Daily Intelligence: From Water Snake to Jinghe Dragon King

Chapter 175 Special Envoy Robs Merchant Caravan, Li Shimin Comes for Help

As the river monsters departed, Liu Qing watched their retreating figures, as if he were seeing numerous river gods paying homage to him, their supreme deity.

The divine roles that evolve are endless, but one's own divided soul is finite. Aren't these close confidants the best to serve the gods?

After the shrimp travelers left, Liu Qing, adhering to the principle of not showing favoritism, selectively taught several martial arts techniques to Bearded Catfish, Catfish Slave Girl, Ji Ping'an, Sang Qingjun, the eighteen snake and python heroes of the Liu family, as well as the Three Heroes of the Dust, Knife Loach Knife, Snail Luo Cheng, Water Demon Grass, and other trusted confidants.

Of course, as someone close to the Lord of the Manor, White Snake already possessed superior cultivation techniques long before Shrimp Traveler and the others.

When Tianluo Xiaoya was still in the East Sea, she had just awakened her spirit and transformed into a demon when she was taught cultivation techniques. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to progress in her cultivation so quickly.

As for Shui'er, the Water-Avoiding Golden-Eyed Beast, she has a bloodline-inherited cultivation technique that is most suitable for her Water-Avoiding Golden-Eyed Beast clan, so there is no need to pass it on separately.

Under Liu Qing's command, all the river demons, large and small, who were close to him, were taught the techniques, except for the newly appointed "Ambassador of Fortune," the turtle spirit Yuan Haowen.

The turtle spirit, eager to ask questions, had his bad luck transferred to him by a weasel that had failed to obtain a title, and from then on, he was plagued by misfortune.
Not only is it plagued by bad luck, but anyone who comes into contact with it will also suffer collateral damage. Liu Qing dares not approach within three zhang of this old turtle, lest he be implicated.
Yuan Haowen, who was living alone in a muddy puddle on the island, watched his former brothers vying to flatter the lord of the manor, feasting and receiving martial arts techniques. He could no longer contain his grievances and burst into tears.

A crow flew overhead, cawing a few times, then its rear end twitched and dropped a clump of bird droppings, which, by sheer coincidence, landed in Yuan Haowen's beak.
Yuan Haowen was wailing with his mouth open when a lump of crow droppings fell into it. Numb and about to spit it out, the droppings slid down his throat. Instantly, Yuan Haowen's eyes bulged, he coughed incessantly, his face turned blue, and his lips turned purple.

Upon hearing the news, Liu Qing rushed over and summoned the river water from afar to transform it into a hammer, which shook out the crow droppings blocking the turtle's trachea, thus saving its life.

It seems we can't just stand by and watch this old turtle suffer any longer; we need to think of a way to resolve this.

This bad luck originated from a weasel that failed to obtain a title, and it has since become a persistent problem for Yuan Haowen. To resolve this, the bad luck must be transferred to someone else.

With the motto "better to die than see my friend die," Master Liu used a water chain to grab Yuan Haowen and throw him out of Da Wan Lake.
The voice carried far: "Yuan Haowen, you should go to Fulong Lake as an undercover agent and cooperate with Shan Gong, Shan Xiongxin, Li Jingdaozi, and the others to cripple the Fulong Lake Water Mansion from the inside out."

"My lord, I've done some calculations, and once you help cripple the Floating Dragon Lake Water Mansion, this bad luck will probably disappear."

Bie Jingyuan was overjoyed and asked, "Really? Thank you for your guidance, Master. I'll head to Fulong Lake right now! Oh my god—"

Before he could finish speaking, the turtle spirit Yuan Haowen tripped and tumbled down the lakeside path. Having been plagued by bad luck for days, Yuan Haowen, after a brief moment of surprise, skillfully tucked his head and limbs into his shell, letting himself roll down the slope.

Only when it felt the rolling stopped did it dare to cautiously peek out, and there it saw a wet black leopard in front of it, one of its front paws pressing down on the turtle's essence.

On such a hot day, the black leopard's fur looked as if it had been drenched in rain, with water constantly dripping down its body; it was truly strange.
The black leopard pressed down on the turtle spirit with one of its front paws, its eyes showing surprise and admiration: "Young friend, you truly have extraordinary talent. This old Daoist finds you quite pleasing to the eye. How about you become my disciple?"

Bie Jingyuan stared intently at the paw that the black panther was using to hold him down. After waiting for a long time without any misfortune befalling the other, he was quite surprised.
"Great demon lord, why aren't you unlucky? Do you perhaps have a way to get rid of my bad luck?"

To the northeast of Da Wan Lake, there is a low hill called Luan Shi Gang (Rough Rock Hill). Within Luan Shi Gang, there are jagged rocks and numerous ravines.
There are few large trees in the mountains, mostly shrubs. In the largest patch of shrubs, there is a small hollow, with sheer cliffs on three sides.
On the broken wall, there were two adjacent cave entrances, dark and gloomy, from which chewing sounds could be heard from time to time. Outside the caves, a group of tigers, leopards, bears, wolves, wild buffaloes, wild boars, and other monsters lay prone.
They faced the two openings, listening to the chewing sounds, not daring to even breathe loudly.

This rocky ravine is surrounded by cliffs on three sides, with only a narrow path leading down the mountain on the south-facing side. At the end of the path, a wide official road runs east-west.

On the official road, dozens of oxcarts and mule carts were lined up in a convoy, driven by their drivers.

On either side of the caravan were swordsmen on horseback. Although nominally swordsmen, they were actually skilled and combative, exuding an aura of killing intent; they were clearly private soldiers kept by some family.

These private soldiers numbered in the dozens, protecting the convoy in the middle. Leading the convoy was a tall, stout man.

He rode a fine warhorse, with a large bow made of ox horns hanging from the hooks on either side of the horse, and a ten-foot-long bronze cudgel on the bird-wing ring. Following closely behind was a large cart.

A row of large banners fluttered in the wind, each bearing the character 'Li'.

It turned out that this convoy was a salt transport convoy escorted by Li Shimin's private soldiers.

The leader of the private soldiers looked warily at the rocky hill on one side, having heard that there were monsters on this rocky hill recently.

The world is in chaos, which has stirred up all the demons and monsters that used to live deep in the mountains.

The legend of demons has been circulating among the people for thousands of years and is nothing new. I've heard from the older generation that there is a mountain called Two Realms Mountain in the far west of the Great Sui Dynasty.
Beneath the mountain lies a monkey, a talkative one who always boasts to passersby that he is the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, who wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Palace. He claims to have once been known as the ancestor of demons, and that he was born during the Spring and Autumn Period, while the human world was only at the Eastern Han Dynasty when he was imprisoned beneath the mountain. He further claims that the mountain he presses down on is the Five Fingers Mountain, formed from the five fingers of Buddha, and was later called the Five Elements Mountain. Recently, it has been renamed the Two Realms Mountain.

Even the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, the Heavenly Palace, and the Buddha of the Western Paradise have appeared, which shows that immortals, gods, demons, and monsters are not uncommon in the world. Now that the Great Sui Dynasty is in chaos, what is there to fear if a few little demons crawl out from the deep mountains and forests?

The convoy leader sneered at the rocky hill.

Even if some spirit or demon comes to attack, my bronze cudgel is no joke.

The caravan moved slowly forward when suddenly, a gong sounded, accompanied by chaotic footsteps and suppressed roars of wild beasts.
A pack of tigers, leopards, bears, and wolves suddenly emerged from the bushes on the rocky hill and blocked the convoy's path.

From among these wild beasts emerged a black bear over three zhang in size, and a wild ox with a shoulder height of one zhang and a head and tail length of three or four zhang.
A bear and a buffalo walked to the front of the caravan. Suddenly, thick black smoke emanated from their bodies. When the smoke dissipated, the bear and the buffalo had vanished.
Instead, two burly men appeared. One of them had a large mouth, small eyes, a tall and purplish face, and thick, unshed bear fur on his chest.

The other man was equally imposing, but with eyes as large as an ox and a pair of ox horns on his head.

"Hey, I opened this road, I planted these trees. If you want to pass through, leave your toll. I am Xiong Kuohai, the Purple-Faced Heavenly King of Luanshigang!"

"A strong wind blows through the tough grass, an old ox lies on the hillside, people and goods are all left behind, good meat fills the belly, this is the special hermit with two horns reaching the sky on the rocky hill!"

The leader of the Li family's caravan, who had just removed his eighteen-foot-long bronze staff from the bird-wing ring, dropped it to the ground with a clatter.

Damn it, wasn't it said that there were only some newly awakened little demons and monsters on this rocky hill? How come there are two great demons that can transform into human form?

The leader of the Li family's caravan was terrified, his face deathly pale as he trembled on his warhorse. The other private soldiers were even worse off; none of them had the courage to pick up their weapons and they all fell off their horses in fear.
With the private soldiers in such a state, the Li family servants responsible for driving the carriage could only hide under the carriage with their heads in their hands, hoping that the great demon grandfather wouldn't eat them.

Li Shimin has come to Snake Pool.

Because the incense-burning clone looked exactly like the original, Li Shimin simply mistook it for Liu Qing and hurriedly went into the River God Temple to offer three sticks of incense.

As soon as the incense was lit, he bowed and couldn't help but call out, "Brother Liu, are you there? Shimin has urgent business to discuss with you."

At this time, Li Shimin, though still young, was no longer naive. After Li Yuan and Li Jiancheng went to Jinyang, he stayed in Chang'an alone and, after a long period of training, had already shown the demeanor of a ruler.

A flash of light appeared on the statue inside the river god temple, and the incense-burning clone stepped down from the statue, informing the main body in its mind.

He returned the greeting, saying, "So it's Brother Li in person. May I ask what brings you here, Liu?"

"When Shimin's caravan was transporting salt, they encountered monsters in the rocky hills to the northeast. Not only were all the salt goods robbed, but the drivers and guards responsible for the transport were also devoured, leaving only their severed limbs. The scene was extremely cruel."

“If they are ordinary bandits, Shimin is not afraid. Even if they are just ordinary little monsters, his guards are equipped with warhorses, armor, swords, spears, and bows and arrows, and they can escape unscathed.”

"But now, judging from the traces of the battlefield, the accompanying guards were devoured without any resistance, so it must be a great demon that occupied the rocky hill."

“A great demon is blocking the road. I, Shimin, am no match for its mortal strength. I have come to ask Brother Kenliu for help to remove the great demon from the rocky hill and keep the salt road open.”

As he spoke, Li Shimin bowed deeply once more.

Liu Qing's true form flashed its fiery wings and arrived at the opportune moment. The incense-burning clone nodded and, taking advantage of Li Shimin's bow, flew back into the statue.
Liu Qing himself helped Li Shimin up, saying, "Brother Li, please don't panic. I will go with you now."

Because the incense clone looked exactly like Liu Qing's original self, and the incense clone's divine official position could be transformed at will, Li Shimin did not notice anything unusual when the original self and the clone were switched.

Li Shimin was overjoyed. After thanking him a few times, he hurriedly took Liu Qing to the rocky hill.

This time, Hong Gu and Shui'er did not go along.

On the way, after listening to Li Shimin's brief introduction, Liu Qing had a basic understanding. They were just two mountain demons with some cultivation, leading a group of tigers, leopards, bears, and wolves who had become spirits. He could go alone and did not need to call on Yuan Datou, Lao Tulong, or other helpers.

(End of this chapter)