Drowning Ghost

At dinner, two people were missing from the table: the deceased Gong Yuanwu, and Xiao Lan from No. 1 Middle School. When everyone asked about Xiao Lan, the two girls from No. 1 Middle School said they had knocked on her door, but Xiao Lan had said she was feeling unwell and had refused to open it. The atmosphere in the dining hall was somewhat gloomy. Very few people spoke, especially the students from No. 1 Middle School.

Zhang Chen became even more certain that the girl must have developed some problem after eating the fish. He would go check on her with Jia Xin later.

After dinner, everyone gathered around the circular sofa.

At that moment, Er Wa pulled out a stack of cards from his pocket—the collector's edition of "Werewolf."

"We were originally planning to play together, and whoever lost would play Truth or Dare. But under the circumstances, I think we should forget about the dare part."

Everyone had been sitting together in a stiff atmosphere. Now that they had a game to play, they gradually began to relax.

"Come on, let's all play. We've got nothing else to do anyway. As for whoever loses, we can all decide on the punishment together." Hong Yi had also shaken off the gloom and spoken up. It seemed he and Er Wa had truly bonded through adversity.

Since some people did not really know how to play, they chose the simplest version: one moderator, one detective, one killer, and six civilians.

In the first round, Zhang Chen unexpectedly drew the moderator card. He merely chuckled.

"On the first night, everyone close your eyes. Killer, open your eyes."

The killer who looked up was Jia Xin. Seeing Jia Xin's deadpan face, Zhang Chen knew the detective was probably doomed this round.

The first person Jia Xin killed was Hong Yi, who was sitting beside him.

When everyone opened their eyes at dawn and saw that Hong Yi was dead, they all began defending themselves. The group was actually divided into two factions: Yufang Middle School and the county's No. 1 Middle School. Thus, suspicion was mainly directed at Dai Xu, Wang Yizhi, and Tan Fei, though some people said No. 1 Middle School was deliberately misleading everyone from within their own ranks.

"On the second night, everyone close your eyes. Detective, open your eyes."

The person who opened her eyes was also from No. 1 Middle School—the curly-haired girl, Miao Shuangshuang.

Zhang Chen could tell that a little boy lived inside her heart. She had a boyish temperament, and sure enough, without saying a word, she immediately shot Tan Fei.

When dawn came and Tan Fei learned that he was dead, he began crying and making a scene, saying the detective was completely brainless. Zhang Chen looked at Miao Shuangshuang beside him. Her eyes were practically spitting fire with rage, but she still held it in. After everyone finished defending themselves, opinions became divided.

"On the third night, everyone close your eyes. Killer, open your eyes."

When Jia Xin opened his eyes, he still looked like an old fox, expressionless. Without hesitation, he killed Dai Xu.

When dawn came and everyone opened their eyes, they became even more confused. The killer had killed Hong Yi from No. 1 Middle School, then, after the detective mistakenly killed Tan Fei from Yufang, had killed Dai Xu from Yufang as well. Jia Xin watched the crowd argue in front of him without expression, as though he considered everyone far inferior to himself. It made Zhang Chen dislike him somewhat.

"On the fourth night, everyone close your eyes. Detective, open your eyes."

Miao Shuangshuang, thoroughly confused, thought for a long time before directly killing Er Wa. It seemed to be because Er Wa had been close to Hong Yi, and because she thought she could not kill someone from No. 1 Middle School twice, she chose a classmate from her own school the second time.

After dawn, when Tan Fei saw that Dai Xu had also been mistakenly killed, he shamelessly shouted, "Well, looks like we really are star-crossed lovers." He was immediately met with everyone's laughter and Dai Xu's vicious glare.

Just like that, almost everything had gone according to Jia Xin's plan. Zhang Chen also noticed that Jia Xin seemed to have known from the beginning who the detective was, yet he only killed civilians every round. In the end, he killed every detective and civilian. In other words, everyone except Zhang Chen and Jia Xin had to be punished.

Zhang Chen, serving as the moderator, was deeply shocked. He even began wondering whether Jia Xin had included him in his plans as well—this seven-day trip.

As the winner, Jia Xin had the right to decide everyone's punishment. However, Jia Xin proposed something terrifying.

"You seven will enter the swimming pool together. You don't need to get into the water—just stand around the edges of the pool. The four girls will stand in the corners, while the three boys will stand against the walls between pairs of girls. No one should stand on the east side. Also, don't close the swimming pool doors. Return to the hall in ten minutes and report what happened inside."

The moment he said that, everyone began arguing. Tan Fei flew into a rage, saying this pretty boy was treating their lives like a joke. Even the people from No. 1 Middle School hesitated, considering someone had died that very morning.

"I have a reason for doing this. I hope everyone can trust me. If anything happens, Zhang Chen and I will get there immediately. We guarantee that no harm will come to you. I said today that solving the villa's problem is everyone's shared responsibility. We can't rely solely on ourselves."

After saying that, Jia Xin unexpectedly demonstrated his qi manipulation in front of everyone for the first time. With a tap of his feet against the ground, he crossed from where he stood to the swimming pool entrance in an instant, then flashed back just as quickly. Everyone stared in astonishment.

"Brother Chen, does this guy know martial arts?" Tan Fei leaned close to Zhang Chen and whispered.

Zhang Chen did not know what this guy was plotting either, but he believed Jia Xin would not do this without reason, so he nodded.

Thus, everyone followed Jia Xin's request. After all, they were trapped in a difficult situation and needed to work together.

Zhang Chen looked at Wang Yizhi and nodded, indicating that nothing would happen. Then Er Wa took the lead, and the group of seven slowly entered the swimming pool.

"What are you planning?" Zhang Chen asked.

"This afternoon, after you returned to your bedrooms, I dug up Gong Yuanwu's corpse. I imagine you also wanted to know whether he had been controlled by the Blood Demon or by the Ghosts inside the swimming pool."

"And the result?"

"When the Blood Demon separates a portion of its essence blood, that blood possesses an independent consciousness. After controlling someone, their behavior will not change too drastically. Ordinary Ghosts, however, forcibly control people through their own methods. Not only do they damage the controlled person's body, they also erase their consciousness, causing extremely abnormal behavior."

"You mean Gong Yuanwu was controlled by the Ghosts in the swimming pool?"

"A silver needle was inserted into the deceased's Fengfu acupoint at the back of his head. The needle was stained with traces of moisture. You can imagine who was responsible—the Drowning Ghost in that swimming pool."

Zhang Chen believed Jia Xin after hearing such a reasoned explanation, unaware that he had been completely deceived.

"A Drowning Ghost? What does that mean?"

"Also called a drowned ghost, it refers to a ghost that died by drowning. Drowning Ghosts generally have green or red eyes and can swim through water as quickly as animals like otters. In water, their strength becomes immense—equal to that of ten adult men combined. Their skin is slick and greasy, so it is usually impossible to grab one in the water."

"And our strength would be greatly reduced in the water. Killing it there would be extremely difficult. So what I need to do is lure it onto dry land and kill it."

"So?"

"So I had the four girls stand in the four corners of the swimming pool. Women are naturally yin in constitution, and standing at the four corners can gather the yin energy of the entire swimming pool. There are exactly three boys, and men have yang constitutions. They stand between the four girls, while no one stands to the east, making the yang energy in the building stronger in the west and weaker in the east. That will cause the yang energy to spread toward the eastern doorway."

"And I did not deliberately show off my strength just now. I took the opportunity to place a Yang-Gathering Flag beside the swimming pool entrance. The spreading yang energy will be drawn out of the swimming pool by the flag. The hall is already rich in yin energy at night, so the drawn-out yang energy will be instantly neutralized. The longer this continues, the more yin energy will gather inside the swimming pool..."

"Ten minutes is the limit. If it goes on any longer, with too much yin energy indoors and too little yang energy, it could harm their bodies. Once the yin energy reaches an extremely abundant state, that will be the time for us to hunt this ghost."

Zhang Chen both admired and worried about Jia Xin. He might not fully understand what Jia Xin was saying, but Jia Xin had arranged everything in advance. Compared to Jia Xin, Zhang Chen truly had been far too reckless.

This guy seems to carry equipment for dealing with every kind of ghost. Is he really here on vacation? Zhang Chen still remained suspicious of Jia Xin. Indeed, someone like this could not be trusted easily. Perhaps one day, Zhang Chen would die without even knowing how he had died.

"By the way, there's one more thing. What do you think about Xiao Lan from your class? I think it's necessary to go see her."

"Let's settle this first." Jia Xin seemed not to care about his classmate at all.

"Then once we go inside, how do we kill this Drowning Ghost?"

"It's almost time. We'll talk once we're inside."

Not long after Jia Xin spoke, everyone slowly came out of the swimming pool. They all had their arms crossed over their chests and looked extremely cold.

"Damn it, there really is a ghost in there! We were fine when we entered, but after standing there for a while, it started getting cold. It's even more powerful than air conditioning!" Even Tan Fei's layers of fat could not keep out the cold. One could imagine just how freezing it was inside.

Zhang Chen hurried over and embraced Wang Yizhi, touching her icy arms with a pang in his heart. However, the Blood Beetle inside Yi Zhi's arm showed no reaction whatsoever.

Ignoring Zhang Chen's concerned fussing, Jia Xin spoke directly.

"Other than the cold, each of you, describe the situation where you were standing."

In the end, no one could say much. Other than the cold, there truly had been no changes. But the last person, Dai Xu, said something.

"I was standing in the innermost corner of the room. At first, it was just like everyone else's experience. Nothing changed. But at the end, when the ten minutes were up and I was about to leave, I nearly slipped on water on the floor. But there definitely wasn't any water there when I first came to that spot."

The moment Zhang Chen heard that, he immediately sensed the Blood Beetle in Dai Xu's hand. Sure enough, it had made slight movements one minute earlier.

After hearing this, Jia Xin seemed very satisfied and nodded.

"Thanks to everyone's help, Zhang Chen and I will have a much easier time tonight. Please return to your bedrooms and get some good rest. Put the talismans I gave you at the head of your beds. Tomorrow, everyone can swim without worry."

"Heh heh." Everyone could only laugh awkwardly. Even if there were no ghost inside, who would still want to swim in a pool where someone had died?

Wang Yizhi immediately ran over, linked her arm through Zhang Chen's, and said warmly,

"Once you're done, come hang out in our room, okay?"

Tan Fei heard that and kept saying, "I want to go too." Zhang Chen smiled, patted Wang Yizhi's little head, nodded, and said,

"Once I get back, let's all have a party in your room."

Then everyone went upstairs laughing and chatting, as though they were certain Zhang Chen would return victorious.

After everyone returned to their rooms, Jia Xin took two small glass bottles filled with dirt out of a cloth bag.

"Once we enter, scatter the dirt in the corners as quickly as possible. You'll handle the two corners closest to the entrance, and I'll handle the two farthest ones."

After saying that, the two arrived at the entrance.

"I'll count to three. Move as fast as you can." Jia Xin frowned tightly and took out the two bottles. "Alright. Three, two, one—go!"

The moment Zhang Chen rushed into the swimming pool, the temperature inside made goosebumps rise all over his body. It could not have been more than fifteen degrees in there. Yet he focused entirely on the two corners he was responsible for.

"Good, the first bottle." Zhang Chen pulled out the stopper and poured out the dirt inside.

However, at that moment, ripples spread across the previously still center of the swimming pool. Slowly, the head of an elderly man emerged from the center of the ripples. Only a few strands of white hair remained on his head; his face was covered in wrinkles, his skin hung loose, and his eyes were milky white. His gaze fell directly on where Zhang Chen stood...

P.S. If you have any suggestions, feel free to post them in the discussion section. A Fei will work hard to make corrections. Thank you for your support. If you like it, please bookmark and recommend it!