Chapter 227: Wei Nu (Thanks to the alliance leader

"This little woman was resting in the water and saw that there were still boats passing by these past few days, so I came out to take a look and happened to meet the two of you who gave me snacks and wine, for which I am naturally grateful. I also heard the two of you say that you wanted to attend the Tuo Dragon Great King's banquet, and knowing that you are definitely not ordinary people, I had the intention of appearing to thank you in person, but the heavens were not kind, and a rainstorm made the river surface a mess, so I had to wait until the rain stopped."

On the pitch-black water surface, there was only one lamp, and this sweet, clear voice came from nowhere:

"Fortunately, your boat hasn't left yet."

"So that's how it is." Lin Jue sat by the side of the boat, stroking the fur on his fox's neck with one hand, following its gaze to look at the bottom of the water, "But we are not two people; we are three."

"This little woman only heard the voices of two people, and besides that, I only saw the reflection of a fox."

"There's also me!"

His junior sister finally spoke up, also poking her head out.

"It is indeed three people. Please forgive me, please forgive me."

"Since there is this connection, and you also want to appear, why remain hidden in the dark?" Lin Jue said.

"There is a lamp lit on the boat, and that lamp is extraordinary, so this little woman is a bit afraid," the voice said. "If the Daoist extinguishes the lamp, this little woman will be able to appear."

It seems this one is quite cautious.

No wonder she has been able to remain in this river until now.

It is unknown whether she thinks this night-watch lamp is extraordinary, or if she thinks the lamp flame ignited by Lin Jue's lamp-lighting spell is extraordinary, but even this night-watch lamp has no ability to harm people.

But Lin Jue did not explain, simply waving his index finger cleanly and neatly, and the only lamp flame on the boat was instantly extinguished, showing his sincerity.

The night was pitch black and quiet, with only one lantern left on the river.

Suddenly, the lantern in the river slowly rose, and only upon closer inspection did one realize that a hand was holding it.

It seemed as if there was an invisible staircase in the water.

A woman wearing a chest-high ru-skirt walked slowly out of the water, holding a lantern. Under the illumination of the lamp light, her outfit was mainly in red and green, which did not feel rustic, but rather had a sense of history spanning hundreds of years and a light, jumping spirit from a previous dynasty, also outlining her slender figure.

The woman soon walked onto the river surface.

She was not wearing shoes, barefoot, and in the dark night, it was hard to see clearly relying only on a lamp, only seeing two flashes of white, and the calm river surface was like flat ground under her feet, carrying her as she walked gracefully toward them.

Throughout the entire process, there was not a single sound of water in the river.

The three people and one fox on the boat all watched this scene.

Luo Seng felt it was even more rare.

Imagine, as a martial artist, although he could slay yaoguai and demons, and there were dozens of yaoguai, demons, and ghosts who had died under his blade, the yaoguai and ghosts he killed, regardless of their abilities, were mostly extremely vicious, and those who weren't wouldn't talk to him properly. When had he ever seen such a scene?

It was just like an ordinary person; no matter how many people they met in their life, they rarely had the experience of enjoying songs and dances and reciting poetry in red-light districts, or talking with monks in deep mountain temples.

It really has to be a Daoist practitioner.

Luo Seng thought to himself.

Seeing that the woman soon walked to the side of the boat, looking at the height of the boat's hull above the water, she stopped, appearing to be in a bit of a dilemma.

Lin Jue immediately stepped forward to help her.

He only felt that she seemed to have no weight.

Only then did the woman get on the boat, and the lantern she held became the only light in the cabin, adding a bit of bright yellow to the wooden boards, making everyone's eyes very bright.

His junior sister brought her a small stool.

After the woman sat down, Luo Seng pushed a cup of hot tea toward her.

"Thank you.

"Thank you.

"Thank you."

The woman changed directions, saying thank you three times in a row.

Her voice was soft, her manners were polite, and her upbringing was clearly extraordinary.

"I am Lin Jue."

"I am Liu Qingyao!"

"I am Zhang Dao!"

"This little woman has already passed away, so my name from when I was alive is not worth mentioning; it can be considered returned to my parents. Now that I am in the Wei Shui River, people on the shore call me Wei Nu," the woman said, picking up the teacup and smiling. She suddenly glanced at the teacup that brought warmth and couldn't help but sigh, "Since I passed away and lived in the river, I haven't had hot tea many times in many years."

"It just rained, and the water surface is cold. We ordinary people feel incomparably satisfied drinking a cup of hot tea," Lin Jue said. "I wonder if you are the same."

All three of them sized up this woman.

The woman was wearing a chest-high ru-skirt, in red and green, decorated mostly with gold and silver, and was barefoot.

Her face was sweet and beautiful, and her figure was slender and exquisite.

"It is the same."

After the woman took a sip of tea, she put down the teacup and turned to ask them: "You are clearly humans, why would you want to attend the Tuo Dragon Great King's birthday banquet?"

"Is there something wrong with that?" Luo Seng asked.

"I heard that the Tuo Dragon Great King's birthday banquet happens once every ten years and is very lively. We travel the world and have always liked to see different scenery and join in different excitement," Lin Jue said. "We just happened to arrive here and happened to hear that the Tuo Dragon Great King was holding a banquet by the river, so we felt it was fate and very rare, so we prepared gifts and went to take a look."

"There is nothing wrong with it; it's just curiosity. Every time the Tuo Dragon Great King holds a birthday banquet, although there are people who go, there are very few," the woman said.

"There is no other way; life is short. If one cannot achieve the Dao, one cannot see for long, so one has to see widely. Whether it's a temple fair in the human world or a birthday banquet in the yaoguai world, we want to see them all," Lin Jue said.

"The two Daoist priests beside me, Zhang, both know spells. I think that if we go to that Tuo Dragon Great King's birthday banquet, we won't be turned away, right?" Luo Seng said.

"That is indeed true. In the eyes of yaoguai, Daoist practitioners who know spells are just like birds and beasts that have achieved the Dao and become spirits in the eyes of humans; they are no longer lumped together with ordinary mortals."

The woman paused as she spoke:

"However, this little woman must remind the three of you of one thing: that Tuo Dragon Great King eats people."

"Oh? Eats people?" Lin Jue was surprised.

"We brought gifts to attend the banquet!" his junior sister said, feeling a bit afraid, "He wouldn't eat us, would he?"

"That wouldn't happen," the woman said. "However, every time people go to attend the banquet out of admiration—whether they are high monks, famous Daoists, or strange people and talented scholars—there are always those who only realize that the Tuo Dragon Great King eats people when they arrive. Because they didn't expect it, at best they feel uncomfortable and afraid, and after showing fear, they are looked down upon or even insulted by the yaoguai; at worst, they get angry and cause discord at the banquet, suffering punishment from the Tuo Dragon Great King. That is why this little woman asked that question and gave this reminder."

"So that's how it is."

Lin Jue nodded.

His junior sister also breathed a sigh of relief.

Luo Seng was the most heroic, only waving his hand and saying:

"What does that matter? Where do they not eat people? This Tuo Dragon Great King can be considered restrained. Zhang has heard that in the north, some yaoguai kings cause trouble and love to kidnap people to eat at the borders or even battlefields between our side and the north, and they even raise commoners and enclose land to form kingdoms."

Luo Seng paused:

"And in this world today, those high officials and noble lords, princes and ministers, rack their brains to scrape the fat and blood of the people; how are they any different from yaoguai who eat people? I think it's hard to say whose knife cuts the flesh more painfully!"

"This... is also..."

The woman looked at them deeply.

"Speaking of which, wasn't Wei Nu also a human once? After death, you became a ghost and were worshipped by people, which is why you have remained until now, right?" Luo Seng probed, "Doesn't Wei Nu also see it as normal?"

The woman did not answer whether she saw it as normal or not, but smiled and said:

"What can I do if I don't see it as normal? This Tuo Dragon Great King has been here for a long time, and even the true gods don't care about him. Even the original River God of the Wei Shui River was killed by him and his military advisor. This little woman is weak and is in this Wei Shui River, so besides paying homage to him, what other way is there?"

"Why don't the true gods care about him?" Luo Seng narrowed his eyes.

"It is rumored that the Tuo Dragon Great King has an extraordinary background."

"What background?"

"..."

The lamp light illuminated the woman's sweet and beautiful face, but she only smiled and shook her head slowly, saying no more.

"Haha." Lin Jue chuckled twice and changed the subject, "Since you pay homage to the Tuo Dragon Great King, I suppose you will also be going to the Tuo Dragon's birthday banquet in a few days?"

"This is the second reason why this little woman came here presumptuously."

"Oh? Please tell me!"

"The Tuo Dragon Great King usually doesn't care about the yaoguai in his territory, but every time this birthday banquet comes around once every ten years, all those who have a name must go to attend. This little woman is the same."

The woman said softly and helplessly.

Just as Lin Jue and the other thought she might be asking them to buy or exchange gifts for the banquet, they heard her say:

"However, when this little woman jumped into the water and passed away, I accidentally lost my shoes, and since then I have almost never gone ashore, so I have no use for shoes. Only once every ten years is it necessary to have a pair of shoes. Therefore, every ten years, I ask people passing by on the water who have a connection to help me buy a pair of embroidered shoes. Unfortunately, this time I was accidentally delayed, and in the last few days, no one dared to walk on the water. Without shoes, this little woman cannot attend the banquet, so I had to be bold and ask you all."

"What does that matter?"

"A small matter!"

"Hmm~~"

All three of them gave their answers.

"Then thank you very much," the woman said. "There is a market not far from the ferry ahead. If it is convenient, I would like to ask you to buy a pair of red-faced, gold-threaded, green-lined rabbit-pattern embroidered shoes for this little woman."

"..."

The three of them couldn't help but look at each other.

This request was quite detailed.

Even his junior sister, who had originally been prepared to turn around and say she had brought an extra pair of shoes as a backup and wanted to take them out to see if they were suitable, weakly pulled her hand back after hearing this.

That pair of shoes of hers was too ordinary.

The woman took out a willow branch:

"This is the size."

And she took a small piece of broken silver from her bosom:

"This is the money for the shoes."

Lin Jue and Luo Seng couldn't help but look at each other.

"Forget it, forget it! Meeting is fate! Tomorrow morning, Zhang will dock the boat and go run this errand for you!" Luo Seng said heroically, reaching out and taking the money. "If we meet at the Tuo Dragon Great King's birthday banquet, and we have some disagreements or misunderstandings with other yaoguai, please say a few good words for us, Divine Lady."

"That is only right."

"How should we give you the shoes?"

"Just buy them and throw them into the water."

"Good!"

After they agreed, the woman soon stood up, bowed gracefully, said goodbye to them, and then walked back into the river holding the lantern.

"Hoo..."

The night-watch lamp lit up again, illuminating the cabin.

The three of them looked at each other, saying nothing else.

Luo Seng pinched the silver to examine it closely, wiping off the water stains on it.

"This sister is quite beautiful and easy to talk to; it's a pity she jumped into the river and died," his junior sister said, breaking the silence. "I wonder what her story is?"

Luo Seng then said "Hmm."

This was what should be said and was convenient to say at this time.

So Luo Seng began to tell them the story of this Wei Nu that circulated in this area.

It was similar to what he had briefly said before: a story of a woman from a noble family who fell in love with her sweetheart but was not allowed by her parents and was forced to marry someone else, and then chose to die rather than submit, jumping into the river and ending her life.

It was just a bit more detailed.

This place was Qin Zhou, near the capital, and there were many princesses and noble daughters, wealthy young ladies, and many scholars and famous figures. They all loved such stories, and such stories were easily passed down.

This one probably also took advantage of such convenience, which was why she was commemorated by a temple and even worshipped after her death.

If it were elsewhere, perhaps death would just be death.

Gradually, the night grew deep, and they lit lamps to sleep.

In the middle of the night, there was another light rain.

The next morning, the river water was still filled with smoke, and water mist filled the mountains and rivers, looking very much like an ink painting.

On the shore, however, there were people walking from time to time, and there were human voices.

Luo Seng really docked at the next ferry. The three of them temporarily got off the boat. There was no need to ask anyone; just looking at the people coming and going with baskets on their backs and carrying loads, they knew that there should really be a market ahead.

This was not surprising; ferry crossings were often very lively. ===== CHAPTER 228 =====