Mei Shu didn't say much about what happened on the river, and he didn't allow me and Little Mei-jie to talk about it either. He was afraid that the dirty things in the river would hear our discussion and follow us all the way home.

　　Back home, he specially took a bottle of baijiu (white liquor) from the cabinet, poured a cup for himself, and poured one for me as well. He also poured half a cup each for Little Mei-jie and Aunt Mei.

　　"Come, have a drink, calm your nerves. Let's pretend nothing happened today! Swallow it down with this cup of wine!"

　　After saying this, Mei Shu picked up his cup and took a big gulp. I quickly followed Mei Shu's example and took a mouthful, choking so much that tears streamed down my face.

　　Little Mei-jie and Aunt Mei didn't drink as fiercely as we did, just sipping it little by little. I could tell that Little Mei-jie hadn't recovered yet, her face pale white, and she had no appetite for food.

　　I comforted her in a low voice, "Little Mei-jie, don't be afraid. We're home now. There are so many households in the village, the yang (positive energy) is strong, and even the most ferocious evil spirits wouldn't dare to follow us!"

　　Little Mei-jie nodded and tightly grasped my hand under the table.

　　I felt her little hand was ice-cold, and I persuaded her, "You should eat something at least. Have a good sleep after you're full. When the sun comes out tomorrow, you won't be afraid of anything."

　　Little Mei-jie responded, and then began to pick up chopsticks to eat.

　　By the time the meal was over, Mei Shu was already a bit drunk. His face was flushed, and he muttered to himself, "The moon is bright, the moon is shining, the moonlight shines on the wine bottle. The Suizhou wine is so good, there's no way to describe it. I can't sleep without drinking it..."

　　Aunt Mei wasn't drunk, and she was busy arranging for me and Little Mei-jie to wash up and rest.

　　At night, Aunt Mei and Little Mei-jie slept in one room, and I had a room to myself.

　　Although alcohol emboldens cowards, after encountering something like what happened today, I still felt uneasy in my heart even after drinking more alcohol. It was impossible not to be afraid. As soon as I closed my eyes, I could see the crevice in the ground, filled with corpses, like the Gates of Hell...

　　And that bizarre figure that crawled out of the black coffin remained in my mind. Once everything was quiet, I could vaguely hear its beast-like, shrill cries.

　　Lying in bed, I tossed and turned, unable to sleep. I didn't even dare to close my eyes, so I could only lie in bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

　　After a while, I saw the light in the yard outside turn on, and then the sound of a door opening rang out. A figure walked out of the room.

　　I peeked out the window and saw that the figure was Mei Shu. He wasn't asleep. Instead, he was wearing a coat, carrying a fish spear, and sitting in the yard, watching over us for the night.

　　I guessed that he couldn't sleep either, and was worried that the dirty things in the river would sneak into the house, so he didn't sleep and sat outside on guard duty.

　　I have to say, seeing Mei Shu standing guard made me feel a lot more at ease. At least I wasn't so afraid.

　　I went back to bed, covered my head with the blanket, curled up into a ball, and huddled at the foot of the bed. I don't know how long it took, but I finally fell asleep.

　　I didn't sleep soundly. I woke up several times from nightmares in the middle of the night. Every time I woke up, I would look up at the window and see Mei Shu still standing guard with his fish spear, and I would return to the quilt with peace of mind.

　　After repeating this several times, I finally made it through the night.

　　Dawn broke.

　　As soon as the sky in the east turned a fish-belly white, I put on my clothes and got out of bed. When I walked out of the house, I saw that Little Mei-jie and Aunt Mei had already started preparing breakfast.

　　I saw that Little Mei-jie had dark circles under her eyes, and her face was very haggard, so I guessed that she hadn't slept all night and had probably kept her eyes open until dawn.

　　"Didn't sleep last night?" I asked, a little distressed, holding Little Mei-jie's hand.

　　Little Mei-jie smiled helplessly and said, "How could anyone sleep after encountering something like that? As soon as I close my eyes, I see floating corpses in the water, and that black coffin..."

　　At this time, Mei Shu, who had been on guard all night, came in from outside with his fish spear and said to Little Mei-jie, "Go out and bask in the sun, absorb some yangqi (positive energy). Don't go to the river for the next few days. Stay at home obediently."

　　Little Mei-jie nodded and went to bask in the sun in the yard. I followed her out and washed my face with the tap water in the yard.

　　Before long, Aunt Mei had finished making breakfast and called us in to eat. I saw that Little Mei-jie's face had improved a bit after basking in the sun for a while, so I told her to go back and catch up on her sleep after eating breakfast.

　　But at this moment, a burst of footsteps suddenly came from the door, and then we heard someone shout, "Mei Laosan? Is Mei Laosan home?"

　　Mei Shu put down his chopsticks and went out to greet them, and I followed behind him. I saw that the person who came to find him was Lao Li, the policeman we met by the river yesterday. He was accompanied by two other people, one was his apprentice, the short-haired policewoman, and the other was a man in plain clothes, in his forties, with a buzz cut and very fair skin.

　　Although the man wasn't wearing a uniform, I could tell from his temperament that he was definitely a policeman.

　　When he saw Mei Shu, before Lao Li could speak, the fair-skinned man took the initiative to say, "Comrade, hello. We've come here mainly to understand the situation from yesterday evening, please..."

　　Mei Shu immediately waved his hand and said, "Alright, I don't have anything to say about that matter. Lao Li, weren't you there at the time? Don't you know what happened? Do you still need to ask me? I'm still eating breakfast, I won't talk to you anymore, you guys leave!"

　　After saying this, Mei Shu prepared to see them off.

　　Seeing that Mei Shu was a stubborn block of steel and refused to cooperate, the man wasn't angry. Instead, he suddenly turned to me, took out a heavy envelope from his pocket, handed it to me, and said with a smile:

　　"Young man, you're Chen Rongsheng, right? I heard that you're a good swimmer. You fished out two floating corpses yesterday, and even went into the water to investigate? Tsk, tsk... you're really capable! Here, this is your reward, keep it."

　　Lao Huang from the Sanitation Bureau and policeman Lao Li each owed me five hundred yuan from yesterday, which was indeed the reward I should receive, so I didn't hesitate and directly took the envelope.

　　But as soon as I held the envelope in my hand, I felt that the weight was a bit off. Although I was poor at the time, I still knew how much a thousand yuan in cash weighed. The envelope definitely contained more than ten bills.

　　I immediately opened the envelope and took a look, and it was indeed as I expected!

　　I saw a thick stack of banknotes inside, at least fifty of them.

　　I immediately became vigilant and looked at the man and asked, "What do you mean by this? My reward isn't this much."

　　The man gave me a very slick smile and said, "Don't be polite, Little Chen, this is what you deserve. What happened yesterday exceeded our expectations a bit, and you also took on unexpected risks. The extra money is considered compensation for your mental distress, just take it."

　　But the hand holding the envelope was a little hesitant, because I knew that this money probably wouldn't be so easy to take.

　　Sure enough, the man immediately said, "But as a person involved, I need to talk to you about what happened yesterday, is that okay?"

　　At this time, Mei Shu was already a little impatient. He said with a cold face, "Are you done yet? I've already said that we don't have anything to say, why are you pestering us? Lao Li, it's not that I'm not cooperating, it's that I don't want to cause trouble for myself, you guys leave!"

　　Lao Li lowered his head and didn't speak, seemingly because this man beside him wasn't under his control.

　　But the pale-faced man still didn't give up. He glanced at Mei Shu, then at me, and suddenly lowered his voice and asked, "Don't you want to know what that black shadow that crawled out of the coffin was?"