Chapter 199

Chapter 199

Ever since the turbid qi entered my body and dramatically enhanced my physical constitution, my martial arts had also reached the stage of overt force–the level described by the saying, “Even a thousand pieces of gold cannot buy one perfect crack.”

My five senses, including sight, hearing, and smell, had become far sharper as well.

As a result, even amid the raging wind and rain, I could make out most of the conversations among the practitioners around us.

“My God! The River God of the Chuan River actually came? This is my first time seeing it. It’s enormous!”

“Unbelievable. What an eye-opener! Witnessing a flood-dragon ascension in person is already a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity. Who would’ve thought the River God would show up to interfere too?”

“Everyone… Do you think we might have a chance to profit from the chaos?”

“You dumb bastard! That’s like taking a lantern into an outhouse–you’re looking for crap and courting death!”

“Is the River God trying to exploit the situation and kill that weak, badly wounded flood dragon?”

As I listened, I kept my eyes fixed on the distant Chuan River, where two colossal creatures faced each other amid the surging floodwaters.

Moooooo!

The flood dragon released a long, resonant cry that seemed to carry some deeper meaning.

The River God’s massive body remained motionless amid the waves, and it gave no reply.

Moo! Moooooo!

The flood dragon roared again. This time, a trace of anger entered its voice.

At last, the enormous fish responded.

Woooo… Woo-woo-woooo!

Its voice was exceedingly strange, like some peculiar musical instrument, yet also eerie and gloomy.

I stared in surprise.

“Are the two of them… talking?”

Li Miao answered, “They probably are. Demons should be able to communicate normally with one another. That newborn flood dragon is likely unwilling to fight the River God of the Chuan River.”

Beside us, Old Cao looked surprised and spoke with uncertainty.

“Aren’t flood dragons supposed to be extremely proud? One that has just completed its ascension should be especially arrogant. Now a mere fish demon has come to threaten it at its doorstep. I would’ve expected it to fight to the death. Can it really swallow its temper and reason with the other creature?”

Yuan Fei slapped his thigh, let out a chuckle, and waggled his eyebrows at Old Cao.

“Brother Cao, that’s where you’re mistaken. It doesn’t matter whether flood dragons as a species are proud. Any highly intelligent species will contain individuals with different personalities, and they’ll all fear death to some extent. If reigning in its temper can prevent a battle to the death and reduce the risk of dying on the spot, perhaps this one is willing to lower itself and negotiate.”

I had to admit that Yuan Fei made a great deal of sense this time!

I nodded.

That had to be it.

Who would want to fight someone to the death immediately after breaking through to an entirely new level?

When the heavenly lightning struck earlier, this flood dragon had willingly sacrificed the chance to attain a flawless transformation by diverting part of its demonic energy to defend itself.

That proved it was a demon that valued its life above all else.

Faced with the menacing River God of the Chuan River, it was entirely possible that it would set its pride aside and negotiate.

Unfortunately, the two creatures were communicating through some method unique to demons. They did not project their thoughts outward for us to receive, so we had no way of knowing what they were saying.

All we could do was watch the two colossal creatures remain locked in a standoff amid the surging floodwaters.

The surrounding practitioners, eager for chaos, grew disappointed and began shouting.

“What’s going on? Why haven’t they started fighting?”

“Exactly! Fight already! Hurry up! A battle between a flood dragon and a River God… You couldn’t even dream of something like this. I want to see it with my own eyes!”

“Aren’t flood dragons supposed to have terrible tempers? I heard they’d destroy anyone over the slightest disagreement. Why is this one so mild?”

“Maybe it’s afraid of the River God. After all, the River God of the Chuan River is no pushover.”

As everyone debated, the two enormous creatures confronting each other in the flooded Chuan River finally seemed to reach some kind of agreement.

The weak and exhausted newborn flood dragon suddenly whipped its tail forward.

Seven or eight scales, each larger than a washbasin, flew through the air.

The River God opened its gargantuan mouth and swallowed all the scales in a single gulp.

It then released another series of strange, wailing calls and slowly began to retreat.

Its broad back, wider than a boat, and its black fin sank beneath the surging river. Raising waves like walls of water, it sped downstream along the Chuan River.

Finally, it vanished from sight.

The flood dragon raised its head and released a furious, humiliated roar. Then it plunged into the vast, churning river and swam upstream against the flood.

Old Cao sounded utterly astonished.

“I never imagined this flood dragon would actually be willing to yield to avoid disaster! It even surrendered its own scales to the River God. That completely defies common sense.”

Yuan Fei shrugged, looking as if he understood everything.

“Brother Cao, I told you. Gather a hundred people and you’ll find every kind of personality. Flood dragons are no different. Every one has its own temperament. Maybe the one we saw today is simply more rational and cunning than most.”

Indeed, that was the only reasonable explanation!

Everything we had witnessed earlier also lent support to Yuan Fei’s theory.

Perhaps only a cautious and cunning python demon could successfully complete its flood-dragon ascension in this age of spiritual decline!

With that, the great spectacle finally came to an end.

The raging storm still battered heaven and earth, but I could clearly sense that the water-aspected spiritual energy around Longduo Mountain had weakened many times over.

Even amid such fierce wind and rain, the air no longer felt wet and chilly. Instead, it carried an inexplicable dryness.

It was extremely strange!

This was partly because the python demon that naturally radiated water-aspected spiritual energy–no, it should be called a flood dragon now–had already left Longduo Mountain and traveled upstream along the Chuan River.

It was also because the creature had connected itself to nearly all the water-aspected spiritual energy within several miles during its ascension and consumed almost every last trace.
Old Cao patted Yuan Fei on the shoulder.

“All right, the show’s over. It’s time for us to head home.”

Woof, woof, woof! Woof, woof!

Heizi had spent the entire encounter with its tail tucked between its legs, trembling and too frightened to make a sound. Only now did it finally dare to bark.

It seemed to be saying, That was terrifying! Let’s get out of here!

I laughed, rubbed its furry head, and teased it.

“Come on, Heizi. Aren’t you supposed to be a powerful black dog that wards off evil? Why are you such a coward?”

It butted its head against me and whined indignantly, as if saying, That was a flood dragon! No matter how strong I am, I’m still just a dog. How am I supposed to compare with that?

And so, the four of us and Heizi slowly started down the mountain.

The Night-Vision Talismans I had taken out earlier had long since expired, so we had no choice but to light our way with flashlights as we braved the storm and picked our way down the slick trail.

The other practitioners on the summit also began descending. Several slipped and fell along the way, crying out in pain.

I found the sight rather amusing.

So-called practitioners were not really that different from ordinary people. They simply possessed a few more wondrous abilities. They experienced the same joys, anger, sorrow, and delight, and they loved stirring up a commotion and watching spectacles just as much as anyone else.

That was why certain rogue occultists’ belief that they stood above and apart from the ordinary masses was nothing more than arrogance!

After stumbling our way to the foot of the mountain, we successfully found the cave where we had left the paper horses.

Yuan Fei immediately resumed his usual wisecracking.

“Well, look at that! We’re lucky–the horses are still here. No one stole them. Otherwise, we’d be men without horses and have to take the Route 11 bus home.”

“Route 11 bus” was an old joke from those days. It meant walking on your own two legs, which looked like the number eleven.

We mounted the horses.

Under the envious gazes of several nearby practitioners, we rode away and vanished into the curtain of rain.

By the time we returned to Lianghe Town, it was nearly three thirty in the morning.

The torrential rain still had not stopped.

Water had accumulated so deeply on the flagstone street outside the coffin shop that it reached our calves. Even the drainage ditches on either side of the road could no longer carry it away fast enough!

That meant the little river beside River Street had probably flooded too. River Street itself might already be underwater.

The moment we reached the coffin shop entrance, all four paper horses finally gave out.

The bamboo frames inside broke and shattered with a series of loud cracks. Naturally, the paper pasted over them tore apart as well.

The horses completely collapsed beneath us.

All four of us tumbled into the water, looking utterly bedraggled.

The qi contained within Yuan Fei’s Water-Repelling Talismans happened to run out at almost the same moment, and they lost their effect. In an instant, we became four drenched rats sitting in the floodwater.

Wang Hu stood in the doorway and hurriedly beckoned us inside.

“Boss, come in, all of you! I’ve prepared hot tea and a charcoal fire.”

Four people and one dog stepped over the threshold.

A large brazier stood in the center of the shop. Its warm flames dispelled the faint chill, and four steaming cups of tea sat beside it.

Yuan Fei had the weakest constitution. He wrapped his arms around himself and sneezed several times.

“Good Lord! This is too strange. It’s already June. How can it still be this cold? Achoo! Achoo…”

I cradled my teacup in both hands and teased him.

“Uncle Yuan, you really need to strengthen that body of yours.”

Just then, Heizi fixed its eyes on Wang Hu, bared its teeth, and barked indignantly. It frightened him so badly that his legs trembled, and he turned to me with a miserable expression.

“Young Mr. Wu, what… what does it want? I haven’t offended His Lordship!”

Before I could explain, Li Miao laughed.

He patted Heizi’s enormous head and told it to behave, then gave Wang Hu an apologetic look.

“Sorry, Brother Wang. My dog is a little sensitive.”

“Huh?”

Wang Hu still did not understand, so I laughed and told him, “Uncle Hu, you prepared hot tea for all four of us, but you didn’t make any for Heizi. That’s why it’s upset.”

So that was it!

Wang Hu slapped his forehead, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

He hurriedly said to Heizi, “Lord Dog, please wait. I’ll pour you some tea right now.”

He returned to the kitchen, brought out a large bowl filled with the remaining hot tea, and placed it on the floor. Then he carefully pushed it in front of Heizi.

Woof, woof!

Heizi barked twice, then began lapping up the tea.

Naturally, Li Miao and Yuan Fei both stayed overnight at the coffin shop.

The rain continued without pause.

Old Cao worried that even the shop’s high threshold might not hold back the water in the street. If it poured inside and soaked some of the coffins, the losses would be considerable.

He led us to gather gravel and soil from the rear courtyard and pile it along the inside of the threshold, creating a higher flood barrier.

Yuan Fei and I each added a Reinforcement Talisman to ensure that the barrier could hold back the water. Only then did we feel safe enough to go to sleep.

That night, Yuan Fei and I shared a bed.

I had to admit, the man did not have a care in the world. He had never learned sleep cultivation, yet he fell asleep the moment his head touched the pillow and soon began breathing evenly.

I lay with both hands behind my head, staring at the ceiling as my thoughts churned.

Yao Nan’s mother must already be leading people in emergency rescue and disaster-relief efforts. If this rain keeps falling, I wonder how severe the flooding around here will become.

If it triggers flash floods, mudslides, or landslides, we’ll be in serious trouble.

Forget it. Worrying won’t help. I’ll go to school tomorrow morning and ask Yao Nan what’s happening.

With that thought, I steadied my breathing, focused my mind, and prepared to begin my sleep cultivation.

What I did not realize then was that this once-in-a-century deluge would leave behind quite a few aftereffects–and bring Old Cao and me one extremely troublesome problem!