Sword from the Immortal Mountain

Chapter 89: Snake Demon

The evil waters are ahead, just go forward.

Chen Jin took out the map and looked at it, and found that he had walked one-third of the way here, and there was still more than half way to reach the prefecture.

Mainly, he walked and stopped, and was not focused on getting on his way.

However, there is still enough time, so there is no need to worry about missing the provincial examination.

This map is quite simple, originally only marking the main routes and the cities along the routes.

Along the way, Chen Jin added a lot of geographical information to the map, including many rural villages, mountains, rivers, etc., which makes it relatively complete.

In this era, maps are rare items, especially detailed maps, which are simply not available on the market. They are treasured by large families and sects and are regarded as secret books that are not easily shown to outsiders.

Chen Jin drew the map without any other intention, just as a note-taking habit. He had a strong spirit and an amazing memory, and he would remember all the roads he had traveled and would never forget them.

It was a hot July day, the weather changed suddenly, and loud thunder was heard.

In this season, once it rains, it is usually heavy rain, making it difficult to travel.

Some merchants and travelers on the official road quickened their pace and rushed to nearby villages and towns to stay overnight and avoid the rain.

An enthusiastic passerby shouted to Chen Jin: "It's going to rain heavily. The water is rising rapidly ahead. There are no boats crossing the river. Turn around quickly."

Chen Jin said: "Thanks for the reminder."

The strong horse pulled the cart and suddenly turned right and ran towards the country road.

When passers-by saw this, they hurriedly shouted: "Scholar, you are going the wrong way."

However, the carriage rumbled by, but it had disappeared.

The passerby murmured, "Isn't that the direction to Datang Village? Datang Village is haunted by demons. If this scholar goes in, isn't he courting death?"

He shook his head, not caring about anything else, and quickly went his own way.

The country road was deserted and the carriage was quite bumpy when passing through it.

Chen Jin slowed down and saw a village in front of him before the raindrops fell.

From a distance, the village seems to be quite large, with mud-brick houses with tiled roofs standing there, looking compact.

But when we drove to the entrance of the village, we found that the village was dead silent, many houses had their doors closed, and there were few people around.

Occasionally, some people were seen, mostly elderly people with pale faces and dull eyes. When they saw the strange carriage coming, their demeanor finally changed and they began to examine it.

After a while, an old man in his sixties with a cane came and said to Chen Jin urgently, "Where are you from, young man? Leave now."

Chen Jin said: "It's going to rain heavily, I'm here to take shelter."

The old man hurriedly said: "This village is not a good place, you'd better leave quickly, otherwise you will lose your life in vain."

"Oh, I heard outside that there is an evil spirit here, but is it true?"

"Of course it's true. The evil spirit loves to devour young people, especially those with delicate skin and tender flesh like you. It can eat them up in one bite, skin and bones included."

Chen Jin smiled slightly: "That's perfect. I also want to see what kind of evil spirit this is."

The old man was startled, looked him up and down, and asked suspiciously: "You scholar, aren't you afraid of death?"

Chen Jin asked: "What is your name, father-in-law?"

"My name is He Agui, and I'm the village chief."

"It turned out to be Mr. He."

He Agui advised earnestly: "Scholar, I'm not trying to scare you. It's better for you to leave in the rain than to stay and be eaten by evil spirits." Chen Jin said: "Since we are here, we should make the best of it. It's raining so hard, we can't leave."

At this time, raindrops as big as beans were falling down on my head, and soon everything was white.

He Agui hurriedly took Chen Jin and the carriage to his home.

This is a house with earthen walls and tiles, with a small courtyard in front, which is filled with miscellaneous items and can accommodate horse-drawn carriages.

The inner room was simple, with only a few chairs and tables, and a strong fishy smell filled the air.

Datang Village relies on the water for its livelihood and has always relied on fishing. However, since the evil spirits appeared in the waters, their livelihood has been cut off.

Chen Jin glanced at him and said, "Mr. He, are you the only one at home?"

He Agui sighed, "I originally had two sons. The eldest son was harmed by an evil spirit while fishing, and the second son fled to the town with his wife and children. If they stayed in the village, they would have died."

Chen Jin's eyes flickered. "From what you said, the evil spirit only eats the young and strong?"

He Agui added: "Children can eat it too. In short, choose those with strong Qi and blood, and delicious skin and flesh."

Chen Jin asked again: "If it becomes addicted and there is nothing left to eat, will it eat even the old ones?"

He Agui was startled and murmured, "Maybe."

"In that case, what should you do?"

"What can I do? Just stay here and wait for it to come and eat me."

Chen Jin could hear the sadness and despair in the old man's tone, and felt bad: "Have you never tried to find a solution?"

He Agui sighed, "We have tried. At the beginning, all the young and strong men in the village united to kill the evil spirit. As a result, more than half of them were killed or injured, and the blood dyed the river red. We went to report to the authorities, and the officials said they knew and would send people over after the investigation was completed. We went back to the village and waited. But no one showed up. We had no choice but to raise funds, issue a reward, and invite capable people to kill the evil spirit. Three days ago, a Taoist priest came, but he failed to kill the evil spirit and was dragged into the river and became blood food."

Chen Jin raised his eyebrows: "So this evil spirit is a fish demon, or a snake demon?"

"It's a snake demon, a very big snake demon..."

He Agui could not hide his fear as he spoke, his voice trembling: "It can climb onto the shore and enter the village directly, and it also wanders in the mountains. Some time ago, some villagers hid in the mountains and were eaten by it. Now there is no other way, people can only escape and leave the village. But where can they escape to? Once they go too far, they will become homeless refugees and be expelled by the government officials, and they will not be able to survive either."

Chen Jin then asked, "So, this snake demon comes ashore to look for food without any regular pattern. It could appear at any time?"

He Agui nodded and replied, "That's true. In short, it appears and disappears mysteriously, which is very scary. As long as it is hungry, it will come out. So I advise you to leave as soon as possible, so as not to lose your life in vain."

Chen Jin nodded slightly: "Father-in-law, if you have such good intentions, I can't just walk away."

He Agui opened his mouth wide, not knowing what to say. In his opinion, he didn't know what this scholar was thinking.

Fearless?

Still a stubborn one...

The heavy rain came quickly and passed quickly.

After the rain, the sky clears up.

Seeing that Chen Jin had no intention of leaving, He Agui stopped trying to persuade him and started to light a fire to prepare lunch. When washing the rice, he hesitated and put in half a cup more rice.

Since you haven't been eaten by the snake demon and are still alive, you need to eat.

A quarter of an hour later, an old man came running over, shouting excitedly, "Agui, Agui, come out quickly, someone is coming from the government office!"

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(End of this chapter)