Chapter 151: I Count to Three (Thanks to Boss Happy Tyrannosaurus for the Alliance Leader)

Outside Qingzhou, Linjiang Prefecture.

The long street bustled with peddlers and runners, seemingly no different from usual.

The storyteller in the teahouse faced a crowd far larger than before, straining his throat to earn a few extra copper coins — but though more people came to listen, fewer were willing to pay.

Common folk could not read the situation, and could only glean scraps of news about Qingzhou's experts and the yao and mo from exaggerated rumors.

Yet their keen sense of danger was the instinct they lived by.

Seeing the government office runners sigh as they patrolled the streets, or a few more unfamiliar faces with solemn expressions appearing among the jianghu wanderers in the city—

they would swap the coarse rice in the pot for chaff, the two pieces of oil residue in the bowl for pitch-black pickled vegetables, and trade the copper coins saved for grain, hiding it somewhere inconspicuous at home.

A horse carriage slowly rolled down the long street and stopped outside the somewhat aged General Who Subdued Demons' residence, which looked as though it had not been repaired in many years.

At the gate stood an old man whose very hands trembled slightly, gripping a bamboo broom and earnestly sweeping fallen leaves.

He seemed a bit hard of hearing too — only when the driver gripped the reins to halt the yao-horse and shouted three times in succession did the old man raise his head in a daze: "Who are you looking for?"

The next instant, the figure stepping out from the carriage made him instinctively drop the broom, struggle to straighten his hunched back, and shout at the top of his lungs: "Huang Jian greets the Adjutant General!"

The young man wore his hair bound with an openwork black-gold crown, draped in a great cloak depicting a fierce wolf swallowing the moon, a yin-yang fish emblem embroidered at the collar, a jade ornament at his waist, and a three-foot ink-black blade slung diagonally across his back.

All of this marked the other as their own my lord, the one who garrisoned Linjiang Prefecture.

But that young, fair face left Huang Jian full of vexation and self-reproach — he racked his brains yet could not recall the man's name. Getting old really did make one useless!

The young man gave a slight nod of his chin and said in a mild tone: "Shen Yi has matters to report to General Chen Qiankun. Please announce me, old sir."

"Yes, yes, Lord Shen, please wait a moment, I'll go right away, I'll go right away..." Huang Jian seemed a little overwhelmed by the honor, turned around excitedly, then gave his own forehead a hard smack.

He turned back again: "My lord, General Chen is not in the residence."

As if Huang Jian's earlier shout had alerted those inside, several young Captains soon rushed out. Seeing Shen Yi's attire, they first froze for a moment, then one of them seemed to recall something: "You're from Qingfeng Mountain... Lord Shen, please come in quickly!"

The young Captain reacted swiftly and recalled the prohibition — the matter of the other slaying the jiao was top secret; even he had only caught half a sentence of it during an idle chat between two Adjutant Generals, and had then been lashed three times by the Adjutant General and ordered to get out of the tent.

"Never expected that General Chen would actually summon you back too."

The men exchanged pleasantries as they ushered Shen Yi into the residence: "Lord Shen, you're heading to Shuiyun Township, yes?"

"What happened?" Shen Yi halted his steps.

The Captains exchanged glances and sighed: "The Yangchun River waterfolk have gone mad for some reason — three Jiao Princes suddenly left the Jiang He and went on a rampage, injuring people. Most of the demon hunters have already come over to pursue them. General Chen has to keep an eye on that old jiao dragon..."

"The Yangchun River stretches over four thousand li from end to end, with both ends even reaching beyond Outside Qingzhou — where could one possibly keep watch over all of it?"

"Enough, you'd better hurry over."

The Captains dared not speak plainly, but the Yangchun Jiang Jiao clan was clearly trying to wear the old man down — until General Chen was exhausted, that old jiao dragon would absolutely not show itself.

The other adjutants, meanwhile, ran along the riverbanks, coordinating with the demon hunters' skill at tracking and seeking yao, determined to capture the three Jiao Princes as quickly as possible.

"Not going there yet." Shen Yi shook his head.

The journey had not been rushed — both the green and crimson radiance and the Heaven-Piercing Sun-Shooting Divine Bow had recovered.

But the Outer Demon Core was still empty, and Bai Lu's yao core had not been used for now — after all, the fifth shedding had taken nearly three thousand five hundred years, and the current yao and mo lifespans were clearly still lacking a bit.

"Then what is it?" The Captains were a bit bewildered.

"To earn some extra money." Shen Yi took out a silver bell and sent a message into it.

Soon, demon hunters nearby pointed him in a general direction.

Under the watching eyes of the crowd, a glint flashed in the young man's eyes — like a divine eagle gazing afar — and he suddenly vaulted into the air, transforming into a clear wind that swept across the sky.

When had the Captains ever seen an Adjutant General display such a feat? They all stood stunned where they were.

Linjiang Prefecture, Qiping County.

Amid these turbulent times, a local wealthy family had paid to build a new temple.

It was said the Yangchun River River God could ensure favorable weather, bless marriage and childbirth, and ward off evil.

Whether true or false was unknown.

But Qiping County was a major county, not some remote backwater like Shuiyun Township.

Building a wild shrine by the river and building one within the county were two entirely different matters — yet strangely, Zhen Mo Si said nothing, merely sending two Captains to take a look, and after that no one paid it any further attention.

Presumably they had noticed the common folk were too on edge and in desperate need of spiritual support.

Precisely for this reason, this newly built temple had reached an extraordinary peak of incense and worship — the faithful queuing to offer incense stretched in a long dragon.

Inside the temple, the divine statue sat solemnly, palms resting flat on its knees, a luxurious flowing-cloud shawl draped down, a straight precious blade at its waist; the sculpture was entirely ink-black in color, dignified yet carrying an added air of martial killing intent.

Worshippers knelt one after another on the cushions. As news of the dead spread like wildfire, the prayers on their lips shifted from "give us a chubby baby boy" to "keep our family safe."

Yet within this scene, two things stood out as particularly jarring.

First, the long queue outside the temple on the hillside — several dozen jianghu folk in varied dress trickling in from different directions, occasionally reaching toward bells hidden at their waistbands.

And then the tall figure inside the temple who neither burned incense nor prayed.

"The Yangchun River River God?"

The middle-aged man stood with his hands clasped behind his back. Seeing the divine statue gazing down at him indifferently, the smile on his face grew richer.

The curve at his lips grew more and more exaggerated.

Until he could no longer hold back his laughter: "Heh... ha!"

"Before this sovereign, you dare style yourself a god of the Yangchun River?!"

The Fifth Jiao Prince laughed without the slightest concealment, inevitably drawing the displeasure of the worshippers, who all frowned and turned their gazes toward him.

In an instant, he suddenly glared back.

A pair of crimson, bloodthirsty eyes made every worshipper's heart violently quake — those with weaker bowels lost control on the spot.

"What? This sovereign is not fit to comment on your wild god?"

"How about this."

The Fifth Jiao Prince seemed to greatly enjoy this pre-meal sport. He withdrew his ferocity and smiled faintly: "Now this sovereign intends to eat you all. I'll count to three — let's see whether your river god will..."

Before he could even raise a finger, the Blackback Blackback Jiaolong Lord suddenly noticed that every pilgrim around him had their eyes wide open.

The next instant, a soft ripping sound rang suddenly in his ear.

Looking carefully, he discovered a pale, blood-streaked hand reaching out from his own throat.

When that hand withdrew, he turned his head trembling, and what came into view was a gently swaying cloak of deep black.

A young man stood at an angle, one hand resting on a scabbard, watching him with an indifferent expression.

(End of chapter)