Chapter 4: Ghost And Silver Tongue
Han Yu gawked at the corpse, his jaw hanging open in sheer shock.
"Where in the nine heavens did this come from?! Did it wash up here? Did the river decide to start offering corpses as gifts now?!" He muttered, his brain scrambling to make sense of the situation.
The body lay face down, clad in tattered robes that barely held together. It looked like something even a beggar would hesitate to wear. The exposed hands and legs were rough and calloused, like those of a peasant who had toiled all his life.
"Did he drown himself?" Han Yu wondered aloud, rubbing his chin.
It wasn't unheard of. People did all sorts of crazy things when they lost everything. The hill he had just climbed down from was practically famous for gamblers and debtors jumping to their deaths. A prime location for those who had gambled away their last shred of hope.
"But if he had jumped from the hill, he'd be on the other side of the river," Han Yu reasoned, eyes narrowing in suspicion. "And he wouldn't have even fallen into the water... which means—"
He looked down at the corpse, tracing the direction of the current.
"This guy floated down from upstream!" Han Yu gasped.
A shiver ran down his spine, but curiosity got the better of him. He took a cautious step closer, then another. The air around the corpse felt eerily still, as if the wind itself was holding its breath. Han Yu swallowed hard.
He nudged the body with his foot. No reaction.
He nudged it again. Still nothing.