When the setting sun fell beyond the mountains, the flute of the returning shepherd boys rang out.
Li Chu stood up from the cushion with his usual expression. He moved his lower body about as he tidied the folds on the lower parts of his robe.
It was another day without any pilgrims.
From this moment on, Li Chu's mind and body were now completely his—he became a truly free person.
In layman's terms, he was off work.
Even though he had done nothing for the day.
A young Daoist priest's life was so unpretentious and boring.
He turned to the backyard and began to prepare dinner.
After having dinner with his master, he rose and said to Yu Qi'an. "Master, I'll head out first."
Yu Qi'an' nodded lightly. "Stay safe."
"Understood."
After saying his greetings, Li Chu walked out of the monastery door.
This time around, he left earlier than usual. The sky was still not yet dark, and the monsters at Ten Li Slope had yet to appear. The direction he took today was different from the past.
He was walking towards the river.
Yuhang Town was close to the Eastern Sea mouth, and there were many river systems around. One of them was the Blackwater River.
Among the surrounding rivers, Blackwater River was not remarkable in terms of width or depth, but it was quite special.
No one had ever dared to approach the river because there was a Water Fiend inside it.
In fact, most big rivers would have legends of Water Fiends, but the one in Blackwater River was particularly powerful.
It was said that due to that massive flood many hundred years ago, many people had died in Blackwater River, and the Water Fiend had absorbed plenty of souls and raised its cultivation by leaps and bounds in a short period of time.
At other places, it was fine as long as one did not go into the water, but as for Blackwater River, even if one stood at the shore, he or she might get entranced into entering the water just by looking at the waters.
Over time, both sides of the Blackwater River became a no-go zone.
There had not been an accident for a long time until last year. Someone had not looked after the rascal in their family properly, and the child had run to the river to play. As a result, the child had been enthralled by the Water Fiend into the water.
And Brother Niu of the next village had leapt into the water to rescue the child after seeing it as he could not just watch.
Brother Niu was a good sailor who fished in the sea all year round. Even when his hands and legs were bound, he could still swim faster than a fish.
However, when he had pushed the child out of the water, he himself did not emerge from it.
Moreover, after his death, Brother Niu's corpse had been as heavy as lead, sinking into the bottom of the river, unable to rise so no one dared to retrieve his body.
At the time, Brother Niu's family was out of options. They had invited a Daoist priest over to build a shrine and made sincere sacrifices to the Water Fiend after listening to the idea given by one of the villagers.
It had been only after that that the Water Fiend had allowed Brother Niu's body to float up for him to get a proper burial.
The Water Fiend was that arrogant!
Li Chu had crossed over just before the sacrifice took place, and that was why the Water Fiend had left a very deep impression on him.
Or rather, a very bad impression.
At that time, some did ask why no one sought a cultivator to exorcise this Water Fiend, and the village elders told them that it had been done years ago.
However, the Water Fiend had already taken root here and its cultivation was high. Normal cultivators coming here were just signing their death warrant, and the slightly higher-level ones could not do anything to it either.
It was because it had almost fully integrated with Blackwater River, and could go around freely inside the river without any trails or forms. How to eliminate it?
Unless the cultivator they hired was someone very powerful, but a person of that level was not someone a small village could seek out.
They could only wait for dozens of years, and perhaps once it had become Blackwater River god, there would be no need for it to harm anyone else.
But Li Chu did not think that was reasonable.
Brother Niu had been undoubtedly a good man.
And the Water Fiend was undoubtedly a vile creature.
Then why did the evil fiend have the chance of godhood while a good man's body had been held hostage even after his death?
That incident had made him feel a little angry.
Master said everyone had their destiny.
But he felt that the destiny of a good man should not have been like that.
Nor the destiny of an evil ghost be like that either.
So, he had always kept this matter in his mind, including his fury.
After reaching level 71 last night, the first thing he wanted to do was to come here.
The riverside was lined with flowers and willows and lush grasses. The bush warblers were flying around in the air. At sunset, it was a very beautiful place.
Li Chu strolled along the scenic spot.
And it got even more picturesque!
As he walked, he felt the cool wind blowing from the river, and the water rippled.
He turned around to look at the river.
But what he saw was not his handsome face.
But instead, the water reflected a big blue face with fangs, looking menacing, terrifying and hideous.
Li Chu smiled.
'I've finally got you.'
Before he smiled, the Water Fiend in the water smiled first. It was an avaricious sneer.
A man and a ghost were smiling at each other.
And immediately after, the scenery in Li Chu's eyes changed.
The water was no longer the fiend's face, but instead a sea of gold that could be touched, as if someone could take those valuable treasures just by bending into the water!
He did not move.
Light and shadows flickered, and a dragon chair appeared underwater, and by the chair was a large jade seal. A voice spoke to his ear, telling him to sit on it so the entire world would be his once he did that.
He still did not move.
The scenery changed again, and this time it was a group of stunning beauties. They were pretty and young but refused to wear their clothes properly. One revealed her cleavage, another her legs, as the more precarious parts were ever-looming, as if by just stretching one's hand out, one could take their clothes off.
Li Chu finally moved.
He drew the iron sword out of his back and slashed forward.
DUSSH---
The sword ripped through the air.
And immediately after, the flowing river water stopped.
BOOOM!!
The river's current flowed in reverse!
Suddenly, the slow-flowing river was split open in the middle, and in a flash, two several-meter-high walls of water appeared! And they were growing at a speed visible to the eye!
At the location he swung his blade at, a vacuum zone nearly ten feet wide was formed. It instantly exposed the dry and messy riverbed. Many of the hapless fishes suddenly appeared in the air, and their eyes were wide open.
There were abject confusion and innocence in their eyes.
On the riverbed, a blue shadow was exposed. It was the Water Fiend's true form. After so many years, it had long shed its human form, but its eyes were still recognizable.
The emotions in its eyes were no different than that of a fish's.
But the Water Fiend's intelligence was far stronger than a fish. Aside from widening its eyes, a series of rapid mental abilities took place in its mind.
'The hell...
'Is that...
'God?'
The Water Fiend looked at the handsome sword-wielding young man with a stunned look.
'Did he block off the water?
'No...
'He cut the entire river off!
'He has used this method to force me out of the river!
'This kid is here for me!
'Aren't you going to talk? Why?
'Wait!
'Danger!'
That's right, Li Chu was coming after it, and this thought only occurred to it after an entire meal's time.
'Since you can move around freely in the water without any trace, then I shall cut you off the river.
'What's a Water Fiend without water?
'A fiend?
'No!
'A dead fiend!'
Li Chu gently lifted his hand as the second sword strike fell.
DUSSH---
The blue shadow instantly shattered along with its hundred-year long cultivation and dream of becoming a river god. It was then washed away by the crashing river water.
The last thoughts of its fiendish life were only one word.
'Cheater...'
Li Chu sheathed his sword with indifference.
Cutting the river with one strike.
Cutting the fiend with another.
There was nothing in this world that cannot be resolved with a single sword strike.
If there was, two sword strikes then.
In a flash, the fish in the air all returned to the bottom of the river, and this short time was not enough for them to recover from the confusion—whether they were birds or fish. However, it did not matter. They would forget this harrowing encounter seven seconds later.
When a powerful white light entered Li Chu's body, he took in a long breath. As expected of a hundred-year-old Water Fiend, the experience points given were quite sizeable.
However, the reward was equal to the risk, and this was the first time he had encountered such a dangerous situation. If the Water Fiend's Illusionary Techniques were a thousand times stronger, he would have really been bewitched.
As he thought of that, Li Chu could not help but to feel fear.