From a paper-making apprentice to a celestial master

Chapter 18 Encountering an Evil Spirit

"I've been cursed."

Old Zhao made a startling statement: "Or rather, I was ferrying people across the river, and I ferried something that wasn't even human."

"What do you mean by something that isn't human?"

Liu Hu frowned. "Tell me in detail."

Qin Shuang looked at his back again, but found nothing. His clothes were not wrinkled from being pressed down; they were simply a little dry.

Suddenly, he saw a drop of water dripping from Zhao Laosan's head.

This is quite normal. After being soaked in the rain all the way here, Zhao Laosan's hair was already completely wet and would naturally slip down due to gravity.

However, this violates the laws of physics.

The drop of water, after falling, did not land directly on his back, but traced an oval shape before sliding to the ground behind him.

It was as if there was a special shield or some invisible thing on him, keeping the rain out.

Huhu~

The rain outside was still pouring down, and occasionally a breeze would blow in.

Even after the rain, the August weather was still hot and dry, but the wind blowing on him made his hands and feet feel a little cold.

He told himself he shouldn't think in that direction, but the scenes he had just witnessed were sending chills down his spine.

Qin Shuang calmed himself down and tried his best to regulate his breathing. The much stronger "qi" in his body surged upwards involuntarily and soon flowed into his eyes.

He felt a cool sensation in his eyes, and then his gaze flickered as he slowly turned in that direction.

At this moment, Zhao Laosan continued, "It happened three days ago."

He swallowed hard and continued, "That evening, the sky was just like today, very overcast."

I was waiting for someone at the ferry crossing when a young woman in red came and said she wanted to cross the river.

I asked her where she was going so late, but she wouldn't tell me. She just handed me three copper coins. Normally, we charge five copper coins for crossing the river, but seeing how pitiful the little girl was, and considering how late it was, I figured there wouldn't be any other customers, so I didn't say anything and just accepted them.

"While rowing the boat, I thought to myself that I had never seen such a pretty young girl before, and there were only two villages on the other side of the river."

Not to brag, but I visit these two villages frequently. I usually take my boat when I pass through them, so I asked, "Little girl, where are you from? What are you doing up there so late at night?"

The girl didn't reply at all.

At that point, I hadn't noticed anything was wrong; I was just rowing the boat normally.

But when the boat reached the middle, I suddenly realized that the boat was getting heavier and heavier, and the draft was getting deeper and deeper. It was difficult to pull the pole out of the water.

When I looked back, the woman was still sitting at the stern, head down, her hair down, so I couldn't see her face.

But at her feet, everything was wet; the water hadn't splashed up from the side of the boat, it was dripping from her body, a continuous, persistent dripping.

"I got really scared at that moment."

They managed to row the boat to the other side, and the woman didn't say a word. She just stood up and left.

Where she walked, the deck was covered in wet footprints, but the footprints disappeared at the bow of the boat.

When I looked up again, the other person had completely disappeared.

I stood on the deck and looked carefully, but I couldn't see anything.

Just as Zhao Laosan finished speaking, Qin Shuang happened to turn her gaze to him, or more precisely, to his back.

The reason he was so slow was because he remembered the warning in the "folk ghost stories" and did not dare to look directly at it, but only glanced at it from the corner of his eye.

Then he saw that there was a person lying on Zhao Laosan's back.

She was wearing a bright red dress, and her hair was tangled up like seaweed, sticking wetly to Zhao Laosan's back.

What made Qin Shuang's scalp tingle the most was the position of that thing.

She didn't just lie on Zhao Laosan's back; her two hands were wrapped around Zhao Laosan's neck. Her ten fingers were long and thin, like soaked chicken feet, with each knuckle protruding. Her skin was a pale white, like it had been soaking in water for a long time, with a sticky sheen.

Her face was buried in the nape of his neck, so he couldn't see her clearly. All he could see was a clump of dark, seaweed-like hair, rising and falling with Zhao Laosan's breath, as if she were also panting.

Qin Shuang felt a chill run from the soles of her feet straight to her head, and the hairs on the back of her body stood on end.

He instinctively took half a step back, his face turning pale.

"Junior brother, what's wrong?"

Liu Hu noticed that his expression was off, and followed his gaze to look behind Zhao Laosan, but saw nothing. He scratched his head and asked.

Qin Shuang didn't answer, nor did she dare to speak.

Just then, the woman who had been lying on the back of Zhao Laosan's neck seemed to sense something and suddenly raised her head.

His eyes glanced at Qin Shuang almost imperceptibly.

Eye?

It has eyes?

Qin Shuang's heart leaped into her throat at that moment, and she didn't dare to meet his gaze at all. She forcibly looked away and then stammered, "N-nothing...it's nothing."

Wandering spirits are formless, malevolent ghosts are faceless, fierce spirits are eyeless, and evil spirits have no physical form...

At this moment, Qin Shuang only regretted that she knew too much.

Even though he only caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of his eye, he was absolutely certain that the other party had eyes. Although the pupils were slightly lifeless, they were definitely a step further than the water ghost he had seen before, possessing pupils.

Evil spirit?

Is this an evil spirit?

Fortunately, at this moment, the woman seemed not to notice anything unusual. She lowered her head again, nestled against Zhao Laosan's neck, and rose and fell with his breathing.

"And then?"

Liu Hu's expression also turned serious.

"Later I was so scared I almost lost my mind, so I quickly rowed the boat back."

When I got home, I remembered those three copper coins. I didn't dare keep the money overnight, so I bought a steamed bun and ate it that day.

Strangely enough, the three copper coins reappeared the next day, right next to my pillow.

At that moment, I realized something was wrong, so I didn't dare spend any more money and quickly threw the coins into the river.

To my surprise, when I got home, I reached into my pocket and found the three coins were still there.

Later I tried burning it with fire and pouring urine on it, but nothing worked.

No matter what I do, after a while, the three copper coins will reappear on me...

As he spoke, he seemed to be trying to prove something, and quickly reached into his pocket, only to find it empty.

He was somewhat surprised, and reached into his other pocket, but still found nothing. Suddenly, he felt a surge of joy and said, "It's gone."

It has to be Master Liu who makes it work.

God knows how much that thing tormented me.

As he spoke, he seemed to feel a heaviness in his shoulders, so he quickly shrugged and reached back to pull something up.

When he looked up again, his face immediately showed immense fear.

Because at that moment he opened his hand, and there lay three copper coins, quietly.

But Qin Shuang clearly saw that at that moment, the woman reached out and stuffed all three copper coins into his hand.

It was as if it had noticed Zhao Laosan was looking for money, and then simply gave it to him, as if to say, "It's here with me, take it."