I am your natural enemy.

Chapter 808 Using a tiger's skin to set up a boundary marker

Once things were settled, Wenyan didn't need to worry about anything except getting to work.

After Wen Yan left, the headquarters chief sighed deeply. Wen Yan had a sudden inspiration and decided to go run an errand.

After all, he had to personally communicate with the higher-ups in the government on this matter, and the subsequent documents would require the signatures of more than one person or department.

Since it involves the River Styx, the Underworld, the Netherworld, and the River God, we still need to be a bit more serious.

Moreover, there is often more than one boundary marker.

With the headquarters chief having completed the communication, the placement of the boundary markers was naturally a foregone conclusion.

The materials for the boundary marker were also provided by the Lieyang tribe. The characters on it were originally supposed to be handwritten, but after discussion, everyone felt that they were not qualified or capable enough, so they used rubbings of the characters and then carved them. The characters were written by Comrade Li.

Then they invited eminent figures from the Three Mountains and Five Peaks to jointly set up an altar, report the matter to the Heavenly Court, and consecrate the stone tablet.

Considering Wen Yan's personality, she probably won't just put him anywhere by the river; he might even cause him to drift across the river.

Therefore, the material of the stone tablet itself is the sea-eroded rock that the Lieyang tribe found earlier.

That rock, having endured wind and sun on the beach, and the erosion of typhoons and seawater, possesses a magical resistance to erosion.

Its shape is like a very square and thick stone tablet.

It was one of the things that the Lieyang tribe discovered in earlier years and used for research.

The research results show that the sea-eroded rock was originally encased in a stone, but over time, wind and sun, and seawater erosion wore away the outer ring of stone, revealing the hard-to-wear-away inner part.

According to the research results, that sea rock took at least one to two million years to be sculpted into its current shape.

It's more than enough to serve as a boundary marker now.

The process went very smoothly; the only troublesome thing now is the subsequent conferment of the title of Water God.

Because of the story of the River God, and the thousands of years of recorded history of flood control, everyone is taking this matter very seriously.

The current candidates are from one of the Four Rivers in the past, and almost all the water gods' strength is directly related to the water area they live in, which is why there is discussion.

Otherwise, if someone else were in charge, the proposal would be rejected without any discussion.

It wasn't time for Wen Yan to work yet, so he had nothing to do. He called a few trucks, each carrying a large load of liquor, and drove them to the Huai River.

After all the sealed wine jars were submerged, Wen Yan led a long string of wine jars to the bottom of the water, into the area where Shui Jun was located.

Shui Jun opened his eyes and grinned as he looked at Wen Yan, who had brought dozens of vats of wine with him.

"Not dead."

"I'm lucky I didn't die."

Wen Yan dragged over one wine jar after another. Shui Jun reached out, grabbed two jars of wine, and casually stuffed them into his mouth, chewing the wine jars as if they were small crunchy snacks to accompany the wine.

After downing four or five vats of wine, Shui Jun finally began to scrutinize Wen Yan, his large eyes reflecting Wen Yan's image.

The reflection in his eyes gradually transformed into a burning sun, and behind the sun, a constantly shifting shadow was hidden.

After watching for a long time, Suijun suddenly laughed.

"If you were in the era of Thirteen, you would probably have suffered even worse than Thirteen. You were really daring. The darkness that even the sun could not illuminate was the most direct excuse to attack you at that time."

"Even the sun in the sky cannot illuminate all places, let alone me."

I do not seek immortality, so why should I sacrifice a part of myself?

Even saints are not perfect, and their inner world is always bright.

Besides, what makes a perfect person?

This definition has also been constantly changing.

Shui Jun laughed heartily. Through his interactions with the outside world, he knew best that Wen Yan's words would have been condemned as heretical by some people in the past.

Even the thirteen ancestors of Fuyu, who were already considered quite unorthodox, dared not use saints as examples.

"I sense that the God of War has been revived. You still have time to come here? Do you want to ask me for help?"

"No, I just recovered and went home. I realized it had been a long time since I'd been here, so I came to see you and bring you some more wine."

"Huh, the Ancestor of Soldiers has been dealt with? So fast? How did you do that?" Shui Jun was somewhat surprised.

“I personally revived the Ancestor of Soldiers. Even if we take a step back, he is still one of the ancestors. Why should we deal with him?” Wen Yan’s expression was a little strange.

"..."

Shui Jun couldn't quite grasp this for a long time, and in the end, he could only look at Wen Yan and sigh deeply.

Now he truly understands what Wen Yan meant when he said that times have changed.

He believed Wen Yan was tolerant of him and that Wen Yan genuinely wanted to let him go.

But he really didn't believe that other people in this era could tolerate him.

Fear, vigilance, hostility, and so on are all possible.

But acceptance is the one thing it won't do.

Now he truly believes that if Wenyan can tolerate him, this era can also tolerate him.

"The old ancestor of war has gone to the Great Wilderness. The mortal world is meaningless, and there are some ignorant fools in the Great Wilderness. Seeing him revived makes me quite happy."

That's it? You're happy? That's all?

"Yes, as long as our ancestor is happy, what else do we need to expect from our ancestor?"
Forget it, we've finally recovered. We should spend the rest of our time exercising and enjoying life.

I also wanted to ask Suicune, do you want to go out?

Suijun stood up and pulled on the chains binding him. The harder he pulled, the stronger the restraint became. If he wanted to get out, it would be equivalent to pulling on the river and the earth.

To say that the heavens have no handle and the earth has no ring is pure bragging; even Suicune wouldn't dare to boast like that.

Feeling the aura emanating from the chains, one could clearly sense the gentle power flowing within them.

Wen Yan floated over, extended a finger, and tapped the chain again, completing the update.

A pale golden light instantly flowed to all parts of the chains, making them appear new.

However, the proportion of gentle words' influence also began to gradually increase.

Shuijun could sense that if things continued like this, it wouldn't be long before he was able to escape from here.

Before Wen Yan could make any further moves, Shui Jun suddenly took a step back, sat down again, picked up a jar of wine, and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Forget it, I'll stay here by myself. I'll get out on my own later."

"Huh?" Wen Yan was taken aback. After a moment's thought, he managed to suppress a laugh. He probably understood what Shui Jun was thinking.

If he rescued me, wouldn't I lose face?

Moreover, these constraints were already starting to become increasingly less restrictive.

"Alright, then I'll leave it at that. I happen to have something I'd like to ask Mizuki about."

Wen Yan recounted the matter of the Styx River God, saying he wanted to invite Miss Qi to see what the Water Lord thought. After all, they were both among the Four Rivers, and although there were significant differences in their strength, reputation, and the size of their water veins, the Water Lord would certainly be more knowledgeable about the water system than the others.

"Is it completely confirmed now? How do you plan to bestow the title? Is it also decided? Through the Heavenly Court?"

"It is considered so, but not really. It was reported to the Heavenly Court, but the real imperial decree was bestowed upon humanity."

"That's alright. No matter what the situation is now, necessary restrictions are still necessary. When someone has too much power, it will definitely be a big deal if something happens later. You can trust her, but you can't trust everyone." Shui Jun seemed to remember something, and her tone became unusually serious.

"I know, I just feel that we should secure it first to avoid any unexpected problems later. As for other things, I have other ideas."

Wen Yan chatted with Shui Jun for a long time underwater. Shui Jun drank more than half of the wine that was brought to him and ended up happy.

As Wen Yan was leaving, Shui Jun suddenly added a sentence.

"I've almost finished my wine, remember to deliver it earlier next time."

"Okay, I'll come again next month."

After Wen Yan left, Shui Jun leaned against the wall, no longer drinking. He swung the chains binding him and chuckled.

It had been so long that when there was finally hope of getting out, he suddenly felt like he didn't want to leave.

Huge changes aren't necessarily all good things; let's take it slow.

At least now we have someone to talk to, and Wenyan will be delivering wine again next month.

After leaving Shui Jun, Wen Yan called the headquarters chief and told him that he had met with Shui Jun and asked for her opinion.

This is really just a pretense, a way to get things moving smoothly.

Of the four major rivers today, only the Huai River still has the Great Ruler.

Ignoring the River God, that guy's mind is not working properly now; he has severe amnesia and has lost a lot of power.

Instead of asking the River God, you should ask the Goddess of the Luo River and see what she thinks about being with Miss Qi for the past few months.

As for what Shui Jun said, Wen Yan already had some ideas after seeing the fork in the road to the underworld.

A few days later, the matter of the Styx boundary marker progressed smoothly to the point where it needed to be addressed gently.

When Wen Yan arrived at the destination, he saw the boundary marker covered with a red cloth. He carried the boundary marker, entered the Underworld Path, and followed the fork in the Underworld Path forward until he arrived at the edge of the River Styx.

Standing on the edge of the River Styx, he observed carefully for a moment and confirmed that it was indeed the River Styx he had crossed. Moreover, even if he had taken a fork in the road in the underworld, getting here would still have no effect on him.

After much thought, I realized that placing the boundary marker here didn't seem quite right.

He carried the boundary marker directly into the River Styx. With one step, the river, which didn't seem very wide, suddenly transformed into a boundless ocean.

He walked along the riverbed, where some skeletons had already appeared. These were the souls of those who had sunk in the River Styx and could not rise to the surface in the end.

Among those skeletons, some have already been eroded and are about to completely disappear.

Wen Yan ignored these things and looked for a suitable place in the river.

After searching for several hours, he finally found a high point on the riverbed. He gently brushed aside the sediment and revealed a huge rock.

Once the location was determined, he took out his tools and began to excavate the base where the boundary marker could be placed.

After working for a while, he inserted the boundary marker into it. In an instant, the gap between the boundary marker and the base seemed to have undergone a long period of erosion and slowly merged together.

Uncover the red cloth covering the boundary marker to reveal the red characters on it.

"China, 404, 2025".

404 is the serial number, followed by the time.

After the boundary marker was erected, from this moment on, this place became the true territory of China.

From the outside, the land on this side of the boundary marker naturally belongs to China.

The width of the River Styx is not fixed, meaning that the boundary marker that Wen Yan is located in the River Styx can encompass the entire River Styx.

The River Styx naturally counts too.

Similarly, the separation of the River Styx from the other side of the underworld is not like the separation of the two banks by a river in the mortal world.

The River Styx is not the boundary of the Underworld. In fact, it can be said that the Underworld on the other side of the boundary marker is also included within the boundary marker's area.

After completing this step and carefully checking to make sure there were no problems, Wen Yan turned and left.

Strange powers and perceptions began to transform from this moment on.

Wen Yan went ashore, stood by the river, and watched the souls floating in the water. He looked around to see if any new souls were coming. After watching for a while, he turned and left.

Only after the boundary markers have been placed and a series of procedures have been completed, and this area has been incorporated into China in every sense, can the Styx River God be officially appointed in the name of China.

The matter is still in the process of being finalized and an auspicious day is being chosen, so Wenyan is not in a hurry.

After he returned, he continued doing his own thing.

Each day is a routine practice, completing the daily tasks that I've become accustomed to.

A few days later, when Wen Yan returned after taking the cat for a walk, she saw her silly son, wearing a diaper, quietly walk out of the yard and walk unsteadily into the distance.

Wen Yan didn't approach; she just watched from a distance.

Passing by Pei Tugou's house, I heard the sound of cooking inside and realized that the simple-minded son had secretly run away. No wonder he was acting so sneakily.

When he saw his simple-minded son run to the far east side, to the door of Xiao Wu's house, and banging on the door, he knew why.

This little guy will do anything for food.

He had only been walking for a few days when he was already thinking about going to Xiao Wu's house to freeload.

I hadn't heard anything about it a few days ago, which means that Xiao Wu is back today.

Sure enough, after the silly son patted the door a few times, Xiao Wu rushed out of the room first.

Upon seeing that it was his mentally challenged son, Xiao Wu immediately broke into a bright smile, quickly opened the door, and picked up his son.

The silly son raised his head slightly, his chubby face bearing an innocent smile, and hugged Xiao Wu's neck affectionately, babbling incoherently.

Then, Wen Yan saw Xiao Wu quietly take out a folded painting from his pocket, look at it from left to right, and then secretly stuff it into his silly son's hand.

The silly son's eyes lit up instantly, and he opened his mouth and started to gnaw.

He munched on it while giggling happily.

Wen Yan stood at a distance and saw it clearly: the faint, ethereal shapes, like candied hawthorns, were eaten by her silly son as he moved.

"I knew it!" Wen Yan took a light breath, took a step forward, and appeared silently in front of Xiao Wu.

The silly son was still happily munching on his food, completely unaware that Wen Yan had appeared behind him.

When he heard the sound of flapping wings and something heavy falling on the wall, the silly son suddenly turned his head and saw Wen Yan standing there watching.

The silly son paused for a moment, looked at the painting in his hand, then at Wen Yan, and immediately grinned, handing the painting to Wen Yan while muttering something.

Wen Yan sighed deeply, "This little guy has really learned something."

(End of this chapter)