Canal Dragon King

A peculiar procession wound its way through the mountains, numbering over a dozen people. Saint Aunt sat in a sedan chair, positioned at the rear of the group.

In the center of the procession was a strong, young man. He held a bamboo pole, three to four zhang long, upright on his shoulder. The base of the pole was as thick as a large bowl, resting steadily on his shoulder. As he walked, the pole swayed only slightly. When he tired, he would skillfully shift it to his other shoulder.

This resembled the rural juggling act of "carrying banners," but this man's bamboo pole was bare, with no cloth banner. Instead, a small wooden bowl was attached to the top of the pole. Something seemed to be placed inside the bowl.

Saint Aunt sat in her sedan chair, restlessly crossing and uncrossing her legs.

Zhao Yong was dead; Chang Xunbei had mysteriously disappeared; Wu Haishan had taken men to pursue that brat and still hadn't returned.

Saint Aunt suddenly realized she had no one capable left by her side!

If not for the arrival of several people from the sect yesterday, bringing the "bait" to capture the June Bug, the only capable person left beside Saint Aunt would have been her maid.

The shop assistants from Zhao's Furs Shop were forced into the mountains, taking turns carrying Saint Aunt's sedan chair.

At first, they were terrified. They knew better than Saint Aunt and her group how fearsome Ghost Witch Mountain was.

But along the way, the glimpses of Saint Aunt's legs beneath her skirt left the shop assistants parched. Their fear gradually gave way to the lust that surged in their minds.

Saint Aunt glanced at them and saw: beneath the skin of their skulls, those lustful insects were growing fatter. She felt a measure of comfort. Once they caught the June Bug, she would feast!

The young maid followed beside her, raising an eyebrow as she looked at the long, tall bamboo pole ahead, a hint of confusion in her eyes.

But she could tell Saint Aunt was very agitated and wisely chose not to disturb her.

The young maid had followed Saint Aunt for many years and had learned about forty to fifty percent of her methods.

With a touch of charming innocence in her expression, she chatted with one of the young Literary Cultivators sent by the sect to escort the "bait." Soon, he was telling her everything.

"Although you suspect that Xu Yuan might have already consumed the June Bug, the June Bug is very special and unlike ordinary Medicinal Guides. Even if Xu Yuan ate it, he wouldn't be able to fully digest it within three months. So, as long as he smells the bait's fragrance, the June Bug within him will instinctively move towards the bait. Moreover, within these three months, if we capture Xu Yuan and then... eat him, it will have the same effect as eating the June Bug."

When speaking of eating people, neither the Literary Cultivator nor the young maid showed any unusual expression, as if they did this often.

The two of them were whispering beneath the sedan chair, and Saint Aunt overheard them.

Saint Aunt lazily interjected, "If Xu Yuan didn't eat the June Bug, once we catch the June Bug, we'll leave immediately. We'll come back in three months, and I will personally slice open that brat's skull!"

Xu Yuan had destroyed her sedan chair. She had never been so embarrassed since she started her career, and she harbored deep resentment towards Xu Yuan because of it.

At noon, the sun was shining brightly. The malevolent spirits of the mountains disliked this strong Yang Energy and retreated into the shadows to lie dormant.

Saint Aunt's procession stopped to rest in a river valley.

Today was not a "Forbidden River Proximity" day.

According to the almanac, more than half the days in any given month were "Forbidden River Proximity" days, so resting by the river was a rare treat.

The river here was about ten zhang wide. In this section of the valley, the water flowed gently, rippling softly.

The golden sand on the riverbank was mixed with pebbles of various sizes. Near the river, it was damp from the water.

The burly young man at the front thrust the bamboo pole into the ground, where it stood upright and stiff.

When Saint Aunt issued an order, Zhao Yong's shop assistants vied with each other to show their worth. Some fetched water, some started fires, and some gathered firewood.

The four new cultivators from the sect stood at their respective positions, surrounding the bamboo pole and the bait, ready to capture and kill Xu Yuan the moment he appeared.

Saint Aunt sat on a large rock, gazing at the river, and suddenly recalled, "River Worker Alley... When the imperial court opened the Grand Canal, countless laborers died during its construction. Their descendants remained and lived in this River Worker Alley..."

The maid's expression changed, "That Xu Yuan is a descendant of those rioters from back then?"

On "Forbidden River Proximity" days, the only river that could be approached without danger was the "Grand Canal" that crisscrossed the Huangming territory.

More than two hundred years ago, the Huangming dynasty was in turmoil, on the verge of collapse.

Internally, Gao Chuang declared himself king, leading thirteen thousand veteran soldiers to ravage seven provinces in the northwest. Externally, the Jiannu rose to power, their eight tribes' elite cavalry unmatched, breaking through Shanhaiguan Pass and pointing their forces directly at Beidu!

Almost everyone believed the Huangming dynasty's fate was sealed and that a change of dynasty was imminent within ten days.

However, at the critical moment of survival, the Emperor personally met with the Canal Dragon King. The Grand Canal in the two capitals suddenly surged with a mighty current, transporting hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers from the south to Beidu overnight!

The Jiannu were defeated, and the Huangming dynasty's life was extended.

It then took another twelve years to quell Gao Chuang's rebellion, exterminate the Jiannu, and reclaim all the lands of Liaodong.

Afterward, the Huangming dynasty greatly expanded the Grand Canal. For a century, the canal network spread throughout the Huangming territory, reaching even the northwest and Liaodong.

It was as if there was no need to consider geological or hydrological conditions; as long as a river channel was dug, the Canal Dragon King could summon rolling waters to fill it.

The Dragon Kings of the various rivers either had their water systems merged into the Grand Canal and willingly submitted to the Canal Dragon King; or... they were stripped of their divine positions, either dying or disappearing.

The bizarre phenomena seemed to have begun around that era.

Yet, the Huangming dynasty became increasingly "prosperous"!

The Grand Canal's vast and cheap transportation capacity could move troops, supplies, and more. In the last hundred years, the Huangming territory had expanded by a full twofold!

In the north, they had been fighting the Snow Fiend Ghosts for twenty-seven years, seizing two thousand seven hundred li of land from them.

To the southwest, Ghost Witch Mountain was still part of the Jiaozhi Kingdom one hundred and twenty years ago.

Now, this is the Huangming Jiaozhi Province.

But every time a canal was dug, it would conscript a huge number of laborers, from less than thirty to fifty thousand, to over a million!

These canal workers were far from their homelands, and during the canal excavation, they would often die in a foreign land.

Moreover, the canal construction period was long, and after completion, a large number of canal workers were already old and unable to return to their homelands.

Therefore, there were many canal worker riots, to the point that when the young maid heard the name "canal worker," she immediately associated it with "rioters."

Many of the lands newly opened by Huangming in the past century have places similar to "River Worker Alley."

The canal workers who couldn't go back had no choice but to stay locally and live together in groups.

Saint Aunt had read some unofficial historical notes and gently shook her head, saying, "It's not that simple. This River Worker Alley... caused quite a stir back then. It seems there were some formidable figures living there."

The maid looked confused, but Saint Aunt chuckled and shook her head, saying, "It's all old history. I'm overthinking it. The court has plenty of ways to wear down such people. A hundred years have passed, and River Worker Alley probably only has some old, weak, sick, and disabled remnants left."

Zhao Yong's subordinates had already dug several stoves on the riverbank and started fires to prepare lunch.

A Literary Cultivator quietly approached and whispered to Saint Aunt, "There seems to be some movement!"

Saint Aunt remained unfazed. "Stay calm." She then added a reminder, "Everyone be careful. This is a lawless land, after all."

Ghost Witch Mountain has abundant rainfall and a crisscrossing river network. When the canal was dug here back then, the Shanhe Division and the local strange entities fought several battles, with victories and defeats on both sides, but they were never able to conquer this place, so the canal had to bypass Ghost Witch Mountain.

Places like this are called "lawless lands" by Huangming.

The strange entities hidden within are often so powerful that even the mighty Canal Dragon King finds them troublesome.