Chapter 63: Slaying the River Demon

"Ahhh!!!"

The river god covered her bloated face, trying to use it to block the puzzled gazes cast by the many fishermen.

She was a god! A river god who had come riding the river's waves to shelter one region!

She let out a piercing shriek; countless water droplets condensed and, like arrows, volleyed toward the front, the thunderous roar shaking the heavens!

Shen Yi's steps were nimble, sticking close within one chi of the river god.

His slender five fingers struck out again and again along mysterious trajectories; wherever they touched, the meridians were severed, the demonic power scattering completely.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The river god's graceful figure gradually swelled, nearly bursting her blue robe, massive as an ox.

She had already had most of her essence drained by the flood dragon, and had single-handedly defeated two Jade Liquid Realm Captains—Li Mujin's lamp had run dry, but in truth she too had expended deeply.

And now her whole body's great meridians were sealed by a profound martial art like the Meridian-Severing Dragon-Catching Hand.

At last, even the rain of arrows across the sky could no longer be sustained, quietly disintegrating in midair.

Shen Yi kicked out viciously, sending her enormous body flying straight off; like a sandbag bursting apart, she crashed through and snapped the gilded statue. The temple quaked violently, roof beams collapsed with a thunderous rumble, and thick dust filled the air.

He tilted his body slightly and reached out to catch the Black Blade falling from the air.

He then strode into the river god's temple, grabbed the river demon by the back of the neck, and slammed her hard onto the altar.

The river demon's whole body trembled; her two hands clutched tightly at the edge of the collapsed altar, trying with arms that had lost most of their feeling to prop herself up.

Shen Yi stomped a foot onto her shoulder, pressing her back down onto the table.

Feeling the bone-chilling presence behind her, the river demon nearly burst her liver and gall in terror:

"You can't kill me! I carry a dragon fetus in my belly!"

"I am to be the Dragon Consort of Yangchun River!"

"I am the River God of Water Cloud Hamlet!!! Save me!!"

Listening to the wretched howl, Li Mujin, already dazed, nearly fainted from the shock.

Countless fishermen crowded outside the river god's temple, holding torches, staring in disbelief at the bloated figure on the altar.

That was the deity their ancestors had worshipped for several hundred years.

The master to whom they had sent three hundred sons and daughters into the river to attend.

Now, she lay helplessly pinned beneath a foot on the altar, letting out terrified sounds—she said… save me.

"Save the river god! Kill the running dogs!"

The village chief clutched his son's corpse, tears streaming down his aged face, his eyes full of hatred.

He had only this one son!

The old man rasped in a hoarse voice: "Kill!!"

The furious words tore through the silence of the deep night.

At once, more than ten young and able-bodied men threw down their torches, gripped their fish spears tight, and charged forward in a frenzy.

In the past, it was with just such a stance that they had driven away the Zhen Mo Si officers again and again.

This was the wrath of all seventy thousand common folk of Water Cloud Hamlet.

Before it, even a Jade Liquid Realm Deputy Captain had to halt.

"……"

Shen Yi, as if he had heard nothing, picked up a sharp wooden stake and, without the slightest hesitation, drove it through the river demon's back, nailing her dead to the altar.

Accompanied by the river demon's scream.

He glanced back slightly, extended his left hand, and slowly spread his five fingers; a jet-black waist token swayed in his palm, the silver-hook, iron-stroke characters "Zhen Mo" chillingly cold.

His voice was flat: "By order of the Zhen Mo Si, demons are to be slain; all unrelated persons, withdraw at once."

The young fishermen glared with bloodshot eyes—how could they care about any of that? So long as they charged in, the other side could only retreat helplessly.

Thinking this, their rough hands gripping the fish spears tightened a few degrees more: "Kill the running dogs! Save the river god!"

But whether it was an illusion or not, by the dim torchlight, they could not find on that black-robed young man's face… the hesitation that had once dwelt in those Captains' eyes.

Seeing the crowd still charging forward.

Shen Yi said nothing, merely closed his five fingers tight again.

A streak of red light silently appeared, swept across the air without a sound, and at a speed the naked eye could hardly follow pierced the first skull, then the second…

The village chief stared in shock as more than ten men fell one after another, an inexplicable dread rising in his heart.

This Captain seemed… a little different from the ones before.

Before he could finish the thought, the scalding crimson on his forehead had already smeared his vision; his body drifted strangely light.

"……"

Watching the village chief drop dead on the spot, the remaining fishermen who had not yet acted felt their scalps go numb, all unconsciously stepping back half a pace.

The fishermen who had been holding several Zhen Mo Captains captive also dropped their fish spears, trembling.

Thud thud thud—

Outside the temple, figures gradually filled the ground in kneeling; the people bowed their heads to the earth, kowtowing until their heads bled and broke, their wails endless: "We beg my lord to spare the River God Lady!"

Shen Yi turned back and stared at the river demon beneath his feet.

The jet-black blade came sweeping down in an instant.

With a dull sound, the head rolled to the ground, transforming into a zhang-wide, whiskerless catfish shape.

The blue robe split apart; a slick, fat, blue fish body filled half the river god's temple, its tail twitching faintly.

Under the horrified gazes of the crowd.

The blood-soaked young man stood with one foot on the altar; his expression could hardly be called fierce, yet no one dared meet his eyes.

He inspired even more dread in their hearts than the statue had before.

He stabbed his blade into the fish's belly, focused intently on slicing it open, and the tender, plump flesh spread open page by page.

He took the beast core with a casual hand.

Shen Yi cut off a piece of fish flesh with his blade, lowered his gaze, and stood still, placing it in his mouth to chew slowly.

"..."

The fishermen and common folk no longer kowtowed; their eyes grew dim, their expressions gradually turning numb—they no longer knew what face to wear before the scene before them.

That lofty, murderous figure, like a world-ravaging demon, was tasting their river god.

A moment later, Shen Yi casually tore off a large chunk of fish flesh and strode out of the temple.

He seized a dazed man.

Under the man's stunned gaze, he shoved the fish flesh casually into his mouth.

"Ugh!"

The man retched instinctively, but Shen Yi's long, slender five fingers clamped tightly over his mouth.

"Chew it to pieces and swallow it down." His indifferent voice sent a chill into everyone's hearts.

"Then answer me."

Shen Yi hauled the man up from the ground in one motion, his expression calm: "How does your river god taste?"

Murky tears seeped from the man's eyes; his whole body trembled.

Yet the fresh tenderness bursting between his lips and teeth was a flavor he had never tasted in over thirty years of living by the river.

He swallowed it instinctively, then immediately felt guilt well up.

Then he couldn't help but swallow another mouthful.

"You raised it well. Don't raise one again."

Shen Yi patted the man's face, sheathed his black blade, and walked toward a few people not far away.

The madman who had woken from unconsciousness, now covered in mud, scrambled over on hands and knees toward this place.

He saw his horrified fellow villagers scattered across the ground, saw the collapsed temple, and his gaze swept past the only upright figure standing there.

Then it fell on the fat fish in the temple, belly ripped open and gutted.

Immediately after, the madman burst forth with unprecedented strength, charged through the crowd, threw himself into the fish's belly, and began tearing off huge bites.

The fish flesh, mixed with snot and tears, was frantically swallowed into his stomach, as if he meant to pour out every ounce of grievance accumulated over a dozen years.

Seeing this, the others kneeling on the ground all stared at him in a daze.

The man who had earlier been forced to eat the fish flesh now beat his chest in anguish, yet couldn't help but quietly swallow a mouthful of saliva.

In the firelight's glow, the gold skin of the shattered statue peeled away, revealing the original clay body beneath.

(End of chapter)