The bride in a red wedding gown sat on the boat, swaying and drifting in the river.
She just sat there quietly, without a paddle in her hands. Two strong men jumped into the water, carefully held the boat, and gave a slight push. The boat carrying the bride then floated towards the center of the river, which was also the direction where Luo Zheyu was.
The crowd on the shore stopped again, made blessing gestures toward the huge red carp, and shouted something.
"They said they were willing to offer a living tribute and to select the most beautiful unmarried girl in the village every year for the past five years to be your wife... just in case you can protect this land from floods."
Luo Zheyu turned his head and looked in the direction of the bride.
Although the activity of marrying a river god and offering living people as sacrifices no longer exists in modern times, it is still widely spread and everyone is familiar with it.
Unmarried girls were "married" to the river god and thrown into the river, and it was almost impossible for them to survive.
“Can you speak out to the outside world?”
He asked the mirror.
"My Lord, yes."
"I can't speak right now. Please convey my message to me."
…
The red carp swam to the surface of the lake, with its huge tail rising from the water, creating a splash of water. Water droplets appeared in a riot of colors under the sunlight, and the beautiful golden-red tail reflected each other and sparkled.
Just as everyone on the shore was staring at this scene in a daze, they saw the fish tail suddenly slapping the surface of the river as if angry, stirring up waves a thousand feet high, rushing straight into the sky, as if connecting with the sky, and refusing to fall.
At the same time, the entire river was surging, boiling and roaring, like a sleeping beast waking up from hunger, opening its claws, baring its fangs, and flooding towards everyone with an overwhelming shadow.
In the surging river water, a figure holding a steel fork and standing on the waves gradually emerged.
When they understood what was going on, they were shocked to find that the creature was as tall as a human, covered with red hard shell, had a pair of huge claws, and had many side legs on its sides.
In an instant, everyone on the shore knelt down, expressing their loyalty and begging for mercy.
"My Lord's magic is so real that it is indistinguishable from the real thing. The timing is just perfect. It is simply... uh... extremely wise!"
Wanmianjing immediately turned into a flatterer. During the time he was online, he learned a lot more than just Yameidie and Yingyingying.
The red carp itself is not a monster, nor does it have spiritual intelligence. It will not become a big demon just because Luo Zheyu possesses it, so what everyone sees is an upgraded version of his pretentious trick.
"Stop flattering me and pass on the message for me."
"Yes, my Lord!"
…
The people on the shore, wearing coarse cloth gowns and lying on the ground shivering, heard an extremely majestic voice coming from the river, resounding through heaven and earth.
"Foolish! I have never had the desire to marry a mortal. The women you sent to me in previous years were all buried in the river and eaten by fish and shrimp. Are you going to make the same mistake again this year?"
Everyone on the shore was startled, and then they heard the voice soften again,
"I got angry when I saw you and wanted to flood this broken village, but considering your ignorance and your lack of malicious intent, I will take the woman in the river back and settle her down. I will spare you this time."
After saying this, under the cover of the sleight of hand, the red carp gently swam its tail, and in a blink of an eye it swam to the bride's side of the small boat, and pushed the boat towards the shore with its head on top.
As his head touched the boat, he was stunned and became angrier.
It turns out that this small boat that looks colorful and festive is actually made of bamboo strips and paper!
There were only a few thin wooden boards at the bottom, covered with paper, and the rest was glued together with paper and coated with oil to prevent it from being submerged in water.
The idea is to have the paper boat carrying the bride reach a turbulent part of the river, where the rapid current will damage the boat, and the bride will have to watch helplessly as the boat sinks little by little.
The bride sitting in the boat also heard the sound and felt something pushing the boat forward, but she did not dare to lift her veil. Her fingertips, clutching her handkerchief, turned white and trembled constantly.
The people on the shore begged for mercy and discussed in a panic whether to take the bride back. At this moment, the man who had danced the sacrificial dance and was dressed in fancy clothes shouted loudly:
"Lord River God, why would you dislike the tributes offered by your people? But she angered you? She deserves to die!"
"Your people are willing to choose a new tribute for you!"
The man's voice was passionate and fanatical, and he was self-moved and pious.
It was the first time that Luo Zheyu met someone who couldn't understand what people were saying, and he was so angry that he laughed. However, due to his own special situation, in order to ensure the safety of the bride in the future, he had to let the Wanmianjing continue to pass on the message.
"She is very good. I never wanted to marry. Don't blame her and add to my sin."
After hearing this, the man was terrified: "It must be that the tribute is not good enough, so the river god is unwilling to accept it. In this case, I'm afraid he can't bless us with good weather and good harvests..."
Luo Zheyu didn't want to listen to him anymore. He was just trying to put the blame on the bride in a roundabout way. He didn't know how much hatred the bride had for him. He impatiently let Wanmianjing interrupt him and said:
"If you keep talking nonsense, I'll flood your village!"
The shouts were deafening, and the meaning behind them made everyone fearful and panic-stricken, and they kowtowed repeatedly.
"Lord River God, please spare my life!"
"We pay tribute to the river god every year, begging him not to cause floods..."
"Please, please..."
"You, you better think of a solution!" Someone pulled hard the man who was dressed in fancy clothes and had wrinkles all over his face.
The man lived up to everyone's expectations and shouted again, taking the initiative to communicate with the "God".
"Lord River God! Lord River God, please don't be angry. Please forgive your people. We are willing to offer you ten of our most beautiful tributes as your wives. We only ask for your forgiveness."
The red carp that was pushing the boat paused, and its tail swung left and right anxiously, stirring up the river water. This time, the mirror only conveyed one word.
"roll!"
It doesn’t make sense, I can’t explain it to these people.
Most people have normal brains, but the one who has the same responsibilities as a "priest" has a strange way of thinking. No matter what Luo Zheyu says, he will use his own thinking to understand it.
The bride cannot be sent back for the time being.
It is not impossible to send it back by force, but I don’t know what the outcome will be.
Because of the word "get out", some people on the shore fled in panic, but a dozen people still stayed and tried to make up for it with a fearless attitude.
After all, angering the river god is no small matter. If the river god's anger is not calmed down, there will be a flood.
Some people also had complaints about the man in fancy clothes, thinking that if they had just followed the instructions of the Lord River God at the beginning, nothing would have happened, and it was all because of that man's own will that led to the current consequences.
But that person usually had a high status and prestige in the village, so even if he was dissatisfied, he didn't dare to say it directly.
"Lord River God..."
Before he could finish his words, there was suddenly another noise coming from the river.
A water column more than two meters wide rushed up from the bottom of the river, and at the top of the water column stood a monster that looked like a human but not a human.
It holds a harpoon in its hand, and has large pearl-like beads hanging on its neck and head, which are sparkling and lustrous. It wears clothes made of colorful fish scales and seaweed, which looks very strange. There is a huge clam shell on its back, which is enough to wrap it up completely. Its face is a little strange, not ugly, but not human-like.
As soon as it rushed to the shore, the first thing it saw was the people on the shore. It raised its harpoon and shouted in a shrill voice: "You used to offer the bride on this day every year! Why haven't you sent her by this time this year? Do you want to taste the anger of the river god!?"
The people on the shore looked at each other, not knowing how to react for a moment.
What is going on?
The bride sitting on the boat finally couldn't help but lifted her red veil and looked up.
When she saw the "figure" carrying a clam shell on the water column, she couldn't help but shudder.
If the river god looks like this monster, then her future life...
When I lowered my eyes, I saw a huge red carp swimming beside the boat.
The one that was pushing the boat just now must be this red carp.
The ship is almost reaching the shore.
"Hey! I'm asking you a question, answer it quickly!"
The demon harpoon with the clam shell on its back stomped on the water column and said angrily.
The dozen or so people left on the shore were still confused and had no idea what was going on, but their eyes involuntarily turned to the small boat on the river and the bride sitting on it.
The monster carrying the clam shell followed their gaze and immediately smiled with his eyes narrowed.
"My bride is still here. Don't be afraid. I will come to pick you up."
The water column dissipated under its control, and it stepped on the lake, holding a harpoon, and swam towards the bride surrounded by the river water.
“Don’t, don’t come over here!”
The bride looked at its dark purple face covered with wrinkles and was so frightened that her face turned pale. The pearl hairpins on her head shook and she backed away in the boat. However, she accidentally crushed the paper edge of the boat that had been softened by water and deformed it. Her body fell into the river. She quickly stood up and managed to keep her balance with great risk.
Seeing that the monster carrying the clam shell was about to approach, the red carp dived into the river, swam under the paper boat, looked up at the water current passing through the river, calculated the right moment, and suddenly jumped up and jumped out of the water.
The golden-red scales of the huge red carp sparkled brightly in the sun, standing between the demon carrying the clam shell and the bride.
Then the fish tail swung fiercely towards the monster carrying the clam shell, hitting the latter in the face.
Caught off guard, the latter was hit hard and fell several meters away. The clam shell behind him quickly closed and sank into the river with a gurgling sound.
Judging from its appearance, it is most likely a river clam that has turned into a monster.
As for the other party claiming to be the River God, I am afraid there is not much truth in it and he is probably just self-proclaimed.
The bride gasped in fear as she watched this scene, temporarily relieved.
Looking around, the boat was less than ten meters away from the shore. The current here was not fast, so it would not be a problem for her to swim back.
But the wedding dress was specially made and too restrictive, and she couldn't move her hands and feet underwater. Besides, there were more than a dozen villagers on the shore, and they would not let her escape.
"Pooh!"
A large river clam jumped up from the bottom of the water, and its tightly closed state suddenly opened, revealing a human figure holding a harpoon.
It glared at the red carp swimming leisurely underwater and said angrily, "Where did you come from, you little bastard? You haven't even transformed into a human yet, and you dare to mess up your grandfather's good deeds!"
He raised the harpoon, aimed at the red carp underwater, and pretended to harpoon it.
"Your fish scales are really beautiful. Cut them off and make new clothes for grandpa!"
The red carp didn't move, as if it was frightened by its aura and dared not move.
The harpoon stabbed down quickly, accurately and fiercely, causing huge waves.
At the same time, various head ornaments and pearl hairpins were thrown at its face, and then fell into the river and sank.
It turned out that the bride had taken off her hair ornaments and threw them over there just to disrupt it.
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