The Chunmu River is about a hundred miles south of Chunhui Prefecture. It is a long winding river section with hills nestled on both sides. Although the river surface is not the widest part of the entire river, it is more than a hundred feet wide. This section of the river is definitely the deepest part of the Chunmu River, and the water flow is relatively gentle.
Beneath the maze-like layers of water plants and rocks at the bottom of the river, there is another magical thing: a huge bubble with a dark exterior is attached to the bottom of the river. The surface of the bubble is also covered with sand, rocks and water plants, but there is a world underneath the bubble.
A mansion that is even larger than the Waijiang Temple in Chunhui Prefecture is located here.
Although the entire mansion is built partly with cobblestones and partly with huge rocks carved from the mountains, it possesses an integrated and majestic aura. Similar to earthly buildings, it also has pavilions, towers, large halls and rooms.
In a huge soft sandy area in the center of the backyard, a scaleless white dragon was lying comfortably on it taking a nap. Judging from its appearance alone, except for the fact that it had no scales, this dragon was already very close to being a real dragon.
If it weren't for the occasional flick of the white dragon's whiskers that would create a burst of tiny bubbles, any mortal who could see this mansion with the naked eye would think there was no water. This shows how clear the water in this mansion is.
At the entrance to the bubble of the mansion, a crystal plaque with a faint fluorescence was placed horizontally high up, with three large characters "Chunmu Mansion" inscribed in neat strokes.
An old turtle was swimming here carrying fine wine. The dozen or so jars of wine on its back were bound by water magic so that they would not float away or be soaked by the river water.
As soon as the old turtle's four legs landed on the bottom of the river, a sharp sound was heard.
"Stop! This is the residence of the God of Rivers, you are not allowed to trespass!"
Two dark shadows gradually emerged from the left and right. They were two humanoid monsters with blue bodies including their faces, sharp teeth and fangs, and long hair floating in the water above their heads.
"My two Yakshas, it's me, the old turtle! It's me, the old turtle!"
The old turtle quickly unloaded the wine on its back and let the water flow to float in front of it.
"This is the finest wine from all over Dazhen. In addition to Qianrichun, there is also Zuijinxiao and Dukang. They are all good wines. Old Turtle has obtained them and specially came to present them to Lord Jiangshen. I hope Lord Yaksha will report it so that Old Turtle can meet Lord Jiangshen!"
The old turtle raised its body, held the cage with its front paws and imitated a human bow among the waves and algae.
"Old turtle, you still won't give up. Lord Jiang is taking a nap, we dare not disturb him casually!"
"Lord Yaksha, you are a noble man who forgets things easily. Lord Jiang Shen travels on the river every summer. The summer solstice is approaching, so he must be awake. I beg Lord Yaksha to be flexible. Lord Jiang Shen will be happy if we drink some good wine!"
The old turtle kept bowing and using all his eloquence, and finally convinced the two Yakshas.
"Well, wait a minute, I'll go and report!"
After saying this, one of the Yakshas hid backwards, jogged in the water, and entered the Jiangshen Mansion.
A moment later, the Yaksha just arrived at the sand court where the white dragon was lying, and the white dragon began to murmur.
"Is that turtle here again?"
Yaksha hurriedly bowed his head and saluted.
"In reply to the master, it was the old turtle who brought a lot of fine wine this year, saying that it came from all over Dazhen."
The white dragon, which was over twenty feet long, opened its eyes slightly, revealing the amber light inside.
"You've been drinking his wine for so many years, so you should meet him this year. Go and bring him in!"
"yes!"
After taking his leave, Yaksha quickly ran back to the gate of the mansion.
"Master Jiangshen asked you to come in, so follow me!"
The old turtle was overjoyed when he heard this, and while thanking the Yaksha continuously, he dragged the wine along with him into the Jiangshen mansion.
Although there are pavilions and towers in this mansion, it is extremely deserted, as if only the old turtle and the yaksha are moving forward, and no other fish or shrimp can be seen.
"The master's dragon energy is too strong. He knows that ordinary water creatures will feel very uncomfortable if they stay here for a long time, so he makes them live in Beppu, so it looks rather deserted."
Yaksha seemed to know what the old turtle was thinking and explained it this way.
As they got closer and closer to the sand garden in the backyard, the old turtle felt more and more pressured. After passing a large gate, he saw a screen in front of him. When he looked to both sides, he could already see the terrifying dragon body.
"Master, the black-backed turtle is here. I am leaving now!"
Seeing the Yaksha salute and then retreat, the old turtle was startled and hurriedly saluted the screen.
"The old black-backed turtle Wuya from Chunmu River pays homage to Lord Jiangshen!"
"Um... come over here and talk!"
The white dragon spoke slowly, and the old turtle hurriedly grabbed the wine and crawled around the screen. His mind paused and he saw the whole white dragon.
"Did you come up with the name Wuya yourself?"
The white dragon opened its eyes slightly, and the dim light made the old turtle dare not move.
"To reply to Master Jiangshen, it was the name that Old Turtle gave himself."
The white dragon's head was slightly raised, and its dragon mouth opened to reveal the cold edge inside, making the old turtle feel suffocated as if he was about to be swallowed. Dragons and other genus of dragons are very likely to do this.
"You old turtle, although you have been practicing for a long time without making any progress, you are also proficient in divination. Don't you know that in essence, I, the Fallen Scaled Dragon, am only three points stronger than you."
The old turtle was crawling on the ground, with its front paws pressing its head against the ground, as if it was bowing.
"Master Jiang Shen, you know the suffering of my demon race. I have to watch myself waste my remaining life. I have no other choice but to ask you to show me a way forward."
Bai Jiao watched the old turtle kowtow continuously, but his expression did not change.
"You have helped some mortals rise to prominence over the years, and you have even frequently consulted the heavens for this purpose. Has anyone ever given you any reward?"
Bai Jiao's question left the old turtle silent.
"I can help you erect a turtle statue in the temple, and use the power of incense and people's wishes to help you transform, but do you know the price of such a transformation..."
As Bai Jiao spoke, he raised his dragon head and looked at the old turtle's dancing dragon whiskers.
A jar of Qianrichun was suspended in the air, the seal opened automatically, and crystal clear wine flew out and was sucked into the dragon's mouth.
“The wine is good...”
At this moment, a mysterious yellow aura appeared from the sky above the mansion like smoke floating in the water. Bai Jiao felt something and just turned his head to look, but the aura sank into the head of the dragon's head, causing him to feel dizzy.
"Well… "
The water in the sand garden suddenly expanded, and the fine sand seemed to be hit by an explosion, and was blown up in all directions in the clear water flow...
The old turtle held on to the ground with all four legs, but was still pushed backwards by the current.
The white dragon in front of him was swaying back and forth as if he was drunk.
'Is this alcohol so strong?'
As soon as this absurd idea came to mind, the old turtle rejected it himself.
The turmoil in the mansion ended after about three or four or five breaths. Bai Jiao was still shaking his head a little dazed, like a mortal who had gulped down a bowl of tonic wine.
The old turtle had already slid to the corner of the courtyard, trembling with fear and not daring to move. The mighty dragon energy in front of him continued to spread, making him feel oppressed.
"Master, what's wrong with you?"
A yaksha came running in from outside, his voice sounding extremely shocked.
"I don't know... I just felt dizzy and dazed as if I had been hit hard..."
Bai Jiao shook his head. As the scene became clearer and clearer, a strange feeling arose in his mind. He looked at the old turtle and Yaksha.
"Just wait here, I'll be back soon!"
After saying that, the white dragon danced and leaped, clearing away the water waves and swimming out of Chunmu Mansion in an instant, turning into a light white shadow and swimming towards the north.
About a moment later, the water waves exploded somewhere in the river section near Chunmu Mansion, and a blurry dragon shadow that was invisible to the naked eye turned into a stream of light and rose up.
On a nearby ship, many people were looking in astonishment at the huge waves that had inexplicably exploded on the river in the distance.
After a while, an old man in his fifties, dressed in rich clothes, stepped into the main hall of Jiangshen Temple. He glanced at the surrounding crowd of pilgrims but found nothing. Finally, he walked to the large incense burner in front of the statue to check, and his eyes were fixed on a stick of incense in an instant.
This incense stick has been pushed to a corner by other incense sticks and dumped into the incense burner. It can be seen that the incense stick only burned a short section before it went out.
"Donor, please don't block other donors from burning incense. Donor, what are you doing? Be careful of the punishment from Lord Jiangshen~~!"
The temple keeper was trying to persuade him kindly, but he saw that the rich old man actually reached out to the incense burner.
The old man turned a deaf ear to him. As soon as his fingers touched the incense stick, the incense turned into charred powder and disappeared without a trace, not even much ash was left.
"Don't be rude, donor. Take your hand out immediately! Otherwise..."
At this moment, the temple keeper came over, and before he could finish his sentence, the old man in front of him grabbed his arm.
"Temple keeper, let me ask you, was there any special person burning incense here just now? What did he look like? When did he leave? Where did he go?"
Slightly excited, the old man emanated a captivating aura from his eyes and beard, which frightened the temple keeper so much that he was speechless, and the surrounding pilgrims also fell silent.
After a long time, the old man looked dejected and let go of the temple keeper's hand.
"How could you possibly know..."
In the distance outside the Jiang Shen Temple, Ji Yuan was also looking at that place in horror. When the old dragon arrived, his aura was almost undisguised, as if he was announcing to someone, "I'm here."
"Huh... Fortunately I left a step earlier..."
Ji Yuan rubbed his chest, took one last look at Jiang Shen Temple, and quickly quickened his pace to enter the city.