Chapter Nine: Arrangements

“Grandpa Zhao, is it really that serious?”

Zhao Fifteen gave a wry smile. “I’ve actually put it quite mildly. Tomorrow night is the night of the full moon, and we don’t have much time left. Besides, who knows what’s going on over at the Jewelry Building!”

I nodded in silent agreement.

“Master Zhao, then what do you think we should do now?” Although Wang Dabao was an intellectual, it seemed the events of years past had left a deep impression on him. Now, he believed every word Zhao Fifteen said.

“This is what we’ll do. Village Chief Wang, go find the person in charge of this water plant, and then gather as many women from the village as you can who have never had children—the more, the better. If you can’t find enough, married women will do, but under no circumstances should there be any men. Have each woman bring a banana leaf, and tell everyone to gather here at exactly eight o’clock tonight! Also, pick a few men to open a channel at the top of this reservoir for me.”

“Grandpa Zhao, are you going down yourself?”

Zhao Fifteen grinned. “You’ll see soon enough!”

I couldn’t quite figure out Zhao Fifteen’s arrangement. If we were going to deal with the water corpse, why did we need so many women? And why did each have to carry a banana leaf? Wouldn’t that only stir up more of the sinister energy here?

By now, Zhao Fifteen had already started organizing everyone.

One by one, men from the village arrived with stone-working tools. Grandpa Zhao called everyone over to get to work, even sending a burly fellow to chop down a peach tree and haul the trunk over.

While we were busy, a voice called out from not far away.

“What are you all doing here?”

The newcomer was dressed in a suit, his belly protruding—a typical high-ranking official living off the fat of the land.

As expected, the man turned out to be the deputy director of the water plant. At that moment, Village Chief Wang rushed over to me and Zhao Fifteen, whispering that the plant manager was out of town and wouldn’t be back until nighttime. The deputy director, he said, was a rude, arrogant man who showed no regard for the villagers—though, due to the contract signed back then, half the rights to the spring water belonged to them.

I looked at the man, already feeling a headache coming on. He stood before us, looking down his nose at everyone.

“All of you, get down from there! What do you think you’re doing?”

Zhao Fifteen stood there for a long moment before he quietly asked, “Forgive me, but do you often get stomach pains?”

Neither I nor the village chief reacted at first, but the deputy director’s face turned red with anger. “Who the hell are you? Don’t come here stirring up trouble! We’ve just landed a few big contracts—don’t you dare mess this up for me!”

Blinded by greed—such is the way of businessmen. It’s not entirely their fault.

Zhao Fifteen shook his head. “You must drink the spring water from this reservoir often, I suppose? If you don’t stop production immediately, I can tell you right now, the water you’re supplying will soon bring disaster—people will die because of it!”

“You, you—”

The deputy director pointed at Zhao Fifteen, speechless.

Wang Dabao hurried to steady the man and explained that Zhao Fifteen was a highly skilled yin-yang master from the Longevity Agency, very accomplished. But when Wang Dabao mentioned there was a problem with the spring, the deputy director immediately cut him off with a shout: “What problem? What could possibly be wrong? This spring water is absolutely flawless!”

I could only give a bitter smile.

“But there is indeed a problem here. If you don’t believe me, just look at the ground beneath your feet!”

As I spoke, I pointed to the soil under the deputy director’s shoes. He wasn’t stupid—he bent down, scooped up a handful of dirt, and sniffed it. Immediately, he recoiled several steps, a look of shock on his face. “Village Chief Wang, what’s going on?”

Wang Dabao shook his head. “Deputy Director, the spring really is in trouble, and it’s a big problem!”

“A big problem? What kind of big problem?” The deputy director still seemed unconvinced. He grabbed another handful of dirt, sniffed it again, then hurled it far away.

“There is an evil spirit here that has taken form. If we don’t deal with it soon, it will bring calamity to the region!”

He snorted with laughter. “An evil spirit taking form? Old man, are you feverish or just addled? A spirit, you say? I think you’re the one going mad! Just tell me how much money you want to leave!”

After all, that’s how things are nowadays—most issues can be settled with money.

For someone who doesn’t believe in the supernatural, no amount of explanation would help.

Zhao Fifteen suddenly burst into laughter. “If it’s money you want to offer, I wouldn’t get involved. How much can you even afford? Village Chief Wang, since we’re facing obstruction here, I suppose I’ll have to leave this matter for now. Like that other yin-yang master once said: fate cannot be forced.”

As he spoke, Zhao Fifteen glanced at me, and we both took a step to leave.

“Masters, please, wait!”

Wang Dabao quickly blocked our path, then gave a wry smile. “Masters, only you can help us now. Even if it means breaking the contract, I’ll stop supplying spring water from the reservoir to them!”

Zhao Fifteen nodded in approval.

Hearing this, the deputy director was furious. He strode up to Wang Dabao and said coldly, “Village Chief Wang, don’t forget when we signed the contract back then, we agreed the rights to the spring would belong to our company for fifty years. If you break the agreement now, you’ll owe us thirty times the damages!”

Wang Dabao smiled faintly. “The contract was signed with Old Master Chen. If there’s an issue, let him come find me himself.”

With that, Wang Dabao grabbed a hammer from the ground, strode to the water pipe, and struck it several times with force.

“Dongzi, you and the others come help me take this pipe apart!”

The strong men who had been working at the reservoir immediately came over and began dismantling the pipe with a clatter of tools.

“You’re all insane—just wait, you’ll be hearing from our lawyers!” the deputy director spat. With that, his belly jutting forward, he stormed off in a rage.

Only then did Zhao Fifteen step forward and pat Wang Dabao on the shoulder. “Village Chief Wang, this matter concerns the entire Lingquan Village. I’m sure you understand: when people are gone, nothing else matters. What use is all of this if there’s no one left to enjoy it?”

Wang Dabao nodded and grasped Zhao Fifteen’s hand tightl