John could resist the Ghost River’s mind warping with his Ghost Mask—but the same couldn’t be said for anyone else.

  “…”

  Yu Xian was about to argue, but remembering John was the only one who’d survived the river firsthand, he nodded.

  “Fine. We go now.”

  The group wasted no time and headed straight for Peace River downtown.

  Peace River was completely deserted, not a single person out for a walk.

  That morning, the Public Security Bureau had put up warning signs hundreds of meters away, barring anyone from approaching. They clearly feared more people would jump into the water.

  “Is this the river?”

  Yu Xian and his team stepped close, staring down at the calm surface.

  No dark circles floated on the water—the severed heads hadn’t surfaced yet.

  “Ron, do we have a boat?”

  “Yep.”

  None of them planned on diving in, but they’d need to get out on the water to gather any real information.

  John frowned, but didn’t object.

  With the Ghost Mask protecting him, he’d be safe as long as he didn’t make direct contact with the river.

  Soon enough,

  the group climbed into a speedboat and idled out on Peace River.

  “Xiao Jiang, you’re up.”

  Jiang Ziyan nodded. In an instant, a cluster of red thread materialized in her palm—

  this was clearly her Bound Spirit.

  The red threads twitched violently and plunged straight into the river.

  Jiang Ziyan closed her eyes, gripping one end of the thread, as if sensing something deep below.

  Her Bound Spirit was clearly support-type.

  Waves of paranormal energy rippled out, but Peace River flowed on silently, no abnormalities at all.

  After a long while, Jiang Ziyan opened her eyes and shook her head.

  “Brother Yu, nothing. No signs of anything unusual.”

  “Can’t pick up anything…”

  Yu Xian frowned, but he wasn’t surprised.

  According to the intel, Peace River was no ordinary waterway. It blocking Jiang Ziyan’s energy was only to be expected.

  Suddenly, Yu Xian’s expression shifted. He stood, and a black cloak materialized in his hands, rolling with thick, eerie paranormal aura.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  “I’m going in.”

  He threw the cloak over his shoulders, his eyes hard with resolve.

  “I really wouldn’t,” John shook his head. “You didn’t see what happened to that Faceless Woman. Even I felt bad for her.”

  John said it with total sincerity—after all, she’d been supposed to be his late-night snack.

  The only lucky break was that he hadn’t injected her with anything yet. If he had, he would’ve lost out big time.

  “If we don’t go in, we’ll get zero intel,” Yu Xian said, shaking his head, his mind made up.

  He was sent here to investigate. He couldn’t just turn back. The Ghost River couldn’t be left unchecked.

  John sighed and gave up trying to talk him out of it. He wasn’t stepping foot in that water, not in a million years.

  Yu Xian wrapped one end of Jiang Ziyan’s red thread around his wrist.

  “If anything happens, pull me up immediately.”

  Jiang Ziyan nodded. “I might need you two to help pull later.”

  She glanced at Ron and John.

  Both nodded without hesitation.

  A second later, a loud splash echoed as Yu Xian dove into Peace River.

  “Tch…”

  John let out a breath, a terrible knot twisting in his chest.

  It was only dusk, but that didn’t mean the river was harmless. Those countless rotting severed heads down below were as real as could be.

  “Your Bound Spirit’s thread can stretch infinitely, right?” John asked, staring at the red cord in Jiang Ziyan’s hand. “Can we move the boat closer to shore?”

  “Why?”

  “So if he screws up, we can run faster.”

  Jiang Ziyan froze, then shot him a sharp glare.

  They hadn’t even started, and he was already hoping for disaster?

  John shrugged. He didn’t want the guy dead either—but only someone who’d been down there could understand just how terrifying the Ghost River was.

  “Relax, John,” Ron chimed in. “Yu Xian’s ghost cloak doesn’t just block paranormal energy—it masks his living breath. He’s got solid survival skills.”

  “Teacher, you sure about that?”

  John raised an eyebrow, then pointed straight ahead at the water.

  A huge spray of water erupted violently.

  At the same time, the ghost thread in Jiang Ziyan’s hand jerked with bone-jarring force.

  “Watch out!”

  Her face paled. Without wasting a breath, she began yanking the thread as hard as she could.

  Ron’s face also dropped. He tore forward with his human-skin gloves and helped haul.

  John frowned, gripping the thread with his bare hands.

  But just as the three of them pulled Yu Xian back toward the boat, a sharp, snapping sound cut through the air.

  The red thread had snapped clean in two.

  Jiang Ziyan staggered, her face turning ashen—she’d taken a psychic backlash from her Bound Spirit.

  “Are you okay?!” Ron hurried to ask.

  “Quick—save Brother Yu!”

  Jiang Ziyan shook her head, staring at the ripples on the water as they slowly faded away.

  “Too late! We need to move—now!”

  Before Ron could speak, John’s face darkened.

  “Look under the boat!”

  All around their speedboat, dark circular shadows had appeared on the water, closing in fast.

  The shadows broke the surface, revealing pale, bloated severed heads, their cold, horrifying gaze locked on the three of them.

  Especially John. He was a returning customer, after all.

  “GO!”

  Ron’s face turned white. He didn’t hesitate for a second, slamming the throttle and weaving the boat straight through the floating heads, racing for the shore.

  But moments later, the boat sputtered and slowed to a crawl.

  “Teacher, hurry the hell up!” John shouted. He had zero intention of becoming dinner at this ghost party.

  “What are you doing?!”

  He snapped his head to the side—and saw Jiang Ziyan standing at the stern, leaning over the edge as if she was about to throw herself into the river.

  John’s eyes widened. He lunged forward and chopped her neck in one clean hit, knocking her unconscious.

  At the wheel, Ron had also fallen under the Ghost River’s spell. He was slowly walking toward the edge, his eyes empty.

  “Take a nap!”

  John swung another hand chop—but Ron didn’t go down.

  “Uh… did I miss?”

  He was used to throwing full-force punches. This precise, non-lethal stuff wasn’t exactly his specialty.

  Knocking someone out was way less convenient than knocking them dead, anyway.

  He threw a flurry of quick, sharp jabs, and finally, Ron crumpled, freed from the river’s mental hold—for now.

  But in that short delay,

  bloated heads had surfaced across hundreds of meters of water, all closing in.

  Several even leaped straight onto the boat.

  “Get the hell off!”

  John unleashed a wild, messy flurry of punches, knocking every single head back into the river.

  “Looks like it’s up to Boss John to save the day after all…”

  He licked his lips, sprinted to the driver’s seat, and roared at the top of his lungs:

  “I’M GONNA RAM YOU ALL TO PULP, YOU DUMB BASTARDS!”