Chapter 54: Chapter 54: Switching the Beams
"Do you know Xi Yao from the Bai Family Stage? Was she on the ship that day?" Yang Xiao continued to ask.
"No," Uncle-in-Law Lord shook his head decisively. "Although I don’t watch plays, Xi Yao is a pillar of the Bai Family Stage and is very famous in the city. I have seen her portrait."
"How many people from the troupe were there that night?"
"Including Master Bai, there were 25 people in total," Uncle-in-Law Lord answered without hesitation.
Yang Xiao couldn’t help but grow suspicious at Uncle-in-Law Lord’s quick response, "It’s been 10 years, how do you remember so clearly? Did you check everyone getting aboard?"
"Everyone who boarded had to register at the dock’s accounting office, and we collected silver per person. After the accident, I looked at that register, there were a total of 54 passengers on the ship that night. 25 from the Bai Family Stage, and then there were us, the boat crew, including the captain, 12 people."
Seeing that Uncle-in-Law Lord appeared calm and not likely to lie, Yang Xiao asked, "Then, how many escaped in the end?"
Uncle-in-Law Lord sighed and made a strange gesture over his chest, "Only I myself, all thanks to the protection of the River Dragon King."
After hesitating for a moment, Yang Xiao suddenly asked, "Were there any children among those 25 from the Bai Family Stage?"
"No, there wasn’t a single child on the ship that night," Uncle-in-Law Lord frowned, looking at Yang Xiao with an odd look in his eyes, "Why do you ask this?"
Of course, Yang Xiao thought of the child that Master Bai had held in his arms, but there was no need to explain this to Uncle-in-Law Lord.
"It’s nothing, please continue. After you escaped from the ship, did anything else happen?" Yang Xiao remembered that this Uncle-in-Law Lord had managed to swim back to the shore through the cold river water.
When Uncle-in-Law Lord was reminded of this, his face immediately turned ugly, his gaunt fist clenched, and after a long while, he began to speak, "Our ship sank quickly, and the chaos was intense. Many people struggled in the water. I jumped into the river and madly swam towards the shore. Halfway there... halfway there, I started to hear strange sounds behind me, really strange..."
Yang Xiao grew alert, "What kind of sounds?"
"It was... the sound of opera singing!" Uncle-in-Law Lord’s face was stricken with panic, his body trembling non-stop as if he had returned to the cold waters of that night, "An odd singing style I had never heard before, it felt... it felt like I was going to die immediately!"
"Ghost opera," Yang Xiao understood Uncle-in-Law Lord’s feeling, for he had experienced it himself.
Uncle-in-Law Lord swallowed hard and slowly nodded, "Yes, I later asked some knowledgeable elders, and it was a ghost opera, an old-styled ghost opera!"
"I didn’t dare to look back, holding my breath and swimming towards the shore. Just as I was nearing the shore, the singing became ever stranger, and I couldn’t resist; I looked back. Only a bit of our ship was showing above the water, and in front of the ship, there was a person in red standing in the water, she was the one singing the opera!"
"Next to that figure in red, there was a long wooden pole standing in the water. I recognized it at once; it wasn’t just any pole, it was... it was a ship’s mast!"
"Beneath the water, a ship laid submerged. It was this ship that had sunk ours!"
Uncle-in-Law Lord’s emotions grew increasingly agitated, "I was scared out of my wits, but then the sound of the opera suddenly stopped. I could feel it; that thing was looking at me, she had discovered me! My limbs turned ice cold, wouldn’t obey me anymore, and then... then a wave hit, and I knew nothing more; when I woke up again, I was already lying on the shore."
Combining the narratives of the old laborers on the dock, Yang Xiao concluded that what Uncle-in-Law Lord had described was indeed true; the sunken ship he saw was the Hebo Xi Ship that lay at the bottom of Fengfu Lake.
After asking all the necessary questions and ensuring no detail was omitted, Yang Xiao paid Uncle-in-Law Lord a silver ingot as agreed, then turned to leave with Su Tingting. However, before they were out of the alley, Uncle-in-Law Lord actually chased after them.
"Something else?" Yang Xiao couldn’t figure out Uncle-in-Law Lord’s intentions, but he dared not take this hardened man lightly, someone who had toiled in the water for decades.
"Nothing important," Uncle-in-Law Lord said with a strange smile, "Old man, I just wanted to ask, who told you where I live?"
"Was it Old Wang Camelback from the docks, or Sun Biandan from the west street, right?" Uncle-in-Law Lord narrowed his eyes, "Hehe, you tell me who it was."
Shaking his head, Yang Xiao said seriously, "Neither. This matter involves a wide web. It was orchestrated by a major shopkeeper in our line of work. You’re a smart man, I advise you not to ask."
On hearing this, the murderous look in Uncle-in-Law Lord’s eyes slowly dissipated, and he resumed his previous demeanor of a petty old man who lived on credit, bowing to Yang Xiao and Su Tingting, chuckling, "I see, I trust you then. I’ll just wait here for good news then."
On the way out, Su Tingting approached Yang Xiao, a bit tense, "Did you see just now? That Uncle-in-Law Lord has such a fierce appearance. If you had told him it was the old man at the docks who leaked his whereabouts, he would definitely have gone to stir up trouble."
"Mm, that old laborer did help us, we can’t betray a friend. When we live in this world, we must have some principles."
Moments later, as if suddenly remembering something, Su Tingting said, "Right, Uncle-in-Law Lord just mentioned that the White Family Troupe boarded the ship with 25 people and no children. But the account book of Feng Family clearly states there were 27 people. This means that besides Xi Yao being left behind forever, that child didn’t come with them either. They must have abandoned the child on the way from Feng Mansion to the docks."
Turning around, Yang Xiao glanced at Su Tingting, who blinked, not understanding what she’d gotten wrong. Yang Xiao took a deep breath, "How do you still not understand, the woman who died in Feng Mansion wasn’t Xi Yao at all!"
Su Tingting was taken aback, her mind not catching up right away, "Not Xi Yao? Then who was it? Wait, where did Xi Yao go?"
"The ghost’s identity is not clear for now, but I suspect the real Xi Yao underwent a disguise, blending into the White Family Troupe that boarded the ship, likely becoming one of the inconspicuous performers. When Uncle-in-Law Lord and his men broke into the cabin, the person Master Bai was struggling with, that was the real Xi Yao."
"That’s also why Uncle-in-Law Lord said he heard Master Bai excitedly screaming ’demon, save the demon.’ The scene was chaotic at the time, and I think Master Bai was actually shouting ’Xi Yao, save Xi Yao,’ given that his beloved daughter, Xi Yao, had just been dragged away by the ghost to claim her life."
"Impossible, Xi Yao couldn’t have been alive then, the Feng Family isn’t stupid. They wouldn’t hand over silver if Xi Yao hadn’t entered their mansion!" Although Su Tingting admired Yang Xiao, she was not so naive as to believe everything he said. The Feng Family was shrewd and not so easily fooled.
"The Feng Family, of course, saw the real Xi Yao, but there are rules in performing a ghost play: you have to clear the field. I think it must have been backstage during makeup when the troupe switched out the real Xi Yao for a fake one. Once made up, from across the lake, who could distinguish who was who?"
"After everything was over, the real Xi Yao could change her identity again, dress in different, dirtier clothes, and blend back into the troupe, using the fake Xi Yao’s identity to leave the mansion."
Yang Xiao’s speculations left Su Tingting dumbstruck, "But... but even if what you say is feasible, the fake Xi Yao must be a fool to willingly go to her death. Why would she cooperate like this?"
At this point, Yang Xiao sighed, a complicated look in his eyes, "What choice does she have when there’s no cooperation? Have you forgotten Master Bai still holds another child hostage?"
