Unparalleled Duo

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Unexpectedly, after the incident, when he asked the steward if his brother had left any belongings, the steward told him there was nothing; and the money the Zeng Mansion compensated him with was also less than what he had anticipated in his heart.

He Da then became desperate, feeling that someone had "stolen his fish," but he couldn't say it outright because if someone asked about the origin of the item, he wouldn't be able to explain. So, he boldly demanded the Zeng family compensate him with twenty taels of silver.

Twenty taels of silver in Great Ming, what concept is that? Let's put it this way, one tael of silver equals one string of cash, that is, one thousand coins, in terms of purchasing power... in modern times, it could buy about 500 kilograms of potatoes.

Mr. Zeng was wealthy, but it was impossible for him to agree to such a demand; if he agreed to He Da today, tomorrow there might be ten hooligans, a hundred times more shameless than He Da, knocking on his door trying to blackmail him with a similar method.

However, since human life is at stake, Mr. Zeng, who also had a good local reputation, did not want to bully others by leveraging his power unless it was absolutely necessary. Therefore, he had no choice but to report it to the officials.

Once the officials arrived, the spectators and the commoners spreading rumors naturally came too; not only the bizarre drowning of He Er, but also Zhao Daqiang being scared to death by a "water ghost" quickly became a hot topic among the people of Lu Zhou.

As for He Da, he stopped working, but he had nowhere else to go; even if there were other places, he didn't want to leave before getting the money, so he continued to stay in the Zeng Mansion.

Fearing that he would disturb the other servants, the steward arranged a separate room for him and took care of his meals, saying he could stay until the officials announced the results.

A few days later, one night, while He Da was sleeping alone in his room, suddenly, in the darkness, he heard the voice of his brother He Er: "Brother, I died horribly..."

Startled by this sentence, He Da woke up immediately. He couldn't tell whether it was a dream or reality, and at that moment, his hand... touched something—a Liuli fish that was still wet on the surface.

"Ah!" At that moment, He Da was terrified out of his wits.

Before he could figure out what was going on, he suddenly heard...

Hiss—Hiss—

Outside the window, a series of strange noises began to sound.

Regarding these strange noises, He Da had heard Zhao Daqiang talk about them before. Recalling it now, a thought crossed his mind: "Could it be... the ghost Zhao Daqiang encountered was targeting this fish from the beginning?"

Hiss Hiss Hiss...

The sounds outside became more and more urgent; He Da, terrified, hugged his head and crouched under the bed, crying loudly for help.

It was unclear how long it had been when the noise stopped, and then, the sounds of several people knocking on the door followed.

It seemed that someone had heard his cries for help and came over.

He Da gathered his courage to crawl out from under the bed and opened the door, seeing the steward and several house servants holding lanterns at the door, finally letting out a sigh of relief.

By now, he couldn't hide it anymore. That night, he explained the entire cause and effect to the steward and took out the "Liuli fish."; the steward then presented the item to Mr. Zeng and relayed He Da's story.

Mr. Zeng was a scholar and didn't understand these things, so he assumed the Liuli fish was a cursed object. It was best to bury it in a desolate and wild place; as for He Da, give him ten taels, whether he wants it or not, and let him leave quickly.

The next morning, He Da took the silver and left the Zeng Mansion. With the plaintiff gone, the officials no longer pursued the case of his brother, He Er.

As for that "Liuli fish," the steward instructed several house servants to choose a time when the sun was directly overhead and the yang energy was at its strongest to go to a wasteland outside the city. They dug a pretty deep hole and buried it right then and there.

It was thought that the matter would be over with that, however...

A few days later, Mr. Zeng's second wife was suddenly found dead in her room, and her corpse's hands were clasped in front of her chest, tightly holding a Liuli fish...

...

Huang Donglai ordered a pot of wine for the old gentleman at a tavern by the roadside and listened to him vividly narrate this story.

After hearing it, Huang Donglai's first question was, "That... Old man, setting aside whether this matter is really as bizarre as you say... Why do you speak about it in such detail, as if you had seen it with your own eyes?"

"Heh! Kid, don't doubt it." The old man replied confidently, "I heard it from Granny Li next door, who lives in the house of Old Li."

"Did Granny Li next door see it with her own eyes?" Huang Donglai asked.

"She didn't see it, but she heard it from her grandson's friend's uncle," the old man added.

"Her grandson's friend's uncle..." Huang Donglai started to say, feeling a bit unable to continue listening; he then said, "Hey~ Just tell me, where does this news originate?"

"It's the steward of the Zeng Mansion, Zeng Su," the old man answered. "He knows all about these events, most clearly, he personally told it to Zhou, the arrest officer at the gate of the Government Office. Zhou knew, and so naturally did his brothers in the Government Office and then..."

"Alright, 'and then' let's skip that part." Huang Donglai interrupted the man from rambling on and then asked, "By the way, when did Mrs. Zeng die?"

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