Go all out

Chapter 43: Diving In

Yang Yun and I exchanged glances. Yang Yun furrowed his brow and said, “There’s definitely something wrong here. There are a lot of water ghosts. I took a quick look just now—there are at least a hundred of them, and one of them seems to have some real power.” Hearing Yang Yun speak with such certainty, my heart skipped a beat. I instinctively looked down at the water beneath the boat, which had already returned to calm. There were over a hundred water ghosts in that whirlpool just now—just how many people have died in these waters? It’s truly spine-chilling. Playing in water like this is incredibly dangerous—one false move and you’ll end up as a water ghost’s stand-in. I looked at Zhang Qiang. His reaction just now had been a bit extreme—though maybe not that extreme—it just caught me completely off guard. After all, we hadn’t even started yet, and hearing him say that did indeed make me a bit unhappy. Zhang Qiang pulled out a cigarette and took a few quick puffs. His eyes flickered as if he were hesitating about something. Halfway through the cigarette, he stubbed it out, then gave Yang Yun a deep look and said, “Three times—if we can’t retrieve it three times, this deal is over.” “Agreed,” Yang Yun nodded. His mention of three attempts didn’t really surprise me—the taboos of body retrievers far outnumber those of us fortune-tellers. As he spoke, Zhang Qiang had already begun his preparations. First, he set up an altar, then lit three sticks of incense. With sincere devotion, he knelt down and kowtowed three times. This was essentially the same principle as “consulting the Mountain God,” except that Zhang Qiang was now simply notifying the River God and asking for its protection. Of course, whether the River God would heed him was another matter entirely. While Zhang Qiang was making his preparations, I kept feeling like something beneath the water was watching me. But when I turned to look at the water’s surface, there was nothing out of the ordinary. This sent a chill down my spine. Yang Yun, standing beside me, glanced over and said, “A water ghost has set its sights on you.” “What?” I was startled. “There are only you and Zhang Qiang on this boat. Most ghosts and spirits are afraid of Zhang Qiang—even the strongest water ghost wouldn’t dare use him as a substitute. That leaves only you, so be careful,” Yang Yun said. “Well, I’ll just stay out of the water then,” I said after thinking for a moment. “Yeah, but you should still be careful,” Yang Yun nodded. Then he walked back to the bow. His cold gaze swept across the water, and he snorted before speaking, “How dare you! You bunch of wandering spirits and wild ghosts—this ghost officer is here, yet you still dare to run amok? Get out of my sight!” Yang Yun’s voice boomed as if he were carrying a loudspeaker, causing the water below to ripple with an almost illusory undulation. I was secretly startled. The water around the boat suddenly grew still. I thought the water ghosts had left, but Yang Yun’s expression grew increasingly grim. I knew right away that the water ghosts down there were exceptionally ravenous. From the sound of it, there was even one with some spiritual power among them. With so many of them and such overwhelming numbers, it was highly unlikely they’d be scared off by just one roar from Yang Yun, Given that, I really had to be on my guard. Just then, Zhang Qiang had finished some of his preparations. He steered the boat a little further ahead, then dropped the anchor into the water—apparently getting ready to start recovering the bodies from this spot. Next, I saw him strap a jet-black chain around his waist. It was a strange chain—not the kind you’d find on the market—but looked more like the kind ghostly officers use to restrain spirits. I wasn’t sure if my guess was correct, but when Yang Yun glanced at the chain and his expression shifted slightly, I knew my hunch was spot on. Zhang Qiang’s gear was quite impressive, which made me take a few extra glances at him. This body retriever was no ordinary man. After securing the chain around his waist, Zhang Qiang took out three red candles. He lit one, grabbed the corpse-retrieval hook, and—to my surprise—jumped straight off the boat. I was startled, With a splash, Zhang Qiang was out of sight. I stood there dumbfounded for a while—he really was risking his life for this money. The current was quite strong. For the average person, let alone searching for something in water like this, just holding their breath for a minute or two would be considered a feat. Yet three or four minutes passed, and I saw a coil of chain on the boat still sliding downward—which meant Zhang Qiang was still moving downward or forward in his search. He really was a remarkable man, I was secretly amazed. With three chances, diving for seven or eight minutes each time, he should be able to find it, I glanced back at the burning red candles. It was strange—there was a breeze all around, yet the flames burned very steadily. There were three candles, symbolizing three chances. “These are called water lanterns,” Yang Yun said calmly from beside me. “When the lantern burns, the person enters the water; when the lantern goes out, the person emerges.” I’d heard of similar lamps before, so I understood what Yang Yun meant. Generally speaking, these are considered soul lamps; the ones used in tomb raiding are called ghost lamps. But Zhang Qiang’s red water lantern was very eerie—the lamp lighting up and going out meant he was fine, but if the red candle suddenly burned up completely, it would mean Zhang Qiang was in danger underwater. If the person hadn’t emerged from the water before the candle burned out completely, it would essentially mean they had died underwater. About five or six minutes later, the burning red candle suddenly went out. The black chain on the boat slackened, and I instinctively looked toward the distant water’s surface. Sure enough, Zhang Qiang surfaced from the water, gasping for breath. The corpse hook in his hand was empty—our first attempt had failed. “It’s a bit… annoying. There are a lot of skeletal remains down there—this place is most likely a graveyard of the dead,” Zhang Qiang shouted to us. Yang Yun and I exchanged glances. I was slightly startled but not particularly surprised—after all, over a hundred water ghosts had just appeared, and since this was a right-angled bend in the river, it made sense that a lot of skeletal remains would have accumulated here. Still, I couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy. “Besides the fact that the skeleton was a woman carrying a child, were there any other distinguishing features?” Zhang Qiang shouted again. Yang Yun paused for a moment before saying, “That woman had six fingers.” Zhang Qiang nodded. He looked at me and shouted, “Bro, light the second water lantern for me.” I nodded and walked over to the three candles. A lighter was placed next to the three red candles, and I used it to light the second one. Seeing the flame, Zhang Qiang took a deep breath, as if he were a big fish preparing to dive back into the water. But just then, he snorted coldly and, without even looking, flung the corpse hook in his hand directly toward a spot. With a splash, the hook violently snagged something. There was a fierce struggle—it felt just like a big fish taking the bait—followed by a blood-curdling scream, and then the hook went still. Zhang Qiang reeled in the hook. Clearly visible on it was a mark resembling winter frost. After glancing at it, Zhang Qiang furrowed his brow. He paused for a few seconds, glanced at the floating lantern—which remained completely undisturbed by the wind—took a deep breath, and dived into the water. The water’s surface had finally settled, and the black chain on the boat began to move once more. A water ghost had actually tried to ambush Zhang Qiang just now. However, just as I was staring into the water, a thin mist began to rise all around us—I didn’t even notice when it started—and it seemed to be growing thicker by the moment. A flash of murderous intent flickered in Yang Yun’s eyes, and he snorted coldly, “That water ghost with some cultivation doesn’t want to let you off the hook. I’m going to confront him now. You be careful.” I nodded. Yang Yun clenched his hand in the air, and a long sword appeared as if by magic. Wielding the sword, he soared into the thick fog, I naturally retreated a bit toward the center of the boat. Soon, the thick mist swirled violently, and a shrill voice rang out from within: “So what if you’re ghost officers? Without a ghost-capture warrant personally issued by King Yama, you have no right to act. Even if I were to destroy you today, King Yama wouldn’t dare question me in the slightest.” “Arrogant,” Yang Yun snorted coldly, The thick fog began to churn eerily, and the crackling sounds never ceased—they had fully engaged in combat. Hearing this, I found myself feeling a certain “admiration” for this water ghost. As the saying goes, “Far from the emperor’s reach”—this water ghost, believing itself to have attained some level of spiritual power, dared to claim the waters as its own kingdom. “Where does this guy get his nerve?” I muttered to myself, then hurried over to the houseboat. I wanted to go inside to grab a few chickens for self-defense, but when I tried to turn the lock, I found it was locked from the inside. It seemed Zhang Qiang’s entire household belongings were inside. I was just curious—besides the chickens, was there anything else in there?