Chapter 283: Xu Father Curses the Dragon

In the land of Nanchang, the provincial examination had already concluded. Xu Zhiyuan, who had spent three days in the examination cell, felt as if he had suffered a "great illness" when he finally emerged.

The exam results would not be posted for another month; waiting here in vain would be a waste of time.

Therefore, he returned to pack his things, rested for two days, paid his respects to the great Confucian scholar who had lectured him on the classics, and planned to take a boat home.

During this time, some literati and poets who were waiting specifically for the results invited him to join them in poetry gatherings or to visit brothels, but he refused them all.

After making contact with the Niu family's boat, he prepared to pass through Poyang and travel along the Xin River, heading straight for home.

When the boat reached a place in Poyang called "Laoye Bay," the boatman disembarked to go to the "Laoye Temple" to pay respects to the "Laoye God."

The Laoye God in this Laoye Temple was, in fact, the temple of the Poyang Old Jiao Shunji Little Dragon King, and seated beside him was the thousand-year-old black fish spirit, Anji Furen.

Seeing the boatman paying his respects, Xu Zhiyuan asked curiously, "I have heard that there are many water demons and monsters in Poyang Lake. Previously, a black cable-like creature caused trouble, but it was fished out by the Poyang County Magistrate and burned with fire, so no one believes in such things anymore. What is so mysterious about this Laoye Temple? Why do passing boats take the initiative to disembark and pay respects?"

Hearing him say this, the boatman was startled: "Sir, you are a scholar with a bright future; how can you speak such disrespectful words?"

"We rely on the mountains to eat from the mountains and the waters to eat from the waters, so naturally, we must pay respects to the Water Deity of this place... Sir, our safety on this journey depends entirely on this Laoye God. Let alone us, even when the Cao Gang comes, they must offer him three sticks of incense. Every year when the shipping season begins, they bring boatloads of livestock for sacrifice. I have seen it before: over a dozen flood dragons flew up from the lake into the cloud void, stirred up a waterspout, and swept the sacrificial cattle, sheep, and pigs into the sky. Then, it rained, and the rain was filled with fish, shrimp, turtles, and soft-shelled turtles... all gifts returned by the Dragon King... among them were many spiritual and precious fish, truly rare."

"If the offerings are perfunctory in any given year and he is not satisfied, he will cause a flood to submerge the fertile fields along the lake. The Cao Gang then has no choice but to find young boys and girls and cast them into the lake in water cages. Once the Dragon King eats the boys and girls, he will calm down."

"Sometimes the Dragon King or the Dragon Prince will come ashore, and if they take a fancy to a girl, they will leave behind a scale and plenty of gold and pearls as a betrothal gift. The girl's family then begins preparations, and on the next first or fifteenth day of the lunar month, they marry the bride off... this can also ensure favorable weather for the crops."

Although Xu Zhiyuan was in middle age and had a family, which meant he had vulnerabilities, he could not help but say upon hearing of such conduct: "I also know that dragons are a type of divine creature."

He had once wanted to take a shortcut to fame by adapting Han Dajia's "On Dragons," "On Horses," and "On Teachers" as his own, but later, through self-reflection, he did not do so.

Now, arriving at this Laoye Temple and seeing such conduct from this evil flood dragon, yet it presumptuously called itself a dragon, he could not help but recite "On Dragons." He also interspersed it with descriptions of dragons from *Three Kingdoms*, all of which had been taught to him by Xu Jia.

"Dragons can be large or small, they can rise or hide; when large, they stir up clouds and breathe mist; when small, they conceal their forms and hide their traces; when rising, they soar through the universe; when hiding, they lurk within the waves. They change with the times, traversing the four seas, vast and boundless in the mysterious void, brushing against the sun and moon, obscuring the light, sensing thunder and lightning, manifesting divinely, submerging the earth, and leveling hills and valleys. Such a divine creature is a symbol of the Kingly Way and benevolence; how could it demand the sacrifice of livestock, young boys and girls, or even forcibly take women from good families?"

"This kind, though known as a Dragon King, does not act according to the Kingly Way, but rather like bandits in a marsh or a mountain chieftain. It is evident that this is no true dragon, merely a common brute."

"Since it is merely a brute, the common people fear its might and are intimidated by it—this is fear, not faith. How can it guarantee favorable weather and safe shipping? It is the very source of the trouble. Instead of suppressing it, people build temples and offer sacrifices, aiding its evil. It is arrogant and tyrannical, with evil auras and lewd might filling the space between heaven and earth, preventing the Qi of the Righteous Way from being manifested among the people."

Xu Zhiyuan spoke with increasing fervor, eventually pointing at the noses of the two monster statues and cursing them.

The surrounding commoners were terrified upon hearing this and begged him to stop. Even the temple keeper was alarmed and said angrily, "What a wild and rebellious fool!"

However, Xu Zhiyuan's words were not without power. Although he had only initially cultivated the Vast Righteous Qi and had not yet placed in the provincial examination, he was able to resonate with the righteous Qi of heaven and earth.

Just as when Chen Sheng and Wu Guang started their uprising and the whole world responded, there was no other reason than that they had suffered under the Qin for too long.

Although the local people sacrificed to the Laoye Temple, they had likely cursed him many times in their hearts, wishing he would be struck by lightning and die a horrible death—especially those forced to pay sacrificial levies or those whose families had to provide young boys and girls.

But the flood dragon could summon thunder and lightning; how could it be bothered by ordinary lightning?

These words were spoken directly inside the temple. The eight-hundred-mile water boundary of Poyang, within the Dharma Realm, was a vast ocean known as the "Poyang Great Sea," and within it was a Poyang Dragon Palace.

In the Dragon Palace, there were seven or eight flood dragons that had attained the Earth Immortal realm, as well as the Shunji Longwang and Anji Furen, who were in the God Immortal realm. Other flood dragons in the Human Immortal realm did not cultivate inside the Dragon Palace; they lived like ordinary, fierce wild beasts, foraging and cultivating in the lake... these were just the flood dragons born to aquatic creatures. As for those born from plants and stones, there was no telling how many there were; three or four hundred was a conservative estimate.

Taking wives and eating young boys and girls were the tyrannical acts of these Earth Immortal-realm flood dragons.

As for the pigs, cattle, and sheep offered by the Cao Gang, they were the blood food for those Human Immortal-realm flood dragons.

The Dragon Palace water mansion was connected to the temple on the shore, and the two monsters in the God Immortal realm, who cultivated the way of God Immortals, also needed to use Incense Fire and Wish Power Dharma Coins to assist their cultivation.

This was the reason they frequently released floods and then accepted sacrifices, keeping it up for three or five years before doing it again to maintain their divine might.

For those in the God Immortal realm, relying solely on their own cultivation to transform from yin to yang was extremely difficult. Only through the blessings and wishes of sentient beings could they use the method of "refining the false into the true" to gently transform their Primordial Spirit into pure yang.

Ordinary Wish Power Dharma Coins, such as copper or silver coins, were insufficient; only Wish Power Gold Money, which carried the power of pure yang, worked.

When ten thousand people prayed for rain or favorable weather, if their hearts were sincere, they would likely obtain this item. If they were not sincere and the yield was insufficient, the evil flood dragon would have its descendants cause chaos, so that the next sacrifice would be much more sincere.

However, Xu Zhiyuan's voice reached the Dragon Palace.

At first, it was fine; all he heard were "praises for the dragon." The Shunji Longwang was overjoyed: "Not bad, not bad. A dragon is indeed like this. For a mere mortal scholar to understand the Dragon Race so well shows he is extraordinary. I can invite him into the Dragon Palace, have him leave behind calligraphy, carve a 'On Dragons' stele, and let all generations know of my achievements... I will even marry my most beautiful daughter to him. When he dies, I will summon his soul to serve as my Dragon God Registrar."

The result of his fantasy was excellent, but when he heard the later rebukes—calling him an evil dragon and a mountain chieftain—his face turned livid with rage.

Immediately, the Haoran Righteous Qi between the heavens and earth in Poyang was triggered, rushing into the Poyang Dragon Palace, intending to brand the word "Evil" onto all the dragon sons and grandsons.

This was the same as the Lishan Sect labeling Xu Jia as "heretical and crooked."

For creatures like dragons, there is the concept of "bestowing legitimacy." When a flood dragon is traveling through a flood, if it encounters a pure yang boy, a person of three generations of virtue, or an elder with the Five Blessings, and they say to it, "A dragon!"

It can immediately escape the flood and soar into the sky, transforming from a water-dwelling flood dragon into a flying dragon of the heavens. It transforms from a monster into a "God."

But if someone calls it a "flood dragon" or a "great snake," it will destroy the flood momentum it worked so hard to gather, its Dharma Power will dissipate, and there will be only one ending: death—either struck by lightning or buried in a mudslide. After death, the fishy stench will linger for a long time.

Xu Zhiyuan, in the temple, pointed at the nose of the statue and cursed: "Are you worthy of being called dragons? You are nothing but common brutes!"

This did not just ruin the merit of one flood dragon or snake; it branded the entire Poyang Dragon Nest clan.

Although Xu Zhiyuan was forty-two years old, married, and had children for many years—not a pure yang boy, nor an elder with the Five Blessings—as long as he had cultivated "Haoran Righteous Qi," he was a legitimate disciple of the Confucian school.

To rebuke them with the status of a legitimate Confucian disciple—one person telling ten, ten telling a hundred—such an essay and such character, once spread to the literary circles, would be famous enough that Confucian scholars would surely join in the crusade.

This is what is called "condemnation by word and pen."

The Shunji Longwang built temples and established sacrifices for the sake of a good name and to be a True God, at least maintaining the appearance. To have his face ripped off and torn apart like this would naturally lead to him being "cast down from the altar."

If it were just losing the temple, that would be one thing, but with the word "Evil" clinging to him, it would not be long before the Heavenly Court's inspecting deities would include him in their assessments... and he might well be added to the "List of Evil Dragons Awaiting Execution at the Qiaolong Tai."

Dragon liver and dragon marrow are extremely delicious. Whenever the Heavenly Palace holds a banquet, they slaughter evil dragons. After all, legitimate Dragon Gods are certainly not easy to kill and eat, and the dragons they raise are resisted by the legitimate Great Dragon Gods. Only the evil dragons and wild dragons of the lower realms can be targeted.

He recalled the last time his own mother, father, and over three hundred brothers and sisters—flood dragons in the God Immortal and Earth Immortal realms—were searched out one by one by Xu Xun, Xu Tianjun, according to the genealogy, and killed page by page!

He was still just a dragon egg at the time, not yet on the genealogy. By the time he hatched, not a single relative was left on the list... only because a Holy Mother pleaded for him, saying the child was innocent and did not yet have the ability to commit evil, was he able to survive.

Yet, his tail was still cut off, and he was ordered to cultivate in the Suolong Jing, forbidden from entering the world...

It was not until the Heavenly Master Xu ascended that he dared to occasionally come out around the Qingming Festival to pay respects at various places according to the genealogy... and incidentally, bring wind and rain to accumulate some Merit.

Only later did he gradually become bolder and propagate many more small flood dragons...

But now, he was terrified.

He had returned to that night dominated by the Heavenly Master Xu.

The more he feared, the more extreme he became. The Shunji Longwang decided to nip this possibility in the bud.

He immediately rode the black clouds, pulling the thousand-year-old black fish spirit, Shunji Furen, and arrived above the Laoye Temple.

The people of Poyang saw the sky suddenly change, and a giant black dragon appeared in the clouds, with a large black fish beside it...

This black dragon stared fixedly at the direction of the Laoye Temple. With one opening of its mouth, a whirlpool rose in Laoye Bay, and a waterspout rose from the bottom to the cloud void.

That dragon's two eyes were like two millstone-sized lanterns, emitting a faint, lingering light.

The boatmen who worshipped the gods knelt on the ground in a hurry, begging for their lives... The next moment, they were pulled into the sky by the tornado and torn into a bloody, fishy rain.

But this tornado could not actually move Xu Zhiyuan; the vast, upright Qi protected him. The gale blew his hair into disarray, and the rain lashed against his cheeks. He looked up at the giant beast in the firmament and shouted loudly, "Shunji evil dragon, are you afraid! Everything I said is the truth, and that is why you are anxious, you are afraid, aren't you?"

The Shunji Longwang roared, "Audacious mortal, how dare you offend the dragon's might! Was your entire clan bought in bulk?"

The next moment, his figure grew larger and larger.

The commoners exclaimed, "A dragon! The dragon is flying toward us!"

Even Lord Ye, who loved dragons, was frightened into a faint by a real one. Although the commoners worshipped the dragon king at the Laoye Temple, seeing this behemoth of several hundred to a thousand zhang, like a mountain range flying in the sky, they were still scared half to death. Many were so terrified their legs went weak, and they lost control of their bowels.

Although Xu Zhiyuan was also somewhat afraid in his heart, the angry words had just poured out, and now he felt an inexplicable surge of confidence. His whole body felt hot, his ears felt hot, his nostrils felt hot—this was "hot blood rushing to the brain," or perhaps, "With hair bristling in anger, I lean against the railing, the rain showers cease. Looking up, I let out a long whistle to the sky, my heroic spirit stirred!"

In short, he shouted loudly, "Everyone else fears you, but I do not. What a dragon is like, you know, and I know, and you know even better than I do!"

The next moment, he was snatched up by the dragon's claw.

The Shunji Longwang only felt as if his claw had grabbed a hot iron, scorching him, but he still refused to let go.

Yet, when he wanted to kill him, he felt a threat from the dark, a threat from the Confucian Dao; if he dared to kill him, he would confirm his name as an evil dragon.

He had manifested his holiness in person, and already thousands upon thousands of people had seen the dragon.

Local county gazetteers would record it, and it would even be reported to the imperial court. Great Confucian scholars would learn of this matter, and they would demand the Emperor strip him of his divine position, or even organize sacrifices to the Heavens themselves, demanding the punishment of the evil dragon.

This was exactly what he feared most. He had finally managed to restart a family genealogy and did not want to be wiped out again, leaving behind only a single sprout.

And so, he could only abduct Xu Zhiyuan to the Poyang Water Mansion.

He retracted his clouds and, following the water tornado, plunged into Laoye Bay; only then did the wind and rain outside gradually dissipate.

The commoners and pilgrims emerged, smelling the thick, fishy stench, and revealed expressions of despair. The Dragon King was angry!

How many young boys and girls would be needed for the sacrifice this time? How many virtuous young maidens would have to become concubines for the dragon's son? How much wealth would have to be extorted to buy pigs, cattle, and sheep... to complete the sacrifice?

Xu Jia, over at Sanqing Mountain, was finishing the altar rites for his father's spirit tablet; the three-day Toad Palace Plucking the Laurel Wenchang Blessing Jiao Ritual had already passed.

Suddenly, a gale swept past, knocking over the incense burner and toppling the spirit tablet.

Xu Jia was immediately startled in his heart; a premonition arose, and he began to calculate.

"Upper Qian, Lower Kan, Heaven Water Litigation!"

Qian represents the ruler and father, represents Yang, represents metal, and represents the dragon.

Kan represents water, represents danger, and represents calamity.

Xu Jia quickly learned that his old father had been abducted by the Poyang Dragon King on his way home.

The Litigation hexagram is the "lawsuit hexagram"; the word 'litigation' in lawsuits originates from this hexagram.

Obtaining this hexagram indicates there will surely be losses; one must establish virtue to escape. If one's virtue is insufficient, there will be danger to life and the disaster of imprisonment.

It reminds the seeker of the hexagram to reflect upon themselves, so as to avoid stepping into danger and forcing themselves into a desperate situation.

Although this hexagram was ominous, it also showed that there was no immediate danger to life in the short term.

Xu Jia immediately rose to his feet and first instructed Di Si Gouchen Marshal Chang Yu to hold down Yushan and not to let the situation fall into chaos.

Afterward, he broke through the Dharma Realm and went to the Salt and Iron Bureau to inquire if the Three-Eyed Fire Musket he had previously asked the Household Official and Lu Zhenqi to forge was ready.

Fortunately, the first one had already been forged. After all, it had already exceeded the ten-day deadline promised by the Household Official. It was entirely hand-forged, the iron barrel was thick, and the Three-Eyed Gun itself was heavy, likely weighing thirty or forty catties.

Besides being used to fire shots and ignite gunpowder, using it as a strange cold weapon, one strike would silence anyone.

Xu Jia also picked up the Three Sovereigns Ten Thousand People Umbrella, the Second-Turn Refined Gold-Silver Jiao Sword, the Flying Centipede Gu, the Taiyin Dharma Mirror, the Reversed Feather Evil Wind Fan, the Five Directions Command Flag, the Taiyin Copper Coin Dharma Sword, and several other Magic Tools. He mobilized the Dragon Tiger Water Master Soldiers and Horses, the Huangtian Sect Altar soldiers and horses, the Water-Crossing Chang, the Buyu Chang... as well as Yuan Jiangjun from the Xin River Water Mansion, Ao Jin Tongzi, and five hundred shrimp soldiers and crab generals.

Mobilizing the Jiujiang Shuidi within his body, he gathered the essence of the Heaven and Water Origin, condensing them into thick, black, oppressive clouds, and scooped all of these up...

One could see mist appearing on the black clouds, and on the mist appeared the Spiritual Treasure Pudu Golden Ship. All the soldiers and horses on the golden ship, Yuan Jiangjun and Ao Jin, had transformed into their original forms—a giant turtle and a giant koi—stirring up the wind and clouds, further gathering the Dharma momentum. A "Spirit Treasure Banner" was in the lead, followed by the banners of the "Jiangnan West Circuit Earth Office Yamen," and along with the Water Mansion's "Opening Path Tooth Tablet" and the City God's "Underworld Soldier Borrowing Path Tooth Tablet," all were put to use.

Thus, the black clouds spread for thirty or forty miles, with faint sounds of shouting and fighting... startling all the Daoist temples and monasteries on the ground... and even Fenglei Daoren, whom Xu Jia had demoted to a beast, was stunned.

"What is he doing? Why is he mobilizing so many people? Which demon is he going to crusade against?"

It was a pity that she had turned into an old hen and could only pace back and forth, clucking anxiously. As she grew more and more anxious, her vent suddenly tightened, and she actually squeezed out an egg.

Ling Yun and Yilei, who had turned into a sheep and a large frog, had their eyes widened.

Looking at the old hen that Fenglei Daoren had become, they were filled with disbelief.

Fenglei Daoren was both ashamed and annoyed, wanting to peck the egg to pieces.

But the next moment, the egg was collected by Chang Yuying and Chang Yu'e. They said, "This hen that didn't lay eggs was a waste of grain to keep; now that it has finally laid an egg, it wasn't in vain to feed it so many bugs."

Fenglei Daoren felt incomparably humiliated but could not speak. Only then did she understand what Xu Jia had said back then: "You call them evil obstacles and demons one after another, yet you do not know the suffering of sentient beings in the cycle of reincarnation..."

They had been beasts for a month; at first, they didn't feel much, just some humiliation.

Now that she had laid an egg herself and it had been taken away by others, she had an epiphany.

All creatures in the animal realm are powerless, unable to have their own thoughts or freedom; they are either slaughtered or exploited, unable to be themselves, muddled and confused, trapped in misery, and finding it hard to be liberated...

Thinking of this, cold sweat broke out on her; she felt terrified, as if she had truly become an old hen.

What is the fate of an old hen?

Once it lays eggs, it must keep laying eggs, pleasing others by selling its own offspring to gain a chance at survival... Then, after some time, when it can no longer lay eggs, it is cursed and threatened, then it pretends to lay eggs and pretends to cluck, trying to muddle through. In the end, the fate of being exposed is unavoidable, and ultimately, it cannot escape the fate of being boiled in water, gutted, and entering the pot.

Previously, while Xu Jia was here, there might have been some restraint. If Xu Jia left, or if something happened on this trip, no one would be able to lift the curse for them.

For the rest of their lives, they could only be old hens, frogs, sheep...

Fenglei Daoren let out a desperate wail, wanting to walk out of the Yushan boundary, but then thought of Xu Jia's warning: leaving the Jade Mountain Administration boundary would mean leaving the range of Xu Jia's spell radiation, the magic would go out of control, and they would truly never be able to turn back into humans.

She understood that now, life and death were both controlled; being a slave, and wanting to be a slave but being unable to, were the only two choices she currently had.

Correspondingly, creatures of the animal realm, and even sentient beings, and even humans, are often in this most terrible predicament...

This realization made her begin to understand Xu Jia's actions, and some of her inner perceptions began to collapse.

She then let out an even louder "Cluck-cluck-cluck!"

But no one responded.

No one would pay attention to the awakening of a chicken; even if it were more human-like, it was still just a chicken.

It is just like when an ox is being slaughtered; it kneels down, tears flowing, understanding its own end, yet what did it do wrong? It plowed the fields diligently for a lifetime, until it could no longer plow, had no labor value left, only residual value, and thus was sent to the slaughterhouse to become beef.

It is also powerless to do anything.

This is the suffering of reincarnation, this is the truth that all sentient beings suffer, this is the inability to attain liberation; what sentient beings face most is a "heartless world."

Yet this heartless world is something that all sentient beings have manufactured and woven for themselves, just like a spider web.

Consequently, the hen that Fenglei Daoren had turned into began to "suffer from depression," or one could say his Daoist heart was shattered, or perhaps: "sunk into internal friction"—in short, not a good term.

……

On the other side, Xu Jia headed toward Poyang with great momentum; passing over various lands, the City God dared not intercept him, and only the Thirty-Seventh Generation Heavenly Master of Longhu Mountain, Zhang Fajing, revealed his form.

He said: "Where is Heavenly Master Xu heading?"

"The evil Flood Dragon of Poyang has abducted my father. I am going to seek him out to reason, to rescue my old father, and to fulfill my filial duty. Why does the Heavenly Master block me? The situation now is like being burned by heavenly fire; I cannot waste time."

Zhang Fajing said: "There is such a thing? This Shunji Little Dragon King, as well as the thousand-year-old Black Fish Spirit, were sealed by my uncle, the Thirty-Sixth Generation Heavenly Master, back when he was still the Xiao Tianshi many years ago. There is a bit of old Cause and Effect involving my Longhu Mountain in this. How about I, this poor Daoist, accompany Heavenly Master Xu to Poyang?"

Xu Jia saw that he had not actually reached the God Immortal Realm, but was only at the Earth Immortal level of achievement, and had not yet fully refined the Heavenly Master's inheritance; otherwise, when a Heavenly Master travels, even without cultivation, they would receive the treatment of a Land Immortal. He said: "Many thanks for your earnest help, Heavenly Master Zhang, but that old Flood Dragon and his wife are both at the God Immortal Realm. I am going with a mindset of pressing forward without retreat, and I dare not implicate the Heavenly Master."

"No matter. Although this poor Daoist has not reached the God Immortal Realm, the various Altar-Protecting Spirit Generals on Longhu Mountain have received over eight hundred years of Incense Fire and are long since at the God Immortal Realm. I shall dispatch generals and troops to set out together; it will not take a moment."

Xu Jia then nodded and stopped to wait for a moment.

After a while, a stream of Incense Dao transformed into a cloud path, with blue clouds as the base and golden light paving the ground. Heavenly soldiers and generals arrived in an instant. That great general moved with the stride of a dragon and the gait of a tiger, holding a golden whip, riding a fierce tiger beneath him, its murderous aura fully exposed. He led twelve hundred heavenly soldiers. These heavenly soldiers were not the crude ghost soldiers and Ghost Soldiers that Xu Jia had recruited; having been tempered by successive Heavenly Masters, the imperial court, and Incense Fire sacrifices, each one was as vigorous as a dragon or tiger, and almost every one was at the Human Immortal Peak level. Three or five of them could go to capture any demon or evil god that had not reached five hundred years of Daoist Practice. Even if one had five hundred years of Daoist Practice and had reached the Earth Immortal level, if a hundred or so of these troops set up an array, they could suppress and apprehend them.

Xu Jia was extremely envious, thinking to himself that this was true foundation. Even if he established a Daochang and set up a Zongtan, without a hundred or ten years of management, he could not refine such elite soldiers and generals to leave for his descendants to inherit.

The two forces of troops converged, and in a grand and mighty fashion, wrapped in heavenly winds and various Qi, carrying heavenly thunder and lightning, with a crackle and pop, they rushed to Poyang.

……

In the land of Poyang, the old dragon had already hung Xu Zhiyuan up. Below, several small demons had set up a large pot, burning fierce dry wood, and inside the pot was oil.

This oil had just begun to heat up and was not yet smoking, but it was enough to intimidate and exert psychological pressure on a person.

The Black Fish Spirit, Anji Furen, had transformed into a female general in black scale armor, holding a flying sword in her hand. This sword was forged from the fish bone in her brain, refined with cold iron gathered from the Dharma Realm of the Poyang Water Mansion.

She spoke softly: "Scholar, I see you are not a green youth in your teens, but an old piece of cured meat in your forties or fifties. I don't really want to sleep with you, and this matter could have been avoided. You and I have had no grievances in the past and no hatred in the present; why did you come to my temple gate, curse loudly, and brand us with an 'evil' tattoo?"

Having said this, she called over several small Flood Dragons. One could see a white Flood Dragon born of a silver carp, a giant green dragon-fish born of a black carp... each of them had transformed into their original heads with human bodies, wearing official caps and robes.

Yet on their faces were tattooed characters, marked with a circle in vermilion, each branded with the character "Evil."

"I have heard that some people who are accomplished in their studies and understand right from wrong are selected by the Heavenly Court and the underworld to become Ren Cao Officials to perform judgments. Perhaps you were also selected; otherwise, you would not have passed a sentence of tattooing with a single word."

"They are all children who do not understand human affairs; how could they commit crimes? Did you not judge wrongly or mistakenly?"

"Today is for no other reason: if you are willing to retract your judgment, we will naturally not harm you in the slightest, and we can even send you out of the Water Mansion, gift you three ships of gold and silver treasures, and ensure your descendants are talented for generations, becoming marquises and ministers, or even kings and emperors."

"If you do not comply, let alone that you have not yet become a Ren Cao Judge, even if you had, we would still end up in mutual destruction. Even if we were brought to the Qiaolong Tai, we would still cook, fry, and boil you to be eaten; this is what is called 'repaying injury with uprightness'!"

Shunji Little Dragon King said angrily: "Madam, why say more to him? Just use torture. He is a mere mortal; where would he get the guts to oppose our Dragon Race? He must have been instigated by someone. We cannot kill him, but we can borrow a knife to kill; we can send a dream to the local county's Cao officials and jailers to lock him up for a few days, and naturally, everything will be resolved."

Xu Zhiyuan sneered: "No one instigated me. I simply have a sense of indignant Qi. When a nation is about to perish, there must be monsters. You wretches even dare to call yourselves dragons; how can I let you steal the throne and subvert the common people of the world?"

Dragons have always been linked to the imperial throne.

If one is not a true dragon, one must be a rebel.

He naturally would not give them a pleasant look.

(End of chapter)