Chapter 59: Sacrificing the Child
"Squander all the family's wealth?" Liu Yong looked at Pan Hao in disbelief. When Liu Yong was young, his family was extremely poor, but later he gained the favor of a noble and worked hard for half his life to build up this family business. Now Pan Hao's casual words were asking him to squander it all, rendering his lifelong efforts futile.
"It's not like that, how can the thick accumulated sins on Liu Lao Ye's body be eliminated? Moreover, the longer it drags on, the more dangerous that little girl will be. The choice is yours, Liu Lao Ye!" Pan Hao's voice was calm and didn't stir up any waves.
"I? Let me think about it." Liu Yong's heart sank, and he stumbled away from Pan Hao, his entire person seemingly becoming a walking corpse, dazed and confused as he left the Pan estate.
Pan Hao watched Liu Yong leave, his eyes narrowing slightly. This was indeed a difficult situation to be in, but the trouble had been sown by himself, so who else could he blame?
……
Xingjiang downstream, the downstream has several tributaries. In addition to Tianhe River passing through Qingyu County, there is a river called Shuhe near Tianhe River. Shuhe River runs through Rong County and nourishes the surrounding area. In a village in the middle reaches of Shuhe River.
Shuizai Village, a remote village. As the saying goes, "rely on mountains to eat from mountains, rely on water to eat from water". So villagers mainly make a living by fishing. Although these fishermen live in poverty, they are at least self-sufficient and have a warm and comfortable life.
But since two years ago, fishermen have been having frequent accidents. Some people went out to sea at sunrise and didn't come back until sunset, and even afterwards, they were never seen again. These things happened from time to time, causing everyone to panic.
Later, a fisherman dragged himself back to the village with half his breath, saying that it was because the River God was angry and the River God Temple had been neglected for years. It gradually fell into disrepair but no one offered sacrifices or repairs, so he brought down his wrath, causing the fisherman to encounter misfortune.
The fishermen were terrified and demanded the rebuilding of the River God Temple, and after more than a dozen days, an ancient and majestic temple was finally established.
Later, on the 15th of each month, they had to offer sacrifices with three animals. This barely appeased the river god's anger. However, this river god seemed to have a particularly picky appetite, and every time there was something not quite right, he would stir up waves in the river and even attack fishermen. The fishermen were even more miserable.
The villagers of Shuizai Village Temple, with thousands of villagers sitting at the entrance, including men and women, each face filled with anger, fear and unease. At this time, they were having a heated discussion.
"This time the River God actually wants us to offer a pair of children as sacrifices, what's going on?!" A middle-aged man with a weathered face said anxiously.
"It's too much, we can't compromise this time, and we must avenge our fallen brothers!" A sturdy man immediately stood up excitedly.
"It's true, they actually want to sacrifice living people, this must be an evil god, the temple should be destroyed, no compromise!" Another young man with a fiery personality immediately echoed.
"But we've offended the river god, and from now on, we won't be able to go out fishing again. What will our whole family do?" A voice came over from beside him.
"Alas, poor Gorō's life is a hard one!" The old woman lamented in sorrow.
……
"Everyone be quiet! The clan elder and village head are here!" A loud voice rang out. The noisy people around all fell silent, looking in the direction of the sound.
Only five elderly men with white hair, frail bodies and wrinkled faces slowly entered the scene. These are the village elders of Mizusawa Village, who have all served as village heads before retiring to become elder villagers. Having managed the village for decades, their prestige in the village is evident. Alongside the village elder, a tall and robust middle-aged man with a stern expression also walked in - none other than the current village head.
The middle-aged man pressed his hand, indicating that everyone should be a little quieter.
"What suggestions does everyone have regarding the River God?"
"Village chief, we can't compromise anymore. If we let this go on, that evil god will only become more and more unscrupulous." A young man with a still-youthful face immediately stood up, his face flushed red as he spoke loudly.
"But what if he doesn't agree with us?!"
"Who's willing to give up their own child!"
"This..."
The village head and the clan elder looked at each other in dismay, equally at a loss for what to do.
"Lao Si, is that really what the River God requires?" The village chief turned around and asked a man wearing a grayish-white shirt with an ordinary face.
"The village chief said, 'Last night the river god appeared in my dream and was dissatisfied with our last sacrifice of three animals. This time we need to offer two children as compensation!' Old Fourth also had a bitter smile on his face, thinking he was in big trouble."
No one expected that the person chosen to take care of the temple would become the mouthpiece of that evil water god, and now this has happened. Now the villagers look at each other with increasingly sinister and malicious eyes.
"Is this what I wanted?" Lao Si's heart was already filled with extreme distress.
"Is that so? What's good about it then?" The village chief furrowed his brow, thinking deeply.
"Don't worry, everyone. I'll take care of that beast!" A cold voice rang out, suppressing the crowd's discussion. Everyone was shocked and quickly turned around to look.
A man wearing a blue robe, with a robust build and an intimidating aura, walked slowly from a distance. The man had a large knife on his back that emitted a cold glow, giving off a chilling air. Behind him followed two subordinates in green robes, who were also calm and composed, with steady footsteps, clearly having some skill.
"Who is this hero?" The village head stepped forward and asked with cupped hands.
"Uncle Zhang, it's me, Wang Qi!" The man's cold expression relaxed, and he smiled slightly.
"What, Xiao Hu? You haven't come back for so many years, we thought you..." The village chief looked at the man in front of him with a mixture of surprise and incredulity, who was actually the little snotty kid that always followed behind his back.
"What? Is this Xiao Hua?" The people behind who were quite old were shocked and came forward to surround them.
"He was only up to my shoulders back then, now he's really grown tall!"
"Unbelievable! The little kid who used to beg me to go fishing with him back then has grown up so much, indeed time spares no one!"
"Tsk, Old Liu, don't you ever think about it? Your daughter is already married and has two kids. Can't you just accept that you're old?"
……
Everyone came to ask about Wang Hui's situation, only to find out that this young kid who was still wet behind the ears back then had actually left this small fishing village. After going through countless hardships and learning a set of martial arts skills, he even became the leader of some Tiger Gang.
"My elder brother must have died at the hands of that River God! This time I've come back, I will definitely avenge him!" Wang Hu said in a cold voice, his eyes gleaming with a chilly light. He had returned home in glory, but unexpectedly heard this terrible news.
"That's right, several people have already been harmed, and your brother is one of them!" The crowd said in fear and worry.
"We've already invited several high-ranking monks and masters, but they're all helpless against him!" the village chief said with a worried expression.
"Don't worry, I'll think of a way. Can this evil creature be allowed to run amok?" Wang Hu's robes fluttered without wind, rustling loudly. The large knife on his back clanged and vibrated, emitting a powerful aura.
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