Hongjiang...

Hearing this name, Yin Wenjiao was slightly startled, and then her expression became complicated.

Nie Changchuan looked at Yin Wenjiao's expression and suddenly asked, "Mother, did you and father buy a golden carp in front of the Wanhua Store in Chang'an City and release it?"

“…”

Yin Wenjiao was stunned when she heard this. After frowning and thinking for a while, she nodded in surprise and said, "It is true. How did you know about this?"

Hearing this, Nie Changchuan was certain and said with a smile, "I am precocious and have the power of Buddha, so I have the ability to calculate. Since mother remembers this, I think father may still have a chance to survive."

"……What?!"

Yin Wenjiao was shocked, and immediately grabbed Nie Changchuan's hand with excitement: "Why?"

Nie Changchuan said with a smile: "Mother, you don't know that the golden carp is the Dragon King of Hongjiang. He was saved by you and father, and the cause and effect has been established. In addition to apologizing, I also want to confirm whether the Dragon King of Hongjiang rescued my father."

Yin Wenjiao paced back and forth excitedly. Her expression became firm. She grabbed Nie Changchuan's arm and said, "It's okay for my son to go. I'm here, and nothing will go wrong!"

Nie Changchuan nodded and said, "Then the child will go."

As he spoke, he turned his gaze to the maid holding a copper bowl beside him.

"As for this bowl, leave it with mother. As long as it is within ten steps, it can protect mother."

After saying this, Nie Changchuan chanted a Buddhist name and once again summoned the golden dragon tattooed on his back. He rode the dragon away under the shocked and awed gazes of Yin Wenjiao and several maids.

…

…

But during the Hongjiang disaster, Chen Guangrui was killed by Liu Hong and his body was thrown into the river.

But for some unknown reason, the bodies of the accompanying servants all floated away downstream, except for Chen Guangrui's body, which seemed to weigh a thousand pounds and sank to the bottom of the river, lying motionless in the face of the turbulent current.

A yaksha who was patrolling the river at the mouth of Hongjiang River came across the corpse. He was shocked and hurried back to the Dragon Palace to report.

When the Dragon King of Hongjiang heard about this, he became curious and ordered his men to carry the corpse back to the palace. When the corpse was brought back, the Dragon King stepped forward to take a look and was immediately horrified - the person who had drowned in the river was the scholar who had saved his life in Chang'an!

The Dragon King of Hongjiang has always been grateful for what he has received, so upon seeing this, he immediately wrote a letter and sent a yaksha to go directly to the Hongzhou City God Temple to ask the local City God for the soul of this person that had not yet been taken to the underworld.

In the communication with the soul, the Dragon King learned Chen Guangrui's identity and origin, and also learned the whole process of his murder.

However, this matter involved the human court, and the Dragon King of Hongjiang could not intervene personally. He could only place Chen Guangrui's body in a crystal coffin, and took out a Dingyan Pearl and placed it in Chen Guangrui's mouth to keep the body from rotting.

As for Chen Guangrui's soul, he temporarily took it into the Water Palace and made him a naval commander, waiting for the opportunity to revive in the future.

After thirteen years, Jiangzhou finally saw a sudden change. The patrolling Yaksha transformed into a human and sneaked into Jiangzhou. He heard the news of the day, and then hurried back to Hongjiang Dragon Palace to report to the Dragon King.

Upon hearing Yaksha's report, Hongjiang Dragon King couldn't help but look surprised.

"... Arhat the Dragon-Subduing?"

"When did this king become good friends with that Arhat Venerable?"

"What about the thorny robe? If I remember correctly, I only saved Mr. Chen and didn't do anything unnecessary... Are you sure you heard it correctly?"

The Yaksha nodded repeatedly: "Absolutely not!"

The Dragon King of Hongjiang said in surprise: "That's really strange..."

Just when he was puzzled, a yaksha suddenly came to report outside the hall, saying that a bald monk riding a golden dragon came to visit on the surface of Hongjiang River, and wanted to enter the Dragon Palace to have a chat with the Dragon King.

The Dragon King of Hongjiang frowned, knowing that this person was the 'Reverend Arhat' who appeared in Jiangzhou during the day.

After a little thought, he ordered his men to call in the Hongjiang navy to guard the Dragon Palace, and then he solemnly invited the monk in.

Entering the Hongjiang Dragon Palace, the tall monk first looked at the magnificent palace decorated with crystals and corals in amazement, and then turned his gaze to the Dragon King on the crystal stairs of the palace.

"Amitabha, I am Xuanzang, and I have met the Dragon King of Hongjiang."

The Dragon King raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: "It turned out to be Master Xuanzang. I thought it was Venerable Arhat!"

Nie Changchuan looked ashamed and said, "In order to protect my mother's innocence, I have no choice but to resort to this last resort. I borrow the names of the Venerable and the Dragon King. I hope the Dragon King will forgive me and not blame me."

As soon as these words were spoken, the smile on Hongjiang Dragon King’s face suddenly froze.

He came back to his senses, widened his eyes, and looked at Nie Changchuan in disbelief.

“You…what did you say?!”

Nie Changchuan straightened his expression and said solemnly, "Let the Dragon King know that my surname is Chen, and I am the son of Chen Guangrui and Yin Wenjiao."

"Thirteen years ago, my father was murdered. My mother was pregnant and gave birth to a son. To protect the child, my mother reluctantly threw him into the river. He drifted downstream to Jinshan Temple, where he was rescued and adopted by the elder Fa Ming of Jinshan Temple."

"Since then, I have been cultivating and growing up in Jinshan Temple."

"When I was five years old, I was fortunate enough to be favored by the Buddha. A heavenly dragon descended to the world and taught me magical skills. That's how I gained the power to avenge my parents' blood feud..."

“Wait!” Before Nie Changchuan could finish his words, the Dragon King of Hongjiang quickly waved his hand to interrupt him, with a look on his face that showed he suspected he was hallucinating.

"...Master, how old are you this year?"

Nie Changchuan looked at the Dragon King in surprise, as if he was looking at a fool, and then patiently replied, "He is already three years old."

The Dragon King of Hongjiang suddenly raised his voice: "Mr. Duo?"

Nie Changchuan sighed and said more bluntly: "Thirteen years old."

“…”

The Dragon King of Hongjiang was stunned.

In his eyes, this man had a strong Buddha's aura and there was a faint dragon roar in his words and actions. He looked like a rare eminent monk from a hidden temple in a famous mountain. How could he be only thirteen years old?

At this age, even if he started practicing since the womb, it would not be possible for him to progress so fast!

Looking at the silent Hongjiang Dragon King, Nie Changchuan showed concern and whispered, "Thirteen years old means..."

"I know what it means!"

Hongjiang Dragon King rolled his eyes, then raised his hand, rubbed his forehead and said, "Wait, let me take it slow... According to Master, Master is actually the posthumous son of Chen Dutong?"

"General Chen?"

This time, it was Nie Changchuan's turn to be surprised.

The Dragon King of Hongjiang immediately looked at the Yaksha beside him and said, "Go, invite General Chen over!"

Upon receiving the order, Yaksha left the palace immediately.

Soon, a handsome scholar in white followed Yaksha into the hall.

Nie Changchuan looked at him with a complicated expression and found that this man was indeed a body of soul, without flesh and blood.

Chen Guangrui stepped into the hall and first looked at the strange yet vaguely familiar bald monk with confusion, and then came closer and bowed respectfully to the Dragon King of Hongjiang.

"Your Majesty, the commander-in-chief of the Hongjiang navy, Chen..."

Before he could finish, Hongjiang Dragon King walked down in two or three steps, grabbed his arm, and whispered, "Stop talking nonsense, come and see if this master is your son."

"My son?"

Chen Guangrui's body trembled, and then he looked at Nie Changchuan's face in surprise.

At first, he didn't have any special feeling, but as time passed, he felt that this person looked more and more familiar, and deep in his soul, he felt a sense of familiarity as if they were connected by blood.

Chen Guangrui's body was shaking, and his tone became slightly excited.

"...Yes, it's my son!"

As he spoke, he took two or three steps to Nie Changchuan, stretched out his hand tremblingly and said, "My son, you... have grown up!"

Nie Changchuan blinked and looked at his adoptive father in surprise, as if he didn't expect that he would accept him so easily.

And it wasn't just him, the Dragon King Hongjiang and the civil and military officials of the Water Palace in the hall all had strange expressions on their faces.

The Dragon King of Hongjiang pondered for a moment and whispered, "Um, General Chen... No, Mr. Chen, do you want to take a closer look?"

Chen Guangrui patted Nie Changchuan's arm and said confidently, "No need to look, this is definitely my Chen family's Qilin child!"

The Dragon King of Hongjiang coughed and said, "Your son is a posthumous child. So far... he is only thirteen years old, right?"

Chen Guangrui looked at him strangely and said, "Of course."

Hongjiang Dragon King said cautiously: "But this master..."

Chen Guangrui frowned and said, "What master? He is still a child. Can't you see that?"

“…”

Upon hearing these words, the Dragon King of Hongjiang and all the civil and military officials of the Water Palace were shocked.

They all turned their eyes to Nie Changchuan, who was muscular and nearly 2.2 meters tall, and then looked at Chen Guangrui, who was thin and no taller than 1.72 meters.

In comparison, Nie Changchuan is like the peerless warrior in the storybooks who looks down on the world.

Chen Guangrui was a thin, weak scholar.

...You really can't tell!

The Dragon King of Hongjiang and all the civil and military officials of the Water Palace had strange looks on their faces and complained in their hearts.

Chen Guangrui seemed to understand what they meant and said with a smile: "When I was young, my family was poor and I often went hungry, so my body was stunted. But my ancestors also had tall people, not to mention my father-in-law, Yin Xiang, who was tall and mighty, and extremely strong."

"My wife is also over seven feet tall, so it is reasonable for my son to be taller. Why make a fuss?"