Chapter 512: The Past of the Dragon Worship Cult

"Do you know the Dragon Worship Cult?"

Li Yan's pupils shrank slightly as he quickly asked.

Indeed, these local bosses knew more.

The Dragon Worship Cult's activities may be secretive, but they are not wandering ghosts; as long as they eat, drink, defecate, and urinate, there must be traces.

Ordinary people might not care.

But those in the Jianghu could spot a hundred flaws.

Feng Laohai sighed upon hearing this, "Of course I know. I was even present when the cult was founded."

"That was many years ago."

"At the time, I had a falling-out with my gang brothers and was driven out of Zigong, coming here to Suzhou to live in seclusion. Though I never lacked food or drink from smuggling salt, I was still filled with inner bitterness and wandered everywhere looking for people to drink with."

"Among those I often drank with was the Pai Sect's Huo Jiao—he was still a minor figure back then, serving as a temple attendant at the Dragon King Temple while also doing odd jobs for a Pai Sect leader in Shu."

"I still clearly remember that day—he got drunk and claimed he had found a patron, that he was about to rise to great heights, and asked if I wanted to gain immortal fortune."

"Curious, I followed him to a Dragon King Temple on the banks of the Fujiang, where I saw those people."

"Though all wore black robes and masks, I recognized several notorious demons from the southwestern region just by their voices—they spoke of sacrificing to an ancient water deity to grant us wealth in life and freedom after death."

"Having roamed the Jianghu for decades, I sensed something wrong at once and knew such matters were best avoided; after leaving, I never contacted them again."

"Later, Huo Jiao rose rapidly to become the leader of the Shu Pai Sect, but I knew he was merely a puppet!"

"Though we lost contact afterward, I vaguely understood the extent of their power—even recently, during the righteous-versus-evil battle outside Dujiangyan, they were involved."

Sha LiFei asked urgently, "They've already caused chaos—what's the point of all this? Tell us, who else did you see?"

Feng Laohai lifted his wine cup and took a sip, "Everyone was masked back then. The few I guessed at are all dead now—Huo Jiao was slain by Li Shaoxia."

"But the cult leader—I clearly saw his face. He wore a black robe, an old monk…"

"Oh?"

Li Yan, lost in thought, said gravely, "Bring me ink and brush!"

Upon hearing this, Feng Laohai immediately ordered his servants to prepare writing tools.

Li Yan took a deep breath and drew the image of the Qiang elder monk as he had seen it in the "Shituo Forest" illusion.

"Master, is this the man?"

Feng Laohai: "………"

He held the drawing, uncertain what to do.

Li Yan had no talent for such things in either life—he had drawn it poorly, and Feng Laohai could not possibly recognize it.

"Young Master Li, don't put the man through this."

Sha LiFei chuckled, then took up pen and paper, frowned in thought, and drew the statue he had seen in the stone pavilion.

It wasn't lifelike, but it was close enough.

"That's him!"

Feng Laohai nodded quickly, "I saw him clearly—it was the same man, just dressed differently, and without the 'Monkey Boy' beside him."

Sha LiFei, while drawing the old monk, had also sketched the golden monkey holding the incense burner beside the statue.

Li Yan asked curiously, "That's called the 'Monkey Boy'?"

A statue accompanied by a spirit pet was extremely rare.

"It's part of the Qiang shaman tradition."

Feng Laohai explained, "Qiang shamans are called Shibei—usually one per village, passed from master to disciple."

"They have no organization or temples, but they worship their ancestral masters and the 'Monkey Boy.' It is said the golden snub-nosed monkey is their guardian deity, so their ancestral worship and ritual tools are all connected to it."

"I've seen several Qiang Shibei perform rites—they wear caps made of golden snub-nosed monkey fur, don sheepskin jackets, beat sheepskin drums, and use ritual tools made from golden snub-nosed monkey bones… but the coiled dragon on his body? I've never seen anything like that."

Listening to the old man's tale, Li Yan immediately understood.

The bone rod was made from the forearms of over a dozen golden snub-nosed monkeys.

In his past life, he'd have thrown the perpetrator straight into prison!

Hearing Feng Laohai's question, Li Yan said nothing further—this concerned the River God and Erlang Shen, too great a matter to speak of lightly.

"Master, what do you want us to do?"

Thinking of this, Li Yan asked directly.

Feng Laohai gave a bitter smile, "We're all Jianghu brethren—I won't waste time with empty formalities."

"Had I known earlier, even if I'd suffered losses, I'd have swallowed my teeth and avoided trouble."

"But now, trouble has come to my door."

"That mad boy has been running around Longfeng Ancient Town spreading rumors—I've had men watching him, but it's only brought me more trouble."

"Lately, our salt ships have been repeatedly intercepted—no survivors. It's surely the Dragon Worship Cult's retaliation."

"Almost every household in Baixi Village has suffered a death, and since I witnessed their founding ceremony, this is now a fight to the death. I've summoned Li Shaoxia simply to beg for a way out."

"If you destroy the Dragon Worship Cult, we can escape this calamity."

"That makes sense."

Li Yan had been worried the Dragon Worship Cult was too vast and they were too weak.

Having allies was naturally welcome.

Several demon hunters were released; though their spirits were low and their faces bore bruises, otherwise they were unharmed.

With the misunderstanding cleared, Feng Laohai offered compensation, and they said nothing more.

Sorcerers at the bottom of the Xuan Sect were like this.

They might know minor tricks—mind confusion, exorcism—but against martial artists' attacks, they still suffered heavy losses.

They knew they'd never advance far on this path, so they seized the chance to earn as much as they could before retirement.

With the alliance formed, Li Yan cut the formalities and asked directly, "Do you know where they hide?"

"I don't know."

Feng Laohai shook his head, "I returned to that Dragon King Temple, but after Huo Jiao left, the place mysteriously burned to ruins."

"Between Suzhou and Nanchong, deep in the mountains, there must still be villages—I don't know exactly where, but I can find them."

Li Yan said gravely, "Master, describe it in detail."

"The Dragon Worship Cult operates in secrecy, and now their power is great—even traces can be easily erased. But I noticed something odd."

"Our cargo ships travel a hidden waterway. The first disaster occurred right after the collapse of the Shu Pai Sect."

"In my view, these affairs were originally handled secretly by the Pai Sect—they caused quite a stir in Chongqing and could easily arrange sacrifices."

"Now that the Pai Sect is gone, the Dragon Worship Cult must act themselves—and their clumsiness is why we caught them."

His eyes flared with killing intent, "If we disguise ourselves as a fleet and retrace that waterway, we'll lure them out!"

…………

The night wind was biting, the bright moon high.

On a remote river, several cargo ships drifted slowly forward.

In Sichuan, waterways were numerous; beyond famous rivers, countless unnamed channels crisscrossed the land.

Even imperial maps didn't mark these waterways.

A single mountain flood could erase them—or bring them back—only the most familiar locals knew where they led.

On deck, Li Yan wore a straw hat and plain crewman's clothes, gripping the Duan Chen Dao as he scanned left and right.

This river channel hadn't formed overnight.

It wound through several mountain ridges, twisting and hidden, with no villages nearby.

According to Feng Laohai, this route led to Tongnan, where one could switch to land—this was the ancient secret salt road, passing through utterly uninhabited lands.

The Shenzhou land was vast; such places were countless, offering perfect hiding spots for secretive factions.

No one could be certain whether an ancient cultivator's cave lay hidden in some unknown mountain.

"Li Shaoxia, we're almost there."

At that moment, Feng Laohai whispered a warning.

The old man had changed attire too—now clad in military robes, holding a blackwood staff.

Don't underestimate this weapon.

"Spears fear a shaking thrust; staves fear a pinpoint strike."

A spear jabbing with a shaking motion confuses the eyes—you can't defend in time, and might be pierced through eye or heart before reacting.

A staff striking an acupoint is just as deadly.

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Striking an acupoint with a staff can kill if it hits a vital spot.

Feng Laohai practiced the Five Brothers Eight Trigram Staff—this was his specialty.

Hearing the old man's words, Li Yan looked up.

Ahead, the river suddenly turned turbulent, flanked by towering mountains, surrounded by rocky slopes—as if the earth had once shaken violently.

Hum!

At the same time, the dragon-patterned jade tablet in his chest trembled slightly.

This is it!

Li Yan's eyes lit up with delight.

When the Dragon Maiden visited him in a dream, the underworld mission had interrupted him—he'd only seen the underwater scene, nothing above.

Now, he had finally found the place.

According to the timeline, the River God Great Lord was suppressed during the Qin Dynasty when Li Bing built the Dujiangyan Irrigation System, and the Dragon Girl Temple was also sunk into the river at that time.

Though ages have passed, followers of the Worship of the Dragon Sect have always performed human sacrifices here, surely for deeper reasons.

Perhaps this is how we can fulfill the Dragon Girl's task.

Thinking of this, Li Yan turned his head to look at Lu San.

Lu San shook his head slightly. "No signs detected."

At this moment, eagles circled above, and any movement would be noticed at once.

Hearing no sign of Worship of the Dragon Sect followers, Li Yan paid no mind and said gravely, "Everyone wait here—I'm going to explore the river."

Saying this, he immediately formed a hand seal and chanted: "Nuo Gao! Heavenly Primordial Essence, essence of Ren and Gui..."

Before the Dark Water Escape Spell was finished, his entire body was engulfed in thick mist and vanished before their eyes, followed by a loud splash.

With Li Yan's current cultivation, his escape technique had grown even sharper.

The sound of rushing water filled his ears; he shot forward like an arrow, unimpeded, diving straight to the riverbed.

The river here was swift and deep.

Upon reaching the riverbed, the Dragon Girl Temple from his vision appeared before him, covered in aquatic weeds and half-buried in silt.

But Li Yan did not rush closer.

Around the temple floated numerous corpses—both young boys and girls—all dressed in bright red wedding robes.

The robes, soaked for years, had rotted away.

Yet the corpses themselves remained lifelike, eyes closed, faces pale as if merely asleep.

So this was the suppression!

Li Yan immediately understood what the Worship of the Dragon Sect was doing.

Marriage concerns the great path of human ethics and lineage continuity; though a joyous occasion, it carries many taboos.

This, clearly, was a dark art.

Young boys and girls represent yin and yang; human sacrifice was already sinister, but combining it with ghost marriage to balance yin and yang created an artificial malevolent array.

The Dragon Girl was the daughter of the River God Great Lord.

Though bearing the title of father and daughter, they were entirely unrelated.

The Dragon Girl's origin was the fusion of a young girl's spirit, sacrificed to the River God Great Lord, with dragon qi.

One could say the enemy had stolen the foundation.

Moreover, due to the Dragon Girl's nature, she often protected and blessed the people along the river, so her worship grew increasingly strong.

Eventually, she would replace the River God Great Lord.

But the River God Great Lord could do nothing about her—even suppressed, he continued to be drained of the Daba Mountain dragon qi.

Eventually, the Dragon Girl would completely replace the River God Great Lord, reappearing in a new form as the water deity of Shu.

But this process had been disrupted.

The River God Great Lord had been released and begun reincarnation, suppressing the Dragon Girl, and becoming the trial for the Manifest Saint True Lord.

After all, the Manifest Saint True Lord, as the deity of Guankou, had suppressed the River God Great Lord for thousands of years—their karmic entanglements ran deep.

Hummm!

The dragon-patterned jade tablet in his bosom trembled more violently.

Suddenly, the surroundings blurred.

Perfect timing!

Li Yan couldn't help but curse inwardly.

Fortunately, he was using the Dark Water Escape, so he wouldn't drown underwater—he let the Dragon Girl drag him into the illusion.

Soon, the surroundings blurred further.

The Dragon Girl Temple in the distance lost its covering silt, appearing vivid and colorful, as if newly built, far larger than before.

His vision rapidly drew closer.

Li Yan entered the dream and stepped into the main hall of the Dragon Girl Temple.

He finally saw the Dragon Girl's statue: clad in a white court robe, ink-black hair, horns growing from her head, ribbons fluttering, holding a massive flower basket.

Li Yan's gaze fixed on the flower basket, his eyes showing a flicker of surprise.

Though the Dragon Girl's statue was vividly colored, it was merely clay and plaster—only the flower basket in her hands appeared extraordinary.

The basket was made of bronze, crafted with gilded openwork, exquisitely detailed, filled with blooming flowers as if just placed there.

Everything else remained blurred.

This basket was the Dragon Girl's divine artifact!

Li Yan instantly understood.

To escape her prison and even regain status as a mortal deity, she would surely need this object...

In the blink of an eye, the illusion vanished entirely.

Li Yan glanced at the countless corpses floating outside the Dragon Girl Temple, turned, and broke the water's surface, returning to the boat.

"Master Daoist, aid me in performing the rite to expel calamity!"

After briefly explaining the situation below, Li Yan asked Wang Daoxuan to set up the altar and assist him in using the Northern Emperor's Rite to Expel Calamity.

The array below was sinister—ritual altar must be established to exorcise evil.

Wang Daoxuan responded with perfect coordination, quickly setting up the altar on the boat, lighting incense and sacred candles, placing various offerings, waving the ritual sword, spitting sacred water, and activating the altar.

He primarily assisted, maintaining the altar's operation.

Li Yan, meanwhile, paced the Nine Stars, shaking the brocade armguard "Thousand Thoughts" on his left arm, chanting the Northern Emperor's Rite to Expel Calamity.

"Qing Jia! Heaven guides souls, sternly subdues the Northern Feng..."

Gurgling!

As the incantation was chanted, countless white bubbles surged from the river's surface, thick mist rose, and the stench of rotting corpses spread...

(End of Chapter)