Chapter 11 An Eye for an Eye: "Who lied to you and scared you away?..."

The hem of his white shirt swayed gently with the ripples on the water, revealing glimpses of the man's waist and abdomen. His long legs, encased in black trousers, seemed to blend into the depths of the Ganlin River. Under the cover of night, the river water carried a dark and gloomy hue, making his face appear even more pale and ghostly.

The river silenced all sound, and all around was deathly still. As Zhong Ying sank down, she looked up at Li Lin with wide eyes, her surprise and uncertainty rising before her fear.

How could this be? How could he still be alive?

After Li Linshi used water as a medium to throw Zhong Ying into the Ganlin River, he let go of her hand and coldly watched her sink into the water.

The two gazed at each other in the river.

A barrage of questions exploded in Zhong Ying's mind. Shouldn't Ox-Head and Horse-Face have already captured this water ghost and brought it to the underworld? Are the underworld officials really that inefficient?

Zhong Ying had misunderstood them.

Rewind to three days ago, when Ox-Head and Horse-Face did indeed come looking for Li Lin.

"Hey, don't run away!"

The underworld official, a bull-headed, human-bodied man in a black Zhongshan suit, shouted, and the water ghost by the river immediately leaped into the Ganlin River.

He tapped the bull's head on his neck with a headache and complained to his colleague, "People really make us sound so imposing. It's always like this; ghosts turn tail and run away as soon as they see us! And I haven't even said anything yet!"

The underworld official with a horse's head and a human body, dressed in a white button-down robe, silently turned his head to glance at his colleague, the bull-headed one. Even without people's exaggerated descriptions, just looking at their appearances would frighten anyone, right? Of course, those who had only recently died would be no exception.

But despite their complaints and grumbling, the two errand boys still had to do what they were supposed to do.

In the blink of an eye, Ox-Head and Horse-Face rushed to the riverbank. The iron chains in their hands seemed to have a mind of their own, drilling into the river surface and stirring and tracking it. They were pulled by the iron chains and quickly swept across the river. Obviously, the ghosts underwater were also escaping very fast.

Finally, the chains tightened, clearly entangled in something, and they stopped, with the bull-headed and horse-faced figures landing on opposite banks of the river.

Ox-Head exhaled a heavy breath from his nostrils, and together with Horse-Face, they gripped the iron chains in their hands and pulled him out with all their might.

A young-looking male ghost was pulled out of the river. He was tall and slender, with thick, black iron chains wrapped around his two pale and thin arms. The veins on his wrists were taut from the struggle. His deep-set face was furrowed with brows, and water dripped from his black hair. Water droplets landed on his eyelashes and then fell again in the blink of an eye, dripping from his chin.

Even the minotaur-headed, human-bodied underworld official was stunned for a second, exclaiming, "My goodness, this young man is really handsome!"

Horse-faced said succinctly, "Let's get down to business."

"Oh, oh," Minotaur quickly got back to business, "Don't run away as soon as you see us—"

Before he could say anything more, the handsome male ghost struggled in vain and suddenly shattered into countless tiny water droplets, which fell into the river like rain and merged with the river water once again.

The bull-headed man retrieved the empty iron chain, raised his hand to stroke his horns in a worried expression, and said, "I knew the ghosts of the unjustly killed were the most troublesome..."

For the underworld officials responsible for guiding the souls of the dead, those who died of illness are the easiest to communicate with, because during the long period of being bedridden, people have gradually accepted their fate of death, and even hope for a quick end while suffering from the pain.

Secondly, there are ghosts who die of old age. Although they may be reluctant to part with their descendants, as long as they are told that their lifespan has ended, they will often accept their death and obediently go to be reincarnated.

What troubles Ox-Head and Horse-Face the most are the ghosts who died unjustly. They die suddenly, which is unacceptable to anyone, and resentment arises. In addition, the unusual cause of death often gives them abilities that ghosts who died naturally do not have.

"Stop talking nonsense," Horse-Face urged, turning back as he dashed forward to chase after him. "There are some things we need to make clear to him."

Bullhead quickly followed.

The Ganlin River flows down from Yingshan Mountain, passes through Tonggan Village, and gradually decreases in volume after winding through the gullies of Lawangou in the lower reaches, eventually flowing into the small lake in Yuqianwa.

When the horse-faced demon arrived, it immediately called out to the guardian deity of this place, "Fish spirits of this land, please lend us your strength!"

The calm lake surface suddenly seemed to boil, bubbling and gurgling, as if a small golden figure was darting through the water.

As an outsider, the river water was constantly approached and drawn in by the golden carp, until it could only reform into a human shape and leap out of the lake.

The moment he landed, several white strips of paper, each three inches wide and three or four feet long, suddenly flew over and circled around him.

When the last to arrive, Ox-Head saw Horse-Face throw out the note, his eyes lit up. Without saying a word, he immediately raised his hand, made a hand seal with two fingers, and put it to his lips. Then he opened his mouth and spewed out raging fire.

The white paper strip ignited when it came into contact with fire, turning into a series of interconnected fire rings that trapped the water ghost within.

A golden carp leaped out of the lake, tracing an arc in the air like a rainbow. When it landed on the ground, it appeared as a young woman in her early twenties. She looked at the ghost trapped in the ring of fire and asked curiously, "Where did this ghost come from?"

No one has died in their Yuqianwa production team recently.

Yu Ling pressed on, "How did you end up here?"

Ghosts are generally restricted to their place of death; there are limitations on their existence in the world.

"The water ghosts in the river," Horse-Face said succinctly as always.

Yu Ling instantly understood, oh~ this is no ordinary ghost.

The bull-headed man released the iron chain, which passed through the ring of fire and bound the water ghost once again. He sighed and answered the fish spirit's previous question, "From Yingshan."

Yu Ling let out another "Oh~", no wonder, "The Yingshan Mountain God hasn't returned to his post yet?"

Horse-faced shook his head.

Since it wasn't a ghost from her area, Yu Ling didn't need to explain anything to the underworld officials. She could retire gracefully after helping them. "Alright, you guys get back to work. I'm going back to the lake."

Ox-Head and Horse-Face clasped their hands in thanks.

The golden carp plunged into the lake, flicked its tail, and disappeared without a trace.

Minotaur looked at the ghost in the fire circle and said, "Little brother, why are you running? We're not going to catch you."

Upon hearing this, Li Linshi's eyes remained unwavering in their vigilance.

"Hey, I'm telling the truth, why don't you believe me? Who lied to you and scared you away?" Niu Tou scratched his head anxiously.

Suddenly, Zhong Ying's face flashed through Li Linshi's mind.

Niu Tou reached into his chest with his left hand and pulled out a heart that wouldn't beat. Then, with his right hand, he pulled out a lung. "Now you should believe me, right?"

The horse-faced demon beside him said, "...People's talk of being open and honest isn't really about being open and honest. What you're doing is even scarier."

"Oh, oh." The bull quickly stuffed its heart and lungs back into its body.

"We in the underworld have learned from humans and no longer practice dictatorship or autocracy. We listen to the opinions of the people. If you want to stay in the human world, you can. We won't force you to reincarnate." Horse-face finished speaking calmly, opened the notebook in his hand, and read the words on it without any emotion: "Li Linshi, the fourth son of Li Ming of Tonggan Village, was born on April 26, 1946 at Chenshi (7-9 AM) and died on June 3, 1968 at Wushi (11 AM-1 PM), at the age of twenty-two. The cause of death was drowning."

Ox-Head leaned closer, his gaze passing over Horse-Face's shoulder to look at the more detailed text in the notebook. "You're a college graduate from the Capital Agricultural Mechanization College, huh? If you were alive, you could definitely improve the villagers' farm tools. Tsk tsk, what a pity..."

Horse-face immediately turned his head and glared at him. Wouldn't saying these words only add to the water ghost's resentment?

A mocking, cold smile indeed appeared on Li Linshi's lips. Wasn't it a pity? He had diligently pursued his studies, and after graduating from university, unlike his classmates who waited to be assigned jobs in the city, he returned to his hometown without delay, all to put his knowledge into practice, to help his fellow villagers use more efficient and effective farming tools, and to improve their lives. But now all his ambitions had come to naught. How could he not feel resentment?

Horse-face turned a page in his notebook, trying to find a way to help his companion. "I remember there's a ghost lingering in the human world at the foot of Ying Mountain. She should have told you that ghosts can seek 'debts' from the people who killed them, but they must not harm other innocent people, otherwise they can only be reincarnated into the animal realm."

"Don't think that if you kill someone, you can just stay a ghost and not be reincarnated," Niu Tou added. "Ghosts can't stay in the human world forever!"

“I know you humans say that death is the end of everything, but now that you’ve become a ghost, you know that death isn’t the end of everything.” Horse-face said, raising his gaze to Li Linshi. “Besides humans, in this world, whether gods or ghosts, the foundation of existence rests on the power of thought. As long as someone remembers you, you exist. So, if the last person who remembers you forgets you while you’re still in the human world, then you will never have the chance to be reincarnated.”

The bull-headed creature feigned a warning, threatening, "You'll be utterly destroyed!"

After saying that, he remembered something and couldn't help but shake his head with regret, "That's how the guardian deity at the top of the slope disappeared. The temple was demolished, and people no longer believed in the Medicine God. Even if he was a god, he would just disappear from the world like that."

"The God of Medicine has passed away, and the Mountain God has entered the world. All the work has fallen on our shoulders..." Niu Tou couldn't help but complain in a low voice, "If we weren't so busy, we would have come to you long ago!"

Horse-faced brought the topic back to the main point, "In short, I have already made the consequences clear. Whether you harm innocent people or remain in the human world, just think it through before you act."

Li Linshi remained silent, but he had clearly taken it to heart.

“You have no wife or children, and your parents are cared for by your older siblings.” Horse-face looked down at the lines of text appearing on the notebook, then suddenly paused. “So it’s because you don’t want to leave the mortal world that you’re seeking revenge.”

"What? Someone as tall as you, who could push you underwater?" Minotaur curiously leaned closer to look. "Hmm? That looks like a girl's name..."

Without even looking up, Horse-face pushed away the bull horns that were about to poke him. "Although it is said that every wrong has its perpetrator and every debt its debtor, it would be too harsh to blame your death entirely on one person. Your death was caused by human error and ended by undercurrents."

“However, if you really have a lot of resentment to vent, it’s not wrong of you to seek revenge on that person.” Horse-face closed the notebook in his hand. “After you’ve taken the life, we can take both of you back to the underworld together.”

Niu Tou added, "You should also try to persuade the other ghost in your village. Her children are all grown up, and it's time for her to leave. It would be best if next time we come, we could take all three ghosts away in one go."

With a wave of his hand, a gust of wind blew out from his sleeve, extinguishing the flames that had surrounded Li Lin. "We've said what we needed to say. Take care of yourself. Farewell."

The bull-headed man also bowed, giving a final word of advice: "If you don't want your soul to be scattered, reincarnate as soon as possible; if you don't want to be an animal in your next life, don't do bad things."

The two figures, one with a bull's head and the other with a horse's head, one black and one white, slowly faded into the air and disappeared completely in a short time.

Li Linshi was left standing alone in the same spot.

For the next three days, Li Lin stayed in a secluded section of the Ganlin River, far away from the people of the Tonggan production team, and just stayed quietly.

Li Linshi was pondering whether or not to continue trying to kill Zhong Ying.

It wasn't because of the warning from the Ox-Head and Horse-Face demons. They also said that it wasn't wrong for them to seek revenge on Zhong Ying, since his death was indeed caused by her. If she hadn't pulled him away, how could he have fallen into the water and died in the undercurrents of the river?

But what Horse-Face said is also true. It would be too harsh to blame his death on one person. Li Linshi himself knew this. Just as the other ghost said, Zhong Ying wanted to force him to marry her, not to kill him.

Li Linshi leaned against a strangely shaped rock at the bottom of the river, indifferently watching the river surface above him sway gently in the wind, the shimmering water reflecting his handsome face and making it appear even more transparent.

Moreover, when Li Linshi thought of Ox-Head and Horse-Face, he didn't miss Zhong Ying's subconscious step back. He wanted to run away when he saw Ox-Head and Horse-Face because he was a ghost now. So why could Zhong Ying also see Ox-Head and Horse-Face, and why did she also want to run away? Could it be... that she really is a ghost who has been resurrected in another's body, just as she said?

Li Linshi thought about it for three days. The murderous intent in his chest, as thick as ink, was not so strong anymore, but his resentment still needed to be vented.

Since she dragged him into the river once, she might as well repay him with this.

Li Linshi forcibly threw Zhong Ying into the river. Unlike the previous times, he didn't restrain her or give her any chance to struggle. He simply let go and watched coldly.

Her long, black hair, like algae, spread out in the river. The girl stared at him with wide eyes, her gaze clear and bright as if it had been washed clean, filled with shock.

Li Linshi knew that his actions would not cause Zhong Ying any death, nor would they harm her in any way; it was more like a cruel joke of retaliation.

In the village where people live by the river, which child can't swim? Li Linshi remembers witnessing Zhong Cheng bringing his sister to play by the river several times.

She caused him to fall into the water; his inability to swim to shore due to the undercurrent was simply bad luck.

An eye for an eye, he pulled her into the water again, but she was able to swim ashore on her own because she had fought for her own life.

But Zhong Ying wasn't able to read his mind; she didn't know that Li Linshi's actions were simply retaliation for Zhong Ying causing him to fall into the water.

Zhong Ying thought the ghost was just giving her a different way to die, intending to let her experience what it's like to drown, just like him.

Although the other party did not forcefully push her underwater, they simply floated by like an indifferent bystander.

Zhong Ying also felt that the ghost wanted to kill her.

Because both the original owner of this body and she are landlubbers and can't swim at all!

In her memory, although the original owner would go to the river to play with her brother when she was a child, she never went into the water. She didn't want to dive into the water with those reckless boys; it was too ugly.

Zhong Ying herself had never learned to swim. She was not a genius, and she needed to put in all her effort to get better grades. Her extracurricular time was taken up by various tutoring classes, keeping her so busy that she had no time or energy to learn swimming.

Her body was still falling. Zhong Ying struggled and thrashed about a few times, but it was to no avail. Instead, it made her sink even faster.

Zhong Ying pressed her lips tightly together, afraid of choking on a mouthful of water. But without supplies, the remaining oxygen in her lungs was being consumed less and less, and she personally experienced the unbearable suffocation and despair of a drowning person before death.

Desperately trying to swim to the surface but unable to, trapped in the water without oxygen, at the moment when they can no longer hold on, the river water will mercilessly rush into their mouths and back into their trachea, drowning all their life force.

Zhong Ying didn't want to die in such despair.

Li Linshi coldly watched the girl flailing her limbs haphazardly in the water. Although he found her movements strange, he made no move. To actively save someone who had inadvertently caused his death? He wasn't morally upright enough to do so.

If he doesn't take action, someone else will.

Zhong Ying tried her best to save herself. The oxygen in her lungs was so thin that her vision began to go black and she felt dizzy. She could hardly think clearly and could only instinctively grab onto anything she could around her, like a drowning person.

Li Linshi was grabbed by the collar once again, as if the scene before his death was being replayed.

Zhong Ying knew she had caught a dead man, but at this point, she had no choice but to use the dead as if they were alive; maybe it would be useful.

The moment those warm, soft lips touched his, Li Linshi felt as if he had been punched. His composure was shattered, his pupils contracted sharply, and his body froze as if frozen in ice, unable to move.

Zhong Ying desperately tried to snatch some air from the other person's mouth; her survival instinct made her disregard everything else.

Even if a fish were to pass by, Zhong Ying would want to steal some oxygen from its mouth. At least she knew that fish absorb oxygen from the water through their gills, but could a ghost in the water do that?

Zhong Ying was unaware that her mind was no longer functioning due to lack of oxygen; she simply recklessly pried open the other person's teeth and rushed in to loot and plunder.

A note from the author:

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Li Linshi: (In despair) She's using this trick again! She's doing it again!