Chapter Seventy-Three: The Mermaid
Lu Chenyuan carefully cradled the puppet doll in his arms, immediately feeling a chilling aura seep into his flesh. He steadied himself, suppressing the tearing agony from the dreadful wound in his chest, and with his right hand braced against the wall, limped to the back of the woodshed. From the crack in the door, he silently peered into the courtyard.
Under the moonlight, he spotted a furtive figure poking around the corner of the wall. Who else could it be but Zhang, the silk merchant? A shiver ran through Lu Chenyuan’s heart. He thought, “He’s still alive? How curious.”
Everyone knew that Li Zhenren at the abandoned dock was a monstrous fiend with a taste for human flesh. Zhang had sought a tiger's hide from a tiger; to survive to this day was fortune indeed. Lu Chenyuan had assumed Zhang had either been devoured or silenced, yet, unexpectedly, he encountered him here once again.
“This man waited for the Magistrate’s agents to leave and slipped in right after. Clearly, he’s deliberately avoiding the authorities. What business brings him back now?”
Thoughts raced through Lu Chenyuan's mind. He watched as Zhang surveyed the courtyard, possibly noticing that, apart from a handful of scattered guests, the inn was deserted; most of the staff had been dismissed, leaving only Wang Ergou in the front hall doing chores. Emboldened, Zhang crept across the backyard and headed straight for the main hall.
Lu Chenyuan’s heart stirred. He mused, “Such suspicious behavior surely signals a plot. I’ll follow and see what’s what.”
He immediately masked his presence, pressed close to the base of the wall, and silently trailed after him.
...
Shangguan Chuci, along with Lin Jianyan, Ling Jue, and their companions, had left the Tide-Viewing Inn and were returning to the Magistrate's Office. As they passed through a fish market, the salty tang of the sea assaulted their senses. All around, street vendors hawked their wares, and buyers bargained loudly.
Having left the inn, Lin Jianyan felt the invisible pressure around her dissipate, her mind clearing, and finally exhaled a long breath of relief. Yet, recalling how she’d been frightened into losing composure by that evil entity in the inn, she instinctively reached for Chuci’s sleeve, and her fair cheeks flushed crimson to the tips of her ears.
“A dignified agent of the Magistrate’s Office, losing her nerve before a demon and hiding behind another—how disgraceful,” she thought, mortified and embarrassed. She stole a glance at Shangguan Chuci, whose expression remained calm and who said nothing of the incident, which eased her heart somewhat, prompting her to feign as though nothing had happened.
Still, the matter of the puppet weighed on her like a heavy stone.
“That puppet is so sinister, even I, an Inspector of the Fire Stage, almost fell prey to it. If left unchecked, what disaster might it wreak?”
Her thoughts spun endlessly, yet she knew this matter could not be left unresolved, and so resolved to sound out the situation gently.
...
Lin Jianyan steadied herself and turned to Shangguan Chuci, asking with feigned casualness, “Young Master Chuci, is there anyone still living in the inn’s backyard?”
As she uttered “backyard,” her heart leapt into her throat, fearing that eerie nursery rhyme would again echo in her mind, threatening to cut out her tongue.
Fortunately, nothing strange occurred nearby. She breathed easier, thinking, “Perhaps distance has weakened its power, or maybe my inquiry alone didn’t trigger its taboo.”
Shangguan Chuci, ever perceptive, recognized her concern at once and replied with a calm smile, “There’s a worker who lodges in the woodshed behind the inn.”
She knew that concealing the truth would only arouse suspicion, so it was better to speak openly and observe the response.
Lin Jianyan’s eyes, clear and bright as a doe’s, showed genuine worry as she said, “Since Qian Dahai is dead, the inn now has few people. Why keep so many workers? In my opinion, it’s safer to dismiss him than to let him remain in such a dangerous place.”
She paused, fearing Chuci might misunderstand, and hurried to add, “You needn’t worry, Young Master. I don’t mean to spend your money for charity. I’ll report this to the magistrate and arrange for him to receive compensation.”
Shangguan Chuci, hearing her words, sensed her kind heart and felt a touch of affection toward her.
She thought, “If only you knew that the puppet is now bound to Lu Chenyuan through the affinity system. In a sense, Lu Chenyuan is its master. It’s deadly to others, but safest for him to remain there.”
Shangguan Chuci was about to find a way to smooth over the matter when his gaze suddenly sharpened, settling on a figure a short distance away.
“Look at that man,” he said, raising his white jade folding fan and pointing toward the stranger.
The man was tall and thin, appearing to be around thirty years old, but his belly was swollen as if he were a woman nine months pregnant, stretching his coarse clothes to the point of bursting.
His skin was sallow, his eyes vacant, showing no sign of vitality, and he staggered as he walked, like a living corpse.
Such a sight was not uncommon in the bustling port town, but to these three experts, it was distinctly odd.
As soon as Shangguan Chuci spoke, Ling Jue and Lin Jianyan’s expressions changed.
She thought, “Their reaction isn’t one of surprise at some bizarre occurrence, but more like fear that a horror long known might finally break loose in broad daylight, no longer hidden.”
No sooner had this thought occurred than Ling Jue’s face darkened. He sternly ordered the two guards beside him, “Seize that man—don’t alarm the townsfolk!”
The two guards obeyed, moving quickly to flank the swollen-bellied man and restrain him. Yet, before they could reach him, the man’s legs buckled and he collapsed, convulsing violently.
The sudden turn of events startled the nearby fishmongers and pedestrians, who stopped to watch, gathering and whispering.
“Oh dear, is he having some kind of fit?”
“Look at that belly—he must have a fatal dropsy!”
“Move away, don’t bring bad luck on us!”
Lin Jianyan frowned deeply at the spectacle, murmuring, “This is bad.”
The two Magistrate guards realized the situation could no longer be concealed, and without hesitation, stepped forward to forcibly remove the convulsing man.
As their hands touched him, the man suddenly arched like a giant fish out of water, unleashing astonishing strength, leaping out of their hold and sending the battle-hardened guards stumbling back.
A wave of astonished cries swept the street, and the crowd recoiled in fright, clearing space.
Shangguan Chuci’s pupils contracted.
The man's coarse clothes were torn to shreds, exposing the skin beneath, which was now covered in slick, dense blue-green fish scales that shimmered eerily in the sunlight.
More horrifying still, his legs had somehow fused into a thick, nascent fish tail, thrashing wildly on the ground, each slap leaving a trail of foul-smelling slime on the flagstones.
From his mouth came not words but a strange sound, somewhere between a howl and a lament.
His once vacant eyes were now filled with indescribable agony and confusion, like a great fish dragged from the depths, stranded ashore and making its final, desperate struggle.