Chapter Fourteen: The Waterborne Corpse

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Staring at the monitor’s footage, which showed the terrifying ghost, Ah Huang’s brows knit tightly. “Water Demon Corpse… how could such a thing be in your university?”

Water Demon Corpse? What on earth was that!

He ignored Fu Yang and Old Zhao’s questions, instead making a “shh” gesture, signaling them to keep watching.

The terrifying ghost, which Ah Huang referred to as the Water Demon Corpse, was drenched as it walked toward the camera. The room where Ting Ting and Du Du stayed was just beneath the camera, room 404, perfectly positioned to see the front door.

Sure enough, the ghost stopped in front of the door to 404, then turned toward it. So the camera captured her side profile.

After a long moment, she opened her mouth, and something blood-red, like a snake, slithered out and coiled at the door.

Old Zhao exclaimed, “Damn! Does this ghost keep a snake in its mouth? That’s insane!”

Ah Huang rolled his eyes at him. “That’s the Water Demon Corpse’s tongue!”

On the monitor, the tongue moved with the agility of a venomous snake, winding around the door before elongating and slipping into the keyhole.

Click.

The hotel door opened. The dripping Water Demon Corpse entered the room where Du Du and Ting Ting slept…

What happened next in the room was out of the camera’s view, but anyone could imagine the outcome.

At this point, the three at the computer—apart from Ah Huang who remained calm—were utterly horrified, sweat breaking out all over Fu Yang and Old Zhao. The atmosphere was suffocating.

Fu Yang coughed, trying to lighten the mood. “Damn, ha, this ghost… where did it learn to pick locks? That’s impressive!”

But clearly, his joke failed. No one laughed.

After a long silence, Ah Huang let out a deep sigh. “Listen, Xiao Yangzi, you’ve really put me in a tough spot this time. Whatever can summon a Water Demon Corpse is at least at the rank of Ghost General. This is going to be difficult.”

Ghost General?

What was that supposed to be!

Fu Yang and Old Zhao looked bewildered, waiting for Ah Huang to explain.

“Anything sentient, when it dies, becomes a ghost. In fact, not just humans—any creature with a certain level of intelligence becomes a ghost after death. But ninety-nine percent of ghosts are harmless, lingering in the world for a few days before moving on to the underworld as normal.”

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“But then there’s that one percent—the vengeful ghosts! Vengeful ghosts linger in the world for various reasons, unwilling to depart. These ghosts have the power to harm living people. Vengeful ghosts come in different ranks: the basic ones are called Ghost Nightmares, stronger ones are Ghost Soldiers, and the most powerful are Ghost Generals.”

“Once a ghost reaches the rank of Ghost General, it can command other vengeful ghosts to serve it. The Water Demon Corpse is actually a special type of Ghost Nightmare—its power is ordinary, but its abilities are unique. Most vengeful ghosts below the Ghost General rank lack a physical body, relying on illusions and hallucinations to harm people. If your will is strong, the ghost can’t touch you. The Water Demon Corpse, though, is rare—it can shift between physical and non-physical forms.”

Fu Yang nodded, beginning to understand. “I see. No wonder that thing was invisible earlier—you had to use your magic for us to see it. But it could use its tongue to pick the lock—it was switching between physical and non-physical. You said its power is average, so does that mean we can destroy it?”

Ah Huang shook his head. “I could handle a Ghost Nightmare of this level with some effort. The problem is, the Water Demon Corpse lacks intelligence—it’s more like an animal than a human. But now it’s killing with purpose, which means something is controlling it from behind!”

He gritted his teeth. “It’s either a powerful sorcerer or a Ghost General! Either way, I’ll have to risk my life to deal with it…”

Fu Yang’s heart skipped a beat.

He finally realized he’d really gotten Ah Huang into trouble.

Ah Huang came here for a simple business trip, and now he had to confront a savage vengeful ghost. Fu Yang felt guilty, awkwardly scratching his head. “Ah Huang, if it’s too much…”

“Forget it! Now that I’ve seen the Water Demon Corpse in action, I can’t just stand by. If this thing isn’t dealt with, it won’t just kill one person! Experience tells me, whenever these appear, it’s always dozens of deaths. Lucky I happened to be on a business trip—since I’m here, I must take care of it.”

Dozens of deaths!

Fu Yang and Old Zhao gasped, shocked by how dire things had become.

“You mean this ghost will keep killing? More people will die!” Old Zhao’s voice trembled.

“Exactly. As a Maoshan Daoist, I can’t ignore it. If I did, my Daoist heart would be shattered, and all my powers would vanish.”

Fu Yang was amazed.

He hadn’t expected that after all these years, Ah Huang had truly become a Daoist. With real magic. He used to think Ah Huang was still just pretending, copying those Hong Kong movies from their childhood…

But this was good news. It would make dealing with what came next much easier.

“Ah Huang, what do we do next?”

“We need to go to room 404 in your university’s hotel—I must investigate the scene. But today I have to finish the business trip first. Let’s meet again tomorrow morning.”

The next morning, bright and early at seven.

Fu Yang and Old Zhao waited for Ah Huang at the school gate.

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From afar, a police car approached. Ah Huang, sitting in the passenger seat, stuck his head out. “Xiao Yangzi, isn’t this cool?”

A police car?

Screech.

The car stopped at the gate. Ah Huang got out carrying a large bag, followed by a burly middle-aged policeman.

Fu Yang and Old Zhao grew nervous at the sight of the officer, wondering why Ah Huang had brought a policeman with him.

“Let me introduce you—this is Officer Liu. It’s thanks to him that we were able to watch the surveillance footage at the station yesterday.”

“Officer Liu, this is Fu Yang, my childhood friend. The one next to him is his roommate.”

Officer Liu extended his hand. “Hello, I’m Liu Neng.”

Liu Neng? I might as well be Zhao Si! Is this officer a devoted fan of ‘Country Love’?

Pfft.

Fu Yang couldn’t help but laugh, quickly apologizing. “Sorry, I really didn’t mean it.”

Officer Liu shrugged. “Ever since Uncle Ben Shan’s ‘Country Love’ became popular, it’s been a headache for me too. Let’s go—Master Huang needs to examine the scene. We’re really counting on him for this.”

Fu Yang couldn’t help but look at his childhood friend in a new light.

Officer Liu was clearly no ordinary policeman—he held rank. Yet he showed such respect to Ah Huang, something unimaginable for university students.

With a police officer accompanying them, the university hotel staff were extremely cooperative. The manager led them deferentially to the door of room 404, handed over the key, and quickly left. Apparently, he too was superstitious about rooms where deaths had occurred.

As they opened the door, Fu Yang pictured the Water Demon Corpse standing at the threshold two nights before, unlocking the door with its tongue, and felt a chill run down his spine.

Vengeful ghosts are truly terrifying! (Old Wu continues to roll around, begging for favorites, tips, and recommendations~)