They've all become top scholars in the imperial examinations, and you're telling me this i

Chapter 108 The Third Prince of the West Sea Dragon King

"Scholar Chen, didn't you say you were going to meet the local earth god at Five Elements Mountain first? Why did you end up in this deep pool of Eagle's Sorrow Gorge?"

Yuan Shoucheng looked blankly at the pool, then at the faint outline of the Five Elements Mountain in the distance, and finally couldn't help but speak.

Chen Guangrui calmly replied, "The waters over at Wuxing Mountain are too deep. We should avoid going if we're not absolutely certain."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Shoucheng's small eyes lit up immediately. The slight dissatisfaction he had felt at being fooled was instantly replaced by hope. He took a step closer.
"Oh? That's right, that's right! You're so thoughtful, Scholar! So... then you brought me all the way to Eagle's Sorrow Gorge, does that mean... you're confident you can get that Third Prince Dragon out?"

"No," Chen Guangrui answered crisply, without even turning his head.

"No...nothing?" Yuan Shoucheng's smile froze instantly, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, almost jumping up.

"If you weren't confident, why did you bring me here to stand in the cold wind and tease this old Taoist? We just finished exhausting the mountain god like we were hawks, and now you're here to exhaust me?"

Chen Guangrui said in a serious tone, "I just learned the Spirit-Binding Spell from the Silver Furnace Boy. Since I'm passing by Eagle Sorrow Gorge, I might as well try it out and see if this technique I learned from heaven works."

"A...a test of magic?!" Yuan Shoucheng nearly choked on his breath, his eyes wide with rage, his face flushed red.

"This is Eagle's Sorrow Gorge. You know that the Third Prince of the Dragon Clan is very important to me, yet you still came here to test that curse? Hey, say something!"

Chen Guangrui completely ignored Yuan Shoucheng's outburst. He silently recited the incantation taught by the Silver Furnace Boy, focusing his mind on this land. He chanted the incantation aloud. A strange fluctuation of magical power quietly flowed, carrying a trace of the pure and profound aura unique to the Supreme Daoist lineage.

Pop! A soft sound, like a bubble bursting, rang out by the silent pool.

Just five steps away from Chen Guangrui, a cloud of murky yellow mist suddenly "squeezed" out of the mud. The yellow mist quickly condensed and transformed into a short, withered old man with a face full of wrinkles, wearing a tattered brown official's robe.

This little old man was the local official of Yingchoujian. He seemed to have just been forcibly woken up from a nap in the field; his melon-shaped hat was askew, his face was covered in mud, and he was still sleepy and not fully awake.

He looked around blankly, then his eyes focused on Yuan Shoucheng's Taoist robe, and then he caught sight of the distinguished-looking Chen Guangrui beside him. His body shuddered, and he knelt down with a thud.
"Great God, spare my life! Great God, calm your anger! This old man... this old man is the local deity of Eagle Sorrow Valley. I do not know... I do not know which great god has summoned me. This old man has failed to greet you properly and deserves to die! I deserve to die!"

Chen Guangrui looked at the trembling old man before him, a fleeting sense of satisfaction flashing through his mind as he successfully used his Daoist magic to subdue a spirit for the first time. It really worked. His expression remained calm as he went straight to the point: "No need. Are you the local earth deity?"

"Yes, yes, yes! This humble god is indeed it!" The local deity didn't even dare to raise his head.

"Get up and answer me." Chen Guangrui's tone was calm, yet carried an undeniable authority. "I ask you, do you know that Ao Lie, the third prince of the West Sea Dragon King, is trapped at the bottom of this deep pool?"

Upon hearing the words "Third Prince of the West Sea Dragon King," the local deity of Eagle Sorrow Gorge trembled again. He cautiously raised his head, stole a glance at Chen Guangrui's expression, and then stammered,
"Reporting to Your Majesty, I have heard a little about this matter."

He paused, seemingly struggling to organize his thoughts, "Your Majesty, this Eagle's Sorrow Gorge is a deep pool of water, extraordinary and wondrous. I am the local earth god, my duties and laws are only to govern the land's veins, vegetation, and living beings. My relationship with this deep pool of water is clearly separate, like well water not interfering with river water..."

He stole glances at Chen Guangrui's face, his voice growing softer and softer, "The matter of the Dragon King in the pool is governed by the laws of the aquatic creatures and the Dragon Palace. This humble god... would never dare to overstep the boundaries and inquire. So the specific situation inside... this old man really... really doesn't know much about it, and truly dares not speak recklessly."

His words completely shirked responsibility, making his meaning clear: I only care about things on the shore; what happens in the water is none of my concern, and I don't know anything about it.

Upon hearing this, Chen Guangrui did not become angry; instead, she narrowed her eyes slightly.
"Duties and laws? As a local deity, isn't it your duty to oversee the mountains and rivers and know everything within your territory? Even if you can't directly manage things in the water, there's such a large 'living creature' under the Eagle's Sorrow Gorge. Do you really have no responsibility for 'supervision' whatsoever?"

He stepped forward and said, “I see you’re happy to be a carefree manager here. Since you don’t like managing things so much, I think you don’t need to stay in Eagle’s Sorrow Gorge. Flaming Mountain is quite lively, and it just happens to be missing a hardworking local official. I’m sure you’ll remember your responsibilities when you’re busy.”

Upon hearing the words "Flaming Mountain," Tu Di turned pale with fright! He had long heard that the area was ablaze with fire, and the temperature was so high that it could melt rocks. He couldn't possibly endure going to such a hellish place.

"No! God, have mercy! God, spare my life!" This time, the Earth God truly wept, his face contorted with grief, large beads of sweat streaming down his sallow, wrinkled face.

"This humble god dares not slack off! Dares not! It's just... just that I'm not up to the task. The Dragon Clan is most wary of others interfering in matters of the Water Palace, but..."

He racked his brains and finally remembered something, stammering, "Although I am outside the Water Palace, from what I've observed over the years, it seems that the Third Prince of the Western Sea is living quite well..."

These words stunned Yuan Shoucheng, who had been craning his neck to listen: "That's good. How so? Wasn't he here to be tortured?"

The landman wiped his sweat and stammered, "He usually stays in this deep pool, where the aquatic creatures cater to him and indulge him in everything." "This Third Prince of the Dragon... seems to have a rather unpleasant temper?"

The land deity cautiously added, "Several times, some foolish little water monsters from nearby tried to approach the center of the pool, but before they even got within a hundred feet, they were swept far away by an undercurrent and couldn't recover for a long time! The waters in the center of the pool are absolutely off-limits to living beings."

"It seems to me... that he's like a spoiled brat being punished down there? He won't see anyone, and he doesn't even give face to passing deities. He's too lazy to meddle in other people's business and just guards his little water palace. He seems quite content."

The land deity cautiously recounted what he knew truthfully, adding at the end, "He spends most of his time underwater, and I've only seen him a few times. Some things are just speculation."

This time, Chen Guangrui didn't make things difficult for him again; he simply waved his hand and let the land deity leave.

Yuan Shoucheng, who was listening from the side, was dumbfounded. "My goodness! He was punished? He's practically here to become a tyrant."

He scratched his head with a worried look on his face. "This doesn't match what I heard. Wasn't he personally reported to the Jade Emperor by his father and punished for disobedience? Is that how he was punished?"

Instead of directly answering his question, Chen Guangrui asked, "Master Yuan, how much did his father, the Dragon King, do to warrant such punishment for his son?"

"Huh?" Yuan Shoucheng was completely dumbfounded, his small eyes wide open like copper bells. He didn't know why Chen Guangrui would suddenly ask this.

"Spend money? This crime of disobedience is punishable by death, and a father would spend money to convict his son of this crime?"

He felt a bit confused; when did the laws of Heaven become a business transaction?

"I went to so much trouble to see him, how would I know there's something fishy going on?"

Chen Guangrui smiled, but didn't explain. He suddenly changed the subject: "It's actually quite simple to see him."

"Simple?" Yuan Shoucheng laughed. "I've used every method I could think of. It's not simple at all. Do you have some other trick up your sleeve?"

Chen Guangrui gestured with his chin toward the distant official road: "Let's go to the market town over there first and prepare a white steed."

"A white horse?" Yuan Shoucheng was even more confused. He subconsciously looked back at the deep pool. "Why prepare a white horse? We're going to find that Dragon Prince, not to ride around aimlessly."

Chen Guangrui's lips twitched slightly upwards, and he uttered a word that left Yuan Shoucheng speechless:
"Dragon fishing".

"Fishing...fishing for dragons?" Yuan Shoucheng nearly bit his tongue off.
"You want to use a horse to catch a dragon?"

He recalled the "proper" methods he had used by the pool a few days ago, and compared them to this "dragon fishing" theory, he found it utterly absurd. The dignified Third Prince of the West Sea Dragon King, supposedly fished out by a mere mortal white horse? That was utter nonsense!
Seeing Yuan Shoucheng's disbelieving look, Chen Guangrui slowly added, "I've told you the method. You buy the white horse, you pay for it. Just lead the horse to the edge of this pond, and the bait will be ready."

"I'll pay?" Yuan Shoucheng counted on his fingers. "A fine white horse costs at least a dozen strings of copper coins. That's all the money I've painstakingly saved up for my wife by fortune-telling and feng shui! And you're just going to throw it into the water... no, throw it into the pond to feed the dragon?"

He gasped for breath, his face contorted with pain, "Chen Guangrui! You don't think the old Taoist is easy to talk to, are you trying to extort my retirement money? No way, this is too expensive, too much of a loss! What if he doesn't come out? It'll all be for nothing!"

Even now, he doesn't think Chen Guangrui's method is anything special.

Chen Guangrui ignored his shouts and simply stared quietly and intently at the calm, still pool, her eyes as serene as an ancient, cold well.

Seeing his confident demeanor and looking at the unfathomable pool, Yuan Shoucheng felt uneasy.

On one hand, there's the painful loss of money; on the other hand, there's the long-awaited Third Prince of the West Sea Dragon King.

Although buying a horse was easy for him, he felt that Chen Guangrui's approach was somewhat reckless.

However, Yuan Shoucheng really couldn't think of any other way, and finally stomped his foot angrily, "Fine! Chen Guangrui! This old Taoist priest is going all out today! I... I'll buy it!"

(End of this chapter)