"Qingping Town lay beneath Qingping Mountain, yet peace was hard to find in Qingping Town."
Jiang Sheng had said those words yesterday.
The facts had proved him right.
Qingping Town enjoyed an excellent location, nestled against a mountain and beside a river. With Qingping Mountain and the Taiping River as two natural treasure troves, its people should have been able to live without worry.
But a place of clear waters and verdant hills would inevitably draw covetous eyes if it lacked the strength to protect itself.
That was precisely the situation in Qingping Town.
According to Tian Fugui, the greatest threat to Qingping Town was not actually the fierce tiger in Qingping Mountain.
After all, Qingping Mountain stretched twelve hundred li in every direction. The tiger demon could eat and drink to its heart's content there, and as long as ordinary people stayed out of the mountain, they would generally be safe.
The Taiping River was different. It lay on the only route from Qingping Town to the county seat and was the most important transport hub in the entire county.
Whether merchants traveling north and south or official documents and decrees from the imperial court, nearly everything had to pass along this river.
Qingshan County's prosperity was inseparable from the Taiping River, and the people of Qingping Town depended on it even more.
Grain, oil, salt, cloth, and nearly every other kind of merchandise had to be transported along the Taiping River.
It could be said that the Taiping River supplied Qingping Town—and indeed all of Qingshan County—with goods, while also providing their only route to the outside world.
Yet now, if they wanted the Taiping River to remain free of wind and waves, and the town and all of Qingshan County to continue enjoying peace, they had to hold a grand river god grand sacrifice every year.
Listening to Tian Guofu, Jiang Sheng had already gained a rough understanding. "The river god grand sacrifice? What do you offer the river god? The three sacrificial animals and the six kinds of livestock?"
"If only it were animals," Tian Guofu said bleakly. "Every year, the river god grand sacrifice uses living people—children who have not yet turned six."
"Every year, we must offer the river god six pairs of boys and girls."
Twelve children under the age of six had to be sacrificed every year!
A sharp glint flashed through Jiang Sheng's lowered eyes. "Can that river god truly ensure favorable winds and timely rain for you throughout the year?"
Tian Guofu nodded. "As long as we offer six pairs of boys and girls each year, the river god won't stir up trouble, and the Taiping River won't have fierce winds or towering waves. He really does ensure favorable weather throughout the county."
Jiang Sheng nodded slightly. "I understand."
Tian Guofu looked hopefully at Jiang Sheng, who was walking ahead of him. "Daoist Jiang, could you rid Qingshan County of this terrible scourge?"
Jiang Sheng smiled. "Mayor Tian, you really are..."
Seeing Tian Guofu's confusion, Jiang Sheng shook his head with a smile. "Mayor Tian, you have the wrong idea."
"This is indeed a matter of great importance to all of Qingshan County, but what does it have to do with me?"
"I merely cultivate in this mountain. I have no old grievances or recent enmity with the river god in the Taiping River. Why should I go looking for trouble?"
"Please do not bring this matter up again, Mayor Tian."
Seeing Jiang Sheng about to leave, Tian Guofu hurriedly said, "Daoist Jiang! Daoist Jiang! But this year, it's our Qingping Town's turn to provide those six pairs of boys and girls!"
Jiang Sheng stopped and turned to look at Tian Guofu. "But what does that have to do with me?"
Tian Guofu stared blankly at Jiang Sheng. This couldn't be right. Wasn't a Daoist this young supposed to be eager to uphold justice and help those in need?
Why? Why was Daoist Jiang, so gentle and warm as jade, this coldhearted?!
"Mayor Tian, I am grateful that you are building a Daoist temple for me. But if you expect that alone to make me risk my life for you, you are mistaken."
As he spoke, Jiang Sheng raised a hand. Spiritual power shot from his fingertips and severed a tree so thick that three men together could barely encircle it. "If I wished, I could erect a Daoist temple in this mountain within a single day. Do you understand, Mayor Tian?"
Tian Guofu looked utterly lost. "Yes. I was presumptuous."
Jiang Sheng nodded slightly. "Since Qingping Town is willing to build a Daoist temple for me, I shall await its completion. It is difficult to entertain you here in the wilderness, Mayor Tian. Please excuse me."
With that, Jiang Sheng rose on the wind and headed straight for the summit.
Long after Jiang Sheng had departed, Tian Guofu still had not recovered. When the wealthy residents of Qingping Town hurried over, they found him standing there alone, looking as though he had lost his soul, with a felled tree beside him.
"Mayor, how did it go? Did Daoist Jiang agree?" one of them asked anxiously.
Tian Guofu shook his head, his expression vacant. "Daoist Jiang... Daoist Jiang asked what this had to do with him."
A wealthy merchant grew agitated. "But... but we're building a Daoist temple for him! How... how could this happen?"
Tian Guofu pointed at the felled tree. "Daoist Jiang brought down this tree, thick enough to take three men to encircle, with just a point of his finger. He also said that if he wished, he could build a Daoist temple within a single day."
The wealthy men were dumbfounded.
Their plan had been to build Jiang Sheng a Daoist temple, then have the mayor tell him of their suffering and ask for his help. The young Daoist Jiang should have agreed readily. Why was he so indifferent?
A wealthy gentleman surnamed Wang said irritably, "Looks like we're building this temple for nothing!"
A wealthy merchant surnamed Li also snapped, "Hmph! Then we won't build it!"
Alarmed, Tian Guofu hurriedly said, "No! We mustn't do that!"
Meeting their puzzled looks, Tian Guofu hastily explained, "Daoist Jiang said he expects to see the temple completed. If we really stop building it, won't we offend him as well? Don't forget, he slew that vicious tiger demon all by himself, with a single sword!"
Only then did the wealthy gentlemen come to their senses.
A mountain breeze swept past, and each of them suddenly felt drenched in sweat, their hands and feet icy cold!
That was right!
Daoist Jiang had slain the vicious tiger demon of Qingping Mountain all by himself, with a single sword!
Daoist Jiang was a cultivator with genuine power!
The wealthy gentlemen looked at one another. In the end, all they could do was sigh. "We have no choice but to build this temple."
"And we must build it well. If we cut corners, I fear Daoist Jiang's anger will bring us more trouble."
Another round of sighs followed, then silence.
At the summit of Qingping Mountain, Jiang Sheng stood with his hands behind his back, quietly watching the Daoist temple under construction halfway up the mountain.
When Tian Guofu had told him that the river god in the Taiping River devoured six pairs of boys and girls under six every year, anger had indeed risen in Jiang Sheng's heart.
But anger would not cloud his reason. Even if the river god could control only the stretch of river within Qingshan County, that magical power alone warranted caution.
The Taiping River ran for over a hundred li through Qingshan County. Controlling over a hundred li of river and stirring up winds and waves was beyond a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator. It would take, at the very least, a cultivator who had opened a Purple Mansion.
But if there truly was a Purple Mansion Realm water demon in the Taiping River, Jiang Sheng would find it difficult to live in peace even if he wished to.
Although humans and demons were not absolute enemies, how could Jiang Sheng cultivate in peace with a Purple Mansion Realm water demon so close by, in the Taiping River beneath Qingping Mountain?
"How could I tolerate someone sleeping soundly beside my bed?"
Here is today's update. The story is only now truly unfolding. Please keep reading, recommend it, and add it to your favorites.
(End of chapter)
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