Ling Xuanxiao left Songyang Town.
As he passed a river, its waters ran swift and turbulent. He saw a child thrashing in the river.
The people on the bank cried out in desperation.
Ling Xuanxiao was about to secretly cast a spell to save the child when he saw a force in the river lift the child up and toss them back onto the bank.
Interesting!
The one who had saved the child was actually a water ghost.
Water ghosts were malevolent ghosts that had died accidentally in water, or committed suicide in rivers, lakes, or seas, and could not be reincarnated.
They lurked beneath the water in secret, luring living people in or directly dragging them under to drown, making them their substitutes for death. Only then could they be reincarnated.
Yet this water ghost was exceedingly strange. Leaving aside harming people, it had instead acted to save one.
Ling Xuanxiao caught the scent of merit.
The merit accumulated by cultivators would reveal itself each time they faced a tribulation.
He landed on the opposite bank.
With a light tap of his finger against the river's surface, he used the Spirit Summoning Technique.
He forcibly summoned the water ghost from earlier.
The water ghost was greatly alarmed. It hurriedly cupped its hands in salute and called him Immortal Master.
"You are quite a strange water ghost. Rather than seeking a substitute for death so you can be reincarnated, you're here saving people instead."
The water ghost forced a smile. "Actually, I wanted to do that at first. I had set my sights on an unlucky fellow.
"He fell into the river himself, and I thought it was Heaven's will, giving me the chance to be reincarnated.
"But his daughter kept calling out from the bank. I couldn't bear it,