Free Web NovelLi Mo slowly regained consciousness, but found that he was not awake.
What met his eyes was a sky covered in dark clouds, simple bamboo houses that seemed to grow out of the Black Earth, and a strikingly luxurious altar.
Around the altar were villagers with numb, confused expressions, crying boys and girls whose anesthesia had worn off, and ugly, belly-up large fish floating on the river.
Everything was only two colors: black and white, even the blood of the dead River God that had stained a large part of the lake.
“Am I... dreaming?”
Li Mo had a very deep impression of the day's events.
He had come to this riverside village and witnessed a sacrifice.
Living off the land, living off the water.
The entire village relied on the harvest from this river to fill their bellies and support their families. However, unexpected events occurred, and the river's temper was even more erratic than the heavens.
Every few days, it would stir up waves, not only preventing fishing but also frequently drowning people.
Occasionally, it would even flood and submerge the village.
Whenever this happened, the villagers knew that River God was angry.
At such times, the priest would lead the villagers in a sacrifice. This year, the flood was particularly severe, so only a grand sacrifice could be held.
In their village, families whose children were drawn by lot to be offered as boy or girl sacrifices were considered fortunate, as their child would go to enjoy blessings with River God.
Parents would feed their children ‘Soul-Leaving Medicine’, dress them meticulously, and send them onto the lotus platform...
Li Mo saw it clearly.
The River God who swallowed the lotus platform was clearly an ugly catfish!
He unhesitatingly rushed into the water, and at the bottom of the river, he beat the catfish Disaster Beast until it spat out the boys and girls, whose bodies then floated on the river surface.
He killed the River God.
When he came ashore, all the villagers surrounded him, kneeling neatly on the ground, trembling like quail waiting to be slaughtered, shouting, ‘Our town has a new River God!’
“Don’t kneel!”
“There is no River God, and I am not a god; I am a person just like you!”
Li Mo shouted these words with conviction.
However, what awaited him was not the villagers' sudden realization, nor their gratitude.
Instead, it was:
“If you don’t accept our offerings, why did you kill River God?”
“Originally, when the river flooded, we all knew it was River God’s anger. If it floods again in the future, how will we know the cause?”
“Yes, at that time, if people drown, who should we worship?”
Anger, confusion, panic.
They nearly drowned Li Mo...
At that moment, Xiao Li couldn't help but ask himself.
“Did I... do something wrong?”
He wanted to turn around and ask her, but found no one behind him, only himself, alone in the surging crowd.
Hmm?
“Why is he sweating so much?”
Ying Bing stared at the young man on her lap, her small hand brushing his eyebrows, but she couldn't smooth out his furrowed brow.
Then she heard him muttering, as if talking in his sleep:
“Ice Cube...”
Ying Bing's eyelashes, which sparkled with every glance, trembled slightly, and her serene, moonlit face froze.
Was he dreaming of her? freewёbnoνel.com
Or was he looking for her in his dream?
It was probably the latter, after all, it was rare to see someone as cheerful as him with such a deep frown, and a hint of confusion and panic in his expression.
He had never been like this before.
The maiden's eyes were calm and gentle, and she held his hand, softly saying:
“I’m always here.”
It was unclear whether he heard these words.
Li Mo’s brow relaxed, he stopped sweating, and his breathing became steady.
If at this moment, two little figures, one black and one white, were to pop out again.
Then it was likely that the little black-clothed figure, who would call him 'younger brother', would gain the upper hand.
Ying Bing held his hand, thinking this to herself.
Time passed.
The sun was high in the sky.
Li Mo slowly opened his eyes and woke up, yawning, feeling that he had slept very comfortably.
He didn't know what he had used as a pillow, it was cool, soft, and elastic, and he would use this for sleeping from now on...
Hmm?
Li Mo smelled a familiar faint fragrance and looked up.
So, truly beautiful people are flawless from all 360 degrees; even looking up at her from below is breathtakingly beautiful.
Her expression was serene and beautiful, her clear, tranquil eyes fixed on the distance.
“Snore...”
Xiao Li quickly closed his eyes, attempting to fall back asleep, or at the very least, pretend to be asleep...
But the ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) next moment.
A soft, boneless hand pinched his nose.
“Really asleep?” Ying Bing’s small hand didn’t loosen at all.
“Snore...”
“It seems he really isn’t awake yet.”
“Snore... Achoo!”
Xiao Li, who was determined to hold out, suddenly felt an itch at the tip of his nose.
Opening his eyes, he saw that the soft hand that had just pinched his nose had a few strands of smooth, dark hair wrapped around its fingertips.
Ice Cube had just ambushed him with her hair.
“Awake?” She asked with a half-smile.
“Hmm, just woke up, what happened just now?”
“A bug crawled over your nose, and I chased it away.”
“......Thank you.”
Li Mo wiped his saliva and got up, but his gaze couldn't help but linger; he saw a distinct wet patch on Ice Cube's skirt hem.
The wetness even flowed down her thigh a little...
The Mingjiao Clan excels at gathering water; he actually didn't drool in his sleep before, this was a side effect of becoming a Jiaolong...
Reaching out to wipe her knee, Li Mo asked:
“Are we going to Aoki City next?”
“Probably.”
“Then let’s set off.”
“Before we go, there’s one more thing.”
Ying Bing gave him a profound look, tied up her dark hair, and inserted a jade hairpin.
“There are two more Six-Rank Disaster Beasts.”
“This time, we’ll go together.”
.......
Yantian Sect.
On the towering pagoda that reached into the clouds, vaguely rivaling the stars.
The jade plate in the old woman’s palm had a faint luster somewhat similar to the strange stone in Hengyun Sword City. She gently caressed the jade plate, a complex expression on her face.
Perhaps soon, this item would no longer be needed.
Step—
A soft footsteps sounded behind her, and a barefoot woman walked up to her, softly calling:
“Master, the new Nine Heavens and Ten Earths Wind and Cloud Rankings are all here.”
The old woman hummed, and the paper glowed slightly, projecting its information into the Void Realm.
Her gaze swept across the various rankings, stopping at the Qianlong Ranking.
【Qianlong Ranking Tenth Place: Ying Bing.】
【Qianlong Ranking Eleventh Place: Li Mo.】
Their martial arts were similar to last time.
But the changes in their battle records were earth-shattering, and the added content was almost identical.
【Battle Record: Entered Southern Border, Incarnation as Qingluan Goddess (Heavenly Dragon of the Mingjiao Clan), stirred up a storm in the Southern Border, jointly slew four Six-Rank Disaster Beasts at Sanghu Mountain, namely Xiangliu, Feiyi, Great Wind, and Fanjiang Crocodile... and several other Disaster Beasts.】
【The Qianlong and Chu Phoenix unite, stirring up winds and clouds across the Four Seas and Eight Desolations.】
Tian Miao hesitated for a moment, then said: “Should we release all of it as is?”
“As is.”
“Yes...”
