Chapter 55: Thousand-Year-Old Dragon

  "Old master, those few masters might have misunderstood you, why don't you clarify things with them?" Lao Wu said, following behind Mo Xiang and Qian Shuai.

  "And no matter why I let her go, it would put everyone in danger." Mo asked shook his head and said, Lao Wu's meaning was that he should explain to the crowd the reason for letting Hu Ren Gongzhu go, but he cared more about the consequences that followed.

  "Are you an old acquaintance of that princess?" Chihiro sensed something and asked.

  "On that day, my wife was taken away by the Hu people. When I and Old Five went north to look for her, we met the Hu princess in the royal hunting ground. She gave us two passes." Mo Xiang did not hide this from Qian Sui.

  "A gentleman's actions should be without regret or debt. Today, it is right to let her go," Qian Shou nodded slowly, "Have you found Ling Zheng?"

  Mo Wen sighed and shook his head, he had found Lin Ruochen, but he hadn't found his own wife.

  Qian Xian didn't say a word, and upon hearing this, he simply nodded his head, without asking any further questions or why they hadn't continued searching.

  Three people traveled day and night, heading south. The lives of the people in the counties near Ye City were tough but still normal. However, after leaving Ye City for hundreds of miles, the counties and villages they saw were all desolate and dilapidated. The land in the north was relatively barren compared to the south, and the grain yield was not high. The government and landlords imposed heavy taxes, and farmers worked hard to cultivate the land but could only get a small portion of the crops. At that time, every household had many children, and with more people and less food, life was naturally difficult. To survive, the common people tried all sorts of methods: they dug up tree roots in the fields to eat, hunted birds and beasts in the mountains, or fished through ice holes in the rivers. Anything edible would be used to fill their stomachs. However, no matter when, there were always rich people whose lives were vastly different from those of the poor. They had granaries full of grain that they couldn't finish eating, pens with fat pigs and chickens, many servants and maids in the house, and stables with horses and mules for riding.

  Along the way, one could occasionally see barbarians robbing people, but the two of them did not take action to punish them. The reason was that the villagers who were robbed did not show any intention of resisting, as if being robbed by the barbarians was a matter of course. Unlike heroic thieves who rob from the rich and give to the poor, Taoist priests would not assist people beyond help. These villagers had already developed a slave mentality and were not worth saving.

  Many have seen the sale of sons and daughters, and they are numb to it. Although I've learned about Taoism, I haven't had time to study and cultivate it. For now, I only have the power to protect myself and no ability to help others. What can't be helped can only be watched with folded arms.

  When people are starving, they will not only sell their sons and daughters, but also rob on the road. However, the three of them did not encounter any strong men on the way. Mo Xun and Qian Sheng were both dressed as Taoist priests, so the strong men didn't dare to attack them.

  Lao Wu still remembered the location of the gap in the city wall, but the three of them did not go around it. Instead, they took advantage of the night to climb over the wall and pass through. This road was one that two of them had walked before, but their mood now was vastly different from what it had been then. Although they had been nervous and on edge at the time, they had still held onto the hope of reuniting with their families. Now, however, although they were safe and sound, they felt only a deep sense of loss and confusion. Their home was gone, and who knew where they would drift to in the future?

  The three of them all knew the art of lightness, and when they reached a deserted place, they accelerated their journey. Nine days later, they saw Qingping City. The corpses of soldiers who had died in battle years ago had already decayed into white bones, with no one to collect them. The city was overgrown with weeds everywhere, and the paths were hidden and could not be seen.

  The next afternoon, the three of them arrived in Xiyang County, the hometown of Mo Wen and Lao Wu. During their absence, outsiders might have come and taken away all usable items and clothing. Fortunately, the coffin shop's coffins were still there, and the two of them found a cart to carry the coffins with Qian Sui to the riverbank.

  At this time, the river had frozen over, and Mo Wu and Lao Wu accurately found the location where they had fallen into the water that day. "It was right here that we fell into the water that day."

  Qian Sui nodded upon hearing this and looked around, furrowing his brow slightly after a moment.

  "Thousand years old, what difficulties?" Mo asked, guessing that Thousand Years might have encountered some trouble.

  "This stretch of water hides a hidden cave, it should be under that cliff." Qian Sui pointed to the cliff three miles east, "The Yellow River is treacherous, but any spiritual water beast will not hide in the main stream. They usually hide in tributaries and deep pools with calm currents."

  "Are you sure there's a water python lurking here?" Mo Xun heard this and furrowed his brow, the term "python" being a colloquialism for a type of beast that was commonly found in the Yellow River, something between a dragon and a snake.

  Qian Sui nodded slowly, "I can sense it. The Yellow River is not lacking in giant fish and dragons, each with their own habitat. This place is someone else's territory, if I enter the water, they will definitely come to drive me away."

  "Can we discuss and compromise?" Mo asked.

  "That thing is fierce and cunning, yet they are of different kinds, how can they be reconciled?" Qian Sui shook his head and said.

  "This matter is too perilous, let's put it off for now. After I've achieved great mastery of my skills in the future, I'll come back to look for Father's remains. It was a bother to have you travel such a long distance, and there's nothing much to entertain a guest with..."

  "No, no, no. We still need to go down into the water. We are the nemesis of the earth concealer. I have a grasp on winning, but we just need to make some preparations," Qian Sui interrupted Mo Wen's words. "It's extremely cold now, and staying in the water for too long will definitely make you feel chilly. You and Lao Wu can gather some firewood and start a bonfire, so I can warm up when I get ashore."

  Mo Wen heard this and was overjoyed in his heart. "This is easy," he said. "I will use the Fire Talisman to burn all the grass and trees on the north shore, so whenever you come ashore, there will be a place for you to warm up."

  "I'll dive down immediately, you can wait with peace of mind." Senrei took over the several cloth bags that had been prepared beforehand.

  "What if there are many corpses underwater, how will you find and identify them?" Mo asked.

  "Father and son, mother and son, bone and blood are passed down through generations. I am familiar with the auras of you two, and can certainly distinguish between them." Qian Sui turned around to leave.

  "There are often undercurrents underwater. The bodies of my father and the Mo couple may have been washed downstream." Mo Wen followed closely behind.

  Qian Sui heard this and shook his head repeatedly, "The ice seals the surface of the water, the river will push the corpse under the ice layer, it can't drift far, it must be in this area."

  "Thank you for your trouble." Mo Wen bowed his head in gratitude.

  "Thank you, sir." Lao Wu thanked him accordingly.

  Qian Xian slightly waved his hand, placing the cloth bag on the shore and taking off his Taoist robe and boots to give to Mo Wen. "You must not step onto the floating ice."

  The two stopped in their tracks on the riverbank, and Qian Sui alone walked onto the ice surface with a naked body. After advancing one hundred steps, he transformed into his true form, and as soon as he did, his weight suddenly increased, instantly breaking through the ice surface and sinking into the water. Mo asked for a glimpse, but only saw Qian Sui's true body - a giant turtle nearly five zhang long, with a yellow-gray shell, its back bearing a clear pattern of longitudinal and transverse lines.

  After diving into the water for a thousand years, Mo didn't ask and walked to the side of the tractor, took out the object that drew symbols, drew three fire talismans in a row, stamped the law seal, and then ignited the grass and trees along the north shore. Immediately afterwards, he returned to the shore anxiously waiting.

  After diving into the water for a thousand years, there was no movement, and it had been a long time since it floated up.

  "Old master, why is there no movement at all?" Laowu asked anxiously.

  "Turtles are different from humans, they can hold their breath underwater for a long time." Mo Wen spoke up and said that previously when everyone went to the East Mountain to bathe together, Qian Sui had stayed underwater for several hours.

  "Master, now that you've learned magic, can you talk to the ghosts of Old Master and Mistress?" asked Lao Wu.

  Don't ask, but the truth is that there are indeed ghosts in this world. However, not every ghost can linger on earth. Most of them enter the underworld within seven days after death. Only a few remain in the mortal realm due to various reasons, unwilling or unable to leave.

  "Do they know what we're doing?" Lao Wu asked again with a tilted head.

  "If it were a new tomb, what we do they can see now they can't see." Mo asked shook his head and said, looking for the remains of relatives is mainly to have an account with oneself, this is what people should do as children.

  "I heard that people who drown need to find a substitute, otherwise they can't be reincarnated, is that true?" asked Lao Wu cautiously.

  "Want to see who drowned and where they drowned, besides, they are not looking for a substitute, just looking for someone to accompany..." Mo didn't finish speaking when he suddenly stopped, he heard the sound of ice cracking from three miles away under the cliff. Because of his experience of falling into the water, he was extremely sensitive to this sound.

  The sound of the ice cracking came from far and near, at the same time, the thousand-year-old sunken water also produced a crackling sound, and by listening to the sound, it was clear that Qian Sui was rushing towards the dragon under the water.

  After a brief moment, the two sides clashed in close combat, accompanied by a loud crash. A large ice cave appeared on the solid ice surface, and the surrounding ice surface was also shattered by the impact. At the same time, a giant green tail emerged from under the ice, swept through the air, and fell back into the water.

  The struggle between the monsters was more brutal than human slaughter, the thousand-year-old body was huge, and the dragon's tail could be seen that the python was not small either. Both were powerful and forceful, and the water surface was turbulent and the ice fragments flew wildly during the battle.

  The Jiaolong is not the same, and the younger Jiaolong is no different from a big snake, only with a single horn on its head. The slightly older Jiaolong has two horns on its head and has two front claws. The even older Jiaolong has four claws, and this kind of Jiaolong can already confront the Qinglong. The Jiaolong that is stationed here belongs to the younger type, and in the battle with Qiansui, it quickly falls into a disadvantage. The Jiaolong's attack has only two ways: biting and entwining, but these two methods are ineffective against Qiansui. Qiansui's body is protected by a solid turtle shell, and the Jiaolong cannot hurt it at all.

  The battle lasted for a moment and the outcome was decided, the dragon was injured and fled in defeat, Sen did not pursue.

  As the fight was underwater, Mo Wu and Lao Wu did not see the whole process of the fight, but the fight caused the ice surface within a radius of three miles to shatter completely, and the blood flowing from the Jiaolong dyed the icy water red, its intensity can be glimpsed.

  Because the fight was short, Qian Sui did not go ashore to warm up, but swam to the shore and carried a cloth bag back underwater, three dives and three floats brought back the remains of Mr. Mo and Wu's couple, Mo Wen and Lao Wu saw the bones and thought of people, crying uncontrollably.

  After landing on the shore, Qian did not leave in a hurry. Instead, he assisted Mo and Lao Wu in burying the remains of their ancestors, digging graves, holding a funeral ceremony, and reciting scriptures to help them ascend to the afterlife. It wasn't until noon the next day that he bid farewell and left. Before departing, he told Mo about his dwelling place, which was located eight hundred miles upstream at Bi Shui Tan.

  As it was just a skeleton, they dispensed with the seven-day mourning ritual. After bidding farewell to Qian Sui, the two of them began to worry about where to go next. This place was naturally uninhabitable for humans, and neither of them wanted to stay within the Huren border. After some deliberation, Mo Xiang made a decision: they would head south to Jingzhou and first return Zhao Zhen's remains...

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