The matter dragged on until the latter half of the night.
A disaster drowned three workers. The only fortunate thing was that all the bodies were recovered.
Zhang Guodong sat on the riverbank, his suit completely soaked. His branded tie, which had been perfectly free of wrinkles, now resembled a chain bound around a prisoner's neck. His face was as pale as paper, and if one were to touch his hands and feet at that moment, they would undoubtedly be ice-cold.
With three workers dead in one incident, it was already a major accident. Zhang Guodong didn't care about the amount of compensation at all, only hoping that he wouldn't end up in jail because of this.
Zhang Guodong suddenly thought of something and shouted at the top of his lungs:
"Where is Huang Hai? Where is Huang Hai!"
Huang Hai had instigated this whole affair, and now that something had happened, Huang Hai had to take responsibility!
Huang Hai hadn't run. He followed Yan Shouyi dejectedly and came to Zhang Guodong's side.
Zhang Guodong now hated Huang Hai as much as he had respected him before. He stepped forward and punched Huang Hai, making him bleed from the face.
"So many people are dead, what am I supposed to do! What am I supposed to do!!" Zhang Guodong roared.
Huang Hai said with a somber face, "It was my blindness that I failed to see the real problem. I am willing to bear all consequences, whether it's financial compensation or anything else."
From this moment on, Huang Hai's karma would begin to be repaid. All the money he had earned in the past would likely have to be vomited out today.
Zhang Guodong sneered, "You can compensate with money, but can you compensate with lives! How can I face the families of those workers?!"
"It's no use arguing now that things have come to this," Huang Hai wiped the blood from his face and pointed at Yan Shouyi, saying, "It's thanks to this young brother here who made a move just now. If it weren't for him, even more people would have died."
"Him?"
Upon seeing Yan Shouyi, Zhang Guodong couldn't help but be stunned. Wasn't this the country bumpkin who had spoken nonsense this afternoon?
The foreman who had beaten Yan Shouyi earlier cursed, "Master Huang, are you confused? What ability does this brat have? He's just a jinx! If he hadn't been so meddlesome, so many things wouldn't have happened tonight!"
Huang Hai looked at the foreman and silently shook his head, thinking this was the so-called "good advice is wasted on deaf ears."
It was also fortunate that the foreman was tough, otherwise, if he hadn't heeded the warning, he would have died in the river just now.
Huang Hai said sternly, "This young brother has real skill. It was he who calmed the river. Don't believe me? Look at the third pier!"
Everyone looked and saw that on the third pier, five large characters, "Taishan Shi Gan Dang," were written in a striking red.
"Taishan Shi Gan Dang" has a historical allusion. Legend has it that at the foot of Mount Tai, there was a person named Shi, whose given name was Gan Dang. This person was very brave and full of righteousness, feared even by demons. Later, people would take stones from Mount Tai and engrave "Taishan Shi Gan Dang" on them, which could scare away monsters and suppress evil spirits.
These five characters alone were the embodiment of righteousness. Therefore, when people built houses, walls, or bridges, they would always prepare a stone slab or stele engraved with these words, to achieve the purpose of warding off evil, eliminating disasters, and preventing calamities.
Of course, ordinary stones and ordinary handwriting could only barely suppress minor spirits. As for the unclean entity at the bottom of the river, Yan Shouyi had to even use his own vital blood to write the characters to barely suppress it.
The rescued workers were still in shock, and as they recalled what had happened, some workers immediately stated that they had indeed seen the river water calm down after Yan Shouyi wrote the characters.
Otherwise, with the raging waves, a few more who couldn't swim would surely have drowned.
Especially when Wu Yuchun came forward and told everyone that Yan Shouyi had helped him find his brother's body, everyone became even more convinced of Yan Shouyi's abilities.
Seeing this, Zhang Guodong calmed down considerably. He said to Yan Shouyi, "Young brother, I misjudged you earlier. I apologize. If you have a way to deal with the entity in the river, I will agree to any request you have!"
Yan Shouyi glanced at Zhang Guodong's physiognomy. This person had a full forehead, well-formed ears, and thick lips, which indicated a benevolent appearance. It was a pity that his eyebrows were broken on both sides, indicating that he was destined to face a calamity.
He said, "Since ancient times, building bridges and roads has been a virtuous act. Although you built this bridge with other intentions, it must be admitted that it has benefited the region. I believe my passing by here today was destined for me to help you overcome this tribulation."
Upon hearing that Yan Shouyi was willing to help, Zhang Guodong was overjoyed and quickly arranged for his subordinates to give Yan Shouyi two boxed meals.
It must be said that Yan Shouyi had been busy until now and was indeed hungry.
So, he didn't stand on ceremony, holding the boxed meal and eating as he spoke, "I saw it this afternoon. The feng shui here is quite good, and there is indeed a fire element煞 (sha). It was correct to use the Black Tortoise stone statue to suppress it."
"Then..." Huang Hai hesitated to speak.
"The problem lies beneath the third pier!"
With rice grains still on his lips, Yan Shouyi pointed in the direction of the pier with his chopsticks and asked, "Let me ask you, before you drove this pier, did you dig up anything from the riverbed?"
Zhang Guodong looked bewildered, but some of the workers who had fallen into the water beside him turned pale.
Huang Hai discovered the clue and immediately grabbed those workers, "What do you know? Speak up quickly!"
The workers were ashen with fear and dared not hide anything. They quickly said, "Before we drove that pier, we dug up a rotten coffin from the riverbed. Inside, there was nothing but a skeleton. We threw away the bones and burned the coffin. We thought it wasn't a big deal, and there were no cultural relics, so we didn't report it..."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Guodong pointed at the workers, unable to speak for a long time.
What a sin!
What a sin!
Several workers also said that the three workers who died were the ones who threw away the bones. They themselves only burned the coffin, and perhaps that's why they were spared just now.
Zhang Guodong pressed his chest and said, "Young brother, your predictions are truly divine..."
"Stop flattering me," Yan Shouyi waved his hand and said, "In fact, there is still a coffin under the pier. These two coffins were buried together, likely for about a hundred years, and most likely a couple. The owners of the coffins must have been very loving when they were alive and did not wish to reincarnate after death. So, they asked someone to curse their coffins so that they would be reunited forever. You dug up a coffin and broke their curse, disturbing their peace, and you only dug up one, preventing the couple from being reunited. How could they not hate you to death?"
The surviving workers trembled and quietly moved away from the riverbank, fearing that the entity at the bottom of the river might crawl ashore and drag them into the water for revenge.
Zhang Guodong asked, "Is there a solution?"
"What else can be done? Dismantle the pier, dig out the coffins, find a geomantically auspicious place, move the couple's graves, and then re-cast the curse. I believe Master Huang certainly knows how to cast curses," Yan Shouyi said with a smile. "I think the riverside here is quite good. If you burn more joss paper in the future, perhaps the couple can even help you watch over the bridge."
Huang Hai couldn't help but say, "But that corpse dug up earlier..."
"Don't tell me you don't know how to find a corpse, don't make me look down on you again," Yan Shouyi said resentfully.
Huang Hai chuckled sheepishly and quickly nodded.
He did indeed know how to find a corpse, and it wouldn't be very difficult to find the bones that had been thrown away earlier.
Although Huang Hai had this ability now, Zhang Guodong was scared. He had been harmed by Huang Hai once before, and now he couldn't easily trust him.
So, Zhang Guodong immediately pulled Yan Shouyi and said, "Young brother, why don't you do it yourself? I'll give you any amount of money!"
"Don't always talk about money, it's so vulgar. My grandfather said that we take money as it comes when we do things. The most important thing is to earn a living!" Yan Shouyi said with a smile. "I've eaten your food, so I've received your favor. It's only natural for me to help you. Don't worry, Master Huang has real skills, he just misjudged this time."
Huang Hai felt deeply guilty. He feared that after this incident, he would have to retire and go into seclusion, cultivating diligently and accumulating virtue without involving himself in worldly affairs.
Seeing that Zhang Guodong was still uneasy, Yan Shouyi added, "I'll be staying in Rongcheng for a while. If you have any more problems, you can contact me anytime. Is that acceptable?"
"Alright, alright!" Zhang Guodong breathed a sigh of relief, forgetting to let go, as if afraid Yan Shouyi would run away.
"Master Huang," Yan Shouyi called out.
Huang Hai quickly bent over, "You truly humble me. In front of you, I dare not accept such a title!"
"Let's dispense with the pleasantries. I have two things I need your help with," Yan Shouyi said.
"Please, just command me."
Now that Yan Shouyi was a powerful figure, Huang Hai wished he could hold onto him tightly. Even if Yan Shouyi wanted to marry his daughter now, Huang Hai would not hesitate, even though his daughter was only eight years old.
Yan Shouyi held up two fingers, "First, after it's done, please perform a ceremony for the workers who drowned today."
"It's my duty, it's my duty," Huang Hai nodded repeatedly. Even if Yan Shouyi hadn't said it, he would have done it.
"The second thing is, you are a local of Rongcheng and must have extensive connections. I'd like to ask you to help me find someone. His name is Chen Dawei, he should be fifty-three years old this year, with a large mole on the left side of his nose and a limp in his right leg. He is a fortune teller."
Huang Hai was about to agree when Zhang Guodong quickly interjected, "Young brother, I'll help you with this!"
Yan Shouyi, whom even Huang Hai considered a significant figure, was an even greater catch in Zhang Guodong's eyes. To be able to connect with a master like Yan Shouyi, let alone marry off his daughter, Zhang Guodong would be willing to marry his son.
"I'll leave you my phone number. Whoever finds him can call me anytime."
Having an extra person to help would always provide another channel. Yan Shouyi thought that he might be staying in Rongcheng for a long time in the future.
Therefore, making friends was not a bad thing.
With the matter settled, Yan Shouyi did not intend to stay any longer. Although Zhang Guodong wanted to invite Yan Shouyi to dinner, there were still three bodies lying by the river at the moment, and he was in no mood for it.
Holding a few boxed meals, he was about to leave when Huang Hai caught up and asked in a low voice, "Young brother, forgive my impertinence, but are you perhaps... a descendant of Lu Ban?"
Suppressing evil with "Taishan Shi Gan Dang" was a technique of orthodox Lu Ban descendants. Although other sects also knew it, they might not be as proficient as a true Lu Ban descendant, and their own skills would be more effective.
Coupled with Yan Shouyi's previous actions, which displayed techniques Huang Hai had never seen before, it made him think of a mysterious folk school, the descendants of Lu Ban!
Facing Huang Hai's probing, Yan Shouyi smiled calmly:
"I dare to say it, but I fear you won't dare to listen."