Start with acting, and you'll achieve immortality!

Pei Xing, disregarding the formalities, hurriedly reported, "My lord, something has happened downstream! There's something at the mouth of the bay!" Li Ping immediately pressed down the imperial letter under the paperweight, rose, and led Su Wan straight to the dock outside the city. When he arrived at the shore, the third wave of search boats was returning from the lower reaches of the Black Water.

The boat scraped against the rubble, the pole making a series of loud thuds. The constables looked grim, their clothes stained with black mud. When they were still about two zhang from the shore, one of them leaned over the gunwale and began to retch.

Gao Min handed over a handkerchief, then smelled the odor herself, frowned, and took a half-step back: "Sir, there's a lot of evil spirits down here. Why don't you go back to the carriage and wait?"

"If you don't like the smell, just bear with it," Li Ping said, standing at the end of the wooden plank road. "The mother formation collapsed three days ago; do you expect any floral fragrance to seep out from underneath?"

They searched for three days downstream of the Blackwater.

Shen Zhu last appeared on the night the mother formation collapsed, thirty paces north of this dock. The old corpse, along with the core of the formation, sank downwards, and the black water overflowed the shore, gnawing away at half of the pier, leaving only wooden stakes. Whether Shen Zhu sank with it, no one could see clearly.

Pei Xing and his men searched the riverbank twice, recovering broken wood, rotten iron, half a copper rope, and rotten bone knots from an old corpse.

nobody

The old boatman squatted at the bow, tapping his pipe against the hull: "Sir, we really can't venture any further into the bay. I've been wading through that area for thirty years. The water is shallow, and the bottom is all hard mud. Even if the dark water is strange, it won't swallow a person whole."

Li Ping looked at the water.

The foam on the shore moved eastward, but the foam in the center of the bay lagged behind. Two rotten leaves circled around to the center, then suddenly sank without even making a ripple.

"Bring the pole."

The old boatman was taken aback: "Sir, there really is no path down there; the pole goes down to the end."

"You've been wading through living water for thirty years," Li Ping said, taking the long pole, "but the formation below isn't under the Dragon King's jurisdiction."

The pole plunges into the heart of the bay.

一臂

两臂

As the third arm swung down, the tip of the pole suddenly missed its mark, and the entire bamboo pole slid halfway into the water. The old boatman lunged forward and grabbed the end of the pole, the wooden plank beneath his feet creaking.

The shore guards were in an uproar

"Water doesn't lie," Li Ping said, pulling the pole back. Black mud dripped down the bamboo joints, falling onto the wooden board and emitting wisps of smoke. "Only people lie."

Gao Min's face stiffened, and she silently hugged the booklet in her arms tighter.

Li Ping handed the long pole back to the boatman: "Go downstream along the hidden channel and feel your way out of the water. Use the hook to catch any copper pieces, bone buckles, or wooden boxes, and seal them all up. If you hook something alive, call for help first. If you hook something that bites, call for Su Wan."

Su Wan stood three steps behind him, her sword on her left, and didn't reply.

In the afternoon, the fourth search team returned.

The lead constable carried a wooden tray covered with an oilcloth. Pei Xingben, who was noting boat numbers on the shore, saw the oilcloth and his pen stopped on the paper.

The oilcloth was lifted, revealing a corner of clothing underneath.

The fabric was stiffened by the black liquid, the edges curled into a charred crust, leaving only a small, finely stitched grayish-blue area on the inside. A half-finished old patch remained in the corner, poorly sewn, clearly showing the lack of patience of the person who made it.

Pei Xing reached out and touched it, then withdrew his hand.

He looked for a long time.

The sound of water squeezed past under the wooden stake, splash, splash. No one spoke, and Gao Min closed the booklet.

Pei Xing finally spoke: "It's Shen Zhu's."

Li Ping didn't ask him how he recognized him.

Shen Zhu had worn that old official robe for many years; the cuffs and waist had been patched. When he was inspecting the battlefield, he often found the robe cumbersome, so he would climb over the wall with his sword, tearing the hem of his robe on the wall. It was Pei Xing who, while cursing, found him needles and thread.

After scolding, Shen Zhu sewed up by himself.

The sewing result would drive a tailor crazy.

Li Ping took the wooden tray and glanced at the piece of cloth.

"Keep searching"

The constable responded

The old boatman hesitated for a moment: "Sir, if the person really entered that dark ditch, it's been three days..."

Li Ping looked up

The old boatman swallowed the second half of his sentence and changed his words, saying, "I'll take the boat right away."

"Don't be a hero," Li Ping said. "This water can dissolve bamboo poles, and it can also dissolve your old bones. I don't want Gao Min to write another compensation claim."

The boatman nodded, speechless, and turned to call for someone to replace the iron hook.

Li Ping called out to Fang Cheng again.

Fang Cheng stood on the stone steps a little distance from the shore, the hem of his gray robe billowing in the wind, clinging to his legs, his face still bearing the look of someone who hadn't slept for several nights.

"Take two people to check that ditch in the middle of the bay after the tide goes out tonight," Li Ping said in a low voice. "Just look at it, make sure you see the direction the tide is going in, don't try to fish in the deeper parts."

Fang Cheng looked at the water: "You've been standing here for three days, are you waiting for a living person, or for that core of the formation?"

"I doubt even how many days your mangled body can last," Li Ping said. "What's a little suspicion about a dead man?"

As the sun began to set in the west, the people on the dock changed from one group to another. Iron hooks scraped across the riverbed, occasionally stirring up fragments of copper and black mud. No one shouted anymore that they had found Shen Zhu.

Li Ping stood on the dock for an hour, while Su Wan remained silent, simply gazing at the water.

The wind came from the water, carrying the smell of black water and rotting wood. Gao Min bought the three incense sticks from the paper craft shop at the street corner. When the shopkeeper heard they were for Shen Zhu, he gave her an extra handful of yellow paper and didn't charge her.

Li Ping squatted down, lit three incense sticks by the dock, and stuck them into the soil.

The incense sticks were very thin, and were bent to one side by the river wind.

"Shen Zhu," Li Ping said, looking at the lit fire, "I won't say you're dead until we find you. If you're really down there, I'll be waiting for you. If you're still alive, you'll be waiting too."

Pei Xing wrapped the piece of clothing in a clean cloth, placed it in the wooden box, and closed the lid very quietly.

Gao Min asked in a low voice, "Sir, the Ministry of Personnel's Performance Evaluation Office has very sharp eyes. If this list doesn't match, we in Jiangning will probably be in trouble."

Li Ping stood up and brushed the dirt off his fingertips.

"The list records those who have disappeared, but the pensions are issued according to those who died in battle."

Gao Min paused for a moment: "That list..."

"The list says he's missing, and Qian Zhao was killed in action," Li Ping said, looking at him. "If the court asks, just say I'm bad at arithmetic."

Gao Min wanted to persuade him further, but ultimately didn't. He knew that Jiang Ning owed Shen Zhu a debt that had been owed since the day the mother formation collapsed.

On the way back, it was already dark.

The incense at the dock was still burning, the three-pointed red sunshine was still in the mud, and the boatmen were carrying iron hooks downstream. Fang Cheng didn't follow the group back to the city; instead, he turned and went to the broken stone embankment beside the bay.

Li Ping walked ahead, his feet stepping through the wet mud, leaving faint black marks on the soles of his boots. Su Wan followed silently behind.

The torches at the city gate lit up, and behind them, some constables whispered about the ditch in the bay, saying that the prefect might be a water ghost in disguise. Before they could finish speaking, Gao Min turned around, glanced at them, and glared back.

Li Ping suddenly said, "Pack your things, you're coming to the capital with me tomorrow."

Su Wan looked at his back.

This is not a question

"A sword in the left hand can kill just as well," she said.

Li Ping didn't turn around.

Su Wan pressed her left hand against the scabbard, and the hilt made a soft clanging sound.

"The sword remains; wherever you go, I will go."

Li Ping paused and looked north. The rain in Jiangning had just stopped, but the storm in the capital was already on its way.