I am Guhuoniao, not an umbrella demon, please do not disturb me.

The wheels creaked and came to a stop by the river, and soon Mr. Li arrived on horseback.

Standing before the river, whose water level had dropped considerably, Li Guanren took out a bell and rang it. In no time, the river suddenly surged, splashing water everywhere, and a huge black shadow slowly rose from the bottom of the water, which was terrifying.

"Lord River God, I have brought the child you requested."

Whoosh!

Water splashed, and a huge catfish head emerged from the water, speaking in human language, "Give me these children first."

In the darkness, he couldn't see the catfish spirit's exact appearance, but Li Guanren felt a cold catfish whisker suddenly wrap around his ankle. Li Guanren felt a chill in his heart. He knew that if the catfish spirit made a single thought, he would die, and then all the children in the cage would be his.

"Here you go, open the cage now!" Li Guanren roared angrily, his fat face covered in sweat and his trembling flesh shaking.

The servant standing in front of the cage immediately opened it, but before he could throw the child into the river, a catfish first wrapped its whiskers around his ankle and suddenly dragged him into the water, without even letting out a scream.

The river water turned red, and the turbulent surface returned to calm.

"Lord River God, Lord River God, this is just the first batch! I can provide you with even more later!"

The catfish's whiskers were still wrapped around his ankles and hadn't come loose.

Mr. Li was completely enraged.

"Not only children, but also a monster. If the River God eats her, it will be a great tonic, and he might even become an immortal!"

“Go on.”

"It's a bird demon with demonic powers that can transform into human form. It's definitely a great tonic!"

Unexpectedly, as soon as these words were spoken, Li Guanren was dragged to the ground by the catfish whiskers and pulled into the water. The catfish spirit in the water angrily said, "Transformed demon, do you want to see me and her both die?"

"No, sir, you've been wronged! Sir, that was just a bird demon. How could it possibly be a match for you in the river?"

Upon hearing this, Li Guanren, who had been being dragged, stopped. Seeing that there was hope, he quickly said, "I have a way to get her into the water. Please trust me this once, my lord!"

The catfish's whiskers finally loosened, and Mr. Li breathed a sigh of relief.

The catfish spirit's deep, hoarse voice, like the roar of a wild beast, came again from the water, "I am not satisfied with this group of children. They are too thin, all of them are too thin. However, if you can trick this bird demon into the water, I can give you what you want."

Li Guanren scrambled to his feet like a dog, wiping the sweat from his brow. Upon hearing the next sentence, his strong will to survive was quickly replaced by lust.

"Yes, sir, I will certainly satisfy you."

Li Guanren turned around and walked uphill, his small eyes narrowed into slits. Ignoring the neighing of horses, the sound of the carriage being dragged into the water, and the surging waves behind him, he mounted his horse and galloped quickly toward Peach Blossom Town.

Before long, a fast horse set off from Peach Blossom Town, heading towards the county town more than 30 kilometers away.

Li Guanren asked someone to find the cultivators stationed in the county town. The cultivators don't need to come; all they need is a token from one of them.

The catfish demon clearly wants to use him as a long-term meal ticket. If this continues, he'll lose not only his elixir but also his life. Tomorrow is the River God Festival, so he needs to find a way to get the bird demon to come over, and then go into the water to fight the catfish demon to the death.

On land, the bird demon was clearly much more powerful than the catfish demon; one could transform into human form while the other could not.

But things were different once they got into the water; he refused to believe that the water monster could win.

The catfish demon will definitely be badly injured by then. At that time, all I need to do is tell it that there are cultivators in Peach Blossom Town, and then take out the cultivators' tokens to scare it. If it doesn't give me the elixir, it will die. It will definitely give me the elixir. Once I get the elixir, I will eat it immediately. After I become an immortal, I will definitely skin and dismember this catfish demon!

As for what if the bird demon wins...

Li Guanren didn't believe it was possible, but he was prepared. As long as he got the disaster victims to work tomorrow and kept himself out of it, the bird demon would only vent its anger on the disaster victims when it returned.

This was destined to be a sleepless night. Master Li instructed his servants to run tirelessly through the town, and news spread that more than ten children had been exchanged for grain and loaded onto carts. Yesterday, the bird demon had been driven away, so Master Li had also ordered the disaster victims to snatch children and then guide the mothers of the snatched children to the Ten Thousand Mountains to find the bird demon.

After a long ordeal until three or four in the morning, Mr. Li finally had time to lie down. “It’s been almost eight years, and in the end I still won. It’s a pity I didn’t find your daughter, otherwise I would have made you regret it.”

The townspeople all knew that Master Li had arrived eight years ago, and the previous Master Lin had disappeared without a trace. In fact, under Master Li's pursuit, the Lin family was forced to hide in the mountains. The head of the family and his wife were both killed by tigers, as was their eldest son. Only their youngest daughter was missing.

"Great! We can finally go down the mountain!" When Dongqing heard the news in the morning, his sleepy eyes suddenly widened, and he almost jumped out of bed. He hugged Bai Qingyu and kissed her twice.

"Auntie is the best! I love Auntie!"

"Oh oh oh!"

It's clear that the little girl is a bit too excited.

It's understandable. After living in the mountains for almost eight years without ever having any contact with human society, today is finally the day they're going down the mountain!

Bai Qingyu felt somewhat helpless seeing the little girl so happy.

She not only wanted her children to see the outside world, but also wanted to take this opportunity to let them know what it means to be wicked.

Please vote for me! I'm doing a handstand split for everyone!

I promised to update three times yesterday, but unfortunately I couldn't keep it up. Consider it a missed update, and I'll make up for it later!

Volume One: Chapter Twenty: Sacrifice!

Early in the morning, there was a great commotion in Peach Blossom Town, with gongs and drums beating everywhere. Anyone who didn't know better would think someone was getting married. The procession was a long line of carriages, all belonging to the Li family. A red ribbon was hung from the front and back of the procession. The first two carriages carried slaughtered pigs, sheep, chickens, ducks, and other livestock. The middle carriages carried live animals, and the last carriage carried wooden cages filled with children whose hands and feet were bound tightly.

Before the convoy even set off, it was already surrounded by people, mostly disaster victims.

Dozens or even hundreds of people stared at the meager amount of meat being carried on the carriage. The desperate cries of the children behind them went unnoticed by any of them. Those who had gathered here were mostly people incited by Li Guanren. They didn't care about the children's safety; they only cared whether the River God would give them food.

No one stood up to condemn it, and no one went to save the child. Even those with a conscience could only stand far away and watch silently.

The famine has lasted for so long, who knows how much longer it will continue?

Children simply cannot survive in this world. Keeping children means either the children starve to death or the whole family starves to death. If it weren't for the bird demon bringing wild fruits and pastries to the children these days and helping them with medical treatment, at least half of the children in the carriage would have died, and there would have been no chance to sacrifice them to the river god.

Official Li glanced at the time; it was about the time when the bird demon would arrive.

Sitting leisurely in the mansion, the fat man waved his hand, and immediately servants rushed out. Before long, the caravan from Peach Blossom Town began to set off. The priest on the front carriage picked up his ritual implements and shouted something, which was all incomprehensible to the people in the car.

The shouts of the priests, the sounds of the carriages moving, and the cries of the children behind them—these scenes combined to create an even more bizarre scene. What's even more eerie is that the group of refugees following the caravan didn't utter a single word, only uttering sounds like the low growls of wild beasts. Their eyes were filled with nothing but fervor and anticipation as they jogged alongside the caravan. It was impossible to tell that these people had been starving for so long.

Mr. Li told them that as long as they sincerely offered sacrifices to the children, making the river god feel their apology and remorse, not only would the drought end, but it would also bring them wealth and prosperity. If the river god did not accept it, then failure would only result in the loss of some useless children, while success would allow them to enjoy good fortune.

The river god brings blessings to everyone, which is definitely better than the so-called bird spirit, right?

They agreed without even taking any food or seeing any benefits.

All the people who came along were deeply convinced of this. What's interesting is that very few of them were original residents of Peach Blossom Town. A group of refugees who had fled here wanted to take the river god's blessing on behalf of the people who had lived in Peach Blossom Town for generations.

Not only that, this group also occupied the houses of the residents of Peach Blossom Town, and some even stole their grain and their wives and daughters.

During Bai Qingyu's time in Peach Blossom Town, he discovered that there was considerable conflict between the original inhabitants and some of the refugees who had fled there.

Watching the convoy disappear into the distance, Old Lin calculated with his fingers, sighed softly, and silently returned to his small thatched hut.

The young monk, now a teenager, opened his eyes from the prayer mat. "Master, what have you divined this time?"

"Everyone says that fate is hard to defy, but even the most difficult fate cannot stop some people from actively seeking death."

"?" The little monk looked puzzled. What was his master talking about now?

My master has always been an easy-going person, but I rarely see him speak in this tone and manner. Usually, he says things like "heavenly secrets cannot be revealed."

·

In the mountains and forests, Bai Qingyu carried two baskets. In the small basket on the left sat Xiao Dongqing, who was looking around excitedly, no matter what. In the basket on the right sat Xiao Changsheng, who was resting with his eyes closed, but would open his eyes every two minutes to look around.

This time, Bai Qingyu didn't want to do anything for Peach Blossom Town. She just wanted to bring her son to see what the so-called River God Festival was really like, and to see that the outside world was far less wonderful than they imagined. Rather than constantly worrying about it, it was better to be vigilant.

"Auntie, look! There's a monkey!" Dongqing pointed to a monkey in the tree.

"I saw it."

"Auntie, look! There's a huge white snake!"

"I saw it."

"Hey, what's that snake doing, Auntie? Look!"

Following the direction the little girl pointed, Bai Qingyu turned her head and saw a white snake coiled on a rock, its head raised high and its mouth wide open, seemingly absorbing something. A faint mist swirled around the snake's head. Bai Qingyu narrowed her eyes. Others might not know, but she was all too familiar with it. This snake was actually absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

The white snake was small, less than a meter long, but its eyes were exceptionally intelligent. When it noticed Bai Qingyu stop to observe it, it even lowered its body to show submission instead of running away.

It is definitely not faster than Bai Qingyu; a small pebble could kill it.

"What a clever snake!" Dongqing exclaimed, her eyes wide. "Is Auntie nodding to us?"

"More or less." Bai Qingyu turned and left without paying any more attention. A wisp of demonic power clung to the white snake's body, allowing him to sense its location at any time.

After a brief interlude, Bai Qingyu took a few steps and leaped into the air, covering more than ten meters in a single bound, walking as if she were flying.

Once you leave the mountains, Peach Blossom Town is just ten kilometers away—not far, but not exactly close either.

Upon venturing out of the mountains for the first time and seeing the complete sky unobstructed by the leaves, even the mature and composed Changsheng couldn't help but look up at the sky.

Everything around was so attractive—the dried-up rice paddies, the withered earth—it was truly another world compared to the valley where I lived.

The bird demon used its demonic power to cool down the two little ones, as summer was not yet over and the temperature outside the mountain was still very high.

Before long, the two little ones' attention shifted from the sky to Peach Blossom Town in the distance.

"Is this the outside world...?"

"Chang Chang, look! There are so many houses, and they all look the same. There are people down there!"

"Why does it feel so desolate? What do people outside usually eat?"

Holly chattered on and on, while Changsheng could only watch and chime in.

Bai Qingyu remained silent, her attention entirely focused on a convoy of cars parked by the river.

She had learned about the River God Festival; it was said that the offerings were all paper figures, and the others were just some slaughtered livestock, at most a few pigs being pushed into the water.

However, in her view, what was actually being worshipped were not paper figures, but living people, and they were all young children!

Bai Qingyu was furious. These people actually wanted to sacrifice so many children to the so-called river god.

Bai Qingyu wasn't sure if the river god would protect them, but she was certain that these children with chains binding them would die.

The two children felt their speed suddenly increase as they fell downwards.

·

The catfish spirit was somewhat impatient.

The children on the shore were just an appetizer; he wanted to know where the so-called bird demon was. Eating fifty children was not as good as devouring one monster.

The catfish demon was also calculating that if it could drag the bird demon into the water, it would definitely win.

The moment the thought crossed its mind, it sensed a surge of demonic power rushing toward it from afar, and the catfish was terrified.