No taboos

Chapter 574 The Village is Good (10,000 words)

Huang Jiushisi is stupid.

It was able to rise to prominence and "stand on equal footing" with Huang Thirty-Seven, becoming one of the two "giants" of the Huang clan of Xiaoyushan, because it was capable of fighting and dared to take on challenges.

So Xu Yuan asked repeatedly, but it couldn't say for sure whether it was the three mountain peaks marked on Aunt Wang's map.

But Xu Yuan guessed that was probably true.

Hanxiangtan and those mountain streams all have names, but these three important mountain peaks do not.

The reason why Xu Yuan couldn't find the place after walking in the mountains for two days was found: the places marked by Aunt Wang might no longer exist.

Huang Thirty-Seven had calmed down by now, his two small eyes gleaming cunningly.

I won't compete with Huang Jiushisi; I'll strike back later!
I want Lord Xu to see my usefulness.

Lord Xu will understand that the Huang family is doomed once it's handed over to Huang Jiushisi.

At this moment, Huang Thirty-Seven seemed to be possessed by the ancestral master of weasels throughout history! His cunning and shrewdness were greatly amplified.

Of course, that's just its own feeling.

Huang Jiushisi couldn't explain it clearly, so Huang Sanshiqi stepped forward. Like an old human scholar, he put his two small front paws behind his back, his upper body slightly hunched, and slowly said, "What Jiushisi said is just the surface. The essence is that the land in this mountain has grown."

This statement greatly surprised Xu Yuan.

Huang Thirty-Seven tried hard to appear "profound and unfathomable," but his body reeked of a foul odor, which was far from the "temperament" he dreamed of.

Huang Thirty-Seven was still waiting for Lord Xu to ask further questions before he could continue his explanation.

But Xu Yuan gave a disgruntled snort, and a chill swept over him. The little weasel immediately lowered its body and obediently and quickly said, "You will grow up in the outer lands."

Our little Yushan has grown up many times.

During this period, the ground would occasionally tremble at night.

The three mountain peaks we ran through this time probably sensed the earth's growth; if we hadn't run, they might have sunk or collapsed.

Huang Thirty-Seven pointed in a direction and said, "There's a cliff over there that's already split in two. I'm afraid it'll collapse in a few days."

Xu Yuan frowned and asked, "Do you know the reason behind this?"

Huang Thirty-Seven scratched his chin with his little paws, his eyes darting around, racking his brains but still unable to come up with an answer: "This humble one... really doesn't know."

Xu Yuan glared at it irritably, then asked, "Do you know which evil spirit has occupied Han Xiangtan?"

"I... really don't know."

"Then do you know what the Mountain Lord's true form is?"

"I... really don't know."

Xu Yuan flicked the animal sinew rope, knocking it to the ground: "You know nothing, what are you pretending to be so profound about?"

"Ouch—" Huang Thirty-Seven fell to the ground with a cry of pain.

Huang Jiushisi laughed gleefully.

Xu Yuan then lectured, "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win every battle. You know nothing about Lord Shan, yet you dare to fight him to the death?"

"You're the only ones who will die!"

Huang Thirty-Seven lay on the ground, quietly defending himself: "It's not that we know nothing about it; we do know a little about its background."

"what do you know?"

Huang Thirty-Seven: "It didn't actually come from the deep mountains."

When people talk about "deep mountains," they usually mean Ghost Mountain, which is associated with evil spirits in Xiaoyu Mountain.

Huang Thirty-Seven continued, "There's a junior down there who saw with his own eyes that the fellow came in from outside the mountain."

Xu Yuan twitched his eyebrows. With a skill level like that of the Mountain Lord, he must have a reputation in Ghost Witch Mountain.

But among those fathers and grandfathers, not one of them truly matched the abilities of the Mountain Lord.

"Who saw it?"

Huang Thirty-Seven then squeaked and called over a little weasel.

The little weasel stood timidly in front of Master Xu, imitating Huang Thirty-Seven, and bowed with its little paws clasped: "This little yellow-faced weasel greets Your Excellency."

"Tell me in detail what you saw, without hiding anything."

"I obey, little one."

The Huang family has many members, usually scattered throughout Xiaoyu Mountain. It was a coincidence that Huang Lian'er happened to be catching earthworms at a mountain pass that day.

Then they saw that huge shadow drifting in from outside the mountain.

"Moreover... when I saw it, the shadow it cast as it entered the mountain was not very thick, and I could vaguely make out that there seemed to be a human figure inside."

Xu Yuan's heart skipped a beat: A person?
Xu Yuan stroked his chin thoughtfully, paced back and forth a few times, and then waved to the weasels: "You all go out of the mountain first. I will inform you once the matter in the mountain is resolved."

The weasels looked at each other in bewilderment.

With so many rats like us, how difficult would it be for us to escape from the mountains?

If we encounter a patrolling tiger on the way, we'll be captured...

Xu Yuan, however, opened his mouth and spat out "Dragon Spitting Mirage" at them.

A large group of weasels pointed at each other and burst into laughter: "Hehehe, you've changed!"

"Squeak, you've changed too, you've become a demon soldier."

"Look, look! The Thirty-Seventh Duke has turned into that little monkey from before!"

"Even the Ninety-Fourth Prince has changed..."

Huang Jiushisi was transformed into a stone statue by Xu Yuan, and Huang Sanshiqi was transformed into a mountain demon.

"Just walk out openly and honestly." Xu Yuan instructed, "No matter who you meet, don't show any fear, especially Huang Jiushisi. Remember that the General Shi you are playing is hot-tempered and straightforward. No matter who asks you questions, just tell them that you are on the orders of the Mountain Lord to carry out a secret mission, and no one else should ask any more questions."

The two little weasels nodded repeatedly.

Huang Jiushisi even straightened his back and puffed out his belly, thinking that this was his true self.

After getting rid of the pack of weasels, Xu Yuan did not directly enter the area of ​​Han Xiangtan.

Lord Shan Jun was clearly after Han Xiangtan.

Xu Yuan planned to lie in wait in secret and let them decide the victor.

It was for this reason that Xu Yuan led those demon soldiers to this Luotou Cliff, killed them, and used their blood to irrigate the canal and flush the stream.

Xu Yuan swayed and used "Dragon Spitting Mirage" to conceal himself again, heading towards the temple of the Mountain Lord.

The temple is built in an ancient forest.

In the mandrill's memory, the ancient forest was filled with a thick fog of yin energy, which had accumulated for countless years, containing a large number of malevolent spirits, evil ghosts, and demons.

The mandrill never wanted to go there.

Xu Yuan didn't actually go in. He wandered around for a dozen miles outside the ancient forest a few times, and then he saw a big-bellied monster snake leading a group of demon soldiers out of the forest and heading towards the direction of Han Xiangtan.

This group of demon soldiers numbered five hundred.

The monstrous snake was as thick as a bowl, its upper body was raised more than half a zhang high, and it had a belly the size of a millstone.

They came to a rocky slope where nothing grew, and a mountain stream meandered by not far away.

The monstrous, large-bellied snake opened its mouth and spat out many tools.

"They each took their tools and went to work."

"This is a task personally assigned by the Mountain Lord. Anyone who dares to slack off will have to come and rest inside my belly!"

The demon soldiers shuddered and quickly went to their tools to begin digging.

"This means they're going to dig another Shanjun Canal." Xu Yuan understood.

These demon soldiers were disorganized and the construction site was in complete chaos. Xu Yuan seized an opportunity, kidnapped one of the demon soldiers, burned it to ashes, and then disguised himself as that demon soldier to infiltrate the site.

This canal is about two hundred feet long.

It took the five hundred demon soldiers three whole days to dig the entire canal.

Xu Yuan squeezed to the front and saw that the canal was eventually connected to the mountain stream in front of him, but not a single drop of the clear, cold stream water flowed into the canal.

It's like there's an invisible barrier between a stream and a canal.

Xu Yuan had initially guessed that Han Xiangtan and the surrounding mountain streams formed their own water system.

The reckless Dragon King of Luohe guarded the area closely, preventing his "water" from having any chance to enter the canal network.

Each of these demon soldiers was strong and powerful; in terms of strength, one was equivalent to five or six living people.

But with five hundred living people, the canal was dug in just one day.

But it took them three whole days, while the big-bellied serpent was all smiles, shaking its head and boasting: "Good, good, good! Under my leadership, you have indeed done a good job and finished the work in just three days."

The mountain god gave us five days, but we've already moved up the time considerably.

"My men, once I have informed the Mountain Lord, each of you will be rewarded!"

The demon soldiers then cheered in a chaotic uproar.

The big-bellied serpent opened its mouth again and spat out a pile of stone slabs.

The big-bellied serpent commanded its demon soldiers to piece the stone slabs together one by one at the bottom of the canal.

Xu Yuan went over and pretended to be very eager, grabbing a few stone slabs.

Upon closer inspection, one could clearly see some water ripples carved on the stone slab.

This was Wenxiu's doing!
Xu Yuan was now certain that the Mountain Lord was not some evil spirit; he was a living person!

"I'm not the only one eyeing the Dragon King of the Luo River..."

Xu Yuan was pretending to lay the stone slabs when he suddenly heard a demon soldier in front of him yell, "The water's here—"

Xu Yuan looked up, and his pupils immediately dilated:
The water level is too high!

The mountain stream was only seven or eight feet wide and about three feet deep.

The water flows gently, leaping lightly through the mountains like a sprite; the volume of water is not large.

But for some reason, the water suddenly broke through that invisible barrier and rushed into the canal.

As soon as they entered the canal, the sound of water was deafening, and huge waves surged. The first wave was three zhang high, and another wave followed, pushing it up another five zhang high, and then ten zhang high...

The floodwaters surged in, and the demon soldiers in front only managed a scream before being swept away and disappeared into the depths of the waves!
Xu Yuan turned to leave, just in time to see the large-bellied serpent behind him leap up to escape—

Suddenly, walls of water rose up from all directions. The higher the big-bellied monster snake jumped, the higher the water walls rose!
Then they all squeezed inward. Xu Yuan paused, wanting to raise the fire wheel, but felt a heavy water vapor all around, and the fire wheel was actually slowed down by a bit.

Then, with a loud "boom," a torrent of water swept down, slamming him and the giant-bellied snake into the water!

Glug, glug, glug...

Countless bubbles rose from the water, and all five hundred demon soldiers were submerged.

If there were an observer standing high in the sky looking down at this moment, they would see a large body of water suddenly bursting out from the mountain stream, like a giant hand grabbing five hundred demon soldiers and a big-bellied snake, and then quickly retracting.

The evil spirits that were submerged in the water shrank along with it and were carried back into the mountain stream by the current.

The once mighty floodwaters vanished without a trace in an instant.

The stream continued to flow swiftly, and the evil spirits in the water transformed into insects, tumbling and being carried away by the current.

……

Deep within an ancient forest, in the heart of a somber and gloomy temple, a thick shadow that had been looming over the shrine in the main hall suddenly surged.

The main hall was dimly lit, with the doors and windows tightly shut.

"Hehehe, finally couldn't hold back anymore? I'm not afraid of you making a move, I'm just afraid you won't!"

A chilling voice echoed through the hall.

……

The phrase "No Taboos" flashed repeatedly, but Xu Yuan suppressed this destiny.

As his body rapidly shrank, Xu Yuan saw the pebbles at the bottom of the stream grow larger in his eyes.

Xu Yuan did not use his Dragon Pearl inner core. Instead, like the other demon soldiers, he kept spitting out a string of bubbles in the water, pretending to be drowning.

Among the demon soldiers were water monsters, which turned around and revealed their true forms.

Then one by one they were swept up by the invisible current of water, and with just a squeeze, these water monsters burst open with a snap!
Xu Yuan simply stared at the large-bellied, strange snake.

This move made the snakes' eyes dart around, suggesting they were plotting something.

Once the current calmed down, the large-bellied snake steadied itself, its belly bulging—

Suddenly, with a splash, something fell into the water.

Then all the demon soldiers exclaimed in unison—of course, they didn't utter anything, but instead swallowed a few more mouthfuls of water.

Then they were caught in a large net.

Wow, what a great catch!

A cheerful and bright voice came from the sky above.

All the demon soldiers were caught in the large white net, colliding, tumbling, and huddling together, yet none of them could even glance at the source of the sound.

Suddenly the fishing net was flipped over again, and the demon soldiers were once again thrown into a dizzying spin.

Everyone, including the big-bellied snake, was in excruciating pain and nearly vomited.

Xu Yuan had been secretly watching it. This move had originally prepared some methods, but now it couldn't be used.

wow-

All the demon soldiers were poured into a wooden basin.

Everyone struggled in the water and scattered.

Xu Yuan also took the opportunity to look up and saw a little girl wearing a blue floral jacket and with two pigtails squatting by the wooden basin like a giant, her big round eyes full of joy, staring at them.

"So many little fish!"

"I will cut grass to feed you every day from now on. You must grow up quickly, so that I can eat fish every day when you grow up."

The demon soldiers were still somewhat confused and disoriented, and roared in fury.

They've always been the ones eating people, when did it become the turn of people to eat them!
But they found that they couldn't make a sound.

Not only could they not make a sound, but they also could not use any of their tricks.

They can only poke the water a few times with their claws out.

Every demon soldier's face showed extreme terror.

At the same time, he looked at the big-bellied monster snake.

Now, the all-powerful and awe-inspiring Commander has become their backbone.

The big-bellied serpent's face was extremely ugly.

It also discovered that its trickery was ineffective.

It also possesses several powerful items, bestowed upon it by the Mountain Lord.

But it's used to swallowing everything whole.

Now we can't use our tricks, and we can't get this thing out either!
Only then did these demon soldiers completely panic!
Xu Yuan felt his "unrestrained" nature still flashing continuously.

It was indeed some kind of peculiar trick.

If Xu Yuan were to unleash his "unfettered" nature, he would immediately return to his normal state.

But Xu Yuan was very curious; all of this exuded a strong sense of eeriness.

The little girl looked like a normal human being.

This area was just a typical farming family in Huangming.

A small courtyard with low walls and three dilapidated thatched huts.

There was a cowshed nearby, from which came the moo of an old cow.

Moreover, Xu Yuan looked at the demon soldiers around him. They had been affected by a trick, but their bodies had only shrunk and they had not turned into fish.

The girl has such big, bright, and lively eyes; she's clearly not blind.

Why did she only see a group of small fish?
Just then, a young man's voice came from the side: "Er Ya, go feed the cows."

"Okay, brother." The little girl skipped away, her two pigtails swaying happily.

The old ox was very familiar with its young master and greeted him with a series of mooing sounds.

Then, a young man of sixteen or seventeen walked to the wooden basin, glanced at it, and exclaimed with delight: "Wow, Er Ya is really amazing! She even caught an eel!"
"Mom, could we add something extra tonight? Stir-fried eel with garlic sprouts?"

Smoke was already rising from the kitchen chimney, and a middle-aged woman's voice, filled with affection, said, "Great, and here's a bunch of garlic sprouts too."

"Alright." The young man reached into the wooden basin. "I'll kill the eels first, then I'll help you pick the garlic sprouts..."

Chaos reigned in the wooden basin, and every demon soldier felt immense terror.

That hand was a giant palm reaching out from beyond the sky!
Each demon soldier could only flee and hide, unable to resist at all.

The big-bellied serpent never expected that it would be the first to face its calamity!

An overwhelming sense of crisis caused it to squeeze out the last bit of strength from its body.

It wanted to break free from the "shackles" on its body and unleash its terrifying power as a fifth-rate evil spirit.

The family in this small courtyard should have been a delicious meal for them!
What kind of power suppressed me and allowed these mortals to rebel against the Heavenly Gang?

Its intense resentment unleashed its strongest power in its current state.

It...successfully jumped out of the wooden tub...

"Wow, this eel is quite strong; it jumped out of the basin."

The little girl rushed over, saying, "Let me see, let me see—"

The monstrous, pot-bellied snake fell to the ground, then twisted its body and darted away, its direction indiscernible.

It rushed straight towards the little girl.

The little girl screamed "Ah!" and quickly hid to the side in fright.

But once again, a giant foot descended from the sky, firmly pinning down the large-bellied serpent with terrifying force.

The older brother said to the little girl, "Go feed the cows, you're scared when I kill the fish."

"Okay," the younger sister obediently agreed and left.

The elder brother grabbed the monstrous, pot-bellied snake by the neck, straightened it, then pulled a sharp dagger from his waist, stabbed it in, and pulled it down. This dignified, fifth-rate evil spirit was killed as easily as an ordinary eel.

Disembowell him!
The elder brother then skillfully hooked his finger and plucked inside the belly of the monstrous snake, pulling out all its internal organs and tossing them aside.

Xu Yuan leaped up from the wooden tub and saw everything.

The large-bellied snake had several things inside its belly. These clearly shouldn't be inside an eel.

But his elder brother turned a blind eye; in his eyes, what he had pulled out were inedible internal organs.

He carried the "eel" to the water tank next to him to wash it.

Xu Yuan stared at the "internal organs" on the ground, preparing to find an opportunity to bring them back for a closer look.

There must be some "treasures" bestowed upon us by the Mountain Lord here.

This allows us to speculate on the identity and strength of that mountain lord.

After the elder brother cleaned the blood off the "eel", he carried it into the kitchen.

Soon, the heavy sound of a cleaver striking a cutting board could be heard from the kitchen.

Inside the wooden tub, all the demon soldiers fell silent, as if trembling with fear!

An unprecedented terror gripped them.

They also captured living people, disemboweled them, and devised various "cooking" methods to eat them.

But now, the tables have turned. A group of mortals eat them like this, and even though they are evil spirits, they are so frightened that they leak urine!
Dinner was served quickly. It was a family of four, and they had added some dishes today. The family enjoyed their meal very much, and laughter frequently filled the table.

The message reached the wooden basin, which terrified the demon soldiers, causing them to tremble uncontrollably.

Xu Yuan had been waiting for an opportunity to use "No Taboos" to remove the strange skills on his body and to check the "treasures" inside the big-bellied snake's belly.

But it seems that Lord Xu has not been discovered.

There were always people in the courtyard.

This delay meant that night fell.

The little girl laboriously carried the wooden basin onto the millstone.

Then the family closed the door, and soon the oil lamp inside went out.

Just as Xu Yuan was about to use "Unrestricted", he suddenly heard a strange clattering sound, rhythmically approaching the wooden basin.

Xu Yuan dared not make any rash moves.

The other demon soldiers were so frightened that they scurried around in the wooden basin, wondering if they would face another calamity.
The sound grew closer and closer, and then suddenly stopped when it was clearly outside the wooden tub.

The demon soldiers in the wooden tub felt their bodies stiffen, facing a life-or-death judgment, and time suddenly became unbearably long.

suddenly--

A huge goose head emerged from the wooden tub.

Several demon soldiers fainted from fright.

The remaining demon soldiers also immediately erupted into chaos, struggling and darting about. However, their talents were far inferior to those of the Big-bellied Monster Snake; otherwise, they would probably have broken through their current physical limitations and jumped out of the wooden basin!

Xu Yuan breathed a sigh of relief.

He immediately launched into a tirade against Dafu.

However, he discovered that under the suppression of the trickery, he was unable to make any sound.

Dafu followed closely behind Fanzhezi.

But it dares not enter the yard during the day—this family eats everything, and I, Fuye, am so fat that if they catch me, I'll surely end up on the stove.

So it waited until it got dark and the family went to sleep before it came to check on them.

It stared with its round goose eyes and saw the small puddles of rice in the wooden basin, somewhat puzzled.

Just as Xu Yuan was about to unleash "No Taboos," Da Fu suddenly stretched out its neck, and an enormous, flat mouth appeared from the sky...

Inside the wooden basin, several demon soldiers fainted from fright.

But the flat beak had a clear target and accurately clamped down on Xu Yuan.

Xu Yuan was also greatly surprised, and his spell was interrupted on the spot.

Then Dafu shrank his neck, grabbed the rice dung, and quickly fled the yard.

Once outside the yard, it opened its mouth and carefully placed the food pouch down.

Xu Yuan was furious!

Once the "No Taboos" was unleashed, a cold and dark power was forced back from his body.

Xu Yuan's body grew rapidly.

He slapped Dafu on the head.

Dafu felt wronged and protested with loud cawing.

Uncle Fu, I'm saving you!
"Do I need your help?" Xu Yuan glared and cursed angrily, his whole body covered in Dafu's disgusting saliva as Dafu carried him in its flat snout!
Even my hair felt sticky.

Lord Xu cursed and swore, while Dafu shrank his neck, turned his head away in a huff, and ignored him!
But Lord Xu did not forget his business and turned to head towards the small courtyard.

The gate was bolted from the inside, but the wall was low and couldn't even stop Dafu, let alone Lord Xu.

Lord Xu nimbly scaled the walls of the courtyard to retrieve the items he had taken from the belly of the giant-bellied snake during the day.

The moonlight is bright tonight, illuminating the ground in a silvery white.

Xu Yuan spotted the pool of internal organs at a glance.

The housewife was very diligent; she swept the entrails together with the withered grass and fallen leaves in the yard and piled them against the wall next to the gate.

These things can be used for composting, so they weren't thrown away.

Xu Yuan went over to take a look, but his brows furrowed.

The internal organs are still there, but those "treasures" are gone!

Xu Yuan stared at the object all day and was absolutely certain that the family had not taken those things at all.

Xu Yuan searched the courtyard again and then went into each room, but he still couldn't find those items.

Xu Yuan then quietly slipped out.

Those "treasures" will not disappear into thin air.

This family didn't take it, and I didn't take it either—who took it?
Xu Yuan glanced at the deep darkness around him.

That was taken by the person in charge behind this place.

Why was this group of demon soldiers, commanded by the big-bellied serpent, swept away by the waves and then tricked into turning into a group of "small fish"?
Of course, it was the ruler of Hanxiangtan who made the move.

Even if the mountain lord plots against it, it won't just stand by and do nothing.

Its counterattack was a wave of water that trapped these demon soldiers.

Even the "fish" and "eel" that this family saw were actually what that person deliberately wanted them to see.

Then it silently took away those "treasures".

Their purpose was the same as mine: to investigate the background of that mountain lord.

"Hiss hiss hiss—" A strange low growl suddenly came from a sparse pine forest nearby.

Pairs of emerald green eyes floated up from the forest like will-o'-the-wisps.

Xu Yuan looked back and saw door gods pasted on the gate of the farmhouse.

Therefore, even if this place is ruled by that sovereign, it cannot escape the great rule of "evil spirits everywhere" in this era.

Xu Yuan had no intention of fighting these minor evil spirits. He waved to Dafu and walked away into the distance.

Xu Yuan circled around under the cover of night and figured it out: this was a small mountain village with only thirty or forty households.

But because it was night, we couldn't see the road out of the village, and we didn't know if we could get out.

The evil spirit that initially emerged from the sparse pine forest was a bizarre creature pieced together from various white bones.

The skulls include those of humans as well as those of various birds and beasts.

What binds these bones together is a cluster of emerald green phosphorescence within the skull.

Originally, there were only a dozen or so of these strange creatures behind them, but then more and more appeared, all sorts of bizarre and malevolent spirits emerging from the surrounding darkness, drooling and growling as they followed behind.

This displeased Master Fu, who rushed back and pecked at a few of them, finally scaring the group away.

After Xu Yuan roughly checked the situation, he found an open space, released "Dreams Come True", and prepared to get in the car to rest for a while.

Dafu stretched out his neck and his flat mouth caught the collar of Fanzhezi's clothes.

You can't go!

Xu Yuan pushed it away: "Don't cause trouble."

Dafu was frustrated and let out a few muffled groans, then stubbornly gave up.

But after Xu Yuan went inside, it heard that kind of music that it disliked coming from inside the carriage again, and it became worried again.

No way, from now on we'll mainly be relying on rice dishes for meals, so I can't keep going off to hunt in the wild, can I?

I still have two large families to support.

Jungling can only feed me, but if I were to rely on jungling to support the Water Bird Sisters and Wild Goose Sisters, wouldn't that exhaust me to death?
So Dafu quietly got up, sneaked over to the side of the car with his shifty eyes, suddenly jumped up, and with his flat mouth like a chisel, slammed into the car with a thud.

The force was quite strong, and the carriage shook slightly.

The music inside suddenly stopped.

Enraged that his "dream come true," the hook flew out, dragging a silver chain with it—

Dafu, however, ran away as soon as it was hit, and had already darted several feet away, spreading its big wings and laughing loudly.

"Dreams Come True" retracted the hook, and the music started again—only to find that the wretched white goose had once again sneaked around.

Enraged, "Dream Come True" released the two craftsmen's horses, letting them trample the goose to death.

But Dafu is much more agile than the two horses, and if pushed too far, Dafu can even fly for a while.

After struggling for half an hour, "Dream Come True" had no choice but to give up.

There's always someone in the way, so you can't fully enjoy yourself.

The carriage quieted down, and Xu Yuan slept soundly.

Dafu felt he had won, and with a burst of energy, he flew up to the top of a large tree next to him, spread his wings, and cried out a few times.

Suddenly, a gust of wind shot through the sky!
A blind corpse owl pounced on Dafu, mistaking him for prey.

Then he was entangled by Dafu, rolled to the ground, and Dafu pecked his head off several times.

Dafu felt it was very unlucky.

This corpse owl smells terrible and is inedible.

Dafu angrily stomped on it a few more times.

Before Xu Yuan went to sleep, he told the master that his "dreams would come true," so when it was almost dawn, the master was woken up by the "dreams would come true."

Before the villagers got up, Xu Yuan put away the "Dreams Come True" and hid.

Xu Yuan is currently unsure of the extent to which the person behind him has control over this land.

Are you aware of your own existence?
As dawn broke, Xu Yuan opened the pocket-sized almanac in his pocket. Today's taboo:
Singing, entering the cave, harvesting, getting married.

The village suddenly came alive. Families opened their doors, and those in better-off families started making breakfast, getting to eat an extra meal compared to others.

Those in bad weather set off early in the morning with their tools on their backs.

They met on the road and greeted each other: "Harvesting is prohibited today, so we won't be going to the fields. We're going to the river to fish."

"I wonder if we'll be able to catch a few big fish."

"Don't forget, if you catch a big fish, you must give one to the Dragon King."

"How could we forget? All these years of good weather and abundant harvests are all thanks to the Dragon King's blessing..."

As the group walked towards the river, Xu Yuan frowned deeply: "Dragon King?"
Is this "Dragon King of Luohe" really so approachable? Can the villagers really get a direct audience with the Dragon King just by bringing a big fish?

Generally speaking, as one of the "deities," they will protect believers, but they will also cultivate their own mystery. They will not directly contact believers, but will communicate through sacrifices—divine pronouncements.

However, Xu Yuan had already searched the entire village last night, and there was no Dragon King Temple to be found inside or outside the village.

However, at that very moment, Xu Yuan suddenly felt a chill run down his spine!
In the peripheral vision of Lord Xu's left eye, he seemed to have caught sight of a huge shadow.

Xu Yuan slowly turned his head in that direction.

At the village entrance, several hundred feet away, stood a huge temple, ten feet tall!
Red walls, yellow tiles, and glazed roofs!
Xu Yuan had been to Beidu and entered the imperial city, but even though the temple in front of him was much smaller in scale, its grandeur was no less than that of the three main halls of the imperial city!
How could such a grand temple appear in such a small mountain village?
Moreover, Xu Yuan was absolutely certain that he had searched the entire village last night and must have been to that place. It was clearly just an empty space, and there was no way there could be such a large temple there, which he had simply ignored!
Xu Yuan silently uttered a name in his heart: "Dragon King of Luo River!"

This inner voice was like a prayer; and the great temple seemed to respond to Xu Yuan's prayer, its two magnificent, heavy doors opening to the sides with a rumble—extending an invitation to its "believers".

Xu Yuan did not rush in.

The trip to Xiaoyushan seemed to go smoothly, and they discovered the traces of the Luohe Dragon King.

But Lord Xu felt no joy whatsoever.

Instead, a strong sense of crisis arose.

Aunt Wang has been rooted in Miaopo Village for decades and has gone in and out of Xiaoyushan dozens of times, but she has never found the Dragon King of Luohe.

Why did I stumble upon this "Dragon King Temple" as soon as I arrived?
Clearly, the key factor was not himself, but the mountain king.

Xu Yuan wanted the Mountain Lord and the Luo River Dragon King to settle their differences first, and the Luo River Dragon King probably had a similar idea!

Xu Yuan took three steps back, then resolutely turned around and rushed out of the village.

A neighbor's gate creaked open, and a middle-aged hunchbacked man stood behind it. Seeing Xu Yuan run past, he paused, then called out, "Who's there? You look unfamiliar. You're not from our village, are you...?"

The moment Xu Yuan turned around, he had already activated "Looking at Fate".

Lord Xu wanted to see if these villagers were real people.

A clear destiny appeared above his head.

Xu Yuan's figure blurred, and he disappeared from the hunchbacked man's sight as fast as lightning.

"Huh, where did they go? Am I seeing things?"

Xu Yuan walked around the village as quickly as possible, but unsurprisingly, he couldn't find a way out.

There is only one road leading to the river in this village.

The surrounding area is all steep cliffs.

Xu Yuan stood at the foot of a cliff and released the sword pellet.

The sword pellet soared high, reaching hundreds of feet in height. Whenever it flew towards the outside of the mountain, it would be bounced back by a domineering force.

Xu Yuan stepped onto the fiery wheel again, flying several hundred feet high, allowing his flying sword to fly even higher.

Upon reaching the thousand-zhang mark, they discovered that not only were there barriers all around, but even the area directly above their heads was sealed off by that force.

"Leaving the village... the only way is by water?" Xu Yuan guessed.

But the ruler here is the "Dragon King of Luo River," so who dares to go down into the river?

Xu Yuan landed, released "Dreams Come True", and said, "Little Dream, let the Yellow Oriole come out and try."

"Ring ring ring..." Soft music came from inside the carriage, and Xiao Meng obediently agreed.

The car window rolled down, and a little yellow bird flapped its wings and flew out.

It tumbled merrily in the air, but once it reached a height of a thousand feet, it could no longer fly higher.

The yellow-bodied warbler, enraged, suddenly rammed upwards—

Then, as if punished, he fell stiffly to the ground.

Xu Yuan released Pi Dan to support it—

As a result, the Yellow-bodied Warbler flew straight through Pidan, its descent command undiminished.

Xu Yuan slapped his forehead: He had forgotten that he couldn't come into contact with the Yellow-bodied Nightingale.

"Little Dream!"

Xu Yuan roared and used his strength to lift the carriage.

The car door faces upwards.

A series of cheerful bell rings echoed through the carriage!
Xiao Meng loves being lifted up high by the old man.

Xu Yuan urged, "Stop playing around and open the car door quickly."

Xiaomeng felt that the master still didn't understand. The yellow-bodied warbler could travel through all things, so what if it fell to the ground?

It simply penetrates the ground.

But instead of pointing out the master's mistake, she opened the car door and carefully let Huang Shenying in.

Xu Yuan wanted to put the carriage down, but Xiao Meng refused and clung to the master's hand.

Xu Yuan shook his head and lifted the carriage three more times.

Xiao Meng became even happier.

Dafu stood at a distance, glaring with his two goose eyes, swearing loudly and obscenously.

Xu Yuan put the carriage down. Now he was certain that none of his methods could get him out of this mountain village.

Xu Yuan walked back to the hunchbacked man's courtyard.

The hunchbacked man was carrying a fish basket on his back and holding a fishing net in his hand, preparing to go out.

Upon seeing Xu Yuan, he immediately said, "I knew I couldn't be wrong..."

Xu Yuan cupped his hands and said, "Brother, I got lost and accidentally wandered into your village. May I ask which way to leave the village?"

The hunchbacked man, who was originally amiable, suddenly turned ferocious upon hearing the words "leave the village"!

"Leave the village? What do you want to do by leaving the village? This place is a beautiful paradise, isn't it wonderful?" As he roared, his features changed rapidly, and he transformed into a dragon face covered with scales!
This face was domineering and stern, staring intently at Xu Yuan. Two dragon whiskers twitched at the corners of his lips, and terrifying sharp teeth gleamed with a dangerous cold light in his mouth!
Xu Yuan immediately changed his tune, saying, "Brother is right. This paradise is so wonderful that I don't want to leave. But I still need to ask, how do I settle down in the village?"

Upon hearing this, the man's "dragon-like" expression immediately vanished, and he nodded with a broad smile: "It's good to stay, it's good to stay, no one should leave."

"Come on, I'll take you to see the village chief and have him gather the whole village to help you build a house."

He immediately dropped the fish baskets and nets, didn't lock the door, and pulled Xu Yuan away.

His hand gripped Xu Yuan's wrist, and a cool, slippery sensation washed over him, as if... he were being wrapped up by a fish fin.

Xu Yuan remained calm and followed behind him.

"The village chief's house is at the west end," the hunchbacked man said as the two passed a rice paddy in the village.

The rice stalks are golden and heavy with grain, clearly indicating another bumper harvest.

The hunchbacked man said, "Look at our fields, they're so fertile, we can't even finish eating the grain we grow every year."

Xu Yuan looked at the rice ears, each one opening its eyes to reveal fish eyes the size of soybeans!

The entire rice paddy, spanning dozens of acres, was filled with countless cold, fish-like eyes, all staring at Xu Yuan!

(End of this chapter)