After the laborer pointed it out, many people saw the huge black shadow.
But the lightning disappeared, the sky darkened, and the situation in the middle of the river could no longer be seen.
They discovered it, and Qin Zhaoqiong and Meng Jian naturally saw it as well.
Meng Jian frowned, not turning around but still staring intently at the river, transmitting his inner energy to Chen Fang, the guard behind him.
"Can you see what that is now?"
"No, it's huge, and my intuition didn't give me any warning."
Upon reaching the fourth rank, true energy permeates the limbs and bones, and when danger approaches, one often experiences intuitive feedback, known as spiritual awareness.
Since Chen Fang did not sense any danger, it must have been just a huge river fish, or some kind of debris swept in by the tide.
A rumble of thunder sounded, and everyone waited for the next flash of lightning.
Sure enough, a dozen or so breaths later, a flash of silver light appeared, and everyone quickly craned their necks to look, discovering that the dark figure was already very close to the embankment.
The giant wave lifted it up, and everyone finally saw its true form.
"A black turtle! That's a black turtle!"
"River God... River God has appeared!"
Although the river worship has been discontinued, the tradition passed down from generation to generation is still deeply rooted, and many families who make a living on the water still secretly perform the rituals.
Many of the older people immediately knelt down, put their hands together, and muttered incantations.
Qin Zhaoqiong naturally didn't believe in the River God's miraculous appearance; the so-called Xuan Yuan was clearly an inanimate iron object.
She didn't recognize her, but Lu Zhaochuan immediately guessed who she was.
According to county records, two hundred years ago, the Longmen section of Yuchuan County was frequently flooded, and boats on the water would often be mysteriously swallowed up.
Later, with the guidance of a wise man, the entire county pooled its resources to cast a giant black turtle statue, which was then sunk to the bottom of the waterway to forever guard it.
Since then, floods have indeed decreased, and ships no longer sink without cause.
At first, Lu Zhaochuan treated it as a story and didn't believe in ghosts or gods. He couldn't even confirm whether it actually happened, until now...
Just before the lightning disappeared, the cast iron turtle was violently lifted up by the torrent, and for a moment it seemed to be airborne.
Beneath the two-hundred-year-old rust on the tortoise shell, scaly fragments are faintly visible, which are the original dark blue casting layers. On the belly covered with barnacles, the four large characters "永镇安澜" (Eternal Peace and Tranquility) are clearly engraved.
"Watch out, we're going to crash!"
The next moment, the enormous black turtle iron statue slammed heavily onto the riverbank.
The eighteen cast-iron chains embedded in the turtle's head were now lashing the water like broken harp strings, each link as thick as an adult man's waist.
The shattered chains and the riveted nails on the carapace scattered and flew everywhere, most of them crashing into the dam and the water, while some were knocked off to the shore.
"Arrow Formation, Protect Your Body with True Qi!"
Meng Jian shouted and instantly rushed to the front of the group, drawing his longsword.
Those with cultivation levels of six ranks also reacted almost simultaneously, forming a defensive line and standing ready for battle.
Chen Fang mingled among them, his body moving like a ghost to Meng Jian's back, ready to lend a helping hand at any moment.
The crackling sound, like popping beans, was continuous, not far ahead.
Given that the area ahead was either mud or rain-soaked soil, the fact that it could produce such a sound demonstrates the immense power of the burst.
Rustling sounds!
As they got closer, they heard the whistling wind, like a rapid barrage of powerful arrows, which actually made them feel a little more at ease.
when!
The sound of metal clashing rang out, the force of which was no less than that of an arrow. Meng Jian swung his sword to deflect some unknown fragment, and felt his wrist grow heavy.
"Chen Fang!" He couldn't care less about anything else at this moment, and shouted out the name of the secret guard.
Chen Fang lunged forward and instantly appeared in front of everyone, unleashing his true energy to form a barrier before immediately retreating.
The sounds of impact continued, but the force had weakened, and even a sixth-rank martial artist could barely withstand them.
The entire process lasted for more than ten breaths. The elite Imperial Guards at the front were not seriously injured, at most being hit on their armor by fragments from the secondary impact.
However, the rapid absorption and release of true energy caused instability in internal energy, resulting in many people turning pale.
"Old Wu!"
"Chu Da!"
"Help! Help!"
...
On the earthen slope to the side, many river workers lay in pools of blood.
Even though they were standing quite far apart, some scattered debris still managed to reach the other side.
Even a sixth-rank martial artist needs Chen Fang to slow down his attacks, let alone an ordinary flesh and blood body, how could it withstand it?
Those hit in the limbs fared relatively well, but those whose fragments pierced the torso were basically killed instantly. Some fragments even pierced through one person and continued to hit those behind, causing secondary injuries.
Those who were watching the spectacle from the front were almost all killed; they fell like stubble being cut down, and rainwater mixed with blood spread out.
After the initial stagnation, the river workers cried out in despair, and their relatives and friends rushed to their aid, but it was mostly too late to save them.
Many people's eyes darted around, unable to believe what was happening before their eyes, but finally their gazes were fixed on the military formation not far away.
It was them, it was them who stood by and watched someone die!
A strange crimson hue crept into his eyes, veins bulged on his forehead, and he gritted his teeth, as if his resentment and anger had materialized.
This unexpected incident was not enough to cause Qin Zhaoqiong to panic.
She naturally heard the shouts from not far away, but under the current circumstances, the Imperial Guards were too busy taking care of themselves to spare any attention.
What worried her was that the iron-cast black turtle was extremely heavy; otherwise, the impact could not have caused such a large shock.
But would such a heavy iron statue, which is submerged at the bottom of the river, be washed ashore by waves of this magnitude?
Even if we truly possess this power, the primary direction should be to move forward with the tide.
But it ended up crashing straight into the riverbed on the side? Is the river's undercurrent really that strange?
Meng Jian's internal energy was still intact, but now that everything within a hundred feet in front of him was in a mess, he hurriedly shouted, "Be careful of a second impact!"
"yes!"
Just then, an elderly man in the crowd of laborers broke through the crowd and stumbled forward.
"Uncle Huber, what are you doing?"
"It's dangerous up ahead! Don't go!"
"Uncle Huber!"
In the chaos, some people tried to pull him away, but Uncle Hu desperately pressed their hands down, staring blankly at the direction of the river embankment as if he had lost his mind, and resolutely walked forward.
He stepped over the corpses lying in disarray and the shouting river workers, his straw sandals, now tattered and torn, offering no protection.
Whether it was from stepping on the ground or from the blood seeping from the cuts on his feet, he moved forward with each step leaving a bloody footprint.
When he had walked about ten steps and was almost level with the Imperial Guards, Hu Bo suddenly knelt down and prostrated himself on the ground.
"River God incarnate! River God, manifest your power!"
The old man's mournful voice rang out, as if bursting forth from the depths of his soul, even momentarily drowning out the wind and waves.
"The sacrifice has been suspended for fourteen years; the iron turtle crashing into the embankment is the River God spitting out nails!"
"The yin energy suppressed the dragon vein, which forced the river-suppressing beast to rebel..."
"A woman sitting on the dragon throne, yin and yang are reversed, yin and yang are reversed!"
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