A broken promise. Persistence spanning beyond life and death.
"You broke your promise first, why can't I broke mine?"
"I keep this name to remember the promise I have once made, the promise I have once broken. Once again, it will be the promise I ke...
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When they arrived at Shuyi town, the weather had completely shifted to pleasant, spring-like warmth. The river canals looked beautiful with its sparkling flowing water, the plants were green and abundant. Xu Yejing could even make out wild lotuses blooming on the many bodies of water.
However, their reception was not as pleasant as the town's idyllic appearance. The townspeople pointed at their carriage, some whispered in hushed voices to each other, some even spat and hurriedly went out of their way.
Xu Yejing withdrew her head from the carriage's window and asked, "Laoban, is this the normal way for Shuyi's people to treat strangers?" Although she felt it was overly impolite, she did not know any background story. For all she knew, the townfolks might bear hatred towards strangers for a good reason.
But Man Zui's face was already pale; he suddenly jumped off the carriage, running towards a certain distance. He quickly disappeared amongst the crowd who immediately parted upon seeing him run.
"Laoban is probably missing He-jie too much. He's running towards our house' direction," Xiao Yang said, "I've been telling Laoban and dajie to look for another house elsewhere. The ghosts always appear close to the river where we live, it definitely doesn't have a good fengshui!"
"Man Zui's house is close to a river?" Fu Chun asked.
Xiao Yang, "Yes."
"And you live together?"
Xiao Yang sighed with sadness, "I have a life debt towards Laoban. Without him, how would I still be here?" But the simple-looking man did not elaborate his words and the other three did not want to pry.
But from what Man Zui and Xiao Yang had told her, the ghosts had only appeared for the past few weeks, probably a month at most. How could a location's fengshui just change out of the blue? Besides, to have a house built relatively close to flowing water was considered one of the best placements. The northern waters were famous to be pristine and clean, its natural element undoubtedly should add to harmony to the residences around it.
"Something has definitely happened," Fu Chun commented, glancing towards Fu Yan in tacit understanding.
The three of them tied their horses and left the carriage at a provided post. From what Xu Yejing had read, the riverside towns and villages were so picturesque they attracted tourists from both Taishan and Duhan. Horse stables and carriage posts were built for this purpose, so visitors could stop and walk leisurely at their own time.
Xu Yejing thought, "The townsfolks' hostility were definitely not directed at us." To confirm her suspicion, although there were more than some pairs of eyes looking at them at the moment with vigilance, the townspeople were no longer pointing fingers and cursing.
Recalling Man Zui's earlier expression, the issue could only lie with him.
Xiao Yang led the three of them through the various winding paths. Shuyi was considered a sizeable and prosperous town in the suburbs; even the local area's magistrate made the town his chosen home. The paths were either cobbled or relatively smooth, the river water flowing either to the left or to the right. Through the almost confusing maze-like roads, one could tell the roads were built to adjust to the water canals flow. All the smaller water channels met the bigger ones, towards the river which would also flow to other suburban towns and villages.
