As I emerged from the water again.
I found the entire reservoir filled with dead fish.
They were everywhere, densely packed.
The reservoir’s surroundings had also attracted a crowd of onlookers.
The middle-aged woman, with the help of some villagers, was still performing CPR on her husband.
Her technique, however, was far from standard.
Seeing me surface, people immediately called out:
“Someone’s here, someone swam up!”
“Little brother, here’s a pole, I’ll pull you up!”
A kind villager offered, holding a pole to help me out.
But I didn’t need it. I used my hand to brace against the stone wall and leaped into the air.
I cleared the drop of over three meters in an instant, landing on the bank.
The sight stunned several villagers standing nearby.
“So, so capable!”
“…”
I paid them no mind, instead turning my attention to the drowning man.
His soul fire was about to extinguish, and his spirit was in the process of leaving his body.
If the CPR had been performed correctly, his life might still have been stable.
If it continued to be done so haphazardly, the man would completely lose his life force due to his body’s death.
Fortunately, everything was still in time.
“Move aside, let me handle it!”
When the villagers heard me speak, they cleared a path.
The middle-aged woman, seeing me, cried out in a choked voice:
“Little brother, please save my husband. This elder sister will kneel to you!”
“No, no, no!”
I quickly stopped her.
Approaching the man, I formed a hand seal and chanted:
“Heaven above, earth below, spirits on the ground, manifest divine. Stabilize soul!”
With that said, I struck the man’s forehead with my palm.
As the mystic seal was cast,
The soul stabilization technique took effect.
The dimming soul fires instantly flared up.
The spirit that was about to depart peacefully settled back into the man’s physical body.
I withdrew my hand.
The surrounding villagers watched, dumbfounded.
They were likely astonished by my actions.
But in the next moment, the man who had been unconscious and barely breathing,
Suddenly coughed out some water.
Then he began to cough violently.
Seeing this, the villagers were all surprised and delighted.
“He’s alive, he’s alive!”
“San Zi is alive, San Zi is alive!”
“Husband, husband…”
The middle-aged woman collapsed into her husband’s arms, crying profusely.
Witnessing this, I couldn’t help but smile.
“Oh my, this is a young Taoist priest!”
“San Zi, you’re lucky to have met a Taoist priest, or you would have lost your life.”
“…”
Several elderly villagers spoke up.
I smiled faintly at them, not taking it to heart.
However, the feeling of saving a life and being respected by others was truly wonderful.
The middle-aged man also recovered, propped up by his wife, and said to me:
“Thank you, thank you for saving my life.”
“Taoist priest, you are a great benefactor to our family. Please come to our home for dinner tonight! Our family will surely thank you for your kindness.”
The middle-aged woman, tears of joy streaming down her face, said to me.
But I waved my hand:
“No, the malevolent spirits here have not been completely eradicated. I must go to the next place tonight.”
I replied truthfully, politely declining.
Upon hearing my words, everyone gave me a thumbs-up.
The middle-aged man then said:
“Taoist priest, you have great abilities.
Just now, when I was underwater.
I saw a fish-headed monster, it was going to eat me. If it weren’t for the Taoist priest’s intervention, I might have died in the water.
Taoist priest, please accept my bow!”
With that, the middle-aged man knelt before me, intending to kowtow.
His wife, seeing this, also quickly knelt.
The surrounding villagers nodded repeatedly.
The matter of evil spirits plaguing several villages was known to everyone around.
“That’s right, a few days ago, Jiu Waizi drowned in the reservoir.”
“Alas! If we had met the Taoist priest earlier, perhaps that life wouldn’t have been lost.”
The villagers nodded and sighed.
The middle-aged couple had already knelt before me.
In our line of work, karma is paramount.
When others kneel to you, such karma is difficult to accept.
I quickly raised my hands to stop them:
“No, no, no, we are all neighbors.
My home is in Qingshui Village. Now that there are monsters in town, it is natural for me to act.
Rest assured, I have already eradicated the malevolent spirits in this reservoir.”
Hearing this, everyone cheered.
“Wonderful!”
“The Taoist priest is so young, yet possesses such skills, truly remarkable.”
“Indeed, last month, Mr. Li, a geomancer from our village who knew some skills, said there were unclean things in the water and came to drive them away at night, but he also drowned.
The Taoist priest is so young and possesses such abilities, it’s truly extraordinary.
What is the Taoist priest’s name? My cousin Qin De lives in your village.”
“…”
Some villagers began to inquire about my background.
Qin De, my paternal uncle.
I did not hide anything, stating my name was Qin Ze.
I had learned some skills outside over the years and had only returned yesterday.
I reassured the villagers of Qingshan Village that I would eradicate all the evil spirits in the surrounding villages and towns.
The villagers applauded upon hearing my words.
One villager even started trying to claim kinship with me.
Something about a cousin’s second brother’s brother-in-law, who was from our village and was even brothers with my father.
In any case, I was quite confused by it all.
However, it was only natural for everyone’s ancestors to have lived here for generations, and to be distantly related.
After I had calmed the villagers’ emotions here, assuring them not to be so afraid.
I prepared to leave.
Having now visited several villages, I had a general understanding of the surrounding situation.
And the origin of everything had to be dealt with starting from the water dock in town…