My words have become law; I truly have no desire to display my divine power before others.

Chen Maocai's arrival silenced the whispering crowd instantly, as if they had been choked.

The villagers automatically made way for them, watching with awe and nervousness as the village chief and his two sons walked to the gate of the courtyard.

"Li Laoshuan!" Chen Maocai stopped, his voice not loud, but carrying his usual authority.

His gaze first swept over Huang Youde, who was performing a ritual in the courtyard, his brows furrowing tightly, before finally settling on Li Laoshuan.

"What are you doing? You hired a sorcerer from outside, why didn't you inform us beforehand?"

Li Laoshuan trembled, instinctively feeling fear in the face of the village chief who had held sway for many years.

But glancing at Master Huang beside him, and remembering his daughter, he mustered his courage and spoke in a trembling voice.

"Village chief...this is the sorcerer Huang I invited...to exorcise the demon! That thing in the river wants my daughter, I...I can't just stand by and watch!"

"Nonsense!" Chen Maocai stomped his foot, his face showing just the right amount of heartache and anger.

"What demon-slaying? Where did this demon come from? It's the Dragon King who blesses our Xiahe Village with good weather and abundant harvests!"

The sacrificial ceremony is a tradition passed down for centuries, a pact with the Dragon King! Are you trying to anger the Dragon King and bring disaster upon the whole village by inviting some dubious Taoist priest?!

His words were righteous and stern, instantly elevating Li Laoshuan's personal behavior to the level of endangering the entire village.

Upon hearing this, many villagers who were watching showed expressions of bewilderment and agreement.

Yes, sacrifices are a rule, and if the Dragon King is angered, everyone will suffer!

Huang Youde had long noticed this "local tyrant" who had an extraordinary demeanor and took control of the situation as soon as he arrived.

He stopped ringing the bell, turned around, and with a professional, somewhat aloof and unquestionable expression on his face, bowed to Chen Maocai.

"May the Heavenly Venerable grant you boundless blessings. This must be the village head of our village. I am Huang Youde, a wandering Taoist priest. I have come here on my travels and heard that a water demon in your village is impersonating a deity, forcibly taking women and harming living beings. I have come to subdue this scoundrel and restore peace to this place."

As the head of the village, the village chief should uphold justice for the people. How can he sit idly by and watch evil run rampant, instead blaming the aggrieved for their own salvation?

His words, spoken from a moral high ground, both asserted that he was eliminating harm for the people and implied that village chief Chen Maocai was inactive and even shielded "evil forces."

Chen Maocai sneered inwardly, but his anger intensified on his face, as if his authority had been offended.

"Where did this quack Taoist come from, spouting such nonsense! The Dragon King has protected my Xiahe Village for many years, how dare you slander him?! You claim to exorcise demons, what abilities do you have?"

They're just making empty promises and trying to disrupt our village's centuries-old sacrificial ceremony. What if they anger the Dragon King, causing a great flood that destroys our crops and fishing boats, or even...

It even cost many more lives. Can you bear that responsibility? Can Li Laoshuan bear it?!

He deliberately exaggerated the consequences, making his voice carry far and wide so that every villager could hear it clearly.

Sure enough, a suppressed gasp and a deeper fear rose from the crowd.

Huang Youde, however, felt completely at ease.

He'd seen this kind of reaction far too many times!

Local tyrants and charlatans, in order to maintain their own interests and authority, love to use the threat of "angering the gods and bringing disaster to the whole village" to frighten the ignorant masses.

The more the village chief opposes the situation, the more outwardly fierce but inwardly weak he seems, the more it shows that he has something to hide!

This "Dragon King" is 99% fake; he's a tool they made up to control the villagers and amass wealth for their own enjoyment!

How could someone like himself, the "ancestor of all liars," not see through this little trick?

A smile, a mixture of pity and arrogance, appeared on his face, and he raised his voice a few decibels to make sure everyone could hear him.

"The village head is mistaken! I have traveled far and wide and have killed at least eighty or a hundred evil spirits! If he were truly a righteous god who protects this area, would he demand human sacrifices? This is undoubtedly a heretical and evil path!"

The village head keeps saying he's afraid of the 'Dragon King's' wrath, but isn't he afraid this evil spirit will continue to harm people? Now that I'm here, I'll risk all my cultivation to rid Li Shanxin's family and your village of this great scourge!

Otherwise, wouldn't we be allowing evil spirits to use the name of gods to fool the people and harm their lives?!

His words were forceful and resounding, especially the phrases "evil and heretical," "fooling the people," and "harming human lives."

Like a knife, it pierced the hidden doubts and long-suppressed discontent in the hearts of some villagers.

A commotion began to rise in the crowd, and some people whispered among themselves:

"What Master Huang said... seems to make some sense..."

"Yeah, what kind of deity would want a living person as a wife?"

"Li Laoshuan's Xiaolian is such a good girl, what a tragedy..."

"What if... what if it's fake?"

Chen Maocai listened to all of this, and instead of being angry, he was pleased. The time was almost right.

He made an angry expression on his face as if he had been "disrespected" and "questioned," and pointed at Huang Youde with a trembling finger.

"You...you have some nerve! Spreading heresy and misleading the public! You insist on performing a ritual, don't you? Fine! Fine! If you want to die, don't drag us down with you!"

If you can really get rid of... get rid of 'that one' in the river, then I, Chen Maocai, have nothing to say! But if you can't get rid of him and instead cause a great disaster..."

He abruptly flung his sleeve, turned to the side, seemingly furious, but then "helplessly" uttered a harsh remark:

"The Dragon King will be furious. The river will overflow, the fish and shrimp will all die, and... Hmph, you'll be in deep trouble!"

After saying that, he actually stopped trying to stop them and instead pulled his two sons aside.

They adopted a detached, indifferent attitude, as if to say, "Let's see how you handle this" and "You'll have to bear the consequences."

But a fleeting, cold smile of triumph flashed in the depths of his eyes.

Seeing this, Huang Youde became even more certain.

See, I hit the nail on the head, and he couldn't refute me, so he could only resort to threats to scare me!

This village chief is nothing special. Today is my perfect opportunity, Huang Youde, to make a name for myself and make a fortune!

He turned to Li Laoshuan and the growing number of villagers around him, whose eyes were beginning to grow more eager and even somewhat worshipful, and said loudly.

"Fellow villagers, look! Evil will not prevail over good! Today, I, this humble Taoist priest, will set up an altar here by the river to perform a ritual, inviting heavenly soldiers and generals to vanquish this scoundrel! And restore a bright and clear world to Xiahe Village!"

"good!"

"Master Huang is mighty!"

"Except for that harmful thing!"

Some villagers who had long harbored resentment towards the sacrificial rites, or those who were simply influenced by Huang Youde's imposing manner, were among those affected.

Families, especially those whose daughters had died during the Dragon King sacrifice, couldn't help but chime in.

Although the voices were uneven, they coalesced into a considerable sound wave.

Li Laoshuan and Zhou Shi were so excited that tears welled up in their eyes, as if they could already see the dawn of their daughter's rescue.

Huang Youde, feeling smug, waved to the little monkey.

"Disciple, prepare the altar and ritual implements! At noon, when the yang energy is at its peak, that will be the time for your master to slay demons and eliminate evil!"

"Yes, Master!" the little monkey replied loudly, and began to rummage through his bundle.

The items included an apricot-yellow flag covered with talismans, a copper coin sword, a compass, a magic seal, a thick stack of yellow talisman paper, and several pottery jars containing unidentified objects.

Chen Maocai stood on the periphery of the crowd, coldly watching Huang Youde and his apprentice busy at work.

Seeing the villagers' emotions being stirred up, the cold smile on his lips was almost impossible to hide.

Go ahead and act, act as much as you want. All that nonsense you've got to fool people is nothing but a fart in front of the real "one."

The river breeze, carrying the fishy smell of water, blew in and stirred up the scattered ashes of paper on the ground.

The midday sun struggled to pierce through the clouds, but it seemed unable to dispel the increasingly thick, invisible haze over Xiaohe Village.