Li Mo slowly regained consciousness, only to realize he was not quite awake.
Foggy dreams.
The sky was a thick blanket of dark clouds, resembling a rustic bamboo hut sprouting up from this barren land, adorned with an extravagantly lavish altar.
Surrounding the altar were villagers, their faces frozen in bewilderment, more dazed than the sobbing boys and girls and the hideous, upside-down fish floating in the river.
Everything was reduced to shades of black and white, even the bl**d from the ‘River God’ that had stained the vast lake was only a splotch of red.
“Am I… dreaming?”
Li Mo’s impression of this day was as vivid as a neon sign.
He had strolled into this riverside village just in time to witness a sacrificial ceremony.
You know, mountains provide for those living in the mountains, and rivers do the same for those by the water.
The entire village relied on the riches from the river to fill their stomachs and pay their bills. Unfortunately, the whims of the river were more unpredictable than the gods themselves.
Every few days, it would kick up a storm, making fishing impossible, not to mention the occasional drowning.
And sometimes, it would flood, submerging the whole village.
Every time that happened, the villagers knew the River God was throwing a tantrum.
At that point, the priest would lead the villagers in a grand sacrifice since this year’s flooding was particularly severe; hence, only a major ceremony would suffice.
In their village, being chosen to offer a child—a boy or a girl—was considered fortunate, because that child would be taken to enjoy the blessings of the River God.
Parents would feed their kids ‘soul-leaving medicine,’ dress them up nicely, and present them on a lotus platform…
Li Mo watched in disbelief.
The River God who swallowed children was essentially a hideous catfish!
Without a second thought, he dashed into the water and beat the catfish disaster beast until it spat out the kids, floating belly-up.
He killed the River God.
When he surfaced, all the villagers surrounded him, kneeling neatly on the ground, trembling like quails waiting to be served for dinner, shouting, “Our village has replaced the River God!”
“Don’t kneel!”
“There’s no River God! I’m just a regular guy like you!”
Li Mo bellowed with conviction.
But what awaited him was not the villagers’ awakening nor their gratitude.
Instead, it was.
“If you won’t accept our offerings, why did you k*ll the River God?”
“We knew that whenever the river flooded, it was the River God’s anger. How will we ever know the cause next time?”
“Yeah, when people drown, who do we even worship then?”
Anger, confusion, fear.
It was almost enough to drown Li Mo…
In that moment, Little Li couldn’t help but wonder.
“Did I… just do something wrong?”
He wanted to turn around and ask her, but he found himself alone in a crowd of bustling villagers, just a lonely little island.
Huh?
“Why am I sweating so much?”
Ying Bing gazed down at the young man, her little hand brushing over his eyebrows, trying to smooth the frown that was set deeply on his face.
Then she heard him mumbling, as if speaking in his sleep:
“Ice Chunk…”
Ying Bing’s beautiful eyelashes fluttered like a delicate cloud, her serene features momentarily stolen by surprise.
Was he dreaming of her?
Or was he searching for himself in this dream?
Probably the latter, considering how rarely one sees someone so cheerful, frowning so deeply, with a hint of confusion instead of bliss.
He had never been like this before.
The girl’s gaze was calm and gentle. Holding his hand, she said softly, “I’ve always been here.”
Whether or not she meant to, upon hearing her words, Li Mo’s frown relaxed, the sweat no longer pouring down, breathing easy.
Just then, two little figures, black and white, popped up again.
That little black figure, probably meant to be his brother, was taking the lead.
Ying Bing grasped his hand, thoughts swirling in her mind.
Time passed.
The sun climbed high into the sky.
Li Mo slowly opened his eyes, yawning widely, feeling incredibly comfortable after this nap.
And speaking of naps…
He wondered what kind of pillow he had been using because it was cool, soft, and flexible; definitely a keeper for bedtime…
Hmm?
Li Mo caught a whiff of a familiar fragrance and looked up.
So, the person who was truly breathtakingly beautiful was a complete 360-degree sight to behold, stunning from all angles, even heart-stopping from below.
She wore an expression of serene beauty, her clear, ethereal eyes gazing into the distance.
“Zzzzz…”
Little Li quickly closed his eyes again, hoping to drift back to sleep, or at the very least, pretend to.
But the next moment…
A delicate hand pinched his nose.
“Still sleeping?” Ying Bing’s little hand didn’t budge an inch.
“Zzz…”
“Seems like you really haven’t woken up.”
“Zzz… Ah-choo!”
Trying to hold on to that feigned state, Little Li suddenly felt his nose tickling.
Opening his eyes, he saw that delicate hand, which had pinched his nose, now twirling a few silky strands of hair.
Ice Chunk just sneak attacked with her hair!
“Awake now?” she asked, amusement dancing in her voice.
“Yeah, just woke up. What happened earlier?”
“A bug crawled across your nose, so I chased it away.”
“…Thanks a ton.”
Li Mo wiped his drool and got up, but his gaze stopped short. He noticed a significant wet spot on Ice Chunk’s skirt.
The wetness trickled down her thigh a bit…
The Ming Jiao Clan was known for their affinity for water; he usually didn’t drool in his sleep, but this must be a side effect of becoming a Jiao…
He reached out to wipe her knee and asked, “Next up, we’re heading to Qingmu City, right?”
“Looks like it.”
“Well then, let’s set off!”
“Before we go, there’s still something to do.”
Ying Bing shot him a lingering glance as she tied her hair into a nice updo and stuck a jade hairpin in.
“Also, we’ve got two sixth-grade disaster beasts to deal with.”
“This time, we tackle them together.”
…….
Yantian Sect.
In a tower that shot into the clouds, seemingly brushing against the stars.
The old woman’s jade plate shimmered subtly, its sheen reminiscent of the strange stones from Hengyun Sword City. She gently caressed the plate, revealing a complex expression.
Perhaps soon, this thing wouldn’t be worth anything.
Tap—
Behind her, the sound of light footsteps echoed as a barefoot girl approached, softly calling out:
“Master, the latest Nine Heavens and Ten Earths wind and cloud rankings are here.”
The old woman replied with a quiet “Hmm”, the paper suddenly glowing, projecting information into the void.
Her gaze swept across the rankings before lingering on the Qianlong List.
[Qianlong List, Tenth Place: Ying Bing.]
[Qianlong List, Eleventh Place: Li Mo.]
Their martial arts were about the same as before.
But the changes in their battle records were monumental, and the additional content was quite extensive.
[Battle Record: Entered into the South Border, transformed into the Qingluan Divine Maiden (Ming Jiao Clan Sky Flood Dragon), stirring the South Border into a frenzy, slain four sixth-grade disaster beasts at Sanghu Mountain, namely Xiang Liu, Fei Yi, Da Feng, and Fan Jiang Crocodile… among many other disaster beasts.]
[Qingluan and Huohuang united, shaking the four seas and eight horizons.]
Tian Miao hesitated for a moment and asked, “Should we send this out as it is?”
“Go ahead.”
“Understood…”
……
PS: Typos first, corrections later.
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