There was also a carpenter who had smashed his head against something and died in his own courtyard.
And a ghost of someone wrongfully killed who had run desperately for his life, only to be pursued and killed anyway.
House after house was filled with all manner of horrific traces.
Most terrifying of all was a grave on the mountain, thick with a rank odor and filled with sharpened wooden stakes. It was hard to imagine what terrible things had happened there.
The main reason was that Jiang Chen had excitedly gone straight off to find the Qishui River God, leaving the Netherworld Messengers behind to investigate the ghost village out of curiosity.
And when they heard that River God's furious roar carry over from afar-
"You dare come back?... What! You've surpassed a Blood-Clad Ghost?"
Everyone seemed to understand something. Their mouths twitched violently, but they chose to keep their lips sealed, doing nothing but marveling inwardly.
After killing five River Gods,
the group arrived at an exceptionally large tributary of the Long River, called the Wei River.
Under the night sky, its waters were black as ink, as though some monster below was watching the people on the bank.
A long row of protective railings lined the riverbank, built voluntarily by the surrounding villagers because far too many drownings had happened here. The locals all said there was something sinister about this river, but for the sake of favorable farming conditions, many families had been unwilling to leave for generations.
"Bureau Chief Jiang, there's something strange about this river. It's unlike the ones before. Perhaps its River God already used the body of a River God's Son to complete its transformation and reach our level!" Lü Ming warned.
Zhang Mu immediately corrected him. "Lü, how many times have