The fairy always tries to corrupt my Dao heart.

Chapter 29 She had never felt her heart beat so fast.

Yanshu, northeastern part, Kawaguchi County.

As evening approached, the airship that had sped all the way arrived slowly landed in Kawaguchi Castle, the capital of Kawaguchi County.

Along the river, fishermen with their trousers rolled up could be seen everywhere in the large city. They chatted and laughed in twos and threes, but when they saw the Luoxia Sect token hanging on Li Qing'an's waist, their eyes showed hatred and contempt.

Shen Qingyu, who was half a step behind him, whispered, "They don't even care about the Luoxia Sect anymore."

Li Qing'an nodded slightly. Chuankou County was equivalent to a region under the rule of the Luoxia Sect's 'country', but right now the people here worshipped the river god more than the Luoxia Sect.

Will the Luoxia Sect ignore this situation?
Or is it that the Luoxia Sect is unable to deal with the river god of this place?

Or perhaps the information about the existence of the River God has been concealed by certain people?
"Young Master Li, this way please."

Xue Dan led the way, and Li Qingan said directly, "With your cultivation, why are you afraid of your child being taken away?"

Without hesitation, Xue Dan replied, "Hundreds of thousands of cultivators live in the inner city. Our cultivation talents are limited, so we must abide by the rules here."

She paused, then quickly added, "Infants with a certain spiritual energy are the most favored by the River God, so every month the inner city also offers ten pure infants."

Li Qing'an didn't say anything more. Along the way, he saw the fervent expressions on the faces of the local people as they prepared for the grand ceremony tonight, and he also saw the golden statue of the river god.

A river god with a human body and a fish tail, female, resembling the fat catfish in the Adventures of Little Carp.

King of Inspiration... now it's confirmed, he really isn't a fat carp spirit.

A smile flickered in Li Qing'an's eyes as he whispered to Shen Qingyu beside him, "Do you like catfish?"

“Farmed ones are fine.” Shen Qingyu glanced at the River God: “These won’t do.”

Li Qingan nodded and said no more.

Soon after, they arrived at the city lord's mansion.

To Li Qing'an's slight surprise, the people outside the city lord's mansion, clad in armor and wielding weapons, were actually ordinary people.

He stared warily at Li Qingan and Shen Qingyu with those eyes.

As Li Qing'an stepped across the threshold, he casually glanced around and saw several disciples dressed in the robes of the Luoxia Sect. Some he recognized, and some he did not.

"father……"

Xue Dan ran into the arms of a middle-aged man. Li Qing'an could easily tell from the voices of the people behind the middle-aged man that this was the governor of Kawaguchi County.

So, it was simply that the prefect didn't want his grandson to die, which is why he secretly sent Xue Dan away?

"Brother Li? What brings you here?"

Fang Tao looked at Li Qing'an with surprise. Li Qing'an looked away, adjusted the token at his waist, and casually said, "To broaden my horizons."

Fang Tao glanced at the Saintess's token and nodded in sudden realization: "The Saintess really treats you well."

"What are you doing here?"

"Supervise." Fang Tao shrugged, a hint of disdain flashing in his eyes: "To prevent this damned river god from harming people."

"Hurt someone?"

"Ahem..." Fang Tao shifted his gaze somewhat awkwardly, thought for a moment, and lowered his voice: "Brother Li, the matter in Kawaguchi County is rather complicated. I admire your character, but I still want to advise you not to cause any more trouble."

Li Qingan casually asked, "Does the Luoxia Sect not know about this?"

"I know," Fang Tao answered frankly, "but a hundred years have passed, and this is really difficult to handle. We can't just kill everyone here, can we?"

He paused, then added, "A hundred years ago, our sect leader was not yet a powerful expert at the seventh level of the Divine Travel Realm."

He spread his hands: "This catfish demon is a sixth-realm Cloud Heaven Realm demon. Now that it has merged with the River of Chuanjiang, its strength is quite remarkable. The sect leader is also the strongest in Yanzhou. If he is injured, the other forces will be eager to make a move. In addition, our Vice Sect Leader Wu said that he would find a way to resolve this matter, so for now we can only maintain the status quo."

"Moreover..." Fang Tao took a deep breath, glanced at the gate, and lowered his voice even further: "A hundred years have passed, and our sect's inability to deal with it has long since led them to completely side with the catfish demon. The Grand Sacrifice has also gone from being forced to being proactive and then to being a custom now. Even if we wanted to kill that catfish demon, the people here would spontaneously organize to protect it."

The other sects are just sitting idly by, watching us hog this hot potato, and there's no way they'll lend a hand, so there's really nothing we can do.” “You're wrong,” Li Qingan said expressionlessly. “They're not protecting the catfish demon, they're protecting themselves, they're seeking revenge.”

"Huh?" Fang Tao was taken aback: "Revenge?"

"Revenge?" Shen Qingyu asked curiously after hearing Li Qingan's answer, "What do you mean?"

Li Qingan looked at her and said, "My child was offered as a sacrifice to the river god. Why shouldn't your child be offered as a sacrifice? Do you understand?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Qingyu was taken aback. The real reason for the grand ceremony... was actually like this?

She is intelligent and understands many principles, but she doesn't have much firsthand experience, especially in this kind of situation.

She understood that this was a difficult matter to handle, and even considered the consequences of the local residents demanding an explanation after the river god was killed.

But she didn't expect that the real problem wasn't the people demanding an explanation, but that some people were unhappy that their children had died in vain!

But she is truly intelligent, so she grasps things very quickly.

“So…” Shen Qingyu said softly, “Even if we kill this catfish demon, we can’t solve the problem at its root.”

"clever."

Shen Qingyu shook her head, staring blankly at Li Qingan's profile.

How could I be as smart as you?

I never imagined that the core issue had nothing to do with the catfish demon, but rather that the hearts of people within the city had changed.

No wonder those people's eyes were filled with hatred and contempt.

What I hate is the Luoxia Sect's indifference a hundred years ago, and what I despise is that they couldn't even kill a single demon!

"Brother Li has traveled to various places and killed countless demons. Your words are spot on." Fang Tao also realized what was going on and sighed, but then changed his tone: "Even so, this is different from what you have handled before."

While ordinary people in other places may have their own beliefs, the heretical cultivators in Yanzhou are ultimately a minority. Therefore, those who believe are primarily those who practice the path of incense offerings. As long as a different person guarantees favorable weather, they will continue to believe.

“But Kawaguchi County is different.” Fang Tao gave a bitter smile: “According to you, the biggest problem is the hundreds of thousands of boys and girls offered up over the past century. So here, no one can migrate out, and if they choose not to have children, the consequences are even worse.”

“This is something the Falling Clouds Sect really can’t handle,” Fang Tao said quietly. “That’s why our Vice Sect Master Wu really hopes that the Dao Sect can go south, take advantage of the war to kill the catfish demon, and solve this problem directly.”

“That’s the solution,” Li Qingan said to Fang Tao.

"Ok?"

Li Qing'an rested his left hand on the scabbard: "Kill the catfish demon."

"Is that all?" A look of confusion flashed in Fang Tao's eyes. "This won't solve the problem."

"What they fear and hate most is the catfish demon, but since they are powerless to retaliate, their hatred has been transferred to other demons."

Li Qingan casually asked, "What did you think of cultivators before you started cultivating?"

Fang Tao thought for a moment and replied, "I long for it."

"Was it your first time killing a cultivator?"

"The other party... is nothing special."

Fang Tao seemed lost in thought, while Shen Qingyu stared intently at Li Qingan. At this moment, her peach blossom eyes were exceptionally bright, and a faint blush appeared at the corners of her eyes.

Like a pool of spring water rippling, her eyes shimmered with a gentle, dreamlike glow.

"Eat catfish!"

She clutched the hem of her skirt with both hands, her heart pounding faster than ever before.

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(End of this chapter)