Chapter 157 Sacrificial Offering

After receiving the help of the Qi Family Army’s soldier souls and the water ghosts, they safely survived the deadly encounter.

The two souls didn't stay here long. After ensuring the safety of Zhang Tao and the other Celestial Master Mansion disciples, they left. The people on the boat were still in shock, unable to recover for a long time. Zhang Tao stared intently at the simple message on his phone, his heart surging with emotions.

"Junior Brother, what's wrong?"

"Are you injured?"

A Daoist priest saw Zhang Tao standing motionless and was slightly worried.

Zhang Tao took a deep breath, shook his head, and forced himself to say, "I'm fine. Thank you for your concern, Senior Brother."

Seeing that he didn't seem willing to say more, the Daoist priest didn't press him. But thinking of the scene just now, he couldn't help but sigh, "What a narrow escape! If it weren't for those two Guardian Generals helping us, we would have been lost in this Huai River. I wonder whose method it was."

"Those two Guardian Generals almost had the aura of the righteous gods and Yin Generals in legends."

"Old Liu, are you alright?"

The older Daoist priest turned his head and saw that the boatman was still slumped on the ground, his face pale. He helped him up and comforted him, "Don't worry, things are safe for now. Don't be afraid."

The boatman, old as he was, had an indescribable expression. He glanced at the gradually calming water surface, his face becoming even paler. However, the several Daoist priests on the boat were all injured and didn't notice this subtle change in expression. Zhang Tao glanced at his phone, looked at his Senior Brother, and asked:

"Senior Brother, are there any methods to command Yin spirits in modern times?"

The Daoist thought for a moment and said, "Yes, but in this day and age, it requires extremely high Daoist cultivation."

"Generally speaking, you need to perform a ritual and spend an hour or two to summon the Yin spirit and make it listen to your orders. It's very troublesome."

Zhang Tao said in silence, "What if you only have less than ten minutes?"

The Daoist was surprised, then smiled and said, "How is that possible?"

He just thought his Junior Brother was confused and replied casually:

"Unless the person performing the spell has such high Daoist cultivation that they only need to create a single talisman to make the Yin soldiers and divine generals obey their orders. Heh, there's no such person. If that were the case, wouldn't that be the realm described in the Daoist Canon, where one's name and official position have already been recorded in the Heavenly Court?"

"That would be a god."

"A god…"

Zhang Tao stared at the short time displayed on his phone, unable to say anything.

…………………

Due to this encounter, several Daoist priests from the Celestial Master Mansion suffered some injuries. In addition, the boatman was also frightened out of his wits, his face pale. Everyone no longer had the desire to continue traveling on the Huai River. They hurriedly returned. Furthermore, the boatman was afraid, so he spent several hours returning to the village.

He lived in a village along the banks of the Huai River.

The residents lived off the river, occasionally taking tourists across the river. The location was remote, and electricity and internet had only recently been installed.

After returning, they discovered that there was another person in the village, an ordinary-looking young man. He said he was planning to travel along the Huai River, so he came here to rent a boat. They had already discussed it, but after the boatman went to the village chief's house for a while, he went back on his word.

He said that he couldn't take the boat out for at least a few days, or maybe longer.

The young tourist was easy to talk to and directly agreed. After the Celestial Master Mansion disciples discussed it, since they had already notified the Dragon Tiger Mountain Celestial Master Mansion, their senior uncles would naturally handle the matter. However, since these villagers had encountered the water ghost with them, they didn't know if there would be any lingering dangers, so they simply stayed in the village for a few days.

Zhang Tao was still in a daze because of the short message on his phone. When he went out, he ran into the tourist who was said to have arrived in the village a little earlier than them. He greeted him and said politely, "I don't know how to address you…"

The young man looked at him and replied:

"My surname is Wu."

Zhang Tao was surprised. This surname was relatively rare, but he didn't think too much about it and nodded.

The man who claimed to be surnamed Wu stood at the entrance of the village, looking into the distance. The Qi Family Army's soldier souls and the water ghosts reported what had happened earlier. It was Wei Yuan, who had rushed over from Quanshi. Human visual ability relied on reflected light. By using the water curtain to influence light, it was very easy to change what others saw.

He didn't directly show himself. Instead, he landed from another place and arrived at this village before Zhang Tao and the others.

The boatman was even more afraid after seeing the sedan-carrying water ghost being defeated. He definitely knew something.

Just seven pairs of sedan-carrying boys and girls couldn't satisfy Wei Yuan's goal. He was also worried that after Wuzhiqi's power appeared, the culprit behind the scenes would be scared away. So he had to resort to this strategy. Wei Yuan stared at the distant scenery for a while, telling the water ghosts and the Qi Family Army's soldier souls to pay attention to hiding and keep an eye on things in this village.

He himself walked around like an ordinary tourist.

The Huai River, at least this section of the Huai River, became even more turbulent after the sedan-carrying water ghost was killed. It seemed that something was hiding beneath the water system and was extremely angry. Sometimes, the surging waves were almost as big as hills, as if they wanted to submerge all the villages on both sides.

Zhang Tao and the other Celestial Master Mansion disciples went to take a look, their faces very ugly.

Clearly, something was causing trouble.

They just didn't know how large an area of water was being disturbed, and how strong the power was.

But in any case, this situation could already be called a local water god. It was not a problem that small Daoist priests like them could solve. That night, the people in the village all left to worship the River God. Zhang Tao wanted to dissuade them, but he didn't know how to open his mouth.

As soon as he tried to approach, those villagers glared at them with extreme resentment. One of the women even opened her mouth fiercely and cursed:

"What are you doing here?!"

"If you hadn't harmed the messenger of the River God, Lord Huai Du, how could Lord Huai Du be so angry? You disrespect the gods!"

How could a few Daoist priests be her match when it came to cursing?

They all retreated in embarrassment.

The woman who was extremely fierce when cursing was extremely devout during the River God's ritual.

But obviously, the River God Huai Du they spoke of didn't appreciate it.

On the first day, they used large jars of white glutinous rice, plus highly alcoholic baijiu, constantly pouring them into the river. The part of the riverbank that was poured on was surrounded by an undeniable rich aroma of wine, but the river water became more and more turbulent.

On the second day, before they even got up, the Daoist priests heard the sounds of animals. When they ran out to take a look, they saw that the local residents had somehow obtained living cattle, sheep, pigs, dogs, and chickens, gathering the five livestock. They knelt down facing the river, and even killed these animals on the spot as sacrifices.

This was almost the standard for offering sacrifices to heaven and gods in ancient times.

Fresh blood poured into the river water. The Huai River was turbulent, but it still didn't show any signs of calming down.

That night, several Daoist priests discussed how to stop the river water and defeat the evil god in the river. In another place, in the village chief's house, there was one person from each household in the village, all silent. The village chief looked around and said in a hoarse voice, "You all know the situation."

"Now those outsiders have harmed Lord Huai Du's messenger. Now Lord Huai Du is angry. The sacrifices that were effective in previous years are all useless now. When Lord Huai Du floods the river, none of us will be able to escape."

A young man said, "Then can't we run?"

The village chief sneered, "Run?"

"What happened to those few who ran away a few years ago? Don't you know?"

Everyone stopped talking. They had indeed heard a few years ago that some people had run away. It was said that they went to a big city, lived well, and even had a pair of children. As a result, after only a year or two, the villagers set up nets in the Huai River to catch fish, but the net caught the corpses of a family. The fisherman at the time was terrified.

Since then, everyone had given up the idea of leaving the village.

In addition, in the past, floods could be dealt with by using glutinous rice and strong liquor. Occasionally, people would die in the river, but relying on the river to make a living, people often died in previous years. They always felt that it wouldn't happen to them, but who knew that now, not only was glutinous rice and strong liquor useless, but even sacrificing the five livestock was useless.

The shadow of death loomed over everyone.

After a long silence, the village chief looked around at everyone and said, "There's only one way left."

He said, "Human sacrifice."

Everyone's expressions changed. The last human sacrifice was decades ago. Some of them were still young at the time and had no impression. Others were not even born and regarded it as a foolish and lost tradition. But when the usually gentle and kind village chief said these two words, they realized that this tradition had not been lost at all.

One of the women opened her mouth and said, "Village Chief, since you said that, then your family should provide someone. I remember your grandson is only six years old. He's just the right age."

The village chief's expression changed, and he said with hidden anger, "What are you talking about!"

The woman was startled and said stubbornly, "What? You're the village chief. Shouldn't you lead by example? Besides, your grandson is just at the right time."

The village chief said, "Hmph, isn't your little grandson the same age? The old Liu family has five children. Giving up two to protect everyone's safety is just right?!"

"Village Chief, why are you dragging me into your argument?"

"What, you…"

A group of people instantly began to argue, scolding and exposing each other's shortcomings.

Suddenly, a low voice said, "…Let's draw lots."

"No one can escape."

Everyone paused and stopped talking.

They looked at each other and fell into the same psychological attitude as before—someone would be unlucky, but most people would be safe, and they always believed that they would be safe. So they found white paper, tore it into strips, and drew lots.

A man's legs went weak, and he sat down on the ground.

He drew his daughter.

……………………

In order to prevent the Celestial Master Mansion disciples from getting involved.

The villagers planned to quietly complete the most important human sacrifice. They brought cloth bags, leaving only the eyes exposed, to cover their faces. Then they held torches and went to the woman's house. The man who was extremely devout to the River God before did not come. He had already been knocked unconscious.

The moment he drew his daughter, he went crazy and tried to push everyone away, wanting to protect his daughter, but he was directly hit hard on the back of the head and completely lost consciousness.

The night was dark. A group of people smashed open the door and knocked the woman inside unconscious.

The latter didn't even see who did it.

She only saw faceless figures, neither fearful nor ashamed. Under the torches, their shadows were very long, with flickering black shadows on their faces, like demons lurking in the night.

It seemed that after putting on a mask, there was no need to worry about being retaliated against, and there was no psychological burden.

But at this moment, there was a chaotic sound. Everyone turned their heads and saw the young tourist wearing simple clothes. He looked at the people, at the tearful little girl, and said, "What are you doing?!"

No one answered. The people with black bags covering their faces stood indifferently.

They picked up torches and shovels, changing their previous appearance, and approached the visitor step by step.

The young tourist paused and said, "Let go of the child."

"In any case, the child is innocent."

"If there's anything, I'll replace her."

Everyone's movements stopped. They subconsciously looked at the shortest figure in the crowd, who was the village chief. The latter silently looked at the young man who spoke, looking at the latter's healthy and young body, thinking that if one human sacrifice was not enough, there could be a second one, so he slowly nodded.

Someone tied the young man's hands and took him and the little girl away together. 138 Read

This young man will be the Huai River Water God's sacrifice.

Such a healthy and young sacrifice.

Presumably, the Water God will be satisfied.

ps: Buffer chapter~

It's so hard to smoothly enter the part I want to write _(:з」∠)_