"Let's try calling Master Xiao here first."
"Maybe Master Xiao can hear us."
Pei You knew Little Deer was anxious, so she didn't say much and instead made a suggestion.
Truthfully, she was worried sick too.
After all, this had happened because of her.
If she hadn't been fretting over one thing or another, this wouldn't have happened.
As time passed, she grew more and more frantic.
"Master Xiao."
Pei You tentatively called out toward the river.
Seeing this, Little Deer cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "Master Xiao, where are you?"
"Master Xiao!"
"Master Xiao!"
The girls' voices echoed over the river.
Before long, a man's voice joined them.
Xiao Xiao's ears twitched underwater, and he stopped swimming.
The Drowning Ghost turned to look at him in confusion. "Play, play."
"Sorry, Drowning Ghost."
At Xiao Xiao's words, the Drowning Ghost's eyes shifted uneasily.
It swam over to him and grabbed his wrist. Looking up at Xiao Xiao with its green eyes, it unconsciously revealed a glimmer of hope. "Play, play."
"I have to go back."
Xiao Xiao didn't mind that the Drowning Ghost was holding his hand.
With his free hand, he patted the monster on the head.
"Play, play."
The Drowning Ghost's voice grew a little shriller.
Its luminous green eyes seemed to shimmer with tears.
"Drowning Ghost."
Xiao Xiao's voice was gentle and calm. He raised the wrist the Drowning Ghost had grabbed. "Don't grab humans by the wrist so casually from now on."
"Not by the ankle, either, or anywhere else on their body."
"They'll get scared."
"Humans can't breathe underwater."
"So if you insist on dragging them along to play with you, they'll drown."
Seeing the Drowning Ghost's confused, bewildered expression, Xiao Xiao tried putting it another way. "That