Der Fall des Geisterboten – Die Geschichte einer Seele, die den Körper verlässt

Kapitel 3

The blackfish and the carp exchanged a glance. "Ask for directions... Where are you going?"

"We'll be fine once we get out of this forest," the man said with a smile, looking at the two boys in front of him dressed in clothes from some unknown dynasty.

"What should I do, Blackie? I don't know, I always swim." The carp asked in a low voice.

"I haven't lived here long, so I don't know either. What should we do, carp?" the blackfish replied in a similarly soft voice.

Half an incense stick later, the two of them looked at the river shrimp basking in the sun with teary eyes.

The river shrimp helplessly raised its tongs and pointed north.

"Oh, you've been following the direction the shrimp pointed, and—" Before the blackfish could finish speaking, it was abruptly interrupted by the carp.

The carp, stepping on the black fish beneath its feet, said with a smile, "Go north, go north and you'll get out!"

The man looked at the scene before him, somewhat confused, but immediately smiled. "Thank you."

Before he could finish speaking, the sky suddenly darkened. A white dragon appeared, stirring up a considerable gust of wind.

With a lotus leaf package dangling from its mouth, the dragon mumbled indistinctly, "Black Foot, Wu Mai Dao Ni is going to get the lacquer ball foot!"

The carp and the river shrimp simultaneously touched their foreheads with their hands/pinch, and said in human/shrimp language, on the verge of tears, "Idiot!"

Blackfish suddenly stood up from the ground, "Thank you..."

The carp kicked him down again with lightning speed.

Before even understanding the situation, the white dragon transformed into human form, grabbed the dumpling, and ran over in a few steps, saying, "Here you go, Blackie!"

The man blinked, and a strange glint appeared in his smile.

With his head covered in blackfish, he dared not agree so easily again.

The carp glared at the white dragon and pointed at the man next to her.

The white dragon turned its head and smiled, "Hello, you must be the grass carp from the pond next door. Long time no see..."

Then the man heard various sounds that seemed to be sighs.

"Idiot! He's a person, a person, okay!" The carp finally couldn't stand it anymore. "The grass carp spirit next door is an old man, okay! Look at him, two eyes, a nose, a mouth, no scales, no fins, no tail, he's a person, a person!"

Bai Chi nodded blankly, "Oh. Hello, human, I am the water official of this pond, my name is Bai Chi..."

The sound of the wind blowing through the bamboo forest brought out a different kind of tranquility.

The man suddenly laughed, "So that's how it is..."

Seeing his abnormal reaction, the demons suspected that he was too frightened and had lost his mind.

"Please, don't call the Taoist priests to arrest us..." Blackfish pleaded softly, tears welling in its eyes.

"Hehe, I'm not so bored as to go looking for a Taoist priest..." He turned around and sat down, looking up at the inexplicably clear sky.

The river shrimp transformed into human form and slowly walked over.

Upon seeing the woman in a green robe with her hair tied up and a short sword at her waist, both the carp and the blackfish retreated to the side.

"Are the shrimp going to go on a killing spree?" the blackfish asked timidly.

"I don't know, it's been so long since I've seen a shrimp appear in human form..." The carp huddled to one side, its voice trembling.

"What do you want to do?" the river shrimp asked coldly, looking down at him.

"My name is Yin Ming." He smiled without any fear. "Let's be friends..."

"Okay~" Bai Chi's response immediately drew glares from the other demons.

"Do you know what you're saying?" River Shrimp sneered, putting his left hand on his hip.

"Is that not allowed?" He sat cross-legged, elbows resting on his knees, chin in his hands. "Can't a human join? I won't tell the Taoist priest~"

"Shrimp, don't be so fierce... We're all good people..." Bai Chi walked up and took the shrimp's hand.

"It's here! The White Dragon's 'Idiot Friendly Attack'..." the carp and the blackfish exclaimed in unison.

“That’s right, that’s right, I’m a good person…” He nodded immediately. “Want to have a drink together?” He picked up the wine jug in his hand and smiled innocently.

"Great! Great!" The catfish leaped out of the pond with astonishing speed, transformed into human form, and headed straight for the wine jug.

“I also have green rice dumplings, which can be eaten with wine…” Bai Chi also sat down on the grass, smiling.

"The green rice dumpling is mine!" Blackfish snatched the lotus leaf package.

"It's mine too!" The carp stepped forward and joined the blackfish in defending their food.

The river shrimp frowned, sighed, and said, "I'm not going to bother with you anymore! Let the Taoist priest catch you then! Humph!"

The river shrimp was angrily preparing to return to the pond when it was called back.

"You still haven't told me your name~ We're friends now, right?" He winked and smiled.

"Shrimp!" the carp and the blackfish shouted, their mouths stuffed with green dumplings.

"Nonsense!" the river shrimp shouted. "I said I want to be called He Xia!"

"No, shrimp sounds so friendly..." the carp and the blackfish pleaded.

"It's a river shrimp, so it's called He Xia, just like my name is Bai Chi. Is that the reason?" Bai Chi asked, tilting her head.

"No, it's just a coincidence..."

"Hehe, speaking of the name He Xia, I once..." Catfish said, taking a sip of his wine.

"Old Catfish, don't change the subject!"

= =#

The topic? It seems we can't get back on track anytime soon...

Chapter Six

The crab's human form was that of a chubby-cheeked boy of about seven or eight years old. According to the pond's rules, before reaching 300 years of age, regardless of their nature, all demons must attend a human-run private school in the city. As the catfish put it, this was a form of training for future survival… Because of this, the crab, who went to school, didn't get to eat any green rice dumplings. The crab sat by the pond, pouting angrily.

"Um... Crab, don't be angry anymore..." The carp and the blackfish swam to the edge of the pond and spoke.

"Hmph!" The crab turned its head away.

"Oh dear, don't do that... It was wrong of us to eat all the dumplings, we'll buy you some next time..." The carp wriggled its tail.

"Hmph!" The crab slammed the book open, ignoring the crab.

"Crab..." Two fish swam around, making all sorts of funny movements.

"You guys are awful!" The crab stood up with tears in its eyes, picked up a stone from the ground, and pretended to throw it.

"Help!... They're killing the fish..." The carp and the blackfish huddled together, shouting.

At that moment, the fox darted out of the forest at the speed of light, rushed to the edge of the pond, and instantly transformed into a snail, landing at the bottom of the pond.

The demons stared blankly at its actions, unable to recover for a long time. It wasn't until the young man from the Taoist temple emerged from the forest, panting and carrying a broom, that they began to understand.

"You damn fox...you get out here right now!" The boy stood by the pond, leaning on a broom and panting.

The snail moved slightly, then pretended to be dead again.

"Where did it go..." The boy looked around and frowned. Then, he saw the crab with teary eyes.

"What's wrong with you?" the boy asked, looking at the crab.

"...Waaah...Tuanzi, qingtuanzi...I didn't get to eat a single one..." Crab couldn't help but feel sad whenever someone asked.

The boy was at a loss because of its crying. He squatted down and took out a package from his pocket. "I don't have any green rice dumplings—that fox stole them all. How about candied dates? They're very sweet~" He smiled and handed over the candied dates.

The crab sniffed, picked up a date, put it in its mouth, and instantly burst into laughter through its tears: "...So sweet..."

"Right?" the boy smiled. "Whose child are you? Why aren't you home so late? It's dangerous here..."

The sound of splashing echoed from the pond.

“I am a crab that lives in the pond…” the crab replied, “Everyone calls me Crab, but the master calls me Pang Xie… that character is very difficult to write…”

The boy's expression changed drastically. He touched his forehead and sighed desperately, "Tsk... I'm so stupid..."

"Brother, what about you? What's your name?" the crab tugged at his sleeve, asking with innocent eyes.

"Listen to me," the boy replied helplessly.

"What a strange name," the crab said while eating a date.

"That's what Master named it." Tingcong stood up and looked around. "By the way, have you seen a fox?"

"Yes, it turned into a snail and is hiding in the pond," the crab replied with a laugh.

"What the hell?! You betrayed me, you dead crab?!" the fox revealed itself and yelled.

"But the dates are very sweet..." the crab smiled happily.

"This is the legendary Ji Youliu Food Demon-Taming Technique. Everyone, watch carefully and don't fall for the trap..." The catfish stroked its whiskers, lecturing the group of little demons behind it.

"You betrayed me for a date!" The fox stood on the bank, stomping its foot at the crab.

"You're really good at dodging..." Tingcong squinted and patted the broom in his hand.

"...What's wrong! It's just a green dumpling, why are you making such a fuss!" The fox continued to stomp its feet.

"There's no need to steal every day!" Tingcong retorted angrily.

"That's so I can see Ji You GG~"

"What kind of excuse is this! We must settle this today!"

"Come on, come on! Are you afraid of me? Mao Gong, Yan Cong, Shi Ming, Ting Cong, Si Rui, just by your names I know you're only the second to last among Ji You's five disciples! Even Mao Gong can't handle me, what can you do?!"

"you--"

Meanwhile, the crab was happily eating a jujube.

"The white dragon isn't here today?" the carp asked blankly, lying on the water plants.

"I went shopping with the shrimp..." the blackfish said blankly, lying on the seaweed.

"I see..."

stay--

Just as the human and the demon were about to make their move, the crab suddenly darted in.

"Brother Tingcong, are you coming to play tomorrow too?"