Nightmare Apostle

Chapter 51: Chapter 51: River Dragon King

"Kuang is truly honorable and righteous!" Yang Xiao said, filled with admiration. Su Tingting finally let out a sigh of relief and thanked Kuang Hongyi repeatedly.

The development of events was almost as they had anticipated. Not long after Kuang Hongyi took the initiative to follow the servant to meet Master Feng, someone came to inform them that Yang Xiao and Su Tingting were now allowed to leave the residence.

The procedure was similar to the last time; they left through a side gate, and upon reaching the entrance of the alley, a carriage had been waiting on the street for a long time.

The coachman was an old acquaintance and warmly helped them lift the curtain. It was the same man who had taken them to the Old Bull Bay Ferry Crossing last time.

"I say, where to this time, sirs?" the coachman asked.

Yang Xiao recalled the words the old laborer had told him and repeated, "First, to Li Si Alley."

To uncover the truth of the Old Bull Bay sinking case, the sole survivor, Uncle-in-Law Lord, was an essential link they couldn’t bypass.

However, the coachman was taken aback upon hearing the name of the place. He set down his whip and turned around with a smile plastered on his face, asking, "Sir, could you have remembered it wrong?"

Yang Xiao frowned slowly, "What do you mean? You don’t know this place?"

"No, sir, please don’t misunderstand me. I didn’t mean anything by it; I know the place, but... but Li Si Alley is very chaotic. There are all kinds of people inside: porters, prostitutes, dog beaters, laborers, thieves, street performers, small gambling dens, all sorts of riffraff. We usually go around that area. What... what are you going there for?" The coachman seemed to be kindly reminding them.

Yang Xiao didn’t care if it was chaotic; as long as the place was real, that was all that mattered, "We’re looking for someone. We’ll ask a few questions and then leave."

"Alright then, please hold on tight," said the coachman, who didn’t want to waste words. With a shout and a crack of his whip, they set off.

Su Tingting sat next to Yang Xiao and started to shift positions restlessly as the carriage moved, "Can’t you sit still?" Yang Xiao frowned.

Looking distressed and a bit embarrassed, Su Tingting pointed at her buttocks with a soft voice, "I have... an injury. It hurts when the carriage jostles."

Yang Xiao then remembered; when Su Tingting was possessed, he had stabbed her several times with the sharp end of a candlestick, "Come sit here; I have a cushion."

After switching places, Su Tingting quieted down. Yang Xiao lifted the curtain on the right side of the carriage. There was a considerable flow of people outside, but most of them were merely hurrying on their way, giving off a sense of confusion and aimlessness.

The street vendors selling their wares also seemed listless; it was the barefoot beggars who were full of energy. As soon as they spotted someone coming down the street who was decently dressed, they would swarm around them, holding their broken bowls and loudly singing their self-composed begging rhymes.

But the next second, something interesting occurred. Upon seeing the luxurious carriage they were riding in, the beggars blocking the road dispersed like birds and beasts in an instant, hiding far away, and only dared to look back when standing at a distant alley entrance.

"These beggars never stop the Feng Family’s carriage, do they?" Yang Xiao inquired.

The coachman chuckled awkwardly and explained somewhat sheepishly, "This is an old rule set by Old Master Feng. Old Master Feng... he was kind-hearted and couldn’t bear to see people suffer, so these beggar kids are sensible too and never bother him."

Su Tingting asked curiously, "But hasn’t the old master been deceased for ten years now?"

"Heh, but Old Master Feng’s reputation still prevails. Maybe... maybe they are just used to it," the coachman explained unconvincingly. Yang Xiao didn’t ask further. It was pointless to trouble a coachman further, and the situation was already clear. The title ’Southern Overlord’ wasn’t for nothing; even ten years after his death, his influence still lingered. One could only imagine how overbearing and arrogant Old Master Feng had been.

Li Si Alley was farther than they had imagined. The road beneath them became increasingly secluded, and after about half an hour, they finally stopped, "Sirs, we have arrived."

After getting off the carriage, Yang Xiao and his companion realized just how bad this place was. Looking around, there were almost no intact tile-roofed houses, just a collection of wooden hovels patched together with old mud walls in between, and the cooking stoves were simply set up outside.

However, the entrance to the alley was quite bustling. Many peddlers carrying shoulder poles were calling out as they walked through the streets and lanes, some vendors simply piled their goods on the ground, and there were also small taverns and diners with flags hanging outside.

Calling them ’diners’ was an overstatement, they were just several square tables lined up next to each other with very modest settings, not even comparable to those in the town.

But the cries of hawkers, the noise of the crowd, and the shouting and cursing in a strong local dialect wove together. Li Si Alley, in this respect, appeared much livelier than the town.

"Gentlemen, our carriage can’t go in there. You should both go ahead—just make sure to watch out for your safety. Go quickly and come back quickly," the Coachman said, pointing with his hand to a nearby shady spot, "I’ll wait for you over there."

Following the old laborer’s directions, Yang Xiao found the third house from the end on the west side of the alley. This place was even worse than the makeshift wooden houses outside; a dilapidated thatched cottage with mud walls that had several large cracks, dark and gloomy inside.

A closer look revealed a tattered straw mat spread on the ground, along with a table and a chair. Aside from those, there were only some broken and tattered items.

"Nobody’s home," Su Tingting said, somewhat disappointed. They had rushed for more than half an hour to specifically visit this Uncle-in-Law Lord.

A broken pot was propped outside, its fire long extinguished. Upon closer inspection, it still contained half a pot of mushy substance.

Yang Xiao touched the rim of the pot with his hand—it was cold. Whoever had been here had left some time ago. freewebnoveℓ.com

Next to the pot was an old water skin, now empty, but when opened, one could smell a strong scent of alcohol.

Su Tingting also found some dirty, wrinkled things wrapped in oil paper nearby on a stone bench made of piled rocks. Getting closer, one could scent the lingering fragrance of medicine.

"Seems like they’re medicinal plasters," Yang Xiao nodded in confirmation, noting these plasters had been used.

Su Tingting turned to look around, feeling strange about the place but unable to pinpoint exactly what was odd, "Is this really where that Uncle-in-Law Lord lives? It’s too run-down. Could it be that... that old laborer didn’t tell you the truth?"

Discarding the plasters, Yang Xiao stood up, "No, this is indeed the Uncle-in-Law Lord’s dwelling. These Old Water Ghosts, who soak in the river water all year round, have a habit of drinking heavily to stay warm. As they age and damp and cold seep into their bodies, they suffer bone pain whenever it’s overcast or raining, so they use these plasters to alleviate the pain."

Turning around, Yang Xiao looked at the thatched cottage and lifted his chin, "Don’t you find this cottage strange?"

Su Tingting nodded quickly, "Indeed, I also felt it was strange, but... I can’t express why."

"This house has no windows," Yang Xiao stated bluntly.

Su Tingting’s puzzled look suddenly became clear, "Right, that’s true! No windows, but why?"

"These Old Water Ghosts worship the River Dragon King. Legend has it that the River Dragon King was a malicious serpent dragon yet to transform, punished for capsizing boats and devouring humans. He was sentenced to shrink and stay in the riverbed’s mud, not to see the sunlight for eight hundred years, and forbidden from eating meat. If he dared to surface and be exposed to light, the count would start over, and he’d be locked away for another 800 years."

"Once, to honor the River Dragon King, a Water Ghost sneaked into the river at night, woke him up, and brought him home for a feast of good wine and meat. The Dragon King was overjoyed, indulging in the food and drink, and then fell asleep in the Water Ghost’s house. When he woke up, it was daylight already."

"The River Dragon King, afraid of light, hid inside the house until nightfall. But the Water Ghost’s mischievous little daughter was curious about the Dragon King’s appearance. While her father was unwatched, she opened the window of the Dragon King’s room, sunlight flooded in, and the River Dragon King was captured, his punishment was the peeling off of scales from one of his claws as a discipline. Then he was bound and thrown back into the riverbed’s silt."

"Since then, the legend goes, the River Dragon King harbored a grudge against any household with windows, seeing them as ill-intentioned. So the faithful seeking his protection all sealed their windows to express their utmost loyalty to the River Dragon King."