Chapter Seventeen: Water Ghost Entwines the Body

  "What did you say?" I glared at Mao Shi Jiu with bloodshot eyes, storming right up to him.

  "Nothing, I was just kidding." Mao Shi Jiu said awkwardly, looking at me with a fierce expression.

  "If they have anything to say, don't even think about me being your apprentice." I said angrily.

  After finishing speaking, I went out and came to the grassland behind the mountain again, lying down and looking at the stars in the sky. My worries about Lin Mo did not decrease at all.

  Lin Mo, where are you? Something mustn't have happened to you.

  At this time, the students were no longer able to sit still, and tens of thousands of students from the entire school marched in protest, demanding an explanation. In just a few months, so many major incidents had occurred, with student deaths happening one after another. Each time, the school would privately compensate the families to keep things quiet, but this time, the massive fire at the boys' dormitory was too severe, and the school could no longer cover it up. Principal Lin Hainan was the most heartbroken person, on the one hand because his own school had such a major incident, and on the other hand because his own daughter and son were missing. His face looked much older, and he no longer had the energetic appearance of before. Lin Hainan used his connections in the government to finally settle the matter, but the school was still ordered to suspend classes for seven days for rectification.

  The whole school is on a seven-day holiday, and the campus looks empty. Many people have returned home, but I still have to wander outside. Now all the clues are gone, the ghost tomb has disappeared, Lin Mo is still out of touch, let alone the body of Chang Ai'ai has no clue.

  It's been three days like this.

  On the third day, there was news and I was overjoyed. The police station had retrieved all the surveillance footage from the entire city and found the trail of Lin Mo and Lin Yu's previous movements, with their last appearance being at Longhai Bay.

  Longhai Bay is the largest river port in Jiangnan City, with a large cruise ship entertainment venue. The cruise route can pass through the entire city of Jiangnan, offering views of the whole city. You can rent boats here and take a leisurely tour along the river, with round-trip journeys lasting up to one day.

  We rushed to Longhai Bay in a hurry, went to the yacht entertainment venue to check the yacht rental records. As expected, the yacht record showed that five days ago, a man and a woman rented a yacht and have not returned yet. Li Jian Tian found the person in charge, who explained that only after seven days of no return would they report to the police, because it was only after seven days of disappearance that the police would file a case. Li Jian Tian was so angry that he puffed out his cheeks and glared with wide eyes. According to regulations, it was indeed lawful and reasonable, and Li Jian Tian had nothing to do with them.

  No choice, we can only follow the route of their cruise ship to find them. We requisitioned a small boat that could hold four people, asked about the route and brought enough dry food for a week before setting off.

  Before departure, the person in charge specially reminded us that the last section of the cruise route is close to the primitive forest. Be sure not to venture into it. Many people have gone in and never come back. Some people used to explore into the primitive forest, but they never came back again.

  The amusement park specially sent an experienced captain for us to open the boat. Five people formally set foot on the journey to find Lin Mo.

  The cruise ship shuttled back and forth between the two banks of the city, and I couldn't help but marvel at the prosperity of Jiangnan City. The high-rise buildings and houses had become a beautiful scenery, but I didn't have the mood to appreciate it. I kept staring forward, hoping to catch a glimpse of Lin Mo's cruise ship.

  Half a day later, we arrived at an area close to the primeval forest. This area has limited development and no safety nets can be seen on both banks.

  After proceeding for about two more li, the river began to narrow and there was a sign in the middle of the river ahead that read "No Passage for Tour Boats". We should have already reached the deepest point of the tour boat route.

  "We've reached a dead end, there's no road ahead that we haven't traveled before," the old captain loudly reminded us.

  "Let's keep going." I said anxiously and hurriedly.

  Li Jian Tian glanced at me and said to the old captain: "Listen to him, let's continue on."

  "But... Ah, never mind." The old captain sighed with concern.

  "The road ahead won't be easy to walk, there are many tree snakes in the primeval forest, and most of them are venomous. Besides, there are also water pythons and crocodiles in the river, you guys need to be careful." The old captain continued to say.

  "Don't worry about this, I'll burn incense to ward off evil spirits. Snakes and rats won't dare come near." Ma Shi Jiu, who had been silent the whole way, finally spoke up.

  After finishing speaking, Mao Shi Jiu lit an incense stick. The incense was first pointed towards the ground and then towards the sky before being inserted at the back of the boat. The smoke from the incense danced in the wind, resembling a tail at the back of the boat.

  As expected, the effect was surprisingly good. Along the way, there were even fewer mosquitoes, and not a single venomous snake that the old captain had mentioned was seen.

  Before long, night fell and the cruise ship turned on its night lights. Roughly calculated, the cruise ship had been traveling for a day, but still no sign of them was found.

  After dinner, it was almost midnight. The old captain told us to rest for a while and asked one of us to help keep watch. It couldn't be Zhang Xinyu, so we had to choose from the three men. Unfortunately, I was picked.

  The trees on both banks of the river grew denser, shrouding the cruise ship. Except for the navigation lights illuminating the path ahead, only the lights on the boat lit up this darkness, but visibility was extremely low. I dozed off on the deck when a violent jolt woke me up. The cruise ship was wildly swaying as if it had encountered something in front of it. I rushed to the captain's room and saw that the rudder was spinning wildly, indicating that the boat was turning around in place, but the captain was no longer in his seat.

  "Something's wrong, something's happened," I cried out in my heart. I looked out the window of the captain's quarters and saw splashing water on the surface, with waves rippling outward in circles. Had the captain fallen overboard? It was too dark, and I didn't dare make a move.

  "Something's happened!" I shouted loudly at them who were resting in the cabin, while trying hard to steady the helm.

  Before long, they arrived at the captain's quarters.

  "Look at this," I said to them, pointing out to the water beyond the ship.

  "Whirlpool! We're approaching a whirlpool. Where's the captain gone?" Li Jian Tian looked on in shock.

  "I don't know, by the time I found out, the captain was already gone," I replied.

  Cao Jing Yu carefully looked at the water surface, his index and middle fingers together pointing to his brow, "Open eyes." he muttered.

  "The water ghost blocks the way, quickly hide your shape." After finishing speaking, Mao Shi Jiu rushed towards the deck.

  On the deck, Cao Jingru lit a lantern at nineteen points, quickly took out a talisman from his bundle, ignited it, spat a mouthful of wine, and the talisman was instantly burned very fiercely, directly throwing the talisman into the water.

  The joss paper entered the water without being extinguished, but instead floated forward like it had come to life. It suddenly stopped in one place, paused for a second, and then exploded with a loud "boom" sound. A transparent, ugly creature emerged from the explosion, with a large mouth and no eyes, its entire body looking slippery. If it weren't human-shaped, I would have thought it was a catfish. I suddenly remembered that they couldn't see, so I took out the ox bezoar and applied it to them.

  Zhang Xinyu was suddenly frightened, and Li Jian Tian's reaction was okay.

  The water ghost was blown onto the deck but didn't give up, looked at our crowd, probably thought Zhang Xinyu was a girl and easier to deal with, he quickly slid along the deck to Zhang Xinyu's feet, grabbed her foot and dragged her into the water.

  Now it's clear what happened to the old captain, he must have been dragged underwater by the water ghost.

  Zhang Xinyu shouted loudly and felt a huge force pulling her down from under her feet.

  Mao Shi Jiu reacted swiftly, picking up the wooden sword and slashing at the Water Ghost. The Water Ghost let out a pained howl as Mao Shi Jiu stabbed it with the sword, piercing its body. The Water Ghost's entire body convulsed in agony, with disgusting white bubbles emerging from the wound. Mao Shi Jiu picked up a nearby lantern, cut off the wick, and placed it on top of the wooden sword. He then poured lamp oil over the ghost while blowing out the wick on the sword.

  In an instant, the water ghost was burned into nothingness.

  On the other hand, Zhang Xinyu was still in a state of shock, her whole body trembling, her eyes wide and straight, staring at one place.

  At this time, Cao Shi went up and snapped his fingers next to Zhang Xinyu's ear, and Zhang Xinyu instantly woke up.

  "The old captain should have been drained of his vital energy and died." As expected, a floating corpse floated from the front of the ship.

  "Are we going to pick him up?" I asked.

  "No need, I'll just perform a ritual to help him cross over." With that, Mao Shi Jiu went to prepare the necessary items.

  Not long after, the Buddhist rites were completed, and strangely, the corpse sank down.

  "He's at peace." Mao Jiu sighed.

  "What's next?" I asked.

  "Which of you can steer a boat?" asked Mao Jing. But we all looked at each other in dismay, and no one answered.

  "Alright, we now have two options. The first is to continue sailing forward, but none of us know how to operate the boat, which would be equivalent to sending ourselves to death. The second option is for us to go ashore and spend a night in the forest, then think of a way out when it gets light, perhaps there's still a glimmer of hope." said Mao Shi Jiu.

  "You said, choose whatever."

  "It must be going ashore, the first one said it so desperately." Zhang Xinyu said.

  I and Li Jian Tian nodded in unison.

  "Alright, now let's turn the rudder hard and force the boat ashore, everyone come help."

  The yacht was steered hard to port and crashed into the shore.

  "Everyone, put on your backpacks, prepare your own dry rations and flashlights, don't forget to tie the boat with ropes to the shore." Mao Shi Jiu kept nagging like a housekeeper.

  We tied flashlights on our heads and held hands with each other in the dark to prevent getting lost.

  In the primeval forest, there is no road that can be walked, and one can only cut through thorns and brambles to blaze a trail.

  "Ah......, there's a snake." Zhang Xinyu cried out in a trembling voice.

  "Where is the snake? You clearly grabbed my other hand." I had a speechless expression.

  "Oh, sorry." Zhang Xinyu must have been scared silly just now.

  Mao Zedong was walking in the first row, and I was walking in the last row, so I could see very clearly what was happening in front of them.

  "One, two, three, four." How did there come to be four people in front of me? I exclaimed in my heart.