From Paper Craftsman to World-Suppressing Immortal

Clang, clang, clang...

Twelve clapper sounds rang out, piercing the night and landing on the deserted canal ferry crossing.

It's midnight.

The moment the clapper fell, the previously calm river surface suddenly changed.

A thick white fog suddenly rose from the river. The fog arrived very quickly, spreading from the river to the entire ferry crossing in the blink of an eye, and also enveloping Zhang Zhixuan and his two companions who were hiding behind the wrecked boat.

At this moment, the lanterns the three were carrying flickered eerily a few times, then went out completely with a "snap," plunging the surroundings into pitch-black darkness.

Immediately afterwards, a chilling aura spread out, like the northwest wind in the dead of winter, cold and biting.

Zhang Zhixuan, Qingxuan, and Wuming tensed up instantly and quickly tightened their thick raincoats.

"Such a heavy yin energy."

Qingxuan frowned, his expression more solemn than ever before. As he spoke, he quietly took the peach wood sword that he always carried on his back into his hand. Wuming also took off the demon-subduing pestle hanging from his waist, his expression equally solemn, as if facing a formidable enemy.

Zhang Zhixuan was also nearly suffocating under the pressure of this powerful Yin energy. He quickly steadied his breathing, held his breath, and prepared to summon the paper puppet and unleash the talisman sword at any moment.

Just as the three were on high alert, a sound came from the river shrouded in thick fog.

"Tap...tap...tap..."

A clear sound of footsteps rang out from the thick fog, each step heavy and steady. The three of them looked intently in the direction of the sound and suddenly saw a tall figure gradually emerge from the fog.

The figure wore a long blue robe, was slender and upright, with a white jade pendant tied around his waist. His fingers were long and slender with distinct knuckles. His feet touched the water, yet not a single drop of water was splashed, as if he were standing on flat ground rather than on rushing river water.

If you only look at his blurry figure hidden in the thick fog, you would think he is a well-read scholar.

But when he emerged from the thick fog, a chilling scene unfolded: the man's neck and above were empty; he had no head!

The clean cut was right at the collar, the traces of bone and flesh clearly visible, yet not a drop of blood seeped out, nor was there any gruesome decay. It was as if he had never been born headless. He stood there quietly in the thick fog, his whole body exuding an indescribable grotesqueness and terror. Despite being dressed as a frail scholar, he was more terrifying than a blue-faced, fanged demon.

"Be careful, this thing is quite complicated."

Qingxuan whispered a reminder to Zhang Zhixuan and Wuming, but he himself did not realize that his forehead was covered with beads of sweat.

Zhang Zhixuan and Wu Ming were also in a bad state. At this moment, in their eyes, the headless ghost was so terrifying that even if the three of them joined forces and did their best, they would probably not be able to escape unscathed.

At that moment, almost simultaneously, a voice of regret rose in the minds of all three of them: "We underestimated them!"

Previously, they thought the headless ghost was just an ordinary vengeful spirit, but they never expected to see it with their own eyes tonight, and it was a completely different story!

This person was definitely not an ordinary person in his lifetime, but a powerful magic master!

Just then, the headless figure suddenly moved.

The three of them only saw its body sway slightly, and the next second, that terrifying figure appeared in front of them.

"Be careful!"

Almost the instant the warning was given, the three of them quickly retreated, their hands moving in unison as they took up their peach wood swords, demon-subduing pestles, paper puppet soldiers, and thunder-summoning talismans.

Just as the three were preparing to launch their attack, a hoarse, hollow voice slowly rang out: "May I ask, sir, where is Songjiang headed?"

The moment those words were spoken, everything around seemed to stop; there was no chirping of insects, no wind blowing, no one answering, no one responding…

quiet!

Only stillness, stillness to the extreme!

The headless figure stood a few steps away from the three people. After waiting for a while, seeing that no one responded, he was not annoyed at all. He simply straightened up slightly, bowed again to the empty ferry, and then slowly turned around. Still walking on the water, he walked step by step towards the downstream direction, his figure gradually merging into the thick white mist.

Just then, Zhang Zhixuan suddenly spoke up: "If you wish to return to your hometown, sir, you can follow the canal estuary southwards, cross the Yangtze River, and you will reach Songjiang Prefecture."

Upon hearing this, Qingxuan and Wuming's expressions changed drastically, and they both turned to look at him.

Sure enough, a dramatic change suddenly occurred on the river.

The headless figure, which had been slowly walking away, suddenly froze in place.

The next second, the thick fog around him surged wildly, and his originally calm obsession suddenly erupted, like a sleeping beast being awakened!

"Returning home...returning home..."

The headless scribe let out a series of demonic roars. At the same time, a huge surge of yin energy emanated from his body, instantly sweeping across the entire river surface. The river water exploded with a deafening roar, creating waves several feet high. The falling water pounded against the riverbank like a storm, producing a deafening sound.

"I long to return home... but where is home? Where is my family?"

"The country is destroyed, the family is ruined, the country is destroyed, the family is ruined..."

"I... am powerless to change anything..."

The headless figure trembled violently, as if those words had torn away the shackles that had bound it for countless years. Countless obsessions, pain, resentment, and confusion instantly broke through the last shred of reason, and his entire body was plunged into a violent struggle.

Qingxuan and Wuming witnessed all of this and sighed heavily, "There's no other way. Prepare for a fight to the death!"

Unlike the two, Zhang Zhixuan remained calm and composed, simply watching the headless figure from afar and raising his hand to stop Qingxuan and Wuming.

"Gentlemen, please remain calm and observe the situation," Zhang Zhixuan said calmly.

At this moment, the headless scribe's broken body staggered backward on the water's surface, then suddenly rushed forward a few steps. Wisps of black resentment overflowed from his empty neck, as if he were about to go completely mad and transform into a man-eating demon in the next second.

"We can't wait any longer! Before it becomes completely obsessed and demonic, let's strike!" Qingxuan and Wuming were unwilling to miss the opportunity, so they each activated their magical weapons with all their might, preparing to deliver a heavy blow to the headless scholar who was about to go mad.

But just as the resentment was about to erupt completely, the headless figure suddenly stopped all its movements.

It clenched its fists tightly, its body contorted like a shrimp, forcefully suppressing the surging madness. The surging yin energy around it gradually subsided, leaving only an uncontrollable tremor and an even stronger, unbearable pain.

The headless scholar regained his composure and stood silently on the water for a long time before finally turning around and bowing deeply to Zhang Zhixuan and the others.

Immediately, the headless scribe straightened up, still walking on the water, and walked downstream step by step, disappearing into the depths of the thick fog in the blink of an eye.

"What... what's going on?"

Qingxuan stood frozen in place, staring blankly in the direction where the headless scholar's figure had disappeared: "It actually suppressed its terrifying obsession and abruptly interrupted its demonic transformation process?"

Wu Ming, still shaken, clasped his hands together and uttered "Amitabha," then looked at Zhang Zhixuan with admiration: "Benefactor Zhang, did you already see through it when you spoke?"

Zhang Zhixuan stared in the direction where the headless figure had disappeared, offering no reply but simply nodding stiffly.

The two couldn't tell that Zhang Zhixuan was also putting on a brave face, but in reality, he had just been gambling, and fortunately, he had won!

After catching his breath, Zhang Zhixuan said again, "It went downstream. Let's follow it and see if we can find anything unexpected."

Qingxuan and Wuming exchanged a glance and immediately agreed. The three of them then chased after the direction in which the headless scholar had disappeared.

By this time, the thick fog along the canal had dissipated considerably. The group moved quickly by the moonlight, and along the way, they spotted the headless scholar several times. It seemed to be deliberately slowing down to wait for the three of them, as if it were leading them somewhere.

After walking for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the headless scholar finally stopped on a patch of pitch-black water and completely disappeared.

The three of them looked around the area, and Qingxuan suddenly hummed in agreement, taking out a map he was carrying.

After careful comparison, Qingxuan said, "This is the backwater bay. Why did that headless ghost lead us here?"

The three looked around but found nothing.

Zhang Zhixuan, however, turned his gaze to the dark, lifeless surface of the water.

"Perhaps the answer lies beneath the water."

After Zhang Zhixuan finished speaking, he looked at the two people beside him and instructed them, "Qingxuan and Wuming, you two stay here and support me. I'll go down and see what's down there."

"No! It's too dangerous for you to go by yourself!"

Qingxuan immediately grabbed Zhang Zhixuan: "Who knows what's hidden down there? And that headless ghost, who knows if it's leading us there to set a trap?"

Zhang Zhixuan shook his head, patted his shoulder, and said, "If that headless scholar wanted to harm us, he would have done so at the ferry crossing just now. You all saw it. With its strength, even the three of us working together wouldn't have gotten the better of it." "Don't worry, I'm not going into the water alone; it's with me too."

As Zhang Zhixuan spoke, he summoned the Xuanwu puppet, whose enormous tortoise body resembled a small boat.

The two had witnessed Zhang Zhixuan's ability to manipulate the Xuanwu puppet, and this device certainly made things much easier in the water.

"In that case, Layman Zhang must be very careful!"

"Amitabha, Benefactor Zhang, if you find anything amiss, you must not act alone. At worst, we can wait until dawn to make further plans."

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

After Zhang Zhixuan finished speaking, he took off his outer clothes and trousers, lay down on the huge turtle back of the Xuanwu puppet, and plunged into the water with a "plop".

The moment he entered the water, the River Patrol passive skill automatically activated, and he quickly adapted to the cold river water.

At the same time, the water flow, undercurrents, reefs, and even the fish and shrimp hiding in the crevices around him were clearly reflected in his perception. The Xuanwu paper puppet also automatically raised a protective aura for him. In the blink of an eye, the man and the turtle dived into the depths of the water.

The water area of ​​Huishui Bay is not very large, but it is much deeper than other places. The deeper Zhang Zhixuan dived, the dimmer the light became, and the colder the water became.

Gradually, even the protection of the river spirit seemed insufficient.

When he finally reached the bottom of the water, even though he was mentally prepared, he couldn't help but feel a jolt in his heart, and a chill ran from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head.

The bottom of this bay is not a normal riverbed at all.

Countless skeletons were piled up in layers in the mud, a shocking sight at first glance!

Just as Zhang Zhixuan was filled with horror, suddenly, a figure appeared not far from him.