Revelation of the Way of Heaven

Chapter 420 General Fubo

The next morning, men, women, and children from the entire fishing village gathered at the east end of the village, where there was a wooden floating platform extending to the water's edge. In the center of the platform, a simple altar had been made of fresh reeds. Several strong men carried offerings such as pig's head, sheep's head, and century-old brew to the altar, and the village chief led everyone in the sacrificial ceremony.

The sun had just risen over the vast expanse of water, its golden rays spilling across the surface, seemingly enveloping the entire world in golden light. The calm water rippled in the morning breeze, slowly flowing towards the fishing village. The village chief faced the sun, his expression solemn. Behind him, all the men, women, and children of the village stood quietly, even the usually noisiest children pursed their lips, their eyes filled with a mixture of awe and anticipation.

Seeing that the time had come, the village chief took a deep breath of the damp air, stepped forward, and shouted in his aged yet remarkably steady voice:

"The auspicious hour has arrived—General, please accept the offering—"

The sound echoed across the empty water, and he led all the villagers in bowing deeply, reciting in unison the prayer passed down from their ancestors, the words of which were now somewhat blurred:

"General Fubo, protect this land."

Calm the waves, steady my boat.

Drive away the evil dragon and enrich my net cage.

This fine wine is a rare and precious offering, presented with utmost respect.

Protect me on my journey, and bless me on my return!

The prayers were not loud, but exceptionally devout, like low, gentle waves lapping against the rafts on the shore.

The moment the prayer ended, a large section of the water in front of the platform suddenly and silently caved in, forming a smooth whirlpool. At the center of the whirlpool, the water became murky, and then a huge, blurry shadow slowly emerged.

The shadowy shape vaguely resembled the outline of a catfish, its broad, flat head like a sunken shipwreck, its two long tentacles swaying like water snakes in the undercurrent, and it held a bone fork in its hand. It had not fully revealed its true form, but an undeniable pressure enveloped the entire body of water.

"This General Fubo looks like a catfish spirit." Under a poplar tree fifty meters away from the villagers, Han Kexin, with a candy she bought at the night market the night before dangling from her mouth, coldly watched everything that was happening in front of her.

"Didn't Old Man Yang say yesterday that any living being in Yunmeng Marsh can become a deity to protect a body of water as long as they accumulate enough merit?" Qin Xiaochuan said without any surprise.

"Even if it's a catfish spirit, it must be a virtuous demon, otherwise it wouldn't be able to become a guardian deity," Guo Shiyi said.

After the huge shadow appeared on the water, it remained still and did not accept the offerings. The village chief took a deep breath and mustered his courage to ask, "General Fubo above... We disciples offer our prayers with utmost sincerity and beg for divine will!" He knelt down on the cold wooden board with a thud, and the villagers behind him also knelt down in unison, their foreheads touching the board.

"Recently, for some unknown reason, the fish in the marsh have disappeared, and every net we cast has come up empty... But have we villagers unintentionally done something disrespectful, offending the divine might of the General?" The old fisherman's voice trembled with piety. "We beg the General to enlighten us! Was it due to improper sacrifices? Was it due to following taboos? Or... or was it due to disturbing the General's meditation? We humbly beg the General to calm his anger and give us a clear path!"

As soon as the village chief finished speaking, huge waves suddenly began to surge on the water's surface, and a majestic voice came from the shadows, "You unruly people, you have violated my water regulations and injured my subordinates, and you shall be punished today."

Upon hearing this, everyone's expression changed. The shadow flicked its tail, and a water whip struck the floating platform, shattering it into pieces. Before the crowd could even feel fear, a giant wave more than five meters high rose up before them, containing spiritual energy that crashed towards the kneeling villagers.

"No! Run!" someone in the crowd cried out. The panicked crowd immediately scrambled to their feet and fled backwards, but it was too late. The giant wave was incredibly fast, reaching the top of everyone's heads in the blink of an eye. The light in the world dimmed, and the shadow of death loomed over everyone's hearts.

"Wind Demon - Eye of the Storm!" A cold shout pierced through the water curtain, and a huge whirlwind formed in the middle of the giant waves. As the whirlwind formed, the giant waves that were originally going to fall on the villagers' heads were all pulled away by the whirlwind, forming a huge spiral water whirlwind, which then swept towards the catfish shadow in the water.

The catfish's shadow leaped on the water's surface, then its massive tail swung downwards, creating a phantom that shattered the water vortex, turning it into countless droplets that scattered across the surface, making it appear as if a torrential rain was falling.

"Who dares to act so arrogantly here!" A majestic voice came from the shadows again, but this time it was clearly mixed with anger. As his voice fell, his illusory figure became clearer and clearer, and the pressure surrounding him became stronger and stronger, almost covering the entire sky. The once calm water was now turbulent, filled with a black aura of death, constantly crashing against the beach of Lingxi Village.

Under the immense pressure, the villagers of Lingxi Village were already pale with fright. The timid ones fled in panic, while the bold ones knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly, begging for General Fubo's forgiveness.

Qin Xiaochuan, who had been standing under the poplar tree some distance away, was now at the water's edge in the blink of an eye. With his hands behind his back, facing General Fubo's overwhelming rage, he advanced instead of retreating, demanding, "You are the guardian deity of this place, meant to protect the safety of Lingxi Village. Yet here you are attacking innocent villagers. What kind of logic is this?"

"You lowly commoners dare to question me?" General Fubo narrowed his eyes and glanced at Qin Xiaochuan with contempt. "You blaspheme against the gods and deserve the most severe punishment."

After saying that, he raised the bone fork in his hand, and a green light shone from the tip of the bone fork, with spiritual power condensing at the tip at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Is that so? I'd like to see what you're really capable of." Qin Xiaochuan said coldly. After he finished speaking, a cold glint flashed in his eyes, and a stream of pure spiritual energy shot directly into the catfish spirit's brown fish eye.

As if sunlight suddenly pierced through the clouds, the oppressive force hanging in the air immediately dissipated, the wind and waves grew smaller and smaller, and the catfish spirit lowered its bone fork, its eyelidless fish eyes flashing with fear.

Qin Xiaochuan's mental intimidation skill was enough to easily intimidate Zhu Yihu and others even before his spiritual power reached level 8. Now that he has reached level 9, very few people can withstand his mental attacks.

Although Qin Xiaochuan really didn't want to cause any trouble at this time, he couldn't just stand by and watch these people suffer, so he could only try to persuade General Fubo to leave in this way.

"I hope you won't make things difficult for the villagers in the future, otherwise next time it won't be so easy to let you off the hook." Qin Xiaochuan turned around and didn't even look at General Fubo.