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The Dragon King Festival is one of the most anticipated festivals for the people of Qiantang City, a city that relies on the mountains and rivers for its livelihood.

Most of the income of Qiantang City is related to the Dragon King River, so everyone's greatest wish is for the Dragon King River to have good weather and abundant fish.

Even though it was still raining today, the cool rain couldn't dampen the enthusiasm of the people of Qiantang City, and the ferry crossing, the venue for the Dragon King Festival, was packed to the brim.

The gongs and drums were banged, the firecrackers were set off, lion and dragon dances were performed, and incense was lit to worship the gods—everything was done without fail.

Ning Xiu mingled in the crowd, observing everything from a corner as if he were an outsider, while also scanning for suspicious individuals among the crowd.

Not only him, but all the demon-slaying officers in Qiantang City had changed into ordinary people's clothes, hiding in the crowd and pretending to enjoy the Dragon King Festival celebrations.

But everyone's eyes were constantly scanning their surroundings. According to Ning Xiu, the Black Heaven Gate demons and the remnants of the Golden Serpent Party were very likely to make their move today, and the task of the Demon Subduing Guards was to thwart their actions.

The celebration of the Dragon King Festival mainly consists of three important procedures. The first is the celebration ceremony held by the people of Qiantang City at this moment, where they offer incense to thank the Dragon King for his care and protection over the past few years.

The second step is to scatter offerings into the Dragon King River as a tribute to the Dragon King. The people of Qiantang City will throw meatballs made of five kinds of meat, rice wrapped with copper coins, and other foods that Ning Xiu has never heard of before into the Dragon King River.

The third step, which in previous years included swimming and dragon boat racing, was a traditional folk competition. However, this year, given the risks of water ghosts and monsters on the Dragon King River, the Demon-Subduing Officer of Ningxiu ordered the city guards to issue a notice that dragon boat races should not be held on the Dragon King River this year to avoid accidental injuries or fatalities.

The people were willing to cooperate, because they had all seen the wreckage of fishing boats attacked by monsters and the corpses of dead fishermen at the ferry crossing. Even if they were very enthusiastic about the Dragon King, no one dared to risk their lives to go to the Dragon King River for the competition at this time.

"Thank you, Dragon King, for your blessings over the past few years. We also hope that you will continue to protect our Qiantang City and ensure good weather and abundant harvests this year!"

The old temple keeper that Ning Xiu had met at the Dragon King Temple had now changed into a temple keeper's robe and was standing on the high platform by the ferry crossing, shouting towards the Dragon King River.

As soon as he finished speaking, he threw all the meatballs wrapped in bamboo leaves into the river, and the other people below the platform followed suit.

Soon, the river near the ferry was filled with a large number of various bamboo leaf meatballs.

"Captain Ning, why is there still no movement? Will the Black Heaven Gate demons really make their move here?" Captain Jia, dressed as a beggar, leaned on a wooden cane and secretly approached Ning Xiu, asking in a low voice.

"Wait a little longer, we can't see anything yet," Ning Xiu reassured him.

Since no one knows what the Black Heaven Gate demons want, this wait-and-see approach has become their only way to get in touch with the Black Heaven Gate's activities.

Currently, almost all the able-bodied people in Qiantang City live in this area. If Heitianmen really intends to make a move in Longwang River, the opportunity will likely be within the next few hours.

boom!

Not long after, a loud and violent roar suddenly rang out from the center of Qiantang City. Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw a flame shooting into the sky in the distance.

It also carried a large amount of thick smoke, which billowed into the sky like an umbrella.

"Fire!"

"The entire castle has been blown up! Go and rescue people!"

"The Dragon King is angry."

The crowd instantly descended into chaos. Someone was shouting a message, causing many to leave the ferry crossing and head towards the castle to prepare for firefighting.

Ning Xiu frowned as he looked at the huge mushroom cloud rising in the direction of the city garrison. This world has explosives, but the level of technology is very low, and it has not yet reached the point where it can produce this kind of power.

"Captain Ning, it seems the city garrison has been bombed. I'm taking some men over there to check it out. Li Jing is, after all, a local official of the imperial court; we can't afford to let anything happen to him," Captain Zheng and Captain Jia said to Ning Xiu as they arrived.

“Alright, then Captain Qin and I will keep an eye on the ferry crossing. You two should go ahead.” Ning Xiu nodded.

As the two team leaders and their members left, most of the people who had been crowded at the ferry crossing quickly left, with some staying behind to complete the Dragon King Festival offering ceremony before departing.

No matter what, these are rules left by our ancestors, and they must be followed.

The old temple keeper looked at the mushroom cloud soaring into the sky with a complicated expression. It was supposed to be a festival to worship the Dragon King, but this strange phenomenon that had never been seen before had occurred in Qiantang City, which made people feel very complicated.

This is not a good sign.

But as the temple keeper, the old man's current job is to preside over the Dragon King Festival ceremony. Everyone else can leave halfway through, but he is the only one who cannot.

Calming his mind, the old man picked up the colorful banner from the high table, raised it, and began to dance, preparing to do his best to complete the final step of the Dragon King Festival celebration.

Cuckoo!

Just then, a large number of bubbles suddenly rose on the surface of the river. These bubbles were initially only in the center of the river, but they quickly became more and more numerous until they spread to the riverbank.

As the old man waved the colorful banner, a dark shadow suddenly burst out of the water and attacked the temple keeper with lightning speed.

Ning Xiu happened to notice this change, and in an instant picked up a harpoon placed by the thatched shed at the ferry crossing, and quickly threw it towards the old temple keeper.

With Ning Xiu's explosive swing, the harpoon was like an arrow, precisely piercing the surface of the shadowy figure just as it was about to touch the old man, causing a huge injury.

The dark figure instantly broke in two. One piece fell onto the high platform with a thud, while the other piece shrank back into the Dragon King River.

Only then did people realize that the dark figure that attacked the temple keeper was actually an octopus tentacle as thick as an adult's waist.

Even after Ning Xiu pierced it in two with a harpoon, the tentacle, still alive and kicking on the high platform, frightened the old temple keeper into retreating hastily.

On the opposite bank of the river, several figures completely shrouded in black robes stood on the shore, looking at the surface of the Dragon King River and laughing, "The day of the conjunction has arrived, the demons have arrived, and the Dragon King tide is estimated to arrive within a few incense sticks' time."

"This is a rare opportunity, and the sect leader values ​​it highly. He is determined to capture that thing and bring it back. Everyone, please give it your all. We can discuss the distribution of spoils after we succeed."

“That’s easy to arrange. Also, I’ve already sent people to cause a commotion in Qiantang City to draw them away. For the time being, no one will be able to hinder our actions at the Dragon King River.”

"So good!"

As the group talked, the commotion on the Dragon King River grew louder and louder. Many fish leaped out of the water and thrashed about on the surface. Turtles, crabs, shrimp and other aquatic creatures also appeared, turning the Dragon King River into a seafood market in an instant.

The fishermen at the ferry were stunned by what they saw. They had lived in Qiantang City for two or three generations, but they had never seen anything like this on the Dragon King River.

To everyone, the large number of fish and shrimp looked like moving copper coins; once caught in the net, they could be sold for money.

"The Dragon King has appeared! It's the Dragon King appearing!"

"May the new year bring wealth and prosperity to all fishermen! With the Dragon King River looking like this, we're all going to get rich!"

The fishermen were shouting excitedly, having completely forgotten about the old temple keeper being attacked by an octopus.

However, Ning Xiu's sense of crisis grew stronger and stronger. Something was definitely amiss. The current situation in the Dragon King River was no different from the calm before the storm. Something big was definitely about to happen!

"Everyone, get off the ferry crossing immediately and get away from this place!"

Without any hesitation, Ning Xiu rushed to the high platform and shouted at all the people of Qiantang City around him, trying to drive them away from the place.

But no one heard him, as the Dragon King River was a once-in-a-century spectacle. They all crowded around the ferry crossing to watch the Dragon King River, showing no intention of leaving.

The old temple keeper rushed to Ning Xiu in a panic and asked, "Lord Ning, what has happened?"

“I’m not entirely sure either, but I’m certain it’s not a good thing. These people will be in danger if they stay here any longer,” Ning Xiu said with a grim face.

Qin Zhen and his men were stationed in the crowd. Although they didn't know exactly what had happened, judging from the current chaos, it certainly wasn't going to be anything good.

A thunderclap boomed over the Dragon King River. As dark clouds gathered and the sky grew increasingly dark, figures of varying sizes suddenly leaped out of the water and rushed onto the ferry, launching an attack on the onlookers from Qiantang City.

A turtle with two horns, a fish with two golden whiskers, a snake with claws, a shrimp with scales...

A large number of water demons rushed into the crowd and immediately began to slaughter the onlookers. They had no time to react and died under the attack of these water demons the next moment.

Some people, seeing the gruesome deaths of those around them, immediately tried to turn and flee, but the water demon was always faster. A snake quickly coiled around his body and swallowed his entire head whole.

"Ah! Help me!"

"Help! Help!"

In the blink of an eye, the ferry crossing was filled with the pitiful wails of the people. The water demons that had emerged from the Dragon King River were numerous and would not give these people a chance to leave the ferry crossing.

Soon the ground at the ferry crossing was littered with corpses and rivers of blood.

"Damn it." Ning Xiu stood on the high platform and witnessed everything below, feeling extremely annoyed.

A fish with transparent wings leaped from the Dragon King River, its mouth, filled with sharp teeth, lunging to bite the old temple keeper.

Seeing this, Ning Xiu kicked out and instantly cut the fish in two.

[Defeat monsters to gain +50 General Proficiency]

"Quick, save them!" Qin Zhen took out his weapon from where he had hidden it beforehand and began leading his team to attack the numerous water monsters.

But the situation was far from optimistic. Ning Xiu, standing on the high platform, could see clearly that hundreds of water demons had come ashore from the Dragon King River, and more were still appearing in droves.

Given the complexity of the situation, without the intervention of the Silver Tiger Demon-Subduing Commander, it's likely that these bronze leopards and iron horses alone wouldn't be able to quell the invasion of these water demons in a short period of time.

According to the records of the Demon Subduing Division, the Dragon King River was not a place where demons often roamed. Ning Xiu couldn't understand why so many water demons would suddenly invade and openly harm people today.

However, now is not the time to consider these things. The most important thing is to save the lives of more people and prevent them from being harmed by demons.

Ning Xiu immediately jumped off the high platform, and at that moment, the Overlord, who was hidden in the crowd, swung the Thunder Hammer with all his might.

Ning Xiu caught it in mid-air, then gripped the hammer handle with both hands and smashed it violently towards the ground like a meteor.

boom!!

The moment Ning Xiu slammed the Thunder Hammer into the ground, the fifth level of Dengfeng Force erupted, causing the entire ferry crossing to tremble and rumble violently.

The ground cracked and debris flew everywhere.

The water demons that approached Ning Xiu were all instantly crushed into pieces by the hammer's force, leaving them no chance to resist.

[Defeat monsters to gain +20 General Proficiency]

[Defeat monsters to gain +120 General Proficiency]

[Defeat monsters to gain +200 General Proficiency]

[Defeat monsters to gain +80 General Proficiency]

"Hurry up and leave!" Ning Xiu shouted again to the surrounding people.

This time, however, they were willing to listen to Ning Xiu and turned to run away, not daring to linger any longer.

Rumble!

The thunder above the Dragon King River grew louder and louder, and even purple lightning flashed in the dark clouds, making this section of the Dragon King River extremely oppressive, as if something extremely dangerous was about to be born.

The old temple keeper, still standing on the high platform, looked at the surface of the Dragon King River with an expression of utter astonishment. He saw a blue and purple light and shadow, several feet long, appear beneath the river.

The light and shadow moved extremely fast, and a large number of fish followed around it, making it impossible to see what the light and shadow actually was.

"Lord Ning!" The old temple keeper called out to those below as he walked to the edge of the platform.

But the ferry crossing was noisy and chaotic at the time, and Ning Xiu couldn't hear what he was shouting clearly, so this important discovery could not be spread.

The other side of the river.

When they saw the blue-purple light appear beneath the river's surface, the Black Heaven Gate demons who had been waiting on the bank for a long time let out low chuckles.

"It's finally here."

"On the day the five planets align, the spiritual energy here is at its peak, and it is also blessed by the moonlight. This thing will definitely come. Fortunately, I ordered people to intercept the letter sent by the messenger from Jingzhou in advance, so that Qiantang City overlooked the connection between today's five planets alignment and the Dragon King River."

"Then it seems we're determined to get this."