Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: Ace
Chapter:
Chapter Title: Retrieving the Drowned Bones
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Chen Shi sensed a pair of sharp eyes scrutinizing him from behind.
The gaze was intensely aggressive, even stimulating his qi and blood, causing it to surge through his body and triggering an instinctive stress response.
However, Chen Shi forcefully suppressed the reaction, showing no outward sign.
His footsteps remained light and unsteady, indistinguishable from any normal child's.
Blackie Pot secretly sized up its young master and saw a smile plastered on Chen Shi's face—one that was growing increasingly rigid.
"I really can't figure it out. Where exactly did I slip up?"
Chen Shi racked his brains in confusion, thinking to himself, "Is it really that hard to act normal after killing someone?"
A sound of sobbing drifted over from the Jade Belt River. Chen Shi stopped and looked toward the riverbank, where a woman with a basket was burning paper money. He recognized her as a woman from the neighboring village. About this time last year, she had wept here for a long time.
"Yuzhuo, come home with Mom. Mom misses you so much."
It seemed today was the anniversary of her son's drowning.
Chen Shi gazed at the Jade Belt River. On the surface, the three child water ghosts appeared again. One of them must have been the woman's son, calling out anxiously, "Mom, don't cry! I'm right here! I didn't leave!"
"Mom, I've always been right here. Look at me! Why can't you hear me?"
"Mom, my leg cramped, and I got stuck in the mud! Come save me quick!"
...
Chen Shi approached the riverbank. The woman clearly couldn't see her son or hear his words; she just wept softly.
The child named Yuzhuo ran over, anxiously circling her, but he couldn't draw her attention no matter what.
The wind carried the ashes of the paper money upward into the sky.
Zhuge Jian arrived with the other bailiffs, reining in his horse. He watched as Chen Shi stripped off his clothes, leaving only his shorts, then plunged into the river with a splash, diving straight toward the deep water.
Zhuge Jian glanced at the woman, then at the ripples on the surface, and frowned slightly. He suddenly pulled out a yellow talisman.
This was a Heavenly Eye Talisman, which allowed one to see ghosts and spirits.
The yellow talisman flickered and burned. Gradually, Zhuge Jian could make out another world. Beneath the Jade Belt River, two water ghosts clung to Chen Shi like fish in the water—one strangling his neck, the other gripping his legs—intent on drowning him.
Yet Chen Shi's strength was astonishingly great. The two water ghosts couldn't drag him down; instead, he pulled them toward the deeper water.
The water ghosts clung to him like octopuses, while Chen Shi thrashed with hands and feet, digging into the mud as if searching for something.
"Sir, that kid seems to be tangled up with water ghosts."
The bailiffs peered into the river, unable to see what lay below.
Zhuge Jian saw it all clearly. In his mind, he noted silently, "Such immense strength, such a long breath—he could definitely kill someone within a zhang."
The murderer at the Li family camp had struck from a zhang away, moving like lightning, taking lives effortlessly, not even giving Divine Embryo Realm cultivators a chance to cast spells!
"But why risk drowning by the water ghosts? What is he trying to do?"
At that moment, Chen Shi seemed to dig up something in the mud and sped up. Zhuge Jian stared as Chen Shi hauled out a pitch-black object from the muck—it looked like a person.
Once the black mud was washed away by the water, it revealed the skeleton of a child around ten years old.
Chen Shi swam upward hugging the bones, but the two water ghosts clung desperately to his legs. The air in his chest was nearly exhausted, his strength waning; he could no longer hold out against them.
Just as he was about to drown, another smaller water ghost swam over. It charged at the two others, pummeling them with its fists while sobbing—though what it said was unclear.
Zhuge Jian's Heavenly Eye Talisman let him see ghosts and spirits but not hear them, so he had no idea what the little water ghost was saying.
The other two water ghosts clearly understood, though, and released Chen Shi's legs.
With his remaining strength, Chen Shi surfaced, gasping for air, his heart still pounding with lingering fear.
He had nearly drowned in the river!
Steadying himself, he carried the child's bones step by step to shore. The woman, her eyes blurred with tears, saw him bathed in sunlight, holding a child's corpse as he approached.
Chen Shi laid the bones on the ground. The woman rushed over. A longevity lock hung around the skeleton's neck, engraved with "Yuzhuo."
The woman burst into wrenching sobs.
"Mom, you found me!"
The water ghost child who had just saved Chen Shi ran over joyfully, but seeing his mother cry even harder, he couldn't help weeping too. "Mom, don't cry. You found me—why are you still crying? Now you made me want to cry too..."
"Yuzhuo, Mom found you. Mom will take you home."
Yuzhuo's mother picked up her child's remains, glanced at Chen Shi, then knelt and kowtowed to him repeatedly. Chen Shi stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do.
After Yuzhuo's mother left, Chen Shi stood dazed by the shore.
"You're a water ghost. You have a mom. But I don't."
He picked at the mud under his fingernails, murmuring softly.
In the river, the other two water ghosts watched him eagerly.
Seeing this, Chen Shi plunged back into the water with another splash.
"What incredible breath-holding ability!"
Zhuge Jian reined in his restless mount and watched Chen Shi dive again, a glint in his eyes. "Such prolonged breath means his internal organs are extraordinarily robust. His strikes must be lightning-fast, like iron hammers or axes! If he seizes the chance, he could kill nine Divine Embryo Realm cultivators in a single breath!"
His gaze shifted to Blackie Pot on the shore, thinking silently, "A ten-year-old talisman master draws no suspicion, giving him the perfect opening to strike!"
From this bone-retrieval alone, he was certain: Chen Shi was the true killer of the nine cultivators at the Li family camp!
The water surface broke with a splash. Chen Shi dug another set of bones from the mud—the remains of another child drowned in the river.
He brought them to shore, then dove back in.
A quarter-hour later, Chen Shi surfaced again, cradling yet another set of bones.
He had located the remains of the third child drowned in the river.
Word spread quickly. Crowds gathered by the riverbank—villagers murmuring, relatives weeping.
On the water's surface, the two water ghost children saw their loved ones, weeping and laughing as they bowed and kowtowed to Chen Shi repeatedly.
Their families kowtowed to Chen Shi as well, but he hurriedly fled with Blackie Pot.
That time two years ago, in the sweltering heat, the children loved splashing in the cool river. The boy named Yuzhuo had swum into deep water, cramped up, and struggled desperately on the surface.
The others were too scared to help, but two other boys swam over bravely. One was grabbed in panic by Yuzhuo and dragged under with him, unable to break free. The older boy tried to save them both but exhausted himself and couldn't make it back up.
They became three water ghosts.
Chen Shi was often harassed by these three child water ghosts—even nearly drowned by them. He could see ghosts and spirits, and he'd noticed them circling one spot repeatedly, so he guessed their bones were there.
Seeing the neighboring villager weep so heartbreakingly this time finally moved him to retrieve them.
"Grandpa's waiting for me to eat."
Chen Shi glanced back at the people sobbing their hearts out on the shore, thinking to himself.
From afar, Zhuge Jian watched the scene. The power of his Heavenly Eye Talisman had faded, and his vision returned to normal.
"You lot wait here. No need to follow."
He dismounted and strode quickly toward Chen Shi.
"Impressive skills, little brother!"
Zhuge Jian came alongside Chen Shi, walking shoulder to shoulder. Zhuge Jian was tall and burly, while Chen Shi, at around ten, was small and slight.
The big man and the boy made an amusing contrast.
Chen Shi blinked, puzzled.
"Sir, what are you talking about? I don't understand."
Zhuge Jian stared ahead, saying flatly,
"Your breath is remarkably sustained. Even while diving, digging bones from the mud, and fending off two water ghosts, you held out for a full quarter-hour. You must be a body-refining expert! Your organs are like steel and iron. When your qi and blood surge, your limbs strike like blades and heavy weapons, cracking skulls and shattering brains. Within a zhang, in a single breath, you kill like thunder, taking lives as easily as dipping into a pocket!"
Chen Shi was stunned and let out a nervous giggle.
"Sir, I have no idea what you're saying. I'm just a little kid!"
Zhuge Jian's eyes fell on Blackie Pot.
"Talisman masters use black dog blood, and this one's a fine specimen—jet black without a single stray hair. They say such dogs have the purest yang energy, terrifying to ghosts and spirits. Any talisman master would love a dog like this."
Blackie Pot wagged its tail involuntarily at the words.
Chen Shi laughed.
"My dog's called Blackie Pot—black as pot soot. But I'm not selling him."
Zhuge Jian went on,
"Funny coincidence: four days ago, Li Xiaoding, the young master Li, was killed in Qianyang Mountain. The killer had a black dog too. He was a talisman master, short in stature—about your height, little brother."
Chen Shi grew wary inwardly.
Zhuge Jian meant trouble. He'd clearly pegged him as the killer and was probing.
"He's very close now—within a zhang."
Chen Shi suppressed the killing intent rising in his chest, thinking, "If I strike now..."
Zhuge Jian continued,
"This talisman master may be short, but his body is incredibly strong. He can cover a zhang and a half in one step for a lethal blow. So as long as you're just beyond his attack range, he's helpless."
Before he finished, he suddenly leaped back, landing precisely a zhang away from Chen Shi.
Then Zhuge Jian stepped forward, entering the zhang range.
This retreat and advance instantly provoked Chen Shi's qi, sending his blood surging with a rumbling like massive frogs croaking in his belly!
Chen Shi felt a chill: "This bailiff is formidable!"
Zhuge Jian's move seemed aimless, but it was designed to draw out Chen Shi's killing intent.
He'd used words to focus Chen Shi's attention, then retreated to stir his qi before stepping into striking range. If Chen Shi were the killer, tension would trigger his qi or blood!
And that's exactly what happened—Chen Shi fell into the trap, his blood surging and betraying him!
Chen Shi was about to attack regardless, but Zhuge Jian stepped back again, precisely out of the zhang range.
The distance left Chen Shi in a bind. Attacking now would meet prepared spells—suicide.
Fleeing? He'd never outrun the three-eyed firelock's range.
Zhuge Jian said calmly,
"My three-eyed firelock is loaded with half a tael of black powder and a tael of thunderbolt pellets. Within a hundred paces, it never misses. The pellets explode with thunder, shattering cultivators' divine embryos. Plus, it's a massive club—I've trained the Eighteen Roads Hammer Technique since childhood. They call me the Skull-Smashing Thunderbolt Hand. Up close, I crush heads like tofu. The other end's a spearhead, and to be honest, I've practiced spear arts too."
Chen Shi grunted.
Fight? No chance.
Flee? Impossible.
He truly had zero odds of winning.
Zhuge Jian turned and walked toward his bailiffs, calling back,
"So, little brother, next time you commit a crime, don't leave any traces. Don't fall into my hands again!"
Chen Shi froze.
"You're not arresting me?"
Zhuge Jian stopped, turned, and grinned.
"Arrest you? For what? To send you to the executioner? You risked drowning to retrieve those water ghosts' bones instead of holding a grudge—I find you interesting. Besides, Li Xiaoding deserved it. I'm a bailiff; I solve cases. This talisman master murder case is closed. Whether to arrest anyone? Not my call."
Chen Shi asked, puzzled,
"If you let me go, what about you?"
Zhuge Jian waved it off and walked away.
"Don't worry about me. With my skills, even if I can't hack it at the Water Buffalo County yamen, I can thrive anywhere else—maybe even do better!"