Chapter 477: Just a Greeting Gift

The clamor like a tide lingered in his ears.

Liang Qu, who had bypassed the screen wall and saw the grand scene on the street, paused.

There were far more people participating in the River God Festival this year than he had imagined!

The Liang residence was quite far from the Shangrao pier, but even so, the entrance to the mansion was crowded with black heads like ants surrounding honey!

Under the big locust tree just one street away, a storyteller who had set up a small stall with a canopy had a high-pitched voice, telling "The Three Heroes and Five Gallants" in a mediocre way, but it still caused a sensation.

Business had even reached this side!

Xiang Fang Su leaned behind the screen wall, stroking Wulong's dog head hard; finally seeing the main character appear, he urged repeatedly.

"Slow, slow, don't dawdle! Hurry up and go!"

"Why so anxious?" Liang Qu looked up at the sun, feeling helpless about Xiang Fang Su's urging, "The River God Festival doesn't start until noon; there's at least an hour, are you going to the pier to bask in the sun?"

"Temporary embrace of Buddha's feet, things are easy to handle badly; you're practicing, don't you even know this?"

Xiang Fang Su muttered, suddenly widened his pupils, pushed Liang Qu away, and lay on the screen wall to look.

"What are you looking at?" Liang Qu was puzzled, "What's good to look at in my courtyard?"

"Good for you, thick eyebrows and big eyes, looking honest, but the things you do aren't honest at all; hiding beauty in a golden house at such a young age! Where did you find these maids? Hurry, push the path to your brother!"

Xiang Fang Su never expected that Liang Qu had actually raised two top-tier beautiful maids in his own home!

For those with a little bit of beauty in the tooth shop, twenty or thirty taels were enough to take them down.

For those who could be called good-looking, it wouldn't be more than a hundred taels, but the two in front of him, just in terms of beauty, were at least a thousand taels and up...

No.

There was no price.

They couldn't be seen at all!

"No path, they're the younger sisters of Long Pingjiang and Long Pinghe, who came to work for me together."

Xiang Fang Su turned his head in surprise: "The younger sisters of the Dragon-Men? Then aren't they Dragon Maidens?"

Liang Qu shrugged.

He wasn't lying.

The Dragon-Men were one family; tracing back to the source, Long Yao and Long Li could indeed call Long Pingjiang and Long Pinghe brother; strictly speaking, according to seniority, they might be called uncle or grandfather.

Xiang Fang Su was greatly disappointed.

Boring.

"Let's go, let's go!"

The two stepped out of the mansion gate, and like boiling water pouring on white snow, a small circle of empty space was vacated on the crowded street.

The villagers didn't recognize Xiang Fang Su, but they recognized Liang Qu beside him.

"Master Liang!"

"Hello, Master Liang!"

Greetings followed one after another.

Wherever they walked, people heard the sound and gave way, making Xiang Fang Su click his tongue in wonder.

Until they saw the pier, it was Liang Qu who was stunned, pointing to the altar in the center of the pier.

"You did this?"

Xiang Fang Su looked up slightly.

"Time was too tight, I had the craftsmen at the shipyard work overnight to do it; it's a bit rough, but it's roughly the shape."

Compared to the River God Festival in previous years, the entire altar had completely changed.

The thirteen steps remained the same, a lucky number, but each step was widened, lengthened, and heightened, actually raising the entire altar to nearly three stories high, and the footprint expanded several times over!

It was enough for more than a dozen people to stand side by side.

Next to the altar, there was a small high platform, slightly lower than the altar, which was clearly prepared by Xiang Fang Su for himself.

After that, on both sides of the square, six large drums were erected, with drumsticks as thick as a person's leg.

It was majestic and heroic.

Strange, he was really serious.

Liang Qu thought Xiang Fang Su was just playing around.

He didn't expect him to come up with so many things.

"Amazing."

Xiang Fang Su was not without pride: "There are big festivals in the capital every year; where does one altar compare?"

The young men who saw Liang Qu coming from under the eaves ran to report.

A moment later.

Chen Zhaoan led people to receive them.

Liang Qu was familiar with the road, followed them into the mansion to rest for a while, and the martial arts hall masters and wealthy families in the town came to visit one after another.

Like paying respects to a pier.

There were many more wealthy families in the town this year, and an extra martial arts hall, forming a tripod.

The new martial arts hall master was surnamed Xu, stronger than the two "old martial arts hall" masters who had opened for a year, reaching the Wolf Smoke human bridge realm.

But he couldn't be compared in front of Liang Qu.

He had a group of such people under his command.

Previously, Lin Guanzhu Xu didn't even show his face, quietly paying a hundred taels of River God Festival dues, and then officially opened the door to accept apprentices.

It seemed that paying to organize the River God Festival was regarded as some kind of unique business license.

Noon.

All the prominent figures in the town had arrived.

A group of subordinates including Cha Qing, Fan Zixuan, and Yan Qingshan also took time to participate.

The noise outside was even greater.

The alleys between houses and the small roads between streets were crowded with people.

"Come, come, let's make way, let's make way!"

"Make way!"

Bursts of uproar came.

Three huge carts dragging three giant beasts drove from the end of the street.

The ferocious giant beasts were bound by iron chains and placed on the slaughtering table.

The villagers' high emotions reached a new peak.

"Are those offerings?"

"Strange, so big!"

"I heard that the meat of this water monster, eating a small piece can keep you from being hungry for a day, full of strength, and even cure diseases; will we get a share?"

"Where are you from? First time in Yixing Town?"

"I'm from Nanxun... first time here." The man speaking tightened his wife and children's hands to avoid being separated by the crowded crowd.

He had heard that regardless of whether they were locals or not, everyone who participated would get a share, and it would be distributed per head, so he brought his whole family early in the morning to try his luck.

"I thought so." Hearing that he was an outsider, the person who replied couldn't help but show some pride, "You're lucky to meet Master Liang; put your heart in your stomach. Do you think Master Liang cares about that little bit of yours?"

"Yes, yes."

The man smiled awkwardly, his nervous heart slightly relaxed.

The sunlight shifted.

The June sun was sharp and fierce, and the surroundings were white and hazy, as if the illusion was ethereal and unreal.

The villagers stood sweating profusely, their mouths dry.

Chen Zhaoan saw that several people's faces were pale and sent young men down to distribute iced mung bean soup.

At the same time, he asked the crowd to step back to make room.

It was hot this year, and with so many people, it was inevitable to get heatstroke; he had prepared medicinal soup early in the morning, and bought a lot of ice.

Although ice was expensive in midsummer, to be honest, because of the River God Festival, the silver collected by Chen Zhaoan was so much that he could only spend it this way.

"Clang!"

The long incense curled, burning the thin rope.

The iron bead fell into the tray, making a crisp sound.

The noisy crowd on the entire pier gradually quieted down.

Several miles away, the Great Marsh was vast.

Several big snakes saw the crowd gradually quiet down, their vertical pupils scanning, trying to find the Liang-surnamed water man.

Having never met Liang Qu, the big snakes didn't know what he looked like, but they had long since inquired clearly that the main sacrificer of this sacrifice was the Liang-surnamed Water Official, which wouldn't be too hard to identify.

The red-scaled big snake scanned the area, turned back to look at the other snakes: "Is everything ready?"

The yellow snake said: "One water treasure ginseng, one glazed grass, one piece of clear wave lotus, there will be no mistake."

"Good! Send it down, one beast for one!"

The red-scaled big snake spat out its tongue.

These three were all precious treasure plants!

Each one was worth no less than a deep-water treasure fish; even if a Great Demon took it, it could save several years of effort!

And this was just a greeting gift! ===== CHAPTER 478 =====