"Pump the water out?"
Old Third Wang's mouth twitched. He only wanted to say one thing: *What the hell, can't you afford to play?!
Actually, he himself didn't believe there were any Water Ghosts. He had said that purely to make money.
As for why it seemed so mysterious... Who could explain what happened beneath the water? It was mysterious by nature. Besides, people in their line of work all had their own skills. They hadn't managed to dredge the body up because they hadn't put their hearts into it. If they were paid enough, they would naturally be able to bring it up.
He had originally planned to bluff them a little. So what if they were police? It wasn't as though he had never bluffed the police before—and succeeded, too.
But now...
These few police officers clearly weren't easy to fool!
The old man furrowed his brows and puffed away at his cigarette.
If they really pumped out the water, it would be a ghost's own fault if they still couldn't dredge up the body.
But he hadn't given up. Pumping out the water was indeed one solution, but Swan Lake wasn't small. There were who-knew-how-many fish, shrimp, and crabs inside. Never mind anything else—the time, effort, and money it would take just to pump out the water would be astronomical.
Besides, they would have to find a way to accommodate all that pumped-out water. Once it was gone, where would they get water to fill the lake back up? They couldn't exactly release tap water from the water mains, could they?
"Pumping out the water is probably just an empty threat."
"They're probably preparing to increase the manpower and resources put into the search. But they might not be able to dredge him up anyway. Once they're at their wits' end, I'll make another suggestion..."
The abacus in Old Third Wang's mind clattered away, but at the same time, he was somewhat puzzled.
His dredging boat... how the hell had it suddenly sprung a leak?
And that thing that looked like a human figure just now—what kind of fish was it?
He had spent more than half his life in the water and had seen all sorts of strange and bizarre things. But when you got down to it, they could all be explained scientifically. He had never seen any Water Ghosts or the like, so he remained relatively calm.
In his view, it should have been some kind of Big Fish, one of the fiercer varieties. It had been caught in the net before, and after breaking free, it had come back for revenge.
It had looked humanoid?
That was just refraction on the water's surface.
No one knew that Old Third Wang, who looked so superstitious as he talked about Water Ghosts, was actually the most materialistic of them all. Instead, the others were scared out of their wits.
Scared though they were, the police didn't sit idle. They made all sorts of arrangements at once, looking very much like they wouldn't rest until they had dredged up the body.
However, their efforts were doomed to fail. Qi Zixiao had already slipped ashore quietly on the other side.
"Too bad I don't have any True Essence..."
Her whole body was dripping wet, which made Qi Zixiao feel extremely uncomfortable. But without True Essence, she couldn't dry herself quickly and could only endure it for the time being.
She encountered quite a few people on the way, but they were all hurrying toward the other direction. Qi Zixiao paid them no attention.
Only when she took out her phone again did she discover that water was dripping from it. No matter how she pressed it, there wasn't the slightest response.
"...It broke?"
"Objects made by ordinary people really can't be relied on."
On the road.
Qi Zixiao had been about to raise her hand and flag down a taxi, but then she thought about it... Wait, that wasn't right!!!
"Now that the phone's broken, I can't use that thing called mobile payment by scanning a code. And that fellow said I have to pay to ride in a car."
How could she ride in a car without money? And if she didn't ride in a car, how would she get back?
Run back?
The key problem was that she didn't know the way either! She only knew the address!
Why not...
Qi Zixiao's eyes lit up. "That's what I'll do!"
"He said I'm not allowed to steal things, but he never said I couldn't..."
At the end of the road, an empty taxi came driving over. Qi Zixiao immediately waved it down...
The driver stuck his head out to take a look. Seeing that "Lin Fan" was soaked from head to toe, he couldn't help frowning. "Buddy, you're completely drenched. Look, water's still dripping from your pant legs."
"You can't ride in my car like this!"
"I can't?"
Qi Zixiao slightly furrowed her brows. "Don't you people do business for money?"
The driver was a quick-witted fellow. He grinned, then said with utmost seriousness, "You'll have to pay extra!"
"Then I'll pay extra."
Qi Zixiao nodded at once, completely unconcerned.
Pay extra?
That would require me to have money to pay extra, wouldn't it?
"Fine. If I take you this trip, my car definitely won't be able to work today. I'll only charge you five hundred. Pretty reasonable, right?"
The driver was practically grinning from ear to ear inside.
Five hundred... That was basically his earnings for an entire day. Take him somewhere, wash the car, then find a place to drink tea and play cards or something. Wasn't that much better?
"Fine."
Qi Zixiao got into the car...
The driver hit the gas. "Where to?"
"Green Mountain Town."
"Coming right up~!"
As the vehicle drove along...
The driver was feeling rather pleased with himself. As for worrying? There was no need.
So what if he was a "drowned rat"? What was the big deal? He had even driven a "drunk rat" before. As long as the money was right, what couldn't he do?
Qi Zixiao was also very calm. But while remaining calm, she kept staring out the window.
Only after more than half an hour had passed, when the scenery in the distance gradually began to look familiar...
"Now!"
Click!
The car door opened, and Qi Zixiao slipped out.
The entire sequence of movements was as smooth as flowing clouds and running water. From start to finish, it took less than two seconds...
"Holy crap!!!"
The driver's scalp instantly went numb. "What the hell, was she trying to kill herself?"
He slammed on the brakes and pulled over, then immediately got out to check. He prayed constantly that the person wouldn't be dead, but in the end, he couldn't see even half a human figure. Only the traffic behind him roared past.
Driver: "..."
"Where did she go?!"
A gust of wind blew past, and his back turned cold...
"Holy crap, could I have seen a ghost?!"
Once this thought appeared, it clung to him like a maggot in his bones, impossible to shake off.
Especially when he recalled how the other person had been soaked from head to toe, still dripping with water, and how her face had been so cold and pale...
"What the hell, was she really a Water Ghost?"
"What the hell did I do to deserve this?"
The driver was practically scared into wetting himself...
And to make matters worse, the car radio happened to broadcast a perfectly timed news report.
"Latest news: Today, a young man threw himself into Swan Lake and committed suicide. The police are currently organizing an effort to retrieve the body. Follow-up operations are proceeding in an orderly manner. This station will continue to follow the incident..."
"(ΩДΩ)?!!!!"
Swan Lake, a man throwing himself into the lake, and I just happened to have driven a "person" who was soaked from head to toe...
Wasn't this exactly that Water Ghost?
Holy crap!
The driver let out a strange shriek, jumped back into the car, and sped away.
In the woods nearby, Qi Zixiao patted the mud off herself and tidied her appearance...
"It worked."
"He didn't let me steal things, but he never said I couldn't jump out of a moving car."
How could such a trivial matter possibly stump this Saintess?
Only after the taxi had driven away did Qi Zixiao leave the woods. She then headed toward the slightly familiar place in her line of sight.
However, she walked for nearly half a day. By the time her clothes had dried, she still hadn't found her lodgings. Looking around again, where was there any familiar place left?
"Have I... gotten lost?"
Qi Zixiao's eyelid twitched, and she was somewhat at a loss.
Before you continue