Mo and I were unclear about the situation.
But the corpse-fetching Jiang, who had been salvaging bodies for years and frequented boats, saw the crux of the matter at a glance:
"This is bad, it's a hundred ghosts entwining the boat."
"A hu-hundred ghosts entwining the boat?"
Mo and I spoke in unison, asking in surprise.
Before the corpse-fetching Jiang could explain,
We heard three muffled thuds from the bottom of the boat.
"Bang, bang, bang!"
Three sounds, very clear and dull.
It was as if someone was patting the bottom of the boat with their hands.
We all looked at the bottom of the boat in astonishment and stood up.
The corpse-fetching Jiang was also aghast:
"Arhats patting the boat."
Arhats, meaning water ghosts.
What did it mean for water ghosts to pat the boat?
"Jiang Ye, what does this mean? What do these ghosts want?"
Mo asked hurriedly.
But I, with a grim face, interjected:
"Jiang Ye, this is probably aimed at me, right?"
From Jiang Ye's previous narration, I had basically guessed the reason.
Jiang Ye nodded, confirming:
"That's right, you have an Yin fate.
These Yin spirits are all coming for you.
Arhats patting the boat, to return a life.
They want to take your life, first by knocking on the hull, demanding I hand you over.
If we don't comply, they will capsize the boat."
Jiang Ye spoke in a deep voice, his eyes also becoming vigilant.
"Damn it, do they think we exorcists are made of paper? KuAiδugg
Jiang Ye, just tell us what to do.
Are these mere nobodies daring to lay a hand on my brother?"
Mo said angrily.
He directly took out the peach wood double axes from his bag.
Hearing Mo's words, I felt quite moved.
Truly brothers in life and death, daring to step up when there's trouble.
But I believed that the corpse-fetching Jiang definitely had a solution.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been a corpse-fetcher for decades.
The corpse-fetching Jiang tucked his pipe into his waist and snorted:
"Don't worry, I can deal with the evil spirits in the river.
Dealing with these drowned ghosts is more than enough."
After speaking, the corpse-fetching Jiang quickly took two steps forward to the bow of the small boat.
He lifted the white lantern.
Strange to say, the moment the corpse-fetching Jiang lifted the white lantern,
The red flame inside the lantern instantly turned dark green.
Illuminating an area of more than ten meters around.
But it was under the dark green light that it appeared particularly eerie.
The corpse-fetching Jiang, holding the white paper lantern with green fire,
Stood at the bow of the small boat, looking at the pervasive Yin energy around and the white bubbles constantly emerging on the river surface.
He shouted in a low voice:
"You all think I'm a pushover because I don't show my strength, huh?
I've been steering boats here for decades, and you dare to plot against people on my boat?
Are you all tired of living?"
After speaking, he swept the white paper lantern with green fire around.
This invisibly swept a green light across the river surface.
Those white bubbles burst one after another.
"Pop, pop, pop" sounds rang out continuously.
Then, the river surface returned to its calm state.
The black fish swimming beneath the river surface seemed to have disappeared, and apart from the white mist on the surface, there were no more bubbles.
"Huh! Those drowned ghosts seem to have left?"
Mo exclaimed.
Seeing this, I also breathed a sigh of relief:
"Jiang Ye, what skill!"
I praised.
With a single sentence, he repelled the ghosts beneath the river.
Truly worthy of being the top boatman and corpse-fetcher in Qing Shan City.
Hearing my praise, the corpse-fetching Jiang chuckled, clearly pleased.
"Just a small matter, a small matter.
After all, this old man has some *face* in this river..."
The corpse-fetching Jiang said with a smile, full of confidence.
But before he could finish the word "face", a muffled "dong" sound was heard.
The boat we were on was violently struck from below by something.
The boat suddenly shook.
And began to spin on the river surface.
The black fish that had disappeared from the surrounding river surface reappeared densely.
And white water bubbles and black smoke began to emerge on the river surface again...
The current also began to surge, looking as if it were about to boil.
"Splash, splash, splash" sounds continued to ring out.
This sudden anomaly
Caught us on the boat completely off guard.
Coupled with the boat being suddenly struck and beginning to spin,
The corpse-fetching Jiang, thankfully, maintained his balance immediately.
But Mo and I rarely went on boats, let alone such small ones.
We immediately staggered and couldn't stand steady.
Mo, especially, was at the edge of the boat and was thrown backward, about to fall into the river.
Seeing this, my heart leaped, and I shouted:
"Careful!"
Disregarding my own stability, I lunged out to grab Mo.
Mo flailed his hands, his mouth shouting urgently:
"What the heck, what the heck..."
His body tilted continuously, about to fall out of the small boat.
And in the river, black fish were surging.
Waves appeared.
Visibly, a school of black fish was approaching us.
And near our boat,
Suddenly, from underwater, swollen white human hands began to emerge.
One, two, three, ten.
In an instant, on the river surface to the left of our small boat, ten human hands stretched out.
These hands kept clawing at Mo.
As if they all wanted to drag Mo underwater.
Mo was also terrified.
But, at this critical moment, I yanked Mo hard.
We both steadied ourselves.
"Stand firm!"
I shouted.
Mo, with a frightened look, hurriedly braced himself and stood firm.
He looked back at the river surface.
He found that the outstretched human hands were receding slowly back underwater, full of reluctance.
We both secretly thought how close it was.
The corpse-fetching Jiang, holding the white lantern at the bow, also let out a sigh of relief.
But before the three of us could recover for a moment,
The corpse-fetching Jiang suddenly looked towards the dark river surface.
And then said urgently:
"Not good, the ghost head wave is coming!"
As soon as he finished speaking,
Mo and I saw a wave one to two meters high suddenly appear on the river surface not far away.
In the wave, it seemed that human hands were occasionally reaching out and clawing.
Accompanied by the "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh" of the waves, it rapidly surged towards us.
As if it wanted to capsize our small boat with a single wave...