Chapter 73: Folklore Horror (3)
Under Sun Bin’s utterly terrified gaze, the door slowly opened. The first thing that came into view was a pale, bloodless wrist.
Looking up, they saw a beautiful woman standing behind the door, her long hair falling over her shoulders. Her heart-shaped face was filled with panic and helplessness. The moment she saw Jian Yuntai, tears instantly welled up in her eyes.
“Why did you only open the door now?”
Jian Yuntai asked, “Have we met before?”
“We have.” The woman was soaked through, shivering as she said, “At the village entrance. You pressed Xiao Liuliu into the wall. That stone was so heavy—my older brother came out to help move it away.”
“…………”
Jian Yuntai and Fatty exchanged a silent look.
There were no young men or women anywhere in the entire Mother Goddess Village.
Yet the woman before them looked to be around twenty. Her white dress was drenched, dripping steadily onto the ground. The half-transparent fabric clung tightly to her body, outlining her graceful figure—but the three men in the room did not let their eyes wander.
“I accidentally stepped into the village stream just now. It took me a long time to climb out. My home… my home is really far from here. And in this winter weather…” In Jian Yuntai’s eyes, she rambled on with a pile of useless explanations before finally, timidly getting to the point: “May I come in to take a bath and change into some dry clothes first?”
“It’s a demon!!!”
The livestream viewers erupted:
“Oh my god, it’s so obvious.”
“It’s only obvious because Jian Dadan said there were no young men or women in the village. Judging just by her appearance and what she said, she looks completely normal—and she’s pretty.”
“She’s pretty, which makes it even more likely she’s a demon. If she weren’t pretty, how could she lure anyone?”
“What kind of demon is she?”
Just as the viewers were speculating, Fatty suddenly shot Jian Yuntai a mischievous grin.
Jian Yuntai pressed his lips together in a faint smile as well.
What a coincidence.
They had seen this demon’s characteristics before.
On the drive to the Fate Crystal with the Livestream Team, among the folklore books Fatty had tossed into the car, there had been a record of this exact type of demon—the Drowned Ghost.
They usually had red or green eyes, smooth skin that made them hard to grab, and they swam extremely fast in water.
Their weakness was fire and heat.
Jian Yuntai nudged the door open a little wider. Mother Goddess Village had no electricity; the room was lit only by candlelight. As the candlelight spilled outward, the Drowned Ghost’s pair of eerie green eyes were instantly exposed—like rapeseed oil sent straight to a flame.
The room fell silent for a long moment.
Sun Bin was still hiding under the table. He stuck his head out and shouted, “There’s nowhere here for you to bathe!”
The Drowned Ghost quickly said, “It’s fine. I’ll just wipe myself down with a dry towel and change clothes.”
Sun Bin’s survival instincts flared. “We don’t have any dry towels either! And definitely no women’s clothes!”
The Drowned Ghost hesitated. “Ah? Then… what should I do? If I go back like this, my older brother will scold me.”
Sun Bin had just been about to say, “What does that have to do with us?” when Jian Yuntai slightly stepped aside.
“Come in.”
—That counted as an invitation.
“?!!!” Sun Bin was instantly horrified.
His reaction was perfectly synchronized with the livestream viewers, who flooded the screen:
“Holy shit! Didn’t Guide Black Dog repeatedly warn them that if someone knocks at midnight they must open the door, but absolutely cannot invite them inside? Did Jian Dadan forget?”
“I want to crawl through the screen and shake him! Damn it! Don’t be fooled by beauty! She’s not even one ten-thousandth as good-looking as Cui Yu!”
“She’s not even better-looking than you! Don’t get tricked! Ahhhhh!”
“So Jian Dadan is still a man after all—no man can resist a half-soaked beauty begging like that hahaha!”
Drip—
Drip—
Wherever the Drowned Ghost walked, puddles formed behind her, like miniature lakes.
After watching her step inside, Jian Yuntai shut the door with a bang.
So she wouldn’t escape.
Fatty rummaged under the bed for a long time before finally pulling out a dusty old piece of clothing. He tossed it straight at the Drowned Ghost. “Men’s clothes should work too, right?”
“That’s fine. Of course.” She had no objection.
But holding the clothes, she hesitated.
Her cheeks flushed red as she glanced shyly at the three men in the room. “Could you step aside for a moment?”
Sun Bin had been dying to run. The moment he heard that, he crawled out from under the table and dashed into his own room, leaving only a narrow crack in the door to secretly observe.
Fatty, however, was as straightforward as steel. “Why? Can’t you just put the dry clothes on over what you’re wearing?”
“…” The Drowned Ghost looked at Jian Yuntai for help.
Jian Yuntai, still seated at the table, calmly picked up the candleholder.
In the Drowned Ghost’s increasingly alarmed gaze, he lifted it—and then even let out a soft chuckle.
“…………”
Her expression changed again and again. After staring at Jian Yuntai for several seconds, she cautiously stepped back.
She forced a smile. “It’s fine if the clothes are wet. I—I won’t change.”
Even the slowest viewers caught on by now:
“She’s afraid of fire?”
“That’s why Jian Dadan invited her in, right? LMAO, who was it just now saying Jian Dadan was still a man and couldn’t resist a drowning beauty’s plea?”
“Didn’t Jian Dadan say last stream that he once liked Cui Yu? Cui Yu’s a man. Maybe if the demon switched genders, it’d work.”
“Switching genders wouldn’t help. In the last instance, Cui Yu paid a huge price just to warm Jian Dadan’s heart. There’s no way just anyone could do it.”
“Hahahahaha, demon lady, you were careless.”
She truly had been careless.
She realized it herself.
As Jian Yuntai advanced swiftly with the candleholder and Fatty’s gaze turned fierce, alarm bells rang in her mind—these men were not ones she could deceive.
The Drowned Ghost immediately dropped the clothes and bolted for the door.
“Hey—” Fatty had clearly grabbed her wrist, but her skin was far too slick. With a slippery whoosh, she slipped free and escaped.
Jian Yuntai had clearly locked the door, yet the Drowned Ghost passed straight through it and fled without a trace.
A demon core delivered right to their doorstep—how could they let her get away?!
Jian Yuntai and Fatty moved with perfect tacit understanding, not even needing to exchange a glance. One rushed back to grab the matches, the other unlocked the door. With a loud bang—
They shot out like a gust of wind in pursuit.
By the time Sun Bin realized what had happened, he was the only one left in the house.
“???!”
After standing there in shock for quite a while, Sun Bin muttered, “Damn…”
Those two… were seriously unbelievable.
Guide Black Dog had warned them not to invite demons inside. Yet not only had they warmly invited one in, they had even planned to trap her inside and beat the Drowned Ghost behind closed doors.
Guide Black Dog had also said they absolutely must not go out at night.
But the two of them acted as if they had never heard that at all. For a split second, Sun Bin had felt like there was a supermarket sale on eggs, and Jian Yuntai and Fatty had dashed out to snatch them up.
That was right—snatch the kill.
Judging from how ferocious they looked, they might even end up arguing over who got the final blow.
Was this… the world of the Boss?
Sun Bin wasn’t worried about them getting into trouble at all. He was only worried about his own weak, pitiful, helpless self.
Sure enough, less than half an hour later—
Someone knocked on the door again.
“Husband…” a sweet female voice called from outside.
Before she could finish, Sun Bin screamed, “There are three men in this house! One is gay and likes men, one is straight as steel and can’t even get a wife, and the last one is terrified of ghosts! There is no husband of yours here—don’t come here, aaahhh!”
“Are there really no lustful men left in this day and age?” After a long silence, the woman outside cursed in frustration.
Her voice gradually moved farther and farther away from the door.
Only then did Sun Bin finally let out a sigh of relief, patting his frightened little heart.
※※※
Jian Yuntai’s physical evolution was stronger than Fatty’s, so he ran much faster. However, Fatty could ride Jinjin. Man and beast surged ahead several meters, Fatty’s hearty laughter carried by the wind.
“Jian Dadan’er, this kill’s mine! Next one’s yours!”
“……” Jian Yuntai replied dryly, “There’s a river ahead. Don’t let her reach the water.”
“Got it!” Fatty shouted back.
He shouted that he “got it,” but by the time Jian Yuntai caught up, the Drowned Ghost had already leapt into the river.
Jinjin and the cat demon plunged into the water and tangled with her in combat.
Fatty stood on the riverbank, occasionally shouting encouragement. “Bite her head! Rip her heart out—see if she’s got a demon core!”
Seeing this, Jian Yuntai knew the kill was no longer his.
With a regretful sigh, he stopped running.
He found a tree and sat down on the spot.
The moon was bright, the stars sparse. All around was pitch-black darkness. The forest near Mother Goddess Village remained undeveloped, showing how pristine the ecology was. The air was fresh, fireflies flickered everywhere, and the occasional chirping of insects echoed through the night.
This river—Jian Yuntai had researched it before entering the instance. It circled Mother Goddess Village. For generations, villagers had drawn water from it for drinking, washing, even farming.
Though not wide, it flowed freely on both sides. Fortunately, with the cat demon and Jinjin attacking from opposite directions, the Drowned Ghost had nowhere to escape.
Watching the fight, Jian Yuntai sighed again in regret.
“Did you really want that demon core so badly?”
A clear, gentle male voice suddenly sounded by his ear.
Jian Yuntai paused before realizing it was the little fox speaking.
He lowered his gaze.
The little fox sat obediently beside him, its fluffy tail swaying slowly. Its pale pupils shimmered faintly in the moonlight. Then, tentatively, it rested its chin on his knee.
Tilting its head, it looked at him intently.
The livestream chat instantly exploded in squeals:
“So cute!!!”
“Jian Dadan, pet its head! Hurry, pet its head!”
“Those soft little ears, that big fluffy white tail, those pink little paws—it’s the fox of my dreams!!!”
Before Jian Yuntai could respond, Fuzhu spoke again. “If you want it, I can go into the water and get it for you right now.”
Jian Yuntai laughed softly. “What do you mean ‘get it for me’? What would I do with a demon core? I only wanted it for you.”
“For me?” Fuzhu looked puzzled.
Jian Yuntai nodded. “If you eat the demon core, you can transform into human form.”
Fuzhu flicked his tail in even greater confusion. A demon’s way of thinking was completely different from a human’s. “My beast form is my true body. In beast form, I’m even stronger than in human form.”
At least, when he was young among the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox clan, all the foxes could transform into human shape. Yet they preferred to remain in their original forms and rarely turned human.
An elder of the clan had once warned him, “In front of humans, try not to transform. Our clan’s human forms are all beautiful. You never know when a human with ill intentions might try to harm you.”
Young Fuzhu hadn’t understood. He had asked, “Then when should we transform?”
The elder had pondered for a moment, then smiled strangely. “When you want to seduce a particular human.”
Fuzhu had been even more confused.
The elder had only laughed and patted his head. “You’re still young. When you grow up, you’ll understand.”
Now Fuzhu had grown up.
But after his mortal enemy dug out his demon core and sealed his powers, he had lost contact with his clan. Foxes his age had already mastered the clan’s inheritance, yet he, the young lord of the Celestial Foxes, remained ignorant of both worldly affairs and matters of intimacy.
He still didn’t understand why he needed to transform.
But he could sense Jian Yuntai’s wishes. Even without understanding, he flicked his tail and stood up lightly.
“If you want it, I’ll get it.”
Just as he was about to dash toward the river, Jian Yuntai reacted quickly and grabbed his tail. The corner of his mouth twitched. “Don’t! Absolutely don’t. Wait until another demon shows up before you go.”
“Why?” Fuzhu tilted his head, confused.
“Because… if you go now, it’s basically stealing someone else’s kill.” For the first time in his life, Jian Yuntai felt like he was teaching a child. Helplessly, he explained, “Think about it. If you were fighting someone over food and were about to win, and then suddenly a third person jumped in and killed your opponent—taking the prize for themselves—would you be angry?”
Fuzhu thought for a moment. His fur suddenly bristled, and he replied irritably, “Yes. I would be angry.”
Jian Yuntai patiently said, “So you couldn’t go and snatch it.”
“Couldn’t I ever snatch it, no matter what?”
“…Not exactly. Fatty was my friend, so you couldn’t snatch it. But if it were an enemy, then you could.”
Fuzhu remained silent for a few seconds before saying, “You humans were really complicated. Was everything this complicated?”
Jian Yuntai replied, “Probably.”
Fuzhu looked at him quietly for a few seconds. His clear, gentle voice suddenly softened even more. “You are really kind.”
“What?” Jian Yuntai glanced at him in surprise, unable to understand how the topic had suddenly jumped to those words—“you are really kind.”
Fuzhu’s voice carried a hint of loneliness as he explained, “After my inner core was dug out, no one was willing to teach me these things. You were the first person who patiently explained them to me.”
After a pause, he said sincerely, “I really like you.”
“……”
On one hand, Jian Yuntai felt a little guilty—after all, according to the instance’s background, he was Fuzhu’s mortal enemy. On the other hand, he found it somewhat amusing that he had actually been confessed to by a fox.
“That wasn’t what you called liking.”
His tone clearly showed disbelief. Fuzhu grew anxious at once, his fluffy white tail standing straight up. Raising his voice, he said, “Were you doubting my sincerity?”
“I wasn’t doubting you.” Jian Yuntai thought for a moment before saying, “I didn’t even know what you foxes liked to eat—chicken? Or grapes? Let’s say grapes. Think about it: you liked grapes, and you liked me. That meant grapes and I were the same in your heart.”
Maybe he wasn’t even as important as grapes.
After silently complaining to himself, Jian Yuntai continued, “There could be thousands of bunches of grapes, but there could only be one person you truly liked. So the kind of ‘like’ we usually talked about wasn’t the same as liking grapes. It had a deeper meaning.”
“What meaning? I didn’t understand what you were saying. What did it really mean to truly like someone?” Fuzhu grew even more anxious and urged, “Hurry up and tell me.”
Jian Yuntai was just about to speak when the sound of something splashing into water suddenly came from ahead.
He looked up, and his expression changed.
Fatty had been dragged into the water by the Drowned Ghost!
Jian Yuntai immediately jumped to his feet and rushed over, but when he reached the river’s edge, he did not go any closer.
There wasn’t just one Drowned Ghost in the river.
On the left, Jinjin and the cat demon were still fighting the one they had been battling earlier. After Fatty fell into the water, that Drowned Ghost’s strength increased dramatically. It slammed Jinjin hard against the surface of the water, clearly having held back before.
It was very likely that the Drowned Ghost had only been stalling for time, allowing another Drowned Ghost companion to ambush Fatty!
“Glug, glug…” Fatty struggled in the river, choking on water as he shouted, “Jian Dadan, don’t come into the water! Cough, cough… This water ghost’s strength is way too great!”
Folklore books once said that once a Drowned Ghost entered the water, her strength would increase enormously. She would try to drag someone into the water and drown them to serve as her substitute.
After completing this task, the drowned victim would become the new Drowned Ghost, while she herself would be able to reincarnate.
Thump, thump—
Thump, thump—
Jian Yuntai’s heartbeat pounded wildly. He watched helplessly as Fatty bobbed up and down in the water, choking so badly he couldn’t even speak properly, yet still anxiously telling him not to come down.
Jian Yuntai felt terrible inside.
Just moments ago, the livestream viewers had been immersed in the peaceful conversation between Jian Yuntai and Fuzhu, feeling as though everything was calm and serene. Suddenly seeing this scene, they felt as anxious as if they themselves were drowning.
“Ahhhh, Jian Dadan, don’t go into the water! It’s really hard to fight a Drowned Ghost in the water. Drowned Ghosts are afraid of fire… Eh, wait, that won’t work! A tiny candlestick would go out instantly in the water!”
“But if he doesn’t go in, what’s he supposed to do? Just watch Fatty die?”
“If Jian Dadan goes in, he’ll be in serious danger too!”
Jian Yuntai stared at Fatty for a few seconds, rapidly weighing his options in his mind. He was just about to jump into the water to save him—
When suddenly, a tiger’s roar burst from the forest on the right.
Before the livestream viewers could even react, they saw a short-haired woman riding a tiger charge forward.
Boom! Boom!
The tiger stepped into the river, easily slapping water aside. With a quick snap of its jaws, it grabbed Fatty by the back of his collar.
One strike—and it immediately retreated, not lingering.
After the tiger reached the shore, it flung the soaking-wet Fatty onto the ground. The woman riding the tiger cursed loudly, “Damn it, you stupid fatso! Were you brain-dead? Fighting a Drowned Ghost in the water was basically barging into her lair and handing her your head!”
“Ugh—cough, cough…” Fatty lay on the ground vomiting water and said weakly, “You’re the brain-dead one. I was standing by the riverbank when that Drowned Ghost suddenly burst out and dragged me down.”
The woman continued scolding, “You couldn’t even stand by the riverbank!”
Jian Yuntai’s gaze moved between the two of them as he carefully sized up the woman who had suddenly appeared.
She had short hair and a very muscular build. The muscles on her arms bulged noticeably.
She was probably a Sinister Monster Type.
The woman and Fatty seemed to know each other. She shot him a fierce glare, but when she turned to look at Jian Yuntai, her expression unconsciously softened. Nodding, she said, “Hello. My name is Deng Ran.”
Before Jian Yuntai could speak, Fatty protested indignantly, “Why the hell are you so gentle with Jian Dadan but so vicious to me?!”
“If you slimmed down into a handsome guy, I’d be gentle with you too.” Deng Ran rolled her eyes at him again, then kindly reminded him, “You’re still arguing? Your cat’s about to die.”
“?!” Fatty whipped around in horror.
In the river—
After failing to keep hold of Fatty, the Drowned Ghost quickly returned to surround Jinjin and the cat demon.
The two Drowned Ghosts were extremely cunning. They knew their chances of winning weren’t high in a one-on-one fight, so they focused all their strength on dealing with Jinjin alone. One of them grabbed Jinjin by the head and frantically forced it underwater, while the other seized its hind legs, preventing it from paddling away.
The cat demon fled to the shore in panic.
At that moment, only Jinjin remained in the river. The once calm surface had turned perilous. Water splashed wildly, and Jinjin’s anguished cries rang continuously in everyone’s ears.
Deng Ran frowned deeply and said, “It won’t work. It’s too far away. None of us can save it.”
“What kind of crap are you talking about?!” Fatty’s eyes turned red with rage. “Even if we can’t, we still have to try!”
Deng Ran had known Fatty for quite some time and knew how much he treasured this cat. After being yelled at a few times, she didn’t get angry. She simply stated flatly, “How are you going to save it? Jump back into the water? Don’t say I didn’t warn you—going in means death.”
“What do I do, what do I do…” Fatty frantically rummaged through his items, but nothing would help in this situation.
In the end, he dropped heavily to the ground, eyes red as he stared at the river’s surface, unable to say a single word.
Jinjin was already family to him.
This was like watching your closest loved one drowning painfully in a lake while you could do nothing but stand by and watch.
Fatty had been brought into this instance by Jian Yuntai. If something happened to Jinjin here…
Jian Yuntai didn’t dare imagine it.
More than sorrow, he felt overwhelming guilt.
“Do you want to save it?” Fuzhu sat beside Jian Yuntai. Seeing his expression darken little by little, he thought for a moment before saying, “I can save it.”
“?!” Fatty almost rushed over instantly, his voice already hoarse. “What’s the way?”
But Fuzhu didn’t look at him. He looked only at Jian Yuntai.
“The Drowned Ghosts were all women who were deceived by their lovers into boating on the lake and then drowned. My fox clan could see into people’s hearts. I could transform into the appearance of her lover and use charm magic. When her mind became confused, she would come ashore on her own and let me slaughter her.”
However, his demonic power was currently sealed. Even if he transformed into the Drowned Ghost’s lover, he wouldn’t be able to maintain it for long. It would also greatly damage his vitality—like injuring the enemy by eight hundred while harming himself by a thousand.
So Fuzhu had a condition.
He didn’t need to spell it out. Jian Yuntai was perceptive enough to understand immediately. After a brief pause, he nodded and said, “What’s your condition? I’ll agree to it.”
“…………”
Silence fell.
Only the sound of splashing water remained.
Jinjin’s cries grew more and more urgent.
Just as Fatty and the livestream viewers became increasingly tense, Fuzhu suddenly let out a soft laugh.
That sound—clear and smooth, yet carrying the lively, sly quality unique to a little fox—was as pleasant as shattered jade striking stone.
Under Jian Yuntai’s puzzled gaze, the fluffy tips of the little fox’s ears twitched. He said, “You just said that my liking for you wasn’t real liking. So I was thinking…”
Thump.
Jian Yuntai’s heart suddenly skipped a beat.
A bad premonition crept over him. He had agreed in a rush without even knowing the condition.
The feeling was extremely ominous.
It’s fine, it’s fine.
Jian Yuntai comforted himself inwardly.
Fuzhu was just a fox—
Just a fox demon. He didn’t understand anything. How difficult a condition could he possibly demand?
With that thought, Jian Yuntai felt less worried. Raising an eyebrow, he asked, “Go on. What’s the condition?”
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