"Xiaoqing, how are you?"
Lu Liangsheng reached out and touched the long snout of the green snake in front of him, which was almost as thick as a tree trunk. A few years ago, when he went north to Ziling Mountain to find trouble with Shenghuo Mingzun, he released this little green snake and gave it a human name, Cen Biqing.
He touched the cold snake kiss and said with a smile: "I didn't expect to meet you here. What is your relationship with those three people?"
The green snake stared at the scholar in front of it, tilted its huge head, and turned towards the three people over there, making a hissing sound as if it was talking.
The Taoist priest over there, upon hearing the scholar's words, saw the immortal looking at him, his expression was unnatural, he forced a smile, raised his hands helplessly and then lowered them, tremblingly explaining to the scholar in front of him:
"The young man in front... So you know the Great Immortal Qinglin. This Immortal... Bah... I am also very familiar with the Great Immortal Qinglin. I often make some elixirs for him... Speaking of which, it's true that family members don't recognize each other..."
Refining pills for offering… After hearing these four words, Lu Liangsheng roughly understood the reason. Back then, in the deep pool outside Niutouji, he gave Cen Biqing, who was still a small snake at the time, an elixir that was helpful for cultivation. Unexpectedly, this habit was retained and was used by the Taoist priest in front of him as a backer. When he failed in cheating, he came to seek help when he encountered trouble.
Thinking of this, Lu Liangsheng couldn't help but tap it lightly on the head.
"You still like to eat pills? You can't just eat anything anyone gives you."
hiss~~
hiss~~~
As if it understood what the scholar said, the green snake spit out its tongue, nodded repeatedly, and swayed its tail in the woods, causing several large trees to bang.
"As for you."
Lu Liangsheng withdrew his hand, his eyes passed through the corners of his eyes, and he slowly turned his head to look at the Taoist priest opposite and the two ruffians pretending to be Taoist children. Xiaoqing on the side seemed to sense the scholar's thoughts, opened her bloody mouth, and showed a pair of poisonous fangs.
There was a long hissing sound, and a fishy wind blew out.
Whoosh—
A strong fishy wind blew, and the Taoist priest rolled on the ground twice, holding his head, and stopped only after hugging a nearby tree. The other two scoundrels hugged the Taoist priest's legs, one hugging another, and dragged on the ground like long insects, screaming in fear.
"You are playing tricks on the villagers and deceiving them into using living people for sacrifice. The three of you come with me!"
As Lu Liangsheng spoke, he raised his hand and waved his sleeves. The three people who had climbed up wanted to run, but in an instant, their running movements froze, with only their eyeballs rolling around in their sockets.
Before he could react why he could not move, a strong wind blew through the woods, picking up the fallen leaves and dust on the ground, and enveloping the three of them. His eyes moved around in horror, and he felt that the woods and hillsides were spinning in his sight, and his bodies seemed to be floating in the air.
…
The floating clouds in the night sky gradually obscured the bright moon, and the silver light faded from the darkness.
On the river bank, a group of villagers were kneeling down, waiting impatiently. Someone estimated the time and found that half a quarter of an hour had already passed.
"Why hasn't the Immortal come back yet?"
"Could it be that the Immortal Palace is a little far away?" "No, my legs are numb."
"Null in the legs is nothing. I want to pee, but my lower abdomen hurts from holding it in."
"… Let's not keep Elder Qi Shuishen waiting, let's just send the bride over."
As soon as someone proposed it, most people also had this idea in their minds. The older generation in the village were trembling as they knelt. It was getting late at night, and they couldn't go on like this. If the auspicious time was missed, how could they find a bride for the Qi Water God
After a while, an old man with the highest moral character stood up on his knees, leaning on a cane, and gave instructions to several strong women on the other side of the bridge.
"Send the bride to the river!"
“No! No!”
When the girl heard this, she struggled and screamed in the hands of the two strong women and kicked her feet hard. The villagers nearby ignored her and picked up the millstone and shouted loudly into the river.
"Send the bride!!"
The stone mill held in both hands was thrown out, drawing an arc and hitting the water, splashing water half a foot high. The dragging iron chain made a rattling sound, and the moment it was tightened, the girl in the hands of the two strong women was suddenly grabbed by the neck and fell into the river.
The water was surging, and a girl in a red wedding dress slapped the water, poking her head out and crying out.
"Save..."
"Please... help me..."
With its mouth opened, it took a few gulps of river water and then became silent. All that could be seen was its head still above the water, its long black hair floating, and then it gradually sank.
The huge turtle shell floating on the water also sank to the bottom of the water. The villagers on the shore stood up one by one and said, "Look, the Qishui God has also gone down!"
"It must be to pick up the bride!"
"If the Water God Qi accepts his bride, our village will surely have good weather and abundant grain in the future!"
Boom!
Amidst the discussions, a loud noise was heard from the river surface. The water surged, and a red shadow broke through the white water stains and fell onto the ferry bridge, along with the millstone, which fell down with it and landed at the feet of a strong woman.
The faces of the villagers gathered on the river bank changed. The red shadow on the bridge was the girl who had just been thrown into the river.
"This...this Qishui God doesn't want a bride?"
"Maybe Qi Shui Shen is not satisfied?" "Who can tell? The immortal is not here... I just told you not to mess around."
"When did you say that? You were screaming louder than anyone else just now!!"
"What should I do now?"
The villagers of Lijia Village were so anxious that they looked at the turtle's back on the river. They no longer had the heart to go up and throw the girl into the river again. They pushed and shoved someone to go find Zhao Daxian and come back. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew up from the river bank, and clusters of reeds swayed.
Everyone's eyes blurred, and they heard the village women screaming "Ouch!" A scholar in a green shirt and white robe was standing over there. Not far away were three people dressed as Taoists, who were standing there motionless while running.
Lu Liangsheng lowered his head to glance at the wet girl, and with a flick of his robe sleeve, some water spurted out from the girl's tightly closed mouth and nose. A faint moan was heard, and the iron chain tied around her neck broke with a 'snap' sound.
He also released the spell that was immobilizing the three people over there and walked straight towards the big rock.
The vision of 'Zhao Daxian' was still a little distorted. When it stabilized, he heard the voice of "Zhao Daxian is back!" and felt that his body could move again. He quickly put down his hands and feet, coughed dryly, and his face became solemn. But when he saw the scholar walking around, he lowered his head again.
"What happened to Zhao Daxian?"
"Yeah, why aren't you talking... Who's that scholar over there?"
“I don’t know him.”
"I have some impression. Hey, now I remember, didn't you come to the village to stay overnight in the afternoon?"
…
Lu Liangsheng walked up the rock, listened to the whispers of the villagers below, stared at the river for a while, and suddenly raised his hand, and the strong wind that was blowing stopped.
A huge turtle was floating on the water, with a light like a lantern rising up from the long water curtain. A huge head broke through the water curtain and rose up.
"Wow..."
The villagers were so frightened that they screamed and retreated together. Zhao Daxian was closest to the two hooligans, and the three of them hugged each other and looked sideways at the long neck and head that rose to a height of two or three meters.
"I am very pleased that you all worship and believe in the God of Qi River."
Lu Liangsheng slowly turned around and looked at the villagers who were crowded together below. Many of them wanted to escape, but they found that after taking a few steps, the ground suddenly shrank and they were back in the crowd.
Everyone was so frightened that they dared not breathe, and looked at the figure on the rock tremblingly.
"Could he be the Qihe God..."
"If he is, then what is the giant turtle?"
Amidst the fearful whispers, Lu Liangsheng's lips curled up into a smile, but his eyes were cold and he paused between words.
"Let me tell you a secret. Actually... there is a reason why Qi Shui Shen did not accept that girl. It's because Qi Shui Shen is a woman."
These words made the villagers, who were originally frightened, stunned. Even the "Zhao Daxian" over there was stunned. He thought that the story of Qi Shuishen was made up by himself. Could it be that he really existed
Lu Liangsheng looked at them, raised his hand and waved, and the iron chain hanging on the ferry bridge suddenly flew up with the millstone, tying the three people over there into a ball.
"What the Qishui God wants is not a bride, but a groom."
The three people tied to the bridge were so scared that they collapsed to the ground. Their robes and crotches were instantly soaked, and a foul smell filled the air. They cried to Dayan over there, "Master, spare me... These are all fake."
The other two ruffians disguised as Taoist children nodded one after another, their voices even louder than Zhao Daxian's.
"Yes, it's to fool the people in this village and cheat them out of some offerings and money..."
However, before they could finish their words, the millstone stood up, rolled and pulled the iron chain, dragging the struggling and screaming three people to the end of the bridge.
"Master... please spare our lives..."
He kept looking back at the expanding river surface and shouting loudly, until the moment the water surface enlarged in his eyes, he let out a shrill "Ah--" scream.
Boom~~
Huge waves splashed onto the bridge surface, and the shrill screams stopped abruptly. Lu Liangsheng took out a paper crane, spread it on his palm, and blew away.
"Go and bring the magistrate of Qi County over here!"
The paper crane glowed, as if it had come alive, flapped its wings, and flew into the night sky in the scholar's hand in full view of everyone.