"Gulp."
Someone swallowed nervously.
Though it was the depths of winter and bitter winds howled, the terrifying aura spilling from the river left the banks of East River Town utterly silent. Not one of the more than ten thousand people dared make a sound.
Even the children had their mouths clamped shut by their parents, who pinned them beneath their bodies.
Zhang Qing's pretty face had also gone pale with fear, but she forced herself to remain composed. "Everyone, I know you resent me. But now that this demon has emerged, it certainly won't spare anyone here."
"I've already prepared a contingency. As long as you attack the demon, each of you will receive a bottle of Qi-Gathering Pills and thirty spirit stones afterward!"
Xu Xiao added, "I'll give each of you an extra bottle of Yellow Sprout Pills. As long as you fight, you can come to me afterward to collect them."
"But if you dare retreat..."
Xu Xiao left her threat unfinished, but every rogue cultivator understood what she meant: retreat meant death!
The whirlpool in the middle of the river grew larger and larger, until an enormous head emerged from it, hideous despite its coating of gold paint.
The moment the head appeared, its golden eyes fixed on the rogue cultivators on the bank, and its mouth split open to reveal rows of sharp teeth. "This god heard that you wish to slay demons and vanquish evil?"
At those words, Zhang Qing's face instantly turned deathly pale. Something was wrong!
Not just Zhang Qing—the rogue cultivators and common people also realized something was wrong. Why did the River God show no signs of weakness at all?!
The bitter wind howled, and waves began rising on the Taiping River.
Atop a wave several dozen feet high stood the River God, with a fish's head, a human body, fins on his back, and a sharp fork in his hand. His golden, slit-pupiled eyes brimmed with cruelty. "A swarm of ants, and you dare dream of killing a god? None of you will escape today. Die before this god!"
With a roar, the River God swung his sharp fork. The Taiping River churned, and towering waves crashed toward the bank as though heaven were falling and earth overturning.
The people of East River Town watched in horror as the flood surged toward them. Higher than the town walls, it bore down with a terrifying force, as though it would destroy everything.
After a moment of stunned paralysis, everyone screamed and wept in terror, scattering in all directions!
Standing atop the wave, the River God spread his mouth into a grin. "What a beautiful sight."
Seeing the Qi Refining Realm cultivators trying to retreat, Xu Xiao snapped, "What are you standing there for? Attack!"
Wang Ping gripped his lowest-grade spirit weapon tightly. The fear within him swelled until it swallowed him like a black hole.
The next instant, Wang Ping lost his reason. Screaming, he raised his weapon and charged at the River God's towering, deity-like figure, desperately unleashing spell after spell.
Then the towering wave crashed down with the crushing weight of the river behind it, and Wang Ping instantly became a pool of bloody water.
At that sight, the other Qi Refining Realm rogue cultivators could no longer hold themselves back. They fled in terror.
Even though they had swallowed poison, their instinct to survive still made them unwilling to die here.
The River God watched the dense crowd scatter like ants. Countless people fell, were trampled, or became separated from their families, filling him with delight and satisfaction. "You ants, have you learned to fear a god now?"
Xu Xiao grabbed Zhang Qing and summoned her silk handkerchief to carry them both, flying straight into the air to escape the flood.
Looking down now, they saw muddy water continually surging out of the Taiping River. Wave after wave battered the banks, swallowing the land and all living things upon it.
The rogue cultivators were useless now. Why hadn't Fellow Daoist Wen, Old Master Qiao, and Young Master Kongxu appeared yet?
Xu Xiao was frantic.
Meanwhile, on Qingping Mountain, Jiang Sheng sat quietly cross-legged on a stone slab at the summit.
The weather was poor that day. Dark clouds shrouded the sky and bitter winds howled. From the Daoist temple halfway up the mountain, there was no sign of the sun at all.
Tian Ming'an stood quietly behind Jiang Sheng. His martial training over the past several days had produced considerable results, and he no longer feared the cold winds at the summit as he once had.
Looking toward the Taiping River from the mountaintop, they could clearly see its waters gradually swallowing the land.
Several towns in Qingshan County stood along the Taiping River, with tens of thousands of people living on its banks. East River Town alone had over ten thousand residents.
Tian Ming'an knew this was the day the county magistrate had chosen to slay the demon, but judging by the situation along the river, disaster had clearly already struck all the people of East River Town.
"Master..." Tian Ming'an could not help trying to say something, but once he opened his mouth, he did not know how to put it into words and could only close it again.
"Do you want to ask why I haven't acted, when today is the day appointed to slay the demon? Or why, despite having already emerged from seclusion, I'm still sitting here watching the people of East River Town suffer?" Jiang Sheng's voice was gentle, making all agitation vanish in an instant and leaving only peace and calm.
Jiang Sheng rose and looked at the somewhat helpless Tian Ming'an behind him, his gaze as composed as ever. "Don't be impatient. It isn't time for me to act yet."
"Do you know that when hunters pursue large, fierce beasts, they must continually drain their stamina and keep them bleeding? Even once the beast is exhausted, the hunter must still proceed carefully. Otherwise, one careless moment will let the beast turn on him."
"The River God of the Taiping River is a genuine Purple Mansion Realm demon. Dealing with him won't be as easy for me as dealing with the Eight Wolves of Dongjun."
Tian Ming'an abruptly raised his head, disbelief filling his eyes. "Then, Master, Magistrate Zhang's plan was to abandon East River Town from the very beginning?!"
Jiang Sheng shook his head. "Not just that."
"East River Town, West River Town, Stone Mountain Town, Big Willow Town, Peaceful Town—all of them are to be abandoned! Even Qingping Town at the foot of this mountain can be abandoned."
"Only after the demon has flooded all six towns and driven the river waters into the heart of Qingshan County will I act."
A chill ran down Tian Ming'an's spine. Six towns—that meant the lives of tens of thousands of people!
Magistrate Zhang intended to trade the lives of the people in Qingshan County's six riverside towns for an opportunity to kill the demon. But wasn't his desire to slay the demon born entirely out of concern for the people?
Wasn't he a man who loved the people as his own children?
Seeing Tian Ming'an's astonishment, Jiang Sheng gave a cold snort. "Those who accomplish great things cannot be bound by minor details, much less in a plan like this."
Tian Ming'an felt as though something inside him had shattered. "But... but why?"
Jiang Sheng frowned slightly. "Why must there be so many questions?"
"With a Purple Mansion Realm demon in the Taiping River, I cannot enjoy even a moment's peace here on Qingping Mountain."
"And Magistrate Zhang is constrained by Qingshan County's local gentry. If the people revere the River God, who will listen to him, their county magistrate? Besides, slaying a demon and eliminating illicit worship is a major political achievement. Why do you think Magistrate Zhang would do this?"
Tian Ming'an was utterly bewildered. Suddenly, the world felt so real, yet so unfamiliar.
Jiang Sheng continued, "Do you understand now why I can't be bothered to leave the mountain?"
"Beyond the mountain lies Magistrate Zhang's territory. Within it lies my cultivation ground. That was our agreement from the beginning, and it is also why I'm unwilling to leave."
Tian Ming'an looked lost and dispirited. "I... always thought Magistrate Zhang was a good man."
Jiang Sheng chuckled. "A good man? Even I wouldn't dare call myself one. How could Magistrate Zhang have become the magistrate of a county by forty if he were some indiscriminate do-gooder?"
"And by your reasoning, since I deliberately conserve my strength, use those rogue cultivators as disposable pawns, and allow the demon to flood six towns and tens of thousands of people, wouldn't that make me guilty of every unforgivable evil too?"
Tian Ming'an hurriedly said he would never dare suggest that, but Jiang Sheng waved a hand, looking utterly unconcerned. "When I came to this mountain and met your grandfather, I told him I wanted only a quiet place to cultivate in peace. Affairs beyond the mountain have nothing to do with me. Never mind Qingping Town—even if everyone in Qingshan County died, what would that have to do with me?"
"Your grandfather is a clever man. He foresaw this day long ago, which is why he sent you up the mountain, hoping to preserve the Tian Family's bloodline. Your grandfather is a man of substance, and I was willing to befriend him despite our difference in age. That is why you were allowed up the mountain. Otherwise, did you really think kneeling in the wind and snow for seven or eight days was enough to move me?"
Looking at Tian Ming'an's stunned expression, Jiang Sheng could not help laughing. "You are far too naive. Never mind coming to me—even if you went to some Foundation Establishment Realm or Purple Mansion Realm sect, forget seven or eight days. You could kneel for seventy or eighty days, or seven or eight years, and if they didn't want you, they still wouldn't take you."
"I merely found a pretext to accept you."
Those words shook Tian Ming'an to his very core. He had never imagined there was such a reason behind it. He had always believed his sincerity had moved Jiang Sheng.
His star-like eyes carrying a smile, Jiang Sheng looked at the dumbstruck Tian Ming'an and asked, "I imagine your grandfather spent those days urging you to give up, telling you to enjoy wealth and comfort, or to attend some academy or Dao Palace in Dongjun?"
Tian Ming'an nodded instinctively. Jiang Sheng smiled. "Do you know what your grandfather was really thinking then?"
When Tian Ming'an shook his head, Jiang Sheng gently patted his shoulder. "My grandson, you must hold on. The Tian Family's future can only depend on you."
Those words exploded like thunder in Tian Ming'an's mind, leaving him frozen where he stood.
Only after a long while did Tian Ming'an come back to his senses. His mouth tasted bitter, and his thoughts were tangled like hemp. He could scarcely describe what he felt. He only knew that, clever as he appeared, he was actually as stupid as a donkey.
All his needless worrying had been for nothing, as had the painstaking efforts of Qingshan County's gentry and wealthy merchants to raise a clamor and beguile the people. They thought their secret schemes were well laid, yet everything had long since been accounted for in someone else's plan.
Whether it was the evil cultivators running rampant or ignorant people stirring up trouble, the situation throughout Qingshan County seemed chaotic and dangerous, but in truth, it had always remained under Jiang Sheng and Zhang Qingyun's control!
Jiang Sheng chuckled. "Do you know why your grandfather sent you up the mountain to cultivate?"
"Only through cultivation can you control your own fate. Only by having a powerful backer can you avoid being so easily reduced to a pawn."
"Who are the pawns? The wealthy merchants and gentry of Qingshan County, the evil cultivators and rogue cultivators—all of them are pawns. Your grandfather is a pawn too."
"As for the common people, they hardly bear mentioning. Ignorant masses, nothing more. They listen to whoever shouts the loudest, muddling through their lives like blades of grass."
As he spoke, Jiang Sheng sighed softly. "Mortals spend their whole lives toiling in the dust of worldly affairs, with neither life nor death in their own hands."
"For all their self-inflicted worries, what they gain in the end is nothing but an empty gust of wind."
Here is the first update.
Please give me your monthly votes, bookmark the novel, and keep reading!
PS: I never said Zhang Qingyun was a good man. When Zhang Qing was making her plans, Zhang Qingyun never objected, which already made his stance clear. What mattered to him was killing the demon, not how many people suffered. Otherwise, he would have asked Jiang Sheng to intervene long ago, when evil cultivators were harassing the town.
And Jiang Sheng has never been particularly kindhearted either. He is a cultivator. Affairs in the outside world have nothing to do with him; he simply doesn't want any threats nearby.
As for the rest, Lin Yuan has actually hinted at many things already. If you still have questions, we can discuss them in the comments.
(End of chapter)
Please take a moment to share this website on Facebook so we can keep it running.
Before you continue