Sacrificing to the Water God

The tribe by the great river did not host Feng Xi and the others, so they could only spend the night on their own bamboo raft.

Feng Xi spread some silt over one corner of the raft, then went to a distant grove to chop some firewood.

The guards nearby did not quite understand what Feng Xi and the others were doing.

It was not until Feng Xi returned and lit a fire on the mud that they panicked.

It took quite some effort to explain things clearly again.

Feng Xu invited the chief to dinner.

The chief had not intended to agree, but when he caught the scent of roasting meat drifting through the air, he boarded the bamboo raft anyway.

He was not one to take advantage of others for nothing, so he brought a bundle of rice for the two of them to taste.

Feng Xi put a grain of rice into his mouth, shelled and chewed it as though he were cracking sunflower seeds.

Then he set the rice aside and continued roasting the meat.

The other man chuckled, grabbed a handful of rice, rubbed it between his hands to remove the husks, and put it into his mouth to chew.

Feng Xi shook his head, indicating that they were both eating it wrong.

He took out a clay pot, husked the rice, and put it inside. After a simple rinse, he mixed it with river water and set it over the fire to cook.

"Can this be cooked?"

Feng Xi gestured in reply.

"Of course. And it tastes especially good with roasted meat."

After a while, the fragrance of smoke and cooked rice mingled over the river.

Feng Xu opened the clay pot. Inside, the rice was plump and round, each grain distinct.

"This is what real food is."

The chief looked astonished. The things they usually ate could actually give off such an aroma after being placed in this strange container and heated over a fire?

Feng Xu gave the chief a clay bowl. The three of them divided the rice and roasted meat, scooping it up with bamboo strips.

The rice was soft and glutinous without turning mushy, with just the right amount of chew and a faint springiness. Its light sweetness spread across the tongue, growing more fragrant with every bite.

The rice alone left an endless aftertaste. With the roasted meat added in, even Feng Xu began wolfing it down.

"How can we trade for these things? And this fire—can you teach us? I can trade with you."

"These are pottery vessels. We do not have many either. If you want them, you will have to wait until next year."

Feng Xu pointed at the clay bowls and pots.

"You do not need to trade for fire. We can teach you without asking for anything."

The chief's brows relaxed. At least they would learn how to control fire, so the visit had not been fruitless.

Feng Xu told him everything about making and using fire without holding anything back.

He repeatedly stressed the importance of fire safety.

Although this tribe lived in marshland, bamboo and straw were both highly flammable. One careless mistake could start a huge fire.

Once he had lit a fire in his own tribe, he could roast a fish over it.

Feng Xu reminded them to remove the innards and clean it first, then wait until the flesh inside had fully changed color before eating it.

The night deepened.

Feng Xu browsed the items in the Merit Mall while twisting straw into rope.

Combined with the item descriptions in the mall, it could help him quickly learn about new things.

He opened the introduction for Merit Treasure Refinement.

[Consume merit to refine an object of merit into a Merit Dharma Treasure. The more merit consumed, the higher the treasure's grade.]

There were two kinds of objects of merit. One was the first of its kind to be born in the world and of great use to living beings; the other was something that, after being born, made great contributions to heaven, earth, and living beings.

Feng Xu looked at his little over sixty thousand merit points and wondered what grade of Dharma Treasure he could refine.

He truly needed something to protect himself right now.

"What Dharma Treasure should I refine?"

"After I return, should I pick the best-quality one from the first batch of bricks and refine it?"

No matter how strong a master was, he could not withstand a brick to the head.

Unless, of course, he had trained an iron head.

Feng Xu closed the Merit Mall and began cultivating.

The morning by the river was damp and chilly.

Feng Xu fished from the bamboo raft.

A straw rope was tied to the bamboo pole, with a forked branch tied below it. He then tied meat to the branch.

The fish here were huge. A forked branch should work as a hook.

Fishing was not about the result, but about enjoying the process. Feng Xu planned to meditate and cultivate while waiting for a fish to bite.

Before long, a fish took the bait.

Feng Xu held up the bamboo pole and played the fish as more and more onlookers gathered.

This method of catching fish actually worked!

The man and the fish fought for half an hour.

Feng Xu sensed that the fish beneath the water had run out of strength and slowly dragged it onto the bamboo raft.

The straw rope was nearly snapping.

It was a huge fish about ten feet long, enough to feed the entire group for several days.

"What is that thing? It can catch fish so deep underwater?"

The chief stepped out from the crowd, utterly amazed.

"This is fishing gear. Unfortunately, the materials are poor, so it will be useless after one use."

"Can you teach us how to make it?"

"This thing is not very practical. I can teach you another tool that catches fish faster."

Feng Xu was talking about a fishing net.

Fishing was an amusement. When it came to efficiency, a fishing net was naturally far better.

He had Feng Xi chop down a tree, strip off the bark, pound it to pulp, separate the fibers, and twist them into rope for later use.

The fibers in the bark were tougher.

More than twenty people twisted rope together, and the progress was quick, but one day still was not enough to make a large net.

That evening was unusually quiet.

The people nearby had gone elsewhere, and even the guards had left.

Faint sounds of shouting and children crying came from the distance.

"Should we go take a look?"

Feng Xi pointed toward the depths of the tribe.

"Forget it. This is their tribe's business. We outsiders should not interfere."

"All right. Those children are a pity, though."

Feng Xi sighed.

"What do you mean?"

Feng Xu had a suspicion, but he did not dare confirm it.

Though they were both in the Innate Realm, Feng Xi was stronger. His five senses were keener, and he could hear farther away.

He had been here before and knew something of the local customs. Combined with the changes around them, he could tell that they were holding a sacrifice.

This tribe had always had a tradition of sacrificing to the Water God. Every year, they offered up children in exchange for protection.

If they failed to make a sacrifice in any given year, they would offend divine majesty and bring disaster upon the tribe.

"So it is as I thought."

Feng Xu sighed. "Let's go take a look after all."

The human race was still too weak.

Some kind of ritual was underway in the tribe.

Four children, two boys and two girls, were tied to a bamboo raft and crying loudly.

People wearing masks stood beside them, moving in strange steps and humming under their breaths.

It looked like they were performing some kind of shamanic dance.

Feng Xu stood at the front, clenching his fists.

He found the tribal chief and wanted to ask what was going on.

The chief told him that the Water God was the giant creature beneath the water, one that could speak human language.

Its voice reached directly into the mind. Even if their languages differed, they could still understand one another.

"If it can transmit its voice, it must be very powerful."

The bamboo raft was pushed into the water.

The children's cries became even more heart-wrenching.

Feng Xu could not bear to watch. He closed his eyes, but the image of the people swallowed by the snake demon that night appeared in his mind.

The children's cries still rang in his ears.

Once I achieve success in cultivation, I will surely kill this fiend!

Not for this tribe, but because, as a human, he had to make the demon race that had once caused such immense harm to humanity pay the price.

The water's surface became unnaturally still.

The bamboo raft gradually drifted away, and the children's cries grew weaker and weaker.

The people leading the ritual dispersed the crowd, ordering everyone back to their own bamboo rafts and forbidding them from going out without permission.

Only Feng Xu and Feng Xi stood on the foremost bamboo raft, their expressions grim.

A shadow appeared beneath the water, its outline impossible to make out.

The shadow grew larger and larger, and enormous scales gradually came into view.

"A giant fish?"

Feng Xu silently marveled. At such a size, it had probably become a demon.

"Feng Xi, can you beat the thing below us?"

"If we were on land, I could try. But underwater, it would be absolutely impossible."

"Then what if you joined forces with this tribe's strong fighters? They have experts no weaker than Sui as well."

"Still impossible. Numbers are useless. We cannot use our full strength underwater."

"Then can you hold it off for a while?"

"Xu, didn't you say we would not interfere?"

Feng Xu lowered his head and sighed.

If they failed to take down this demon and angered it instead, the tribe would suffer even greater harm.

The disturbance on the water grew larger and larger. A huge mouth emerged from below, covering the entire bamboo raft.

The instant the huge mouth broke through the river's surface, Feng Xu suddenly leaped up and kicked the bamboo raft away.

He then stepped on the huge mouth to borrow momentum, leaping back onto the raft.

"Xu!"

Feng Xi cried out in alarm and hurriedly followed.

It happened too suddenly. No one had time to react.

The giant creature beneath the water had lost its prey and seemed enraged, circling the bamboo raft.