abnabooks Chapter 36 As you requested! Cleanse this filth!
Chapter 36 As you requested! Cleanse this filth!
dusk.
As the sun set in the west, the clouds were dyed a breathtaking crimson and orange-yellow, as if the sky were bleeding.
Upstream from the stream behind the village, there is a riverbank with a wider riverbed and a slower current.
The old locust tree cast its enormous shadow on the pebble beach.
The thirty or forty people were mostly close relatives of the patients. They were pale and thin, with bloodshot eyes. No one spoke, only the sobbing of the flowing stream could be heard. In their hands, they held the most precious clean water they had brought from their homes, some in bowls, some in pots. This was the cleanest offering they could make.
Xu Zhong stood among the crowd, his expression complex.
Liu Laosi stood in front of the crowd, facing the stream.
The setting sun, like blood, reflected on the water, giving it an ominous dark brown hue.
Liu Laosi felt the weight of dozens of gazes behind him, filled with tears and desperate hope, almost bending his back. His heart pounded like a drum, and his eardrums buzzed. Just then, the pebble in his arms was as hot as burning coals, and a surge of heat rushed up his blood vessels to the top of his head, strangely calming his trembling.
Without further hesitation, Liu Laosi lifted the hem of his tattered clothes, faced the direction of Shixi Village and the blood-red sunset, and slowly knelt down on the rough pebbles. Ignoring the stinging pain in his knees, he held up the earthenware bowl filled with clear water with both hands, raised it high above his head, and slowly tilted it.
The clear water traced a shimmering arc in the setting sun, splashing onto the dry pebbles and quickly seeping into the crevices, leaving only a small patch of water that rapidly deepened in color.
"By the Lord of the Dragon God!"
"The people of Shanghe Village are suffering terribly. The plague spreads rampantly through the water, leaving lives in dire straits, and medicine is ineffective!"
When Liu Laosi spoke, his voice was initially hoarse, but he immediately took a deep breath and poured his expectations and piety into every word that followed.
Xu Zhong was dumbfounded.
This prayer is ancient and simple. Even someone who has studied for many years might not be able to say something like this. How could Liu Laosi, who has never studied, have learned it?
Could it be that the dragon god revealed this to us in a dream?
Is such a thing really true?
"Today, a believer named Liu Laosi, together with his fellow villagers, earnestly and sincerely beseeches this message."
"I beg Your Excellency to have mercy, to show great compassion, and to display your boundless supernatural powers to purify this water source, cleanse it of its evil influences, drive away the plague, save my life, and rescue my family!"
After shouting loudly, Liu Laosi bowed down respectfully, his head touching the ground.
The crowd fell silent for a moment, and then, one domino after another, they fell to their knees in silence.
Some people joined in with a soft prayer, their voices choked with emotion.
Some people simply kowtowed heavily, their foreheads touching the cold pebbles.
Many people, following Liu Laosi's example, poured the remaining clean water onto the riverbank.
They poured out the lives of their loved ones and their last hope, entrusting them to some unknown being, perhaps one that exists, perhaps one that is merciful.
The setting sun slowly sank into the mountain ridge.
The light in the world quickly disappeared, and the riverbank was plunged into a hazy, bluish-purple twilight.
No one spoke; only the stream continued to flow tirelessly, making its own sound.
Shixi Village.
Temple of the Dragon God.
A quiet room in a side hall.
Through Liu Laosi's faith and the stone in his arms, Lin Shi saw the kneeling figure on the riverbank and heard the prayers mixed with pain, fear, and last hope.
What is the source of the pollution?
I found out the truth last night.
Another toad demon!
The one I killed a few days ago was female, but the male came back seeking revenge. It took over the top of the water source, and a damp and filthy demonic poison seeped out from a crevice in the rock, mixing into the water.
Overcome!
Lin Shi gave a cold laugh.
Unfortunately, that male toad demon had some sense; he released the poison and ran away. Otherwise, we could have killed him as well. Now, all we can do is remove the poison and hope he doesn't come back. But if he dares to return, he'll be doomed.
"As you requested, cleanse this defilement."
With a thought, Lin Shi sent a command directly to the dragon's clone.
At the bottom of the emerald pool.
In the deep pool, the dragon's enormous body stretched slightly, and the chains binding it emitted a low hum.
There's no need to reveal your true form.
Purifying the water source and removing the slightest trace of the demon's poison is a minor matter.
The dragon focused its thoughts, and its divine sense spread along the intricate network of underground water veins, instantly anchoring itself firmly to the source of the filth.
A pure and pristine water spirit, imbued with the fundamental power of the laws of "purity," "life," and "righteousness," was stirred up, flowing like an invisible yet substantial stream against the direction of the creek!
The purifying power spread downstream with the water flow, and wherever it passed, all the abnormal fishy and putrid smells in the water disappeared, even the sediment was filtered out, and the water became clear and transparent at a speed visible to the naked eye.
On the riverbank of Shanghe Village.
The setting sun had faded, darkness enveloped everything, and only the babbling brook murmured.
The kneeling crowd is being swallowed up by a desperate silence.
suddenly.
A gust of wind, indescribable and extremely crisp, blew down from the upper reaches of the stream without warning.
Instead of the chill of the night, it carried a refreshing air, like the cleansing of all things after a rain, instantly dispelling the sickness and gloom of twilight that had accumulated on the riverbank.
Everyone looked up at once.
Countless tiny, soft points of light emerged from the depths of the exceptionally clear stream.
It's not a reflection of starlight!
It was the faint golden glow emanating from the water itself!
The points of light swayed, converged, and flowed with the ripples on the water, appearing even clearer and more dazzling against the backdrop of the increasingly dark sky.
An even more shocking scene unfolded!
Those points of light were not random; they seemed to be guided by an invisible hand, faintly outlining slender bodies, smooth curves, and majestic, restrained head and horn contours beneath the water's surface.
Although the light and shadow flickered and dwindled for only a few breaths, the agile movements of the creature swimming in the water overlapped with ancient legends and the oppressive imagery that many people on the riverbank had felt in a terrified glimpse that day.
"A dragon! It's a dragon's shadow! There really is a dragon in the water!"
Zhang Hong cried out in alarm, her whole body trembling, and pointed to the stream.
"It's glowing! The water is shining! The Dragon God has appeared! He has truly appeared!"
More people realized what was happening and became so excited that they were incoherent.
"Water! Quick, smell this water!"
Xu Zhong approached the stream and scooped up a handful of water. It was cool and clear to the touch, like jade, with no strange smell and even a hint of refreshing sweetness! It was completely different from the faint earthy and rotten smell he had smelled before!
The suppressed sobs turned into excited howls.
The silence of despair was broken by exclamations of ecstasy.
Liu Laosi remained kneeling on the spot, motionless, watching the remaining light and shadow gradually disappear in the stream, feeling the scorching heat of the pebbles in his arms that almost burned through his clothes. Two streams of hot tears rolled down his cheeks, mingling with the cool pebbles and dust beneath his knees.
This time, it was no longer a timely act of kindness in the fields, but a divine revelation concerning hundreds of lives and the destruction of old doubts.
The Dragon God has manifested!
"Fill it with water!"
"Sick people will get better after drinking it!"
Liu Laosi slowly stood up, turned his head and shouted loudly.
The crowd was stunned for a moment, then came to their senses and rushed to the stream. They desperately used their hands and earthenware jars to collect the now clear and sweet water, which they considered to be the elixir of life. They then turned and hurriedly ran home.
The news swept through the lifeless Shanghe Village.
When Lü Liang heard this, he stood in the ancestral hall and froze on the spot like a clay sculpture. The last trace of color drained from his face, leaving only a deathly pale ashes.
The tilting of the local earth god temple and the madness of the temple keeper could be attributed to coincidence or superstition.
But this time, under the watchful eyes of everyone, the stream turned from polluted to clear, strange phenomena appeared, and the shadow of a dragon appeared and disappeared. This was beyond his comprehension, control, and suppression.
The dragon god from Shixi Village immediately took root, like a giant tree on a boat, its roots deeply embedded in the soil of Shanghe Village, and it flourished almost instantly.
Night completely enveloped Shanghe Village.
The clear stream flows as if it has never been polluted.
The sick family, with an almost sacred devotion, fetched water from the stream and carefully fed it to their unconscious relative. The effect was immediate; in less than half an hour, they all regained consciousness.
That night.
Countless families in Shanghe Village spent the night without sleep.
It wasn't just that my loved one recovered; more importantly, the fleeting image of the dragon in the water was deeply imprinted in my heart, leaving an immense and profound impact. The thought of taking refuge and my faith were silently growing within me.
The night was deep.
Deep in the dense forest upstream of the Qinghe River in Shanghe Village, in a damp and foul-smelling stone cave, a pair of turbid and bulging giant eyes suddenly opened in the darkness, filled with endless resentment and rage.