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Chapter 80: The Water-Controlling Lord, the Water-Divining City God

Zhanshui Town is close to the river, has developed commerce and is very wealthy.

As Chen Ji walked forward, these words gradually became apparent in his eyes.

Soon after crossing the boundary, a bluestone road appeared. This was much better than Tiejin Town, as not every town had a bluestone road.

If you want to get rich, build roads first. This has been the case since ancient times.

Walking along the river, you can see several docks as far as the eye can see.

The smaller ones are used for fishing boats, and there are women waiting for the fishing boats to return to the port standing by.

The larger one is the merchant ship dock, with porters loading and unloading goods in an endless stream, and the flags of the escort agency and the canal gang waving on the bow of the ship.

It’s understandable that it’s just loading and unloading, but the fishing boat hasn’t returned to the port yet?
He had just seen many fishing boats floating in the river casting their nets.

He remembered that in ancient times, fishing was mostly done at Yin and Hai hours. Fishing lights were lit to lure fish before casting the nets, and fishing was mostly done during the day.

So he looked at Taoist Xiyun.

"Why are they casting nets to catch fish in broad daylight?"

"Fellow Daoist, you will know after you take a look!"

Taoist Xiyun smiled and stroked his beard, letting Chen Ji watch alone.

Chen Ji looked carefully, and after some time, he really found a clue!
The fishing boats were scattered along the entire river channel, and at first glance there was no pattern.

When I looked closely, I found that they were actually casting their nets upstream in an orderly manner, but they did not catch all the fish. Instead, they left some space for the fishing boats behind them.

"Can you catch fish like this?"

Chen Ji had never seen such a way of fishing.

After taking a few more glances, he noticed some unusual movement underwater.

After concentrating and observing, I indeed saw a dark shadow moving quickly underwater.

There was an even bigger black shadow in front of the black shadow, forming a ball and pressing down under the water.

Is it a fish?

No! It's a human!
When the black shadow approached the boat net, the underwater shadow finally emerged from the water.

Several shirtless men emerged from the waves, holding iron chains in their hands, with talismans stuck on their backs.

They rode the waves to the first batch of fishing boats, walking from the bow to the stern, still driving the fish.

The dark shadows scattered and fled among the fishing boats.

The shirtless man went back into the water to chase the fish until the school of fish passed the last fishing boat.

The shirtless men put away their chains and dived to the center of the river, where a boat was already waiting to pick them up.

When he came out of the cabin, his body was clean and the talisman was gone.

The boat went against the current.

The fishermen collected their nets and expressed their gratitude along the way.

"Thank you, Mr. Yu Shui!"

"Thank you Mr. Lao Lang."

"Thank you for your hard work, my dear!"

But it was not just empty words. He took out some silver to express his gratitude and even reserved a place for the next water control meeting.

……

"Lord of the Water Control? That's quite a skill!"

Chen Ji nodded in praise.

But he was not talking about these shirtless young men, but the one who drew the talismans behind the scenes.

Just when they came out of the water, he used the art of observing qi to check. These people did not have any magical powers, but they had the aura of magical powers and could even control the water to drive away schools of fish. It must be because of the talisman on their backs.

"It's not easy for ordinary people to have such abilities."

"It was the trick of the Cao Gang's military advisor."

Taoist Xiyun spoke slowly and talked to Chen Ji.

"I don't know where he learned this skill, but he combined Taoist water-avoiding talismans with the ability to repel beasts to create the Water Tamer. With just a talisman, even someone who can't swim can become a white shark."

"Everyday, they go down to the river to drive fish and pull merchant boats across the shallows. It's all business. If anyone who comes and goes is dissatisfied, they can't deal with them on the shore or on the water. That's why the Cao Gang is so powerful."

"Is the Cao Gang the largest force in Zhanshui Town?"

"It is."

Taoist Xiyun was silent for a moment.

"When I go to town, I mostly deal with them. I don't know much about them officially. I've only met the City God, but he's not a human official."

"Is Jinlu Garden also owned by the Cao Gang?"

"It seems so."

"okay I know."

Chen Ji nodded, withdrew his gaze, and felt a little emotional.

It seems that only Tiejin Town is peaceful, but in Zhanshui Town, the embryonic form of this world has already appeared.

Common people, underworld forces, practitioners, demons, officials, city gods...

Not simple!

With emotion, I walked slowly all the way and finally rushed into the town before the catch entered the harbor.

I thought I was going to go catch ghosts directly.

Taoist Xiyun stopped them.

"Let's go worship the City God first. We're here to catch ghosts, so we have to explain it clearly and legitimately."

"really."

Chen Ji nodded.

Although Miss Bai didn't say anything, she didn't object either.

So the group walked towards the City God Temple.

Taoist Master Xiyun is familiar with these ways and leads the way.

"The City God Temple is on the other side of town, and it's going to take some time to walk there."

Taoist Xiyun emphasized this specifically.

"It's okay. I just want to take a look at the scenery in the town."

Chen Ji looked around and found that the town was indeed much more lively.

The streets were much wider than those in Tiejin Town, and there were many more people. Even carriages and sedan chairs could be seen on the road.

“It’s indeed become much more prosperous.”

Chen Ji sighed and became more and more curious. If the wealthy town is like this, would the provincial capital be even more prosperous?

Then he thought of that distant morning when he turned into a donkey and watched the fire.

Hejian Prefecture was indeed prosperous, but the memories were too bad.

When he came to his senses, he found that under the art of looking at qi, the passers-by had a complex aura of various colors and also had the aura left by demons and ghosts.

When Miss Bai came down, she changed into the appearance of an old Taoist priest. Now she was walking on the road, looking like two Taoist priests bringing their disciples to see the world.

There were people around looking at them, including some with demonic aura.

It is not convenient to talk about the City God’s affairs in person since we are already in the town.

Chen Ji looked at Miss Bai and pointed at the person he saw.

Miss Bai looked over and nodded, her voice reaching her ears softly. "It's the aura of a demon."

Chen Ji was walking, paused, and then pretended nothing had happened and continued walking, not knowing how to speak.

Then the white girl's voice was heard again.

"There are no Sun Gods patrolling nearby, so you can rest assured."

"I thought the City God could really monitor the entire town."

"If it's a spell, of course it can be used. It's like a ball of fire suddenly appearing in the dark night. It's hard not to notice it."

Miss Bai explained in a low voice.

"But the wandering spirits in the town can't hear what we're saying. The Sun Patrol God isn't here, so the City God won't know either."

"I see."

Chen Ji felt relieved and asked about the demonic aura.

Miss Bai snorted coldly.

"Originally, the City God and his underlings were supposed to prevent demons and ghosts from entering the city and harming people. They also needed to keep cultivators under strict control."

"But this City God of Water doesn't care about anything at all, otherwise he wouldn't have left these things alone."

"Is there something wrong with the Cao Gang's talismans?"

When Chen Ji heard what Miss Bai said, he knew that she must have seen other aspects.

Miss Bai shook her head slightly.

"I haven't seen it, but even the magical talisman you got from the dream consumes energy, and you can only travel a thousand miles a day in the dream."

"How could an ordinary person in the mortal world perform such abilities as avoiding water and controlling beasts without sustaining any injuries?"

"I'm afraid these water controllers are burning their lifespans to perform their magic. It's almost like evil magic."

Chen Ji's eyes moved, and he thought of something.

He sighed and stopped talking.

When dealing with people, we cannot avoid the issues of wealth, poverty, life and death, but we cannot decide other people’s choices.

Just do your own thing.

Miss Bai didn't say much and walked a few steps to the City God Temple.

It's not too secluded, and there are some people selling books and stone inscriptions sitting nearby.

One of them already had white hair and beard, and it looked like he had difficulty standing up.

Seeing them approaching, he glanced over casually, and after seeing Taoist Xiyun clearly, his expression changed slightly. He quickly stood up and bowed.

"But is it Taoist Xiyun of Qingfeng Temple?"

"Exactly."

"I haven't seen you for many years. You are still as elegant as ever. I believe your cultivation has become even more profound."

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Ji realized that the surrounding environment seemed to have changed a little.

Although it was still the street scene just now.

But the people selling books nearby were gone.

There was also a familiar feeling in the air, just like the underworld in his dream that Lu Pan had taken him to.

Chen Ji also reacted at this time.

The old man selling books might not be a human being. He must be a ghost messenger under the City God.

Taoist Xiyun smiled and bowed.

"How can the cultivation in the human world compare to the long-term cultivation in the underworld? It is no different from the past."

As he spoke, he took out three thin incense sticks and handed them to the ghost messenger.

"This is fine sandalwood. I offer this as a token of my gratitude. Please help pass the message to the City God."

"What's the matter?"

Taoist Xiyun thought about it and started talking about Ding Sheng encountering a ghost. He said that there was an evil spirit in Jinluyuan and they were commissioned to come and take a look. He also said that the underworld already knew about this.

"Jinluyuan? Did the underworld know about this?"

The Yinchai's expression changed slightly. He asked Taoist Xiyun to wait while he went in to report.

After a moment, a dark cloud spread out.

The streets and alleys just now disappeared, and fell into pure darkness.

Now it feels more like the underworld.

The dark clouds were so thick that they soon turned into the appearance of an official office on earth.

In front of the door stands a stone sculpture of Xiezhi and two couplets with iron painting and silver hooks.

The treacherous heroes in the world are all responsible for violating the will of heaven and harming the principles of morality.

The retribution of the underworld has never been spared from history.

“What a great couplet!”

Chen Ji sighed in a low voice, saying that he had indeed written about the majesty of the City God in judging ghosts and punishing evildoers.

The old Taoist priest who was the incarnation of Miss Bai just chuckled.

"This is the couplet from the Dongyue Great Emperor Temple. All the City God Temples in the world use this couplet."

“Is that so…”

Chen Ji was a little embarrassed, but fortunately no one saw it.

Coincidentally, the voice of the evil messenger was heard from the yamen.

"Please welcome the High Priest of Qingfeng Mountain!"

Taoist Xiyun straightened his robes and walked into the hall.

Chen Ji and Miss Bai went in together and saw a city god with a pale face and the appearance of a scholar sitting on the upper seat, with the scent of incense all over his body.

Taoist Xiyun raised his eyebrows slightly, but said nothing.

Miss Bai lowered her head and simply ignored it.

Chen Ji used the art of looking at qi, but he also found out the reason why they didn't look.

The incense on the City God is really too complicated. There is indeed a lot of it, but it is all floating outside and a bit vague.

It was even worse than what Chen Ji saw the villagers burning incense to the Xiantai Mountain God.

Suppressing his curiosity, Chen Ji calmed himself down and pretended not to see anything, quietly listening to Taoist Xiyun communicating with the City God.

"The demonic energy that the Taoist discovered in Tiejin Town was traced to Jinlu Garden. This is indeed the fault of this City God."

"How about I dispatch troops to Jinluoyuan right now to lock up that demon and bring him to face justice and confess his crime?"

"There's no need to mobilize so many troops. It's our business that has disturbed the City God. It's really unfair to trouble him with so much trouble."

"I and my disciples will capture the demons and bring them back to the underworld. We will not be disturbing the City God."

"That's fine, that's fine too. This City God is here to take charge and see if there are any other evil spirits causing trouble!"

……

After some compliments, the meeting ended with Taoist Xiyun giving him a tube of sandalwood.

After leaving the City God Temple, Chen Ji was glad that they had invited Taoist Xiyun to come along.

Otherwise, it would be difficult for him to talk to the City God about this.

He walked away a little further and looked at Miss Bai to confirm that neither the Sun God nor the Ghost Messenger had followed him. Then he asked why the City God of Water looked a little strange and even the incense was in a mess.

(End of this chapter)