A woman leaps into the river, a water ghost seeks a replacement, an iron chain binds a demon

Ning Zhi stood on the bank in utter despair, staring blankly into space.

The water shimmered, and suddenly a dripping head emerged from the river.

"Miss, I've seen you wandering here for three days." The water ghost brushed aside his long hair and called, "Are you going to jump or not? If you're going to jump into the river-come take my place for a few years."

Ning Zhi touched her empty lower belly, a mocking smile curling her lips, and shouted toward the river, "I will! Why wouldn't I? Just you wait!"

With that, she bent her knees, then leaped into the river with all her strength.

Her body sailed through the air. As the water drew closer and closer, Ning Zhi closed her eyes.

The water ghost hurriedly reached out to catch her.

Just then, a streak of golden light shot from afar, swept Ning Zhi up, and returned her to the bank.

"Miss, why are you seeking death?" A handsome youth in brocade robes arrived with graceful steps, studying the woman curiously.

The girl was in the flower of her youth and quite pretty. But weariness filled her brow, diminishing her beauty somewhat.

"You meddler-why did you have to save me?"

Seeing that a stranger had rescued her and brought her ashore, Ning Zhi's tears streamed down.

"Haha-I'm a cultivator from an immortal mountain. I'm practicing the Way among mortals and accumulating merit. Tell me what happened. Perhaps I can help?"

As Ao Ding spoke, he kept a wary eye on the water ghost in the river.

Yet when the burly man saw Ao Ding appear, he made no unusual move, merely lying on the surface and listening to them speak.

Ning Zhi sobbed softly, unable to force out a single word for a long while.

The burly man in the water could not bear watching any longer and simply told Ao Ding, "I've been listening to her cry from the water for days. Seems some faithless fellow abandoned her-and her child is gone too. So she's lost all hope and plans to drown herself."

"I wasn't abandoned!" Ning Zhi suddenly raised her head and protested. "Huang Lang would never abandon me!"

"Look at her-" The water ghost clicked his tongue. "Still defending him at a time like this, and she says she wasn't deceived?"

Ao Ding had made little progress in the art of divination and could not calculate the causes and consequences. He merely examined the foreign vital energy mingled within Ning Zhi's body, vaguely felt it had something to do with a spirit creature, and sat down to question her carefully.

In secret, he cast a Clear-Mind Mantra, allowing Ning Zhi's emotions to settle.

As faint azure light stirred, Ning Zhi finally began to speak slowly:

"Huang Lang and I have known each other for over a year. Last spring, we met on Phoenix Mountain behind the town. Afterward, we often met secretly at night..." At this point, a rosy blush floated onto Ning Zhi's face. "He often came into my room. This spring, we originally agreed that he would formally propose, and I even gave him some of my private savings to prepare the betrothal gifts. But for some reason, he disappeared not long afterward."

At this, the water ghost could no longer contain himself. "Oh, my dear girl-your money was gone, and you never suspected he'd swindled you and run off?"

"He would never take my money and run!" Ning Zhi said anxiously. "Huang Lang is learned and honest. How could he behave like such a scoundrel?"

Ao Ding stroked his chin and suddenly asked, "Miss, you gave birth not long ago, didn't you?"

At the mention of this, Ning Zhi's expression shifted before she nodded firmly.

"Huang Lang and I loved each other. Not long after he disappeared, I secretly sent people to search for him. Later, my belly gradually grew, and I couldn't hide it anymore, so I could only tell my parents the truth. Father flew into a rage and locked me up. He originally intended to abort the child, but after several doses of medicine failed, he could only watch as I gave birth."

"Huh-you gave birth?" Ao Ding blurted out instinctively, looking Ning Zhi up and down.

As he saw it, if Huang Lang was a spirit creature in human form, how could the demonic fetus conceived between them possibly have been born?

Weren't those things all stillborn?

The ones that lived were all evil things.

"I did, but Mother conspired with the midwife and my maid, insisting that I'd given birth to an evil thing, and burned it outright-just think, what woman doesn't give birth to a plump baby? Yet they insisted I'd delivered an evil thing. I desperately demanded proof, and from somewhere they found a lump of plant root burned to black charcoal, with a few tuberous pieces and tendrils barely discernible, and insisted I'd given birth to something like that."

Ning Zhi had been so angry she laughed.

"I'm human, and what I carried for ten months was naturally flesh and blood too. Faking it with a piece of plant root-they truly weren't treating me like a person!"

They would not even spend a little on their deception. How could Ning Zhi not be angry? They really were taking her for a fool and bullying her.

Over the past month, suspicions that her parents had harmed her child had filled her heart, and with the townsfolk pointing fingers at her as well, she had begun thinking of taking her own life.

Having understood the whole story, Ao Ding smiled. "Rest assured, miss. I'll go back and investigate your case thoroughly. If there really is a child, I'll find it for you. If there is no child, and there's some misunderstanding among your family, I can help mediate that too."

The water ghost in the river nodded repeatedly as well. "Miss, this young fellow is quite right. What good is killing yourself? If there really is a child, finding it is what matters most. What child wouldn't want to grow up in its mother's arms?"

After hearing this, Ning Zhi bowed slightly in thanks to Ao Ding and the water ghost.

"No need for thanks-but before that, let me help this fellow first-"

With Blue Child's reminder, Ao Ding had a faint premonition.

Both the water ghost and Ning Zhi held an opportunity destined for him, connected to the Hundred Curses Fortune-Gathering Method.

Sitting on the bank, the youth smiled and asked the water ghost, "My friend, you certainly keep your composure-other water ghosts desperately drag living people down the moment they see them, but you haven't stirred at all. You're even chatting and joking with us."

"What else should I do? I can't really drag you two youngsters down, can I?"

Ao Ding studied the water ghost. Seeing a wisp of pure qi lingering about his brow and little bloody baleful energy, he could not help growing curious and asked about his origins.

"Oh, there's not much to tell. I was out enjoying myself with a friend when I happened to see a 'person' in the water crying for help. I jumped in without a second thought to save them. Who knew it was a water ghost looking for a replacement? So then it was my turn. Several years have passed, and I still haven't found anyone suitable."

The middle-aged water ghost was quite helpless.

"Those old people with white hair look so pitiful. How could I bear to drag them into the water? The young ones haven't lived much of their lives, so I can't seize them to take my place either. When I finally meet someone the right age... the men have families and livelihoods, with a whole household to feed. Wouldn't dragging them down be a sin-ruining an entire family? As for the women, they either have sweethearts or children. Making a sweetheart lose his love, or a child lose its mother-I can't do such a beastly thing either!"

The water ghost complained on and on.

"Then I finally came across someone who wanted to kill herself. No child, no husband, and parents with a little money of their own. And you interrupted me, young fellow. Still, it looks to me like there's more to this girl's story, so do your best to help her."

Hearing the water ghost speak this way, Ao Ding could not help laughing aloud, while Ning Zhi felt rather guilty and did not know what to do for a moment.

"All right, all right, my friend. Count this as something I owe you. Come, I'll help you pass on. Don't worry, it's a proper deliverance, not beating you until your soul scatters."

"Even having my soul scattered wouldn't be so bad. Staying in this water is truly stifling." The burly man lay on the surface, watching Ao Ding in boredom. "I can't do anything all day. All I do is soak in the water."

Then, seeing Ao Ding draw out a wooden staff and tap the river's surface gently, he hurriedly warned, "Listen-young fellow, look after yourself first-there's an iron chain in this river, and it's very strange. My friend once found several ritual masters to deliver me, but they all returned empty-handed. They said there was some sort of ward beneath the water obstructing their spells."

A ward?

Ao Ding raised his brows and strengthened the golden Gang power on his wooden staff.

Layers of golden light shone across the water, and streams of pure qi flowed down from the heavens, washing away the baleful energy on the water ghost.

"Ah, that feels good-a feeling I haven't had in ages." The water ghost narrowed his eyes and lay in the water, enjoying another rite of deliverance.

Though the many previous rites had failed to let him pass on, they had purified his baleful energy and imbued him with pure qi. Thus, Ao Ding soon cleansed away the thin traces of baleful energy he had accumulated during this time.

Looking at the water ghost, who still remained in the river, Ao Ding's expression grew somewhat more serious.

This really isn't easy.

"Young fellow, why not forget it-I've had a bath, and it felt quite nice. It's been ages since I last had a deliverance bath," the burly man said leisurely in the water.

"Main self, get him! Kill him! How dare he treat spells as bathwater?" Inside the Primordial Truth Mirror, Red Child flew into a rage. "Get him, get him! If you're a man, get him!"

Yellow Child swiftly pulled out a spiked club, dragged him down, and gave him a savage beating.

Blue Child said gravely, "There's something wrong underwater. Something has locked down this stretch of water."

Ao Ding asked the water ghost, "My friend, could you pull up that chain from the riverbed so I can have a look?"

"Sure. Wait here."

The water ghost plunged down and soon hauled up a length of pitch-black iron chain, with seal-script characters engraved into each link.

"Only so much of this thing can be pulled out. The other length is on the riverbed and won't budge."

Ao Ding looked closely and smiled. "This is the Golden Court Sect's Taiwei Qiantian True Seal. Hmm... it seems to be for suppressing demons?"

"Suppressing demons? There's a demon down there?"

Ning Zhi stared at it for a good while, then suddenly said, "I remember the county records mentioning that Dragonflower Mouth used to suffer frequent floods. Later, a ritual master passed through and ordered the townsfolk to forge an iron chain and lower it into the water... after that, there were no more waves... I think... I think it was a hundred and fifty years ago."

Ao Ding said nothing, rubbing the iron chain as he considered in silence.

Seeing that he did not speak, the burly man waved his hand. "Then-then forget it. I'll wait a few more years and find someone suitable to take my place. Don't go messing with this. What if you release some demon and bring a flood that hurts people?"

"There's no need to worry about that." Ao Ding felt along the chain and lifted it, his left eye slowly opening.

The profound and mysterious Great Dao True Nature enveloped the chain, and he saw the Golden Court Seal Register upon it with perfect clarity.

Inside the Primordial Truth Mirror, the three children worked together to translate it into the Three Heavens Great Grotto True Seal, and he recited the incantation according to the true seal.

As he chanted, he reached out and pulled.

Ning Zhi and the water ghost watched the chain emerge from the river bit by bit.

The water churned, and whirlpool after whirlpool surged.

The water ghost hurriedly moved aside. The river's surface darkened, and a pitch-black mass was slowly hauled upward.

"Young fellow, is... is that demon coming up?"

Ao Ding said nothing, merely watching the dark shape in silence.

Finally, he gave a forceful tug and dragged the entire chain onto the bank. The thing bound at its other end was exposed before the two humans and the ghost as well.

"Is this-is it a snake?"