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墨書 Inktalez
The moment I fell into the water, it felt as if I had plunged into an ice cave; the water in this reservoir was uncommonly cold, chilling to the bone.
At that instant, it felt like a pair of strong hands were pressing my head down into the water, pushing me deeper and deeper.
I choked on a few mouthfuls of cold water, but the icy sensation surprisingly calmed me down.
I realized that I must have encountered a water ghost. I never expected to be so unlucky, with one misfortune following another.
Just as Zhou Zhen had said, after being cursed with the Eight Character Death Curse, I was now engulfed in bad luck.
I breathed a sigh of relief; the surrounding water no longer felt as cold as it had moments before.
In just that brief moment, I had drifted over ten meters away from the shore. Thankfully, I had some skills; if I were a complete novice, even without a water ghost, I would probably drown.
Having struggled against the water ghost and exhausted my strength, by the time I swam back to shore, I was nearly spent. Mao Shiba and Xiao Juan pulled me up onto the bank.
Lying on the steps by the shore, drenched from head to toe, Xiao Juan kept slapping my face and asking if I was okay, appearing quite concerned.
This made Mao Shiba extremely jealous as he squatted nearby, rolling his eyes.
Once I regained my composure, I shook my head and assured them that I was fine.
Xiao Juan suggested that maybe Mao Shiba should carry me back.
Seeing Mao Shiba's unwilling expression, I shook my head and said it was better to wait; I'd be fine after resting for a bit.
After about ten minutes of resting and regaining some strength, I sat up and expressed my gratitude to Mao Shiba: "Mao Ge, thank you for saving my life."
"Don't call me that; I'm not that old," Mao Shiba quickly waved his hand dismissively while rolling his eyes.
I was speechless; it seemed that if I liked calling him 'brother,' it was only because he saved me. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother addressing him like that.
Of course, these thoughts remained unspoken. In truth, I wasn't sure who was older between us, so I decided to simply call him "Mao Di."
Xiao Juan paused for a moment and suddenly burst into laughter.
I asked, "What's so funny?"
Xiao Juan replied, "Mao Di, why don't you just call him the toilet?"
"Whoa!"
Mao Shiba immediately cursed, though it wasn't directed at Xiao Juan; he was glaring at me with a fierce expression.
Although I was speechless, I found Xiao Juan's comment both awkward and amusing. Seeing Mao Shiba's menacing look, I said, "Since you don't want me to call you brother and Mao Di doesn't sound good, how about I just call you Eighteen Brother? After all, you are my lifesaver now, and calling you by your name feels a bit too distant."
Upon hearing this, Mao Shiba finally relented.
I turned to look at the calm Water Surface, which shimmered beautifully under the moonlight. However, who would have thought that beneath this tranquil surface lurked a water ghost capable of taking lives?
I shifted my gaze back to Mao Shiba and asked, "Eighteen Brother, is that water ghost still in the water?"
Mao Shiba nodded.
I frowned slightly and said, "Doesn't that mean it will continue to harm people in the future?"
Mao Shiba explained, "The existence of a water ghost is essentially a cyclical effect. A water ghost becomes one because someone has died unjustly in the water and cannot reincarnate. Therefore, it seeks the next unjustly dead person as a substitute. It's just a cycle. If I were to directly eliminate it, it would disturb the natural order."
I felt somewhat helpless and said, "So we just sit here and wait for someone to be dragged down and drowned by it?"
Mao Shiba replied, "There’s something you might not know. Those of us who practice Taoist Techniques are actually going against the heavens. We try to decipher heavenly will and act contrary to it, which brings many drawbacks upon ourselves. Just like why our Nine Families of the Dao Veins bloodline has dwindled so much. So even when facing wandering souls or ghosts, we don’t just kill them on sight; we choose to save them if possible."
I had never seen Mao Shiba speak so seriously before; it was completely at odds with his usual demeanor. Yet I had no doubt about what he said.
I had heard of those who practiced Maoshan Techniques; there seemed to be various drawbacks associated with it, similar to those fortune tellers on the streets.
You would find that most of them were either blind or lame, nearly all of them were disabled.
Although many among them were con artists from the underworld, pretending to be in such a state, there were also some who genuinely had skills. The reason they ended up like that, I believe, was due to leaking secrets of the heavens, which brought upon them their punishment.
This is what is known as a flaw.
So I didn’t dwell on this issue; instead, I looked down at my own damp appearance and suddenly felt a chill run through me, causing me to shiver involuntarily.
“Let’s hurry back; we don’t want to catch a cold,” Xiao Juan urged.
But ultimately, that night when we returned to Upper Clear Academy, I caught a cold.
Xiao Juan and Mao Shiba told Mao Guoxue about our encounter with the water ghost and how I was dragged into the water. Mao Guoxue said he would take care of it when he had time.
I was assigned a room by myself and lay in bed, wrapped in a thick blanket.
Today, I didn’t know what was going on; early in the morning, Zhou Zhen and Mao Guoxue had left, and even Mao Shiba was gone. I was the only one lying in bed.
I waited until noon when a young man named Hugo came to bring me food. He was a disciple of Upper Clear Academy and looked to be around seventeen or eighteen years old.
After placing the food down, he said he would help me sit up to eat. I told him to wait a moment as I had no appetite at all.
Then I asked him where Zhou Zhen and the others had gone. He shook his head and said he didn’t know; he just saw them rush out together early in the morning.
“They left together?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Hugo nodded.
I frowned slightly. The fact that they all left together made me wonder if something had happened.
“Brother Lin, let me help you sit up to eat; otherwise, the teachers will blame me for not taking care of you,” Hugo said again.
I shook my head, feeling completely unappetized and my head heavy. I had no intention of eating, but just then, Xiao Juan came running in.
As soon as she entered, Hugo said, "Xiao Juan, you're back!"
Xiao Juan dashed over to my bedside and smiled, saying, "Hugo, you go study. I'll take care of Lin Hao."
"Okay, sure." Hugo nodded with a smile and waved goodbye before leaving.
"Where did you guys go?" I asked curiously as Hugo walked away.
"Get up and eat," Xiao Juan replied evasively.
I said, "You still haven't answered my question."
Xiao Juan put her hands on her hips and exclaimed, "Come on, Lin Hao! I came all the way back because I was worried about you. You should get up!"
I frowned slightly, sensing that Xiao Juan was deliberately avoiding my question. I pressed on, "Are you hiding something from me?"
"Come on, what could we possibly be hiding from you?" Xiao Juan snapped back.
I rolled my eyes in exasperation. "Last night I noticed something was off with Grandma Jiang. And why did she send us all away when we got here? It felt like she was trying to get rid of me specifically."
After arriving last night, Grandma Jiang had sent both Xiao Juan and Mao Shiba away along with me. Yet today, she took them out again together. It made me suspicious.
Xiao Juan looked at me in disbelief. "You're not as smart as you think. Just get up and eat; I'll feed you."
I couldn't help but mutter, "You're not even older than me."
"Are you going to eat or not?"
"I'm not eating."
"Alright, I'll tell you, but you mustn't share this with the other students to avoid causing panic."
In the end, Xiao Juan compromised. As soon as I heard her words, I perked up and quickly looked at her, instinctively feeling that something serious had happened.
Xiao Juan leaned in slightly, whispering in my ear, "Not far from where we encountered the ghost yesterday, an old woman discovered a Gathering Place of the Four Absolutes. There are likely some powerful Zombies there. This morning, someone was bitten to death, and it looked terrifying; all the blood was drained."
Gathering Place of the Four Absolutes. Zombie.
The mention of Zombie immediately reminded me of the Cloud Ghost General. Had he followed us here after turning into a Zombie?
But upon further reflection, he had been taken away by a Mysterious Black Robed Figure, so that seemed impossible.
What was the connection between this Zombie and the one that Cloud Ghost General had become? Did it have anything to do with me, or was it just a coincidence?
A flurry of questions raced through my mind.
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