Zhou Yan said irritably, "Obviously. If I hadn't pulled you back just now, you'd have become the new water ghost."
Only then did San Kuazi realize that Zhou Yan had saved him.
His first reaction wasn't fear or gratitude. Instead, he exclaimed in surprise, "Big Brother Zhou Yan, you can actually deal with water ghosts?"
"'Deal with' might be an overstatement, but I can hold my own against one."
Zhou Yan wasn't bragging. He could still feel a pair of eyes in the river glaring at him with greed and malice.
If not for its wariness of the zombie, that water ghost probably wouldn't have backed down so easily.
Zhou Yan furrowed his brow and pulled San Kuazi back more than ten paces before asking, "You still haven't told me why you came here at night. Don't you know how many people have died in this river?"
If San Kuazi had been a stranger, that would have been one thing. But he'd grown up nearby; there was no way he hadn't heard the stories about this river.
After dark, not even burly men dared to go near the river, let alone a child like San Kuazi.
San Kuazi lowered his head and murmured, "I was hungry, so I came to find something to eat."
"Did something happen at home?"
Zhou Yan looked at San Kuazi and suddenly asked.
As far as he remembered, although San Kuazi's family was poor, they could just about keep food on the table.
But clearly, something was wrong now.
Besides, San Kuazi had grown much thinner. No wonder Zhou Yan hadn't recognized him at first.
San Kuazi lowered his head even further, his voice so quiet it was almost inaudible.
"Dad got hurt a few days ago while moving cargo. He's lying at home now, and Mom's trying to find a way to get him treated. I was so hungry I couldn't sleep, so I came out to look for something to eat..."
Zhou Yan fell silent.
Things like this were all too common. He'd seen far too much of them.
That was also why he wanted to change his fate, taking risks even though he had a system.
He wanted to make sure that when misfortune struck, he wouldn't be at the mercy of fate. Instead, he'd seize fate by the throat.
Zhou Yan rummaged in his clothes and found that he didn't have a single coin.
Only then did he remember that he'd given all his money to Mother Zhou and Ma Yan.
Seeing what Zhou Yan was doing, San Kuazi quickly said, "It's all right, Big Brother Zhou Yan. Dad's almost better. He'll be back at the docks in a few days. We just have to get through the next few days."
Poverty had forced him to grow up. Though San Kuazi was young, he already knew how to read people.
Zhou Yan glanced at San Kuazi and said no more. He simply turned and said, "Come back with me. I can't promise much, but I can at least give you a filling meal."
San Kuazi hesitated, but in the end, he couldn't resist his hunger and followed Zhou Yan.
Far away, the unseen thing in the river watched the two figures grow smaller and smaller, powerless to stop them.
At last, ripples spread across the water, and then all was still again.
Perhaps because the zombie had been successfully created, there was much less yin energy in the new house. Most of it had been absorbed by the zombie.
Even so, San Kuazi was startled when he saw the house.
"Big Brother Zhou Yan, this is a haunted house! Godmother Wang went mad when she lived here, then jumped into the river and killed herself."
Zhou Yan kept walking and replied casually, "Are ghosts scary? No matter how scary they are, can they be scarier than poverty?"
San Kuazi was taken aback. A thoughtful look came over his face.
That was true. Was there anything in this world scarier than poverty?
The kind of illness that went untreated, leaving you with nothing to do but lie there waiting to die, feeling your body slowly break out in sores and rot until the pain finally killed you;
The kind of hunger that felt like a knife scraping at your insides, leaving you with the choice of starving to death or filling your belly with clay until it killed you;
And having no clothes to cover yourself...
In that instant, San Kuazi's worldview was shaken to its core.
Zhou Yan paid no mind to how deeply his casual remark had affected San Kuazi. He went straight to the kitchen, took out twenty jin of mixed grain flour, packed it in a sack, and handed it to San Kuazi.
"I can't be bothered to cook. Go home and make it yourself."
San Kuazi's eyes grew hot. He quickly lowered his head, but his hands clutched the sack tightly.
Twenty jin of mixed grain flour might not seem like much, but it was enough to feed his family for six or seven days.
If they rationed it and ate it with wild greens, it might even last them ten days or so.
At a time like this, it was life-saving food.
"Thank you, Big Brother Zhou Yan."
Zhou Yan waved a hand dismissively. "Hurry home. If I catch you near the river again, I'll break your legs."
San Kuazi didn't say another word. He bowed deeply to Zhou Yan, then ran home with the sack in his arms.
Zhou Yan watched San Kuazi leave, then slowly closed the gate.
His mood, which had just improved, turned sour again, and his anxiety began to rise.
"In this world, if you don't move forward, you fall behind!"
With a sigh, Zhou Yan quickly composed himself and began training in the courtyard.
Tiger Pounce!
[Five Animal Frolics proficiency +1] [Five Animal Frolics proficiency +2] ...
Night deepened, and most people had fallen asleep.
Zhou Yan was no exception. After finishing his Five Animal Frolics practice, he went through a set of the Shennong Health Cultivation Method. He felt his qi and blood stir back to life, though they remained deeply contained within him.
The Shennong Health Cultivation Method was meant to be practiced twice a day, morning and evening, for good reason.
Practicing in the morning awakened the qi and blood throughout the body, like waking from a dream, leaving you refreshed for the day ahead.
Practicing at night guided the qi and blood from an agitated state into calm, preparing the body for sleep and nourishing it through the night.
Practicing the Shennong Health Cultivation Method at other times had limited benefit. Doing so too often could instead cause the qi and blood to circulate excessively and harm the body.
That was why Doctor Zhuang had warned Zhou Yan about it.
"Whoo..."
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew outside, carrying a heavy mist of water with it.
A string of wet footprints appeared out of nowhere in the courtyard. They came in through the gate, crossed the yard, and headed into the room.
The gate was firmly shut, but the footprints kept appearing. They even passed straight through the gate and into the room, slowly making their way toward Zhou Yan's bed.
At last, the footprints stopped beside the bed.
Just then, Zhou Yan's eyes snapped open. He raised his hand, and a Peach Wood Sword appeared in it.
"Die!"
Without a word, Zhou Yan went straight for the kill.
Where the Peach Wood Sword struck, a ripple-like barrier appeared, as if trying to block it.
But Zhou Yan had put all his strength behind the attack. The ripple had no chance of stopping the sword.
It held for only about 0.3 seconds before the barrier shattered. The Peach Wood Sword plunged forward, unstoppable.
"Ah..."
A shrill scream suddenly rang through the room.
Then, where Zhou Yan's Peach Wood Sword had struck, a transparent figure appeared. It was the water ghost from the river...
Before you continue