The First Legend
Just as the old man had said, many vehicles from out of town were parked at the village entrance, with tourists likely coming specifically for the "River God Festival." Inside Taoyuan Village, colorful silk ribbons hung on racks standing upright on both sides of the road, with small, pure silver bells the size of a thumb hanging from the ends, swaying and jingling in the wind.
Find the gift shop called "River God Shop," which is filled with refrigerator magnets, amulets, and other small items related to the River God, longevity, and health, as well as a stamp game for the River God Festival.
Lin Chaoying picked up a small plaster cast of a short-haired man sitting cross-legged and showed it to Jiang Chuangu, "Is that the River God?"
Jiangchuan Valley noticed something unusual, pointed to the display stand in the corner, and joked, "They even have lucky bags that can bring the dead back to life?"
Lin Chaoying pouted and couldn't help but complain, "Everything else can be considered local culture, but isn't bringing the dead back to life superstition? Does it conform to the core socialist values?"
Jiang Chuan Gu smiled as he picked up the "Longevity" lucky bag. "So blatant? This place is certainly extraordinary..."
Qian Fei shouted from the front desk, "Eating this can really grant you immortality!"
The two walked over and found pastries on the table related to the concept of the river god. They smiled at each other.
The receptionist explained, "Every place has its guardian deity, but Taoyuan Village has relied on the Qingluo River for generations, so the local villagers believe that the river god can bring good luck to the village. Therefore, the river god represents everyone's faith, and longevity is everyone's wish."
Qin Ming pulled Qian Fei aside, who was getting in the way and not doing his job, and said in a low voice, "You really came here for the holiday trip! Have you forgotten your mission? Immortality, my foot! You're not Tang Sanzang's flesh!"
Qian Fei scoffed, moved aside, and muttered to himself, "Who are you trying to impress with this act of seriousness?"
Qin Ming ignored her and took out the photo to ask the receptionist, "We are Wang Ge's friends in Jiaozhou. Do you know where he lives or where you've seen him recently?"
The girl shook her head in confusion. Suddenly, a middle-aged man appeared at the counter and asked, "Are you looking for Wang Ge?"
Seeing a glimmer of hope, Qin Ming asked, "You know him?"
The man wiped the dust off his hands, nodded, and said, "Yes, I know him. We grew up together."
Seeing this, Qin Ming took out the photo again and cautiously asked, "Are you sure we're talking about the same person? The Wang Ge I'm talking about is the one in the photo..."
After carefully examining the photo, the man was very certain, "Yes, it's him." Then, glancing at the five men's clothing, he tentatively asked, "Did he get into trouble?"
Seeing his skeptical attitude, Lin Chaoying immediately explained, "We are his friends. He said there are some events in Taoyuan Village recently, and he told us that we must come in the next couple of days to experience a different kind of life."
The man nodded suspiciously, his eyes sweeping over Jiang Chuan Gu at the very end. "Oh!" he exclaimed excitedly, pointing at him. "You! You! You! You! That star! The one who played a disabled person and a general!! Right! What's his name again! Jiang Chuan Gu! Isn't that right!"
Seeing this, Lin Chaoying pushed him forward, exclaiming, "Yes, it's him!"
Before Jiangchuan Guren could react, he was already standing next to the man, being hugged and posed for photos. He quickly said, "This is a private trip for us. Could you please release the photos later? Maybe next month?"
"No problem!" the man said with a grin. "Could I get an autograph?"
Qin Ming stepped forward and said generously, "Of course, no problem!" He then changed the subject and asked, "So, do you know where Wang Ge is now? Have you seen him these past two days?"
While striking a pose, Jiangchuan Valley seized the opportunity to feign a complaint, saying, "Yeah, they answered our calls yesterday and told us to hurry up, but today we can't get through to them no matter what we do?"
The man put down his phone with satisfaction. "I saw Wang Ge a couple of days ago. He looked completely different. He looked fierce and menacing. He's probably back to steal the Book of Immortality!"
Qian Fei listened as if he were listening to a novel, leaning over the counter and asking curiously, "The Book of Immortality? What is that?"
The man said, "The Book of Immortality was bestowed upon me by the River God sixteen years ago. I've heard that it contains prescriptions for bringing the dead back to life and for achieving immortality."
The group looked at each other, none of them believing that such a prescription existed in the world.
Kong Yue said, "How is that possible?"
Even if a person with superpowers has developed their body to its limit, they can only achieve a connection with nature or the elements. Thousands of years of evolution have not produced any superpowers such as immortality or resurrection.
"Didn't Wang Ge tell you this?" The man looked at their expressions and said in a more serious tone, "Our village was originally called the 'Short-lived Village,' where no one lived past 30. Later, the river god protected everyone, allowing us to live normal lives and reach our seventies and eighties. The key is that I've actually witnessed people coming back to life..."
He got carried away and spoke at length, “Sixteen years ago, the youngest daughter of the Wang family’s 12 households contracted a strange disease at the age of 18. Her skin was covered in sores. Her parents sought help from many famous doctors, but to no avail. On the day her body was put into a coffin, she was unexpectedly saved by the River God. When I was a child, I saw her stand up from the coffin with my own eyes, and her skin was completely healed! Now she is in charge of presiding over the River God Festival every year, and the villagers call her the River God’s Bride.”
"Huh?" Qian Fei asked, "She's over thirty now, right? She should have kids by now, shouldn't she?"
The man shook his head and said mysteriously, "She looks exactly the same as when she was 18, she hasn't changed, and she's never married..."
Lin Chaoying observed Jiang Chuangu's face and asked, "Doesn't being good-looking make you look younger? Jiang Chuangu doesn't look thirty at all."
Man: "Even if you look young, there's still a difference between 17 and 30. You don't believe me? You'll see when the celebration goes on tonight."
The group was caught between belief and doubt, wavering in their decision. Kong Yue brought the mission back to the forefront, whispering a reminder: "Don't forget we're here to find Scarface."
Lin Chaoying pretended to be anxious and said, "Hey? Where is Wang Ge's home? The five of us have been traveling all day and want to find Wang Ge and settle down as soon as possible. Now that we can't find him, we don't know what to do."
The man led them to the doorway and pointed ahead, saying, "Go straight to the end, cross two intersections, and you'll see the village committee sign. Behind the village committee are the three Wang families, which is the village chief's house. Wang Ge is the village chief's nephew and lives there. Go and take a look."
==
"Don't listen to their nonsense!" Village Chief Wang Shao, who looked to be nearly 50, had a kind face and warmly welcomed the five people, offering them water and snacks. He chuckled and said, "What immortality, what resurrection—these are just idle stories passed down from generation to generation. The reason we had shorter lifespans before was because our ancestors were a branch of the Wang clan, and they frequently engaged in inbreeding, naturally leading to genetic problems in their descendants. Later, people started intermarrying between villages, and the children had no problems, so of course they had normal lifespans..."
Qin Ming put down the water and asked curiously, "I heard that the River God's bride came back to life more than ten years ago?"
Wang Shao explained with a smile: "You mean Wang Sui? Actually, she doesn't want to get married, but her parents are willing to support her. When the gossipy old ladies in the village asked her about it, she made it up herself, and unexpectedly, it became quite a story."
"Since it's all fake?" Lin Chaoying asked, "Wang Ge didn't come back to steal the Book of Immortality, right?"
Wang Shao maintained his smile, took a sip of water, and said, "Of course, the Book of Immortality originally belonged to Wang Ge, why would he steal it?"
Faced with the discrepancies in the information, Qin Ming became even more confused and asked, "Isn't the Book of Immortality the River God's?"
A look of heartache appeared in Wang Shao's eyes as he said, "It's all ancient history. It's true that Xiao Ge has had a hard life."
"Xiao Ge was my brother's child. When he was three years old, the village warehouse burned down because of a single match. The fire illuminated half the village. My sister-in-law happened to be in the warehouse. My brother ran into the warehouse to save her, and they both died..."
Speaking of painful memories, a few tears rolled down Wang Shao's wrinkled eyes. "Back then, my dad was the village chief. He originally hoped that my brother could take on the responsibility of the village chief. Unexpectedly, a fire broke out, and he, a white-haired man, had to send off his black-haired son. He fell ill and never recovered. Sixteen years ago, that book of immortality appeared in the village. My dad left it directly to Xiao Ge, hoping that he could take over when he turned 18. Unexpectedly, when Xiao Ge was 15, my dad's body couldn't hold on any longer and he passed away too."
After hearing the story, Lin Chaoying, cracking sunflower seeds and pretending to turn her back to admire the scenery, whispered in Kong Yue's ear, "Don't you think something's strange? There's no village chief in this story?"
Kong Yue covered her mouth and whispered, "Is his father biased?"
Jiang Chuan Gu's ears hurt from listening, so he leaned over and said bluntly, "Nobody wants to hear about their family history and the legends they've heard. I just want to know where Scarface is so I can kill him."
Lin Chaoying clicked her tongue at him, her eyes seeming to say: Public figures shouldn't think about things that violate society; what kind of behavior is this, fighting and killing?
Kong Yue raised an eyebrow, gesturing to the two of them, "If you don't want to hear this, some of you are almost mistaking it for a local..."
Qian Fei handed Wang Shao a tissue to wipe his tears, while Qin Ming comforted the village chief, saying that if they stayed a few more days, they could both become the village chief's second-in-command.
The three of them facepalmed, indicating that they didn't want to know these two people.
“Every time this comes up… you just…” A plump woman carrying a rag walked out of the house, muttering, “You’re always so sympathetic to this person and that person, what’s there to complain about with those ungrateful wretches? They were smashing things here yesterday…”
Wang Shao introduced: "This is my wife, Zhuang Huan."
Lin Chaoying stood up and said obediently, "Hello, sister-in-law. I'm sorry to bother you today. Do you know where Wang Ge might go?"
Zhuang Huan was washing a rag in the yard, the sound of the tap water unable to drown out her resentment, "Go wherever you want! Coming back to ask us for the Book of Immortality! Dad didn't give us one back then! I don't believe in any Book of Immortality, I believe in the River God!"
Wang Shao raised his voice to stop them: "Outsiders are here, don't talk nonsense!"
"How could I be lying!" Zhuang Huan turned off the tap and argued, "Back then, my child's life was truly saved by the River God. We asked Wang Ge for the Book of Immortality, but he refused to give it to us! Heartless bastard! No wonder his wife cheated on him!"
Wife? Cheating?
Wang Shao slapped his thigh in frustration, yelling, "Shut up!"
Zhuang Huan got even more excited, "Why can't we talk about it! He went out to work and brought back a woman, saying they were already married and he came back specifically to meet the elders. But then this woman started seducing men in the village. Everyone in the village knows about it!"
Lin Chaoying found it increasingly strange. "Orphaned, elders deceased, utterly alone and betrayed? Where have I heard this scenario before?"
Jiang Chuan Gu met her gaze and whispered a reminder: "And Shi Zan too."
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