A chilling wind rose all around, and from the corner of my eye, I saw that Centipede Belly beneath the Flying Tiger Bay stone marker had actually "come alive."
I noticed that the eyes of the stone-carved Centipede Belly had begun to glow faintly.
Its head, lying in the water, suddenly exhaled a cloud of pale, ghostly mist...
"Holy shit, Master, Uncle Yu, look at that stone carving..."
Master and Uncle Yu had both been watching the mass of evil spirits ahead. Hearing my shout, they turned around at once.
Seeing Centipede Belly's stone-carved eyes glowing, with pale ghostly mist pouring from its mouth and nose, they too looked stunned.
"What's going on?"
"There's something wrong with that stone carving. Back up first!"
Master urgently warned us, and the three of us quickly retreated.
Then we saw the ghostly mist spilling from the stone carving's mouth and nose spread toward the ghosts.
The mist was thin and sparse, visible only through the Heavenly Eye.
As the mist drifted before the ghosts, strand after strand slipped into the nostrils of those wandering souls.
Then, an eerie scene unfolded.
The yellow talismans on the water ghosts' foreheads buzzed as they burned to ash one after another...
Without the suppression of the yellow talismans, those river water ghosts climbed up from the ground one after another.
The moment they stood, strange incantation markings swiftly appeared on their foreheads.
They looked very much like witch markings.
Once those markings appeared, the stone-carved Centipede Belly with its glowing eyes returned to normal.
Seeing this, we were all somewhat shocked. Someone was clearly performing a ritual.
And that person was most likely my grandfather.
We made no other move.
After the water ghosts stood up and the strange markings appeared on their foreheads, they showed no