Uncle Nine: Scattering beans to create soldiers? I'm using plants and trees to create soldiers.

Night fell, and the surroundings were silent.

The shops on both sides of the street had already closed their doors and windows, with only a few tattered paper lanterns hanging under the eaves, swaying back and forth in the night wind.

The dim, yellowish light fell on the bluestone slabs, scattering mottled spots of color.

Lin Xuan walked north along the alley.

The closer you get to Beiqinghe, the heavier the moisture content in the air becomes.

The night wind blew from the river, carrying a damp, cold, and fishy smell, which seeped into my clothes.

Before long, the Beiqing River came into view.

The river was wide, and the moonlight fell on the water, which was then shimmered into patches of silver light by the wind.

Reeds swayed in the wind on both banks, and several covered boats were moored on the riverbank, their hulls gently bumping against wooden stakes, producing a soft thud.

Lin Xuan slowly walked forward along the riverbank.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, quietly slowed his breathing, and activated his early-stage Taoist cultivation, spreading his senses outward.

The chill in the river breeze, the muddy smell of the water plants, the putrid odor of the fermenting deep sediment...

Everything seemed quite ordinary.

But Lin Xuan's inner tension only tightened further.

Something unusual is bound to happen; the calmer the surface of the water, the more dangerous the creature lurking beneath.

He had personally examined the resentment and malevolent aura emanating from the water corpse in the morgue, and found it to be far from severe.

The corpse itself is far from reaching the level of zombie transformation.

Most of the problems are hidden in this river.

As Lin Xuan walked past a dock, he suddenly heard the sound of a wooden door rubbing against the ground.

squeak-

An old man carrying a kerosene lamp walked out of the dock.

The dim light illuminated the old man's wrinkled face.

He wore an old straw hat and a raincoat, and his wooden clogs creaked as they trod on the wet mud.

Lin Xuan's expression shifted slightly. He stopped and politely cupped his hands in greeting.

"Sir, I apologize for disturbing you so late at night."

The old man had come out to urinate at night when he suddenly saw a dark figure and was startled.

He quickly raised the kerosene lamp in his hand and shone it in their direction.

The dim light fell on Lin Xuan's handsome and otherworldly face, and his tall Taoist robe fluttered in the night wind.

The old man squinted his cloudy old eyes and examined the man carefully for a moment. Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and the fear on his face vanished.

"Oh, isn't this Master Lin, the eldest disciple of Master One-Eyebrow?"

Lin Xuan nodded slightly, somewhat surprised: "Old man, you recognize me?"

The old man grinned, revealing his missing front tooth, and said, "Hey, who in Renjia Town doesn't know Uncle Jiu's reputation? I've seen you go out on errands with Master Lin a few times. You really have real skills."

As he spoke, the old man craned his neck to peek behind Lin Xuan twice, then lowered his voice and asked, "Young Daoist Lin, what brings you to Beiqinghe in the middle of the night...?"

Lin Xuan cut to the chase, "There's something I wanted to ask... Was a body pulled out of the tank this morning?"

Upon hearing this, the old man's smile instantly froze.

His hand holding the lantern trembled slightly. He turned around and pointed with his withered fingers to the reeds on the opposite bank of the river.

"It's over there!"

"The body was pulled out of the reeds on the other side of the river this morning. I was right there when they pulled the body out."

The old man lowered his voice, as if recalling the scene from earlier that day.

"Master Lin, you don't know. That man had a bullet hole right in the middle of his head, but his eyes were wide open, bigger than cowbells, staring straight at people. He died a truly uneasy death."

The old man shook his head and clicked his tongue.

"Old man, I think that guy must have offended a tough guy he shouldn't have messed with. That gun is a foreign gadget, ordinary people can't even touch it, and the skin and flesh around the hole in his head are charred black, it was definitely not shot by an ordinary homemade gun."

The old man got more and more excited as he spoke, with a hint of showing off and a touch of lingering fear.

"Those young men who retrieved the corpses during the day didn't believe in superstitions. They said that when a person dies, it's like a lamp going out, and that it would be over if they just sent the body to your mortuary."

But I told them that when the body was first pulled out of the river, the wind was eerily cold!

I was standing about half a meter away from that corpse, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end...

Lin Xuan looked across the river and down to the reeds.

The reeds swayed in the wind, casting layer upon layer of shadows, like many figures standing by the water.

Lin Xuan frowned slightly, interrupting the old man's rambling.

"Sir, could you give me a ride to the other side of the river so I can take a look?"

The old man paused, then turned to look at him.

"What are you doing over there so late at night?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the old man seemed to realize something, and a glint of light flashed in his cloudy eyes.

He took half a step forward, carrying the lantern.

"Master Lin...is that the water corpse we sent to your mortuary during the day...resurrected?!"

Lin Xuan looked at him but did not answer immediately.

Seeing his reaction, the old man already knew what was going on, and slapped his thigh, saying, "I knew it!"

"When the body was pulled up, I felt something was amiss. Others didn't believe me, but I could see it clearly; the thing definitely carried an unclean aura."

I told Xiao Liu and the others about it during the day, and they laughed at me, saying I was just being paranoid because I'm old. See, I was right!

"I knew it! I've been begging on the river my whole life, what strange things haven't I seen?"

Seeing that the old man was about to launch into a long speech, Lin Xuan had no choice but to interrupt him in a deep voice.

"Old man, matters of evil spirits should not be spoken lightly. If it is convenient for you, please give me a ride there, and I, Lin, will certainly protect you. If it is inconvenient, I can lend you my boat."

The old man hesitated slightly when he thought of the horrifying face of the body he had retrieved from the water during the day.

But then he remembered that the person in front of him was Uncle Nine's top disciple, who could even subdue real zombies, so what did he have to be afraid of?

"Yes! With the young Taoist priest here, what wouldn't this old man dare to do! Please wait a moment, Taoist priest."

He quickly turned and walked towards the dock, saying, "Master Lin, please board the boat, this old man will row you there right away!"

Lin Xuan lifted the hem of his Taoist robe and stepped onto the boat.

The old man hung the kerosene lamp on the bow of the boat, untied the mooring rope, and pushed it towards the shore with a bamboo pole.

slam-la-

The boat swayed slightly, broke through the water, and glided towards the center of the river.

The moon's reflection in the water was shattered by the oars, its silvery light shimmering like a broken bronze mirror.

Lin Xuan stood at the bow of the boat, his gaze sweeping across the river.

The closer the boat got to the reeds, the more noticeable the chill in the air became.

When the boat reached the vicinity of the middle of the river, Lin Xuan's gaze suddenly sharpened.

"Sir, stop for a moment."

The old man paused, the bamboo pole stopping in mid-air, and asked in confusion, "Taoist Master, we haven't reached the point where we retrieve the corpse yet."

"No need to go any further, we're right here."

Lin Xuan shook his head slightly and looked down at the water beneath the boat.

The moonlight shone on the river, making the water appear dark and obscuring what lay beneath.

However, in his perception, the yin energy below the ship was significantly denser than the surrounding area, and it was mixed with a wisp of resentment and ghostly energy.

There's something underwater.

There might even be corpses lying in the water!

Seeing Lin Xuan staring solemnly at the water, the old man felt a chill run down his spine. He mustered his courage, took his kerosene lamp, and went to the side of the boat, peering down over the edge.

The dim light shone down, illuminating only a small patch of dark water, from which nothing could be seen except for murky water plants.

The old man swallowed hard, his voice filled with doubt: "Master Lin, is there a problem here?"

"Hmm~~" Lin Xuan nodded.

The old man touched his chin, his eyes filled with a mixture of nervousness and curiosity.

"Could there be a water ghost underwater?"

After he finished speaking, he immediately stared at Lin Xuan's face, trying to glean something from his expression.

Lin Xuan was about to speak when his expression suddenly changed.

The surrounding resentment intensified in an instant.

The once calm ripples on the river surface suddenly began to spread out in concentric circles.

Splash!

The once calm river surface suddenly began to ripple in circles without warning.

Immediately afterwards, a giant black shadow the size of a water tank swam rapidly from the deep water in front of the bow.

"not good."

Lin Xuan's pupils contracted slightly.

The ship suddenly jolted.

The awning boat swayed from side to side, splashing water onto the gunwale and scattering in all directions.

The old man slipped and fell to the side of the boat, his heart pounding like a drum.

Lin Xuan's right hand shot out like lightning, grabbing the old man by the back of his collar and forcefully pulling him back.

"thump!"

The old man fell heavily into the cabin, terrified and pale.

The ship was still rocking violently.

Lin Xuan's feet seemed rooted to the ground, firmly nailed to the deck.

Although its body swayed violently with the ship, its lower body remained as stable as a mountain!

Then, he flipped his left hand, and a handful of glutinous rice appeared in his palm.

The body's internal energy flows into it.

Om-!

In an instant, the originally white and jade-like rice grains, like charcoal that had been ignited, quickly revealed a layer of dazzling crimson light!

A surge of pure yang energy instantly broke through the surrounding cold and gloomy barrier!

"go!"

Lin Xuan flicked his wrist, and the Yang Nuomi rice, like sparks flying everywhere, was scattered into the bottom of the cabin!

Da da da da da—!

The rice grains hit the bottom of the boat, making a series of crisp sounds like popping beans.

The red light spread rapidly across the bottom of the ship, like a layer of fine sparks, suppressing the cold, damp air coming from underwater.

The dark shape underwater suddenly stopped, as if sensing danger, and quickly swam into the deeper waters.

The rocking of the ship stopped.

The old man, who had narrowly escaped death, slumped on the deck, panting heavily.

Still shaken, he looked around to make sure there was no danger before asking in a low voice, "Master Lin, what... what just happened?"

Lin Xuan did not answer immediately, but instead carefully sensed the surroundings.

Once he was sure the lingering resentment had disappeared, he turned to the old man and said, "Uncle, don't talk about ghosts at night! Especially on the water!"

The filthy creatures at the bottom of the water sensed human presence and tried to capsize the boat, using us as scapegoats.

The old man's face turned deathly pale instantly, realizing that he had misspoke.

There are many taboos associated with sailing on water, especially the taboo against mentioning that word at night.

But because Master Xiaolin was by his side tonight, the old man's tense nerves relaxed a bit, and he accidentally blurted out something.

This almost led to a huge mistake!

Fortunately, Master Lin was very skilled, otherwise...

The old man became increasingly frightened as he thought about it, and his fingers were trembling.

Seeing that the old man was quite frightened, Lin Xuan walked to the middle of the boat and picked up the oar.

"Sir, you've been frightened. Sit down and rest for a while. I'll row the boat, let's get to shore first."

The old man, feeling as if he had been granted a pardon, nodded repeatedly, "Good, good, good."

He sat down on the side of the boat, looking lost and dejected. But as soon as he touched the deck, he remembered the dark figure underwater and quickly moved next to Lin Xuan.

The oars enter the water.

wow-

The covered boat turned around and headed towards the shore.

The ship fell silent for a moment.

The old man held the kerosene lamp, glancing at the water's surface every now and then, his face still showing lingering fear.

While rowing, Lin Xuan was rapidly calculating in his mind.

There are indeed dirty things underwater, and they are quite powerful.

Judging from the intensity of the resentment just now, it's at least at the late stage of a warlock!

If this were on land, Lin Xuan, with his early-stage Taoist cultivation, would have no problem suppressing and killing a water ghost of this level.

But this is a deep riverbed!

Through the thick layer of water, the power of ordinary spells and talismans would be largely dissipated by the water vapor.

The water ghost used the current at the bottom of the river to commit its evil deeds, moving freely and taking full advantage of the favorable conditions.

Although Lin Xuan was secretly given the Heart Seal by his Ninth Uncle and could summon three to five soldiers from the local altars for protection, most of them were soldiers skilled in exorcising evil spirits on land.

If you want to retrieve ghosts from the deep river, you must summon the authentic "Water Palace Army"!

Unfortunately, he currently does not have the necessary permits to mobilize the Water Palace.

"It seems we'll have to wait for Master to return before dealing with this."

Lin Xuan's gaze swept across the river, and he thought to himself.

I'll go to the security team first thing tomorrow morning.

Have Awei lead his men to block off this area of ​​water and prevent boats from approaching the reed beds for the time being.

The covered boat gradually approached the shore.

The bottom of the boat scraped against the shallow mud and sand, making a slight friction sound.

Lin Xuan looked up, preparing to disembark.

Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught sight of a unique lotus flower on the shallow beach not far from the shore.

When Lin Xuan saw its attributes, his pupils contracted slightly.