Yunmeng Village was silent after nightfall.

Although the truth behind the Yunmeng Village monster legend is most likely that the villagers transformed themselves into fish monsters at night and scared themselves, due to cognitive impairment, the villagers still reduced their nighttime travel and even turned off the lights in their rooms early.

On the dim street, the only sound was Shen Yuan's footsteps.

The Longjun Temple is located to the east of Yunmeng Village, almost close to the waters of Dongting Lake.

According to the boatman, the place where the Dragon King Temple is located was once the waters of Yunmeng Lake. Until one day the Yunmeng Lake dried up, the ancestors of Yunmeng Village established a village here and built the Dragon King Temple to worship the Dragon King.

In fact, there is more than one Longjun Temple in Yunmeng Village in the entire Dongting Lake area, but the Longjun Temple in Yunmeng Village is undoubtedly the one with the longest history of incense offerings and the best preservation.

Walking towards the Dragon King Temple, Shen Yuan was also observing other details of the entire Yunmeng Village.

Although Yunmeng Village is a village, it is much larger than ordinary villages, and the road layout and house structure in the village are quite particular.

All the buildings seem to be guarding the Dragon King Temple in the east.

With the help of the cold moonlight, Shen Yuan was able to see the entire picture of the Dragon King Temple.

Rather than being a temple, the Dragon King Temple before us is more like a palace that has been shrunk several times. It has no magnificent decorations and exudes an indescribable sense of ancient majesty.

Various mythological stories are engraved on the walls made of huge stones. Although most of them have been decayed by wind and rain for a long time, one can still vaguely see a scene of a dragon soaring in the sky and overlooking the world.

At the main entrance, there is a huge plaque hanging here. It is unknown how many years have passed, and even the wood has rotted away, and it looks like the naturally grown wood texture is pieced together to form two huge characters.

Yunmeng!

Shen Yuan stopped in front of the Dragon King Temple and did not step directly into it. Instead, he looked at the vermilion door that was not closed.

“Cough cough cough!”

A violent cough was heard, and then a hunched old figure holding a kerosene lamp slowly walked out from behind the gate of Longjun Temple.

The dim light of the kerosene lamp swayed in the wind, and the old, skinny face was bright and dark, with a bit of weird color.

"Young man, why are you here at the Dragon Temple so late at night?"

The old man asked, his voice hoarse like a shabby wooden door slowly closing.

Shen Yuan bowed slightly to the old man in front of him and said calmly:

"I am traveling around Dongting Lake today. I heard that Yunmeng Village has the oldest Dragon King Temple in Dongting Lake. I came here to visit this temple."

The old man said with a grim expression:

"You can visit the Dragon King Temple during the day. It's better not to wander around in the middle of the night. The nights in Yunmeng Village are not very peaceful."

The villagers turned from humans into fish at night, so it was naturally related to the night time. If Shen Yuan came here during the day, he would probably get nothing.

"I have some means of self-protection, so you don't have to worry. As for entering the temple, please give me some convenience."

The old man's cloudy eyes moved, and he glanced at the Maine Coon cat behind Shen Yuan.

The old man paused for a moment before speaking in a cold voice:

"If you encounter something strange in this Dragon King Temple, don't blame me for not warning you."

As he spoke, the old man turned and walked into the temple, holding the kerosene lamp.

Seeing this, Shen Yuan also stepped into the Dragon King Temple.

Although the Longjun Temple was built in a magnificent manner, it was built thousands of years ago after all.

Villagers of all generations might repair the Longjun Temple when they had the money, but as more and more people went to big cities to work, the management of the Longjun Temple gradually decreased. Apart from repairing the external buildings during festivals, the interior of the Longjun Temple has long been in disrepair.

Most of the side halls next to the main hall have already collapsed, and the remaining ones are also crumbling.

The old man pointed at the collapsed side halls and introduced them by the flickering light of the kerosene lamp in his hand:

"Those side halls were supposed to enshrine the Thirty-Six Raging Generals of Yunmeng Lake, the Twelve Water Gods, and the Left and Right Turtle Prime Ministers, but most of them have been destroyed long ago and there's nothing much to see."

"In the entire temple, only the main hall dedicated to Lord Dragon remains, and it is relatively well preserved."

Shen Yuan raised his eyebrows slightly, somewhat surprised that so many gods were enshrined in this Dragon King Temple.

However, when I think about the fact that Yunmeng Lake was comparable to the Four Rivers in its peak period, I feel relieved.

Which of the Four Dragon Lords doesn't have many gods under his command? It's normal for Yunmeng Dragon Lord to have so many gods under his command.

only.

"Have you never heard of these names?"

The old man suddenly turned around and looked at Shen Yuan with a half-smile on his face.

Shen Yuan nodded and responded:

"On the way to Yunmeng Village, I also learned some myths and legends about Yunmeng Lake from a boatman, but I have never heard of any characters like General Raging Waves or Twelve Water Gods."

"Ha! You don't know that they are actually quite normal."

The smile on the old man's face became more and more strange: "These traitors have long been killed by the Dragon King. Of course, they are not qualified to leave legends in this world."

"Traitor?" Shen Yuan was puzzled.

The old man did not answer Shen Yuan's question, but walked slowly towards the main hall holding a kerosene lamp.

Shen Yuan did not notice that under the dim light of the kerosene lamp, the old man's shadow was slowly changing.

Following the old man into the only well-preserved main hall, the first thing that hit me was a cold and gloomy air.

This yin energy is not just the coldness on the flesh and blood level, but also a kind of chill that seems to freeze the soul.

Shen Yuan's heart immediately rose, and he looked around with caution.

The old man seemed unaware of this. He slowly walked to the altar with a kerosene lamp in his hand and lit the candles in the hall with the flickering flame of the kerosene lamp.

The bright firelight gradually enveloped the entire hall, dispelling the previous unknown chill.

It was not until this moment that Shen Yuan saw the deity enshrined in the center of the hall.

It was a majestic statue with a dragon head and a human body. The huge sculpture was almost as tall as the entire main hall.

The statue is wearing gorgeous clothes with black and gold patterns, embellished with ancient totems of moving clouds and rain, and its pair of sky-blue dragon eyes seem to encompass endless waters.

Although it is just a sculpture, it gives people a sense of oppression as if a god has descended.

"gentlemen."

The Maine Coon felt suffocated by the Dragon King statue and subconsciously called out to Shen Yuan, only to see Shen Yuan staring at the old man in front of the Dragon King altar with a serious expression.

Under the candlelight, the distorted shadow behind the old man gradually became clear, revealing a human body with a dragon head.

On his face, the cloudy eyes had been replaced by dark golden vertical pupils, and fine scales covered his forehead.

"Practitioner, tell me your purpose!"