Chapter nine: A river of blood

Yingyue did not realize just how thirsty she was until a maidservant filled her cup with sweet smelling lotus tea.

Without delay, she drained her cup and asked for a refill. Next to her, Yuchen was being reserved as usual, taking only a small sip before returning his cup to the table, which was laden with enough food for a whole day.

"You've come a long way"the chief observed.

"It was our honor"Yuchen replied.

No, it wasn't. Yingyue nearly rolled her eyes at him. She would never seize to marvel at this "polite" manner of conversation that was more like a competition between two people, each aiming to make the other feel more important.

All these proper people.

As a lover of priorities, she simply proceeded to top her plate with as much food as she thought she could eat. She still listened in on their conversation as she crunched on roast chicken.

After a while, the chief said "Young Miss Meng isn't eating any rice?".

"It's not sweet".

Yuchen looked at her. Yingyue knew he was thinking something like how rude and inconsiderate she was.

"I didn't mean this one in particular. I don't like rice in general. It's not sweet when it's all plain like this".

"I apologize"the chief said.

"Oh no, it's fine. Shixiong likes it. Though, Shixiong..."she turned to Yuchen "are you sure you are getting enough nutrients?".

She had been watching through the corner of her eyes as he took extremely small bites of rice, and she prayed fervently that no unfortunate soul ever had to wait for him to finish eating at any point in his life.

"I believe you should tell us the problem now, chief"Yuchen spoke to the old man, completely ignoring her.

"Oh, yes. The problem." he sighed mournfully " If only we knew what the problem was".

"What do you mean?"Yingyue asked.

The chief only sighed deeply.

They waited for him to continue, but he did not, instead he continued looking mournful.

Yingyue couldn't take it anymore.

"You know, we're just going to go home without doing anything if you don't tell us what it is we came to do".

Everyone, Yuchen included, looked at her in surprise. The Jade Dragon looked like he was going to spout yet another of those Pan sect rules she still hadn't read, but the chief actually began to speak.

"Just last night, the fifth person died".

"How?"Yuchen asked.

"No one knows for sure, only that her corpse was dry and sunken,as if she had been drained from the inside. All the others died in the same way."

"Where was her body found?".

"Found? She went to bed hale and hearty, only to be found like that this morning, right there in her bed. Nobody saw anything strange. Nobody heard anything strange."

"Who was she?".

"One of the food vendors. There are many of them here".

"Can we see the body?".

"Certainly".

He signalled to some servants,who left for a short while and returned bearing a straw mat on which the body of a petite woman lay, covered with a thick sheet.

Yuchen and Yingyue walked over to the body as the sheet was thrown back, and Yingyue couldn't hold back a sharp gasp.

The body didn't even look very human anymore, with shriveled limbs and an ugly scorch black color. The face was distorted, mouth opened in a silent, eternal scream.

"Her spiritual essence was sucked dry"Yuchen said.

"That's awful"Yingyue supplied helpfully.

"What about the others?"he asked.

"All buried"the chief replied.

Yuchen signalled the servants to cover the corpse back,then he and Yingyue returned to the table.

"Who were the other victims?"he asked.

"One of my servants,a fisherman,a young woman who had just gotten married, and a fourteen year old girl".

"Did they have anything in common?".

"Anything? Other than the fact that they all live here, I don't think so. Two were male, the other three female. Their ages varied, and they were not even related".

"I see. You don't have to worry anymore. Leave it to us. It will be fine".

There was something about Yuchen that made even strangers trust him. As soon as he said "it will be fine", everyone in the room, Yingyue included, suddenly felt at ease. Like, he had said it would be fine, so why would it be anything but fine.

"Thank you, Young Master Pan, Young Miss Meng. We have prepared accomodations for you. Why don't you rest a little before you begin?".

"We are honored"Yuchen replied.

Yingyue bowed with him, as some servants came forward to lead them to the respective rooms prepared for them.

*

*

*

Splash!

Yingyue knew she was dreaming. She could always tell. She looked down at her feet, and found that she was standing at the bank of a massive river. Except that the water splashing at her boots was not colorless, but a very bright red.

Something made her look up, and her eyes caught sight of a person.

He stood with his back to her, at the middle of the river. The loveliest raven black hair fell past his shoulders, fluttering in a wind Yingyue couldn't feel, along with splendid robes the same color as the river beneath his feet.

Suddenly, two realizations hit Yingyue square in the face. This man was STANDING on the surface of a river without sinking. And the river itself was not water at all, but blood.

Yingyue had smelt such blood before, on Xinyue's clothing the day her parents, Yingyue's Uncle and Auntie Mo died.

The blood of the dead.

"Young Miss Meng!"a voice cut into her dreams.

Yingyue jolted awake, just in time to fall off the stool on which she had unintentionally dozed off.

"Yes?"she called out as she hurried to her feet, scrubbing her hands on her face.

"The chief sent me to find out if you need anything"the woman's voice indicated that she was right outside the door.

"Uh... no. Thank you".

"Alright. Young Master Pan is about to set out,by the way".

"What?".

"You should hurry up and join him".

"Sure, just... tell him to give me a sec".

"Yes, Miss".

Yingyue looked around. She had not gotten to take a proper look at the room given to her by the chief before she drifted to sleep on a stool before the mirror. Now she took in the low bed, the murals on the walls, and the gleaming candle stands. A bowl of water was by the bed. Yingyue washed her face and patted her hair before stepping out of the room.

Coincidentally,a servant was walking past, so she stopped him.

"Where is the Jade Dragon?".

"He already left"the boy replied.

"What?".

Yingyue dashed down the corridor and out of the house, only to see Pan Yuchen walking off in the distance. She cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled as loud as she could.

"Shixiong!".

Only a deaf person would fail to hear her, but he did not stop or anything.

"This guy!"she grumbled as she broke into a run.

Before long, she caught up and grabbed firmly onto his right arm to stop him from walking any further.

Believe it or not, she actually forgot that she was not supposed to touch him. Yuchen did stop, just as she intended, but he gave her another soul vaporizing glower, just as she DIDN'T intend.

Bless her quick mind, she immediately let go with a most nervous grin.

"Don't go off without me, Shixiong. It's not fair".

Of course he ignored her. But at least he did not tell her to go away or anything, so she walked on beside him.

Despite the recent incidents, the town was lively, with traders calling out their wares, children running about, and fishermen hauling their catch out of the sea.

The sea...

Yingyue pinched her forehead. She was having a dream about the sea... right?

She couldn't remember, which was pretty weird,as she never forgot her dreams so quickly.

"What do you think?"Yuchen asked after a while.

"What?"she looked up distractedly at him.

"The mysterious deaths".

"Oh, that".

Yingyue had actually been thinking about it before she went to sleep.

"I think the chief forgot something. The victims did have something else in common. In fact, everyone in Haibin town has this in common- they get all their water from the sea".

Although Yuchen's face betrayed no expression, he was in fact very surprised, because he had been thinking the very same thing.

"So,"Yingyue continued"I'm thinking something evil has found its way into the sea. First we should find out the rate of drowning around here,in case a lot of negative energy has accumulated in the sea".

"How do you propose we do that?".

"Ask the people of the town, of course".

Yuchen's face told her he had already thought of that, but would rather not.

"Don't worry, I'll do the asking. All I need is your support".

She looked around,then her eyes lit up as she spotted a woman selling deep fried dumplings filled with spicy fish.

"There".

She skipped over to the stall and leaned towards the woman.

"Hello, Auntie".

"Miss Cultivator,"the woman spoke respectfully"do you need something?".

"Not really. These look tasty".

As she spoke, Yingyue picked a dumpling and proceeded to bite large chunks off it.

"It must be nice to live near the sea. Does it ever overflow, Auntie?".

"Not since I was born, no. This is a peaceful town,at least until the..."she broke off, fear creeping into her face.

"Wow,"Yingyue spoke quickly, diverting her attention from any dark thoughts"so no one ever drowns, right?".

"Goodness, no"the woman looked scandalized"we're all taught to swim from childhood. It wouldn't make any sense to drown at your own doorstep, would it?".

"It wouldn't, of course"Yingyue agreed pleasantly, helping herself to another dumpling.

She munched thoughtfully for a while.

"Auntie,"she said as she picked a third dumpling"the other Auntie, the one that died recently, she sold dumplings too, right?".

Another wild guess, but the dumpling seller replied.

"Yes. Xiao Ai taught me how to make them. Her stall was right beside mine. It's such a pity...".

"So you were friends?"Yingyue interrupted her trip down dark memory lane.

"Yes. We were so close...".

Yingyue dropped her voice and whispered conspiratorially.

"Did she tell you anything?".

The woman blinked.

"Anything?".

"Anything strange that happened".

"Not exactly,"she mused"except..."

"Except..."Yingyue encouraged.

"She did have a strange dream...".

"Strange dream?".

"Yes. Few days before she died".

"What did she see?".

"I don't really remember. Something about...a river of blood and a man whose face she couldn't see".

Yingyue frowned slightly. Why did that sound familiar?

"Thanks, Auntie. You're amazing".

She turned and proceeded to move away.

"Uh... Miss Cultivator...".

"Hm?"she looked back at the woman"oh, the dumplings? The Jade Dragon is paying".

Yuchen,who had been standing by and listening was like "..."

But the dumpling seller was already looking to him, so he took out his money pouch and paid for the dumplings Yingyue had happily gobbled up.

"What was that for?"he could not help asking when he joined her.

Yingyue just had to respond with one of those dramatic gasps of hers.

"What do you mean? You better not let people hear you saying that. Don't you know that it's only fair to help her business since we're getting information from her?".

"You just treated yourself on my dime. How shameless can you be?".

"What? You can just buy yourself some if you're sad I ate them all alone. Or is it below the Immaculate Jade Dragon to eat with his hands?".

That was when it hit Yuchen again- why was he trading words with this person anyway?

What happened to not speaking unless when absolutely necessary? She really was out to turn his life upside down.

"We should proceed to the next step".

"Yes,"Yingyue concurred"let's find out who else saw this river of blood".