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Chapter 465 (beginning)

Di Youzhi was so agile that he didn't seem like a cultivator of alchemy, jumping and leaping on the backs of more than a dozen giant man-eating catfish.

Tear open the giant catfish's mouth and breathe fire inside.

After killing nine in a row, the fire in his belly began to wane.

Then, tear open the giant catfish's mouth and spray the sword pellet inside, shredding its internal organs.

The river was instantly covered in blood.

After slaying all the catfish monsters, Di Youzhi laughed heartily again, shouting "That was great!" twice, and then leaped from the corpse of the catfish monster closest to the riverbank.

This time, because there was no running start, he only jumped about ten feet before showing signs of falling.

He used the same trick again, unleashing a burst of flames from behind to propel himself forward...

But the fire in his abdomen had been consumed too much before, so when the fire was expelled, it went out with a "poof" sound, leaving only a wisp of smoke!
Di Youzhi yelled and gesticulated wildly before plunging into the river with a splash.

Swallowing several mouthfuls of water, Di Youzhi struggled to sit up halfway, crying out in terror, "My lord, please save me! I can't swim..."

"Gudong Gudong..."

It sank again.

A rope quietly dipped into the water, entangled Di Youzhi, and pulled him back.

Di Youzhi was soaking wet, pale-faced, and vomiting water, looking like he was still in shock.

"Thank you, Your Excellency..."

The people around Wei Jinyuan were somewhat puzzled.

Di Youzhi looked ridiculous, but even though he couldn't swim, he rushed into the river without hesitation to kill the evil spirits.

Xiao Bin said in a low voice, "Why work so hard?"

Zhou Leizi used farming methods to control those catfish monsters, but he also exerted all his strength and was so tired that he sat on the muddy ground by the river, panting heavily.

This area falls under the jurisdiction of the Grand Canal Administration. Even if your Exorcism Division discovers evil spirits, it is perfectly reasonable for you to do nothing.

Xu Yuan said calmly, "It is the duty of the Exorcism Bureau to eliminate evil spirits. Once you put on this uniform, you cannot just watch harmful evil spirits slip by without doing anything."

Geng Qi and Zhong Die couldn't help but glance at Xu Yuan.

Everyone can say nice things, but very few people actually do them.

The Mountain and River Bureau and the Demon Extermination Army have long forgotten their so-called "duty." Even within the Exorcism Bureau, Lord Xu and his subordinates are "outcasts."

For ordinary people, the harm caused by the Three Offices of Strange Tales is often no less than that caused by evil spirits.

"Let's go."

The group continued upstream along the canal.

Although Di Youzhi's fire was almost gone, drying his clothes was not a problem.

He and Zhou Leizi caught up last.

Di Youzhi felt a little strange: the last few catfish monsters had their internal organs ripped apart by the sword pellet and died. Logically, the smell of blood should have attracted other evil spirits in the river.

But after I fell into the water, no evil spirits took the opportunity to attack me...

The dragon, lurking underwater, had long since scared away all the evil spirits around it.

Xu Yuan's decision to release the leather dragon into the canal was actually a test.

Other dragon species, once they reach a certain level, will attract the attention of the Grand Canal Dragon King.

For example, the Dragon King of the well in Gangtou Village.

However, Pilong showed no abnormalities when it entered the water.

"As expected, those who cultivate the Dragon Transformation Technique are no longer subject to suppression."

But this made Xu Yuan even more vigilant: "The Dragon King of the Grand Canal is keeping a close watch on all other dragons in the world."

"If the 'Dragon Transformation Method' could truly transform a dragon, would the Grand Canal Dragon King allow it to develop without any restraint?"

"We've already reached the fourth rank. We can't advance any further until we figure out the truth about the 'Dragon Transformation Technique'!"

If things go wrong, we might end up doing all the work for someone else, becoming the old Dragon King's provisions!

Continuing upstream from that bend in the river, Jia Zongdao walked for another ten miles or so, stopping several times along the way.

These are all places where he once preyed on evil spirits.

One of them contains an underwater cave.

Inside was a water spider, ten feet in size. Jia Zongdao had once eaten one of its young, and as a result, it had chased and fought him for a long time.

However, cave exploration is prohibited today. Xu Yuan noted down this location, planning to come back and eliminate them another day.

Zhou Leizi, holding the map, said, "There's a Pingquan Village about seven or eight miles ahead. Let's spend the night there."

It was getting late. Xu Yuan took out the map and looked at it. He realized he had missed Pingquan Village, and if he continued forward, he would reach Xiayuan County.

The purpose of traveling along the canal is to trigger Jia Zongdao's memories, so we cannot go too fast.

“Okay,” Xu Yuan agreed, “Di Youzhi, you go to the village to make the arrangements first.”

Di Youzhi responded and urged his horse forward quickly.

When the group reached the outskirts of Pingquan Village, Jia Zongdao stopped.

The terrain here is flat, and the river is wide.

Several boats were moored along the riverbank, and some villagers made a living by fishing.

"what happened?"

Jia Zongdao turned around and looked at Lord Xu with a confused expression: "My earliest memories begin from here..."

He pointed to the small boats: "I remember these boats; I once hit my head on the hull of one of them."

Jia Zongdao lifted a section of his hair, revealing a faint scar.

Xu Yuan beckoned to him: "Go take a look."

The two arrived at the riverbank together, and Xu Yuan waved to Nan Zhenchuan: "Tow all the boats up here."

Wu Xiu was extremely adept at this kind of rough work. Nan Zhenchuan dragged the boat with one hand, and after dragging it ashore, he flipped it over with a single effort.

When they had dragged the sixth ship, Xu Yuan said, "We don't need to worry about the rest."

The sixth ship has a dent on its hull from a collision.

This indicates that Jia Zongdao's memory was correct.

Everyone turned around and looked at Pingquan Village. Wei Jinyuan couldn't help but say, "This village... there's something wrong with it."

He had been trying to impress Miss Jinxi the whole way, but he couldn't find an opportunity.

"Zhou Leizi," Xu Yuan called out, and Zhou Leizi immediately stepped forward: "Sir!"

"Di Youzhi hasn't returned yet?"

"No."

Smoke was already rising from the village chimneys, and women were calling for their children to come home for dinner.

A dilapidated stone tablet stands at the entrance of the village.

Behind the stone tablet, on a bare old tree, perched a crow that was noticeably larger than usual.

Seemingly sensing that someone was watching it, the crow cawed strangely, flapped its wings, and took flight. It circled above Xu Yuan and the others dozens of feet in the air, its dark eyes staring menacingly at the people below...

A flock of geese swooped down, pecking at the crows' feathers, causing them to squawk and flee in disarray.

But the geese pursued relentlessly, surrounding and intercepting them in the air.

The crow let out a final, pitiful cry and fell into the river, quickly sinking to the bottom.

Xu Yuan saw Dafu flying over unhurriedly, his eyes full of arrogance.

What's with the little black bird acting all high and mighty?

Zhou Leizi sensed something was wrong. He rushed to the village entrance, jumped onto the stone tablet, and shouted into the village, "Old Di—"

"Di Youzhi!"

No one in the village responded.

The smoke from the chimneys still lingered in the air, and the villagers were not disturbed by the shouts; not a single person came out to investigate.

Zhou Leizi panicked and jumped down, ready to rush into the village.

But before he even landed, his waist was bound with animal sinew rope, and Xu Yuan pulled him back with a flick of his wrist.

The bare, dead old tree creaked and groaned.

The crow suddenly reappeared on the branch.

(End of this chapter)