Yan Xiaohan responded, “His wife will likely not survive the night. I’ll go to the lake to fish him out. You follow her. If we can’t save her husband, we’ll need a living witness.”
Fu Shen hesitated, looking worried. Yan Xiaohan understood his concern and reassured, “Don’t worry. I’m a decent swimmer. I’ll always prioritize self-preservation and won’t take unnecessary risks.”
“Be careful. I can’t handle another lightning strike like last time,” Fu Shen said, pulling out the small knife Yan Xiaohan had once tried to use for self-harm and tossing it to him. “I’ll take the woman to the fox spirit temple.”
Yan Xiaohan caught the knife, spinning it playfully between his fingers. Mounting his horse and laughing into the wind, his face seemed to glow in the dark night: “Alright, see you at the fox spirit temple.”
Days without seeing each other, the fox immortal temple still stood on the original small hillside, more dilapidated and looking like a pile of ruins in the night, with the river converging into a vast water area behind the mountain.
Tonight, there was no wind or rain, the moonlight was pure and bright, the lake shore was rugged with rocks, the lake water was deep and waveless, exuding an eerie and cold atmosphere. Yan Xiao Han dismounted, standing by the lake for a long time, staring at the deep blue lake water before finally realizing what was strange about this place.
That night during the heavy rain, they had not approached the lakeside to look closely, and the group led by Qi Wang and Yan Xiao Han had not noticed anything amiss: this lake appeared in the wilderness, with flowing water, yet the lakeside was barren, with no reed grass or water birds, and even few fish or shrimp, making the entire lake feel like a dead pool without any sign of life.
Recalling the villagers’ actions tonight, Yan Xiao Han suddenly had a terrifying speculation.
Shortly after, splashing sounds came from the river, and Yan Xiao Han looked carefully to see a white figure floating up and down in the river’s center.
The villagers of Xiling Village were excellent swimmers, and due to his wife’s interruption, the stone on that person had not been tightly bound, coming loose after entering the water, allowing him to stay afloat, drifting to the lake’s edge.
Yan Xiao Han removed his outer garment, lightly entered the water, swimming forcefully to the river’s center, cutting several hemp ropes, letting the large stone sink to the river bottom, then punching the person still struggling to knock him unconscious, grabbing him to float to the surface and swim towards the shore.
He rescued him in time; though the man had choked on water, he was still breathing. Yan Xiao Han threw him onto the shore, seeing he was temporarily unable to escape, turned and re-entered the water, swimming towards the nearby lake.
The night was deep, the lake water even darker, Yan Xiao Han could only see about a foot around him. He held his breath and dove, continuing to explore the lake’s depths.
As he swam, he felt he had touched something, initially thinking it was a fish, but then something kept poking him from behind. Impatiently, he grabbed it, pulling it closer to see a white, tender object like a lotus root, with a forked end—
It was a human hand.
Encountering a lake resident’s hand right away, Master Yan almost passed out, almost believing he was hallucinating. He exhaled a string of bubbles, feeling he had just been shocked and his breath was insufficient to face the next wave of surprise, so he decisively gave up, kicking his legs to swim upward.
Moments later, a large splash erupted on the lake surface as Yan Xiao Han emerged, just exhaling when horse hooves were heard from the shore.
Fu Shen couldn’t wait to stabilize, leaping from his horse and quickly walking to the lakeside: “Meng Gui!”
Yan Xiao Han waved to him, indicating he was fine, then swam back to the river, repeatedly washing in the clear water. Fu Shen followed him from the lakeside to the riverside, reaching out to pull the wet Yan Xiao Han out, grabbing an outer robe to cover his head, puzzled: “What were you doing, running around like this?”
Yan Xiao Han gripped his hand, refusing to let go: “I won’t tell you, otherwise you definitely won’t let me hold on.”
Fu Shen scoffed dismissively: “Such a drama queen.”
The lakeside was windy, Yan Xiao Han was completely wet, and shivering. Fu Shen, seeing this, was about to remove his outer robe, but Yan Xiao Han still clung to him. Fu Shen struggled unsuccessfully, helplessly saying: “Won’t you let go?
“There are rumors that the local authorities are involved in some corrupt practices concerning this tax reduction.”
Fu Shen raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “Corruption? Are you suggesting that they might be linked to these disappearances?”
Yan Xiao Han nodded, her expression serious. “Yes. It could be that the villagers were forced to silence to cover for their activities.”
Fu Shen pondered this for a moment. “If we could gather more evidence, we might be able to expose them.”
Just then, footsteps echoed in the temple. A villager entered, looking wary. “I heard voices. Is everything alright?”
Yan Xiao Han quickly composed herself, gesturing toward the fire. “Yes, we were just keeping warm. Come closer.”
The villager hesitated but moved closer to the fire, his eyes darting to the unconscious woman. “Who is she?”
“Our friend,” Fu Shen replied curtly. “She needs help.”
Yan Xiao Han exchanged glances with Fu Shen, feeling the gravity of their situation. “We need to figure out what happened here, and fast.”
If the reduction was due to the Autumn Night White outbreak, then Autumn Night White must have appeared here before the autumn of the 25th year of Yuan Tai.”
Fu Shen said: “What does grain tax have to do with Autumn Night White? The second point seems somewhat arbitrary.”
Yan Xiao Han explained: “Although Jingchu is not as financially important as the Two Rivers region, it is still a fertile area. Last year had no drought, flood, or war, yet the grain tax inexplicably reduced by two-tenths, which is unreasonable. You saw in Kang Feng County that Autumn Night White is highly addictive and expensive, with users often becoming bankrupt and diseased. Could this not potentially cause some farmers to go bankrupt?”
“Moreover, Autumn Night White itself is highly profitable. If people profit from it, and every household imitates and stops growing grain to cultivate Autumn Night White instead, it could lead to the current situation. Verifying this is simple – we’ll take a trip outside Jingzhou city someday and see what’s actually growing in the fields.”
Fu Shen nodded slightly, indicating he understood, and motioned to continue.
“Third, according to Yi Siming’s account, White Dew was first appearing in the capital around last autumn and winter. This was precisely after you were injured at Qingsha Pass and His Majesty granted our marriage.”
The Pure Yang Taoist had been hiding in the capital for years without making a move, and in order to avenge you, he brought the drug into the capital after its efficacy was verified in the south.”
He paused for a moment and summarized: “Based on the clues we’ve discovered so far, White Dew first spread in the south and was then brought to the capital by the Pure Yang Taoist – this point should be beyond dispute.”
“You’re making assumptions again,” Fu Shen said, “According to your reasoning, White Dew already existed but was kept hidden, and later, due to some opportunity, it became popular in the Jing Chu region and was used by the Pure Yang Taoist to harm people. If White Dew was so profitable, why didn’t they bring it out earlier to make a fortune, and instead be so principled as to only use it after I was injured?”
