The True Lord has arrived

Chapter 263 A Word as Law

After Zhou Yan uttered his sentence and saw the reactions around him, he knew that his words, which came out of nowhere, were likely to cause unnecessary misunderstandings.

Especially the enlightened people and lion cats over there.

Zhou Yan coughed lightly, his expression unchanged, and said, "My master and uncle once mentioned this Senior Su Xiaoshuang to me. I think this Senior Su should also have an elder brother named Su Hexuan, who was once an officer of the Anren Army of the Great Tang Dynasty. Later, he left the army and went to the Wofo Temple in Shaanxi to become a monk."

"This senior Su Xiaoshuang has also had contact with Master Su Hexuan."

The letter Su Xiaoshuang sent that day was delivered with Xu Zhilan's help. After saying this, Xu Zhilan's eyes brightened, and she clasped her hands in front of her, saying, "Your, Daoist's uncle, is it Shen Cangming, General Shen?!"

Zhou Yan's expression softened considerably, and he smiled, "Exactly."

“My name is Zhou Yan. You don’t need to be so polite, young lady.”

Xu Zhilan pursed her lips and said, "Then, I'll call you Brother Zhou."

She was poised and courageous. When she said those words, her heart was pounding and her cheeks were flushed, but she still looked at Zhou Yan with great courage. The young Taoist priest was unrestrained and returned the greeting, saying, "Sister Xu."

The scholar in the blue robe clicked his tongue and smacked his lips, then nudged Zhou Yan with his elbow and whispered, "Tsk tsk, brother and sister~ kid, you're something else! If your uncle knew his good nephew was so good at getting things done, I wonder whether he should cry or laugh?"

"Don't you already have a petite Miss Li?"

"Kid, don't linger around..."

Zhou Yan grabbed Kai Ming's face with his palm, pulled him away, twitched his lips, and continued to ask.

"Then, my question from before..."

Xu Zhilan replied, "Teacher, you were engaged before. The Su family is also a prominent family and has a tradition of marrying into aristocratic families with whom you have a good relationship. You once wrote to General Shen Cangming for help."

what……

Zhou Yan was not a person from the Tang Dynasty, but he understood that no matter what era it was, a woman sending a letter from afar for such a reason must have had its own explanation.

Uncle Shen, Uncle Shen, how could you be so disappointing!

Why is it that you only have your comrades and General Wang Zhongsi on your mind?

The young Taoist priest felt a silent sense of disappointment and frustration at this moment.

"Then?"

"Afterwards, the teacher did not receive a reply, but she remembered that when she was young, General Shen and her brother had told her that if she encountered something she absolutely did not want to do, then swords would be her last refuge."

"Using weapons to defy the law is far more striking than silently bowing one's head. Therefore, the teacher fled his family and traveled all the way, eventually settling in Sichuan after experiencing many hardships."

"Afterwards, when the Holy Emperor Sanlang came to Shu, my teacher became his female official, responsible for helping him handle some government affairs outside the palace and drafting documents. The Amnesty proclamation for the Emperor's visit to Shu was drafted by my teacher."

"Later, when the sage returned, the teacher was supposed to accompany him."

"At that time, I could have visited my brother at the Reclining Buddha Temple, but something happened and my teacher suddenly changed his mind and did not return to Chang'an with the Sage."

Xu Zhilan recounted Su Xiaoshuang's story to Zhou Yan in a clear and open manner. Zhou Yan felt a little regretful, thinking that if that extraordinary woman had also returned to Chang'an with that old fox Li Longji, they would have met at the Reclining Buddha Temple.

That way, Uncle Shen can reunite with her.

However, if that were the case, Mr. Su Xiaoshuang would also be in danger and would witness the death of her brother, Su Hexuan. Whether that would be good or bad is hard to say.

All I can say is that things change and there are always many coincidences.

Often, there are near misses and unexpected twists of fate.

"Mr. Su Xiaoshuang, what was the reason she changed her plans to go to Chang'an?"

Xu Zhilan paused for a moment, pursed her lips, and said:

"We discovered a secret realm, a dungeon constructed entirely of bronze, with a bronze seal beneath it. We don't know the specifics, but our teacher... a strand of her hair instantly turned into grayish-white stone as it approached the entrance to the seal."

“We heard the sound of chains dragging from deep within the underground palace, and a repetitive, resentful whisper: ‘Water…water…’ I was scared away, but my teacher was still very interested and tried to explore it many times.”

"She also drew some patterns on the walls of the underground palace. I couldn't understand them, but just looking at them made me dizzy, as if I was being dragged into an endless abyss. Then one day, my teacher told me that she had deciphered some of the patterns."

"The pattern on the wall should depict the Bai Ze mythical beast of the Yellow Emperor, pierced by a bronze tree and hanging there..."

Zhou Yan, his enlightened steps abruptly halted.

Zhou Yan: "Bai Ze?!"

Kaiming: "Blanching, white hair?!"

Xu Zhilan didn't know why these two people suddenly reacted so strongly. She nodded and said, "Yes, there's also a legend that this is the place where the residual power of the water god Gonggong is sealed and suppressed."

"The teacher noticed that someone seems to be planning to activate the power of the water god Gonggong. Sichuan is full of water and the terrain is low-lying. If it is activated, thousands of miles of Sichuan will be flooded."

"That's why I was planning to do something... Um, there's something else, I don't know if it's true or not, but the teacher told Sanlang Shengren about it. Sanlang Shengren, who was a bit hesitant before and unwilling to return to Chang'an City immediately, started preparing to set off the next day." Zhou Yan: "...As expected of him."

Kaiming murmured, "Bai Ze was hung up too?"

“Su Xiaoshuang has also found out some things. Kid, we’d better hurry over there.”

Zhou Yan said, "You seem to care a lot about Bai Ze."

Kaiming murmured, "Yes, now when I think about Bai Ze being hung up, I really, really want to see him right away."

"Then, in front of him, they laughed at him vehemently!"

Zhou Yan nodded.

Then, after a moment of silence, she suddenly looked up at Kai-ming, who had spoken so confidently: "Huh?!"

........................

The land of Shu, after all, is where the historical figures of the past 500 years clashed with Zhuge Liang, and where too many contingency plans were laid out. Furthermore, Zhou Yan has caused a great deal of trouble here, making it unwise to simply fly away.
They now have two paths to take.

First, travel down the Bailong River, then south into the Jialing River, reaching Yuzhou where the Jialing River and the Yangtze River meet. Then, travel upstream along the Yangtze River, passing through Luzhou and Rongzhou, before turning into the Min River and finally reaching Chengdu. This route passes through the entire Three Gorges area, and according to current intelligence, it is the location of [Shi's] backup plan.

The second route is to sail to Longzhou, which is Langzhong.

It would be faster to abandon ship, go ashore, and take the official land route through Zizhou to Chengdu.

Although Zhou Yan currently possesses the seal of the "Lord of the Rivers," granting him immense control over the water system of the entire Shu River region, his purpose this time is ultimately to reunite with Su Xiaoshuang as soon as possible, rather than to immediately provoke her.

Zhou Yan and the others quickly chose the second path.

They found a ship and boarded it using the silver they had obtained from the agents. The ships of the Tang Dynasty in this era were quite large, but when Zhou Yan boarded, he noticed a faint, lingering resentment and hatred on the ship.

Beneath the ship, semi-transparent arms reached out and gripped its hull. The bustling noise on board could not dispel the resentment and chill that was rising from the ship.

"Brother, let's board this ship."

"What's wrong?"

Xu Zhilan noticed Zhou Yan's actions and asked with some confusion. Being quick-witted, she whispered, "Do we need to change boats?"

The young Taoist priest's eyes flickered slightly, and he smiled faintly, saying, "It's nothing."

"Let's take this one."

With a flick of his sleeve, he glanced at the boatmen at the ferry crossing, and stepped onto the large boat. Seeing the passengers on board, his eyes lowered slightly. The large boat slowly headed towards the center of the river. Among the passengers were two Taoist priests, one large and one small.

The older Taoist priest strode up to Zhou Yan and suddenly spoke:
"Please, young man."

"This humble Taoist is Jiang Sinan, a disciple of Qingcheng Mountain. Young brother..."

"Can't you sense that something's wrong with this ship?"

As soon as Jiang Sinan finished speaking, the boat that was moving forward suddenly stopped and trembled violently, causing the people and passengers on board to shout in panic. Jiang Sinan's expression changed drastically, and the entire river surface became turbid in an instant, with endless resentment surging up.

The Jialing River, surging and powerful, seemed to transform into an angry dragon, swirling beneath the boats. The sky grew murky, layers of clouds pressing down, and a deep, ancient roar echoed through the air, thundering in and out.
"Who—is it?!"

"Who killed my adopted son!"

"Who killed the river god of Bailong River! And dared to bring his chosen wife to my waterway? How dare they! How dare they!"

"Come out now and face your death, or I will bury every single one of you on this ship alive!!!"

With this furious roar, the Jialing River ceased its surging flow and instantly froze like an iron plate, pinning the entire giant ship to the center of the river, unable to move. The turbid river water churned upwards, and bubbles burst forth like countless venomous eyes, staring intently at everyone on the deck.

A massive, ancient pressure, filled with the stench of water, descended as if it were a tangible force. The ordinary people on the ship instantly turned pale, struggled to breathe, and collapsed to the ground. Xu Zhilan also felt her heart stop beating, and she almost fainted.

Jiang Shen, his wife?

Is it me? Is it really me?
Xu Zhilan was filled with fear, a primal instinct. Her face was pale. When she heard the old Jiang Shen's voice soften, he said, "Come out and accompany my son in this ghost marriage. I will then forgive these lowly mortals."

Xu Zhilan's face was pale. Looking at the frightened people, she gritted her teeth and prepared to go out on her own, but was blocked by a gentle force.

The young Taoist priest, whose temples were slightly gray, opened his eyes.

He lifted his fingers from his knees and tapped them, his voice calm.

"here--"

"Stop stirring up trouble."

(End of this chapter)