Chapter 72 - Dragon Gate Village

What... What is that?

As he gazed into those eyes, Li Huowang suddenly felt his thoughts turn slower as his surroundings grew bizarre—rather than drowning in the water, he felt as though he was floating in the sky.

Meanwhile, the mud at the bottom of the lake shifted, turning the water even murkier. As the mud rose up, the dark figure with its seven shifting eyes moved as well.

By the time the mud enveloped Li Huowang completely, he saw a decaying maw that was even larger than a mountain. Within that maw, there were an uncountable number of hooks and tentacles.

No... not like this.

Li Huowang used all his strength to unsheathe his sword.

Just as he was about to slit his own neck, the tentacles wrapped around him and the hooks dug into Li Huowang’s flesh, dragging him into the bloody maw.

Meanwhile, Yuan Er looked at the bubbling lake as well as the drowning passengers while standing on the small boat before nervously glancing at the old man he was supporting with his arms.

“Great-grandfather, let’s go home. Given that we had help from the Lord of the River, they are as good as dead,” said Yuan Er.

The old man stared coldly at him before shaking him off. “Return to our village!”

Hearing the anger within his voice, Yuan Er started panicking, but there was nothing he could do. Immediately, he placed two fingers into his mouth and blew the whistle to signal a retreat.

The small boats quickly retreated into the dense field of reeds.

The entire field of reeds was quite massive, forming a natural maze. But given that the Yuan family’s people grew up here, they were very familiar with the area.

After taking quite a few twists and turns through the field of reeds, the boats finally docked at a small island made from reeds being woven together. This was the Yuan family’s home.

The island was made entirely using reeds, including the small huts built on top of it.

Yuan Er had long since gotten used to the incredible view of this place, and wasn’t really affected by it. Instead, he was worried about something else.

When he saw his great-grandfather getting down from the boat with his walking stick and entering one of the huts without a word, Yuan Er could only clench his teeth and follow him inside.

𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

The other members of the Yuan family saw what was happening and quietly followed them as well. The atmosphere was somewhat heavy.

The huts here appeared small from the outside but were surprisingly spacious on the inside; there was even a place dedicated to rear pigs and ducks inside them.

Yuan Er followed his great-grandfather into a large hall with massive fish bones serving as supporting pillars.

Candles lit up the room. In the middle of the hall was a beautiful ink painting depicting a carp swimming up a waterfall. Below the painting were five memorial tablets.

This was the Yuan family’s ancestral hall.

“Kneel down to the River Lord and to our ancestors!” shouted the old man.

Yuan Er’s expression was serious as his knees buckled and he immediately kneeled down, kowtowing to the memorial tablets three times. Currently, he was not the arrogant captain of the boat, but a simple youngster awaiting punishment from his elders after committing a serious error.

The old man circled him a few times before lifting his cane and whacking it hard on Yuan Er’s back and head.

Under the immense force, Yuan Er’s head was soon bleeding as bruises appeared all over his body. However, despite the pain, Yuan Er just clenched his teeth hard, not daring to move.

Only after he saw that the old man was tired did Yuan Er make a move. The old man was panting while leaning on his cane. Yuan Er kowtowed to him. “Great-grandfather, I have committed a grave error.”

“What did you do wrong?” asked the old man while glaring at him angrily.

“I was too careless. I did not probe their true strength before springing the trap. Because of that, I failed to realize that there was someone strong in there, causing tens of brothers as well as the nephew and niece to die because of me.” replied Yuan Er.

“Hmph! So you do know what you did wrong!” The old man’s anger dissipated a little.

Yuan Er struggled for a bit before he said reluctantly, “I already said the code word meant to probe who the Taoist was, but that brat did not give the appropriate reply!”

Splat!

Suddenly, the old man’s cane was shoved inside Yuan Er’s left eye, destroying it.

“AAAAAH!” Yuan Er held the left side of his face in pain as he rolled on the ground. But he recovered soon enough before continuing to kneel and kowtow toward the old man.

Looking at the youth in front of him, the old man sighed, his face filled with worry.

“Junior, don’t think that you are suddenly above the Heavens and the Earth when you only conducted a successful raid a few times. While it may seem like we do not have any worries or troubles, it's not easy to do this job for very long. We have to observe carefully and act swiftly! Originally, I had wanted you to take on the mantle and continue our family work. But to think that not only did you make such a big mistake, you are even blaming others for your mistakes. I’m afraid that I may no longer trust you with this important job,” said the old man.

Yuan Er panicked when he heard that. Disregarding his pain, he pleaded, “Great-grandfather! I’m sorry! I really regret my mistake! I won’t make the same kind of mistake ever again! If I make such a mistake again, then I will personally squish my other eye and blind myself! I promise!”

“You think you could pay for the lives of tens of people with just a single one of your eyeballs? Stop dreaming!” shouted the old man. Then, the old man waved his hands.

There were many people spectating the entire scene from outside the hut, and two of them walked in with a plate as soon as the old man waved his hand. The plate was filled with various bizarre white fish bones.

“You need to be punished for making a mistake. There are rules that everyone below the Heavens must follow, and the Yuan family is no exception. If you can endure and successfully undergo the trial of leaping through the Dragon’s Gate, then this matter will be forgiven and you can inherit the household. If you can’t, then I will make sure to give you a proper burial,” said the old man.

Staring at the bizarre fish bones, Yuan Er started trembling. However, all his desire to escape dispersed when he saw his great-grandfather standing beside him.

The curved bones slowly pierced his skin and tore through his flesh before finally coming into contact with his bones.

Just as Yuan Er clenched his teeth and prepared himself to endure the torture, someone shouted in front of the door. “Great-grandfather! Something is happening! Come, quick! The water in the lake is turning red!”

When everyone reached the edge of the island, they were shocked by the scene in front of them.

The lake water had been dyed a dark crimson color while a bizarre stench filled the air.

At that moment, all the villagers looked at the lynchpin of the village, the great-grandfather.

Meanwhile, the old man’s expression changed quite quickly as he waved his right hand. “Light up the incense!”

Soon, the incense and the sacrifices were ready. A group of people kneeled near the shore of the lake and kowtowed continuously toward the now crimson lake.

Seeing that the color of the lake was not reverting to its original color, the old man steeled his heart as he turned around and walked toward a group of ladies holding their babies.

The babies were wearing new clothes while their hair had been tied into cones with red strings.

The old man took a brush and dipped it in cinnabar before lightly using the brush to make a small red dot on two of the babies.

The two babies were unaware of what was happening and laughed.

The old man gently patted their heads and took a deep breath. He closed his eyes; he couldn’t bear to see what was about to happen next.

“Go,” he said.

Hearing this, two men took the babies that weren’t even three years old from the sobbing ladies and walked to the shore of the lake. Just as they reached the shore and were about to drop the babies into the water, they suddenly stopped.

“Hmm?” The old man squinted as he stared at the crimson lake water. Something was coming up.

Then, under everyone’s shocked eyes, a completely soaked Taoist walked onto the shore with his head hung low. Something was stuck in his neck.

The old man took a closer look and saw that there was a sword tied to Li Huowang’s neck with a piece of reed!