Surging waves roared as they crashed heavily against the barrier formed by condensed Purple Qi.
Boom!
The aftershocks scattered in an instant, kicking up massive plumes of water across the entire river’s surface.
Giant waves relentlessly hammered the shore, sounding like a snarling, ferocious beast.
The monks of Mingji Temple on the riverbank recoiled in shock. Jingkong’s face was filled with utter astonishment, and the corners of his mouth twitched involuntarily.
Being able to swing this hundred-jin Buddhist staff, he had originally thought his Hardened Physique was somewhat accomplished. But compared to the scene before him, his staff didn't just pale in comparison—it wasn't even a flea on its back!
Fortunately, the Half-Snake Water Ghost had remained hidden until now due to her cautious nature. Otherwise, Jingkong feared that he and his junior brothers would have been dragged underwater to become new Water Ghosts the moment they engaged her!
A wave of lingering fear washed over Jingkong’s heart.
The Half-Snake Water Ghost was equally surprised.
Up until now, this was the first person capable of withstanding one of her strikes.
The sense of danger emanating from this human was completely different from the blustering practitioners she had encountered before!
Water splashed and scattered, yet not a single drop could touch Chen Ning.
Easily stepping through the curtain of water before him, Chen Ning sneered, “With only this much strength, you aren't qualified to be my mother.”
“Human... die!”
The Half-Snake Water Ghost was thoroughly enraged. Her raspy voice let out a piercing shriek: “Children, help me tear him apart!”
In an instant, eerie sounds of infants crying and babbling rose from the deep water.
“Mother, we’re coming to protect you.”
“How dare you bully our mother!”
Over a hundred Ghost Infants burst from the water. Some had faces bloated and bruised from drowning, while others were swollen like sea foam.
The sight of them wailing with their mouths wide open was exceptionally eerie and chilling.
These children, whose corpses had long since rested at the bottom of the Guishui River, had long ago turned into Water Ghosts. Raised by the Half-Snake Water Ghost, they had come to view her as their true mother.
Due to the constant accumulation of resentment toward living beings, the strength of these Ghost Infants far exceeded that of ordinary ghosts.
Chen Ning simply raised the Noble Scholar's Sword in his hand with a calm expression.
The Noble Righteous Qi coiled around the blade acted like a bottomless pit, drawing in the surrounding air currents. Even the vast river water was pulled into the air by the Noble Scholar's Sword like a soaring dragon.
“Lost children, let me send you on your way.”
In an instant, the blood and qi within Chen Ning’s body surged, and that domineering aura of poetry and literature rose once more.
With a single sword strike, the Purple Qi on the blade and the river water spiraled together into a heaven-swallowing serpent. Its pillar-like tail swept across with a roar.
Boom!
The water screen summoned by the Half-Snake Water Ghost was snapped in half, and dozens of Ghost Infants were instantly annihilated along with it.
“Mother, it hurts!”
“Save me, save me, Mother!”
Seeing this, Jingkong couldn't help but exclaim in wonder.
“Such powerful Confucian Qi! This aura has likely reached the Benevolence Realm!”
“The Benevolence Realm?”
“Yes. In the Confucian ranks from Eighth-rank to First-rank, the stages are Aperture Opening, Self-Cultivation, Benevolence, Moral Establishment, Noble Scholar, Grand Confucian, Sub-Saint, and Confucian Saint. The Benevolence Realm is the Sixth-rank, equivalent to our Sixth-rank Ascetic Monk. I already felt that Brother Chen’s strength was extraordinary, but I never expected a small village to house a Confucian Cultivator of such a level.”
Even though he had been extremely wary of the Half-Snake Water Ghost before, Jingkong felt an immense sense of security with Chen Ning there.
“My children!”
The Half-Snake Water Ghost clutched her head, wailing in agony.
Watching so many of her children turn to ash was more painful than having her heart pierced.
“Bastard, I’ll kill you!”
The Half-Snake Water Ghost went mad. Her eyes were bloodshot as her massive tail thrashed the water frantically.
“I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!”
She suddenly plunged her head into the river and began drinking greedily.
“What is she doing?”
Seeing this, the expressions of Jingkong and the others shifted drastically.
A Water Ghost’s power came from the river. Could it be...
Sure enough, the Half-Snake Water Ghost gulped down the river water beneath her. Her appetite was like a bottomless Taotie; even the water level of the Guishui River began to drop at a visible rate.
At the same time, the Half-Snake Water Ghost’s body continued to swell.
Her snake tail, which was originally as thick as a few buckets, was now comparable to a massive tree that would take four or five people to encircle. She stood several zhang tall, making humans look like insignificant ants before her.
The Half-Snake Water Ghost finally stopped, but her expression had become even more frenzied and violent than before.
“Die!”
Her massive tail slammed down, churning up a heaven-toppling wave.
“Now that’s more like it.”
Finally encountering a decent opponent, Chen Ning actually felt a bit excited.
“Open for me!”
Thrusting his sword upward, the giant wave was instantly split down the middle, parting to both sides. Chen Ning seized the opportunity, his figure flashing as he stepped back several paces across the waves.
At that moment, a shadow within the giant waves caught the Half-Snake Water Ghost’s attention.
It was that child again!
She once again saw the adorable child from the riverbank.
The giant snake ghost’s gaze was completely captured by the infant; she had no interest in anything else. She stared greedily as the child drifted toward her on the tide, wanting to pull it into her embrace.
“Child... my child...”
However, at that exact moment, a paper figure drifted down from where Chen Ning had just been standing.
Simultaneously, the child drifting toward the giant snake ghost was replaced by Chen Ning.
This was precisely the clever use of the Substitute Puppet. Chen Ning had seemingly retreated, but in reality, he had used the Divine Ability to close the distance unexpectedly.
In the blink of an eye, the distance between Chen Ning and the giant snake ghost was less than two meters.
With a flash, he appeared before the Half-Snake Water Ghost and delivered a merciless, thunderous kick directly to her face.
The power contained in this kick was terrifying. The Half-Snake Water Ghost’s massive body was sent flying like a cannonball.
Before she could even react, Chen Ning followed through with the momentum, slashing down with his sword.
Crack!
The snake tail, thick as a massive tree, was instantly severed into two. A pillar of blood dyed the river red in an instant.
Several Ghost Infants saw this and scrambled forward, trying to block Chen Ning.
But they couldn't even withstand a single strike before they were wiped out.
“My children!”
The Half-Snake Water Ghost let out a wail. Seeing her severed tail, her eyes widened in pain, and a deep sense of terror began to spread across her face.
She had to escape!
She didn't want to die here, and she certainly didn't want to lose her children again!
The Half-Snake Water Ghost scooped up the remaining Ghost Infants and, disregarding everything else, desperately dragged her severed tail as she fled into the deep water.
“You think you can escape?”
Having gone to such lengths to lure her out of the river, Chen Ning had no intention of letting those shimmering hundred taels of silver go.
The Noble Scholar's Sword sliced through the water's surface as Chen Ning enveloped his body in Purple Qi and dove in.
Water Ghosts held the advantage in deep water primarily because humans could not remain submerged for long. However, this was not a problem for Chen Ning.
The space enclosed by the Purple Qi was completely sealed, containing enough air for over ten minutes.
All that remained was a test of speed.
The Purple Qi surrounding Chen Ning transformed into a sharp blade, cutting through the waves before him.
A hundred meters, ten meters...
Under the terrified gaze of the Half-Snake Water Ghost, Chen Ning arrived upon the water.
Aiming at the Half-Snake Water Ghost, the blood in Chen Ning’s body surged as he focused all his strength into a single point.
Swoosh!
The Noble Scholar's Sword was thrown like a falling star, cutting through the current as it struck with devastating force.
“No! Don't hurt our mother!”
The remaining dozen or so Ghost Infants actually charged recklessly toward the Noble Scholar's Sword.
“Don't go, my children!”
The Half-Snake Water Ghost let out a sorrowful cry. She actually abandoned her will to survive and turned back, trying to protect those Ghost Infants.
Puff.
In the next moment, the Noble Scholar's Sword pierced through the Half-Snake Water Ghost’s soul. Amidst the sharp, scattering Sword Qi, all the Ghost Infants were simultaneously annihilated.
“My children, I’m sorry... I’m sorry, I shouldn't have dragged you into the water. I shouldn't have harmed you...”
The Half-Snake Water Ghost’s vitality faded as her soul began to wither. In her final moments, she looked at Chen Ning. Two trails of tears fell from her eyes, and a hint of gratitude actually flickered within them.
“Thank you... for setting these children free...”
As her voice fell, the Half-Snake Water Ghost’s spirit body completely faded and vanished with the ripples of the river.
...
A moment later, Chen Ning returned to the shore.
Despite diving hundreds of meters into the river to hunt a great demon, not a single drop of water touched him.
Jingkong had never heard of any water-parting Divine Ability with such a terrifying effect. He hurried forward, his eyes filled with surprise and admiration.
“Brother Chen, is the Half-Snake Water Ghost dealt with?”
“Yes, she’s dead. All the Ghost Infants she dragged into the water have been eliminated as well.”
Chen Ning hesitated for a moment before asking, “By the way, do you know any rumors about this Half-Snake Water Ghost?”
“I heard some from the nearby residents before coming here,” Jingkong recalled.
“According to the villagers, this Half-Snake Water Ghost was once a mother of five children. Her family lived here on the banks of the Guishui River, a family of seven living a happy life. But one day, the flames of war suddenly spread here. The woman’s husband was brutally murdered, and a group of heartless soldiers began to play games with human lives. They forced the woman to choose between her own fingers and her children’s lives. Two fingers could be traded for one child’s life. If she chose the child, her fingers would be cut off; if she chose her fingers, her child would be thrown into the water. The woman resolutely chose to save every child. In the end, she actually endured the agony of having all ten fingers severed. To her surprise, the soldiers became enraged instead. Not only did they break their promise and drown all her children, but they also took turns violating the woman. After the soldiers left, the woman still had a breath of life left, but she was unwilling to live on without her children. Thus, she finally threw herself into the Guishui River and became the Half-Snake Water Ghost...”
“So that’s how it was...”
Chen Ning fell silent for a long while after hearing the story.
No wonder the Half-Snake Water Ghost, despite being timid and afraid of death, would rather choose death in the end to protect those Ghost Infants. Her obsession and sins after death were indeed unpardonable, but before her death, she had been a devoted mother.
Demons were not all evil, and humans were not all good. The line between the two was blurred and difficult to distinguish, but the Noble Scholar's Sword in his hand would measure the good and the evil!
“To establish a heart for Heaven and Earth, to secure a life for the people, to continue the lost teachings of the past sages, and to open up peace for ten thousand generations.”
Besides going to the capital to seek fame and officialdom, it seemed that he, as a Confucian scholar, should have other reasons for existing!
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