Chapter 148: Attack of the Water Ghost

"Damn it! What the hell. Why the hell am I not a genuine scumbag? If I were, I’d just take it all, go straight for kisses and caresses, and push her down to strip and make love without having to take any responsibility at all! Man, having too much moral integrity is really not a good thing..."

This guy had already placed himself in the position of a "good guy," and instantly felt that his image had become radiant, glorious, and lofty.

After trying a few more times to embrace Qin Mei and realizing he simply couldn't bring himself to do it, he had no choice but to give up.

He obediently let Qin Mei rest her head on his shoulder, breathing in the faint, delicate fragrance of her body as they watched the movie together...

What the heck kind of happy yet agonizing torture was this?

His pants were practically tenting up at the front, if you can believe it!

When the movie ended and the two walked out of the theater, night had already fallen.

In the nighttime Riverside Plaza, the brilliant lights were just turning on.

A evening breeze blew straight into their faces, carrying a damp, aquatic mist. It was cool and very comfortable.

The bustling crowds all around were filled with a worldly warmth and joy.

Qin Mei took a fancy to a small glowing hair clip and insisted that Fu Yang buy one for her. Clipped into her dark, beautiful hair, it added a touch of playful cuteness to her mature and charming mature-woman vibe.

"Come on, let's take a walk along the river embankment!"

She cheered, grabbed Fu Yang's hand, and rushed down the stone steps, arriving at the levee where they could touch the river water directly.

In recent years, Jiangcheng's tourism development had been extremely rapid, and the municipal government had invested heavily in various infrastructure projects, creating a riverside levee with direct access to the river water that was also quite safe.

Being pulled by Qin Mei, Fu Yang felt an itch in the palm of his hand, which in turn made his heart feel somewhat itchy as well.

The two strolled along the levee and saw quite a few people who had taken off their shoes and socks, standing in the shallow river water, laughing and playing.

"Let's walk a bit further ahead! Look, there's a railway bridge over there! It's quite romantic."

Qin Mei reached out and pointed at the steel-framed bridge in the distance that spanned across the great river.

This bridge was quite distinctive: people and cars could travel on the upper level; the middle section carried railway tracks; and the very bottom was the river surface, allowing ships to pass through.

Some artsy youths always liked to strike poses on that railway bridge and take photos.

"Uh... it's the middle of the night, and that side is pretty remote and deserted. Won't it be a bit too dangerous?"

Fu Yang muttered quietly.

Qin Mei, walking ahead, turned back and made a face at him: "Coward! Even I, a girl, am not afraid, yet a big guy who has practiced sanda for several years is scared?"

Uh... feeling looked down upon, Fu Yang was quite speechless. He shrugged and hurried to catch up.

The two walked along the river levee toward the railway bridge. Gradually, the surrounding pedestrians became fewer and fewer, and the streetlights grew dimmer and dimmer.

Before long, it was almost pitch black, save for the railway bridge not too far away, which still gleamed with colorful lights.

There was nobody around, it was pitch dark, and the goddess he had had a crush on since his freshman year of college was right beside him, acting exceptionally proactive today as well...

Damn it, if nothing happened right now, he'd be worse than an animal!

"I've already been scolded once by Weike for being worse than an animal. This time with Qin Mei, maybe I should just go ahead and be an animal for once?"

Just as Fu Yang gritted his teeth, preparing to act like an "animal," an accident suddenly occurred!

Originally, he was walking on the inner side of the levee, while Qin Mei, with her hands clasped behind her back, was skipping and humming a song as she walked on the side closer to the river.

A dark shadow emerged from the river water with the speed of lightning!

Splash!

Before the sound of the violent splashing had even fully faded, the dark shadow had already rushed to Qin Mei's side, grabbed her in a bear hug, and turned to run back toward the river water...

"Fu Yang, save me..."

Qin Mei's voice was filled with boundless terror.

"Damn it! It's a water ghost!!! How dare it snatch my goddess right in front of me?"

Shocked and enraged, Fu Yang unleashed his fastest speed, crossing the wide river levee in a few leaps.

In this brief moment of time, he had used his skill of drawing talismans in mid-air to condense the phantom image of a "Maoshan Ghost-Suppressing Talisman"!

"Seal for me!"

With a flick of his finger, the transparent talisman phantom sped toward the water ghost.

"It has to succeed!"

He screamed frantically in his heart.

Yet, his movement was ultimately a beat too slow.

By this time, the water ghost that had emerged from the river had already plunged with a loud "splash" into the rolling river current, and the ghost-suppressing talisman flew past just skimming the top of its head...

"Fu Yang, save me!"

Qin Mei was still screaming piercingly. Feeling as though his heart were being cut by a knife and ignoring everything else, he hurriedly channeled his "Evil-Observing Technique" to lock onto the water ghost's location and direction.

With a splash of his own, he jumped right into the surging river waves!

Although Fu Yang's swimming skills were quite good, compared to something like a water ghost, there was still a huge gap.

A water ghost, as the name implies, is a ghost or monster living in the water.

In reality, this was not a precise definition, but rather a generalized colloquial term. All aquatic demons, fiends, ghosts, and monsters were collectively referred to "water ghosts"!

Judging by the way the thing that had just abducted Qin Mei moved, it was probably a demon living in the river!

"Swiftly as the legal decree commands, the Three Pure Ones grant me might! Five Elements protect me, Daoist magic empower me—Water Escaping Talisman!"

To achieve the best effect, Fu Yang chanted the complete incantation while drifting and chasing the water ghost ahead through the river.

The Water Escaping Talisman allowed a person to possess the ability to breathe freely underwater for a short period while greatly increasing their swimming speed!

Sure enough, after casting it, the distance between Fu Yang and the water ghost escaping down the river gradually shrank...

After the initial panic subsided and he calmed down, thanks to the "Evil-Observing Technique," he finally saw clearly what the water ghost that had abducted Qin Mei actually looked like!

The creature was generally humanoid, and its upper body, exposed above the water, was covered with a layer of black scales that looked extremely hard at first glance.

Although its arms didn't look thick, they were knotted with bulging muscles, radiating immense strength. Its two palms were large and its claws sharp, looking very much like tiger claws overall!

The water ghost probably also realized that the one chasing it wasn't an ordinary person, but a Daoist priest with magical cultivation, so it turned its head to look back as it fled.

Fu Yang discovered that it had a bird's beak and a head somewhat resembling a monkey. The very crown of its head, however, was sunken inward, and it held green water inside...

He finally realized what kind of freaky thing this was!

"It's actually a Kappa! This creature is supposed to be found only in wild, barren, and remote rivers and streams; why has it run over to the Riverside area? Besides, most Kappas rarely attack humans proactively unless their territory is invaded. This doesn't make sense!"

Fu Yang felt puzzled inside.

Yet at this moment, he couldn't afford to worry about all that. Hurrying to catch up and rescue Qin Mei from the hands of this damned Kappa was the proper priority.