The road is vague

Chapter 11: The Great Evil in the Tan River

Uncle Cai smiled, then suddenly thought of something and frowned.

"By the way, Xiao Mo, do you know about Xiao Man's situation?"

Uncle Cai is an honest man, not a scheming person. Therefore, except when he is working out of professional ethics, he will not chat with others on the road. In other days, he just says whatever he wants.

Li Mo was stunned when he heard this.

"What happened to Xiaoman?"

"More than half a month ago, the village was struck by an epidemic, and her mother died. I heard they didn't even have money for medical treatment or a coffin, so they buried her hastily without even announcing the death or offering condolences. Then a few days ago, there was a flood, and several households in the Zhao family at the west end of the village were flooded and their houses were destroyed. More than a dozen people had no choice but to move to the land temple for temporary shelter. I heard that the river god temple needed a pair of young boys and girls to sacrifice to the river god, so the Zhao family thought about it and decided to sell Xiao Man to the river god temple. Alas, poor girl..."

Li Mo felt as if he was struck by lightning and almost fell to the ground.

His face was extremely pale and he only managed to avoid falling down by leaning against the wall. His eyes were filled with disbelief.

"Xiao Mo, Xiao Mo, are you okay?"

Li Mo screamed hysterically and ran towards the river temple regardless of the rain outside. Looking along the way, he saw that the flood waves of Tan River were surging and large areas of mountains, forests, farmland and houses on both sides were destroyed.

Li Mo ignored the mud along the way and finally arrived in front of the river temple.

The area around the River God Temple was filled with the sounds of gongs, drums, firecrackers, and suonas. It was packed with people, constantly offering sacrifices and prayers to the Tan River. The sacrifice seemed to have come to an end.

"Xiao Man! Xiao Man!"

Li Mo, covered in mud, kept shouting on the shore, attracting special attention.

"Hey, isn't this Doctor Li?"

"Doctor Li, the sacrifice is almost over. Why are you here just now?"

In the past six months, as a traveling doctor, Li Mo has become a familiar face in the nearby villages. Many people recognized him and took the initiative to greet him.

"Where's Xiao Man? Have you seen Xiao Man?"

An old farmer from Shizhai heard this and asked in surprise, "Who is Xiao Man?"

Li Mo hurriedly said, "It's the virgin girl who was sold here!"

This old farmer from Shizhai had a kind face. Li Mo remembered that three months ago, he had a poisonous sore on his back and was in so much pain that he couldn't get up from the bed. At that time, after Senior Brother Ding Jie had removed the poison and cured him, the other party gave Senior Brother Ding Jie an extra ten cents for the consultation fee. He was a simple and kind old farmer.

"Oh, it's her."

The old farmer smiled and said, "This morning around 15:25, the temple goddess ordered the boy and girl to be moved to the River God Palace. From then on, they can live a carefree life, without worries about food and clothing. The goddess said the river god was very happy. Then, less than half an hour later, the heavy rain turned into a light drizzle. She said that after the sacrifice was over, the rain would stop... Hey, it stopped!"

Tens of thousands of people in front of the River God Temple cheered at the same time.

Seeing this, the old farmer from Shizhai in front of Li Mo also hurriedly raised his hands and shouted in worship.

“The river god has appeared!”

"The river god has appeared..."

"what is that!"

“Oh my god…

Suddenly someone cried out and looked towards the distant sky, only to hear the rumbling sound of a thunderstorm, and it seemed that a terrifying thundercloud was approaching from afar.

And in the rolling thunderclouds, there was a ferocious giant bird. Its wings were more than three meters long, and it was moving with an incredible speed. In the blink of an eye, it appeared above the River God Temple. With a deafening and loud cry, the giant bird spewed out a beam of thunder light, which fell into the flood in front of the River God Temple.

The surging river water exploded with a loud bang, and large amounts of water splashed onto both sides of the river.

"Oh my god, it's a monster!"

"Run away..."

The people on both sides of the strait who were praying all looked terrified, no longer caring about praying, and fled into the distance.

Only a small number of people continued to stay nearby and watch in fear.

The giant in the river seemed to be enraged. Two columns of water shot up into the sky and turned into two water snakes, rushing towards the giant eagle in the thundercloud. Almost in the blink of an eye, the nearby sky was covered with dark clouds again, and heavy rain began to fall.

"Humph!"

Someone vaguely saw a figure standing on the giant eagle, and he snorted coldly.

"How dare you cause trouble within the borders of Daqian? Die!"

This figure actually descended from the sky with six sword lights and plunged into the surging river. Then the nearby floods completely boiled, and it seemed that the river temple would be destroyed.

Seeing this, the river god believers knelt down and prayed.

Li Mo saw the old woman among the group of believers. She was the goddess of the River Temple, the person in charge of presiding over matters related to sacrifices. His eyes instantly turned red.

"I am going to kill you!"

He was so excited that he was stopped by someone.

"Xiao Mo, it's me!"

It was his neighbor, Zhang Qin, who stopped him and said anxiously, "The inspector is killing evil spirits over there. Are you going there now to save your life?"

Li Mo looked at Zhang Qin, his eyes suddenly became moist, his face showed pain and sadness, and the corners of his mouth kept trembling.

"Brother Zhang Qin, they, they took Xiao Man... I must kill them!"

"Don't be impulsive."

Zhang Qin tried his best to hold on to Li Mo, but his strength was naturally not comparable to Li Mo's.

"A few days ago, I followed the orders of the village council and went to the Bai'an County government office. I reported this matter to the Ministry of Destiny. We are now citizens of the Great Qian Kingdom. The Ministry of Destiny will not ignore us. All primitive sects that do not conform to the laws of the Great Qian Kingdom have been banned. These remnants of the River God Temple actually want to revive themselves. What wishful thinking!"

Zhang Qin gritted his teeth.

"But I didn't expect Xiao Man to become a virgin. I didn't have time to save her. The Zhao family is too cruel. They will suffer retribution for what they did. But you must not be impulsive. Don't be brave for a moment. Those remnants of the temple can use magic. We can't defeat them. Let the people of the Ministry of Destiny deal with them!"

Li Mo wiped the rain off his face.

"Then why didn't he come earlier? If so, Xiao Man might..."

Seeing that Li Mo had calmed down a little, Zhang Qin sighed and pulled Li Mo to a relatively safe place.

"It's not just our Hua'an Town. Several other nearby towns have also been affected by the disaster and there's been a big mess. The county's Tianming Division just happened to be undergoing administrative upgrades, and the county, out of good intentions, has paid more attention to us. However, they didn't expect a problem with the handover time. Deputy Chief Liu had just been transferred and left, and the new Chief Jiang hadn't had time to adapt before he encountered this kind of thing. It was said that Chief Jiang was so anxious that she went to find her master that day. I think this inspector is most likely Jiang's master. Alas, it's all because there are too few cultivators who can practice, and there are even fewer cultivators willing to become inspectors of the Tianming Division and uphold justice for us. Otherwise..."

At this time.

A ray of sword light shot out from the river and shattered the huge altar on the shore.

Stones as big as millstones flew in all directions. Some ignorant people who were bewitched by the deception looked terrified and no longer dared to stop and pray. They fled for their lives.

Zhang Qin also looked terrified and hurriedly pulled Li Mo away.

Only the believers of the river temple, led by the temple goddess, continued to pray on the shore.

After reaching a safer place, Zhang Qin gestured to Li Mo to bend down.

"These are the remnants of the River God Temple. Our Daqian Kingdom's Tianming Division will not let them go. Don't worry, Xiaomo."

About half an incense stick later, the heavy rain gradually stopped.

Bang!
The corpse of a giant catfish flew out from the rolling flood and landed on the broken altar.

The giant catfish was more than five meters long, with disgusting mucus constantly flowing on its body. It was covered with shocking wounds and the stench of blood was so strong that the temple goddess and river god believers who were in charge of the sacrifice were immediately scared out of their wits.

A figure rose from the river into the sky and returned to the back of the giant bird.

"Inspector, spare my life!"

"I won't dare to do that again..."

The figure looked down at the River God's followers, who were kowtowed to the ground. "I am Lu Qi, a captain stationed in the Tianming Division of the Lingmu Sect. You, the remnants of a primitive sect, are actually spreading lies and misleading the people, causing harm to the local people. Your crimes are unforgivable!"

Six flying swords fell from the sky. The temple goddess and the river god believers screamed, as if they wanted to resist, but they saw six sword lights intersecting, and these river god believers were instantly cut into pieces by the swords.

Then the giant eagle soared away.

Zhang Qin and Li Mo were both stunned by this scene.

After a while, the two were awakened by the disgusting stench and looked at the giant catfish corpse on the broken altar.

The catfish was constantly emitting black smoke and seemed to be melting and disappearing. In the process, a lot of mucus was released. The mucus fell on the stones and made a strong corrosive sound. Even though it was hundreds of meters away, it still felt nauseous.

"vomit!"

Zhang Qin almost couldn't hold back and vomited.

"It's the stench of a corpse. It's actually a great evil spirit. He's worthy of being a captain of the Ministry of Destiny. This is not a big guy that an ordinary inspector can easily deal with!"

Li Mo's tolerance for corpse odor is obviously higher.

He noticed that many strange hairless rats crawled out from the fatal wound of the big evil spirit. These rats were light red in color. After leaving the giant catfish's body, they died after taking a few steps on the ground, and then their bodies melted and evaporated.

Li Mo asked, "What is that?"

What Zhang Qin didn't notice was that although Li Mo's voice was hoarse, it was surprisingly calm.

"I heard that after an evil spirit dies, its body quickly evaporates and dissipates. I suspect this plague was most likely spread by these strange rats. No, we must leave here quickly and avoid being contaminated by this ominous and unlucky aura."

Say it.

Zhang Qin actually carried Li Mo on his back and ran quickly towards Shanbei Village.

He walked briskly all the way, which was obviously the result of years of physical fitness. His physical fitness was far superior to that of ordinary people and had reached the level of a third-rate master in the martial arts world.

After returning to Shanbei Village, Zhang Qin put Li Mo on the bed, breathing slightly.

"Xiao Mo, don't be too sad about this matter. The Zhao family has gone too far. Sooner or later, they will get their comeuppance. Everyone is watching."

Li Mo nodded reluctantly.

"Brother Zhang Qin, I'm fine."

Zhang Qin patted Li Mo's shoulder.

"I'm going to go to town and report this to the township government. There's definitely something wrong with those rats!"

"Brother Zhang Qin, go get busy."

"Well, take care."

After Zhang Qin left, Li Mo leaned against the head of the bed, looking quietly at the opposite wall until the sun gradually set and night fell. He remained motionless and did not say a word.

Day two.

Li Mo came to the stove and started a fire to cook.

He followed his mother's example, putting the grains into boiling water and adding some coarse salt and wild vegetables. After the stove fire went out, he found a few lotus leaves, cut the cooled grain rice into pieces, and wrapped them up with lotus leaves. He only had one piece left for breakfast, which he chewed in his hand.

Li Mo's cooking skills were obviously lacking. Some of the beans were not cooked yet and made a "crunching" and "crunching" sound when chewed in the mouth.

But he seemed to feel nothing, his expression remained calm, and he continued to chew silently.

Only after finishing all the coarse grain rice in his hand did Li Mo stand up and drink a sip of water. Then he came to the bronze mirror and tidied his clothes meticulously. He still looked like the positive and optimistic traveling doctor.

After confirming that everything was fine, he gently closed the door.

The houses of several Zhao families at the west end of the village have been submerged by floods.

Li Mo stopped and heard a noise in the distance. He looked towards the source of the noise. It was the direction of the abandoned land temple. He remembered Uncle Cai saying that more than a dozen people from three households of the Zhao family had moved there for temporary shelter.

The land temple is located on a steep slope, just below the cliff.

Many years ago, people frequently came here to worship, but as Hua'an Town was incorporated into Qian Kingdom, everyone wanted to identify themselves as citizens of the Great Qian Kingdom, and fewer and fewer people came here to worship, and it has been completely abandoned.

"You can take shelter here temporarily, but if you want to demolish the land temple and build a new brick house, I will be the first to disagree!"

"That's right. This is the Earth God Temple, where the Earth God lives. Our Shanbei Village was spared from disasters in the past because of the protection of the Earth God."

"You, the Zhao family, have gone too far. Not only did you sell Xiao Man to the River God Temple for a hundred taels, but you also want to use the money to demolish the Earth God Temple and build a house here. You will suffer retribution for this!"

Several women from Shanbei Village were shouting and yelling around the land temple.

But the third and fourth aunts of the Zhao family are obviously not people who are easy to mess with.

"It was our family who kindly adopted them for so many years, which saved them from living on the streets. Now that they've suffered a disaster, it's only natural for them to repay us. What are you talking about?"

"That's right! You're not the Goddess of the Land God Temple, so why are you making such a fuss? We are now the people of the Great Qian Kingdom. If you continue to act unreasonably, I will go to the newspaper office and arrest you all as remnants of the Land God Temple believers and make you accompany the Goddess of the River God Temple!"

Upon hearing this, the peasant women from Shanbei Village who were surrounding the land temple all showed expressions of panic.

They were just ignorant farm women. When they thought about what happened in the land temple yesterday, they were immediately frightened and left while shouting that they would be punished.

"Xiao Mo?"

The peasant women of Shanbei Village who were about to leave all changed their expressions when they saw Li Mo approaching.

After they looked at each other, one of them took the initiative to step forward.

"Xiao Mo, please don't do anything stupid. You still have a bright future ahead of you. There's no need to fight them to the death. We all know what happened to Xiao Man. Alas, they are just a bunch of heartless beasts!"

"Yes, Xiao Mo, they will get their comeuppance sooner or later, just wait and see..."

"Aunt Zhang, Aunt Zhao, Aunt Wang, Aunt Zhou, you misunderstood."

Li Mo smiled gently and said, "Xiao Man came to me in a dream last night, saying that she was enjoying a comfortable life in the River God Palace, with food, drink, and clothes. I was so happy that I couldn't wait to seek revenge. If anyone is to blame, it's my own fault. I didn't have the ability to give her a good life before."

When they heard this, they were stunned.

Aunt Zhao was the first to react and quickly responded with a smile, "Yes, yes, Xiao Man is going to enjoy a peaceful life. Xiao Mo, don't blame yourself too much. You've done very well. When you become the attending physician in the future, you'll be a big shot in our town!"

"Yep!"

The others followed suit and slowly walked down the mountain.

Li Mo put away his smile and came to the land temple.

He looked up at the steep cliff next to him. He hadn't been here for a long time. He remembered that the last time he came here, he followed his mother to worship spontaneously.

There were sighs and groans in the land temple until more than ten people saw Li Mo coming and then they all looked up.

"It's Xiao Mo."

Zhao Siman's third uncle put down his pipe, looking a little uneasy.

"Uncle knows you like that girl Xiao Man. When your mother was still alive, she also asked a matchmaker to come and ask about it. Uncle has absolutely no intention of opposing you. To be honest, Xiao Man is a good girl, and uncle likes her. She will definitely enjoy a good life with you in the future. But you also saw that the Zhao family suffered a disaster. After this heavy rain, so many people don't know how to survive. So I can only do it for the sake of the overall situation. Alas, it's uncle's fault..."

"Uncle Zhao, you misunderstood."

Li Mo smiled and said, "I came here to tell you that Xiao Man appeared in my dream yesterday and told me that she was enjoying a peaceful life in the River God Palace, with food, drink, and shelter, and asked me not to worry about her. I just heard that you were here, so I wanted to come and share it with you."

"So that's it!"

Everyone in the Zhao family breathed a sigh of relief and smiled with relief.

Li Mo nodded and smiled, "Okay, uncles and aunts, if there's nothing else, I'll go back to town first. If Xiao Man comes back to visit her parents in the future, you must tell me in time."

"Okay! Don't worry, Xiao Mo. If Xiao Man comes back to visit her parents, we will be the first to tell you!"

Li Mo walked away amid the laughter of the Zhao family.

(End of this chapter)