Attaining Immortality, Starting From Slaying Demons

Chapter 56 River God_1

Linjiang Prefecture, Shuiyun Village.

Living by the mountain, they relied on the mountain; living by the water, they relied on the water. Along the river, the fish market was quite bustling.

The horse-drawn carriage came to a slow halt, and Li Xiaoer got off to lead the horse towards the local government office.

Shen Yi stood between two rows of fish baskets, breathing in the fishy, damp scent. Surrounding him were fishermen with their trouser legs rolled up, chatting and laughing as usual, completely oblivious to the presence of a few Demon-suppression Bureau Colonels.

Whether it was an illusion or not, the occasional casual glance from someone carried a veiled hostility.

"Places like this are like this, saving us the trouble of disguising ourselves." Liu Xiujie smiled before saying, "In other places, the first reaction to encountering a demon is to find the government office, but the people here would definitely go worship the River God."

"Worship the god?" Shen Yi vaguely remembered the dilapidated and incomplete statue in Liulimiao Village.

Yawning, Li Mujin joked, "Demons that don't want to end up on the Imperial Court's Demon Execution List and yet don't hide deep in the mountains naturally have to take a title for themselves."

"Four hundred years ago, when Shuiyun Village was still a fishing village, they relied on the River God for sustenance."

Liu Xiujie said somewhat helplessly, "A small sacrifice in June, a grand sacrifice every three years, it has long become a custom. Offering livestock, fish and rice during the small sacrifices, and offering boys and girls during the grand sacrifices, it has never been discontinued."

At those words, Shen Yi slightly clenched his fist, whispering softly, "Hasn't anyone intervened?"

Though his expression was calm, there was a subconscious twinge of discomfort welling up within him.

"How can they intervene? If you dare to speak out of line, these villagers would dare to attack Qingzhou City with their fish spears tomorrow night. Can you kill them all?"

Liu Xiujie shrugged, "We can only send a few Colonels to help watch during their grand sacrifices, as a deterrent, letting that River God know the Demon-suppression Bureau is still keeping an eye on it, so it better not be too presumptuous."

"That's it, yet they still guard against us as if we were thieves."

Under the lead of Li Xinhan, the group left the fish market and quickly arrived at a village by the river. Stay connected with empire

In such a remote place, it was even busier than the town they'd just left. Expensive silk was cut into strips and hung on poles, and the River God statues made of bamboo were draped over every household's eaves. Now and then, the sound of firecrackers could be heard, as if it were Chinese New Year.

The moment they approached,

An old man in a white coat stood at the entrance of the village, leaning on a cane, his smile more of a grimace as he watched them: "Have the esteemed guests come to observe the sacrifice?"

"The village chief in charge of the grand sacrifice, when he speaks, even the Shuiyun Village government office must take it seriously," Ma Tao explained in a low voice.

Li Xinhan looked around the village and slowly retracted his gaze, "The few from the Demon-suppression Bureau who came earlier, where are they now?"

Upon hearing this, the village chief turned around in astonishment, "Aren't you the ones here to observe the sacrifice this year? I was wondering why you were so late."

Seeing his reaction, a cold light flickered in Li Mujin's eyes.

She stepped forward, smiling, "Let me remind you, you can worship whatever you like, but if you lay hands on the Demon-suppression Bureau Colonels, you should be aware of the consequences."

"You jest,"

The village chief lowered his head and leaned on his cane, agreeing with a laugh, "We wouldn't dare, and besides, what could we possibly do with a few broken fish spears?"

Li Mujin did not respond, but silently proceeded into the village.

On both sides, hearty young men with fish spears in hand gazed at her voluptuous figure, their expressions cold, licking their lips.

"..."

Shen Yi impassively took in the scene before him.

He found it hard to equate these people with the numb-faced villagers from the outskirts of Baiyun County.

In Liulimiao Village, those people had no hope and clung to their bodies, trembling meekly, without even the thought of running away.

Yet here, these ordinary folk could unabashedly reveal greedy looks towards the officers of the Demon-suppression Bureau.

Such a ludicrous contrast seemed to stem from the confidence "the god" gave them.

For a moment, even Shen Yi felt his composure waver.

Could it be that for the common folk, demons were more esteemed than the Demon-suppression Bureau?

...

The River God Temple was situated at the very center of the village.

In the spacious room, a gilded statue stood in the middle, looking like a woman in her thirties or forties, with a kind face, draped in a water wave dress, holding her palms to her heart.

To the left and right were boys and girls with their hair tied up in goat horn buns, one holding a fish basket, the other a flower basket, both with simple and honest smiles.

"Something's not right about this statue."

Ma Tao shook his head and, under everyone's gaze, he reached out and scoffed, "One pair every three years, four hundred years, yet there are only two children, there should be a line stretching all the way out of the village by now."

Li Xinhan retracted his gaze, "You think those people outside are all idiots, truly believing they're giving their children to the River God as servants, their hearts know far more clearly than you, it's just profitable."

Li Mujin sat cross-legged, feigning sleep with closed eyes.

Soon, Li Xiaoer returned from the yamen, his complexion grim, "No news, all say they've never seen them, and the waist token isn't one they delivered to Linjiang Prefecture, could it be those colonels were really intercepted by demons halfway?"

"The people of Linjiang Prefecture say, as soon as dawn broke, the waist token was left at the yamen's doorstep, it surely couldn't have been a demon sending a provocation," Li Xinhan frowned tightly.

Li Mujin opened her eyes and glanced at Shen Yi, who stood silently in front of the statue, and said softly, "The Yangchun River is too turbulent, if you could gather the fish together below, cast a net, and it would be a full haul, they would revere you as a god."

"Some matters, they really shouldn't be meddled with."

She keenly caught that faint dissatisfaction under the young man's seemingly indifferent exterior.

Yet, she was somewhat curious, wasn't he raised in the midst of poverty, shouldn't he have grown accustomed to such things long ago, what made him so uncomfortable with these affairs?

Time flew swiftly by.

It was already dusk.

Everyone had fallen into silence; as per tradition, when the Demon-suppression Bureau came to oversee the ritual, the River God was expected to make an appearance.

Even now, there was no sign of him.

"Could it be that he's been slain by another demon?" Li Xinhan looked up thoughtfully.

Generally speaking, every demon has a strong sense of territory, with a River God here, as long as it didn't want to appear on the Demon Execution List, it wouldn't dare to cause trouble recklessly and could also deter other passing demons.

"If that was the case, it would have left," Li Mujin chuckled lightly, "Otherwise, would we still be able to stay here comfortably?"

According to the records, three hundred years ago, the River God was a demon at the Initial Stage of the Jade Liquid Realm, and now, after so much time, even at a demon's much slower cultivation pace, he should at least have reached the later stages of the Jade Liquid Realm.

Besides, that's a water demon; with the Yangchun River so vast, if it dove into the river, even those whose realm is higher than its would struggle to do anything about it.

"Honorable Sirs,"

the village head came to the doorway, leaning on a crutch, "These past few days, we've been preparing for the grand sacrifice, and simply can't free up any rooms. How about you each pick a dwelling to your liking for the night?"

Liu Xiujie rolled his eyes.

Only in a place like this would they dare to ask members of the Demon-suppression Bureau to share sleeping quarters with others.

Fortunately, none of them put much stock in these trivial matters and got up to leave, entering the villagers' homes in pairs.

Li Xiaoer had been Li Xinhan's personal servant since childhood, while Liu and Ma were sworn brothers who had cooperated for many years.

Li Mujin was also welcomed into a home by a woman, who gestured to her, "When traveling abroad, don't sweat the small stuff, come on over."

"I'll just wander around."

Shen Yi deliberately lagged behind, strolling through the village at a leisurely pace.

He wasn't very tired, it's just that he felt a slight sense of irritation.

To say he was very angry wouldn't be quite accurate; after all, it was only a murmuring by his ear, he'd heard enough of even more distasteful stories in his past life.

During the years of the Great Desolation, there were even rumors of exchanging children for food; in such a demon-chaotic era, when survival itself was hard, holding common people to a high moral standard was simply looking for trouble.

At that moment, a faint sound of argument reached his ears.

"Where the hell do you think you're touching, if you dare extend that paw again, I'll butcher you!"

Shen Yi looked up, curiously looking over.