Linjiang Township.

An opera was being set up on the river bank, but the opera looked weird and horrifying, like a group of demons dancing wildly, with people in strange clothes imitating demons, screaming and roaring wildly.

The entire riverside was extremely noisy and lively, with countless people gathered, as if villagers from several surrounding villages had come running over. However, the atmosphere was a bit solemn and solemn, not like watching a big show at all.

Afterwards, the people on the stage retreated, and a goddess who was over seventy years old, wearing a dress full of colorful stripes, stood on the high platform looking at the rolling waves of the river.

"Haowei!" The goddess looked at it quietly for a long time, then suddenly raised her hand, shouted, and knelt on the ground.

Standing beside him were tall and strong men in black clothes. They immediately carried something and set up an altar on the river bank.

There were not only live pigs, cattle, or sheep on the altar, but in the center, there were actually three four or five-year-old children dressed as boys and placed on it.

This is a human sacrifice. Except for this custom in ancient times, it has been banned now, but it is still left in the countryside.

Under the stage, many villagers, men, women, old and young, pointed and showed unbearable expressions.

But more people looked at the goddess and the erected statue of the river god with fanatical expressions.

Every year during the River God Sacrifice, villages from all over the country not only offer animal sacrifices, but also select a boy to sacrifice to the River God. This year, it is Linjiang Township’s turn.

At the back of the crowd, the mother of one of the children was crying heartbrokenly. The father of the child, Sun Laoer, held on to his wife and child tightly. Behind him, there were two children, one large and one small, holding on to their parents' clothes and crying incessantly.

There were many people from Linjiang Township glaring at them from behind, but they were watched closely by others. People from Linjiang Township had made trouble many times this year, and people from other townships had to join forces to suppress them.

Sun Tieshan from Linjiang Township stood at the front: "We were from Linjiang Township the year before last, and we were from Linjiang Township last year. Why are we still from Linjiang Township this year?"

"There are eight villages in ten miles, why is it always our turn in Linjiang Township? There must be something wrong here."

A fisherman with cool clothes and a fishy smell came forward and put on a big hat: "What's the problem? What's the problem? This is the river god who has chosen you from Linjiang Township. Don't you accept it?"

Or do you think the river god made the wrong choice?"

"If we don't worship the river god, who will protect us?" Others followed suit.

"That's right. If we don't worship the river god in the future, it will be unsafe to fish at the ferry and cross the boat. Our ancestors have been worshiping the river god for generations. There is no village in the ten miles and eight villages where no one has died." The boatmen at the ferry gathered in a group and blocked it.

The people in the village came to see each other, and the two sides looked at each other angrily.

"The river god has blessed us with good weather and good weather in our ten miles and eight villages. This is how we have been here all these years."

These people ignored him and directly pointed the problem to the people in Linjiang Township who were unwilling to sacrifice to the river god, and turned a blind eye to the tricks mentioned by the man among them.

Anyway, as long as you are not from their hometown, who cares about the life and death of Linjiang Township?

There was a commotion among the entire crowd, and a conflict seemed inevitable, which attracted the attention of the goddess on the high platform.

The goddess took a look at the chaos in the crowd behind her, and after hearing the reports from people around her, she seemed extremely dissatisfied.

Immediately, he saw a dozen big men in black rushing out, beating the people from Linjiang Township until their heads were bleeding, and they all lay on the ground.

A big man in the lead said with a fierce look: "The River God has blessed you with good weather every year, and there have been no floods in many years. Why have there been no deaths on our rivers in eight villages in these years? It's all because of the River God's blessing."

"So you are not willing to sacrifice to the River God once a year? You beasts don't care about the good of the River God at all. You are simply a wolf and you dare to be disrespectful to the River God."

They were beaten indiscriminately and screamed all over the place.

"Kneel down. If I disturb and neglect the River God later, it won't be a matter of sacrifice. Don't say I'm ungrateful. You in Linjiang Township will never have a good life after living in these ten miles and eight villages."

.”

Although the people in Linjiang Township were making trouble, they were just angry, but they did not dare to seriously fall out with the goddess. At this point, the remaining people could only kneel on the ground, and the whole trouble suddenly subsided.

The goddess turned back with satisfaction, and then started the whole ceremony of worshiping the river god.

The method used by the goddess to worship the river god is obviously extraordinary, and the sacrifices she chooses are also quite particular. The most important thing is the human sacrifice.

The goddess smeared the boy's body with special blood, drew various strange symbols, and finally pressed a pill into the boy's mouth.

This boy neither cried nor fussed, he was just like a puppet on strings.

After taking the pill, the boy's blood began to flow all over his body, and his skin looked rosy and shiny, as if he was about to become an immortal.

The remaining two are the same.

At this time, the goddess lit up the thick incense sticks, inserted them one by one on the altar in front of her, knelt down on the ground again, and just like before, she suddenly uttered: "Ooh~wei~"

The whole ceremony reached its climax, with gongs and drums beating on the shore, and everyone kneeling on the ground and chanting the same chant together.

Every time the drum is beaten, everyone kneels down and kowtows, the sound of the mountains roaring and the tsunami comes out, and the thick smoke flows toward the river.

They were calling the river god to come and enjoy the sacrifices.

The customs left over from the ancient times, with a sense of mystery in the wild, are even more convincing, making everyone from all over the country think that they are worshiping the real gods, giving rise to fear and belief.

The smoke cruised over the river, followed the wind waves, and headed downstream.

At this moment, there happened to be a person going up the river, heading towards Linjiang Township.

Gao Xian sat cross-legged on the giant snake's head, and the lazy donkey behind him also lay down, relying on the green dragon guardian to guide the giant snake's body to swim across the river.

At this time, Lazy Donkey's nose suddenly twitched: "What does it smell like? It smells so good!"

Gao Xian also smelled the smell, but he felt it differently from Donkey. He only felt the smell of incense from the Taoist temple in the past. This smoke seemed to have a special effect on beings like Donkey.

Further forward, you can hear the sound of drums and loud shouts on the river bank in the distance.

You can faintly see a high platform being erected, and dense crowds of people on the shore are bowing to the river, as if they are welcoming the arrival of Taoists.

Gao Xian was stunned for a moment, then straightened his back.

Could it be that the name of this great immortal has spread to Jiangzhou, and so many people came to greet me?

It turns out that the reputation of this great immortal has reached such an extent, and Great Immortal Kongchen is quite pleased.

On the shore, the goddess was already sweating profusely.

I kowtowed for a long time, lit the incense, and shouted for a long time. According to previous years, the river god should have come by this time, so why has he not been seen this year?

The men in black behind them also stared with big eyes and small eyes. They didn't know what was going on, so they could only follow the goddess and bow down.

Round after round, the drums sounded again.

After a long time, I finally saw waves rising on the river and strong wind blowing across the river bank.

Everyone raised their heads and saw a silvery dragon-like figure on the far bank of the river heading upstream.

"The river god has appeared. The river god has appeared."
Chapter completed!