As night fell, the swampy forest was silent. Lu Dakun and his team laid a large curved net on one side of the boat, ready to catch the water monster. After setting up the trap, we all hid on the deck. Lu Dakun gave me a harpoon which I didn't want at first but took it just in case.
After everyone had hidden, I opened Tianmen and released my energy to explore around us to see if the water monster had appeared yet. At this moment, YunQingYue quietly floated out.
"QingYue, can you help me check if that water monster has appeared? We can take preemptive action," I said to her.
YunQingYue nodded but then said something unexpected: "YiHeng, have you noticed anything strange about that water monster?"
"What did you notice?" I asked curiously.
"He can speak," YunQingYue looked at me and continued: "I don't know why but when I saw him, he felt different from other monsters. He doesn't seem like a monster."
"If he's not a monster then what is he? Could he really be a river god? River gods are Yin spirits with only souls; how could they look like him?" I asked puzzledly.
"That's why I'm not sure," YunQingYue shook her head slightly: "I have one request for you."
"What is it? As long as it's within my ability." This was the first time YunQingYue had ever asked me for anything so naturally excited me.
"My request is that if you catch that water monster later on, please spare his life for now until we figure out what's going on before taking any action. Is that okay?" YunQingYue looked at me and said seriously.
Her words made me feel uneasy but instead of voicing my concerns aloud, I just nodded and agreed to her request. After seeing my agreement, YunQingYue didn't say anything else and stood quietly by my side, watching the pitch-black night.
After a while, there was a faint sound of water splashing in the distance. When that sound came out, I clearly felt Lu Dakun's team's breathing become heavier; they were obviously nervous.
Are you here yet?" The sound of splashing water was too far away for me to detect, so I couldn't help but ask YunQingYue. I knew her senses were more sensitive than mine.
"No, it's that girl," YunQingYue replied.
"That girl?" I was taken aback and immediately concentrated my energy to scan the area in the distance. Then I saw a strange scene.
At this moment, about fifty meters away from our boat in the woods, a red-clothed girl with black hair stood motionless in the mud and water.
The girl lowered her head slightly and held a bamboo flute tightly in her hand. It was unclear whether she was looking at us or lost in thought.
I wrapped my energy around her body to try to sense her true condition. But what I discovered was even stranger - there was no breath coming from her body; she was just a corpse.
But if she were just a corpse, why could she stand up and move? Why had she been soaking in water without decomposing?
Could it be that she had really been turned into some kind of zombie puppet by the water demon using some secret method?
But why would the water demon do this? He didn't seem to have used this girl's body for anything. So what use did he have for this puppet?
Things became increasingly mysterious and confusing.
However, at this point, although I didn't know the truth behind everything that had happened, one thing became clear: since this little female corpse appeared here, then surely the water demon wasn't far away either. If nothing unexpected happened, he must be hiding somewhere underwater nearby.
Water can block out breaths; my energy couldn't penetrate down below so I couldn't determine where exactly he might be hiding. But I knew he must be close by.
"Be careful! Here comes!"
I warned Lu Dakun and others in a low voice.
But just as I finished speaking, the sound of splashing water suddenly rang out. When we looked over, we saw that the little female corpse was wading through the water and slowly approaching our wooden boat.
Upon hearing the sound, Lu Dakun immediately took out a chicken egg-sized night luminous stone and shook it vigorously to activate its light. Then he threw it into the nearby water.
The bright white light from the night luminous stone illuminated everything around us clearly. We could see that the little female corpse was standing behind a pile of weeds with only her upper body visible. Her black hair was disheveled and her face couldn't be seen clearly; all we could make out were her sharp chin and pale skin.
As soon as she appeared in the light, she mechanically raised her hand to put the bamboo flute to her lips and began playing it.
"Chirp chirp chirp - beep beep beep -"
The melody was melodious, pure, and lively; listening to it made one's heart intoxicated.
At that moment, I listened to that tune and unconsciously became dazed by it. Even subconsciously wanted to hum along.
Be careful, this is the Song of Enchantment!" Just as I was lost in thought, YunQingYue's voice suddenly rang out and immediately reminded me. I woke up abruptly and my first reaction was to quickly check on Lu Dakun and the others.
What I saw surprised me - Lu Dakun and his men were all standing up at this point, with a dazed expression on their faces, completely devoid of their previous ferocity. Of course, what worried me most at this moment was that they had no sense of defense whatsoever; some even threw away their weapons.
"This is bad!" Seeing this situation, I couldn't help but feel anxious. I knew that Lu Dakun's men must have been enchanted by the flute sound and were now in an unconscious state. This must be a trap set by the water demon specifically to confuse us with its flute sound so it could launch an attack.
Sure enough, just as I was anxiously thinking about it, a splash suddenly rose from beside the boat. Then a green monster with cold claws rushed out of the water towards Lu Dakun.
"How dare you!" Seeing this situation, I shouted loudly and jumped onto the deck while brandishing my harpoon directly towards the water demon.
The water demon was in mid-air when it heard my voice; instinctively it turned its head towards me while pressing against the side of the ship. It dodged my attack very agilely.
"You can't run anymore!" With another shout from me distracting its attention with my harpoon again ,I slapped forward fiercely with one hand sending out a powerful air blade which hit its leg hard causing it to scream before falling into red blood mist then disappearing without trace.