I Am Your Natural Enemy

Minister Cai is really something, such a huge deal and he didn't even double-check it.

This time, I just came to watch the drama, broaden my horizons a bit, I've looked through several days' worth of data.

This is way out of line, don't worry, this isn't the end of it.

You want to save their face, well I'm not giving them any, unless they give a satisfactory response.

I'll just camp out right at Minister Cai's office door, let's see if he can lock me up."

The more Wen Yan spoke, the angrier he got, his voice rising louder and louder, almost hopping mad enough to jump up and give Cai Qidong's knee a punch.

On the other side, Old Lady Fox stared at the phone sitting on the table, listening to the voices coming out; even her not-so-happy face couldn't help but show a hint of a smile.

"Alright, alright, it's fine as long as everything's okay, in the end, it's just a misunderstanding."

"Hey, Granny, don't worry, I'll definitely make them give a satisfactory answer. I'm at the riverside now, but I haven't seen that guy yet. Granny, do you want to say a few words? I've got to see him in person, see for myself that he's safe, then I can relax a bit."

"Turn on speaker."

"Okay!" Wen Yan turned on speakerphone, and Old Lady Fox's voice came through the phone.

"Xiao Jiang."

With that sound spreading out, Wen Yan saw faint ripples forming on the water in the distance, and a dark gray river dolphin carefully poked a beady eye above the surface, peeking out cautiously.

Wen Yan smiled and waved hello.

"Granny's call."

"Xiao Jiang, come here."

This time the river dolphin heard it clearly, and swam over carefully.

"Granny Fox?"

"It's me. This is Xiao Wen, Wen Yan.

He's the one who saved you before, you need to properly thank him.

Xiao Wen's a good kid. As for what happens next, I'm not in a position to interfere, just listen to Xiao Wen."

"Oh, I understand, thank you Granny Fox." The river dolphin's voice sounded quiet and very polite and well-behaved.

"Xiao Wen, I'll leave the rest to you."

"Don't say it like that, you can rest assured, if I don't get a satisfactory solution out of them, I'll have no face to come eat roast chicken at your place anymore."

The old lady laughed, chuckling merrily.

"Alright, you're welcome anytime, I'll always welcome you here."

After hanging up, the river dolphin's little eyes looked at Wen Yan, and he understood; for a conversation to be that lively on the phone, and for Granny Fox to trust him this much, he must be one of us.

Plus, now he definitely wasn't in danger anymore.

"Brother, may I have your name?"

"I'm Jiang Yanyan, the 'Yan' with three fire radicals."

"Whoa, that's a heck of a name."

"Back when I didn't have a name, I rescued a fortune teller in the river. He said my five elements lacked fire, so he gave me this name."

Wen Yan looked at Jiang Yanyan soaking in the water and nodded in total agreement.

"He definitely got that right. And then?"

"After that, he stayed living by the river, would often guide me, teach me reading and writing, told me lots of stories. Sadly, he passed away within two years. I only found out then that he'd had a terminal illness, couldn't be cured, he jumped into the river, and after I rescued him and he realized I was illiterate, he decided to stay a few years to teach me before leaving."

"He was a good person…" Wen Yan sighed to himself, more or less understanding how Jiang Yanyan ended up like this.

Most likely that old man set him on the right path, gave him a good start and guidance.

"So how'd you end up as a water god of this area?"

"After that, every year for two months, people would throw boy and girl children into the river as sacrifices.

I listened to the stories the old man told, he said demons who ask for such sacrifices always end badly, die terrible deaths.

I was terrified, so I sent the boys and girls they sacrificed back home."

"Then after a while, one day, some people built a little shrine for me by the riverbank."

"Every year during those two months lots of people came to give offerings, and I slowly became the water god of this section."

"Whenever anyone sacrificed children in this stretch of river, I could sense it."

The more Wen Yan listened, the more he thought something was off about this.

"Uh, those two months you're talking about, is it July and August?"

"Eh? How'd you know?"

Wen Yan sighed, thinking, you can make phone calls now but didn't know those two months are summer break for students.

But on second thought, this poor fellow's in the river all day, probably never played with a cellphone.

"Brother Wen, can you tell the Scorching Sun Department to do something, tell them not to throw kids in the river anymore, I really don't need it.

I've never hurt anyone, I'm scared out of my wits those two months every year, always feel like they're trying to get me.

If a child actually drowned, the Scorching Sun Department would totally come arrest me."

"Sure, I'll bring it up later, don't worry, this definitely has nothing to do with you."

Hearing that, Jiang Yanyan finally relaxed a bit.

"Can you tell me, who controls the waters over there?"

Wen Yan pointed to the area belonging to the Water Ghost Domain.

Jiang Yanyan shook his head.

"I actually don't know who rules that part now, I just know it's very dangerous over there.

I've only been in this stretch for five or six years, and I can already tell that side's changed water gods three or four times."

"I've never been over there, and I wouldn't dare go."

"Someone once tried to lure me over, wanted me to take over that territory, but I refused and ran away."

Wen Yan's eyes narrowed, instantly realizing the problem.

"Remember who tried to lure you? Human or demon?"

"A human. I don't know his name, he just asked me something by the riverside, saw I wasn't interested, and never came back."

"What time was this, and what was he wearing, do you remember?"

"About last year, right when people suddenly started throwing more kids into the river. He was wearing a hat with a giant brim—what's that called… oh, I remember, a fishing hat, and he had a fishing rod, spent two days fishing on the banks, caught nothing, and left."