On this dark and windy night, hearing such a mournful cry in the desolate, old forest on the outskirts of town was undoubtedly enough to send a shiver down one's spine.

Li Jiuzhen jolted in fear, his scalp tingling as a chill spread from the soles of his feet throughout his body.

"Luo... Young friend Luo, did you just hear that?" he asked, turning to Luo Xiu with a trembling voice.

Luo Xiu stared at the luminous float on the water, his gaze sharp. "I heard it, too."

"SOB... WAAAAAAH..."

Suddenly, the piercing cry of the female ghost rang out again.

SPLASH! A few dozen meters away, a portly old man squatting by the reeds tossed something into the river, abandoned his fishing gear, and took off running.

When he reached Luo Xiu and Li Jiuzhen, he stopped, his lips quivering. "It's... it's haunted! This place is haunted!"

"Fellow fishermen, you'd better run for it!"

"I heard a lot of people died near Haina Reservoir recently. I bet this is why..."

"What's more, I just caught a dead fish! A dead fish on a proper bite while night fishing! Do you have any idea what that means?"

Seeing that Luo Xiu and Li Jiuzhen remained unmoved, the portly old man slapped his thigh in agitation and jumped on the spot a few times. He didn't waste another moment before turning and bolting.

Luo Xiu watched the old man's silhouette disappear into the night and shook his head with some disdain. "He's that old and still scared of this stuff."

"Uh..." At his side, Li Jiuzhen hesitated, a cold sweat breaking out on his brow. "Young Luo, I think we should..."

"It's fine." Luo Xiu cut him off. "If that ghost cries out again, I'll go find her and give her a thrashing. Since I haven't caught seven or eight pounds of culter tonight, catching a female ghost for fun wouldn't be so bad."

Li Jiuzhen: "..."

At this point, the old man had completely lost his mood for fishing.

"Young Luo, I remember... a few decades ago, this area used to be a village. Then, one stormy night, a torrential downpour caused the dam at the upstream reservoir to break. The entire village perished overnight, and many of them are still buried right under our feet."

"And look around this area, it's full of grave mounds."

"This place is seriously uncanny!"

"I've heard that water ghosts are especially ferocious. Ordinary people stand no chance against them!"

Luo Xiu looked puzzled. "Teacher Li, are you afraid of ghosts, too? Do things like that really exist?"

"They do! They really do!" Li Jiuzhen said with a grave expression. "To be honest, I encountered one when I was a boy. It's precisely because I know such filthy things exist that I'm afraid."

"In any case, Young Luo, let's just go! That fellow just caught a dead fish on a proper bite. That has to be an omen."

Luo Xiu, however, looked troubled. "But I just got the spot perfectly baited..."

Li Jiuzhen nearly leaped to his feet in exasperation. "For heaven's sake, kid! At a time like this, who cares about the bait!"

Just then, the mournful, tragic cry once again echoed through the air.

"I died so horribly... I need someone to take my place!"

Luo Xiu frowned and asked Li Jiuzhen, "Do you think this ghost isn't very bright? Announcing so brazenly that she needs a replacement."

Li Jiuzhen: "..."

"Sigh. This is so annoying." Luo Xiu sighed, slowly putting down his fishing rod. He turned and scanned the surroundings. "Got the guts? Then come out and fight me! Stop fucking hiding in the shadows and whining!"

Li Jiuzhen jolted. He really had to hand it to this kid. The boy truly feared neither heaven nor earth, knowing nothing of reverence.

"SOB... SOB..."

The mournful, miserable cry sounded again through the pitch-black night.

Luo Xiu's gaze sharpened as he snapped his head toward the opposite bank. This time, he had pinpointed the ghost's approximate location by sound. He immediately grabbed his flashlight and shone its beam across the river.

Sure enough, a red figure was standing quietly under the willows on the opposite bank.

It was a woman in a blood-red wedding dress. Her long, black hair hung straight down to her abdomen, obscuring most of her face, revealing only a pale forehead and one bloodshot eye.

Around her, a white mist was rising, radiating a bone-piercing chill.

"Holy shit!" Luo Xiu flinched, jerking backward. Suddenly lighting her up with the flashlight was actually pretty terrifying.

Li Jiuzhen was even more terrified, falling off his stool and scrambling to hide behind Luo Xiu.

"Luo... Young Luo, look! That... that's... isn't that..." The old man's heart was about to leap out of his throat.

But in the next moment, Luo Xiu leaped out over the river's surface. At the same time, streaks of lightning coalesced above his head!

"Supreme Jade Pure King, Dominate Heaven Thirty-Six."

"From the Nine Heavens, transform all in the ten directions!"

His voice was like that of a deity, ethereal and loud, resounding through the entire night sky.

Instantly, there was a loud CRACK.

A bolt of lightning descended from the heavens, striking the ghost in red directly on the opposite bank.

The ghost shrieked miserably, smoke rising from her body as she wailed and disappeared into the bushes.

Luo Xiu hadn't actually leaped all the way across. As he descended, he tapped the surface of the river lightly with one foot, his body flying backward like a feather to land beside Li Jiuzhen.

Li Jiuzhen's eyes were wide, stunned beyond words.

Luo Xiu clapped his hands and smiled. "Alright, Teacher Li. It's over. I've taken care of the ghost."

Li Jiuzhen: "..."

It took him a long moment to recover. He asked tentatively, "Young Luo, that technique you just used... what kind of spell was it? It was truly divine!"

Luo Xiu smiled. "It's called Thunder Law. I've been learning it since I was a kid. It's not really a spell, though. It's more of a Taoist art, a discipline specifically for dealing with ghosts."

"Er... Young man, you truly are a divine being." Li Jiuzhen gave him a thumbs-up and laughed. "With you around, I feel perfectly safe!"

Luo Xiu said, "You keep fishing. I'm going over to check if that ghost is dead."

As he spoke, he pushed off with his legs, his body shooting like a cannonball toward the opposite bank.

「Meanwhile, in the bushes.」

Lin Xiyue's face grew pale as she stared at Sun Li. Sun Li's eyes were crossed, her face was covered in soot, her hair was a frizzy mess, and her tongue was hanging out of her mouth.

Nearby, Su Shanyue and the other girls looked at each other, all breaking out in a cold sweat.

In the silence, Xu Qianqing swallowed and asked, "Did... did you all see that? Luo Xiu actually knows spells."

Wu Xin said, "He really is a monster."

Lin Xiyue asked, "What do we do about Xiao Li now?"

Sun Li suddenly sat up straight, a puff of smoke escaping her lips. "I... I'm fine. Just a little dizzy, and my body's a little sore."

Seeing this, the girls let out a collective sigh of relief.

Sun Li vigorously shook her head and said seriously, "We can't stay here. If Xiu hits me with another one of those spells, I'm really done for!"

The girls then began to pack up their various props. To create the white mist and maximize the atmosphere, they had brought a large amount of dry ice.

Suddenly, an old, hoarse voice sounded out from the bushes where they were hiding. "Well now, you young ladies. Sitting on this old man's grave... are you planning on burning some money for old me?"

The voice was eerie and devoid of emotion, like a sound scraped from a slit throat.

The girls froze, exchanging stunned glances as the air fell silent.

"There's a ghost—!"

"Run!"

"..."

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