The ancient well poured out water like a waterfall.
The streets of the inner city had already turned into a Watery Kingdom. The air was thick with a damp, decaying stench. Broken planks, clothes, and corpses floated everywhere on the water.
Dark green standing water flooded the Stone Slabs.
It swallowed the low steps.
It flowed into every building, gleaming with an ominous sheen beneath the sunlight.
One evil spirit after another moved slowly through the stagnant water like a school of swimming fish. Occasionally, one would rise to the surface, revealing a pale, bloated face or a rotten, skeletal arm.
Because of their presence.
The water, though not particularly deep, always gave people the illusion that it was bottomless.
At this moment.
On the rooftop of a certain building.
A hiding bandit was trembling violently.
His name was Liu San, one of Tiger Lian Mountain's Small Leaders. He had seen blood before, but what he witnessed today had utterly shattered his courage.
He had watched his companion get dragged into the water by a Vicious Ghost.
That man's screams lasted only two or three seconds before abruptly stopping. Then, a string of bubbles rose to the surface. Not long after, a corpse soaked pale white floated up.
The corpse's face still bore the terror and despair it had felt before death.
"Amitabha..."
"Hallelujah..."
"Limitless Heavenly Venerable..."
"Please, don't let a Vicious Ghost set its sights on me..."
Liu San muttered under his breath, gripping a dagger tightly as though it were his last lifeline.
A pale hand slowly emerged from the water and grabbed the edge of the eaves.
Liu San's heart suddenly clenched.
He looked down and saw a woman's face rising from the water. It had been soaked pale and swollen, its features blurred beyond recognition, yet