Chapter 58: The Statue in the Water

Not long after the three of them boarded the boat, Xiao Wang from the editing team felt that something was wrong.

The editing team needed video material with a horror atmosphere. Therefore, while the other two were busy filming the scenery, Xiao Wang placed his camera equipment, now encased in a waterproof housing, beneath the water’s surface.

He hoped to capture a sense of drowning, so he positioned the camera lens half-above and half-below the water, continuously slapping the surface with his hand.

Just as he was slapping the water to increase the sense of agitation on the surface, Xiao Wang suddenly noticed a hint of something strange.

It felt as if a massive shadow had just glided through the water, and his hand seemed to have brushed against a strand of hair.

Xiao Wang pulled the camera back.

As he leaned over the side of the boat to observe the water, wondering if he could see that massive shadow again, his gaze locked onto a pair of crimson eyes beneath the surface.

Before a scream could even escape his throat, a massive beast-like claw composed of black hair pressed down on the gunwale, instantly flipping the small wooden boat over.

The nylon climbing rope was very strong. The immense force failed to snap the rope tied to the stern, but it did snap the wooden mooring post at the ferry crossing.

The wooden boat and the people on it were instantly dragged underwater, leaving only a few bubbles on the surface before silence returned.

The boat had capsized too suddenly. None of the three people on board had time to react, and they hadn’t even managed to turn off the cameras.

Fortunately, they had changed into diving suits early on. The three men struggled in the water, stripping off their work jackets to reduce weight, while clutching their cameras tightly as they tried to swim toward the surface.

As dedicated workers, their motto was that as long as the person lived, the camera lived; they couldn’t lose the tools of their trade even if they died.

The moment Xiao Wang fell into the water, after the initial wave of terror passed, the subconscious thought actually surfaced in his mind: “This will capture the perfect sense of drowning.”

However, after adjusting his body’s orientation, the filming trio soon discovered with despair that it would be very difficult for them to float back to the surface.

Adapting to the stinging sensation of opening his eyes underwater, Xiao Wang saw a massive monster, as long as the boat itself, floating above them. The monster was covered in long black hair, including its face. It looked like a giant humanoid ball of yarn, with only those crimson beast-like pupils allowing one to discern the position of its face.

Xiao Wang thought he must be going crazy, for he actually perceived a sense of disdain from the monster’s crimson double pupils.

Perhaps it had been hungry for a long time, and coupled with the fact that the wandering souls in the water had suddenly vanished, leaving no water ghosts to play with, the “Wuzhiqi” decided to stop being a picky eater. Even if the sacrifices were three men, it would reluctantly accept them.

The black hair drifted with the current like living things, then without warning, rushed toward the three of them at extreme speed. The Wuzhiqi intended to wrap the trio into cocoons and drag them down to its underwater lair.

Xiao Wang choked on a mouthful of water, terrified by the sudden rush of black hair. He swam desperately forward, trying to dodge the attack. But his amateur dog-paddle swimming was completely unable to avoid the black hair that was as flexible as water snakes; soon, his feet were entangled.

The other two were in the same perilous situation.

Because the boat had capsized so suddenly, none of them had time to hold their breath. After this struggle, the air in their lungs became increasingly thin, and the sensation of suffocation gradually set in.

At this critical juncture, Xiao Wang suddenly noticed a flash of blood-red appearing in the dark lake water. Immediately following this, the black hair constricting him suddenly loosened.

Xiao Wang clutched his camera and looked back.

He was the one closest to the monster among the three. He saw the monster inexplicably severed into two pieces. A cloud of murky blood was dispersed by the current, revealing the person floating behind the monster…

Xiao Wang’s eyes widened abruptly, to the point where he couldn’t even feel the suffocating pain in his lungs.

That might not be a person, but a water demon.

He was slowly withdrawing his hand. On those pale, slender fingers, scraps of flesh drifted away from long, sharp, black fingernails that resembled daggers… It was obvious that he had just used this hand to tear the monster apart.

In this murky lake water, the person’s deathly pale skin seemed to be bathed in a layer of holy light, so translucent it looked like the purest white jade. Overly long bangs drifted with the current, obscuring his features; the only things clearly visible were those heart-stopping blood-colored double pupils.

His white shirt was soaked through by the lake. Xiao Wang clearly saw eerie, bluish-purple patterns crawling across the man’s thin body, covering every inch of his pale skin. Large bruises were also faintly visible on his waist and abdomen.

The lifeless bluish-purple patterns were branded onto that bloodless skin. These two extreme colors, both radiating an aura of death, blended together to create an indescribable, horrific beauty that was intensely stimulating to the senses.

That eerie and tension-filled image was simply too impactful for an editor like him who pursued aesthetic beauty.

Clearly, this person looked exactly like a water ghost inhabiting a rotting corpse, yet looking at him, Xiao Wang felt no fear. Instead, he swam desperately toward him – he wanted to get closer, just a little closer. He wanted to see the true face of his muse.

Then Xiao Wang saw the “water demon” wave a hand at him. He felt a surge of water hit him, followed by a powerful pulling force on his back that dragged him directly out of the water.

Xiao Wang floated on the surface with a dazed expression, seemingly not yet realizing what had happened.

His other two companions also surfaced, their faces filled with lingering fear.

“That was terrifying. What on earth was that thing?”

“Forget it, forget it! Let’s just get to shore quickly. Who knows if there are other monsters in this lake.”

The voices of the two brought Xiao Wang back to his senses. His expression contorted, and he tried to dive back into the lake like a madman.

But his suicidal actions were immediately stopped by the other two.

Seeing Xiao Wang’s frenzied state, one of them simply slapped him: “Do you want to die?! There might be more of those monsters in the lake. Let’s get to shore!”

Ignoring the pain in his cheek, Xiao Wang pointed toward the depths of the lake and shouted excitedly at the others, “A water demon! A water demon saved us! Didn’t you see it? I have to go back in! I want to see him clearly… I need to film my… right, the camera! I think I caught it on camera… If I can just get back… as long as I get back, I’ll be able to see it…”

Xiao Wang clutched his camera like a precious treasure, muttering incessantly to himself with a look of utter madness.

The other two members of the camera crew shook their heads helplessly. Assuming Xiao Wang was simply delirious from shock, they had no choice but to forcibly drag him toward the shore.

Fortunately, while Xiao Wang continued his emotional rambling, he didn’t struggle much. The two of them successfully brought him to land.

After saving the three staff members, Xie Sui did not head for the shore. Instead, he dove back down toward the bottom of the lake.

Xie Sui could hold his breath for a long time. Just like food, oxygen was not a necessity for him.

The thing he had just torn apart was merely an oversized Water Monkey. It was a manifestation of the resentment of those who had died in the water, its body composed of the hair and corpses of the drowned.

Since Xie Sui had just drained all the resentment from its body, it had naturally lost its ability to move.

He wasn’t sure if it was truly ‘Wuzhiqi’ or not. To prevent any further accidents, Xie Sui decided to check the lakebed to see if there were any other malevolent entities down there.

Since he was already here, he might as well deal with ‘Wuzhiqi’ once and for all.

After swimming downward for a while, Xie Sui seemed to sense something and turned to look back.

He saw that the Water Monkey, which had been torn into two pieces, was actually following him. Furthermore, the two halves of its body showed signs of fusing back together.

Xie Sui frowned. He swam quickly to the creature and proceeded to tear it into much smaller pieces.

The thing could actually revive itself by absorbing the residual resentment in the water, and it did so quite rapidly.

His fingers searched carefully through the shredded flesh and hair. Finally, Xie Sui found a Purple Talisman. On it, the three characters for ‘Wuzhiqi’ were written in crooked, dark red ink. In the center of those characters was a complex, miniature talisman formation.

Once Xie Sui pulled the talisman from the heap of shredded meat, the corpse fragments stopped healing, as if they had completely lost their vitality.

Xie Sui toyed with the Purple Talisman in his hand for a moment, gaining a rough understanding of its function. It was a composite talisman designed to bestow intelligence and automate the gathering of resentment. With this talisman, one could create an obedient Water Monkey that grew by independently absorbing resentment.

Judging by the residual aura on the talisman, it had been drawn by Daoist Xiutian. It seemed the ‘Water God’ Wuzhiqi of this village was just like the Wutong God, controlled by that Daoist Xiutian.

It was confirmed now. This Water Monkey was ‘Wuzhiqi’. Another malevolent entity dealt with.

Without hesitation, Xie Sui tore the talisman to shreds. He then grabbed a drifting staff uniform from the water and prepared to surface.

Just then, he caught a glimpse of a figure flashing across the lakebed out of the corner of his eye.

Xie Sui instantly became alert and turned toward the bottom of the lake. It wasn’t a living person, but a massive statue of a Daoist, at least ten meters tall, sitting on the lakebed.

Upon seeing the statue, Xie Sui froze. Doubting his own eyes, he dove rapidly, attempting to get closer to confirm the statue’s face.

After seeing the statue’s features clearly, Xie Sui floated motionless in the water as memories of the past flooded his mind uncontrollably.

…

“The long-lived are muddled and dim; burdened by sorrow for ages without dying, how bitter that is…” [Note 1]

“Grandpa, what are you saying?”

“You didn’t memorize your lessons again, did you? Have you finished reading the Zhuangzi¹ and the Tao Te Ching today?”

“But they’re not on the elementary school entrance exam…” little Xie Sui muttered in complaint.

The words had barely left his mouth when his head was knocked sharply. Little Xie Sui clutched his head miserably and did not dare say anything more.

“Reading is to cultivate your heart, not merely to deal with exams.” Grandpa shook his head helplessly. “In the pursuit of learning, one gains daily; in the pursuit of the Dao, one loses daily [Note 2]… cultivate the heart and nourish the nature, until one reaches non-action² [Note 3]…”

“Xiao Sui, you must remember this. In cultivating the Dao, the most important thing is cultivating the heart. Only by preserving your original heart and not being swayed by worldly desires can you seek the Great Dao. Pursuing immortality is the stupidest thing one can do, and anyone who wants immortality is the biggest fool in this world.”

“…I’m not cultivating the Dao.” Little Xie Sui curled his lip in disdain. “Grandpa, when you drink, you always point at that statue in the inner room and call him a fool, so is he someone who wanted immortality?”

The old man gave a cold snort. “Hmph. Even if he didn’t want immortality, he’d still be a fool! Go on, go on. Why is a child asking so many questions? Go back inside and recite your books.”

“Oh.” Covering his head, little Xie Sui returned to the house unwillingly.

“…Thus it is said: Heaven and Earth appear to practice non-action, yet there is nothing they do not do. Among ordinary men, who can truly attain non-action? [Note 4]” Even after he entered the house, he could still hear the old man’s chanting.

The complex emotions contained in that aged, low voice were something Xie Sui, who had not long since been reincarnated as a human, could not understand.

The image of the little old man slowly pacing through the courtyard with a book in hand gradually faded from his mind… Xie Sui stared at the massive statue on the lakebed, his eyes brimming with killing intent.

The Life-Swapping Talisman, the Unborn Venerable Mother, the Wuqi Sect, the followers of the Longevity Cult… after all the twists and turns, it turned out they had all been created by the same person.

And it was an old acquaintance.

Xie Sui continued to dive until he reached the bottom of the lake.

No one knew how the statue had been carved, but when viewed from above, it looked like a middle-aged Daoist, while from below, it transformed into a compassionate-faced woman.

If his guess was right, then there should be some kind of mechanism at the base of the statue… Xie Sui swam around to the left side of the statue’s robe hem. When he saw the four characters “Golden Mother of the Jade Pool” hidden among the folds of the garment, he pressed down on them directly.

That press was like flushing a toilet. Xie Sui instantly felt a massive whirlpool appear at the bottom of the lake.

He did not dodge. Instead, he let the current sweep him away, carrying him into a dripping mountain passageway.

Xie Sui climbed out of the underground river and followed the upward passage all the way higher.

The passage at the bottom of the lake connected to the Wutong God shrine on the mountain.

One of Wuzhiqi’s functions was likely to dive into the lake, open the mechanism to the passage, and allow people to travel quickly between the statue of the Unborn Venerable Mother and the Wutong God shrine.

Xie Sui did not know all the steps of the ritual, nor did he know what other secrets this statue still held, but in a few days he would find out… In a few days, when April 4 arrived, plenty of evil cultivators would come delivering themselves to his door. At that time, he could slowly study everything he wanted using their souls.

Xie Sui draped the staff uniform he had fished out of the lake over himself. This kind of uniform was made from waterproof fabric, unlike the shirt on his body, which became transparent the moment it got wet.

Once he had put on the outer layer and just stepped out of the shrine, Xie Sui sensed a dense wave of yin energy coming from a mountain road not far away. Faintly, he could also hear the sound of blows landing flesh against flesh, along with the agonized cries of an animal.

Xie Sui, who had been planning to go back down the mountain to the village, paused, changed direction, and walked toward the place where the yin energy was strongest.

Author’s Note:

[Notes 1 and 4] quoted from Zhuangzi, “Perfect Joy”

[1] Meaning: Those who live long spend their days in a daze; to remain in distress for so long without dying is a great suffering.

[4] Meaning: Heaven and Earth seem tranquil and inactive, yet there is nothing they do not accomplish. Among worldly people, who can truly achieve “non-action”?

[Note 2] quoted from Chapter 48 of the Tao Te Ching

[Note 3] quoted from Chapter 10 of the Tao Te Ching

Chapter 10 of the Tao Te Ching is about cultivating the heart: always preserving one’s original heart, true heart, childlike heart, pure heart, tranquil heart, and deep, virtuous heart, ultimately reaching the sage’s heart and the Dao heart. Zhuangzi summarized this in six words: “Outwardly transformed, inwardly unchanged.” Only in this way can one finally reach the state of “pure tranquility and non-action.”

(The explanations in the author’s note come from Hanchengwang, Personal Library, and Zhihu.)

Translator’s Notes