In the muddy, densely shaded mountain gully to the southeast of Fengqing Village, the path was overgrown.
"Xu Mu, male, nineteen years old, orphaned, not an ability user, possesses natural immense strength, survives by hunting, and also serves as the night watchman for Fengqing Village."
Yin Shui'er recited Xu Mu's details as she walked. Xu Mu, meanwhile, was staggering behind her, supporting a heavy, pitch-black compass with both hands.
"Your memory is excellent, Milady," Xu Mu replied.
"Did you miss anything?" Yin Shui'er tossed away the fruit she was eating, suddenly stopped, and turned to look at Xu Mu with suspicion.
Fengqing Village had a complex terrain. It was an ancient village, and its ancientness specifically referred to a single tree.
It stood tall to the east of the village, its straight trunk winding with endless patterns, its branches like the meridians of the human body. It was so massive and vast that it blotted out the sky. No one knew when this tree was planted; perhaps it predated the Great Xia Dynasty by three dynasties, or even longer.
The layout of Fengqing Village was designed to mimic this tree, hence the uneven, chaotic arrangement of houses. Some houses were even built on the mountainside. Outsiders entering the village would easily get lost, which was why Yin Shui'er had summoned Xu Mu to help her.
What Xu Mu held in his hands was a Spirit Seeking Compass refined by the Demon Extermination Bureau's headquarters. Any place with a fluctuation of dark energy would not escape its detection.
Yet, after more than half an hour, the compass remained motionless.
"Definitely not!" Xu Mu shook his head seriously. Although the terrain was complex, he was certain he hadn't missed a single spot. As the village night watchman, he had patrolled every household in pitch-black darkness without fail, let alone in broad daylight.
"Oh, then let's continue. Can you still lift it?"
Yin Shui'er's eyes glinted slyly. This Spirit Seeking Compass weighed a staggering 550 jin (approximately 275 kg), making it difficult for even ordinary ability users to handle. Although Xu Mu's file stated he had "natural immense strength," she doubted his strength could surpass that of an ability user.
"As long as I have hands!"
Xu Mu strained, veins bulging on his forehead, sweat soaking his back. He forced the words out from his throat with grit.
"Then keep carrying it. You can put it down when it shows some activity."
Yin Shui'er shrugged indifferently; it wasn't her who was bearing the burden.
"No time for banter."
Xu Mu turned his head away with feigned disdain. It was in that turn that he spotted something very familiar.
"This is..." Xu Mu suddenly put down the compass, then crouched to pick up a copper shard from the ground. His expression gradually became solemn.
"Its texture is raised, with green patina, and it emits a crisp ringing sound when tapped."
"It's a fragment of bronze!"
Xu Mu was shocked. No one in this cursed place would forge bronze. Apart from the demon-exorcising bells issued by the imperial court, he hadn't seen anything made of bronze.
"It's indeed the material for a demon-exorcising bell. You're more familiar with those than I am. It can withstand thousands of jin of weight. If it's broken like this, the matter is definitely not simple!"
Xu Mu analyzed solemnly, filled with shock. Even he would struggle to break such an item, so who in Fengqing Village could shatter a bell into pieces?
"..."
No one answered him. Xu Mu turned in surprise to see Yin Shui'er already picking up the compass and walking towards a house.
"The bell broke here, so the clue must be here."
Yin Shui'er shrugged, the compass in her left hand, and kicked open the slightly ajar wooden door with her right leg, stepping into the courtyard.
"Sigh, please be careful!"
Xu Mu's eyes widened. If an ability user from the Demon Extermination Bureau met with misfortune, he, a mere night watchman, couldn't possibly bear the responsibility. This was a crime punishable by extermination of the entire clan!
"A hoe, a granary, a pile of firewood, and some neatly chopped wood. A very clean courtyard."
Yin Shui'er observed aloud. Xu Mu quickly followed, his expression still solemn.
"This is the problem."
"I remember the owner of this place was a widow named Sun. How could she possibly chop such neat wood?"
Yin Shui'er nodded slightly, about to speak, when a woman's voice suddenly came from inside the house.
"Who is it?"
Xu Mu shivered. The voice sounded like a frail old woman on the verge of death. Wasn't Widow Sun only in her twenties?
"Answer her," Yin Shui'er raised an eyebrow and walked directly towards the source of the voice. "Quickly, make up an identity and answer her!" Seeing Xu Mu's silence, Yin Shui'er yelled in exasperation.
Xu Mu stammered, "I... I'm Old Wang next door!"
"Next door, Brother Wang, are you... Brother Wang next door?"
The voice from inside the house remained ancient and intermittent, as if filled with great confusion.
As it spoke, Yin Shui'er had already reached the middle of the courtyard.
"Brother Wang, isn't he in my arms?"
...
The person in the house finally finished speaking. Xu Mu stood rooted to the spot, bewildered. He had just made up a name, and it turned out to be Widow Sun's old flame?
Huh?
Suddenly, Yin Shui'er stopped suspiciously, her phoenix eyes fixed on the window of the house.
Through the curtain, a strange shadow was wriggling.
Xu Mu snapped back to reality and swallowed.
He saw it too. He didn't know what it was, but he could vaguely make out that it had long hair, its hands seemed to be holding something human-like, its tongue flicked in the air like a snake's, and at the very tip hung a human head.
"Don't act like you've never seen the world."
Yin Shui'er's expression was nonchalant, with a hint of mockery. She had killed no less than two hundred aberrant ghosts, perhaps even a thousand. Even if this aberrant ghost seemed to have some significance, it wouldn't cause her any emotional disturbance.
Xu Mu ignored her mockery, his nerves highly taut, his eyes never leaving the window.
Unlike Yin Shui'er, he was an ordinary person. His lantern and copper bells were not with him. Facing an entity that could easily destroy a demon-exorcising copper bell, he had to remain extremely vigilant.
"Careful!"
Suddenly, the monster in the house spun around, its long tongue smashing through the wooden door with a "crack," and lunged towards Yin Shui'er.
Almost simultaneously with Xu Mu's warning, Yin Shui'er's palm had already unfurled. A deep blue stream of water flowed back and forth in her palm, like a small snake swimming in a pond.
"Go!"
Yin Shui'er pushed her palm forward. Countless water elemental energies were devoured by the small snake, its size expanding exponentially. The giant python surged forward, its fangs piercing the aberrant ghost's long tongue. The two collided.
"Crack!"
With a crisp sound, the long tongue, like a stone hitting an egg, was torn into countless fragments by the water snake. Pieces of flesh fell to the ground. Xu Mu's eyes widened, a sense of shock deep in his heart.
"This isn't water, it's clearly wrought iron!"
"Ah!" The monster in the house quickly retracted its tongue, shrieking in pain.
Yin Shui'er snorted coldly and gave the creature no time to recover. With a series of hand movements, the stream of water suddenly transformed into a giant hand, crashing through the wall with a rush.
"Come here!"
The palm firmly gripped the aberrant ghost's body. The creature was utterly defenseless, directly flung into the air by the giant hand formed of water elements, and then, with Yin Shui'er's movement, slammed heavily onto the ground.
"Thump!"
With a deafening crash, green blood splattered from the aberrant ghost's body. Its form twisted, severely injured, but it was not yet dead.
Yin Shui'er narrowed her eyes slightly, brought her index fingers together, and lightly tapped her pinky knuckles, exclaiming softly.
"Waterfall!"
The water elements transformed again. The giant hand became a waterfall, a continuous stream of water elements pouring from her palms into the air and cascading down.
It was like the fierce impact of a waterfall against granite, roaring like thunder, heavy as a thousand pounds. The ground was directly smashed into a massive pit.
"So ruthless!"
Xu Mu hid to the side, watching with a pounding heart.
This was the power of an ability user. No wonder Yin Shui'er wasn't afraid at all, knowing about the copper bell incident!
"An attack of this magnitude, its weight is simply beyond what the physical body can withstand. Even the mutated bones of an aberrant ghost wouldn't survive!"
Xu Mu felt a sense of longing. This was the might of an ability user, able to freely manipulate the elements of heaven and earth without relying on magic artifacts. He still needed to carry that big red lantern and chant incantations to simulate such an attack.
"This is my first time seeing an aberrant ghost that looks like this."
Xu Mu was silent for a moment before stepping forward and crouching down to examine the bloated monster at the bottom of the pit.
Although it wasn't completely dead, it was completely incapacitated. Its face was contorted, but some semblance of its original appearance could still be discerned. Xu Mu confirmed it was indeed Widow Sun.
However, after being infected, her belly had become larger than a water vat, with something writhing within. Her tongue, which was over ten meters long, had been shattered by the torrent of water just now. Green liquid flowed down, seemingly its blood.
Feeling a bit nauseous, the young man suddenly regretted eating so many leek buns for lunch yesterday.
"The walking dead you night watchmen deal with are merely the lowest-tier aberrant ghosts. Those that are eroded by dark energy and still retain their past lives and desires are the ones that we ability users are responsible for resolving."
Yin Shui'er took a deep breath, the deep blue in her pupils gradually fading, her face a little pale.
After becoming an ability user, her awakened ability was named "Element," specifically water elements, belonging to the first-tier abilities. This was why she could control water streams and even conjure a small river out of thin air just now.
"The characteristics of a mutated aberrant ghost are mainly determined by its desires in life. A blind person who becomes an aberrant ghost might turn into a monster with eyeballs larger than millstones, a cripple might grow a third leg, and a gluttonous wastrel might become a man-eating beast with the largest mouth."
"Hmm?"
Yin Shui'er was explaining to Xu Mu when she suddenly frowned. She saw the pointer on the Spirit Seeking Compass on the ground had jumped to the right.
But clearly, the aberrant ghost had already been killed by her.
"According to you, she was a widow. So, what would she have most craved, and what would be most prone to mutation..." Xu Mu didn't move away from the edge of the pit, still staring at Widow Sun's corpse with confusion.
He was somewhat perplexed. What was a widow's greatest desire that resulted in such a long tongue? It was utterly bizarre.
Yin Shui'er's body suddenly stiffened. Yes, she had forgotten something. What could a widow's greatest desire be?
"Child, she's pregnant. Go quickly!"
Recalling the voice calling out "Brother Wang" from inside the house when they first entered, Yin Shui'er suddenly realized. This Widow Sun must have been indiscreet in her daily life.
And the mutated long tongue was merely a superficial manifestation. She was lonely and had always longed for a child to accompany her.
Therefore, the truly terrifying mutation was the child in Widow Sun's belly.
It was a ghost infant!
...