I fell into the water one after the other with Old Liu after we tumbled down the ditch. When I poked my head out of the water, I saw the towering bow of a ship right in front of me.

I hadn't expected the Shoushui Camp's sorcerers to hide a warship in the middle of the village.

Old Liu was also stunned. "My good gracious, this ship is so huge!"

Later, I learned that the people of Yulou Village all knew that there was a warship under their ancestral hall.

That ship was the capital the Shoushui Camp relied on to make a living on the rivers back in the day. When the Shoushui Camp retired, the ship naturally followed them into civilian life, turning into the ancestral hall where the spirit tablets of the Shoushui Camp soldiers were enshrined.

However, the people of Yulou Village had never seen the full picture of the warship. In their minds, the ship wouldn't be that big.

I clapped my hands on the water surface and turned around, looking towards the waterway in the direction of the bow.

This underground waterway, wide enough for a warship to pass through, didn't show a trace of artificial excavation. In other words, the Shoushui Camp used a natural waterway to get the warship to its intended location.

A thought suddenly flashed through my mind: this underground waterway was originally connected to the underwater underground palace. However, it was later cut off by the Shoushui Camp, forcibly separating Yulou Village.

I quickly turned around and shouted to the ship, "Zhao Zhuang, lower the rope."

Zhao Zhuang and the others hurriedly lowered the ship's rope and hoisted me up. I pushed through the crowd and ran to the stern. "Old Liu, how long can a wooden boat last?"

Old Liu said, "If it's well maintained, it's no problem to use it for decades, but I've never heard of a wooden boat that can still be launched after more than a hundred years. Or else..."

Old Liu's meaning was clear—our boat couldn't be launched!

I stood on the stern and looked at the distant ancestral graves of the Seven Families. "You've been fooled. It's not that my boat can't be launched, but that it has a great use."

I pointed in the direction of the village entrance. "I've never understood what the waterway under the village is for, besides leaving a path for ghosts. Now, I finally understand."

"When the Shoushui Camp occupied Yulou Village, they realized that one day they would go to war with the water ghosts in the underground palace. They guarded the entrance of the village and left behind a warship."

"Just like Old Liu said, it's impossible for a wooden boat to last for more than a hundred years without rotting. Unless, it becomes a ghost ship."

After hearing this, Zhao Zhuang raised his hand and slapped himself twice.

He had already understood that the female ghost in the water knew the secrets of Yulou Village better than him. The female ghost bewitched Zhao Zhuang to deal with the ghosts in the ancestral graves of the Seven Families in order to destroy this warship first.

Without the ghost soldier warship, she would be invincible.

Old Liu looked at me eagerly and said, "Mr. Li, is there no way for us to fight the underground palace?"

"Yes!" I said in a deep voice, "Pick out seven people to come with me on an expedition to the underground palace."

My voice sank again. "These seven people shouldn't think about surviving. Say goodbye to your relatives in advance. Explain everything beforehand, and take a few more glances at your relatives if you can see them. This trip is not only a narrow escape from death, but you may not even have a chance to be reincarnated, so don't think about returning to see your family after seven days."

"Then tell the people of Yulou Village to all hide in the mountains. I'm afraid this village will soon cease to exist."

I waved my hand and said, "Go!"

Zhao Zhuang was the first to leave, and the rest followed. Only Old Liu was still standing beside me. He had no one to say goodbye to, so he could only stay and accompany me.

Saying goodbye to life and death is a kind of sadness, but to find that you have no one to say goodbye to before leaving is an indescribable sorrow.

Old Liu smoked several bags of tobacco in a row. Zhao Zhuang and the others came back again. The seven people in the lead were all wearing funeral clothes, which were the only things they could take away from the village.

Zhao Zhuang walked in front wearing a melon-skin hat. Behind him, a girl tightly grabbed Zhao Zhuang's clothes and wouldn't let go. "Dad, you must come back. You must bring my brother back."

It wasn't that Zhao Zhuang didn't want to look back, but that he didn't dare to look at his daughter.

Ding Yi walked while crying. "Brother, just let me go! Our brothers can't be separated."

Ding Zhong, who was walking in front, said in a cold voice, "Shut your mouth. Take good care of our mother and see her off. The Ding family line cannot be broken. Besides, I'm going with Mr. Li, what are you afraid of?"

After the five people walked to the side of the boat, they tidied up their clothes and stepped out together. No one looked back, and no one stopped.

Old Qu, mixed in the crowd, suddenly picked up an old hunting pole and jumped onto the boat in one step. "Mr. Li, count me in."

"Get down!" Old Liu slapped him. "You're the only one left in your family, what are you going for?"

Old Qu leaned on his old hunting pole, one hand pressing his waist knife. "My old woman is gone. Am I still a man if I don't go to avenge her? If you don't let me go, I'll swim there myself!"

The second slap that Old Liu raised could not be lowered. I said in a deep voice, "Take Old Qu with you. The rest of you, don't come up."

I turned around and walked towards the bow. "Bring the wine, light the incense, raise the white banners. I want to summon spirits. You beat the banners. How many ghosts come depends on how brave you are!"

In less than a moment, seven soul-summoning banners were flying on the ship.