After arriving at the forestry bureau, Uncle Wang took us to meet one of the parties involved in the case—"Great Immortal" Li Yaozu.

Since the matter was still under investigation, Li Yaozu was temporarily confined in an office within the forestry bureau.

Contrary to our expectations of a charlatan, Li Yaozu appeared quite refined, wearing glasses and looking not yet forty. He had a small goatee, wore a clean and well-ironed shirt and leather jacket, and spoke calmly and slowly, indicating he was well-educated.

When we began asking about the news reports that described how his promotion of superstition led to someone's death, Li Yaozu seemed quite helpless.

He said this was a huge misunderstanding, and he was detained because Bai so-and-so wanted to extort him.

This place is remote, with primitive beliefs still lingering, worshipping mountains and rivers.

Outsiders struggle to fit in, and his township was abolished a dozen years ago due to a declining population.

To make a living, he moved here and apprenticed under several local shamans. He learned to interpret the almanac and the seasons, and dabbled in fortune-telling and rituals for fertility, but he was careful not to get involved in life-and-death matters.

At most, if someone was confirmed to be dying, they would call him to summon souls and recite scriptures.

Li Yaozu explained that Bai so-and-so, named Bai Sanshui, was a local born and raised, making a living from odd jobs and farming. His son, born when he was over thirty, was a premature baby and had always been in poor health.

After autumn came, his son was diagnosed with a lung disease and his condition worsened despite treatment. By early October, his son had passed away.

Bai Sanshui had invited him to summon the soul, but by the time he arrived, Bai's son was already covered with a white shroud.

Naturally, his attempt to summon the soul failed, so he took a three hundred yuan payment and a bag of sacrificial meat and left.

"Comrades, if his son wasn't already dead, would he have prepared the meat for the funeral?" Li Yaozu's question was quite compelling.

"So, did you tell the police all of this?" we asked.

"Yes, if I were truly responsible for his son's death, I wouldn't just be confined here; I'd be in a detention center. Everything I said is true. His son died and he wanted someone to blame, plus he wanted back the three hundred yuan he paid me. Now that I've returned the money, he's preparing to withdraw the lawsuit. If you had come two days later, you'd have to find me at home." Li Yaozu sighed.

Hearing this, the photographer felt deflated and said, "Is this such a boring story? We came all this way just to find a greedy troublemaker."

But I wasn't bothered: "This is just his side of the story. Who knows how much is true? Even if it is true, a greedy, malicious villager falsely accusing someone over his son's death for three hundred yuan."

"Isn't this much more valuable than the cliché of ignorance causing a child's death?"

The photographer thought about it and agreed, then asked how we should shoot the next part.

I lit a cigarette and whispered, "When we get to Bai's house, I'll provoke Bai Sanshui and see if we can capture some confrontational footage. I want to highlight the narrative of 'vicious villagers emerging from dire poverty,' contrasting it with this charlatan's persona. Won't that enrich the story?"

The photographer gave a thumbs-up and repeatedly agreed.

Then we found Uncle Wang again and asked him to take us to see Bai Sanshui.