Chapter 110: Hunter, prey

Where there is fear, there are ghosts; where there is itching, there are lice.

The more people worry about something, the more likely it is to happen.

The Daoist was far away on the opposite bank of the river, but even with a turbulent river blocking them, everyone still felt their scalps tighten.

Baisha Ferry is a tributary of the Baisha River. If the Baisha River is compared to a giant tree, then Baisha Ferry is a tiny branch on the tree.

Now, a group of constables was rowing with all their might, like an ant clinging to a branch; when the wind blew, they swayed up and down in the turbulent river water.

"Zhao Yuan, you go back to the cabin quickly to look after Shopkeeper Xu and Manager Cai; I will take the helm here!" Zhao Zhonghe shouted to his nephew.

Back then, his nephew and Xu Qing had taken the child examination together in the same year.

It's just that his Zhao family didn't have the luck of a scholar; Zhao Yuan studied hard for five or six years and didn't even pass the child examination.

Since the path of study didn't work out, Zhao Zhonghe simply let Zhao Yuan come under his command and become a constable.

"I'm not going!" Zhao Yuan understood Zhao Zhonghe's intention and refused flatly: "Others are all outside facing danger, and my life isn't more precious than anyone else's; why should I go hide in the cabin?"

As he spoke, Zhao Yuan came to the side of the boat and, together with other constables, drew his sword to face the potential crisis.

At this time, on the shallow beach of the riverbank, the water-worker Daoist in a deep green Daoist robe was strolling along the beach.

The boats in the river were getting further and further away, and the Daoist's figure was getting smaller and smaller.

But the vigilance in Zhao Zhonghe's heart had never relaxed.

There was no other reason, only because the water monkey beside the Daoist had disappeared at some point.

Zhao Zhonghe could only think of one possibility, and that was that this water monkey had already submerged into the water and would rise up to hurt people at any time!

"Watch out under the boat!"

Just as everyone was tense, the moving boat suddenly suffered an impact from a foreign object and began to sway violently.

Xu Qing stood on the deck, his eyes slightly narrowed.

Under the performance of the *Qi-Gazing Technique*, he could clearly see a mass of deep crimson aura swimming along with the boat under the surging water.

Looking at the shape of the aura, it looked exactly like a water monkey.

Turning his head to look at the people rowing with all their might, Xu Qing frowned.

This water-worker Daoist was clearly not here with good intentions. If he didn't choose to take action early, this water monkey would sooner or later take the lives of everyone on the boat.

By then, if he returned to Linhe alone, he was afraid it wouldn't be easy to explain to people.

But if he really took action, it would go against his principle of hiding in the bustling world to collect corpses...

Xu Qing glanced at Zhao Zhonghe, who was steering at the stern, and then looked at the few constables rowing the boat.

What was limiting his ability to exert his strength now was not the water monkey, but these constables.

Xu Qing had already started calculating in his heart how to make these people on the boat lose consciousness in the shortest time without them noticing.

At one point, when everyone's attention on the boat was in the water, Xu Qing quickly moved behind Zhao Zhonghe.

He raised his palm, and there were wisps of yin energy lingering on it. However, just as Xu Qing intended to take action, the water monkey that had been swimming in the water suddenly rushed out of the water and attacked Zhao Yuan, who was poling the boat at the side.

Seeing this, Xu Qing's heart moved.

He withdrew his palm, quickly came behind Zhao Yuan, and then grabbed the other party's collar and threw him aside.

The prey changed positions; Xu Qing replaced Zhao Yuan and faced the attacking water monkey head-on.

Seeing this, the water monkey only flickered its eyes, but its action of pouncing on the prey did not stop because of this.

"Splash—"

Water splashed everywhere, and Zhao Yuan clung to the bow of the boat and shouted voicelessly.

"Brother Xu!"

The water surface returned to its original state in an instant, and the figures of Xu Qing and the water monkey had already disappeared.

Zhao Yuan gritted his teeth, took a step back, leaped, and jumped fiercely into the water.

"Zhao Yuan!"

The constables let out a cry of surprise. At this time, the boat was still moving fast, and Zhao Zhonghe, who was steering at the stern, also saw the two splashes of water falling behind the boat.

"Old Xue, you take the helm!"

Zhao Zhonghe roared, and another larger splash of water appeared in the river.

The constable called Old Xue came to the stern to take the helm. At this time, the surrounding constables stopped poling. With the head constable gone, they lost their backbone and didn't know what to do.

The thin and tall Constable Xue saw this and shouted urgently: "What are you dazed for? Why don't you hurry up and pole the boat!"

A constable said: "The head constable fell into the water; we should turn around and support him. Old Xue, you don't turn the helm, how can we pole..."

Old Xue said angrily: "Turn around for what! That's a water ghost; whoever falls into the water will lose their life! I ask you, do you want to live or die?"

"You all have families; I have one too. Whoever dares to act foolishly, don't wait for the water ghost to come up; I'll chop him first!"

A few constables looked at each other. One constable silently poled the boat. With someone taking the lead, the other constables stopped talking.

"A bunch of cowards! How did Head Constable Zhao treat you on weekdays? You don't go, I will!"

A constable drew his sword, held it in his mouth, and then jumped into the river without looking back.

In the cabin, Manager Cai closed the wooden board and hid in the compartment where fish were stored, closing his eyes tightly and shivering as he prayed for the River God's protection.

At the stern, Constable Xue looked at the rapidly receding river with lingering fear. While he was terrified, it was mixed with a different kind of excitement.

Head Constable Zhao was eight or nine parts likely not to survive. When he returned to the patrol office this time, with his seniority, he would likely be appointed as the new head constable...

North of Baisha Ferry.

At this time, Xu Qing had already been abducted to the riverbank by the water monkey.

Along the way, the water monkey didn't lack extreme actions toward him, including but not limited to pouring river sand into his mouth, strangling his neck with waterweeds, soaking his lungs with river water...

Xu Qing was unharmed and continued to maintain the appearance that prey should have, looking exactly like a reincarnated turtle.

The water monkey was as anxious as if a cat were scratching its heart; it had never seen such a hard-to-kill person.

It even began to doubt whether its own demonic arts had gone wrong.

Dragging the prey to the shore, the water monkey circled Xu Qing to test him repeatedly, while the latter sat foolishly on the ground, still calm and unhurried, just like a Bodhisattva.

High-end hunters often appear in the form of prey.

Xu Qing was very patient at this time.

His goal had never been the water monkey, but the water-worker Daoist behind the water monkey.

The river breeze blew, and familiar human voices suddenly came from not far away.

Xu Qing frowned, and the water monkey in front of him had its attention immediately attracted upon hearing the human voices.

It abandoned Xu Qing, dived into the river water, and felt its way toward the direction the sound came from.

Isn't this just adding to his trouble!

Xu Qing performed the *Light Body Technique* and arrived at the shore one step ahead of the water monkey.

Looking at Zhao Zhonghe and his nephew who looked like drowned rats, Xu Qing's figure was like a ghost, and he had already arrived behind them without anyone noticing.

"You are truly crazy. If something happens to you, how can I explain it to your father?"

"Uncle, don't say these things anymore; it's more important to find Brother Xu quickly..."

"Uncle?"

Zhao Yuan was about to set off to search the river beach, but he didn't hear Zhao Zhonghe's response. He turned his head and saw that his uncle, who had been talking just a moment ago, had already collapsed on the ground, motionless.

"Uncle!"

Zhao Yuan shouted and hurriedly stepped forward to support him, but before he could take two steps, a bone-chilling yin wind struck the back of his head.

With a muffled groan, the uncle and nephew collapsed one after another.

On the riverbank, the soaking wet water monkey rushed out of the water. It looked up, but didn't find any living people; instead, that person who couldn't be drowned was still sitting there like a lingering ghost.

And looking at his posture and demeanor, it was no different from before it went into the water.

A ghost wall?

The water monkey looked at Xu Qing with suspicion and uncertainty. The things that happened tonight were full of evil, already exceeding its cognition.

At this time, Xu Qing, who was pretending that nothing had happened, was even more nervous than the water monkey.

He had a premonition that the corpse of the Tianwu Temple evil Daoist would definitely be extraordinary. According to his past salvation experience, those corpses that had stepped into cultivation and had extraordinary abilities during their lifetime could at least open up a "Earth" grade reward.

He used his body as bait just to fish out the master behind the water monkey.

If he chose to hunt the water monkey, he could at most get a water monkey corpse and a few years of cultivation, which was far less cost-effective than saving the water-worker Daoist.

Beside the riverbank, the water monkey hesitated for a moment, and finally chose to jump into the water.

Seeing this, Xu Qing felt terrible. What was this?

It turns out he had been busy for nothing in the middle of the night!

Turning his head to look at the place where he hid Zhao Zhonghe and his nephew, Xu Qing was about to get up and return when he suddenly heard the sound of footsteps on gravel approaching from far to near.

He looked sideways and saw a Daoist wearing a deep green Daoist robe walking toward him leisurely.

Yo! Isn't that so-and-so!

Xu Qing, who had been bitter and deep just a moment ago, immediately beamed with joy.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 111 =====