Dao Cheng Gui Xian

Chapter 49 The River God's Wedding
A dark shadow suddenly enveloped his entire body.
Li Wushou's expression turned serious. This was the source of the evil spirits.
"The River God is getting married?"

Li Wushou first looked at the sky. It was past Shenshi (3-5 PM) and just entering Youshi (5-7 PM). The setting sun left only a sliver of light at the end of the river.

Li Wushou had just finished reading the inner city chapter of "The Record of Five Evil Spirits" in the afternoon, but he hadn't had time to read about the ins and outs outside the city yet, so he didn't know much about the river god!
"But who gets married at night?"

Normally, when Li Wushou was with the old beggar, the most fun he liked to join in was weddings and other happy occasions. Even the most stingy hosts would invite the beggars to have a big meal!
The wealthy might even give some silver as a reward. Although it's not much, what's the difference between saying a few flattering words and getting a meal and some silver as a reward?
But this river god is probably not a good thing either; it is very likely a wicked god worshipped in this village.

He wanted to stay and watch a little longer, but thinking of the dangers outside the city at night and the instructions from the Martial God, Li Wushou withdrew his gaze and turned back.

The fact that the Martial God's talisman burned out here means that this place is full of trouble. It's not worth causing such a big problem by mixing in a wedding feast.

Besides, there's not much to eat at a wedding banquet outside the city!
First, bring the message back. As for what to do next, that's up to the Martial God to decide; it's not Li Wushou's place to worry about it.

Shortly after Li Wushou turned and left, the wedding procession arrived at the riverbank with drums and gongs!
A person emerged from the crowd amidst cheers, wearing a colorful feathered crown on his head and adorned with a dozen or so white seashells.

This person had a dark complexion and white hair and beard, but his skin was very oily, making it impossible to tell his exact age at a glance!

The other person walked up to the sedan chair, spread his arms, and the cheers of the crowd immediately stopped.

This shows that the other party must have extremely high prestige among the people!
Tiger's eyes swept around, and a village woman dressed as a matchmaker in front of the bridal sedan chair shivered and hurriedly lifted the curtain of the sedan chair.

"Grandpa Cui, look! This is the young lady from the Bai family. She is outstanding in both age and figure!"

Grandpa Cui, wearing a feathered crown, nodded slightly: "Please bring the bride out!"

Two burly men who were waiting nearby stepped out from the crowd upon hearing this. They first placed a low stool in front of the sedan chair, and at the same time, the matchmaker knocked on the sedan chair. A figure in a red dress emerged from inside the sedan chair!

Fragrant feet, large feet! They emerged from the red skirt and stepped onto a low stool, whose legs instantly sank into the riverbed.

A huge red shadow, two to three times wider than the matchmaker beside the sedan chair, stepped out of the sedan chair!

Upon seeing the bride's entire body, Grandpa Cui nodded in approval and uttered a word of praise:
"Excellent! Truly outstanding!"

As Grandpa Cui finished speaking, there were many voices of praise from the crowd, who seemed quite satisfied with the bride and full of admiration!

The two burly men straightened their backs, walked slowly to the bride's side, took a deep breath, slapped their faces a few times haphazardly, then bent over, clasped each other's wrists, and connected their four arms to form a human sedan chair!

The matchmaker patted the bride's mountain-like back lightly, and the bride understood, sitting down on the arms of the two strong men.

From the moment the bride appeared, she seemed like a marionette!
Their faces flushed instantly, then they shouted in unison, "Welcome the bride! Get up!"

They steadily lifted the bride, and the two looked at Grandpa Cui in front of them, waiting for the next instruction!

"Send the bride to the River God's residence! Joyous celebration!"

Grandpa Cui didn't keep the two of them waiting long. He quickly gave the order, and the two of them calmed down and carried the bride toward the riverbank.

The wedding procession behind them started beating drums and gongs again to send them off.

Beyond the campfire where everyone was gathered, there was a very large platform built on the riverbank, half of which was on the riverbed and the other half extended into the river!

At each of the four corners of the platform stood a black flag, each bearing a design of a human head and a fish's body.

In the very center of the high platform, there is an incense table with a shrine on it!
Inside the shrine was a clay sculpture that closely matched the image on the black flag. This must be the groom, the river god, who was getting married!

A mast stands to the right of the shrine, with several thick ropes hanging from it!
After the two strong men arrived at the platform, Grandpa Cui arrived first and untied the ropes. The other young man behind him then deftly tied the ropes around the bride's body.

The other end of the rope passed through a rotating log at the top of the mast and was held in the young man's hand. "Three or five more people!"

Grandpa Cui gave another instruction, and three or five more people came up from the crowd, following behind the young man, and together they lifted the bride onto the mast.

The group tied the other end of the rope to the platform, then turned and descended in unison.

On the wide, high platform, only Grandpa Cui remained, standing solemnly before the shrine.

After respectfully lighting a stick of incense, Grandpa Cui began to preside over the "wedding" with a devout expression!
"Worship heaven and earth!"

Strangely, the groom was nowhere to be seen on the high platform, the bride was tied to the mast, and the crowd surrounding the platform knelt on the ground devoutly, bowing to heaven and earth.

"Second bow to the River God!"

This time, even Grandpa Cui knelt down and worshipped before the shrine on the high platform.

"Three bows to the bride, Bai Xiao'e!"

The crowd bowed again and knelt before the bride on the mast.

After bowing three times, Grandpa Cui slowly walked down from the high platform. The river below the platform had been boiling for some time. In the instant Grandpa Cui turned around, a shadowy figure darted out of the water and landed on the shrine, which shimmered with a ghostly light.

The crowd that had just stood up instantly erupted in cheers, and Grandpa Cui also showed a satisfied expression. He then directed everyone to sing and dance around the bonfire.

Laughter and cheers echoed across the riverbank once more, until a streak of light, accompanied by the moonlight, abruptly landed on the mast of the high platform!
A sudden "humming" sound emanated from the shrine!

Feeling something amiss, Grandpa Cui stopped the celebrations, turned to look at the platform, and when he saw the lark at the top of the mast staring with interest at the bride below, he quickly knelt down and shouted:

"The Cui Family Village respectfully welcomes the City Lord. We apologize for not knowing of your arrival!"

Upon seeing this, the rest of the people immediately knelt down and kowtowed towards the mast!
The lark preened its feathers and said, "Village Chief Cui, please rise."

Knowing Zhu Sihai's personality, Grandpa Cui first asked directly, "What brings the city lord here in person?" before slowly standing up.

"Things have made great progress. The City God is about to fall asleep again. I need Village Chief Cui to cultivate more fetal pendants and sacs to create chaos outside the city!"

"Hi~~!"

Grandpa Cui gasped in shock. These sacs and fetuses are not so easy to raise!

Seeing that Grandpa Cui's expression changed, Yun Que asked indifferently, "What's wrong, Village Chief Cui? Is he having trouble?" After speaking, she couldn't help but glance at the shrine that was gleaming with a faint light!
Grandpa Cui's expression changed several times, and after a long while, he slowly nodded: "Yes!" It's worth the sacrifice so that the village can move to the city and settle down!

The lark spread its wings and exclaimed, "Excellent!"

Then he added again, "Hurry! You don't have much time left!"

After saying this, the lark flapped its wings and flew away. Grandpa Cui bowed before the shrine and remained silent for a long time. After a while, he turned around and shouted to the people below the platform, "Come on, a few people, take the bride down first!"

"In addition, find three more suitable brides in the next two days. Whether they can be moved into the inner city depends on this moment! Do you understand?"

"Yes!"

Thank you to the shy Abyss for the monthly ticket!
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(End of this chapter)