"Fucking terrifying!"
"Ghosts!"
"They really exist!"
Meanwhile, Ma Long stood shivering on the riverbank wearing only his underwear. The putrid taste of decay lingered in his mouth, his legs jelly-like. "I actually gave CPR to a ghost!" he wailed, slapping his cheeks. "What idiot mistakes moonlight for a drowning beauty?!"
Turning back, he saw Xu Yang's silhouette confronting the spectral figure. Though details were obscured by darkness, their conversation carried clearly:
"Answer me! Was that corpse we fished out earlier your doing?"
Ma Long's scalp prickled. His friend was actually interrogating a ghost?
When the specter remained silent, Xu Yang's voice hardened: "Think my friend won't finish what he started?!"
"Ding! Water ghost experiences psychological trauma. +10 Virtue Points. +1 Water Manipulation Skill."
Xu Yang barely contained his grin. Ma Long had truly traumatized this spirit! Yet before he could capitalize on this advantage, the enraged ghost struck.
With a sweep of decaying fingers, a wall of Yellow River water surged. Xu Yang's Taoist robes repelled the liquid, but the impact sent him tumbling into the torrential flow.
"Pathetic priest." The ghost dissolved into aqueous mist. "This is my domain!"
Submerged, Xu Yang felt bony claws clamp his ankle, dragging him deeper. Struggling only hastened his descent. Muddy water invaded his nostrils, stomach bloating with swallowed filth.
Calming himself through sheer will, Xu Yang focused on his system interface. The newly acquired [Water Manipulation] skill glowed enticingly. Without hesitation, he burned 300 Virtue Points in rapid succession.
Knowledge flooded his mind - eddies became readable text, currents turned malleable as clay. When he reopened his eyes, the murky depths cleared like morning fog. The pustule-covered ghost hauling him downward came into sharp focus.
"Taking me home so soon, ghostie sis?" Xu Yang's voice bubbled clear as air. With effortless grace, he reversed their positions, iron grip now crushing the specter's ankle.
The water ghost's pus-filled eyes bulged. Her attempt to summon whirlpools backfired spectacularly - currents instead coiled around her own limbs. For the first time since becoming aquatic undead, she experienced drowning sensations.
"How?!" Her shriek distorted through water. "You're... controlling MY river?!"
Xu Yang's grin turned shark-like. "Let me teach you what real water control looks like." With mental commands, he compressed the surrounding liquid into crushing prisons. The ghost's ectoplasmic form began imploding, riverbed silt swirling into vampiric tendrils that drained her yin energy.
Panicked, the specter shrieked: "Mercy! I'll talk! That corpse was suicide, I swear! Just stopped him from reincarnating, never killed anyone!"
Xu Yang paused, sensing truth in her desperation. Before he could respond, a thunderous splash echoed above. Ma Long's voice boomed through the depths: "Old Xu! Hold on! Your bro's coming!" The underwear-clad madman cannonballed toward them, arms windmilling in chaotic doggy-paddle.
Ghost and exorcist exchanged identical looks of horrified realization. In synchronized retreat, they screamed:
"STAY BACK!"
"Ding! Water ghost experiences existential terror. +100 Virtue Points. Water Manipulation proficiency maxed."