers who sought its blessing sealed the windows of their homes to express their absolute loyalty to the Jiang Dragon King."
