fynovel Chapter 458 The Accountant's Clues Are Revealed
Chapter 458 The Accountant's Clues Are Revealed
The wet, red register was thrown into the ashes, and the cover bulged from the inside. Mo Chengyue's right palm, which was hanging in his sleeve, scalded. The heat penetrated the blood-stained register and seeped into the numb bones, as fine as needles.
Old Zhou's wok stick hung in mid-air, the sound of the iron wok was a beat off, the smoke from the fire brushed against the edge of the wok and swirled away, and the air outside the abandoned shipyard was also constricted by the moisture.
Xiao Liu held the copper basin, the rim of the basin against his chest, his lips touching the copper surface, and exhaled only a short breath of white air.
The fat shopkeeper had just taken a half step back when the woman holding the child next to him elbowed him in the waist.
The woman spat out two words through her teeth.
"stop."
The fat shopkeeper slipped and shuffled back half a step.
He raised his sleeve to wipe his sweat, but half of his face was covered in grime.
"I'm standing here, so I'll give everyone some space and avoid getting this tattered booklet splashed on my shoes."
Old Zheng ignored him, slowly bringing the pot stick to his side, his eyes fixed on Chen the accountant's hand.
"Accountant Chen, where are you putting your hand?"
Accountant Chen's hand hovered above the register, his fingertips just half an inch away from the wet red cover.
After Lao Zheng spoke, he immediately pulled his hand back into his sleeve.
"I didn't intend to touch it."
Xiao Liu lifted the copper basin, the bottom of which was covered in soot, and swayed it in the firelight.
You just bumped into me.
Chen the accountant licked his cracked lips and glanced at the old river culvert.
"The steam was so strong that people couldn't stand up straight."
Old Zhou pressed the old ship's license plate half an inch into the soot.
The remaining red paint, when scorched by fire, emitted a bitter smell.
"Those who can't stand firm will choose the path through the culvert."
Chen, the accountant, slumped down, his long blue robe clinging to his back.
Xiao Liu suddenly stared at his cuff, and the edge of the copper basin tapped softly.
"There was red liquid in his sleeve."
All eyes immediately fell on that direction.
The firelight illuminated the damp stain on Chen's sleeve, the dark red seeping down the fabric.
Mo Chengyue stood inside the threshold of the abandoned shipyard, holding the Rain Flower Sword horizontally in his left hand.
His right arm hung down in his sleeve, and the blood-stained patch on his palm was pulled up by the water, the red lines slowly rising along his wrist bone.
When he spoke, the last syllable of his voice trailed off amidst the smoke and flames.
"Old Zhou, don't let him touch the roster."
Old Zhou held a stick across Chen the accountant's hand.
"Did you hear that?"
Accountant Chen looked up at Mo Chengyue, his eyes lingering on the gray talisman line in front of the threshold.
"Master Mo, I am just a dockworker."
He softened his voice and even tried to force a smile.
"I was supposed to keep track of who owed rice, who rented a boat, and who had a water accident at Hongfeng Ferry."
Shopkeeper Hu stood behind the threshold, holding the Soul-Sealing Box.
The white paper lamp was stuck to the edge of the box, and the lampshade had been pinched into several wrinkles.
She looked at Chen the accountant, her voice deep and resonant.
"Does managing accounts extend to the childhood nicknames of other people's relatives?"
Chen the accountant's throat bobbed.
"In the old river ancestral tablets, the personal names should be written, and when the elders sign contracts, their childhood names should also be written. I have been in charge of the accounts for many years, and these things should be verified."
Old Zheng slammed the pot handle into the ground, sending up a ring of dry ash.
"What did my uncle call me when I was little? Did you check that too?"
Accountant Chen stopped talking.
Xiao Liu hugged the copper basin tightly, his finger bones turning bluish-white.
"The night my mother pressed the red paper, there were also people outside with booklets."
Accountant Chen immediately looked at him.
"Xiao Liu, you've been keeping vigil day and night since your mother passed away. Your eyesight and hearing have often deteriorated. Don't use old dreams to judge the living."
Xiao Liu's jaw tightened.
"I remember there was red stain on that person's cuffs as well."
The chubby shopkeeper glanced at the roster, then quickly looked away.
"Xiao Liu, don't speak too confidently. Tonight, the things in the water will use someone's mouth. You could drag a living person down with just one word."
Manager Hu turned to look at him.
"Fatty Chang, since you're speaking up for him like that, shouldn't you roll up your sleeves too?"
The fat shopkeeper immediately raised both hands.
"Manager Hu, we've been neighbors for years, and I've even bought fish soup from your inn on credit three times. How can you wrong me like this?"
Mo Chengyue glanced at him.
"Fatty Chang, if you interrupt again, I'll assume you're in a hurry to write your name down."
The fat shopkeeper's lips twitched.
He bent down, picked up the stick, and started banging it against the iron pot, making a much louder noise than before.
Old Zhou stared at Accountant Chen.
"Roll up your sleeves."
Chen, the accountant, stepped back, his heels hitting the wet mud by the culvert.
"Uncle Zhou, you are an old man on the ferry, and I respect you, but you can't smear my innocence with something that floated on the water."
Old Zheng raised the stick, pointing the tip at his feet.
"Take one more step back, and you'll step into a culvert."
The culvert was covered by reeds, with only a dark slit visible.
The sound of water seeping out from the cracks, rising and falling close to the ground.
Mo Chengyue said, "He wants to travel by water."
Old Zhou moved his feet and used the pot stick to block Chen the accountant's waist.
With a flick of his sleeve, Chen the accountant sent several wet red slips of paper rolling out and landing near the smoke and fire.
As the red water seeped into the gray ground, it hissed and emitted wisps of smoke.
The woman holding the child stepped back half an inch and immediately covered the child's ears with her palm.
"There are words on the paper."
Everyone lowered their gazes for a moment.
Taking advantage of the moment, Chen the accountant turned and ran.
"Stop him!"
As soon as Lao Zhou finished shouting, Xiao Liu had already dropped the copper basin and darted out from beside the ash basin.
He grabbed the hem of Chen's long gown.
Chen, the accountant, stepped into the mud and fell forward.
The blue cloth robe was stretched taut, leaving a wet stain in the red mist.
Before he could shake off Xiao Liu, an even heavier figure crashed into him from the side.
Old Zheng, with red eyes, pressed against his waist.
The two of them rolled into a patch of dry grass beside the culvert, mud splashing onto the edges of the wet red register.
Xiao Liu picked up the copper basin and rushed forward again.
The edge of the copper basin pressed hard against Chen's knee.
Accountant Chen's legs buckled, and half of his face sank into the dusty ground, leaving him only a hand's width away from the roster.
He forced a cracking sound from his throat.
"Don't press it, I don't want it wet, don't let me get wet!"
Old Zheng rolled over, pressed down on his chest, and punched him in the corner of the mouth.
Blood and soot splattered out.
Accountant Chen raised his hand to protect his face, his fingers filled with ash, and the whites of his eyes flickered wildly in the fire.
Old Zheng grabbed him by the collar and lifted him halfway out of the straw nest.
"So you're afraid of water too?"
Xiao Liu knelt beside him, his elbow scraped, but he still pressed the copper basin firmly against Chen's arm.
"Brother Zheng, he has something in his arms."
Accountant Chen desperately tried to hide his hands inside his clothes.
No, really no.
Old Zhou walked over and stepped on his sleeve.
"Take it out."
Accountant Chen's face was covered in dust, and there was a black smear around his mouth.
His eyelids were stung by the smoke, causing him to blink several times.
"Uncle Zhou, I really didn't mean to hurt anyone."
Shopkeeper Hu's hand, which was holding the small box, slowly sank down.
The Soul-Sealing Box gently tapped her palm.
Her fingers tightened, and the silver hairpin slipped an inch from her sleeve, but she didn't pierce it yet.
"Don't want to hurt anyone?"
Accountant Chen gritted his teeth, dust sticking to his lips.
"I manage the accounts, I only fill in the missing pages, and the name comes from the water."
Old Zheng's hand veins bulged.
"Whose name should we fill in?"
"The name sent on red paper."
Old Zhou bent down and picked up a wet red paper, using a stick to pick at the edges.
Who sent the red paper?
Chen the accountant's shoulders began to tremble slightly.
"Paper flutters by the water on foggy nights."
The woman holding the child leaned closer to Old Zhou.
"The paper floats by itself?"
Accountant Chen closed his eyes briefly, his eyelashes dusty.
"Half a page was already written on the paper. I was told to fill in the missing parts, and after I finished, I put it back in the old river culvert. The paper was gone the next day."
Mo Chengyue asked, "What's missing?"
Accountant Chen's lips touched the mud.
"Relatives' names, old debts, which way the old door faces, what was once offered by the stove, who goes out when they hear the sound of water at night, and who calls out the name of the person in the water in their dreams."