Spring Fragrance Transforms into a Flood Dragon

Old Liu couldn't be bothered with Wang Xian's teasing.

He got up, took out several sticks of incense and candles, lit them in the wind, and planted them at the bow.

Seeing this, the boatmen made their preparations too, ready to push the cattle and sheep they'd bought into the river as offerings to the river god.

A gust of wind passed. Incense smoke curled around the bow, then drifted in every direction on the breeze.

Then the boatmen began to sing at the top of their lungs, waving their arms as they chanted an offering to the river god.

Since I possess such inner beauty,

I have further refined it with my talents.

I have gathered bitter herbs and fragrant angelica,

and threaded autumn orchids into a pendant.

My days race by as if I cannot catch them;

I fear the years will not wait for me.

At dawn I plucked magnolias on the mountain slopes;

at dusk I gathered the everlasting herbs from the isles.

The incense drifted, and the singing rang out, mournful and stirring.

Before long, the river ahead suddenly parted, and an enormous creature moved beneath the water.

Seeing this, Old Liu hurriedly told the boatmen to push the prepared cattle and sheep into the river...

Splash! Splash!

The cattle and sheep let out cries of despair. Roars rose and fell across the river, mingling with the boatmen's undulating chants. The animals disappeared beneath the water in an instant.

Shangguan Ruoyan gaped in shock. So there really were monsters!

Wang Xian stood quietly at the bow, watching what unfolded in the water.

He was waiting.

Suddenly, a great splash sounded up ahead. Shangguan Ruoyan's heart jumped, and her pupils involuntarily contracted.

A mass of black mist stretched across the river before them, sealing off