Chapter 231: Strange Phenomenon

Boats of all sizes were moored along the riverbank.

Incense smoke curled through the air amid the beating of gongs and drums. Several ritual masters, dressed in red robes and wearing ceremonial crowns, were leaping about as they performed their rites. They flipped, spun across the ground, and darted back and forth, accompanying their movements with a dazzling array of hand seals.

The atmosphere was mysterious and solemn, and from time to time, cakes and pastries of various colors were tossed into the river. This was a ritual dance that originated from the court dances of Chu. This particular dance was divided into the Upper Altar and the Lower Altar.

The Upper Altar was used to commemorate the dead and deliver departed souls, with movements that were solemn and dignified. The Lower Altar was used to drive away ghosts and evil, while praying for auspiciousness and blessings, with movements that were light and unrestrained.

What they were seeing before them was the Lower Altar dance.

At the same time, several men dressed in Confucian robes stood by the river wearing tall ceremonial hats and holding scriptures, reciting in sonorous voices: The sun is setting, and I grieve, forgetting to return; only at the distant shore do I awaken to longing. A house roofed in fish scales, a hall of dragons; gates of purple shells, a palace of pearls. Why does the spirit dwell within the waters? Riding a white soft-shelled turtle, following the patterned fish...

A large crowd had gathered to watch, all of them solemn and silent. Many were dressed like boatmen and fishermen.

Of course, there were also people whispering among themselves.

"That thing is still around?"

"Mm. I heard it wrecked boats and ate people in Xiling Gorge. They've already invited ritual masters to perform rites and subdue the monster."

"It won't come all the way to our Zigui County, will it?"

"Who knows? But no one dares head toward Yichang anymore. They invited the ritual masters to perform rites today precisely to pray that the boats heading to Shu make it safely..."

Li Yan and the others were among the crowd as well. Some of the surrounding conversations were in local dialects that they simply could not understand, while others were mixed with the official language of the land, allowing them to barely make out the meaning.

While the dance continued, several boats also sat on the river. Red cloth hung from their bows, where incense burners had been placed along with a consecrated statue. The boatmen worshipped in unison, scattering spirit money and five-colored pastries into the river.

Sha Lifei said quietly, "They're from the Raft Sect.”

Li Yan nodded without speaking. It seemed the river monster's rampage had affected this place as well.

The dance on the bank was still continuing. From what the surrounding people were saying, the ritual would last three days and three nights, but the people of the Raft Sect had already raised their sails and departed.

Eventually, the boatmaster planted his bamboo pole and shouted, "Raise anchor!"

The surrounding boatmen answered with their work chant.

"Hey-yo! Hey-yo!"

"Haul the towline!"

"Hey-yo! Hey-yo!"

"The boat's setting off!"

"Hey-yo! Hey-yo!"

"Hold the rudder steady!"

"Hey-yo! Hey-yo..."

Accompanied by the deep, powerful work songs of the Yangtze River, the boatmen each performed their duties in an orderly fashion, guiding the enormous cargo vessel toward Bashu.

The river mist was thick, and before long, the ship vanished from everyone's sight.

"The people of the Raft Sect really are bold."

"What choice do they have? They can't stay trapped here forever without taking to the water..."

Just then, a bird cried out. Perhaps attracted by the commotion along the riverbank, a cuckoo flew down from the mountains and landed on a tree branch, preening its feathers as it called repeatedly.

"The cuckoo is here."

"It's the Qingming season, yet strange things keep happening. Water monsters appearing... Sigh, that's an ill omen."

"Hmph. Lord Sanlu will deal with them!"

"Shh! Do you have a death wish..."

Many of the commoners wore expressions of grief and indignation. Whenever anyone whispered about the matter, they did so with extreme caution.

Li Yan shook his head slightly. "Let's go."

After leaving the crowd, Sha Lifei muttered, "The atmosphere in Zigui County is obviously a little off. Brother Yan, should we go straight to the village, or should we first settle in Zigui County and ask around for information?"

Li Yan thought for a moment before replying. "This matter has caused quite a stir. People are panicking, and several different sides are watching it closely. The evildoer behind this must be prepared as well.

“If we rush directly over there, we might alert the enemy. The village's able-bodied men have been imprisoned in Yichang Prefecture, so the villagers must already harbor resentment. We can't go in under the City God Temple's name.

"Let's gather information first, then go there under a different identity!"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

The county seat of Zigui was the ancient city of Guizhou. Since it lay close to the Yangtze River and had numerous waterways throughout its territory, it was a stop not just for local Han people but also many native mountain people.

Since it was near Shu, there were also quite a few people who spoke with Bashu accents.

The group descended from the mountains along the riverbank, circled around, and approached the docks from the side. Looking up, they saw an ancient city built against the mountainside.

The city was not large, and had been constructed entirely from stone. It looked ancient, sturdy, and solid. It had been built narrow halfway up the mountain and broad at the bottom, making it resemble a gourd.

Wang Daoxuan raised his head and stroked his beard. "Before coming here, I had deliberately asked around. This city has quite a history. After Lord Guan died in battle, Liu Xuande personally led seven hundred thousand troops eastward from Shu to campaign against Wu. He gathered earth and built a city here, which is why it is also called Liu Bei City.

"Zigui's county seat originally stood across the river at the old city of the King of Chu. Later, the celestial phenomena changed. Heavy rain fell for several days; the city collapsed; and river water flooded in, turning the area into a lake. It was only then that the county seat was moved here.

"It was originally an earthen city. After repeated repairs and reconstruction, it eventually became what you see today."

Sha Lifei, standing beside him, showed no interest whatsoever. He looked around and said softly, "Daoist, whether it's Zhang Fei City or Liu Bei City doesn't matter to me. I only know something feels wrong here..."

A small merchant caravan was approaching from the riverbank. Everyone in it spoke with Bashu accents. Mules and horses pulled several large carts piled high with miscellaneous goods. In the distance, several courthouse runners were approaching with hunting dogs.

Li Yan had already noticed something was amiss and immediately pulled the others aside.

"Something's wrong. Let's move away first!"

Just as they moved to the roadside, a loud shout rang out.

"Stop!"

It was not directed at them. One of the courthouse runners had suddenly drawn his blade and blocked the caravan from Shu.

"Officer, what's wrong?"

"This is an inspection!"

"This... Perhaps you could make an exception."

The caravan leader was a middle-aged man. He was not tall, and wore worn, coarse clothing, with white cloth wrapped around his head.

"Men and women of western Sichuan wrap their heads in white; tradition says the custom commemorates Marquis Wu."

This was a characteristic style of dress among the Han people of Shu, said to have originated in remembrance of Zhuge Liang, Marquis Wu, that had continued to the present day. Although he was dressed like an ordinary commoner, both his build and his gait made it obvious that he was a trained martial artist.

Wearing an ingratiating smile, he spoke in the official tongue with a strong Bashu accent and hurried forward to say a few flattering words. He even secretly pulled several taels of silver from his robes and tried to slip them to the courthouse runner.

However, the officials gave him no face whatsoever. The leading official slapped the silver from his hand and cursed angrily, "You lot are sneaking around suspiciously. One look, and I can tell there's something wrong with you. Search them! All of you stay where you are and behave!"

As he spoke, he gave his men a look. Two subordinates immediately stepped forward. One raised the long firearm in his hands, while the other led a hunting dog around the several carts.

"Woof! Woof! Woof!"

Suddenly, the hunting dog began barking furiously at one of the wooden carts. Without another word, the officer holding the firearm stepped forward and thrust it into the cart. The wooden boards beneath the cart shattered on impact.

Clatter!

A large number of white chunks spilled out.

Salt!

Li Yan was not surprised in the slightest. He had sensed that something was wrong and secretly activated his divine ability. He had already found the scent of a large quantity of salt hidden in the caravan behind them.

The caravanners were all salt smugglers.

The Great Xuan Dynasty's salt administration had initially used the Kaizhong system, but now followed the Gangfa system. The Gangfa system registered merchants who possessed salt certificates into official salt rosters. Merchants who were not entered into these rosters were forbidden from engaging in the salt trade.

Moreover, they were required to obtain their salt from designated salt works, and were forbidden from crossing territorial boundaries to sell it elsewhere. During transportation, the various inspection procedures were also extremely strict.

The moment this system was implemented, it created quite a number of immensely wealthy merchants. Also, almost all of them had connections with local officials.

Of course, there had never been any shortage of people looking for loopholes in the world. That had not changed since ancient times. The official salt trade was controlled by merchants and officials, but that had also given rise to all kinds of illicit salt smugglers, many of whom came from the jianghu.

For example, some famous blade fighters in the Guanzhong Plains made their living by smuggling salt.

"Take them down!"

Seeing that there was no way to resolve the situation peacefully, the salt smugglers from Shu drew daggers from their waists, while two of them pulled long blades from the wooden carts.

However, the three courthouse runners showed no sign of panic. They quickly retreated with the dogs.

At the same time, there was movement all around them. Merchants sitting in several nearby tea stalls suddenly pulled out weapons and rushed forward, while quite a few people also sprang from the crowd of onlookers.

It was clearly a trap!

Seeing the men rushing out, Li Yan frowned slightly.

Lu San's gaze darkened even further, his face filled with disgust. He had smelled something familiar on these men. These government lackeys were just like Qiao Sanhu's former subordinates, every one of them fierce and thuggish. They were clearly not decent people.

The leading officer raised his brows and sneered with a roguish air. "Under the laws of Great Xuan, anyone who smuggles illicit salt receives one hundred strokes of the cane and three years of penal servitude. If weapons are involved, the punishment increases by one degree. Those who resist arrest are executed!"

One of the salt smugglers cursed, "Execute your mum!"

He immediately attacked. Their martial arts came from the same school. Their stances were neat and disciplined, their movements hard and powerful, compact and efficient, with a preference for close-range fighting. Combined with daggers, their style became even more vicious.

Sha Lifei narrowed his eyes. "That's Buddhist Boxing. They probably came out into the jianghu together from the same village or neighboring villages."

Li Yan nodded. "Yes, they are a little too reckless..."

Buddhist Boxing originated during the Tang Dynasty, when Shaolin boxing spread to Emei and monks of Mount Emei combined the characteristics of both styles. It had since become widely practiced among the common people of Shu.

These men ranged from old to young, and were most likely from the same village. They were bold and willing to fight, so they could certainly be considered people of the jianghu. Unfortunately, their martial arts were mediocre. Not a single one had even reached the peak of the Light Jin Realm. They relied almost entirely on ferocity and morale in battle.

However, the courthouse runners surrounding them did not have any real experts either. Once the two sides clashed, their formations quickly fell apart, making the fight no different from an ordinary gang brawl.

Blood sprayed everywhere as shouts of killing and curses rang out incessantly. Before long, more than a dozen people lay dead in pools of blood.

"They're killing people!"

Many of the commoners were terrified, and hurriedly backed away. The more timid among the salt smugglers had already thrown down their weapons and knelt on the ground, only to be swarmed and arrested by the men from the courthouse.

Li Yan shook his head slightly and quickly led the others away. "Let's go!"

They wanted to keep a low profile, but unfortunately, that was impossible.

There was no need to mention Sha Lifei. He was tall, broad, and bald with a full beard. He looked so fierce that if one used his portrait as a wanted poster, it would probably catch several notorious bandits by accident.

Meanwhile, Wang Daoxuan had the bearing of an immortal Daoist. Lu San had originally been the most ordinary-looking of them, but now he carried a huge gourd at his waist and an erhu on his back, while a little white fox poked its head out from his chest. No matter how one looked at him, he did not resemble an ordinary person.

Ironically, Li Yan, dressed like a blade-wielding wanderer, looked the most normal.

Sure enough, they were stopped as soon as they reached the city gate. To avoid drawing attention, Wang Daoxuan took out his white Dao Permit.

The young soldier guarding the gate accepted it and examined the seal of Yunyang Prefecture stamped upon it.

He immediately smiled. "Oh, it sure is lively today. Are you gentlemen also here because of Young Master Wu's illness?"

Young Master Wu's illness?

Li Yan was completely puzzled.

Sha Lifei's eyes immediately grew sharp; he immediately pulled several small pieces of silver from his robes and stuffed them into the soldier's hand.

Smiling, he said, "Brother soldier, we've come from out of town and don't know the place. What exactly happened to Young Master Wu?"

"You don't even know, and you still dare come?" The gate guard looked surprised. Glancing around, he quietly slipped the silver into his robes and lowered his voice. "Young Master Wu has been possessed by something evil. I heard a female demon enchanted his soul, and now he spends every day raving like a madman."

"Which Young Master Wu?"

"Why, the county magistrate's son..." The soldier had been about to continue, but after glancing into the distance, his expression suddenly changed. He hurriedly said, "Get into the city. Don't stand here and get in the way!"

Li Yan turned to look.

The fighting over there had indeed ended. Some people were cleaning up the battlefield, while others were escorting the captured salt smugglers in their direction.

Without wasting words, they immediately entered the city.

The officer who had led the arrest of the salt smugglers arrived shortly afterward. He stared suspiciously at the departing figures of Li Yan and the others, grabbed the gate guard, and asked coldly, "Who were those people?"

"Spirit mediums from out of town. They're going to the Wu Family's residence to treat the illness."

The officer relaxed, then immediately warned him in a cold voice, "Oh. Things haven't been peaceful lately. Plenty of people are looking to make trouble for us. Keep your eyes open and watch carefully!"

"Don't worry, Chief Luo..."

Guizhou City was considerably larger than an ordinary county town, and because it occupied a strategic position along the Yangtze River, it was quite prosperous.

The group found an ordinary inn and gathered after settling in.

Sha Lifei shook his head. "Something's wrong with the atmosphere in Zigui County. I'll go get some intelligence."

"I'll go with you."

Worried that Sha Lifei might run into trouble, Li Yan accompanied him.

The two of them were already familiar with this kind of work. After circling through the city's streets and alleys a few times, they quickly found a jianghu intelligence shop. It divided the information it sold into the categories of Wind, Forest, Fire, and Mountain.

Sha Lifei was an old hand in the jianghu. He spent a while boasting and talking circles around the shopkeeper. The man could not figure out exactly who they were, but he could tell they were members of the mystic path. Thus, he did not dare neglect them in the slightest, and immediately began explaining the situation in the city.

"Zigui County isn't peaceful right now. On the official side, a superior has come over from Yunyang Prefecture. He's pressuring the county magistrate to invite several nearby chieftains into the city. From the looks of it, they want to placate them and make sure they don't join the rebellion...

"As for the jianghu, there are undercurrents everywhere. The local Chaoshan Association has an unusual relationship with Magistrate Wu and controls the salt transport business. With war about to break out, every region is stockpiling salt, so demand far exceeds supply. Unfortunately, the Chaoshan Association wants to swallow the entire business for itself. They've already fought several times with other brothers on the road, both openly and in secret...

"However, the strange incidents are even more troublesome."

"Oh? What strange incidents?"

"The rice seedlings simply won't grow over in Two Stele Bay. People say someone can be heard crying in the middle of the night by the old temple, but no one can ever find who it is. The locals are so frightened that they no longer dare approach.

"You gentlemen should already know about the river monster. I assume the two of you are here because of Young Master Wu's illness as well. Take my advice. Do not get involved in that matter. You can't handle it!"

Sha Lifei laughed. "Isn't he just possessed?"

The shopkeeper lowered his voice. "How could it be that simple? To tell you the truth, several groups of Xuanmen practitioners have already come here over the past half month. I heard several of them died. Young Master Wu wasn't merely possessed. A very powerful evil entity has set its sights on him."

Sha Lifei's interest was piqued. "What kind of evil thing could be so brazen?"

The shopkeeper gulped once before he muttered, "Have you ever heard of the bridal sedan at midnight? The Ghost Bride?"

Li Yan's pupils abruptly contracted. "What did you say?!"