He was already sweating profusely; it was the first time he had ever encountered such a situation.

After all, he had never failed in his previous scams, but who would have thought that this time he would actually kill someone.

"Shut up! Can't you see I'm performing a ritual? If anything goes wrong, it'll be because you're being too noisy!"

The Taoist priest has started shifting all the blame onto others, so that if real danger or trouble arises, he won't have to risk his life to take the fall.

Now that things have come to this, we can only leave it to fate.

"The only good solution now is to go to sea to fish."

Zhang Xiu continued to try to persuade them, but everyone present ignored her.

After all, things have already come to this point, and if we abandon the effort halfway through, everything we've done so far will have been for nothing.

The goal of everyone is to capture the monster. Since someone has already sacrificed their life, we must capture the monster even more.

The Taoist priest was caught in a dilemma. He only knew some tricks to fool these people, but if the little girl really died in the sea, he really had no way to retrieve her.

This would make things very serious.

"Since none of you are willing to go, then I will personally go into the sea to retrieve them today." Zhang Xiu took off her embroidered shoes on the shore, and then ran towards the sea, but she was certain that she would die in the sea.

Everyone tried to stop them, but it was too late.

Once she entered the sea, the water reached her waist. Zhang Xiu was just a simple woman who couldn't swim at all. If she went into the water, she would surely die.

But bystanders can't just stand by and watch; some people are, after all, human.

Wan Kongshan was the one who took the lead in chasing after them; after all, he couldn't abandon his wife and children.

"If you stand by and watch today, don't even think about taking any benefit from our Wan family in the future."

Wan Kongshan was always a man of few words, and this was the first time he had ever been so furious, which surprised everyone.

"Brother Wan, don't worry. There's still room for maneuver. The Taoist priest is still here. Since he promised that nothing will happen to Wanwan, then she definitely won't be in any trouble. After all, the Taoist priest can't run away."

The speaker was Wang Ergou from the village entrance. He had been orphaned since childhood, without parents, and made a living by fishing at sea. He had just married a wife two years ago, but she died in childbirth.

If we're talking about who most wants to get rid of this monster, it has to be Wang Ergou.

However, he was all alone and not afraid of death. Moreover, he was very wild when he was a child, so he was also a good swimmer.

"Brother, pull sister-in-law back. I'll go into the water and check. Besides, that boy from the He family hasn't come up yet either. Why don't we pull him up first and ask him what happened?"

Wang Ergou volunteered, but everyone felt that going to sea was just sending themselves to their deaths.

From the beginning until now, they haven't even seen the monster's face, but the rope that was tied so clearly has broken. Some people in the crowd have already begun to assert that the monster bit through the rope and swallowed Baili Wanwan.

Of course, these were just whispers; they dared not speak too loudly, for fear that the Wan family would hear them and upset them.

"Then let's pull my son up first."

He Yong's mother was also trembling with worry, but she dared not say anything more.

They have many children, which is already difficult to support, so even if they were to lose this child, it wouldn't be a big deal.

Even tigers don't eat their cubs, so how could parents be so heartless? They just didn't want to be gossiped about because of their child.

He Yong was quickly pulled up, but he had lost all his strength and looked like he was on the verge of death.

Someone pressed on his chest, and he coughed up a few mouthfuls of seawater.

"Have you seen my Wanwan?" Zhang Xiu turned back, pushed through the crowd, and squatted down in front of He Yong, completely disregarding whether He Yong had truly regained consciousness. Her mind was now filled with thoughts of Baili Wanwan.

He Yong remained silent for a long time before he came to his senses. He coughed heavily, and someone gently patted his back from behind.

"I don't know. It was very chaotic around us. It was difficult to open my eyes underwater, and the water was stinging my eyes. It felt like a whirlpool had swept Wanwan away." At this point, He Yong suddenly lost control of his emotions and burst into tears: "It's all my fault. As a man, I couldn't even protect Wanwan. If something had really happened to her, I would have been so guilty!"

Zhang Xiu also shook He Yong frantically, her grief as if she were a madwoman: "Think carefully again, was she really swept away by the whirlpool?"

Generally, if you are swept away by a whirlpool, there is only one consequence: death.

The ocean floor is unfathomably deep, and people cannot stay in it for long, as it can cause suffocation.

But if she really encountered a whirlpool in the sea, she would be swept away and unable to swim back. In that case, Wanwan might already be dead.

Thinking of this possibility, Zhang Xiu slumped to the ground in despair and began to mutter to herself.

"Heaven is unfair, pushing her out in such a roundabout way. She's such a good girl, how dare you heartless bastards do this?"

She drew a dagger from her waist.

Two daggers were made in town. One was given to Baili Wanwan, and the other was kept by himself for self-defense, just in case.

But unexpectedly, the person the dagger was pointing at turned out to be a fat Taoist priest.

The Taoist priest stood there, somewhat stunned; his clumsy body simply couldn't dodge in time.

At the critical moment, Wan Kongshan rushed forward, grabbed Zhang Xiu, and knocked the dagger out of her hand.

"The matter is not yet settled. If you really killed someone, you will have to go to the county magistrate's office. After all, murder is punishable by death, and we really can't agree to this. If Wanwan really got into trouble because of his swindling and deception, I'm sure the law won't forgive him."

Wan Kongshan grew up by Wan Suizhou's side and was influenced by him from a young age, so he naturally knew more than the ordinary villagers.

Every word he said made perfect sense, and the Taoist priest knew he had really run into a dangerous situation. He then began to think about how to escape.

But before this idea could even be considered, it was already being pressured by the crowd.

"Master, didn't you say you could eliminate the monster? You also said you wouldn't let these two children who went into the sea have any accidents. Now, not only have we not seen the monster, but one of them is also missing." Wan Suizhou always had the ability to remain calm in the face of adversity. Although he was also extremely anxious, he maintained a calm demeanor on the surface.

At this critical moment, he absolutely cannot lose his composure; otherwise, no one will be able to step up and take charge.

"There are always unexpected events. I don't know why the monster hasn't appeared yet, but I promise you I will give you an explanation."