Creation Color Master

Chapter 178 The Legend of Habaek

After a whole day, the affairs of Guangling City finally came to an end.

Chu Mo and his group were preparing to leave under the cover of night. When they were about to walk out of the city gate, a figure was standing alone on the street, as if waiting.

Chu Mo could see clearly that the man had a slightly hunched back and looked particularly thin standing there.

Chu Mo and his companions walked up to him. The man first looked at Yao Guangxiao and said, "Master, when we were talking during the day, I knew you were leaving tonight, so I came here to see you off."

After saying this, he clasped his fists and bowed.

Then he looked at Wei Zheng and said, "Masters Xuancheng and Ziyi, I am truly impressed by your talents. Thank you for everything you have done for Guangling City. I wish you both success in the Tiance Examination."

Then he looked at Chu Mo. Looking at this elegant young man, Chen Fan knelt down on the ground and kowtowed heavily, saying, "Sir, on behalf of all the people of Guangling City, Chen Fan, the magistrate of Guangling City, thanks you for getting rid of the cancer of the Cui family for us and giving the people of Guangling City a bright and peaceful world."

Chu Mo hurriedly pulled Chen Fan up. The thick calluses on his hands and his slightly hunched back made this magistrate, who was only in his thirties, look twice as old.

As if he noticed Chu Mo's gaze, Chen Fan smiled and said, "Your Excellency may not know, this is caused by the shackles in the dungeon. Wearing it for a long time has bent my back, but I don't regret it. This is the testimony of my pleading for the people."

Chu Mo burst into laughter when he heard this.

After a brief conversation and farewell, Chu Mo and others walked out of the city gate, leaving only Chen Fan alone on the wide street.

When traveling at night, there was no one on the straight official road, so several people could ride on horseback, so the speed was a bit faster than usual.

At four o'clock in the morning, they finally arrived at the border of Qizhou and Huangzhou. Unfortunately, a big river appeared in front of them, blocking the way.

Chu Mo now has only two choices. First, there will be a bridge wherever there is a river, so he can look around for it. Second, he can find nearby villagers and find a ferryman to take a boat across the river.

Chu Mo thought for a moment and ordered, "Jiye, Ziyi, each of you go in one direction and see if there is a bridge ahead. You must return here before dawn."

"Daoyan, Xuancheng and I will look around to see if there are any villages nearby. We will split up and act separately."

The five people split into three groups and left.

Chu Mo took Yao Guangxiao and Wei Zheng to one side. At this time, the sky was hazy and everything was silent except for the sound of flowing river.

After passing through a forest, they came to a wheat field. Walking on the country dirt road, Chu Mo knew that there must be a village nearby.

At this time, I saw a building looming in the distance, and a lamp emitting soft light in the night.

Chu Mo hurriedly rode his horse forward and saw a temple built to extremely high standards appearing before his eyes. The ground was paved with black stones, and the bricks and tiles were blue and red. Lanterns were hung high, and there was a perpetual lamp illuminating the vermilion gate.

Chu Mo looked up and saw three big words written on a plaque: Hebo Temple.

Such a building would probably require a huge amount of money. Even if there were tens of thousands of people in the village, and if everyone gave up all their money and stopped eating or drinking, it would still take at least five years to build such a temple.

The grandeur of the temple cannot be compared with that of one's own ancestral manor.

He Bo is a kind of water god, in charge of all rivers in the world. The one enshrined here should be the water god of the river that blocked his way.

Chu Mo was curious why the villagers here did this. Even if they were offering sacrifices to the gods, there was no need to spend so much money.

Not far from the Hebo Temple, you can see a village appearing not far away.

If I want to find out everything, I have to wait until daytime to go to the village to ask about the situation.

Just as Chu Mo was about to leave, a middle-aged man in a green shirt and two guards with swords stood in front of him.

The middle-aged man said, "You are a villager of Guhuai Village. What's your name? Didn't I issue an order? The temple fair cannot be held this year. Those who violate the order will be imprisoned."

Chu Mo saw that it was a misunderstanding, so he explained: "Hello, sir. I am not from here. I was just passing by here and was blocked by the river. I walked around and came here."

"I stopped here because I saw how magnificent this temple is."

After hearing Chu Mo's words, the middle-aged man had no doubt at all and said, "So that's how it is. I misunderstood. I am Liu Yuze, the magistrate of this place. I have offended you before."

Chu Mo said it was fine, but he still asked curiously: "I heard from the adults that the temple fair is not allowed to be held. What's going on?"

Liu Yuze smiled bitterly and said, "The big river ahead is called the Ancient Huai River. It is the most beloved river flowing through Qizhou. Since ancient times, there has been a legend of the River God in the Ancient Huai River. But in recent years, rumors of seeing the River God have often spread, and he often rescues people who fall into the water. So for a while, the news that there is a real River God in the Ancient Huai River spread to more than a dozen villages that we visited."

"This temple was built with funds raised by everyone and was completed just last year."

The imperial court did not have any laws prohibiting the worship of gods, so Liu Yuze did not take it seriously at first, thinking that the villagers were just praying for blessings.

But recently, he heard a piece of news that He Bo told the villagers in a dream to prepare a bunch of boys and girls for sacrifice during the temple fair this year. It would ensure that the ancient Huai River would be calm for the whole year and no one would fall into the water and die.

Seeing that someone had died, Liu Yuze began to take the matter seriously. However, the villagers seemed to be bewitched and several exhortations were of no use. He could only threaten the villagers by claiming that he would send the man to jail.

Even so, some villagers still came secretly to pray and burn incense at night, and Liu Yuze had no choice but to stay here.

Chu Mo was very curious and asked, "Since the River God has appeared in the river more than once, has anyone seen his true appearance?"

Liu Yuze thought for a long time before he slowly said, "It seems not. The He Bo that the villagers passed down seems to be just what they saw in their dreams."

Chu Mo said, "Is this what the villagers saw in their dreams when He Bo appeared in their dreams?"

Liu Yuze nodded.

Chu Mo turned to look at Wei Zheng and asked, "Xuan Cheng, what do you think about this?"

Wei Zheng thought for a moment and replied, "My lord, this matter seems very strange to me. I have some guesses, but after thinking about it carefully, I feel that it does not make sense."

Chu Mo glanced at Liu Yuze and said with a smile: "Xuancheng, tell me in detail, maybe you can give me some suggestions for the adults."

Upon hearing this, Wei Zheng said, "My lord, I first guess that the story of He Bo is completely fictitious. Someone is using the legend of He Bo to cheat people out of their money. But Lord Liu said that someone saw He Bo saving people from the water in the early years. This is a bit contradictory."

"The other possibility is that a demon beast is causing trouble. Moreover, this demon beast is extremely intelligent and has the ability to enter dreams. I am a subordinate with limited knowledge and have never heard of this kind of demon beast."

Chu Mo fell into deep thought after hearing this. He felt that the first possibility was more likely because it reminded him of one of the hundreds of schools of thought: the illusionist.

But everything is just speculation. Since I'm a newcomer, I still need to be cautious.

Liu Yuze was surprised when he heard this and said, "What the gentleman said makes sense. This official also made the same guess. Unfortunately, apart from the fact that He Bo appeared in my dream this year, He Bo has not appeared yet. This official would like to see He Bo's true form."

Hearing this, Chu Mo was a little surprised and said, "From what you said, He Bo reveals his true form every year."

Liu Yuze nodded to Chu Mo and said, "Every year, the local people will see He Bo reveal his true form, but this opportunity is rare and very few people have seen it. If you ask those who have seen it about He Bo's detailed appearance, they will not be able to remember it no matter what. I don't know why."

Hearing this, Chu Mo's eyes fluctuated slightly.

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like