The dragon's eyes were cold, and its tone was serious.
"How many times have I told you not to be greedy? It's lucky for him that he encountered a cultivator this time, but what if he met an ordinary person?"
Upon hearing this, the giant turtle immediately fell silent.
Before the Great King transformed into a dragon, he was a carp. He had countless offspring.
However, the carp spirit's aptitude was limited, and that large green fish was likely an offspring of the Great King's son.
Although it also inherited the Great King's bloodline, not every carp had the Great King's opportunities.
Moreover, this large green fish was not even a carp, making its aptitude the worst of the worst.
On the river, a boat was slowly sailing aimlessly.
Da Hu and Su Lai were, as usual, sitting by the side of the boat, fishing.
Meanwhile, Yu Daohen lay on the deck, basking in the sun, listening to the sound of the waves breaking, and resting with his eyes closed, enjoying himself immensely.
Da Hu looked at the empty bamboo cage with some confusion. "Brother Su, we've been fishing all morning, why haven't we caught anything?"
Su Lai also scratched his head, puzzled. "That's not right, what's going on?"
Hearing their conversation, Yu Daohen, who was nearby, opened his eyes, sat up, and asked, "Brothers, when are you planning to go ashore?"
They had been sailing on the river for five days.
For these five days, they fished during the day and drank at night, and drank at night and fished during the day.
Although this life was not bad, it couldn't go on like this.
Moreover, eating fish for every meal, even Yu Daohen, who had no sense of taste, was tired of it.
Su Lai turned to look at Yu Daohen, his face full of confusion. "Master Yu, we agreed on a seven-day tour of the Yellow River, and this is only the fifth day. You're bored because you're not fishing."
Da Hu, standing beside them, nodded in agreement without speaking.
Yu Daohen looked at the two who were engrossed in fishing and nodded helplessly.
It seemed Da Hu had also become a fishing enthusiast.
As the saying goes, once you're deep into fishing, it's like entering a vast ocean; by the time you want to turn back, it's already too late.
Fishing was like smoking opium. Once you got addicted to fishing... tsk tsk, even an immortal couldn't save you.
Seeing that no fish had taken the bait yet, Su Lai looked at Yu Daohen and teased, "Master Yu, we've been fishing all morning and haven't even seen a shadow of a fish. Why don't you jump in and take a look?"
Yu Daohen quickly waved his hands. "I'm not a good swimmer. You should ask Brother Da Hu to go."
Ever since he almost died in the water cave in Peach Blossom Village last time, Yu Daohen had developed a phobia of water.
Coupled with the fact that he had offended the dragon's offspring a few days ago.
Yu Daohen had a feeling that the large green fish hadn't escaped but was still following them.
It was just waiting for him to enter the water so it could drag him to the bottom and drown him.
As the three of them were chatting, Su Lai sniffed vigorously and asked, "Do you two smell anything?"
Yu Daohen chuckled and said, "I farted."
Su Lai looked at Yu Daohen speechlessly, as if thinking.
Do you think you're very funny?
Da Hu also sniffed and said, "What is this floral scent? It's so special."
Yu Daohen naturally couldn't smell it, so he could only look towards the riverbank.
He saw a small village nearby. Many people were gathered by the river, and in the middle of the crowd, a little girl in a bright red dress was present, as if a wedding was taking place.
This situation naturally caught Su Lai's attention.
After all, this guy loved to join in the fun.
"Let's go and see."
Su Lai said, then walked into the cabin and steered the boat towards the riverbank.
Yu Daohen and Da Hu were also curious about what they were doing.
The boat stopped not far away, and Su Lai got out of the cabin and looked at the villagers on the riverbank.
He saw the villagers on the shore dancing and gesturing, while in the center stood an old man and a sixteen-year-old girl.
The old man dipped his brush in a bowl of yellow liquid and painted strange patterns on the girl's face.
Yu Daohen looked at Su Lai next to him, confused, and asked, "Old Su, what are they doing?"
Su Lai was also a bit confused and shook his head. "I don't know, I've never seen such a scene."
Da Hu looked at the red dress the girl was wearing and said, "This doesn't look like a wedding, there's no groom."
Yu Daohen suddenly thought of something and was startled. "Old Su, they're not sacrificing the little girl to the river god, are they!?"
The little girl in the middle was wearing a red dress, and the people around her were making strange gestures.
Su Lai looked at Yu Daohen speechlessly. "Master Yu, you must have watched too many TV shows. Who would offer sacrifices by the river? They should go to the River God Temple. Besides, in this day and age, who still uses live sacrifices? Even if they sacrifice a little girl, they wouldn't just throw her into the water, would they? How would the River God know?"
Yu Daohen thought about it, but retorted unconvinced, "Then what do you think they're doing?"
Su Lai shook his head. "I don't know, it's probably some kind of ritual."
After finishing the patterns on the girl's face, the old man said, "Alright, you can go into the water now."
The little girl looked nervously at her parents in the crowd.
A middle-aged man smiled and comforted her, "Juan'er, don't be afraid, you'll be fine."
The little girl nodded and still looked at the river with some fear.
Their village had a custom: every child, on their sixteenth birthday, had to perform a ritual.
On their sixteenth birthday, both boys and girls had to change into red clothes, come to the riverbank, have patterns painted on their faces, and then jump into the river to wash away bad luck.
Seeing that the little girl was still hesitant to jump, the old man smiled kindly and comforted her.
"Little Juan, the River God will protect you, don't be afraid. Hurry and jump, don't delay the auspicious time."
The little girl nodded, looked at the river, mustered her courage, and with a splash, jumped into the water.
Seeing the little girl jump into the water, Su Lai couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "Wow, she actually jumped in."
As the little girl jumped into the water, she struggled desperately.
The people on the bank seemed not to notice, their expressions were all dazed, and they had no intention of jumping in to save her.
Da Hu became anxious. "Damn it, are they just going to watch the little girl drown?"
Su Lai and Yu Daohen exchanged glances, both sensing that something was wrong.
Su Lai looked at the water surface next to the little girl and said abruptly, "There's ghost energy!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the little girl in the water was suddenly grabbed by something and dragged towards the bottom.
"Save her!"
As soon as Yu Daohen uttered the words, he splashed into the water and swam towards the little girl's location.
"Brother Da Hu, you keep an eye on those guys on the shore. I'll go help Master Yu."
After Su Lai instructed him, he dove into the water.
Yu Daohen swam above the little girl, grabbed her arm, and prepared to swim towards the surface.
As he swam upwards, he felt the little girl below him sinking terrifyingly, as if someone was pulling her down.