"But the seven people soaking in the water refused to get on the boat no matter what we said. They raised their heads, their eyes fixed on the people on the boat, repeating those few sentences, urging people to come down into the water. That scene... that scene was incredibly eerie."

"Someone on the boat shone a lantern into the water, and it turned out that these people underwater... these people's faces were faintly tinged with a ghastly green!"

Yu Chengmu looked at the river, his brow furrowing slightly. After a moment, he said in a low voice, "They are shui gui (water ghosts)."

"That's right!" The old man nodded heavily, his voice hoarse as he continued, "The old folks on the boat immediately realized that they were being haunted by shui gui, and that the people who had gone into the water had probably been taken as substitutes by the shui gui."

"At this point, they couldn't care less about the fishing net and immediately tried to row the boat away, back to the shore, as fast as possible!"

"But no matter how hard they rowed, the boat was as if it had taken root, unable to move, just spinning around in the water."

"Then, someone shouted that the people in the water had all sunk and disappeared."

"As soon as the words left his mouth, the boat lurched violently."

"Those on board couldn't keep their balance, and two people immediately fell into the water, including the one who had shouted."

"But before they could even cry for help, they sank, very quickly. In the blink of an eye, both of them were gone."

"Someone later recalled seeing many hands reaching out from the water, and it was those hands that grabbed the two and dragged them down."

"At the time, the water was black, and those hands were particularly white, a ghastly white, looking like they weren't the hands of the living, but rather like they had been soaking in the water for who knows how long."

"And then what?" Du Moyu urged, his face gloomy.

"In the brief moment when those two were being dragged into the water, the boat suddenly became mobile, and the remaining people's minds went blank. They didn't care about anything, only knowing to row for their lives." The old man took a long breath, looking at them with a complicated expression, "That's how they escaped back to shore, saving their lives."

"That night, when people heard about what had happened, the village was in an uproar. Everyone was worried and scared all night."

"The elders with the highest seniority in the village gathered together, and after discussing it, they concluded that the villagers had offended the river god of the Dushui River, and that all of this was the river god's punishment."

"After finally making it to dawn, the old village chief gathered everyone in the village together. They took offerings and went to the riverbank again, intending to worship the river god and beg him to quell his anger."

"This time, as soon as they arrived at the riverbank, everyone was dumbfounded to find that the river water had receded, and on a large rock in the muddy beach not far from the riverbank, there was a large piece of fishing net entangled, with most of the net still in the river."

"After the villagers discussed it, they sent a few young men who were good swimmers to walk over on the wet mud, carefully untie the fishing net from the rock, and then drag the net back to the shore as quickly as possible."

"The fishing net was very heavy, and the other end was still in the river. Several strong young men couldn't pull it at all, and more and more people came up to help."

"As the fishing net was pulled out of the water little by little, the scene that appeared before them stunned everyone. There were people hanging on the fishing net, no, corpses!"

"One corpse after another, with the latter corpse grabbing the feet of the former corpse, with a force so great that they couldn't be pried apart. First, it was the two people who had been shaken into the water, then the seven who had jumped in voluntarily."

"Finally... finally, after the entire fishing net was out of the water, there was a huge pile of corpses inside."

"The corpses were all bloated and rotten, entangled with each other, and it was impossible to tell who was who, but who else could they be? They must be the villagers who had been washed away by the flood!"

At this point, the old man's breathing became rapid, and his pupils contracted uncontrollably, "Who could have imagined... who could have imagined that the bodies of these villagers hadn't been washed away far, but were concentrated together, right... right under the water!"

"When we were collecting the bodies, we also found that the abdomens of the corpses were severely swollen. Although the corpses were all bloated and rotten, all..." The old man gestured with his hand, his expression exaggerated, "All like that, but the abdomens of the corpses were especially exaggerated, and the outer skin was stretched to the point of being transparent."

"One of the corpses was accidentally dropped on the ground while being collected, and the belly, like a blown-up balloon, actually burst open."

"The belly was full of fish scraps, and... and some water plants and mud, with a particularly fishy smell."

"Everyone was discussing in private, as if these corpses had lived underwater for a while, and it was... it was these corpses that had eaten all the fish in the Dushui River!"

Hearing this, Yu Chengmu stroked his beard and sneered, "Little ghosts devour wax, corpses carry coffins, suspended corpses underwater, your village has committed a great sin!"

Hearing Yu Chengmu's words, the old man's face became particularly ugly, but he was still explaining, "Master, what are you saying? Our village... our village has always been kind to others, and we would never dare to do anything harmful, there are gods three feet above our heads!"

"You know in your own hearts whether you have done anything harmful." Fatty couldn't stand it either, glaring at the old man.

Jiang Cheng looked at the old man, his expression calm, "Alright, now tell us about this Wu family. Why do you call this Miss Wu of the Wu family the Dahe Niangniang (River Goddess), and what has she done for the village that deserves you building a temple for her?"

"Sigh—" Mentioning this Miss Wu of the Wu family, the old man sighed subconsciously, "This Miss Wu of the Wu family is the benefactor of our entire village. Without her, you masters wouldn't be able to see our village now."

Lei Mingyu didn't give the old man any face, looking fierce, "What, you think we want to see your village?"

The old man was scolded and couldn't help but shrink his neck, "Masters, the corpses on the fishing net and the shui gui that I just told you about, there are many similar things, and many people have died in the village one after another. We... we were really about to die at that time."

"We slaughtered the best livestock in the village and threw them into the Dushui River as offerings to the river god, but it was still useless."

"Until one late night, a person in our village seemed to have suddenly gone mad, smashing doors from house to house, saying that he knew why the river god was angry, because the river god was too lonely at the bottom of the water and wanted the village to offer a woman to be his wife."

Hearing this, Jiang Cheng's brow furrowed suddenly. He seemed to be able to foresee a tragedy happening.

Fatty also hated such things, and couldn't help but angrily say, "He dared to say such a thing, and you dared to believe it?"

Hearing this, the old man wore a mournful face, "We didn't dare not believe it. You don't know, the person who smashed the doors to report the news, he... he was a born mute!"