Water elemental became a god, ultimately becoming the master of heaven, earth, mountains, and rivers

Chapter 144: Diverting trouble to the east
That night, the moon was hidden and the stars were few.

Chen Shunan led Sun Xiao to dive to the bottom of the frigid well, moved the underwater stone rhinoceros, and took only two buckets of Eight Treasures Mercury. After seeing that no more mercury was emerging, they hurriedly surfaced.

Finally, Chen Shunan turned around and looked strangely at the bottom of the deep well.

Whether it was Chen Shunan's imagination or not, the water eye behind the stone rhinoceros, the dragon vein that Lin Shouzhou and others had mentioned, gave Chen Shunan a feeling that it was becoming increasingly active and chaotic.

A chilling aura enveloped him, causing his herbal talisman to tremble slightly.

Chen Shunan shook his head, not wanting to meddle any further. If the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up; thinking too much now would be pointless.

Once the well was reached, the waterwheel was loaded and a triangular water flag was planted.

Chen Shunan's expression was solemn, revealing an authority unlike his usual demeanor, and he said in a deep voice,

"set off!"

Sun Xiao and the others were momentarily dazed. The figure of Chen Shunan giving orders in front of them seemed to overlap with Lin Shouzhou's, but they were also very different.

Old Chen is really different now...

The group sighed inwardly, said nothing more, and silently pushed the cart forward.

Chen Shunan took the lead, guiding the convoy toward Banno Tsuto.

……

"Kid, I'm your Uncle Li San. I even held you when you were little. Why are you trying to kill me?"

In the twilight, a gaunt old man lay sprawled on the ground, his eyes filled with confusion and fear.

Li Yaozu's expression remained calm, though a faint ripple flickered deep in his eyes before being replaced by an icy coldness.

He pressed the dagger down with both hands!
With a snap, the sharp blade severed the trachea, producing a sickening hissing sound, and warm blood gushed out.

Li Yaozu continued his actions without stopping, taking out a demonic claw from his pocket and, under the still terrified gaze of Uncle Li San, scratching his body fiercely, creating marks of a struggle.

Uncle Li died immediately.

Li Yaozu left behind various demonic claw marks at the scene, then smashed through the earthen wall and threw the demonic claw onto the broken bricks.

He stood behind the ditch.

In the countryside in late autumn, eight or nine-tenths of the crops have been harvested. On the vast fields, only rows of sorghum stalks cut clean at the roots remain, rustling in the wind.

Uncle Li's vegetable plots and sorghum fields were managed in an extremely orderly manner.

Although he was an old bachelor, his house was kept very tidy.

Li Yaozu vaguely remembers that when he was a child, his third uncle would always carry loads of heavy rice, melons, fruits and vegetables into his home without taking a penny.

Perhaps it started around that time?
Li Yaozu squinted, seemingly lost in thought.

He discovered that the demonic disturbances weren't entirely a bad thing after all.

In troubled times, human lives are like straw.

The same applies now.

Who could possibly detect someone using a demon to commit murder?
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
The sound of something cutting through the air rang out rapidly.

Before long, figures dressed in plain-colored uniforms swept in.

Fang glanced at the damaged house and the old man's corpse, a chill flashing in his eyes, and then noticed the demonic claws in the pile of collapsed bricks and tiles.

"Where is the demon?"

“They fled to the mountains; I didn’t stay behind,” Li Yaozu coughed.

Brother Fang nodded and said quickly, "Let's go!"

After a while.

Deep in the dense forest, the stench of blood mixed with the stench of demons lingered.

Beside a pond in the woods, Fang Ge kicked the wolf demon's collapsed ribs, spat out bloody saliva, and dripped thick demon blood from the blade of his knife.

"Damn it, in this past month, I've encountered all the demons I've never met in my entire life!"

"That beast has taken so many lives; even being torn to pieces would be too lenient for him!"

Brother Fang cursed angrily.

Li Yaozu and his companions, still catching their breath, were about to extract the demon core and dissect the wolf's corpse.

This wolf demon frequents the water's edge year-round and is quite adept at swimming. It has devoured countless treasure fish demons and has actually gained intelligence, acquiring a body of steel and iron.

Fortunately, the group had planned to sever one of its claws, otherwise the beast would have escaped today.

Suddenly, in the murky pool beside them.

A slippery, dark shadow pounced out silently, like a ghost!

"careful!"

Brother Fang gave a warning and threw the broadsword in his hand.

Before the exclamation could even finish, the object had already arrived.

It turned out to be a water monkey, bluish-black in color and covered in slippery mucus, with sharp, hook-like claws that brought a pungent, fishy smell.

Despite Fang Ge's best efforts, his broadsword, imbued with the formidable force of a true master, ultimately struck the water monkey's slippery skin, leaving only a faint white mark.

Click!

In a single encounter, the water monkey's sharp claws tore open a soldier's throat, blood spurting out, and he died on the spot!

"Comparable to beheading two thieves? Run, run now!!"

Upon seeing this, Brother Fang was greatly alarmed.

He never expected that such a powerful demon was hidden in this pool.

Although he was also a true master, he only managed to kill one thief and lost the initiative, leaving him no time to set up various traps and tools against the water demon...

If things go wrong today, we will suffer a total defeat!
The water monkey let out a strange, human-like hissing laugh, its movements unpredictable and swift, and with a scream, it ripped out a person's heart.

Hey~
The demonic figure lunged at Li Yaozu, who only had time to grip the long-handled axe tightly.

It felt as if a body had crashed down on him.

His tiger's mouth split open, and a sharp pain shot through him. A tremendous force shook Li Yaozu, causing his blood and qi to churn.

But Brother Fang stepped in front of him, blocking the water monkey's attack. The water monkey took a few steps back, vaguely sensing that the person in front of him was somewhat troublesome.

Its scarlet eyes darted around, and it even seemed to know how to avoid danger and seek good fortune, cautiously waiting for an opportunity to strike.

Fang Ge's hand hung limply at his side, trembling slightly.

In the blink of an eye, two colleagues who had spent every day together, eating and sleeping together, were tragically killed.

Fang Ge's face was grim. He swallowed the metallic taste in his throat, but saw that although the other soldiers were afraid, none of them ran away. Instead, they were prepared to fight to the death and surrounded him with weapons.

Seeing this, Fang felt no joy whatsoever.

Without understanding the true meaning, one cannot know the earth-shattering changes in strength brought about by each slaying of a thief.

Unless one is exceptionally gifted and possesses a martial arts physique, attempting to kill enemies across borders is practically a pipe dream.

Martial artists are better at fighting demons. If they are well prepared and have tools to counter their opponents, such as fire attacks or salt soaks, they still have a chance to defeat the strong with the weak.

However, it is clear that neither of these two scenarios applies today.

"Am I really going to die here today...?"

He gazed at the lurking, menacing shadow, his heart sinking inch by inch into an abyss of cold.

Life and death hung in the balance, and a bloody atmosphere filled the air.

Behind Fang Ge, Li Yaozu suddenly caught a glimpse of the foot of the mountain in the distance out of the corner of his eye.

On the rugged mountain road, several figures dressed in tight-fitting clothes pushed a cart past.

"Brother Fang, there are people at the foot of the mountain... it's Shui San'er, the water deliveryman. Why don't we lure the monster over there?"

Li Yaozu suddenly realized what was happening, and a cold, ruthless glint flashed in his eyes.

He wanted to bring honor to his family and ancestors; he didn't want to die here for no reason!

“This…” Brother Fang hesitated.

Isn't this just shifting the blame eastward?

What if innocent people are implicated...

Upon hearing this, the remaining soldiers' determination to fight to the death immediately diminished, and a look of struggle appeared on their faces.

The water monkey seemed to have lost patience, letting out a low growl and its eyes gleaming with ferocity.

Li Yaozu quickly said, "Brother Fang, now is not the time for sentimentality! It's either us or them! Besides, we're in the same boat, and Wu and Yue are of one mind. If we join forces, there might still be a glimmer of hope!"

Yup!

Upon hearing this, Brother Fang suddenly realized the truth.

The pool here is not far from the official road. If we die, those Shui San'er pushing the cart may not be able to escape alive either.

Yes, yes, we're joining forces!

Fang Ge finally made up his mind, gritted his teeth and shouted,
"Fight and retreat, head towards the main road!"

Click!

Just then, under the cover of night, it seemed as if a lightning bolt flashed, startling a rumble of thunder.

"Wow!"

A gleaming silver spear suddenly flew over, passing right in front of Li Yaozu, Brother Fang, and the others.

The water monkey's slippery, slimy skin was easily torn apart like paper before the spear tip.

An immense force, beyond everyone's imagination, emanated from the Dragon Gallant Silver Spear, seemingly boundless, causing everyone to gasp for breath and their minds to go blank!
The water monkey was pinned firmly to the ground.

The great demon that had been lurking in the pool and had put the soldiers in grave danger was killed on the spot before it could even let out a scream!

The sharp spear intent instantly destroyed its flesh and all its internal organs!
Everyone was shocked and speechless.

Fang Ge and Li Yaozu were dumbfounded.

My gaze followed the rising moonlight, gradually brightening.

From behind the vines hanging from the ancient tree, a man in red robes and a wide belt, with prominent eyebrows and beard, jumped down. He was handsome, spirited, and full of masculine vigor.

In everyone's eyes, it was as if a god had descended to earth.

The man grabbed the Dragon Gallant Silver Spear from afar with his right hand, casually twirled it, and looked at Brother Fang, asking...

"Fellow villagers, I'd like to ask you about someone."

Brother Fang was taken aback for a moment, then said, "Senior, please, please speak."

"Do you know Chen Shunan? I need to speak with him about something important."

At this point, the man seemed to sense something, looked towards the foot of the mountain, and said...
"We've finally found it. No need for you all to trouble yourselves. Thank you."

……

"Brother Xu Hong?! What brings you here?"

I just heard a series of crackling sounds coming from the mountains.

Chen Shunan then saw a somewhat familiar figure emerge from the mountains, carrying a demon's corpse on a spear and with a gourd of wine hanging from his waist.

Behind him followed several soldiers with complicated expressions, clutching their chests and limping.

Fang Ge and Li Yaozu were each carrying a corpse, their expressions somber.

Xu Hong sized Chen Shunan up and down, glared at him fiercely, and said,
"You scoundrel, tell me honestly, did you already have a 'Chonghe Martial Body' when you came to ask for favors last time?"

The visitor was Xu Hong, the martial arts graduate whom the Zhang family had hired at great expense.

If it weren't for his cover and relaying the message between Chen Shun'an and Old Madam Zhang that day, Chen Shun'an would not have been able to comprehend the Six Scenery Revolving True Skill Diagram.

Looking at the water monkey's corpse, Sun Xiao recognized Brother Fang and the others, and couldn't help but say...
"What are you..."

Fang felt somewhat guilty and replied awkwardly.
"I was ordered to search the mountains and hunt down a wolf demon, but I ended up encountering this water monkey... Luckily, Senior Xu came to my aid, otherwise, alas..."

Xu Hong took the gourd from his waist, took a sip of wine, threw the water monkey's corpse onto the waterwheel, then, holding his gun, looked at Chen Shunan and said...

"Take a step to talk?"

(End of this chapter)