But as soon as he finished speaking, the knife in his hand suddenly slipped, falling to the ground.

And the way the knife landed was strange; the hilt hit the ground, and the entire blade stood upright.

The three of us watched in confusion, and just then, the knife suddenly fell over, pointing in one direction.

Seeing the knife had dropped, Daxiong bent down to pick it up, but I immediately stopped him, saying, "Wait a moment…"

Daxiong looked at me inexplicably, but I was staring at the direction the blade indicated, saying, "Let's go check that way."

At this, Daxiong burst into laughter, saying, "Oh, I say, what’s gotten into you? The knife just happened to fall on the ground, and you want to march off in that direction. That’s no way to do things; what if we find nothing and just waste more time?"

Saying that, he tossed the knife carelessly onto the ground again, remarking, "Look, the direction this knife points changes every time. Isn't it possible that every time…"

He didn't finish his sentence before he froze, dumbfounded, because the direction the knife was pointing was the exact same one from the first time.

The three of us stared at the knife on the ground with puzzled expressions, then Daxiong carefully stood the knife hilt-down again, letting it fall on its own.

The result was the same: the knife still pointed in the same direction.

At this point, Daxiong muttered, "I refuse to believe this knife is more accurate than a compass."

Daxiong tested it over and over, while we stopped paying attention to him and walked in the direction the knife was indicating.

We passed several old locust trees, then traversed a medicinal garden, and guided by the flashlight beams, we saw a patch of reeds appearing before us.

We could also hear the sound of gentle running water drifting over from the reeds.

"There should be a river ahead," Nie Chuan said to me.

I nodded, replying, "We mentioned before that if it wasn't in the trees or the cave, the most likely place would be by the river."

"Hey! Wait up for me…" At this point, Daxiong hurried to catch up.

"We're going to the riverbank to look for the Water Ghost. What are you doing tagging along?" I asked Daxiong with some irritation.

Daxiong blinked, then said, "Water… Water Ghost? Heh heh, what do I have to be afraid of? I just took down the female ghost with eight eyes. That Water Ghost is, at most, a Kappa. Ten of them wouldn't be enough to challenge me."

Daxiong was right; the Japanese Water Ghost generally refers to the Kappa.

That's a humanoid monster with a turtle shell, said to be formed from the spirits of drowned children, who likes to drag people underwater to drown them.

Some also say the Kappa is a benevolent spirit that rescues people who fall into the water.

In Japan, there are countless legends about the Kappa, and many people claim to have seen one with their own eyes.

In China, the Water Ghost is not called a Kappa but a Water Monkey.

It's rumored to be a monster living underwater, covered in red fur, that also enjoys harming people. However, like the Kappa, it is a ghost with a physical form.

Daxiong fears nothing that his fists can connect with.

There are also many legends about the Water Monkey in China, and it is claimed that many people have seen them firsthand, so the existence of Water Ghosts has always been a subject of great debate.

We had already encountered several types of yokai before, and we were gradually beginning to believe in their existence, so it seemed highly unlikely that there would be no Kappa-like monsters by this river.

So, I first recalled all the information I had about Water Ghosts. This wasn't to deliberately scare Daxiong, but rather to prepare him mentally.

As I was recalling, we pushed aside the reeds, startling flocks of fireflies resting on the stalks, which flew around like scattered stars.

A toad the size of a straw sandal jumped past my foot with a croak, making me flinch.

Seeing how large the toad was, Daxiong chased it a few steps, intending to catch it and roast it for a meal, but he couldn't keep up.

We teased him, saying he’d try to catch and eat anything plump, no wonder the Zombie Yokai wanted to bite him—because he was the fattest among humans too.

Joking aside, we passed through the reeds and arrived at a shallow, stony beach.

The sound of water grew louder here, as not far ahead of us was a wide river, easily tens of meters across.

This beach was composed of countless small stones, ranging from the size of a thumbnail to the size of a fist, mostly black stone with very few variegated colors.

At a glance, I knew this beach was not naturally formed, as the color and size of the stones had been strictly sorted; any stone picked up was perfectly rounded and smooth.

This riverbank must have once been a landscaped garden, intended for the shrine's master to cool off, stroll, or admire the moon in the summer.

We walked along the stony bank, and sure enough, we soon spotted a pavilion built for overnight stays and moon-viewing, situated right on the riverbank.

The pavilion was constructed on a wooden pier extending into the middle of the river, positioning it right above the deepest part of the current, surrounded by water on three sides, like a peninsula.

The pavilion had three stories and a very solid structure; despite the passage of time, it showed no sign of decay.

I asked Daxiong to drop the knife one more time, and the blade pointed straight toward the pavilion.

The three of us exchanged glances. After all, medicinal herbs couldn't possibly be growing in a pavilion; herbs aren't potted plants, and they certainly wouldn't grow properly indoors.

So, what exactly was the object the knife was pointing to?

I noticed a faint mist rising around the pavilion, giving it a hazy, ethereal, and fleeting quality. To borrow a phrase from Journey to the West, it felt like: "Master, the demonic energy here is quite heavy."

"Should we go inside the pavilion to check?" Nie Chuan looked at me.

But I firmly shook my head and said, "Let's go back and look for the herbs instead. There’s an unsettling feeling emanating from this pavilion, and it's unlikely to contain any medicinal plants anyway."

The other two immediately agreed with my suggestion, as they also wished to avoid unnecessary trouble.

But just as we were about to turn back, a dim, faint yellow light suddenly flickered on in the third-floor window of the pavilion.

This was precisely what I dreaded most. We had absolutely no intention of going up there to check, but a light meant someone was inside. A monster wouldn't light a lamp, and a ghost would only blow one out, not light one.

Who was inside? Why was the light on? Was it one of Xie Yuting’s men investigating the pavilion, or were remnants of Monk Leiyun still lingering here?

In any case, we needed to go up to find out the answer.

Evidently, the moment they saw the light, Daxiong and Nie Chuan hesitated, both looking to me.

I sighed helplessly, thought for a moment, and said, "We’ve already braved the Dragon’s Pool and the Tiger’s Den; what’s one more pavilion? If we run into an ambush or a mechanism inside, we can just count it as running out of luck."

Daxiong chuckled, slapped my shoulder, and said, "Pure men always think alike, don't you agree, Chuanzi?"

Nie Chuan gave an awkward smile; his curiosity had clearly been piqued, and he didn't want to be seen as less than a 'pure man.'

After conferring briefly, we decided to let Daxiong, armed with his divine weapon, take the lead. I would stay at the rear, and Nie Chuan, serving as our tactical support, would stay in the middle, allowing us to cover each other if anything happened.

When we stepped across the stony beach to the base of the pavilion, we found the two large wooden doors wide open. The moonlight tonight was obscured by dark clouds, making it impossible to see the interior clearly.

But looking up at the third floor, the candle flame was still flickering.

On both sides of us, the river water flowed softly with a gentle swish. The cold river mist, carried by the slight breeze on this night, drifted over, making us shiver repeatedly.

Daxiong gripped his knife, held the miniature wolf-eye flashlight in his mouth, took a deep breath, and walked into the pavilion.

Nie Chuan and I followed one after the other, using our flashlights.

As soon as we entered, we saw a massive screen, one person high and over three meters wide.

The frame of this screen was made of high-grade maple wood, stretched across with white silk. Embroidered on the silk was a peacock perched on a branch; the detail in the tree trunk, the leaves, and the peacock's feathers was exquisitely beautiful.

The three of us were dazzled by the screen, clearly captivated by the superb craftsmanship.

It had to be admitted that besides the tea ceremony and ikebana, Japanese embroidery also possessed a distinct character.

Daxiong frowned slightly as he looked at the screen, then turned to look at me.