Becoming an immortal from a canal worker

The river wind howled, carrying a heavy, fishy stench—the smell of river water mixed with dead blood.

Chen Ping stood beside the slippery diving board, his chest rising and falling slightly.

The water ghost corpse beneath my feet was still twitching nervously, its black scales gleaming with a chilling light in the firelight. Its once grotesque head had now turned into a lump of red and white mud, stuck to the moss-covered wooden board, its skull shattered into dust.

"Over here! Quickly!"

A series of hurried, chaotic footsteps came from the warehouse, clearly alerted by the sounds of fighting earlier.

Before long, seven or eight laborers carrying whistles and dressed in tattered clothes appeared before Chen Ping.

Running at the very front was the old canal worker who was missing an ear.

"What happened? That commotion just now..."

Old Man with missing ears came running over, panting, but before he could finish speaking, he suddenly stopped.

The laborers following behind him also seemed to have their necks grabbed, their eyes wide open, staring intently at the dark figure at Chen Ping's feet.

"hiss--"

Gasps of shock rose and fell.

"It's...it's a water monkey!"

Several timid laborers instinctively shrank back, their faces filled with primal fear of demons.

People who make a living at the docks are superstitious. When they see such evil spirits, their first reaction is often not to kill them, but to hide.

Although Old Man Que'er's face was also a bit pale, he had spent more time by the river.

He swallowed hard, mustered his courage, and looked closer at the headless corpse. Then he looked at Chen Ping, who was soaking wet and holding a broken stick, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"Hey, newbie." The old man with the missing ear's voice trembled slightly as he pointed to the ground, "This thing... did you kill it?"

Chen Ping stood beside the corpse, soaked to the bone, blood still dripping from the broken baton in his hand.

"This thing is trying to drag me down with it."

Chen Ping's voice was steady, "If I don't want to die, the only way is to crush it."

Old Man Missing Ear looked at the water ghost's head again; it was now completely a pile of rotten flesh.

There was also a cast iron mooring post next to it, which was also covered with black blood and brain matter.

The old man's eye twitched suddenly.

He took a deep look at the usually taciturn young man in front of him.

This kid is definitely not someone to mess with.

The laborers who had originally just come to watch the excitement took a half-step back instinctively when they saw Chen Ping's expressionless face.

At the docks, ruthless people are more respected than good people.

Although this kid was new, his ruthlessness made them wary.

Chen Ping ignored everyone's gazes and was about to speak when suddenly, a louder noise came from the gangplank below the dock.

"Splash—splash—"

A metallic clanging sound, accompanied by heavy footsteps, broke the deadlock.

The sound was crisp and dense, and it sounded particularly jarring in the quiet night.

Upon hearing this commotion, Old Man Que'er and the surrounding laborers' expressions changed. They became like mice seeing a cat, shutting their mouths and timidly retreating to the sides, bowing their heads to make way.

A burly figure walked up the diving board.

The newcomer was dressed in a long blue silk robe, with a lot of flesh on his body. A centipede-like scar on his left cheek looked particularly ferocious in the firelight. He wore a pair of thick-soled silk boots.

Most noticeably, he had a string of dozens of shiny copper coins hanging from his waist, which made a rattling sound that sent shivers down one's spine as his obese body swayed.

It was the steward, "Ghost Hand Zhang".

"What are you yelling about in the middle of the night! If you don't want to work here, get the hell out of here!"

Two burly men followed behind Ghost Hand Zhang, grumbling and cursing as they approached, their faces full of impatience.

However, when his gaze swept over the corpse on the ground, his previously squinting triangular eyes widened slightly.

He strode forward, squatted down, and expertly rummaged through the water ghost's corpse a few times.

He squeezed the scales to check their firmness, then pried open the eyelids to take a look.

Ghost Hand Zhang stood up, his face showing disgust and loathing.

"Damn it, what bad luck!"

Ghost Hand Zhang raised his thick-soled silk boot and kicked the corpse hard, spitting everywhere: "Where did this filthy thing come from? If this filthy thing messes up the cargo on the ship and ruins the gang's feng shui, how many heads do you bunch of poor bastards have to pay for it?"

The surrounding laborers shrank back, too afraid to even breathe, as they were being scolded.

"Who did it?" Ghost Hand Zhang asked with a gloomy face.

No one in the crowd dared to speak. Finally, Old Man with Missing Ear mustered his courage and cautiously pointed at Chen Ping: "Reporting to Steward Zhang, it was...it was that newcomer who bumped into him during his patrol."

Ghost Hand Zhang turned around, his cold, venomous eyes scrutinizing Chen Ping from head to toe.

"It's you? I remember you, your name is Chen... Chen something, right? Here to take Old Zhao's place?"

As he spoke, he habitually reached out to fiddle with the copper coins at his waist. His pale fingers swiftly traced the edges of the coins, producing a sizzling metallic sound that made one's teeth ache.

Chen Ping lowered his head, clasped his hands in a fist and said, "I am Chen Ping. I was lucky to escape with my life."

"Hmph, you were really lucky. If this water monkey were a size bigger, you would have been dragged into the water to be fed to the fish by now."

Ghost Hand Zhang snorted coldly, his gaze sweeping over the corpse on the ground again, a shrewd glint flashing in his eyes.

"Alright." Ghost Hand Zhang waved his hand and shouted to his two henchmen behind him, "Men, take this unlucky thing away! Burn it in the evolution furnace in the back mountain to prevent a plague!"

"yes!"

The two confidants immediately understood and quickly took out the rope and black cloth that had been prepared beforehand, wrapping the body tightly.

Chen Ping stood to the side, his brows furrowing slightly.

But Chen Ping did not speak.

Here, the words of the person in charge are the rules.

"Chen Ping, right?"

Seeing the water ghost's corpse wrapped up, Ghost Hand Zhang's mood seemed to improve considerably.

He turned his head and looked at Chen Ping, a forced smile appearing on his fleshy face.

"Although it was just a lucky break, it did rid the gang of a menace. Although I, Ghost Hand Zhang, have a bad temper, I'm very principled and will never mistreat the brothers who risk their lives for the gang."

As he spoke, he reached into his pocket, rummaged around for a while, and pulled out a handful of copper coins.

"Splash!"

He weighed the coins in his hand, didn't even count them, and casually threw the handful of copper coins at Chen Ping's feet.

"Here you go, this is one hundred coins, your money for risking your life tonight."

Ghost Hand Zhang looked at Chen Ping and pointed to the broken staff in Chen Ping's hand. "According to the gang's rules, you have to pay for damaged weapons. This staff is worth at least twenty coins, but since you've eliminated a menace tonight, I won't make you pay for it. Consider it a reward from me."

Then, he beckoned to one of his men behind him:

"Go to the kitchen and get two big pieces of fatty meat for this kid to take back. Since we said yesterday there would be meat, we can't skimp on it, lest someone say I, Ghost Hand Zhang, am stingy and cheat the brothers out of their hard-earned money."

The subordinate acknowledged the order and turned to leave.

One hundred coins in cash, two pieces of meat, plus the waiver of compensation for the whistle stick.

"Manager Zhang is truly kind and righteous..."

"Yes, not only is it paid in cash, but even the payment for the goods is waived."

"This new kid has really struck gold."

Hearing the whispers and exclamations around him, Chen Ping felt a vague sense of unease.

But he showed no emotion on his face, and simply bent down silently to pick up the copper coins one by one.

"Thank you for the reward, Steward Zhang." Chen Ping put the money in his pocket, his voice so calm that it was impossible to tell whether he was happy or angry.

"You're quite sensible."

Ghost Hand Zhang snorted with satisfaction. He then habitually fiddled with the string of copper coins at his waist, and with a clattering sound, he swaggered away with the man and the water ghost corpse.

The dock returned to its deathly silence, with only the lingering smell of blood in the air.

Chen Ping stared intently at Ghost Hand Zhang's departing figure.

He subconsciously turned his head to look at the old man with missing ears next to him, wanting to ask him something.

"that……"

"Shhh."

Old Man with missing ears seemed to know what he wanted to ask and interrupted him directly.

The old man glanced in the direction where Ghost Hand Zhang had disappeared, his eyes cold.

"Kid, keep your mouth shut. Take the money, eat and drink what you want, and don't ask any more questions."

After saying that, Old Man Queer didn't look at Chen Ping again. He waved his hand, signaling the others to disperse: "That's enough, go back and rest! We have to work tomorrow!"

Chen Ping stood there, the night wind drying the cold sweat on his body.

He touched the hundred coins in his pocket, still warm from his body. The cool copper coins pressed against his burning chest, heavy and substantial.

His intuition told him that the water ghost's corpse was worth far more than that amount of money.

"But so what?"

Chen Ping shook his head, a self-deprecating smile playing on his lips.

Even if Ghost Hand Zhang leaves the corpse to him, where will he sell it?

For him now, the corpse is of no use to him.

On the contrary, this hundred coins in cash is real and tangible.

"call......."

Chen Ping let out a soft breath. There was no use thinking about it now; the most important thing was to get the money in his pocket.