From Paper Craftsman to World-Suppressing Immortal

When Zhang Zhixuan and his two companions arrived at Linshuigu Town, the once bustling and prosperous town was nowhere to be seen. During the day, every household was closed, and nine out of ten shops were shut. The only shop that was open had a rather erratic owner who, upon seeing Zhang Zhixuan and his group of strangers approaching, slammed the shop door shut.

They were all turned away and could only stand alone on the street, looking around. All they saw were yellow talismans for warding off evil spirits pasted on the doors of every household, and even the door gods that were usually pasted up during the Spring Festival were already being worshipped on the doors.

An indescribable, eerie emptiness permeated the entire town of Linshuigu.

The young Taoist priest Qingxuan held a compass in his hand, and the pointer on the compass spun wildly, sometimes clockwise and sometimes counterclockwise, making it impossible to determine the direction.

Qingxuan frowned, took a deep breath, then formed the Meridian Seal with his fingertips, held the compass flat in his palm, knocked his teeth three times, and chanted the incantation in a deep voice:

"Holding the compass in hand, I determine the eight directions; the eight trigrams clearly illuminate yin and yang."

Those who hide their true form and are sinister cannot escape their traces; even the most elusive demons will eventually reveal themselves.

The Heavenly Lake, with its single needle, pinpoints the location; the Twenty-Four Mountains reveal their true nature.

"I obey the command of the Supreme Lord Laozi! May it be done immediately!"

"Imperial edict! Imperial edict! Imperial edict!"

He chanted it three times, but the compass still pointed erratically up, down, left, and right, unable to settle down.

Qingxuan sighed, glanced at Zhang Zhixuan and the young monk Wuming, and asked helplessly, "What should we do?"

Wuming shook his head, looking helpless: "I am a martial monk. I only need to exert my strength to exorcise ghosts and capture demons. As for things like searching for and pacifying evil spirits, you Taoists are the professionals."

"What do you mean, monk? Are you implying that my skills are lacking?"

"Amitabha……"

Seeing that the monk and the Taoist priest were about to start arguing again, Zhang Zhixuan immediately stepped in to smooth things over: "Alright, alright, you two calm down. We can just check and ask around, place by place."

"What did Layman Zhang mean by that?"

"Let's split up and go our separate ways," Zhang Zhixuan suggested.

Upon hearing this, Wuming and Qingxuan immediately asked, "How exactly do we do it?"

Zhang Zhixuan pondered for a moment and instructed, "Qingxuan, go to the town government office and find the police station. Get the case files for the missing persons cases from the past two weeks. Take a close look and see if there are any overlooked clues, such as the commonalities of the missing persons, the specific time and place of their disappearances, and whether there are any eyewitnesses."

"Master Wuming, go to the temple in town and ask the old monk who guards the temple about the headless ghost. See how much he knows, and if he has any old stories or legends about this town. Maybe you can find some clues."

"I'll go ask at the teahouse by the ferry; maybe I can find a clue."

"What do you two think of this arrangement?"

Qingxuan nodded in agreement: "Zhang Jushi's method is reliable, let's do it this way."

"Let's do as Benefactor Zhang says." Wuming nodded in agreement.

Seeing that the two had agreed, Zhang Zhixuan added, "Remember, we'll meet at the inn at the town entrance in an hour. No matter what you find out, don't act alone. Safety first."

Qingxuan and Wuming both nodded, and then the three of them split into three groups and went in different directions.

Zhang Zhixuan walked alone along the main street, step by step, towards the ferry. The closer he got to the canal bank, the heavier the humidity in the air became. At the same time, Zhang Zhixuan noticed that there was a subtle and unique fishy smell in the humidity around him.

This fishy stench was neither like the smell of water nor like the stench of rotten fish and shrimp. Instead, it smelled like the stench of a rotting corpse, mixed with moisture, and entered the nasal cavity, making one feel nauseous.

Suddenly, Zhang Zhixuan recalled the incident of a corpse sinking in the wild river and several strange fish fighting over the pieces of the body. The canal here was wider and deeper; he wondered if a similar situation had occurred.

After walking for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, he finally arrived at the ferry crossing.

There was a teahouse next to the ferry crossing. It looked quite old, and even the sign hanging at the entrance was tattered and worn. Only after careful observation could one make out the words "Welcome Guests".

The teahouse door was ajar. Zhang Zhixuan pushed it open and entered. A few boatmen were sitting sparsely inside, most of them with their heads drooping and no spirits. Coarse bowls and coarse tea were placed on the table in front of them. They ignored anyone who came in and didn't even bother to look up.

The entire teahouse was deathly still, except for the bubbling sound of boiling tea, which seemed particularly jarring.

The teahouse owner was an old man with a face full of wrinkles and cloudy eyes. When he saw Zhang Zhixuan come in, he just raised his eyes but didn't say anything, and continued to wipe the teacup in his hands with his head down.

Zhang Zhixuan found an empty seat near the door and called out to the shopkeeper, "Shopkeeper, bring me a pot of hot tea and a plate of melon seeds."

The old shopkeeper gave a lukewarm reply, slowly brought over a pot of hot tea and a plate of melon seeds, placed them on the table, and then slowly started to walk back.

Zhang Zhixuan quickly said, "Shopkeeper, wait a moment."

"Hmm? What else would you like, sir?" the old shopkeeper asked, stopping in his tracks.

Zhang Zhixuan poured a cup of hot tea and gestured for the old shopkeeper to sit down: "I've heard that there have been ghostly disturbances at the canal ferry crossing for days. I'd like to inquire about the details. Could you tell me about it, or do you know anyone involved who knows about this? I'd like to ask them."

As he spoke, Zhang Zhixuan took out a silver dollar and placed it on the table.

The old man's cloudy eyes lit up when he saw the silver coins on the table. He reached out to take them, but hesitated for a moment and then waved his hand.

"Snapped!"

Without wasting words, Zhang Zhixuan added another dollar. He really had to admire the old man for not being tempted by two dollars.

Sure enough, the old shopkeeper beamed and pocketed all the money. His tone was also quite warm, unlike before: "Young sir, you've come to the right person. I've been running a teahouse business by the canal for so many years, and I've heard so many crooked and evil stories that my ears are practically calloused! But this time is different. This headless ghost is really fierce!"

"They would appear at the ferry crossing every night at midnight, without even a head, and ask everyone they met, 'Which way to Songjiang?'"

Zhang Zhixuan sighed slightly, his tone somewhat impatient: "I know all that. Tell me something you don't know. By the way, have you ever seen that headless ghost with your own eyes?"

"No... no..."

The old shopkeeper's eyes darted around, and he chuckled, "Although I haven't seen it myself, I know who has! Please wait a moment..."

After saying that, the old shopkeeper didn't care about the shop anymore, hurriedly opened the door and went out. After a while, he came back with a dark-skinned man.

"Xu Er, tell this young man about the headless ghost you saw that day! The master won't let you work for nothing, there will be benefits!" With that, the old shopkeeper took out a dozen or so copper coins and put them into the man's hand.

Zhang Zhixuan almost spat out the tea he had just drunk: This old guy even takes a middleman to make a profit, that's too much of a rip-off!

The dark-skinned man, unaware of the situation inside, thought that earning money just by talking was much easier than physical labor. He took the coins, beaming, and sat down opposite Zhang Zhixuan: "Let me tell you..."

Before they could exchange more than a few words, the dark-skinned man, seeing the tea and melon seeds on the table, didn't stand on ceremony. He poured himself a bowl, put one leg on the stool, grabbed a few melon seeds, and started cracking them as he leaned closer to Zhang Zhixuan, mysteriously recounting what had happened:

"I drank too much with my sister and brother-in-law at my sister's house a couple of days ago. I was supposed to go home, but somehow, in the middle of the night, I staggered to the ferry terminal..."

"In the middle of the night, there was a thick fog, and all I could hear was the sound of the canal water splashing in the distance. The fog was so thick that I might not recognize my own mother even if she stood right in front of me."

"Just then, I saw what looked like a person standing on the wooden planks of the ferry crossing."

"I was thinking, 'Standing in that lousy spot right now, is he trying to kill himself?' I'm known for my kind heart in the surrounding area, so I thought I'd try to persuade him. 'No one has such a miserable life. Living is better than dying,' you know what I mean..."

Zhang Zhixuan listened to his long-winded rambling and didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "You've finished this plate of melon seeds, do you want me to order another plate for you?"

"Oh, no need, no need, you're too kind."

Helpless, Zhang Zhixuan urged, "Then hurry up and tell me, get to the point."

"Okay, okay..."

Xu Er continued, "That man was wearing a long robe, standing ramrod straight with his back to me. I shouted, 'Why aren't you home in the middle of the night? Are you feeding mosquitoes here?'"

"I called out to him several times but he didn't respond. I got so angry that I didn't care about anything else and just walked towards him. And guess what? Holy crap..."

"Above the collar, that person was completely empty; there was no head!"

"His neck was completely flat, you could even see the bone fragments! He just stood there headless, completely stiff!"

"I was so scared I peed my pants. Damn it, my legs felt like they weren't mine, I didn't even know how to run!"

"Just then, the headless ghost turned its entire body around and faced me directly. It had no head, and I don't know where it was making the sound, but it asked me..."

Xu Er jumped up and asked vividly, "May I ask, sir, which way is Songjiang?"

"And then?" Zhang Zhixuan asked.

"And then? Then I fainted and lost consciousness. I wasn't found until the next morning."

Zhang Zhixuan was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, and asked doubtfully, "That headless ghost didn't kill you?"

Xu Er laughed heartily, a proud look on his face: "If I were dead, would I still be chatting idly with you while eating melon seeds? You have to admit I'm lucky to be alive!"

After listening to Xu Er's words, Zhang Zhixuan frowned deeply, resting his chin on his hand as he fell into deep thought.

Seeing this, Xu Er wisely refrained from disturbing them, and sat down on the bench to drink some tea.

Just then, with a "bang," the teahouse door was suddenly pushed open.

A boy of about twelve or thirteen years old stood at the doorway, panting heavily, and shouted in a panic, "Something terrible has happened! There's someone floating on the river..."