Boom! Boom! Boom!
With each thunderous blast, water and stone fragnts splashed in all directions.
The giant boulders hidden in the river, all blasted to smithereens.
"Be careful, slow down, and put your back into it!"
Sha Lifei shouted the command as he and fellow ship workers stumbled about, carrying the heavy kerosene cabinet down the mountain with poles and ropes.
They also took with them those bamboo tube Netherworld Fire Pistols.
Fast Ship Zhang was utterly reluctant to load these dangerous items on the boat; if the governnt caught them, it would an a capital offense.
However, persuaded by Sha Lifei’s slick tongue, they were told these were self-defense weapons, crucial if attacked by a rebel army in Yichang.
Old Man Zhang had no choice but to acquiesce.
As for Li Yan, he worked with Wang Daoxuan to move all the bodies of the unfortunate miners out, setting them on fire, and chanting scriptures.
According to Wang Daoxuan, this place was a Land of Great Evil, and the Sha Qi had already leaked out. The Divine Statue of dubious origin could not be expected to suppress it for long.
If left unattended, these corpses would create havoc.
Moreover, performing these funeral rituals for the poor miners was an act of rit.
Having finished, it was already 3 to 5 o’clock in the afternoon (Shen ti).
With a call from Old Man Zhang, the ships set sail once again.
As he had said, the river here was extrely treacherous, with whirlpools and rapids at every turn, so shallows densely packed with stones, the water waves splashing up several ters high.
Yet their team’s boating skills were remarkable, and without those strange occurrences to block their path, they finally passed the perilous eighteen bends through the mountains before sunset.
Once out of the mountains, the river imdiately beca calm.
Spreading out on the wide river under the setting sun, the golden light shimred, with terraced fields stacked one upon another, and a substantial village stood nestled in the mountains.
It seed beautiful, but the crew imdiately noticed sothing strange.
In Hu Guang, a land plentiful with fish and rice, aside from rice, river delicacies were an important part of the diet. Wherever there were people, there would be fishern casting their nets.
But now, all the wooden boats were tied up on the shore.
The wooden docks on the riverbank were empty,
while in the distant village, smoke lazily curled upwards.
Unable to hold back, Old Man Zhang turned to Li Yan, who nodded, prompting him to loudly order, "Stop the boat, head to shore!"
Far off on the river bank was a bamboo forest. A villager chopping bamboo poles, ready to take them ho, was shocked to see the approaching boat, dropped the bamboo, and ran towards the village.
"Uncle! Uncle!"
"People are coming up the river!"
Shouts accompanied by barking dogs soon echoed through the village.
The ship workers looked at each other, feeling sothing was off.
Wang Daoxuan stepped out onto the deck, stroking his beard and surveying the scene, then consulted the Compass in his hand, his brow furrowed deeply.
He lifted the Compass to show Li Yan,
but saw the needle twitching left and right, up and down.
Li Yan’s brow furrowed, "Why is the Earth Qi so chaotic?"
He had been studying Qin nurology for so ti and had received Wang Daoxuan’s guidance. Although still far from an Earth Master, he understood so of the basic principles.
There were many types of Compasses, each with different circle patterns and diagrams depending on the tradition, such as the San Yuan plate for the form school, or the San He plate for the Qi n school.
Abnormal needle movents indicated so-called "Eight Strange Needle thods," including creamy needle, exchange needle, heavy needle, spinning needle, throwing needle, reverse needle, side needle, and straight needle.
Each variation had its interpretation.
For example, an exchange needle, where the tip suddenly rises, also known as a Floating Needle,
indicated the involvent of Yin Qi and was considered a positive sign of Yin, either the presence of a protective deceased ancestor or a beneficent guardian spirit.
If you entered a village and the Land God Temple had thriving incense offerings, preventing the intrusion of Evil Spirits, you would encounter an exchange needle.
Conversely, if the needle tip unnaturally sank, it would be a heavy needle.
This reflected the intervention of Yin Qi, not malevolent but indicating those who had died wrongfully or unnaturally, causing discomfort to the living.
Previously outside the mine, the spinning needle on the Compass indicated the involvent of an Evil Spirit.
The energy of resentnt lingered, and living there would surely lead to harm.
Now the erratic needle movents, refusing to align to the centerline, referred to as the creamy needle, suggested that there were strange rocks or deep pools below, which would bring misfortune to dwellers.
But the oddity lay precisely in this fact:
The people of Divine State chose their living places carefully, not at random.
Even if not at the confluence of Dragon Veins, they would definitely seek a Fengshui-friendly location, such as facing south with a mountain at the back and a river in front, with a ’jade belt’ encircling the area.
This place, backing onto a mountain and facing a river, situated on the sunny side with terraced rice paddies enjoying ample sunlight, and the river teeming with fish, perfectly conford to the principles of gathering wind and harnessing water, naturally conducive to peaceful and prosperous living.
If there was a problem, this village would have long since declined...
Wang Daoxuan spoke in a deep voice, "There’s chaos in the Earth Qi, and the appearance of the Floating Needle must be related to that case at the City God Temple."
While speaking, a large group of people had already erged from the village.
The one in the lead was an old man with white-speckled beard, slightly hunched, but dressed rather neatly, leaning on a cane, supported by two others.
Beside him, quite a few n held sticks, clubs, knives, and spears, followed by others carrying farming tools such as dung forks and hoes.
Among the crowd, several n clenched their teeth, holding leather bags with expressions ready to fight at any mont.
Li Yan could even sll dog blood inside them.
He certainly didn’t want to be splashed with dog blood; before the crowd approached, he directly took out his Daoist certificate and shook it, speaking in a deep voice, "We are from Yunyang Prefecture, on a task from the City God Temple, here to investigate."
"Stop!"
The elder, upon hearing this, was startled and quickly halted the crowd, then carefully sized up Li Yan before cautiously asking, "I am the local authority here, Village Chief Zhu Yucheng. Did you co by the river paths through the mountains?"
"Exactly." Li Yan didn’t hide anything.
The surrounding villagers imdiately gasped and whispered among themselves.
"How could that be?"
"They might not be human..."
"But they do have shadows."
Still unconvinced, the elder continued, "In those mountain river paths, didn’t you encounter anything?"
Li Yan glanced indifferently, "We t so demons causing trouble, masquerading as gods and digging mines surreptitiously; we have already killed them."
"Good, the Village Chief can send soone to report to the garrison at Jingkou. Those people may be involved with the rebel army."
This matter couldn’t be kept secret, so he decided to report it directly.
"Demons, and they’re involved with the rebel army!"
The Village Chief was taken aback.
Upon hearing this, the surrounding villagers exploded.
"So there were people causing trouble!"
"Scared out of fishing in the river for two months."
"Report it, hurry and report it, catch those thieves!"
Old Village Chief Zhu promptly waved his hand to silence everyone, then spoke, "Zhuzi, your boat is the fastest, set off at once..."
"What’s the rush!"
Li Yan shook his head, "With the situation being chaotic, if you just go like this, why would the garrison soldiers believe you? Wait, I’ll write a letter."
After saying that, he returned to the cabin and penned a detailed account of the incident, then added his own speculations.
Of course, he omitted any ntion of the captured firearms.
Lastly, he signed his na.
This was the advantage of owning a black Daoist certificate; with it, one could request local garrison soldiers for assistance in urgent matters, being of the sa rank as the orthodox Xuan Sect.
After handing out the letter, Li Yan then spoke, "The situation in the mountain river paths was due to the disturbance from demons, but there are still issues with your village."
He had other urgent matters and had only dealt with this incident along the way; naturally, he would not guess idly and decided to get to the point.
"Eh?"
Village Chief Zhu was taken aback, sowhat confused.
"Ah!"
The villager who was about to send the letter jumped and didn’t dare move anymore.
Li Yan glanced at the sky and shook his head, "You’d better go tomorrow; don’t rush at night. The problem lies with this village only, leaving it ans you are safe."
After saying this, he looked at Village Chief Zhu, "Old sir, we have urgent matters, and the situation you reported wasn’t clear—I need the specifics."
Village Chief Zhu, now fully believing in their identity, dared not hide anything and scolded the villagers to put away their tools before gesturing with his hand, "Our guests have co from far away, you must be tired."
"I’ll prepare so food and wine, and we can talk over the al."
"That’s very kind of you."
Li Yan unceremoniously led his group into the village.
Only Lv San and one ship worker turned back towards the boat.
Lv San didn’t like interacting with people; so many people gathered, each asking questions, was an absolute torture for him, so he chose to wait on the boat for Li Yan to arrange food to be sent over.
Besides, those firearms and luggage couldn’t risk being discovered.
As for the ship worker who stayed behind, that was just the rule on the boat.
"They... are they going to stay on the boat overnight?"
Village Chief Zhu was shocked to see this and quickly advised, "That won’t do at all, there are foul things in the river."
"At night, they co out to cause trouble!"
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