Chapter 45: Ferocious Beast River God

The wild wolf kept struggling in his hand, but it was utterly useless.

This was Shen Qing's first encounter with a ferocious beast since arriving in this world, and he kept increasing the force of his grip on the wolf's head.

Gradually, his strength had reached the level of the Innate Realm.

Bang!

A sound of flesh and blood exploding rang out, and the wild wolf's entire head was crushed by Shen Qing.

Shen Qing raised his eyebrows; the wild wolf had no true qi or inner strength inside, yet its mere physical power matched the Acquired Realm.

The term "ferocious beast" really fits them.

Although they were fierce, their intelligence wasn't high; even though Shen Qing had so easily crushed their companion, the other wild wolves showed no fear at all.

Instead, the smell of blood made them a bit more frenzied, and they came at Shen Qing like madmen.

Shen Qing narrowed his eyes; counting the wild wolf that had just died, there were still four left on the scene.

For something that couldn't even speak, Shen Qing didn't even think of attacking it.

He waved his hand, and the sound of breaking air rang out as several arrows shot toward the four wild wolves, most of them aimed at their waists and abdomens.

Although these wild wolves could no longer be considered ordinary beasts, they still matched the folk notion of them having bronze heads, iron bones, and tofu waists.

As expected, the arrows that hit the waist and abdomen pierced easily, while those that struck the head could only graze the skin slightly.

"Cast the net!"

In the darkness, a petty flag officer shouted loudly, and several Embroidered Uniform Guard threw out four large nets that tightly ensnared the four wild wolves.

This time, when Shen Qing came to Li Family Slope, he brought only a petty flag officer squad; the squad's leader, the petty flag officer, was Pang Xiyuan, who had previously come to report news under Ma Kui, and this unit of Embroidered Uniform Guard were also formerly under Ma Kui.

However, a petty flag officer squad, having grasped the enemy's weakness and with the advantage of a surprise attack, was more than enough to deal with four Acquired Realm ferocious beasts.

Moreover, this unit of Embroidered Uniform Guard were hacking at the wolf demons like madmen, not even bothering with defense.

Each of them had bloodshot eyes, and their knives swung at the wild wolves' bodies.

The reason was simple: they had just been released from prison, and while incarcerated they had heard of Shen Qing's deeds.

At the same time they realized how ignorant they had been, actually opposing Shen Qing, and absurdly got dragged into a plot to murder a hundred-household officer.

If nothing unexpected happened, stripping off this layer of clothing would already be the best outcome.

But now they actually had a chance to go on a mission with Shen Qing, and they immediately realized this might be their only opportunity in life.

They must seize this chance and perform well.

One could see that the colonels' knives, when striking the wolf bones, threw off sparks.

【Your subordinates have slain an Acquired Realm ferocious beast, successfully looting the trait: Sturdy Arm Bones (green)】

Shen Qing raised his eyebrows, and the goods were delivered!

It seems that in this world, not only killing people yields traits; killing any living thing should also produce traits.

Shen Qing didn't think much more, walked toward the old farmer, and still needed to learn more about the wild wolves' situation.

There definitely weren't just five wild wolves; otherwise the county office wouldn't have needed to call for help from the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

The old farmer also guessed that the person before him was certainly not ordinary, and hurriedly bowed.

"Commoner greets you, sir."

"Old sir, do you know where these beasts came from, and can you tell their numbers clearly?"

"Reporting to you, sir, the town's constables came to investigate and said they came from the opposite bank of the Red Date River; I'm not sure of the number, those in the village who have seen wild wolves are all dead, others say there are ten, others say twenty, and I don't know either."

Shen Qing nodded; whether ten or twenty, as long as it's more than five, that's fine.

Shen Qing had glanced at the map of this area before leaving the Hundred Households Office, and he also remembered the surrounding terrain clearly.

After crossing the Red Date River from Li Family Slope, there were no more villages or towns, but going forward a few dozen li brought one to White Egret Marsh.

So this pack of wild wolves very likely came from White Egret Marsh.

However, after crossing the Red Date River, the territory becomes vast, and finding that pack of wolves is another problem.

Suddenly, Shen Qing thought of something and turned his head to look at the old farmer.

"How wide is the Red Date River?"

The old farmer stared for a moment, asking why that question, but quickly answered.

"At its narrowest, the Red Date River is about five or six zhang wide; at its widest, it's probably over ten zhang."

"Do you know where in the village there is still incense used for ancestral rites?"

"There's a shop at the east end of the village; going back and forth to town is inconvenient, so we usually buy what we need there. Since we were in a hurry this time, we probably didn't bring any."

Shen Qing nodded, already having a plan in mind, and turned his head to look at the group of Embroidered Uniform Guard still hacking at the wild wolves.

"Hey hey hey, stop cutting; if you keep going you'll be able to make dumplings."

The group of red-eyed Embroidered Uniform Guard then stopped.

"Pang Xiyuan, assign one person to follow the old gentleman to fetch some incense, then send the old man to town."

"Scholar, you take a few people to the village to catch a few live chickens."

After the time it takes to finish a cup of tea, a crowd of people came mightily to the banks of the Red Date River.

Everyone was completely baffled, like a monk two zhang tall who can't figure things out.

The scholar held a chicken in his left hand and a bundle of incense in his right, also completely mystified.

"Boss, we're not here to hunt wild wolves; what are we doing with these?"

Shen Qing gave a mysterious smile, offering no explanation.

"No need to ask further; the mountain folk have their own clever plan."

"Scholar, you light these incense sticks, placing one every three meters, for a total of five."

"Heigou, go kill the chicken, pour its blood into the river, and after the blood has drained, throw the chicken in as well."

Heigou had not the slightest hesitation or doubt, taking the chicken and walking toward the riverbank; whatever the case, what Shen Qing said was correct.

The scholar also lit all the incense.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard were doubtful.

"What are we doing? It looks a bit like ancestor worship."

"Your ancestors are in the river? In my opinion, Shen Qing must be summoning a god."

"Pang Xiyuan glanced at the two of them: 'You two, shut up for me.'"

While everyone was arguing, the Black Dog was calmly killing chickens.

One chicken, two chickens...

Up to the fifth chicken, the river surface showed movement, with gurgling bubbles the size of heads popping up.

"Hey, look, there's movement in the river, as if something is about to surface!"

"Holy shit! Holy shit! Shen Qing couldn't really have summoned an immortal, could he?"

The Black Dog also gripped his knife hilt, stepped back a few paces, and stared fixedly at the river surface.

Under the moonlight, a shadow slowly appeared on the shimmering river surface, then quickly enlarged.

A splash exploded, and a huge creature rose to the surface.

After the splash subsided, everyone could see the river situation clearly: it was a gigantic red carp, probably five or six meters long in length.

What the hell is this!

A monster! It must be a monster!

Shen Qing looked at the red carp, his voice flat.

"Are you the River God of this place?"

The red carp gave the Embroidered Uniform Guard a disdainful glance before answering.

"I am indeed the River God of the Red Date River; you may also call me Liyu. Before summoning me, did you not tell this bunch of filthy fellows about the River God?"

As soon as Liyu spoke, everyone's jaws dropped, feeling as if thunder had exploded in their heads.

Not only because this red carp can speak, but even more shocking is that its voice sounds like that of a teenage girl.

In today's terms, that's a loli.

Shen Qing smiled: "Explaining would be troublesome; it'd be much easier to summon you first and then explain."

Afterward, Shen Qing simply explained the matter of the River God.

After the Da Wu dynasty was founded, ferocious beasts sprang up everywhere in the realm; land beasts are manageable—just overwhelm them with numbers; no matter how fierce the beast, ten people aren't enough, a hundred aren't enough, so you send in the army.

But in the river it's troublesome; a martial artist's strength is somewhat diminished in water, and forcibly killing them isn't worth the loss.

In the end they chose pacification, selectively recruiting powerful, intelligent beasts; of course the court wouldn't paint false promises—there would definitely be benefits.

Each year the court gives these River Gods some precious medicine, and likewise the River Gods have a merit system.

Thus the River God system has been passed down to this day, and River Gods now exist in every part of the dynasty.

However, due to their beastly nature, commoners and low-ranking officials are unaware of the existence of beast River Gods.

As for eating people, there's even less to worry about—how long could one keep eating people? Never mind whether they'd run away; if you ate too many, the court would come and slaughter you.

Submit to the court, and besides the annual precious medicine, there's also a merit system that can be exchanged for precious medicine—any intelligent beast can see which is more enduring.

No intelligent beast is a fool.

One full meal, still full every meal—yet it's clear enough.