Holding her lost and found brother, two tears of excitement flowed from the corners of Zhang Meng's eyes.
It’s great that she finally saved her brother in this life.
As the brother and sister hugged each other, the water ghost standing in the middle of the river went back into the water with an unwilling look on his face.
"Sister, I was so scared. I was playing in the water, and suddenly something grabbed my feet and wouldn't let me get ashore. It was so scary." As soon as little Zhang Tao finished saying this, the villagers who were listening nearby immediately started talking about the story of the river.
"It must have been a water ghost that dragged Xiao Tao down. I heard from the older generation that someone drowns in this river every few years."
"Yes, I've heard that this river is quite spooky. I heard that a few years ago, a stranger passed by our river and suddenly lost his sight and rushed into the river. Luckily, someone passed by and rescued him, otherwise he would have died in this river."
While comforting her frightened brother, Zhang Meng thought about the water ghost she had just seen in the middle of the river, and a glint of determination flashed in her eyes.
After thanking the villagers for their help, Zhang Meng took his younger brother Xiao Zhang Tao back to the Zhang family.
Grandma Zhang, who had just received the news, came out supported by the third grandmother. When she saw her grandson who was soaking wet, she burst into tears and ran over to hug her grandson who had almost died just now.
"Luckily, nothing happened. Fortunately, nothing happened. If you had been hurt, how would I have the face to see your parents after I died?"
"Grandma, don't cry, my brother is fine." Zhang Meng coaxed Grandma Zhang with red eyes.
Little Zhang Tao was already very scared when he was in the river. Now when he heard his grandmother crying while hugging him, he immediately started crying too.
At that moment, the three of them hugged each other and cried. The third grandmother standing nearby saw the three of them and couldn't help crying too.
Because of what happened to my younger brother Zhang Tao today, the Zhang family had a very simple dinner today. They had white porridge with the salty wine lees that the third aunt brought today. This was their dinner for the day.
After the three generations of grandparents and grandchildren took a bath, Grandma Zhang was frightened by what happened today and insisted on holding little Zhang Tao to sleep at night.
Zhang Meng, who was staying in the room, saw that her grandmother and brother next door were really asleep, so she walked out of the room.
"Zhang Meng, are you going to deal with the water ghosts in the river? I'll go with you." Zhang Yu, who had not appeared for a long time, finally showed up tonight.
Looking at Zhang Yu who had lost a lot of weight, Zhang Meng greeted him with concern, "Zhang Yu, I haven't seen you for half a month. How come you have become so thin? Did something happen?"
Zhang Yu pulled the corner of his mouth and forced a smile, "I'm not in any trouble. I'm a ghost. Who in this world would provoke a ghost?"
Zhang Meng thought about it and agreed. "Alright then, let's go to the river and capture that water ghost. Damn it, how dare it use my brother as a substitute? I'll make him regret it today."
The man and the ghost soon arrived at the riverside. The riverside looked very cold at night, and occasionally there would be a gust of cold wind blowing, which made people shudder.
"You wait here, I'll go down and pull that water ghost out." After saying this, Zhang Yu rushed into the river in a flash of light.
Zhang Meng, standing on the shore, was waiting anxiously, her worried eyes never daring to move away from the river.
Just about fifteen minutes after Zhang Yu went down, two white lights emerged from the water at the same time.
One of them was the water ghost Zhang Meng saw in the river today. This time, from a closer look, the water ghost was a man, wet all over, with a face as white as if it were painted with powder.
"Why are you disturbing me?" the male water ghost asked Zhang Meng and Zhang Yu angrily.
"I didn't want to mess with you, but you wanted to mess with me. You almost took my dearest brother away today. Do you know that?"
Only then did the male diver see Zhang Meng clearly, and he immediately remembered that the woman on the shore today was the one in front of him.
"So it's you. I can see that you have some real skills. But I pulled your brother, but that's just your brother's bad luck. Who told him to come to the river to play?"
"You're still right. I'm going to take you in today and stop you from doing whatever you want here."
Zhang Meng immediately took out two ghost-suppressing talismans that she had just drawn that night and threw them at the water ghost.
The water ghost screamed, and its wet body immediately became translucent.
"You are actually a talisman painter! Talisman painter, spare my life, spare my life, I won't dare to do it again, please spare my life."
The water ghost who had been so domineering just now suddenly became as timid as a mouse, kowtowing and kneeling in the direction of Zhang Meng.
Zhang Meng looked down and saw that she still had a lot of talismans left. In order to deal with this water ghost, she went back to the house and drew a lot of talisman papers after breakfast in the evening. As a result, she only used a few of them and made the water ghost surrender.
"Xiao Meng, your skill in drawing talismans has improved even more. It's amazing! Even a ghost like me feels uncomfortable when I see the talisman you draw."
Zhang Yu, who had been on guard against water ghosts, looked at Zhang Meng with admiration.
Zhang Meng was stunned. Is her talisman so powerful now? Why didn’t she feel it? She just felt that she didn’t need to consume too much mental energy when drawing the talisman, and she could concentrate a lot more when drawing it.
The water ghost knelt on the ground, hugging his body tightly with his hands.
"Let me ask you, how many years have you been a water ghost here?"
The water ghost's lips trembled. "I've been here for several years. I was dragged here by the previous water ghost. After he dragged me down, he went to reincarnate. If I want to reincarnate, I have to find a substitute."
At this moment, Zhang Meng remembered why the villagers said today that someone would die in this river every few years. This water ghost was probably drowned here a few years ago.
"You've been here for so many years, haven't you found a substitute?" As far as she knew, people swam and washed things in this river every day.
"Of course there is a chance, but I can't bring myself to do it. I've tasted all the pain of being a water ghost these past few years. I'm dying here, wandering this river every day, unable to go anywhere. I can only wait for a substitute to take my place. This feeling is really uncomfortable. I can't bear to see anyone suffer the same pain as me."
"Oh, I didn't expect you, a water ghost, to be so kind." Zhang Meng sneered. The water ghost lowered his head and dared not speak.
Thinking of her brother who almost died today, Zhang Meng immediately walked up to him angrily and said, "You don't have the heart to do it to other people, but you have the heart to do it to my brother, who is only five years old."
The water ghost raised his innocent face and explained, "This matter has nothing to do with me. I didn't pull your brother down the river. He was dragged into the river by a black aura. When I found him, his soul had already come out. There's no reason for me to want him."
This book was first published by Xiaoxiang Academy, please do not reprint it!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
