“What are you doing? I am a monk of Qingtian Temple! You should be helping me slay this Water Ghost that's hunting me!
Aren't you a Confucian? Shouldn't Confucians protect the common people and slay demons?”
His grotesque, hideous appearance exposed, the monk panicked completely.
However, Chen Ning merely looked at him with cold eyes.
“Between the two of you, who do you think looks more like a demon?”
“You!”
The monk froze.
Touching his hideously ugly face covered in tumors and fish scales, his expression suddenly turned ferocious.
“Bastard! If that's how it is, I'll drag you down to the grave with me!”
The monk's burly, scale-covered body suddenly burst through his outer robe as he bared his fangs and lunged at Chen Ning.
Yet Chen Ning calmly unsheathed and sheathed his sword in one smooth motion.
The monk didn't even see a thing; he only felt a white afterimage flash before his eyes.
In the next instant, he discovered an elegant blue lotus had been imprinted on his chest without him realizing it.
The blue lotus grew and bloomed rapidly, using the monk's body as its fuel.
“No! I was supposed to live forever!”
The ugly half-human, half-fish body burned fiercely in blue flames. The monk stared wide-eyed with terror-filled, dead-fish eyes, but could only watch helplessly as the flames completely consumed his body.
Before long, the filthy body turned into a pile of ashes.
【Slay Half-Mermaid Monster x1】
【Obtain Noble Qi x20】
Watching this scene unfold, the bamboo-hatted Water Ghost also revealed a look of surprise.
He had never imagined that a human would actually sheath their sword and give a Water Ghost a chance.
“You must have something you want to tell me,” Chen Ning said calmly.
The bamboo-hatted Water Ghost was filled with profound respect and cupped his hands reverently toward Chen Ning.
“Young Master indeed lives up to the name of a Confucian Noble Scholar. Thank you for your great kindness, Young Master. I shall answer everything without reservation.”
However, where should he begin?
Gazing up at the bright, clear moon in the night sky, the bamboo-hatted Water Ghost dazed off for a moment.
Ah, right. Let us start from that river.
After all, that river was where he and she had first met.
...
Twenty years ago, along the Qingli River.
A poor young lad lived in a dilapidated thatched hut by the riverbank.
He had no parents and suffered from an illness-ridden body. Lacking the strength for farm work, he could only support himself by fishing at the riverbank every day, living a life satisfied as long as his belly was full.
Until one night, under the moonlight upon the surface of the Qingli River, the poor lad witnessed a breathtaking scene he would never forget for the rest of his life.
He could swear he had never seen a girl so beautiful.
Under the moonlight, an exquisitely gorgeous maiden, bare-chested, emerged above the shimmering water.
River water trickled down her slender jade neck, and her eyes, like rippling water, seemed as if they could captivate a person's very soul.
The maiden vanished in a flash. In the mere blink of an eye, she was nowhere to be seen.
When he snapped back to his senses, the poor lad couldn't tell if it had been nothing more than a beautiful dream.
Yet from that day onward, while fishing by the riverbank, he loved to pour his heart out to the water.
He spoke to the water plants and the swimming fish, hoping they would convey his love to that young lady.
Just like that, a year passed.
Just as the poor lad was about to forget that dream—which had only felt slightly real—a girl arrived by the river.
She looked exactly like the maiden in his dream.
Gentle, pure, and breathtakingly beautiful enough to captivate anyone's soul.
The girl moved into his dilapidated thatched hut just like that.
The two lived by the river, leading a simple and peaceful life.
Though their days were plain, they were carefree and content.
Until one day, the poor lad suddenly fell gravely ill.
His frail, sickly body of many years finally broke down completely at that moment.
He ran a high fever for days on end, nearly overcome by illness.
At last, after long hesitation, the girl decided to cut her wrist and feed him her blood.
After drinking her blood, the poor lad's body miraculously recovered.
Not only that, but his weak frame grew many times stronger than before.
He began building a house by the river, constructing a courtyard, raising chickens and cattle...
Their blissful life grew better by the day, and he even beat up and chased off a local squire who harbored evil intentions toward his wife.
However, starting from that day, a rumor spread rapidly through the village.
Everyone said the poor lad's beautiful wife was a mermaid.
Because only a mermaid could be so gorgeous, and only a mermaid's blood could extend one's life and make one robust and strong.
The rumors multiplied.
Finally, one day, the poor lad's peaceful life was shattered.
A group of monks barged into the village and dragged his wife away.
Those monks claimed his wife was a demon plaguing the mortal world, and that they were removing an evil for the people.
But the poor lad knew the truth.
They were lying!
A mermaid's blood could extend life, and a mermaid's heart could regenerate lost limbs and grant immortality.
Those bastards' purpose was not to protect the people at all.
They were demons—demons far more terrifying than actual monsters!
The poor lad secretly sneaked into Qingtian Temple.
There, he discovered an unimaginably horrific scene.
The monks had forced his wife back into her true mermaid form, gouging out one of her hearts every single day.
The monks transplanted the mermaid hearts into their own bodies to gain immortal corpses.
Not only that, but they also placed mermaid hearts into stolen babies, raising them into immortal monsters that obeyed their commands.
His wife was subjected to having her heart gouged out every day like this, enduring inhumane and agonizing torture!
The poor lad's presence was quickly discovered.
He was hunted by Qingtian Temple, as those monks wanted to turn him into a monster just like them.
Yet the poor lad preferred to perish in the river and become a Water Ghost rather than transform into such a monster.
Twenty years later, the poor lad was no longer a poor lad.
He had turned into a Water Ghost, longing day and night to rescue his wife.
However, with his strength, how could he possibly storm Qingtian Temple?
At most, he could only use all his power to hunt down these solitary half-human, half-ghost monsters.
...
As the story ended, the Noble Scholar's Sword hummed softly.
Clearly, everything the bamboo-hatted Water Ghost said was true.
It turned out the actual mermaid case wasn't about a Water Ghost killing people and turning those monks into half-mermaids.
Instead, these monks were half-human, half-fish monsters to begin with.
After listening to all this, even Murong Yu fell silent for a long moment.
“Brother Chen, this matter...”
Chen Ning did not answer directly, but instead asked, “What did the Grand Confucian say when he handed this matter to you?”
Murong Yu recalled for a moment and said, “I remember... Grand Confucian Li seemed to say that we should resolve the mermaid rumors in the Imperial Capital.”
“That's right. What the Grand Confucian said was 'resolve,' not simply slaying demons.”
Chen Ning turned his gaze to the bamboo-hatted Water Ghost. “I will take action to help you with your matter.”
Clang!
【Hold the Ruler in Your Heart, Slay Injustice Under Heaven】
【Congratulations, Host! Obtained Noble Righteous Qi x100】
The white Noble Scholar's Sword emitted a soft chime, seemingly expressing its agreement as well.
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