Chapter 71: The Great God Ba She

Even though the wine cellar now held only the two of them, Guan Zhong was extremely cautious.

He leaned close to Xiao Yu, whispering into her ear: “Earlier, the master appeared to me in a dream, saying our ancestor divined his untimely death and specially dispatched General Guan Tianyang of the Rapid Report Bureau to guard the master’s soul at Feixian Ferry.”

The Black and White Constables come to claim the master’s soul have already been dragged off by General Tianyang to drink with courtesans.”

We can take this opportunity to deliver the master’s remains to Yingxiang Mansion, so our ancestor can perform the ghostly and divine art of defying heaven and altering fate to save him.”

Xiao Yu stared in shock. “Uncle Zhong, I don’t quite understand— who is General Guan Tianyang of the Rapid Report Bureau? Can the Black and White Constables drink with courtesans?”

Guan Zhong knew Miss Yu had just “emerged from barbarism” and lacked many common worldly knowledge, so he explained quickly and carefully: “You should know our Guan family ancestor is the City God of Yingxiang Mansion, right?”

The City God oversees all yin affairs of the entire prefecture—he certainly can’t be alone.”

Take the Rapid Report Bureau, one of the Six Departments assisting the City God, specifically responsible for karmic retribution of good and evil, and the retribution comes extremely fast... perhaps even fast enough to arrive the moment the master dies, crossing thousands of miles instantly?”

I don’t fully understand the abilities of the Rapid Report Bureau’s ghostly spirits.”

But I know the Guan family is a great clan with a hundred-year legacy.”

Besides our ancestor, many outstanding members of the Guan family, upon death, entered the City God Temple.”

Clearly, even ghostly spirits of the netherworld are more trustworthy when they’re our own kin.”

As for drinking with courtesans... cough, Miss, you don’t need to understand too deeply—just think of it as them eating and drinking.”

“Aren’t the Black and White Constables spirits of the Netherworld? How dare they violate Netherworld law? Does the Netherworld even have such laws?” Xiao Yu asked, puzzled.

Guan Zhong paused thoughtfully. “I don’t understand Netherworld laws, but our ancestor is a City God—he certainly knows the ins and outs better than we do.”

If he arranged it this way, there must be a reason.”

We only need to follow our ancestor’s instructions and deliver the master’s remains to Yingxiang Mansion in time.”

“The righteous father appeared to you in a dream... wait, when exactly did you have this dream?”

Guan Zhong said: “I was hiding inside a wine vat, suffocating, my head spinning, when I saw the master rise from the water and tell me our ancestor’s plan.”

I instantly woke up and hurriedly pulled the jar containing the master’s remains onto the wooden shelf, to keep it from being soaked by dirty water.”

The wooden shelves in the wine cellar weren’t placed separately—they were built by drilling holes into the stone walls and driving ironwood beams into them.”

So when the flood entered the cellar, the shelves didn’t float, but the wine vats did.”

Guan Zhong feared the vats might tip over, so he dragged two of them to the top of the wooden shelf.”

“What exactly did the righteous father say?” Xiao Yu asked again.

“Find the Chiyan Steed, tie the remains to its saddle, and after that, it’s no longer our concern.”

Finally, Guan Zhong added in a low voice: “This matter is known only to you and me—don’t let a third person find out.”

“I understand.”

After Xiao Yu and Guan Zhong had settled their plan, they called in Song Changqing and Wei Wu.

The two knights carried the wine vat containing Xiang Huchen’s remains out of the cellar, carefully smashed the vat, and laid Huchen’s body horizontally across the Chiyan Steed’s saddle.

“Wuuu~~”

The Chiyan Steed licked Huchen’s pale, icy face with its warm tongue, gently nudged his head with its nose, and tears like molten lava rolled from its burning eyes.

“No wonder it’s a divine steed—so sentient,” Xiao Yu stroked its head, then turned to Song Changqing. “My uncle Zhong and I must return the righteous father’s remains to our homeland—what about you?”

Song Changqing and Wei Wu both looked conflicted.

Before the Eight Immortals shot down the sun, they, like the former Huchen, had all hoped to attach themselves to the Marquis of Radiant Sun and secure a bright future in Da Qin.

But the Eight Immortals didn’t kill the “Radiant Sun”—instead, they doused many of the Black Armor Knights’ ambitions for fame and fortune with cold, cruel reality.

Going to Da Qin isn’t just about a bright future—it means stronger enemies, more brutal wars. How many times can they endure it? Is it worth it?”

“We’re still the Fire Crows under the Marquis of Radiant Sun,” Song Changqing sighed.

—Fate isn’t decided by us.

Xiao Yu said: “First, escort us across Feixian Ferry—it’ll honor your bond of brotherhood with the righteous father.”

“It’s already dark now—let’s leave tomorrow,” Wei Wu said.

Xiao Yu sighed. “The sooner we go, the sooner we’ll find peace.”

Wei Wu lowered his head and said nothing.

Xiao Yu led the horse, Guan Zhong supported Huchen’s remains on the saddle, Song Changqing and Wei Wu followed behind.

The group walked in silence beyond the Yunlai Inn’s grounds, and as they neared Feixian Ferry, soldiers laying wooden planks on the iron chains suddenly stood up, pointing downward in shock: “Ah, look! Something’s moving in the Hualong River!”

“Black and murky—what is it?”

“Too deep, can’t see clearly!”

“I swear it’s real—throw some torches down!”

“Hey, there really is a giant thing in the river! Wow, so big, so long!”

Actually, it wasn’t yet very late—it was still afternoon, nearing dusk.

But Lei Yuanzi’s Nine-Nine Fire Wheel Thunder and Miao the Monk’s great flood had altered the weather.

Even now, the sky remained thick with dark clouds, and light rain fell steadily.

The Fire Crows soldiers sat resting on the shore, while soldiers from the opposite Hualong Pass dragged a group of laborers to lay planks on the remaining iron chains, their eyes fixed downward—until one sharp-eyed man spotted a giant creature moving in the Hualong River.

As torch after torch was thrown down, everyone saw it.

Because the giant creature was simply too enormous, too long.

Xiao Yu had excellent vision; she squeezed to the shore and looked down—and was startled.

At Feixian Ferry, the Hualong River was its narrowest, less than two hundred paces wide, yet the giant creature occupied nearly half the river’s width—sixty to seventy meters across, stretching seven or eight hundred meters within sight, and beyond that, unclear—perhaps even longer.

“It’s a great demon, a demon king!” Xiao Yu’s heart pounded.

“Shh, don’t shout, don’t throw anything,” she hissed urgently.

It was contradictory—she feared the demon king below would notice them, yet hoped everyone would hear her warning.

“Everyone, be silent! Don’t throw any more torches!”

Someone else shared her thought—it was the Marquis of Radiant Sun.

He stood on the opposite side of the iron bridge, his expression unreadable, voice cold, gripping his halberd, radiating a heavy aura.

The Marquis of Radiant Sun had more authority than Xiao Yu, and his voice was far louder.

Soldiers and civilians on the bridge and both banks fell silent.

But the giant creature in the Hualong River seemed to have heard the shouts from the bridge.

It stopped moving, no longer swimming forward.

“Splash splash~~~”

Even from nearly a kilometer above the river surface, soldiers and civilians on both banks heard the violent explosion of water.

Some nearby people even had river water splash onto their faces.

Xiao Yu’s clothes were soaked through in a large patch.

Just turning its head upward, the wave surged a thousand meters high.

“Ah, it’s coming up! It’s looking up at us! Oh my god—it’s a black dragon!”

Black scales streaked with dark red, twin golden vertical pupils like tower lanterns—only half its skull emerged, resembling a small island rising from the water.

“Not a black dragon—it’s Ba She! It’s the Great God Ba She!” local soldiers and civilians cried out excitedly.

As they shouted, they knelt on both knees, prostrating themselves repeatedly toward the giant serpent below.

“The Great God Ba She has manifested!”

“Great God Ba She, bless my wife to give birth to a fat baby boy next year!”

“Great God Ba She, protect the people on both banks—don’t let us suffer more war and chaos!”

“Great God Ba She, my Wu family has offered livestock to the Hualong River every year—please cure my Uncle Wu San of his impotence!”

Aside from the uniform title “Great God Ba She,” the prayers were wildly varied.

Many didn’t pray for anything at all—only shouted excitedly: “Great God Ba She!”

Seeing their reaction, Xiao Yu breathed a sigh of relief.

With so many believers, this serpent demon wouldn’t dare commit violence in public.

“Splash splash~~~” Ba She ignored the soldiers and civilians entirely; its lantern-like eyes glanced once toward the Marquis of Radiant Sun, then slowly sank beneath the water, continuing its journey forward.

“Great God Ba She has left~~~” The cries held a hint of regret, but mostly relief.

“Splash splash~~~” Suddenly, Ba She the Great God slammed to a sudden halt, stopping dead at the riverbed—but didn’t raise its head; instead, it sank even deeper.

Even from the cliff’s edge, the black shadow of Ba She’s head on the water’s surface was no longer visible.

“Boom boom boom!”

Ba She the Great God seemed to have dug up something from the riverbed; it surged upward violently, stirring up massive silt, turning the river water turbid.

“Huh...” Xiao Yu frowned slightly, sensing something strange—as if something deeply connected to her was now held in Ba She’s mouth.

“Ah! It’s my Shadow God Map!”

A flash of insight struck her—she finally remembered what caused the strange sensation.

Every time Huchen opened the box, she felt a peculiar resonance with the Shadow God Map, which contained a fragment of her own soul.

Exactly the same sensation as now.

And considering the great flood had swept everything near Feixian Ferry into the Hualong River...

But why would the serpent demon want her Shadow God Map?

“Honor the Great God Ba She!” The local soldiers and civilians knelt again, shouting.

“Uncle Zhong, I have a question—where did the righteous father keep my Shadow God Map?” Xiao Yu’s expression turned grave.

“Probably in the inn—in the master’s room. Now...”

Guan Zhong glanced toward the Hualong River and sighed: “It’s certainly been swept into the river now. But the Emperor is dead...”

He didn’t continue speaking after that.

To this day, they still don’t understand why the Yang Flame Marquis murdered Xiang Huchen.

Gao Xianjue went to the inn to retrieve the Shadow God Map, silently and without alerting anyone.

Xiao Yu still believes the Shadow God Map was swept into the Hualong River from the inn.

In truth, the Shadow God Map had long entered the Yang Flame Marquis’s command tent.

But with the Eight Immortals shooting the sun, the Yang Flame Marquis couldn’t guard everything.

Besides the Shadow God Map, he himself lost many valuable items.

“Hey, Li Erdan, do you remember me?”

Xiao Yu spotted an acquaintance among the soldiers and civilians laying wooden planks.

Li Erdan, a guard from Hualong Pass.

A few days ago, when Xiao Yu first arrived at Feixian Ferry, she had visited Hualong Pass across the river and inquired about some “Mr. Qin” from Li Erdan.

“Ah, it’s Miss Yu! I was worried about you! I’m so glad you’re safe!” Li Erdan exclaimed excitedly.

“I’ve been lucky.”

Seeing his genuine joy, Xiao Yu felt moved and asked: “Do you know that Ba She Great God we just saw?”

Li Erdan set down the plank he was holding and scratched the back of his head, hesitating: “When I was a child, I heard the elders in my village tell stories of the Ba She Great God—there’s even a temple to him on the banks of the Hualong River outside Ze County!”

Legend says that long, long ago, the ruler led countless subjects across ten thousand li, migrating from Zhonghua’s Shu region to today’s Western Shu, bringing with them many seeds and livestock from their homeland.

Among them was a Ba She.

The ruler kept the Ba She in his palace during his lifetime, and before his death, released it into the Heilong River.

The Heilong River, the Hualong River, and Feixian Ferry are all connected to the Ba She Great God.”

As he spoke, he began singing in a strange ancient Shu dialect: “In the Heilong River flows a black snake, the black snake transforms into a dragon and enters the great river. One day it ascends Feixian Ferry, entering the Heavenly Palace to become an Immortal King.”

The lyrics were simple and clear, sung in a long, melodic tone that carried a sense of desolation.

With Li Erdan’s voice, Xiao Yu seemed to see an aged elder gently patting the head of a giant snake by the riverbank, humming a final blessing.

“People living near the Hualong River all seem to know this four-line folk song,” Li Erdan said.

“Not just near the Hualong River—all children in Shu know it and have heard the story of the Ba She Great God,” Guan Zhong said.

Now Xiao Yu didn’t fully understand, but once she entered Shu, she suddenly realized: the Hualong River and the Heilong River were nearly Shu’s Yangtze and Yellow Rivers.

The Hualong River and the Heilong River nurtured seven out of ten people in Shu.

“But what does the Ba She Great God want with my Shadow God Map?”

Xiao Yu pulled Guan Zhong aside and quietly shared her suspicion.

“Ah, what’s so strange about that? The Shadow God Map is a treasure! Even if the lady were not of peerless beauty, even ordinary flowers, birds, fish, and insects painted by the Painting Sage of Zhonghua would be rare treasures!”

Think about it—how many Painting Sages are there in the superior realm of Zhonghua? How many authentic works have they left behind?

It’s perfectly natural for the Ba She Great God to find such a treasure fallen into the river, pick it up, and take it back to his cave to collect.”

Guan Zhong looked utterly unconcerned.

“I hope so.”

Xiao Yu had a vague premonition.

She would inevitably meet the Ba She Great God again because of that Shadow God Map—and perhaps become entangled with him.