"There’s dirty stuff in the river?"
Li Yan frowned, "When you reported it, you didn’t ntion this."
"Alas~ it’s gotten worse."
Village Chief Zhu sighed helplessly, "It’s a long story, but anyway, don’t go near the river; those things are pretty dangerous."
Li Yan contemplated for a mont, then turned and said, "In that case, Brother Lv, you should be careful. Set up camp on the shore, and later, I’ll co to keep you company through the night."
"I’ll stay behind."
Sha Lifei touched his chest, seeming sowhat distracted.
Seeing this, Li Yan imdiately understood and didn’t waste any more words, following Village Chief Zhu into the village.
As soon as everyone left, Sha Lifei fumbled around with Lv San to pitch a tent and then dove into it, lighting a candle and eagerly pulling out the book he was carrying.
"What’s the good stuff?"
Lv San had long noticed that Sha Lifei was acting strangely.
"Heh, it’ll scare you to death!"
Sha Lifei’s eyes were filled with excitent and his brow and nose even broke out in a fine sweat as he carefully flipped open the pages and said with a trembling voice:
"Brother Yan ntioned to that during the chaos of the late Tang Dynasty when demons increased and the Dao declined, remnants of the Fang Xian Dao appeared. They cooperated with chanism and Magic Veins, participated in wars with those warlords, and created many powerful weapons."
"The Netherworld Fire Pistols we’ve used are one of them."
"This is the Secret Book that was passed down from that ti."
Having experienced the power of the Netherworld Fire Pistol, Lv San nodded in recognition, "Indeed it’s a good thing, but you don’t know chanical Techniques, so even if you know the thod, you can’t make it, right?"
"That, we’ll figure out later!"
"The key is this thing here..."
Quickly shaking his head, Sha Lifei carefully turned to the last few pages where the leather was new and obviously freshly added.
The drawings and words were still clear and sharp on it.
"What is this?!"
When Lv San saw it, his pupils suddenly contracted.
Breathing heavily with reddening eyes, Sha Lifei whispered, "It’s new gunpowder recipes and firearm diagrams; we’ve hit the jackpot!"
Lv San was also shocked and swallowed hard,
"The trouble is probably not small..."
...
anwhile, Li Yan had entered the village.
Ezhou had a special environntal history. Encircled by mountains on the east, west, and north, it preserved the ancient customs of the Ba Chu culture while also being influenced by the North.
In the high mountain areas, inhabited by ethnic minorities, there is a stronger presence of ancient Ba Chu customs in their clothing, food, housing, and travel, with a rich witch culture.
In the fertile plains of Jianghan at the center, there are more agricultural customs, such as sacrifices to the Earth God and the Millet God, with a mix of both customs.
For example, around the village, many maple trees were planted.
As Li Yan and the others traveled, it was the sa in every village they passed through—planting maple trees, without which a place wouldn’t be considered a village, due to the association of maple wood with Chi You.
At the sa ti, they also sincerely worshipped at the Land God Temple.
It could be considered a place of cultural fusion between the Ba Chu of the south and the Central Plains of the north.
Entering the village gave Li Yan a sense of familiarity.
Because Zhu Family Castle, like his hotown’s Li Family Castle, had both developed from a Military Fortress, and one could vaguely discern similar contours.
However, the village architecture of Ezhou held another style.
Guanzhong was thickset, simple, and majestic.
Here, the village hos were connected with each directly adjacent, door to door, window to window, alley to alley, with a compact layout.
The blue bricks and ancient tiles, carved wooden doors, and alleys paved with bluestone slabs ensured even in rain, one could visit neighbors without wet shoes.
"Fast Ship Zhang" and a group of ship workers were locals of Ezhou and naturally accustod to this.
However, Li Yan and Wang Daoxuan, following the Village Chief through these narrow alleys, stepping on bluestone slabs, turning left and right, were close to getting lost.
They could see dim candlelight through the wooden windows on either side, the village elders lifted their heads to watch, clearly curious yet also slightly cautious about these strangers.
Children peered curiously from wooden doorways, only to be pulled back by adults and given a quick stir-fry of bamboo shoots with at, resulting in a sudden outburst of crying.
Village Chief Zhu was a little embarrassed, "Judging by the accent, Mr. Li is from Shan State, right? You must find our customs here quite laughable."
"Not at all."
Wang Daoxuan, stroking his beard and smiling, said, "The customs are different in each region of the Divine State. If you pay attention, you’ll find that each has its own charm."
As he spoke, he glanced at his compass, his expression grave.
The needle swung erratically left and right, increasingly chaotic.
Village Chief Zhu was from a Zhu Family of great standing in Zhu Family Castle; his ancestors had been military families that defended this place. Later on, soone from the family beca a Scholar, and they gradually rose in prominence.
Naturally, his house was larger.
Unlike the grand courtyards of Guanzhong, his house was one entire complex surrounded by high walls and courtyards, within which several households were connected by stone pathways.
Furthermore, every large room was two stories linked by wooden stairs; dark with age and a bit gloomy inside.
Particularly special was that in front of the mansion, there was a clearly defined water channel that perfectly passed from above and looped around.
When Wang Daoxuan saw it, his eyes narrowed, and he exclaid, "Water flowing like a silver band before the house, generation after generation of scholars, clearly a noble court."
"Old Sir, it seems like you had guidance from a master in building your house..."
"You flatter , Daoist."
While Village Chief Zhu spoke modestly, a glint of pride was impossible to hide in his eyes, "My ancestor once saved a Fengshui Master from Ganzhou. It was under his guidance that we built this old house."
"I don’t boast of much else, but our household has always had proper manners, upholding the tradition of scholarship without daring to bring trouble to our neighbors, with my grandson currently studying at Yuelu Academy..."
Ezhou locals were hospitable, especially to visiting Mystical Sect Magicians who might help them. Village Chief Zhu had only just stepped through the door before he got busy preparing food and drink.
Local custom held that if guests arrived, whether it was one or two dishes or four or five, it was all acceptable, but three dishes were off-limits because those were for the dead.
A distinguished guest warranted nine dishes to be served.
Local specialties like fish cake, stead belly pork with dried beans, deep-fried lotus roots stuffed with at, and eight-treasure rice—while these were ordinary dishes of the common folk, not a single one was repeated.
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