Chapter 937: Drums from Eight Directions Suppress the Dragon King

The Red Mansion Ghost Ship, as the name suggests, is a three-story pleasure boat draped in red silk and carved with beams and painted rafters. The ship is fifteen zhang long and three zhang wide, a huge pleasure boat rarely seen even in the south!

Hundreds of people had died on the Chaoguan Floating Bridge in three days; it goes without saying that the two major Boatmen's Guilds in the city had already figured out the details of this ghost ship.

Thanks to the developed performing arts culture of Zhigu, even the common folk of Dagukou knew: "The Red Mansion Ghost Ship is fifteen zhang long and three zhang wide, hanging eighty-one red lanterns, with a three-story carved and painted building. The first floor is called the Qin Huai Dream, with lamps of glass and crystal cups, shining brighter than daylight. There are pearl curtains reflecting the water, painted rafters flying in the clouds, clothes fragrant and water fragrant, rowing past..."

"There are twenty-eight beautiful female ghosts in the building, with eight large rooms and twelve small rooms, known as the Qin Huai Dreamland, the gentle village of lost souls!"

"The second floor is called Heaven on Earth..."

"The third floor is the Red Mansion Hell..."

The storyteller even fabricated stories of poor porters accidentally entering the ghost ship, with beautiful women saving them from death.

It is said that a certain porter who had read books, because his family had fallen on hard times and he made a living carrying luggage, accidentally entered the Red Mansion one day, enjoying himself like an emperor on the first floor, and feeling like an immortal on the second floor.

Then, after much pleading, he ascended to the third floor, only to find it was the netherworld hell, and was almost eaten alive by evil ghosts.

Finally, by chance, he was saved by a female ghost and managed to walk out of the Red Mansion...

These past few days, the story of the Red Mansion Ghost Ship was the hottest topic in Zhigu, even surpassing the duel between the Xuanzhen Sect and the Qingpi trade.

At this moment, the ghost ship, hanging with red lanterns, leaning against the railing, and draped in red silk, was sailing quietly down the canal without anyone steering it.

The idlers on both banks, and even the soldiers guarding the city, were all leaning toward the northeast corner tower of the city, looking out at the ghost ship.

That clearly visible red ship, in an instant, seemed to jump, teleporting dozens of zhang on the river surface, arriving before the floating bridge.

The decorations of the pleasure boat also suddenly turned white.

The original railings draped in red silk, the eaves hanging red lanterns, all turned white.

White silk, white cloth, white lanterns, and even a group of women with white towels tied around their heads and dressed in white, each holding a chilling white lantern, stood on both sides of the pleasure boat's hull. Dozens of women lined up in two rows, like ghosts, standing there quietly.

Seeing this scene on both sides of the river, everyone felt their scalps tingle, as if some invisible thing was pressing down on them. The common folk folded their hands and began to recite Buddhist scriptures.

On the high platforms built on both sides of the river, the Wei Boatmen's Guild helm master saw this and just sneered coldly: "White Lotus Sect! Finally forced them out!"

He turned to the Daoist priest holding a Dharma sword beside him and said: "Daoist Liu, it's up to you!"

The Daoist priest who had reminded the Wei Boatmen's Guild helm master earlier nodded slightly and said: "Helm Master Liang, no need for words! The White Lotus Sect led Yin soldiers and ghost ships across the river, harming my senior brother Cao Sanjin. My Wu Ji Temple and the White Lotus Sect are irreconcilable!"

"This secret method of the copper basin covering the ship has already been mostly completed by my senior brother. With this method alone, I can make the White Lotus Sect suffer!"

After saying that, he ordered two young Daoists to bring over the huge copper basin, on which a well-folded red paper boat floated, with even eighty-one small red lanterns hanging on the boat, lit by tiny candles carved in miniature.

"The Paper-Zha King really lives up to his reputation!" Daoist Liu laughed: "This is the creation of the third realm of the Paper Person Dao. If it weren't for the White Lotus Sect's treachery, leading Yin soldiers and ghost ships, my senior brother would never have lost to them in a duel!"

Over there, the white-clad female ghosts had already come to the side of the boat one by one, placing white lotus lanterns onto the river surface.

"Still want to use the same old trick, leading Yin soldiers and ghost ships?"

"My senior brother was harmed by you before because he lost his guard. Now that I have made all preparations, how could I be troubled by your red lantern trick?"

The Daoist held the Dharma sword, waved his sleeves, brushed over the red paper boat, and in an instant, the red boat turned into a white boat. He pointed the Dharma sword downward: "Fix!"

Suddenly, the flowing water of the Southern Canal stopped, fixing the ghost ship in the middle of the river channel, and countless white lotus lanterns floated beside the ship, unable to flow down anymore.

The helm masters of the two major Boatmen's Guilds, Wei and Lu, looked at each other across the canal and signaled for their respective command dragon flags.

As the dragon flags from the north and south were lowered at the same time.

Suddenly, on the high platforms, two capable old men dressed in black, with red belts tied around their waists and sleeves and collars tied, slowly tapped their fist-sized drumsticks on the drumheads of two large Dharma drums. Urgent yet rhythmic drum sounds slowly rose on both sides of the canal...

On the dragon boat behind the floating bridge, the head of the Zhigu Gonggu Association, wearing a bright red Dharma robe embroidered with black pythons turning over, green dragons exploring claws, and yellow dragons descending the cliff, and wearing a Dragon King mask, was also slowly beating a large drum.

But that drum had a drumhead supported by bones, the drum body gleamed with an ivory-yellow hue, the stretched drumhead was thick dragon skin, and the dense retaining nails along the drum rim were all individual dragon scales.

This was the large dragon drum worshipped in the Jiuhe Dragon King Temple, said to be made from the skin of the Huai River Dragon King's son.

As the head raised his arms and smashed down with all his might.

The dull drum sound, like the roaring of a great river, shook the four directions. Then, from the Wanghai Tower, the Tianhou Palace, Lion Grove, the nineteen martial arts halls on Hebei Main Street, and the large and small shops and buildings along the river, came responding drum sounds.

In an instant, the majestic and dull drum array shook Zhigu!

The Wei Boatmen's Guild helm master pulled the work chant on the ship and shouted loudly on the high platform: "The drum sounds shake the sky, the Jiuhe Dragon King gathers in Zhigu!"

"Yo-hey!"

On the high platform, under the high platform, tens of thousands of Boatmen's Guild disciples responded in unison to the work chant!

On both banks of the great river, they imitated pulling the towline, carrying cargo, pulling ropes, operating sails, climbing masts, dropping anchors, and waving flags, dancing in unison.

On both banks of the canal, the solemn, uniform dance was majestic and powerful, revealing the blood, sweat, and tears of the canal sailors over the past thousand years.

Accompanied by the Great Canal Festival, the sailors, porters, and laborers who had been oppressed on this Grand Canal connecting the north and south finally shouted out a uniform work chant—"Wei-yo!"

On the Wanghai Tower, the Daoist priest of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, with a yellow belt tied around his head, stood up and looked solemnly at the continuous, gradually intensifying drum sounds and cymbals on both banks of the canal.

The rolling drum sounds were like a great tide, suppressing the entire canal. Tens of thousands of Boatmen's Guild disciples seemed to have a fire burning on their heads, boiling the entire canal.

Even if a real Dragon King were to pounce from upstream, it would have to be suppressed!

"Drums from eight directions suppress the Dragon King!"

The Imperial Envoy, carrying the ceremonial guard, with the imperial flag and tablet held on both sides, turned down from the Wanghai Tower. This Prince Yong, who had secretly rushed from the capital, had arrived at Dagukou without the knowledge of any of the guilds in Zhigu.

He stared at the boiling banks of the canal, watching the canal dragon-suppressing festival of the tens of thousands of Boatmen's Guild disciples, his expression solemn as he said: "What a Boatmen's Guild!"

"The imperial court put a bit in their mouths and tamed them for so many years, yet they still retain such—lawless thoughts!"

"This is the Boatmen's Guild!" Prince Yong sighed: "Millions of canal workers north and south of the canal, singing the same work chant, pulling large ships sailing north and south... even His Majesty cannot move them, and the imperial court fears their ability!"

Zhang Sanzhi of the Qingpi trade looked at the ghost ship that had been completely suppressed by the drum sounds and the canal festival, raised his hand slightly, and hooligans carried the shrine of the half-corpse ancestor forward.

Wang Haichuan, shirtless, stepped forward to the stone ox, untied the iron ring on the ox's horn.

He turned and hoisted the iron ring onto his back, his face turning beet-red, and he forcibly shouldered the tens of thousands of jin of iron chain; as the chain rubbed against the ox horns, the tens of thousands of jin of heavy iron chain increased to hundreds of thousands of jin in the blink of an eye.

The great showman Wang Haichuan picked up the techniques from his days as a porter in his youth, held his breath, and with bare feet, stepped forward one by one, forcibly pulling the iron chain up.

On the high platform, Daoist Liu pointed his Dharma sword downward, and the Red Mansion Ghost Ship floated slowly.

The ghost ship, which had been fixed in the middle of the river by the water flow, finally moved slowly, heading toward the Chaoguan Floating Bridge ahead...

Zhang Sanzhi turned his head to look at Wu Ponu, seeing that he had no intention of moving at all, feeling slightly puzzled in his heart. But looking up, he saw the Red Mansion Ghost Ship floating toward the Chaoguan Floating Bridge, its speed getting faster and faster.

His brow furrowed slightly, and he looked toward the high platform.

On the high platform, the Wei Boatmen's Guild helm master also turned to Daoist Liu and said: "Daoist, slow down! Although this ghost ship has been suppressed by my Boatmen's Guild festival and drum array, the saint of the White Lotus Sect is on the ship after all, and it's definitely not easy to deal with."

Daoist Liu held the Dharma sword and laughed.

"That is natural. The saint has great supernatural powers and boundless magic; how can ordinary people deal with her?"

The Wei Boatmen's Guild helm master nodded, but suddenly frowned, feeling that these words were wrong...

The Red Mansion Ghost Ship, hanging with white lanterns all over the sky, did not slow down at all. White lotus river lanterns were sprinkled from the ship, gathering into a flowing river of lanterns on the canal. The quiet white, the auspicious lotus, and the—sorrow and nostalgia—poured into the river bit by bit.

Qian Chen stood at the entrance of the Fire God Temple village, staring at all this, all silent!

The Wei Boatmen's Guild helm master saw that the ghost ship did not slow down at all, suddenly turned his head, and looked at Daoist Liu, who was performing the copper basin ship-covering method. But he saw him with disheveled hair, holding a sword in his hand, pinching the formula and chanting...

"You are a person of the White Lotus Sect!"

The Wei Boatmen's Guild helm master roared!

Daoist Liu's disheveled hair suddenly lifted, his hair covering his face, one part mysterious, four parts ferocious, and five parts wild laughter.

He laughed loudly: "Red lanterns shine, White Lotus arrives! Eight-sided drum sounds suppress the Dragon King, heroes from all directions destroy the demon kingdom. The Holy Mother has mercy, the True Person descends, the sun and moon open again to establish a new heaven! Please invite the Bright Venerable to descend the Dharma, the Holy Mother to show mercy, the mirror shines in the sky, the White Lotus shines on the world, blessing the saint Lin Heier!"

Daoist Liu's hair covered his face, looking like a madman, and the Dharma sword suddenly slashed down at the paper boat in the copper basin.

The Wei Boatmen's Guild helm master slapped out with his palm, hitting his back.

Daoist Liu spat out a mouthful of blood, which sprinkled onto his magic sword, only to see a red light suddenly rise, appearing exceptionally eerie; in an instant, the magic sword slashed through the paper-pasted red boat, and inside, an iron boat emerged, strikingly floating atop the copper basin.

Copper basin water-covering method!

It can also be used to sail and urge transport...

The four young Daoists around turned like hawks, landing on the southeast, northwest sides of Daoist Liu. They took off their Daoist robes, revealing the white clothes underneath. ===== CHAPTER 938 =====