Chapter 290 - 154 In October, southeast of Liangzhou, Burning the Dragon Temple by the Tongtian River_5

"Thump, thump, thump—"

The outside erupted with thunderous drumbeats.

Chen Sansi wiped off the makeup on his face, left the cabin, and came to the deck to check the source of the commotion.

They had been sailing for more than a month.

This place was in a narrower section of the Tongtian River, where one could clearly see thousands of common folks gathered on both banks. Among them, many strong men bared their upper bodies, wore red scarves on their heads, and held drums in their hands, forming orderly lines and stepping rhythmically in a dance-like manner, as if they were performing some sort of grand sacrificial ceremony.

"Tongtian Dragon King."

Yan Changqing explained, "From the south to the north, the habits of the common people differ greatly. In the southeastern regions, because the people make a living from the waters of the Tongtian River, they especially worship the Dragon King."

"Tongtian Dragon King."

Chen Sansi had read about it in books.

Legend had it, ten thousand years ago, a divine dragon fell from the sky, landed here, its body turning into the Yangtze River, and its spirit into a deity; since then, life on the Central Plains began to flourish, and the population steadily grew.

He looked ahead at the scene: "Are these live humans being used for sacrificial offerings?"

On the riverbank, row after row of living people were bound, including young boys and girls, adolescent males and females, and there were plenty of adults too...

"The books I’ve read mentioned a grand sacrifice every three years, and each time, there would be nine boys and girls. Why are there so many people?"

"That, I don’t know. Who cares?"

Yan Changqing yawned, "If they wish to sacrifice, let them be."

"Indeed."

Chen Sansi said.

If the people really were volunteering for the sacrifice, the government truly had no right to intervene—unless there was something amiss.

"Linjiang Prefecture is a large place."

Stretching lazily, Yan Changqing added, "We are stopping until tomorrow morning. Do you want to join us at the brothel to relax? This month on the ship has been unbearable, with bad food and poor sleep."

"No, thanks."

Chen Sansi declined, "You guys go ahead."

"Fine, with Miss Ning Xiang, you naturally wouldn’t care for ordinary rouge and powder. I’m going to seek my romantic adventure!"

Soon.

The big ship docked.

Yan Changqing and others, including Zhao Kang, started to head into the city one after another looking for fun.

Chen Sansi stayed in his room, quietly observing the movements of Cao Fan and others.

With Pei Tiannan always protecting them, there just wasn’t an opportunity to act.

Martial Saint himself was their bodyguard, and even if one knew some spells, it probably wouldn’t be of much use against him—after all, he was the saint among men, not likely to succumb to even the lowest level of spells.

This, he could tell just from the first encounter with Eldest Brother by the Hongze River.

In fact, a Body of Martial Saint was no longer human.

It was just that Ning Changqun’s behavior...

Had lowered the status of the term ’Martial Saint’ in everyone’s minds.

"Forget it!"

Once they reached the east, he refused to believe he wouldn’t find an opportunity.

Chen Sansi saw that they had no intention of disembarking, so he took advantage of the night to quietly go ashore under the "Concealing Breath and Hiding" technique, and in a deserted place where nobody was around, changed his appearance, and transformed into the visage of Lai Zi, complete with a He Miao Long Sword on his waist, appearing entirely like a rogue from Jianghu.

The entire east worshiped the Dragon King.

And naturally, there were temples to the Dragon King.

Before heading there, he had also inquired about the sacrificial rituals.

Apparently, large-scale sacrifices had only begun a few years ago because the Dragon King had become angry, expressing dissatisfaction with the prior offerings.

"How exactly did the Dragon King express his anger?"

Chen Sansi, in Lai Zi’s voice, asked a fisherman who had just finished work, "Tell me the details."

"Flood, a great flood happened three years ago."

Putting down his bamboo basket, the fisherman spoke with a downcast expression, "Since then, fishermen who went fishing began to disappear and die in large numbers. For a while, it made life difficult for many people. Later, the temple priest from the Dragon King Temple said that we were being too stingy with the Dragon King, demanding we increase the number and frequency of sacrifices, and additionally to worship more. After we did as instructed, indeed, there has been no trouble on the river ever since. It’s just... the number of people sacrificed is somewhat large, each Prefecture City needs to offer up hundreds of people every year. Last year..."

He choked up a bit, "My daughter was thrown into the river too last year."

Imitating Lai Zi’s character, Chen Sansi raised his eyebrows and responded, "What pretense! If you’re so heartbroken, why did you still perform the sacrifice?"

"We didn’t volunteer!"

The fisherman replied in anguish, "It’s by rotation, and every village and neighborhood, both in and outside the city, has to offer people annually. When it’s your turn, you must submit, otherwise you’ll be beaten to death. Or, if you’re willing to give silver to the village head, you might postpone it. But us fishermen, we can barely feed a family of five all year round, where could we find extra money..."

"There’s no bloody Dragon King!"

Another fisherman who overheard chimed in angrily, "In my opinion, it’s water monkeys murdering people, not the Dragon King’s wrath at all! What the temple priest said is just swindling silver! You haven’t seen how big his house in the city is!"

"You mustn’t talk nonsense!"

His companion quickly covered his mouth, "If the temple priest hears this, he’ll throw your son into the river to beg the Dragon King’s pardon!"

"Hmph, have this for your troubles!"

Chen Sansi fished out a silver ingot from his waist and threw it to the fisherman who had responded.

"Whoa, thank you, great hero!"

"..."

"My son! Your dad’s here to save you!!!"

The ceremony hadn’t ended yet; not far off was the altar.

A man armed with a kitchen knife rushed forward but was quickly knocked to the ground.

Clearly, not all the locals were willing participants.

Chen Sansi gripped the hilt of his sword and left.

To him, the whole affair seemed less like the Dragon King’s wrath and more like someone stoking the incense offerings for their own gain, just as Ci Yun Temple used Nourishing Spirit Soup to build its fame.