CHAPTER 21: CHAPTER 15: WATER GHOST

The talismanic fire wobbles, wandering through various parts of the village, occasionally stopping somewhere, like a mischievous child, always attracted by inexplicable things.

It’s also possible that these places are where He Shou’an lingered before losing his soul.

The corpse mud smeared on her forehead still carries a chilling aura, and Sang Que cautiously scans the surroundings, so far seeing nothing unusual.

But it’s just too quiet, too ’clean’, which instead makes her feel creepy.

Only the warm yellow glow from the doors and windows of each household and the occasional barking of dogs give her a slight sense of security.

Next door to the He Family is the Li Family, who had twins, and opposite is the Liu Family, now childless. Passing the Liu Family, Sang Que glances at the old locust tree.

During the day, there’s nothing there, but at night, a woman’s corpse hangs under the tree, creaking and swaying.

Sang Que’s scalp tightens, and she hastily retracts her gaze and continues following the talismanic fire.

Beyond the Liu Family is Skinny’s house, the talismanic fire suddenly accelerates past Skinny’s house, rushing all the way towards the north.

Sang Que runs after it and soon sees the small courtyard of blue bricks where Yan Daozi lives, a lamp lit in the main room, casting a silhouette onto the window with paper coverings, as if someone is meditating on the kang.

The talismanic fire is very afraid of this place and speeds up again, dashing toward the west of the small blue brick courtyard.

Da Heishan is to the southwest of the village, with large wheat fields to the northwest. Seeing the direction the talismanic fire is heading, Sang Que’s heart sinks; the cemetery of Black Mountain Village is in that forest, and beyond the cemetery on the mountain lies a lake.

Kou Yushan said that water is of the yin element, best at concealing evil spirits, and even on a bright sunny day, all sorts of bizarre evil spirits can appear in the lake, even water ghosts claiming lives.

They irrigate their fields with the lake water, but they must calculate the time when yang energy is at its peak to dare approach the lake.

At other times, they must not casually approach water, only those who have worshiped the water ghost River God for generations can move freely in the water.

In this world, besides humans and animals, there are four kinds of existences: wandering souls, evil spirits, ghosts, and ghost gods.

If a name contains the word ’ghost’, it denotes an existence more formidable than evil spirits, one even Yin Walkers cannot completely eradicate.

Sang Que now knows of those mentioned in the Ming Zhang Notes like ’Mountain and Field Ghost’ and ’village ghost’, and Kou Yushan told her about ’water ghost’.

The Ghost Child on her should really be called Yin Child; it is inappropriate to use the word ghost.

Evil spirits encompass a wide range; it’s a generic term for these kinds of existences. For deeper classification, even Kou Yushan knows little and needs to learn more from Yan Daozi or the Evil Suppression Bureau.

Sang Que follows the talismanic fire through sparse woods, where graves stand on the hillside, with yin winds blowing paper money and ash, fluttering all around.

Many indistinct human-shaped ghostly silhouettes wander aimlessly, a cold, eerie crying carried by the wind, but these wandering souls currently have no reaction to her.

Sang Que mentally counts seconds to keep track of time, running for about ten minutes, breaking out of the trees and cemetery to see a silent and serene lake, the water muddy and dark, under the moonlight, with even patches of blood-red glistening on the surface, appearing extremely ominous.

Sang Que thinks to herself, she took ten minutes of running to get here, how would a seven or eight-year-old child come here to play without guidance? They’d have to pass through the cemetery, wouldn’t that be madness?

The talismanic fire circles by a large green stone by the lake, revealing two half-transparent children squatting together, knocking on stones on the ground under the greenish glow.

"He Shou’an!"

Sang Que tentatively calls out, one of the younger children lifts his head to respond, the talismanic fire immediately flies into his body, flickering like breath within his semi-transparent soul.

He slowly stands up, his expression becoming dazed, involuntarily moving toward Sang Que.

Sang Que slowly retreats while removing a pin from her clothes, preparing to draw blood to ignite the soul lamp.

At this moment, the little soul child playing with He Shou’an sees this and suddenly pounces toward He Shou’an, seemingly unwilling to part with this playmate.

Whoosh—

A chilling wind arises, rustling the grass leaves, the water in the lake swells and parts from the middle, and a colossal black shadow rapidly surfaces from the depths of the lake.

The wandering souls by the lake and in the woods instantly vanish without a trace, the surroundings become eerily silent.

Sang Que’s pupils dilate in shock, she shouts loudly, turning to run.

"He Shou’an!"

A gigantic figure bursts out of the lake, the splash like a torrential rain, viciously crashing onto the shore.

Boom!

The ground trembles, and Sang Que falls forward, striking a protruding rock, the pelting of lake water lands with a pattering sound, and the intense pain in her waist and abdomen causes Sang Que to gasp, her face turning ashen.