Who are you with?
The earth-shaking sound woke up the sleepy Chen Jingyi. She looked around in confusion. Was she... on a tree?
"Mom...?" As soon as she opened her mouth, Mother Chen nervously covered her mouth.
“…Hmm?…Hmm?” What happened?
The evil spirit on the strange snake disappeared and the dirt road reappeared, but the river water made it even muddier.
"You dare to kill the guardian beast of the river god? Today you will become the river god's sacrifice!" The old lady spoke Mandarin quite well, and she could tell at a glance that the thing in her body was not from the local area.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Li Xingzang casually brushed his hair back, his expression rather uninhibited. "Is your beast made of mud? What? You're playing 'I'm playing with mud in South City' here? Your skills aren't that great, are you making such a fuss about something like that? That's really unkind."
The old lady was so angry that her face turned red after being rebuked by Li Xingzang. Gao Yuan laughed wildly in the tree, "Zang'er, won't this guy be so angry that he will come out and beat you up soon?"
"Just shut up!" Li Xingzang rolled his eyes. "All you know how to do is poke people in the tree for fun. Why don't you come down and help me?"
"Then I have to protect the lives and property of the people, right?" Gao Yuan said with a smile.
Seeing that the two of them were still in the mood to bicker, the Chen family must have known what was going on, and their tension gradually subsided.
"Ah——" The old lady was so angry at their arrogant look that she opened her mouth wide and the evil energy rushed in, and her gray hair moved without wind.
The area around the temple fell into silence. The branches in the forest were clearly swaying in all directions, but no sound was heard.
Li Xingzang frowned as he watched her movements. He felt that the yin energy in the mountain was full of dampness and stickiness, making it difficult for him to breathe with every breath.
She closed her eyes and felt the gentle touch of water plants brushing against her face. The smooth scales touched her exposed skin, giving her goose bumps.
"Gao Yuan!" Li Xingzang shouted and opened his eyes, "I understand!" Taoist Gao took out a handful of talismans from his arms and muttered a few words. The talismans ignited without fire, burning away all the negative energy surrounding them and saving Chen's father and mother who were almost drowned.
Only Chen Jingyi was affected by Gao Yuan's talisman. Not only did it not work on her, but it seemed to burn her.
"Bride..." The villagers under the tree did not stop. The Yin energy controlled them and made their movements faster.
Li Xingzang frowned as he looked at Chen Jingyi. She had been pushed down before, but was rescued in the end. However, there should still be some marks on her body.
The old lady in the temple seemed to have become a transit station. The yin energy almost became substantial between her breaths, and the mountains and forests on the land were as moist as a big river.
"Tsk." Li Xingzang looked at her dissatisfiedly, and his body was as fast as lightning, kicking directly towards the door wrapped in evil spirit.
"Bang—" A loud noise was heard, but the seemingly fragile door was actually intact.
"Sure enough..." Li Xingzang raised his eyes gloomily. She had just felt that the thing on the old woman's face was very annoying. Now that she thought about it, wasn't this just a simplified version of the symbolic face in the valley that day? Using the River Temple to protect her own body, she controlled others through spiritual power and Yin Qi.
In that case... then break it!
"Bang!" Li Xingzang completely ignored the surrounding evil spirits and the crazy villagers. Gao Yuan was not a useless person. As long as he protected the Chen family and waited for her to deal with the river god, everything would be solved. He believed that he could still do it.
The vampire's tremendous strength was fully exerted at this time. This was the first time she used pure strength to attack. "You should feel honored." Li Xingzang looked at her arrogantly.
"Bang, bang, bang—" If one hammer doesn't work, try two. If two hammers don't work, try three. Li Xingzang smiled and looked at the cracks on the River God Temple. "How long can your turtle shell hold on?"
The priest was completely enraged by her behavior. He raised his hands, which were originally tucked into his long sleeves, high up, and a golden fish basket suddenly appeared.
"Ah--" Chen Jingyi suddenly screamed, and she actually flew up from the tree.
No, it didn't fly up, but was sucked away by the fish basket.
Gao Yuan's magic would hurt Chen Jingyi, so he didn't dare to act rashly. Li Xingzang sneered, and just as he was about to make a gesture with his fingers, the small bag beside him suddenly felt lighter.
It’s Xiaohe!
Originally she could not be seen or touched by humans, but now all three of them looked at the small figure in the air in shock.
"Xiao He..." Mother Chen's tears burst out in an instant.
Xiao He, still looking like a child, bumped into Chen Jingyi's stomach, knocking her back to the Chen family. He smiled at them and was sucked away by the force of the fish basket.
"My bride..." The priest's eyes became dull, as if something was awakening inside her.
Xiao He originally died as a sacrifice. Both her body and soul were connected to this fish basket. For twenty years, they were almost inseparable. Now that she was there, the river god naturally no longer cared about Chen Jingyi as a substitute.
"Xiao He--" the Chen family cried heartbreakingly. Li Xingzang looked at the priest who had been possessed by another creature, and a red light flashed in his eyes.
The priestess's old and shriveled skin began to ooze out liquid bit by bit, and wrinkled scales slowly extended from under the skin. In the blink of an eye, her body began to collapse inch by inch, like a water ball that was gradually filling up.
The originally narrow eyes were now wide open, the lips were stretched to the sides, and the slender body looked exactly like the strange snake just now.
The fish basket merged into its huge mouth, and just as Xiao He was about to be swallowed by it, a blue-green flame suddenly appeared. In just a moment, the originally eerie ghost fire took on a completely different appearance.
"Puff--" The water ball began to burst from the middle, and the strange snake swung its body, taking off its old body like shedding its skin.
"Boom--" Just at this moment, the wall of the River God Temple was completely knocked down by Li Xingzang. His light body jumped up, and his white hands pressed the big mouth of the strange snake tightly like steel pliers.
"I said - I am protecting my employees!" Boss Li spun lightly.
"Puchi——" The nerves of the strange snake that was split in two from head to tail were still twitching, and the two halves of its body were twisting continuously on the ground.
"Gaoyuan!" Li Xingzang roared, and a peach wood sword carrying a burning talisman was inserted into the exposed eyebrows of the statue in the river god temple.
"Caracalla..." The soil crumbled inch by inch, and the gloomy sky gradually cleared up.
The evil energy whizzed past, and the villagers who had not yet regained their sanity were taken back to the village, waiting for the people from the South City Special Intelligence Bureau to come and clean up.
"Ho-ho-ho-" A dry hand stretched out from under the body of the strange snake with difficulty. Chen Qiang hurried forward, but was stopped by Gao Yuan with a wave of his hand.
"Do you have anything else to say?" Li Xingzang squatted down and looked at the frail old man.
Her body was first influenced by the strange snake to become a priest, and then she was directly possessed by it. She was no longer a human being. Although the strange snake broke her body, she was still able to hold on to her breath.
"Huh——" The old man rolled his eyes and pointed his finger stiffly in a direction.
Li Xingzang frowned and looked, and another human figure appeared in the middle of the broken statue.
“What is that—?!” The Chen family looked at it in horror, as if some hidden boss was about to appear.
Li Xingzang frowned, brushed away the dirt, and looked at what was inside in surprise.
Although there are no distinct facial features, this is clearly a statue of a woman.
"Xiao He..." Mother Chen had been staring at her and of course noticed the faint light on her body.
Gao Yuan stroked his chin and said, "This old lady finally did something good."
Xiao He looked at her family with a smile, "Mom, Dad, and sister, take care of yourself." Her already frail soul turned into a wisp of smoke and entered the statue.
The old man looked at the clay sculpture which had become much clearer, and forced a smile on his face. He tilted his head and turned into a puff of ash like the strange snake beside him.
Li Xingzang picked up the strange red bead from the body of the monster snake, and thought of the Ghost King Yin Qi Bead that He Yishu had mentioned. Could it be... related to this thing?
"What's going on? Where is Xiaohe?" The Chen family looked at Li Xingzang and Gao Yuan anxiously.
Gao Yuan sighed and said with emotion: "Xiao He was the sacrifice of this thing in the beginning, but twenty years ago, this thing might not have been so powerful, so Xiao He was not eaten by it. Instead, she grew up slowly in the river like it. Therefore, their power can be said to be from the same source." This is why Xiao He always looked like a boy in Snow City, but was not discovered by them.
"When Grandma Chen was making the statue, she placed her deity inside the snake, and together with it, it absorbed the villagers' wishes, giving the statue some spirituality."
"But the most important thing is that Xiao He must have helped others over the years, so she was able to enter the statue. This is a good thing for her. In time, she might really become a river god."
Chen Jingyi, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly burst into tears. "I remember now. When I fell into the river, someone was holding me up from below. That's why you came and rescued me."
What is a god? To protect the peace of a region and the people of a city.
Xiao He probably didn't think too much about it; she simply didn't want her sister to end up floating in the cold water like her, being eaten by the snake. But even if it was unintentional, she was more worthy of the title of "River God" than the snake, which only caused trouble.
She saved her sister, and her sister may not remember it, but the gratitude in her heart gave her a glimmer of hope.
"Let's go." Li Xingzang walked over and put the statue into his bag.
"What are you doing?" Gao Yuan looked at her puzzledly.
"Xiao He is my employee, so of course she has to go back to Snow City with me," Li Xingzang said matter-of-factly. "Do you really want to shelter those people in a place like this?"
"Uh, this..." Gao Yuan was a little confused, "But recuperating here will be good for her."
"Who do you look down on?" Boss Li looked at him with amusement.
In front of you is: the owner of the Lao Li Family Hotel, the daughter of the guardian of Snow City, the vampire prince, and the civil servant to be recruited by the Special Intelligence Bureau - Li Xingzang.
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