Hearing the price for retrieving a corpse, I agreed without a second thought. Sister Xiao Mei had spent a lot of money on me these days, and earning money was a good way to pay her back.

However, I had just rescued Uncle Mei and needed a breather. I told the sanitation bureau guy that I would go into the water to retrieve the corpse once I had recovered.

Sister Xiao Mei didn't agree and quickly stopped me, telling me not to risk my life for five hundred yuan.

Uncle Mei also shook his head and grabbed my arm, saying, "These dead people stuck in the river are floating corpses that stir up baleful energy, which is very ominous! Even if you are a good swimmer, you can't be superstitious. The old saying that those skilled in water drown is not just a saying!"

I smiled and comforted them, saying, "There is no such thing as floating corpses stirring up baleful energy. It's just that there are undercurrents in the water. When I rescued Uncle Mei just now, I already figured out the direction of the undercurrents. Practice makes perfect, so there is no danger for me to go down."

Sister Xiao Mei and Uncle Mei were still worried and tried to persuade me not to go into the water.

At this time, the sanitation bureau guy became impatient and walked over to Uncle Mei and said:

"Mei Laosan, you don't have the ability to retrieve corpses, so don't underestimate others! I think this young man is very steady and there will definitely be no problems. Don't talk nonsense on the side. He can even rescue a living person like you who is floundering around, let alone a dead person who can't move?"

Uncle Mei glared at him and said unconvinced, "Lao Huang, don't just stand there and talk without feeling the pain! If anything happens to this kid, how can I explain it to my daughter?"

They started arguing back and forth, but I had almost rested. While it was still light, I took a corpse-lassoing rope from the shore and plunged into the river again.

Although the undercurrents were turbulent, their direction would not change for a while. I had just figured out the water conditions nearby, so going in again was like following a familiar path.

Circling around the whirlpool, I approached the floating corpse and put the rope around its body. I adjusted the angle, tightened the noose, tied the other end of the rope around my waist, and turned around to swim ashore.

Drowned people are heavier than when they are alive because they are full of water, so retrieving a dead person is much more tiring than rescuing a living person.

When swimming back, I clearly felt weak in the whirlpool, and several times I was about to swim out, but was swept back by the whirlpool.

However, I didn't panic in this situation. At worst, I would untie the rope around my waist, give up the 500 yuan, and let the floating corpse be swept back into the whirlpool. I would swim back by myself.

Anyway, this undercurrent couldn't take my life.

As the saying goes, hard work pays off. After trying four or five times, I finally took advantage of a weaker current and dragged the floating corpse out.

Uncle Mei quickly rowed his corpse-retrieval boat over to pick me up, pulled me onto the deck, and then slowly brought the floating corpse in the river ashore.

Lao Huang from the sanitation bureau also breathed a sigh of relief and gave me a thumbs up in admiration. Then he took out an envelope from his pocket and walked over to hand it to me.

I took a look and saw that it contained five hundred-yuan bills that had been prepared in advance. I counted them and turned around to give the envelope to Sister Xiao Mei.

Sister Xiao Mei didn't stand on ceremony with me and properly put the envelope away. We had already agreed that she would manage the money after we got married.

I smiled and said to her, "Although this profession is unlucky, it's really quick money. If we encounter a few more corpses, won't we get rich?"

Sister Xiao Mei said, half-laughing and half-crying, "How can there be so many floating corpses for you to retrieve? Today is not what it used to be. There are not so many corpses on the Tuo River anymore. It is rare to see one or two floating corpses every now and then."

Lao Huang also said with a smile, "If there were really drowned ghosts floating on the river every day like in the past, the reward for retrieving corpses would not be five hundred yuan. Wouldn't that make our sanitation bureau poor?"

However, just as we were talking and dragging the floating corpse ashore, Sister Xiao Mei suddenly pointed to the river and shouted, "Look!"

I looked in the direction Sister Xiao Mei was pointing, and saw that another floating corpse suddenly emerged from the turbulent undercurrent. The floating corpse was still standing in the whirlpool, rising and falling, with a pair of empty and lifeless eyes staring at the shore.

Lao Huang from the sanitation bureau also saw it and couldn't help but curse, muttering in a low voice, "Why are there more?"

I thought I was lucky, after all, each floating corpse was worth five hundred yuan.

Since there were undercurrents, it was not surprising that floating corpses appeared. It must be that the undercurrents under the water dragged the corpses from the nearby river surface over, and they were swept out of the river by the whirlpool.

Years ago, a large whirlpool appeared next to my house and swept seven or eight floating corpses together. The scene was comparable to hell, an effect that even horror movies couldn't capture.

While the floating corpse was still in the river, I asked Lao Huang, "Uncle Huang, are you still retrieving this corpse? Is it still five hundred?"

Lao Huang nodded: "Retrieve it, still five hundred!"

Then he added: "But I didn't prepare in advance, I will get the money tomorrow and send it to your home."

He thought there was only one floating corpse on the river, so he only brought five hundred yuan. Who would have thought that after retrieving one floating corpse, another one would emerge.

"It's easy to say." I agreed on the price with him, and I was ready to enter the water again, rubbing my hands together.

Uncle Mei quickly persuaded me: "Take a rest! Don't rush to go down, you have already swam back and forth twice!"

I said it was okay, I wasn't tired. If the direction of the undercurrents changed in a while, it would be even more dangerous, so it would be better to be quick.

I swam to the river again according to the old route, put the rope on the floating corpse, and was about to return when a black shadow flashed in the whirlpool. A head suddenly emerged from the water two or three meters beside me!

It was a swollen dead man's head, its face was purplish-black like a big eggplant! A pair of dull eyes stared straight at me, as if I owed him something.

I was so scared that I gasped, almost being swept into the whirlpool. I quickly flapped my arms twice and swam away.

At this time, the dead man's head also slowly floated to the surface. It was another floating corpse!

The third floating corpse!

I didn't know what to say for a while, so I could only drag the second floating corpse to the shore first. When I got to the shore and looked back, I saw that there was indeed another floating corpse in the river, standing in the original whirlpool, rising and falling, with a pair of cold eyes staring at me.

Uncle Mei and Sister Xiao Mei were both surprised. Uncle Mei lit a cigarette and said while smoking, "It's really strange. I haven't seen so many floating corpses on the Tuo River for many years."

Lao Huang even called it a sin, squatting by the river and smoking with Uncle Mei.

I disposed of the second corpse and walked towards them. I asked Lao Huang, "Uncle Huang, are you still retrieving it? If you retrieve another one, you will owe me a thousand yuan."

The reward for three floating corpses is one thousand five hundred.

One thousand five hundred yuan in that era was enough to buy the most advanced flip phone on the market.

Lao Huang took a puff of cigarette, blew out a smoke ring, and squinted his eyes and said, "Retrieve my ass! One or two floating corpses are under the control of our sanitation bureau, but so many drowned ghosts have suddenly appeared, we can't control it, we have to call the police quickly!"