"Owner Yu, don't be afraid, take a look, is this not the woman from your dreams?"
The ship owner, Boat Owner Yu, slightly moved his fingers to look and nodded repeatedly,
"It's her... it's her..."
Gu Shi Yi asked again,
"Is she the Oiran from the flower boat?"
This time, after Boat Owner Yu took a few more glances, he couldn't hold back anymore and ran to the side of the boat to throw up,
"Ugh ugh... her face... her face is too... too rotten... only... only the red mole by her temples... I recognize it... ugh ugh ugh..."
Gu Shi Yi nodded his head and turned to the crowd,
"This woman died a miserable death, most likely she has become a resentful spirit. I'm going to perform a ritual to set her soul free. Everyone else, stay back. If anyone dares to stay here and gets possessed by her, don't blame me for not warning you in advance!"
Hearing this, the crowd dispersed with a commotion, hiding back in their cabins. Boat Owner Yu wanted to leave, but Gu Shi Yi held him back,
"Owner Yu, don't go, this matter requires your presence!"
The ship owner's legs were shaking with fear,
"This really has nothing to do with me! What if she... she... possesses me?"
"Rest assured, I'm here!"
Seeing that he was about to flee, Gu Shi Yi scared him by saying,
"Among all the people on this boat, she chooses you. It's all because of the fleeting relationship you had with her on the flower boat. If you don't settle things with her, she will keep haunting you!"
Boat Owner Yu cried out that he was unjustly accused,
"I really am innocent. I've not even touched her hand, how can there be a fleeting relationship!"
Crying out, he didn't dare to move from the spot, just looking pitifully at Gu Shi Yi, who reassured him by patting his chest,
"Rest assured, I'm here, she won't dare to act rashly. She feels that her death was unjust, that's all. She's not content. Don't be afraid! I'll talk to her!"
He then took the Peach Wood Sword and Yellow Talisman from the Old Taoist Priest, and had the ship owner bring over a porcelain bowl and some alcohol. He burned the Yellow Talisman, threw it into the bowl, then poured in the strong liquor. Next, he took the ship owner's hand, pricked his fingertip with the sword,
"Ah..."
The ship owner let out a cry of pain as Gu Shi Yi squeezed a few drops of blood from the fingertip into the bowl, and then stirred it with his finger,
"Drink it down!"
The ship owner hesitated at the sight of the murky bowl of liquid until Gu Shi Yi forced it down his throat. After swallowing the concoction, the ship owner's eyes rolled back instantly, and he collapsed onto the deck with a thud. Gu Shi Yi then removed one of his shoes and pricked the sole of his foot with the Peach Wood Sword,
"Ah..."
The ship owner shouted out loud, turned over, and sat up, but his gaze had changed, staring blankly at Gu Shi Yi without speaking or moving. Gu Shi Yi tilted his head, observed him, and asked,
"Who are you?"
The ship owner's mouth moved, but the voice that came out was a woman's,
"Your servant... your servant... Qiaoqiao..."
"Qiaoqiao... how did you die?"
"Your servant... your servant... your servant..."
After the ship owner's lengthy pause, his face twisted violently, his expression fierce,
"It was her... that vile woman... I clearly had the talisman suppress her under the flower tree, wishing her to never rise again, but... how did she get out... she actually took my life by pulling me under the boat when I was diving... drowned me alive!"
Gu Shi Yi narrowed his eyes upon hearing this,
"If you know who wronged you, then either be reborn or seek your revenge. Why are you bothering this ship owner?"
The ship owner wailed in a high-pitched scream,
"Do you think I want this? My body was hung under the boat by her, she just wanted the fish and shrimp to eat away at me to deny me a full corpse. I had no choice but to turn to Mr. Yu!"
Gu Shi Yi rolled his eyes,
"Now your body has been fished up, and after this, I'll have Boat Owner Yu pay some silver for a fine coffin for you, and find a geomantically favorable place to bury you. Then you can go on to be reborn!"
Upon hearing this, the ship owner screamed in resentment,
"I don't want to die! I am not content, I am not content... The Zhao family's Eldest Young Master had already promised me, said he would take me in within a month. I was about to marry into a noble family, about to grasp wealth and luxury, and then it was all cruelly taken from me. I am not content! I am not content!"