Large Sacrificial Offering

The moonlight shines softly over the Jianghuai Marshlands.

A piece of "driftwood" floated on the river, moving slowly with the waves.

Suddenly, a huge wave surged up, causing the "driftwood" to sink into the water.

The Fat Catfish held its white belly, swaying back and forth, constantly blowing bubbles from its mouth, its Long Whiskers drifting to both sides with the ripples of the water.

Cannot Move, it rolled around in the water with the ripples to regain its balance, silently watching the Fat Catfish.

After a while, the Fat Catfish got bored with its solo performance and started pointing and gesturing with its ink-wash-like fins and Long Whiskers whiskers.

Cannot Move, he turned and went to the Lotus Root Field, beckoning to Round Head and Fist.

The four beasts gathered together, their heads bumping together, each doing its own thing, occasionally creating bubbles. Finally, they separated, Fat Catfish ran up to the Old Giant Clam and made some gestures.

"I should carefully guard the lotus root and have no need to worry."

Upon receiving the reply, the Fat Catfish shook its head and took the lead, while the Cannot Move catfish with its limbs folded together followed closely behind, with its Fist and Round Head following in succession.

Old Giant Clam don't have hands, otherwise you could touch the shell from all angles.

"How strange! I have never seen such an intelligent beast before."

The longer the Old Giant Clam spent with the Water Beast under Liang Qu's command, the more amazed it became at the intelligence they displayed, which was completely beyond what its current strength should have.

One is one thing, but only one such case cannot be explained by coincidence.

High Antiquity remnant species capable of enlightenment?

The Old Giant Clam felt that it still knew too little about this world.

I regret not studying when I was young!

The Fat Catfish was the first to brake, and the three beasts stopped one after another.

The Fist couldn't stop in time and hit the Cannot Move buttocks, getting kicked in in the process.

The Fat Catfish pointed ahead, and the three beasts all lay down on the ground, inching forward little by little, passing through the dense aquatic vegetation.

After crawling out of a certain area, the Fat Catfish led the three beasts to peek out slightly.

In the distance, a monster larger than anyone else present was lying dozing among the water plants.

Its body is covered in large, bright red scales. It has four legs, a long tail, and long, spiky fins on its back. Its muscles bulge out beneath its scales, giving it an extremely robust and imposing appearance. When it breathes, the water surges and the aquatic plants all bend over.

The Fat Catfish pointed its fin at the Scarlet Water Beast, then patted its own white belly.

Cannot Move its head, it tapped its claws on its own scales before reaching out towards the Scarlet Water Beast.

Round Head looked left and right, then decided to withdraw from the argument.

Robust, cute, and plump.

Liang Qu issued a new order to the three beasts, requiring them to find Water Beast that met the criteria, whose strength should be at least one level higher than theirs.

Worried that the four beasts wouldn't understand the meaning of these three adjectives, he explained that the one that Cannot Move like Crocodile represented robustness; the one with Round Head like a finless River Dolphin represented cuteness; and the one that was like Fat Catfish represented plumpness.

Each judgment requires all four beasts to gather and make a decision.

The two beasts were arguing about whether the Water Beast in front of them was more like Cannot Move or Fat Catfish.

Clearly, the Fat Catfish had made a mistake.

The argument continued.

The two beasts decided to set aside their dispute for the time being and await the gods' decision.

The Fat Catfish moved a rock, placed it under the water plants as a marker, and left the territory of the Scarlet Water Beast.

Clang! Clang! Clang! The gongs clamored, and flocks of birds took flight.

"Summer Tax is due! Summer Tax is due! Hand over grain at the dock! Hand over grain at the dock!"

"Summer Tax is being collected! Summer Tax is being collected!"

The piercing sound of gongs came in waves, one after another, making everyone's head spin.

Liang Qu opened his eyes in his sleep and suddenly sat up after hearing the shout.

"Pay taxes? Oh no, I forgot to buy grain!"

Liang Qu lifted the thin blanket, put on his trousers, and was about to fasten his belt when he suddenly slumped back down.

"I'm still half asleep. I'm an official now, I don't have to pay taxes."

Liang Qu propped his head up.

It was a false alarm.

I got back too late yesterday and spent another hour training with the Mirage Worm. Unexpectedly, I slept until Chen Shi (7-9 AM).

Although 8 or 9 o'clock isn't considered late, most people get up at cockcrow, and sleeping until 7 AM is something only a spendthrift would do.

Suddenly awakened, Liang Qu was no longer sleepy. He got up and suddenly received a message from Fat Catfish.

"Have you found a suitable offering?"

Liang Qu was overjoyed, not expecting to see such good news after waking up.

The River God Sacrifice is about to begin, so we need to get the offerings sorted out as soon as possible.

He immediately put on his clothes, washed up, took Fubo and Tiemao with him, and went out to see Chen Qingjiang and his father Chen Renxing pushing a cart to pay taxes.

Give a greeting.

The two men, engrossed in pushing the cart, then noticed Liang Qu.

"A Shui! Heading out?"

"Yes."

Liang Qu stepped forward and offered his help.

He was incredibly strong; he could move a cart loaded with four bushels of grain and six hundred catties of rice smoothly with just one hand, without any effort from Chen Qingjiang and Chen Renxing.

"No need, no need, it's not heavy, the two of us are enough."

Chen Renxing hurriedly tried to pull Liang Qu's wrist, but he couldn't budge it; it was as firmly rooted as an old tree.

"It's alright. I'm going to the dock anyway. When did Uncle Chen buy a cart?"

"I bought it a couple of days ago. I was thinking that I'd have to pay taxes soon. Before, I had to carry the grain myself when I delivered it, so buying a cart is much more convenient. I was even planning to buy a donkey! In the future, when I deliver the grain, I can pull the donkey by myself and I won't need my dad to come out!"

Chen Qingjiang's face beamed with joy.

"That's a good thing. We can rent it out to people to pull millstones or carts when we're not busy. That's a source of income."

Chen Renxing and Chen Qingjiang nodded repeatedly.

With the help of Liang Qu's bait, the three families—the Chen Clan, the Li family, and the Li Family —earned more than one tael of silver a day from their fish catch alone. Each family received several coins, and they lived a prosperous life, adding many items and furniture to their homes.

As for taxes, something that used to cause us worry a few months ago is now nothing at all.

Chen Qingjiang prepared a full four shi of rice this time, not afraid of the officials making things difficult, it would be enough no matter what.

After escorting the two to the dock, many unfamiliar Village Elder appeared behind the table. Chen Zhaoan instructed everyone to form a line and queue up one by one.

Liang Qu also saw the families of Chen Jiechang and Li LiBo. Although they were river officials, they were not of official rank and still had to pay taxes.

Upon spotting Liang Qu's figure in the distance, several minor officials hurriedly went forward to greet him.

"Master Liang."

The County Magistrate come and go, but the clerks and runners remain the same. They are all locals, so how could they not know Liang Qu, this "local tyrant"?

Liang Qu looked around but didn't see the clerk who had collected his money during the Autumn Tax, so he figured the clerk probably didn't dare to come.

He turned around and pointed to Chen Qingjiang, Chen Jiechang, Li LiBo, and others in the crowd.

"Let these people pay first. The loss of one stone and one bushel is about right. Anything above that is what it should be. Don't make things too difficult for the villagers."

Be extraordinary without being unusual, and seek purity without being extreme.

Previously, Xu Yuelong had told Liang Qu in Feng Bu County that he didn't need to be too meticulous, but he later realized that there weren't so many complicated reasons behind it.

There are only one kind of saint in the world, and many ordinary people. If you try to make everything spotless, no one will want to play with you next time.

Therefore, Liang Qu didn't make things too difficult for the minor officials. He let the losses go, but he didn't want them to go too far and cause other people's families to break apart.

Yes, yes, yes.

The minor officials quickly agreed.

"You've all worked hard."

Liang Qu bowed.

"Thank you for your hard work, Master Liang Master Liang."

The minor officials bowed repeatedly, watching Liang Qu untie the boat ropes and float away on the water. They then turned around, pulled out the household registers, and shouted.

"Next up, Chen Qingjiang."

"They're here, they're here."

Chen Qingjiang didn't know why it was his turn so early. Not daring to delay, he quickly pushed through the crowd and pushed his cart forward.

The grain was poured out, and it only amounted to two shi and six dou before the minor official stopped it.

That's enough.

Chen Qingjiang was taken aback and hesitated.

Even if we don't even mention that we haven't kicked him yet, just counting Xiao Shunzi's three rounds, even if we play it properly, it's still not enough.

Seeing the clerk tick a box in the register, Chen Qingjiang knew it was better to avoid trouble and quickly turned to leave.

"Hey, hey, sir, sir."

Liang Guangtian pushed and shoved his way past several people and brushed past Chen Qingjiang.

The clerk didn't even look up, speaking in a muffled, gruff voice.

"What's up?"

"Gentlemen, that man just now was my nephew. What do you think...?"

The clerk closed the household register and looked at Liang Guangtian with a half-smile.

"Oh, who do we have here? It's you, old man. Did you think I was a stranger and didn't know your relationship with Master Liang?"

Liang Guangtian was startled and quickly said, "That's all in the past. Every family has its own problems, and every family has its conflicts. Even brothers fight. My uncle and I have made up a long time ago."

The minor official hesitated slightly.

Liang Guangtian's words make sense, but...

He didn't dare ask Liang Qu if it was really true.

Chen Qingjiang was taken aback and turned around. "When did you reconcile with A Shui? How come I didn't know?"

The clerk's expression immediately changed.

"Old man, get to the back of the line! If you dare cut in line again, I'll whip you!"