The sudden appearance of the massive wave caught both Mo and me completely off guard.
The immense wave surged, allowing us to see, from time to time, pale white human hands reaching out from within.
It was as if countless vengeful spirits were amassed within the waters.
The river water continuously churned towards us, attempting to drag us off the boat into the river.
Neither Mo nor I had ever encountered such a situation, nor had we ever battled these malevolent entities on the river before.
Faced with what was being called a "ghost head wave," Mo and I were utterly bewildered.
With a swift motion, I drew my peach wood sword and faced the direction of the ghost head wave.
Then, looking towards the bow where the corpse collector Jiang stood, holding his white lantern, I shouted,
"Uncle Jiang, what do we do now?"
"Yes, Uncle Jiang, with a wave this big, our small boat might capsize!" Mo added in agreement.
On land, encountering dozens of stray spirits posed no great threat.
After all, Mo's cultivation was not weak.
It’s worth mentioning that Mo had recently broken through to the Soul Palace realm.
With our combined cultivation,
Dispatching a dozen minor spirits was not a difficult task.
The caveat was, of course, that we couldn't fall into the river.
Once submerged, not only would many of our techniques and talismans become ineffective,
But our movements would also be severely restricted.
Naturally, seeing the ghost head wave approach, we were very worried.
However, the corpse collector Jiang, still holding his white lantern, let out a cold snort.
"Since I began my studies and embarked on my path,
I have navigated this Green Mountain River my entire life, and never has a Buddhist monk capsized my boat.
If I don't teach these fellows a lesson,
They won't know how formidable I am!"
With that, the corpse collector Jiang, holding the white lantern in his right hand, formed a strange finger seal with his left.
He then rapidly chanted a few incomprehensible incantations.
Suddenly, with a stomp of his left foot and his eyes wide open, he roared,
"Heaven above, Earth below, white lantern guides the way, spirits shall obey!"
As he finished, he waved the white lantern he held at the bow of the boat.
In an instant, the flame within the white lantern suddenly turned purple.
The purple light radiated outwards, instantly enveloping our entire small boat.
Beneath the purple glow, the corpse collector Jiang at the bow wore an expression of fury.
The leading edge of the ghost head wave, at this very moment, slammed into our vessel.
Our boat was instantly lifted, tilting precariously.
Mo and I were jolted and bent over, grabbing onto the gunwales.
The resolute corpse collector Jiang, however, appeared unfazed by the boat's rocking. His feet seemed rooted, not moving an inch.
Still holding the lantern, he gazed at the ghost head wave, now just a few meters away, and with a mighty swing of the lantern, he bellowed,
"Clear the way!"
As these words were uttered, the flame within the lantern suddenly intensified.
Immediately after, a beam of purple light erupted.
The ghost head wave, at a distance of over three meters, exploded with a deafening "bang" without any prior warning.
Faintly, beneath the purple light, one could still discern pale human faces within the spray of the wave.
These were the vengeful souls of those who had drowned in the river.
The explosion of the ghost head wave created turbulent currents in the surrounding river.
Countless water droplets poured down like heavy rain.
The river surface churned with a "hissing" sound, emitting wisps of black mist.
The small boat continued to sway, with black fish swimming around it.
From the bottom of the boat, the "thump-thump-thump" of impact sounds persisted.
And on the river surface not far away, the sound of water arose once more.
Another, larger ghost head wave was sweeping towards us.
"Uncle Jiang, the ghost head wave is coming again!"
I called out urgently upon noticing it.
"Damn it, is there no end to this!"
Mo also shouted in anger.
The corpse collector Jiang at the bow, holding his lantern, his face grim,
Once again turned to shout at Mo and me,
"Little Qin, Little Mo, you two guard the port and starboard sides.
If any water imps dare to approach, strike them down with your abilities.
Truly, these water imps have grown too bold.
Do they really think this old river corpse collector of Green Mountain is made of mud?"
The corpse collector Jiang was clearly enraged.
After all, he was the captain of the boats on this stretch of the Green Mountain River; how could he allow these common river spirits to bully him?
Holding his lantern, he prepared to employ his abilities again.
Upon hearing the corpse collector Jiang's words, Mo and I nodded in agreement.
As we were now engaged in a battle with spirits, the surroundings were pitch black.
Even though enveloped by the purple light, it was difficult to discern the situation around the small boat relying solely on our eyes.
Therefore, Mo and I did not hesitate.
We each drew out our Eye-Opening Talismans.
Clutching them in our hands, we recited in unison,
"As swiftly as the law commands, open!"
The talismans instantly turned to ash, and a surge of talismanic power swept over our eyes.
Following a chilling sensation, our Heavenly Eyes opened.
Using talismans to open our eyes was far more convenient than our previous method using the Seven Star herbal liquid.
Moreover, the effect of opening our eyes with the talismans increased our visual range by approximately thirty percent compared to opening them with the Seven Star herbal liquid.
Now, with our Heavenly Eyes activated, we surveyed the river surface once more.
What we couldn't see with our naked eyes,
Was now visible. Beneath our sight, those black fish were actually—
Ghosts, with their faces upturned, eyes vacant, constantly wriggling their bodies in the river…
They were dense and numerous. At a glance,
It appeared that no fewer than fifty water spirits had gathered around our small boat.
In the distance, more water spirits were approaching and converging towards us…
As for the sides of our boat, more than thirty water spirits had already gathered.
Some of these water spirits swam to the bottom of the boat and began pounding on our hull with their hands.
That "dong dong dong" sound was produced by these water spirits.
This was the first time Mo and I had witnessed such a scene.
It sent chills down our spines, and goosebumps erupted all over us.
"My heavens, there are so many water imps!"
Mo exclaimed, his mouth slightly agape.
As for me, I had already raised my peach wood sword.
Towards a water spirit on the gunwale, which was biting, gnawing, and scratching at the bottom of the boat, I swung my sword fiercely:
"No more nonsense, let's drive these water imps away first…"