Water Ghosts Destroy Villages, Hearts in Turmoil

Water Ghosts Destroy Villages, Hearts in Turmoil

Water Ghosts Destroy Villages, Hearts in Turmoil

Lin Mo naturally understood that a tall tree caught the wind. After speaking with Old Master Yang Yun, he also received some rewards.

Though he was only a Registered Disciple, his monthly allotment of Qi and Blood Pills was symbolically raised to ten pills, and he was granted twenty taels of silver, easing Lin Mo's immediate financial famine.

He had spent his last five taels of silver on lamp oil. He truly had not a penny to his name.

The injuries on all ten of his fingers had yet to heal, though they were faintly beginning to scab over. Wanting them to heal more thoroughly, Lin Mo headed out to Guo's Pharmacy.

He bought some basic Trauma Medicine, as well as herbs to apply externally while practicing the White Ape Eight Section Fist, useful for relieving muscle strains and the like.

"My qi and blood has already broken through to mastery. There is no longer any threshold for practicing the final two forms of the White Ape Eight Section Fist. As long as I settle down and train hard in the days ahead, once I reach the minor achievement realm, my combat strength will likely double several times over."

As Lin Mo calculated in his heart and walked onto the street, he noticed something strange after only a short while.

It was noon, and the warm late-autumn sun shone overhead.

Changxing Street, the main street of Changhe County, should have been at its noisiest hour of the day. In the past, tavern banners snapped fiercely in the wind, while the cries of peddlers and laborers rose and fell without end.

Yet lately, an unfounded terror seemed to be quietly spreading through the streets and alleys.

At first, several peddlers carrying shoulder poles had gathered their heads together, their faces pale with fear as they mentioned, "Not a single living soul was left in the village downstream from Wulong Village..."

The news spread like wildfire: water ghosts had appeared, wiping out three villages in succession!

As Lin Mo walked down the street, every stallholder and vendor was discussing it. Who still had the mind to do business?

When he entered a tavern to eat, he even heard someone swear that a relative from a neighboring village had fled there the previous night, describing in bloodless terror the sight of corpses floating ashore in the darkness and devouring anyone they saw.

With the discussion growing so chaotic, he lost all interest in eating slowly. He ordered a few dishes, hurriedly finished them, and left.

On his way to the pharmacy, Lin Mo unconsciously quickened his pace, his brows tightly furrowed.

"I never expected the water ghosts slaughtering villages to truly stir everyone into such panic. There will probably be more chaos in the coming days. I should simply calm down and wait for them to handle it properly."

He had not forgotten about People's Minor Merit. If someone harbored ill intent, then at his current first refinement mastery realm, he likely would not even have room to fight back.

In this world, one's little life still came first!

Constables and yamen runners continuously patrolled the streets, sometimes barking harshly, "Those who spread rumors and confuse the public will receive eighty strokes of the rod!"

But Lin Mo saw clearly that even many of the constables wore anxious, terrified expressions. The more timid ones looked as though they feared a water ghost might leap out from some corner.

"This County Magistrate is muddleheaded too. Wouldn't such arrangements only worsen the panic?"

Lin Mo shook his head and did not dwell on it. After buying his medicine at Guo's Pharmacy, he turned and returned to Stone Wall Courtyard, where he had grown accustomed to training and cultivating.

"Greetings, Senior Brother Lin..."

"Greetings, Senior Brother."

The moment he entered, apprentices greeted him again. He responded to each of them and arrived at the yellow-earth training ground, where far fewer apprentices remained to train.

Who knew whether they had fled Changhe County in panic, or lost their lives when the water ghosts slaughtered the villages last night.

Lin Mo casually applied some Trauma Medicine to his hands, then went to find Xu Changfeng.

"Senior Brother Xu, I have already broken through to mastery. I would like to ask you to teach me the training methods for the final two forms of the White Ape Eight Section Fist."

"I happen to have some free time these days, so I'll teach you hand in hand."

Xu Changfeng still wore that beaming smile. Standing before the stances with his hands behind his back, dressed in a fitted blue-gray martial outfit, he continued in a voice that rang like metal striking stone, "The final two forms of the White Ape Eight Section Fist are its essence, its utmost priority..."

"Though it is merely a Human-grade Low-tier fist art, if you thoroughly master the final two forms, it will be no worse than a Human-grade Mid-tier one!"

As he spoke, Xu Changfeng sprang onto the Plum Blossom Stances. The instant his toes touched the wood, his body settled with leisurely steadiness; not even the posts trembled.

"The final two forms of the White Ape Eight Section Fist value intent over form. Its fist momentum is like that of a mad ape. In battle, all that pounding and smashing relies on a streak of madness!"

Xu Changfeng let out a fierce shout. His feet followed the footwork of the White Ape Eight Section Fist as though eyes had grown beneath them, and he leapt between the Plum Blossom Stances without the slightest hesitation.

His fists blasted out in rapid alternation, the joints of his arms linking through one after another, striking seven consecutive explosive booms from the air!

After several dozen breaths, the demonstration ended. Using [Insightful Eye], Lin Mo froze Xu Changfeng's movements and replayed them repeatedly in his mind before leaping onto the Plum Blossom Stances himself to practice.

The final two forms valued intent over form, but with Xu Changfeng's experience in bodily force generation as a reference, Lin Mo could borrow techniques for exerting qi and blood from it, making it easier to replicate and learn them exactly.

Imitating Xu Changfeng, Lin Mo sank his hips and steadied his body. His arms spread like a white ape reaching for branches, his waist twisting as he shifted and sprang.

At first, he could imitate seven or eight parts out of ten through his reflexes and abundant qi and blood. Yet after only a dozen or so breaths, one careless misstep made the Plum Blossom Stances sway, and the qi and blood within his body immediately fell into chaos.

Every movement afterward felt like treading upon knife points, while the muscles in his thighs burned from his wildly surging qi and blood.

The pain made Lin Mo suck in two or three breaths of cold air. In less than the time it took to drink a cup of tea, his clothes were already soaked with sweat, and his legs trembled like a sieve.

"Even with the boost from [Insightful Eye], it seems I can't rush things..."

Lin Mo rested briefly and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Scenes continued flashing through his mind as he began reviewing them frame by frame.

"The final two forms do not merely value intent over form. They also demand extremely precise control over qi and blood. No wonder first refinement mastery is the threshold."

"Without even first refinement mastery, first, one's qi and blood would be insufficient to sustain it; second, one's familiarity with controlling qi and blood would also be lacking."

He swallowed a Qi and Blood Pill and sat in meditation, calming his breathing.

Lin Mo also remained keenly aware of one thing: though he was a Registered Disciple with a martial master backing him,

if news of People's Minor Merit reached others' ears over time, someone would inevitably use force to coerce him into exchanging it for Precious Medicine.

In Lin Mo's view, such conduct was not exactly foolish. It was simply that when the profits were great enough, someone would inevitably have their mind clouded.

Especially regarding the water ghosts, he still remembered that Zhao Wu had raised water ghosts for the Zhao Family Grain Store.

Though he did not know the inside story, Lin Mo faintly felt that they had orchestrated this Grace Order from start to finish, all for the merit recorded upon it.

He looked at the apprentices in the courtyard, most of whom were still resting or eating, took a deep breath, straightened his back, and once again walked to the Plum Blossom Stances.

He was indeed already a martial artist, but the faint sense of crisis rising in his heart made him resolve to shed more sweat than anyone else.

Over the following days, after Lin Mo finished receiving goods at the docks each morning and made a brief patrol, he would clock out punctually at noon and return to Stone Wall Courtyard for extra training.

He had all three daily meals delivered to the courtyard and did not return until dusk.

With a supply of Qi and Blood Pills and the support of externally applied herbs, Lin Mo trained with even greater frenzy, pushing himself harder than he ever had as an apprentice.

Even Xu Changfeng watched in repeated amazement.