Suffering day and night in that water...
Wu Yun shivered uncontrollably as he listened to Ding Maoqin's words.
After becoming a substitute, these water ghosts suffered immensely in the water; during the day, it felt like countless fires scorched their bodies, and after nightfall, it was bone-chilling cold. They endured extreme pain, alternating between heat and cold.
Over time, none of the water ghosts tormented in this way had a good mental state; they were basically filled with resentment, only wishing to quickly find a substitute so they could reincarnate.
Wu Yun sighed at this thought and followed the other party.
At this moment, both water ghosts had already followed He Xiuyuan. After He Xiuyuan entered his own courtyard, the two water ghosts exchanged a look and then revealed themselves.
However, after they revealed themselves, their originally soaking wet clothes had disappeared.
At a glance, they looked quite clean.
"Knock on the door."
Ding Maoqin was not polite and directly motioned for the other to knock.
Wu Yun nodded upon hearing this and immediately stepped forward to knock on the door.
He Xiuyuan was still in the courtyard. Hearing the knocking from outside, he walked towards the door with some doubt, arriving at the door a moment later.
As He Xiuyuan opened the door, he saw the two people standing at the entrance.
However, He Xiuyuan felt a bit strange looking at the two people at the door. Why were their clothes wet, and why didn't they change before coming to him?
Thinking this, He Xiuyuan looked at the two people in front of him with confusion.
"Gentlemen, is there something you need?"
He Xiuyuan didn't know why their clothes were wet, nor why they didn't change but instead came to him. However, he thought they might have accidentally fallen into the water.
"May I ask if you are He Xiuyuan, He Xiucai?"
The two pretended not to know He Xiuyuan. At this moment, Wu Yun appeared extremely polite, cupping his hands towards He Xiuyuan.
Being scholars, Wu Yun's bow was perfectly executed.
He Xiuyuan instinctively returned the bow, "Indeed, I am. May I ask who Your Excellency is?"
Influenced by his previous self, He Xiuyuan seemed quite familiar with the local etiquette and language.
"We are from Qinghe Village. The village elder needs to perform ancestral rites in a few days, and the ancestral document has not yet been written. We heard that He Xiucai's handwriting is excellent, and we would like to invite He Xiucai to come and help."
"Please rest assured, He Xiucai, the remuneration will certainly not be lacking then."
Wu Yun's previous self was a scholar, so he was naturally very familiar with matters between scholars. He immediately offered a very appropriate reason.
Don't look at He Xiuyuan being a Xiucai; many Xiucai live in poverty.
When He Xiuyuan opened the door just now, he glanced inside the house and could tell that He Xiuyuan was very short on money.
He Xiuyuan was first stunned upon hearing this, then his heart filled with joy.
Inviting him to write? This was great!
In that case, he could certainly earn a few dozen copper coins.
He had only recently arrived in this world. After his previous self died, his neighbors and friends had spent a lot of money preparing for his burial.
After He Xiuyuan woke up, he repaid all that money. Now, He Xiuyuan could be considered almost penniless.
Seeing an opportunity, He Xiuyuan immediately agreed.
"That's fine, but in that case, I need to go back and get my brush and ink. As for the paper..."
In this world, brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones were all very expensive.
The material of the writing brush was indiscernible, but finely crafted, well-chosen purple hair brushes could range from ten to hundreds of taels of silver.
Ink also varied; pine soot ink was dark and suitable for writing, while oil soot ink was bright and shiny. Some rare inks could be worth dozens of strings of coins.
Paper, needless to say, was even more difficult to produce and also varied in quality. Some good sheets of paper could sell for the price of several large flatbreads.
"We have naturally prepared the paper."
Ding Maoqin was anxious and immediately said, wanting only to persuade He Xiuyuan to leave as soon as possible, so he could drown He Xiuyuan and make him a substitute.
He Xiuyuan naturally didn't know so much. He nodded upon hearing this, left a remark about getting his brush and ink, and turned back into the house.
Ding Maoqin breathed a sigh of relief at this, and quickly said to Wu Yun, "You lead him onto the bamboo raft, and I will act expediently in the creek."
After speaking, Ding Maoqin hurried away.
Wu Yun turned to look at He Xiuyuan, who was tidying up inside, a complex expression flashing across his face.
They were both scholars, yet now he had to harm the other's life. He felt very reluctant, but there was nothing he could do about it.
If a water ghost didn't find a substitute, it would suffer day and night. Such pain was truly not something an ordinary person could endure.
"I've packed my things. Let's go."
He Xiuyuan had packed his brush and ink. As soon as he came out, he noticed something was off. "Eh, where's your friend?"
Seeing that Ding Maoqin had disappeared, He Xiuyuan asked somewhat strangely.
"Oh, he still has to buy some things. We can go back first."
Wu Yun immediately said upon hearing He Xiuyuan's words, and then led the way out.
He Xiuyuan didn't suspect anything upon hearing this and directly followed the other party towards the outskirts of the town.
A moment later, He Xiuyuan and the other arrived at Qixia Creek. Looking at the creek before him, He Xiuyuan's heart inexplicably trembled.
He Xiuyuan felt a strange sense of dread towards this creek, for some reason.
But very quickly, He Xiuyuan took a deep breath, suppressing the fear in his heart.
He knew this should be a lingering reaction from his previous self drowning.
Wu Yun was currently facing away from He Xiuyuan, a hint of gloom already clouding his face. After getting onto the bamboo raft and untying the rope, he invited He Xiuyuan to board the raft.
He Xiuyuan didn't hesitate and directly stepped onto it.
He couldn't not go; his family was so poor they couldn't even make ends meet. He had to earn some money to fill his stomach.
As He Xiuyuan boarded the bamboo raft, it swayed gently under Wu Yun's rocking, heading towards the opposite bank.
At this moment, Ding Maoqin underwater was ready, just waiting for the bamboo raft to reach the deep water area before flipping it over to drag He Xiuyuan into the water.
This time, no matter what, He Xiuyuan absolutely could not be allowed to live.
At this moment, He Xiuyuan, looking slightly down at the deep, somewhat dark water, felt his heart inexplicably flutter.
Just as He Xiuyuan lowered his head to look closely, he saw a pair of dead fish eyes underwater, staring intently at him.
Such a terrifying sight immediately made He Xiuyuan's hands and feet tremble.
If he hadn't been mistaken just now, the face with those dead fish eyes seemed to be Ding Maoqin!
What was going on? Hadn't the other party just gone to buy things? How could he be in the water?
He Xiuyuan suddenly realized something at this moment and turned to look at Wu Yun in front of him.
It was only now that He Xiuyuan noticed that after they had walked together for so long, the other person was still soaking wet, constantly dripping water onto the bamboo raft.
"Water ghost?"
Suddenly, a terrifying thought arose in He Xiuyuan's mind.