Madam, please respect my profession.

Chapter 128: The great flood fifty years ago, the giant snake escaped the water and tried to transform into a dragon

When the sun rises, the mist and dew remain, and the green pines are as if they are covered with ointment.

The sun was warm in the sky, and I didn't feel too hot while riding a donkey and feeling the breeze. After climbing over two mountains and crossing two rivers, I saw a small village hidden in the mountains. There were white clouds and hazy mist, and I could see many flowers and trees in the distance, which was quite poetic.

Although Jinling is named Jinling, it is actually different from any Jinling in history. There is no telling how many mountain villages like Huali Village there are.

"The scenery is nice, but I don't feel any ghostly atmosphere." Xie Chunyan sat upright on his horse, looking at the small mountain village not far away. Seeing the mist lingering in the clouds, it looked like a paradise in a painting.

Xu Zeli said, "This is where the problem lies. If you say that the female ghost harms people, that's not the case. It's just that she comes out every night, singing and dancing, and the songs she sings are particularly sad. The villagers can't help but feel panic. It's uneasy to live with a ghost."

Lu Zhan shook the apple hanging on the donkey's head, and the donkey galloped away quickly. His voice came from the front: "Let's go in and take a look first."

……

It was already morning when we arrived at the village. This was not the busy farming season, and the villagers had eaten early and were sitting in the shade of the trees to enjoy the cool. Children were sitting around them, listening to the adults telling folk stories that had been passed down for a long time.

Stories like ginseng pickers and carp leaping over the dragon gate made the children giggle and pester the elders to continue listening. The elders smiled and the children turned serious after a few words, immersed in the stories.

Lu Zhan walked to the front of the village and nodded to them. The people saw that Lu Zhan's clothes were made of very fine fabrics and did not look like those of ordinary people, so they hurriedly stood up to return the greeting. However, since they had never been in the martial arts world, their greetings were crooked, but they still looked quite formal.

There were few visitors in the mountain village. After Lu Zhan rode his donkey there, Xie Chunyan and Xu Zeli came, attracting the attention of the people and providing some topics for the village.

However, the villagers' expressions soon changed. In their surprised gazes, they saw Lu Zhan and his group walking towards a ruined temple not far away.

"The last time I saw a female ghost, when I wanted to catch her, she hid in the temple. I searched for a long time but couldn't find her." Xu Zeli was a little embarrassed: "This temple is said to be left by the previous dynasty. It has been abandoned for hundreds of years and has long lost its shelter. The people in the village were afraid of affecting their luck, so they didn't dare to tear it down, so they kept it."

The temple was quiet. Most of the buildings inside had been destroyed. The gods enshrined there were leaning all over the place, and the garden was full of weeds and wormwood. It really had a haunted atmosphere.

Lu Zhan looked at the decayed plaque in front of the door and said, "Since she comes out every night, let's just wait."

The female ghost hid very well and no ghost aura was detected. Perhaps it was not the evil ghost as imagined, but a ghost cultivator. Only the ghost aura of ghost cultivators is pure enough, and it is difficult to detect when it is not actively leaked out.

Instead of wasting time searching for her, it would be better to wait for her to show up at night, and then she will be clear.

Because Lu Zhan and his group were so eye-catching, the news quickly spread throughout Huali Village.

When the old head of Huali Village heard about this, he came over trembling with his cane. When he saw Xu Zeli, he couldn't help but curse, "I watched you grow up. You went out to study and didn't come back for several years. Now you want to mess up the affairs of the village. What are you thinking?"

Xu Zeli hurriedly said, "Village Chief, I am doing this for the good of the village. If we can catch this female ghost, won't the village be peaceful in the future?"

"You know nothing!" The old village chief raised his walking stick and waved it at Xu Zeli: "Hurry up and leave, otherwise... Sir? I'm honored."

Seeing the crutch coming over, Xie Chunyan directly took the waist badge. In this era, the waist badges of officials were specially made. Even if the common people were illiterate, they could recognize that it was an official's badge. They just couldn't understand the official position.

The old village chief immediately threw away his crutches and prostrated himself in front of Xie Chunyan: "Sir, please spare my life!"

Lu Zhan helped him up, smiling warmly: "Don't be afraid, old man. We came here to take a look at this ghost. Why did you say that just now? Isn't it better to get rid of the ghost?"

"This is a long story." The old village chief glared at Xu Zeli fiercely, then bent down and said, "If you don't mind, come down to my house and have a cup of tea."

Lu Zhan thought for a moment and nodded. There seemed to be other hidden secrets in this matter, and understanding them might yield new insights.

...

The old village chief's house is located in the center of the village. It is not very big, and is a common house style in the mountains. There are several baskets of wild chrysanthemums and wild vegetables drying in the yard. When the old village chief and his people came, his wife warmly made a few cups of tea to entertain them, but did not allow for selective gifts.

Xu Zeli was sitting aside feeling very awkward, and he felt like he was neither here nor there.

"The village chief was quite emotional just now, but is there any other hidden story behind the female ghost?" Lu Zhan was somewhat interested.

He had killed many demons in the Demon Suppression Bureau, but most of the cases he had seen were about demons committing evil deeds, and every case was bloody. This was the first time he saw someone defending a female ghost, and he couldn't help feeling curious.

The old village chief showed a bitter smile and said: "This is a long story, dating back to my childhood. Since you want to know, I will tell you."

Lu Zhan nodded slightly, as if listening.

The old village chief sighed: "This story started fifty years ago. I was still a child at that time. That year, there was a sudden flood in the village. It was a flood that had not happened in a hundred years..."

Even though fifty years have passed, there was still a hint of fear in the old village chief's eyes when he mentioned this incident.

The terrain of Jinling is not low. Even if it rained heavily in previous years, the water would flow downwards and it was difficult to really flood Jinling. Therefore, the people had no experience in flood control, and they were caught off guard when the flood came.

At first, it rained for more than half a month, and the sky seemed to be leaking. All the crops were flooded, but there was nothing the people could do. They could only hide at home. Fortunately, the harvests in the previous few years were good, and every household had some grain stored, so they did not have to worry about food.

"It rained heavily for more than half a month, and there was no sign of stopping. Suddenly one night, we heard rustling noises outside. We pushed open the door and saw that all the animals in the mountain ran out... There were snakes, toads... and even big cats that you don't usually see... They all ran up like crazy..."

"Although the village had never experienced a flood at that time, we knew that something must be wrong when things were out of the ordinary. Maybe something was going to happen, otherwise the objects in the mountains wouldn't have come out. The village chief called everyone by beating gongs and drums, saying that there might be a flood, and asked us to pack up and run to the mountains..."

When the old village chief said this, his cloudy eyes showed some fear.

Not long after the village chief shouted, a mountain torrent broke out, destroying everything in its path. The people were shocked and scared, but had to run, not caring about the things at home. He held a wooden basin and followed his parents as he ran towards the mountainside.

When they ran to the mountainside, they saw the animals still running towards the top of the mountain. When they saw them coming, the animals did not become aggressive, but just ran away with all their concentration.

The villagers felt a chill in their hearts, but they could not run anymore and could only stop to rest.

During this short rest moment, we saw that the village was submerged by floods, with chickens, ducks, pigs, cows and other livestock floating on the water. The children were frightened and crying, and there were complaints everywhere.

Seeing that even the ducks that can swim were drowned, everyone's heart sank, knowing that the matter was more serious than they had imagined. No one had ever experienced a flood, so they could only take a breath and continue running towards the mountain.

"There were so many people at that time, all trying to get up the mountain. They were pushing each other, afraid that if they ran too slowly they would be swept away by the flood. I was young and couldn't keep up, so I soon got separated from my parents. But since there were so many people, I didn't feel scared, so I just ran along."

"Who would have thought that after running for a while, there was a loud noise behind me..."

At this point, the old village chief paused, fear in his eyes. It was June, but he was trembling. "I was young and timid at that time. I didn't know how high the sky was and how deep the earth was. I turned my head to look back. As a result, I saw something that I will never forget in my life..."

"I...I saw a huge snake..."

The old village chief remembered it very clearly. The loud noise was like a bolt from the blue, as if some huge monster had entered the water, causing a huge muddy wave. What was surprising was that the huge wave and the flood automatically separated to both sides, as if some huge monster was rampaging under the water.

The village chief turned around at that moment and was completely frightened.

It seemed as if there was a water dragon in the water, following the rolling flood and moving outward, knocking down all the surrounding houses and trees. The sky was dim and it was raining heavily, but he could still clearly see that in the huge waves of the flood, there seemed to be two huge blood lanterns.

"I was immediately frightened and stunned. Then I heard the voices of the old people in the village shouting, saying that this was a wandering dragon..."

"There was a cry from the crowd. During a flood, the most feared thing is to encounter a wandering dragon, because that thing is a giant snake hiding in the mountains, trying to escape into the river through the flood... But that thing is so huge that no matter what it encounters, it will be broken..."

"Houses, bridges, the entire village were all destroyed...People were terrified and crying everywhere...I was so frightened at that time that I felt like my legs were nailed to the mountain and I couldn't move...A huge wave hit me and threw me into the water."

"Everyone was in danger at that time, so how could the villagers care about me? I fell into the water, and I saw the body of that thing in the water. It had no scales... It looked like it had just shed its skin. The giant snake couldn't see me, but the wind and waves it created were enough to drown me."

"But at this moment, a white shadow suddenly appeared. There was a white light around it, just like a fairy from the sky... She rescued me, put me on the top of the mountain, and flew away on the wind, heading towards the village that was flooded."

Speaking of this, the old village chief's eyes welled up with tears, and that scene seemed to appear before his eyes again, it was still so fresh in his memory.

Lu Zhan and Xie Chunyan looked at each other and saw seriousness in each other's eyes.

This is indeed a story worth taking seriously.

The old village chief calmed down and said with a bitter face, "Later, the giant snake finally disappeared with the flood. It was said that it swam into the river. People were sent to provide disaster relief, and we were placed in a refugee camp. When we returned after the flood receded, there was no trace of our home. There were only collapsed ruins... Only the temple was still there."

"From then on, I knew that it must be something in the temple that saved me. I didn't know if she was a god or a ghost, but I knew she was a good person... Unfortunately, she didn't show up for a long time after that, until one night ten years ago, when I returned home too late and passed by the dilapidated temple at the entrance of the village, I heard singing coming from inside..."

"I looked over and saw that familiar white figure. Although I only saw her once, I will never forget her in my life... She was the one who saved me. She came back. Even if she is a ghost, she is a good ghost."

The story ends here. Lu Zhan drinks a cup of tea, which is brewed with wild chrysanthemums and has a refreshing aroma.

In fact, there have been rumors about walking Jiao in all dynasties. Walking Jiao is related to Jiaolong, but it is not a real Jiaolong. Instead, it refers to a giant snake with spirituality that has practiced well in the mountains.

Objectively speaking, when the snake grows to a certain size, it becomes difficult for it to move and can no longer survive in the mountains, so it has to swim into the river through floods.

For the spiritual snake demons, walking on the dragon is an opportunity, just like a carp leaping over the dragon gate. Before walking on the dragon, they will shed this layer of snake skin. If they can walk on the dragon successfully, they can successfully transform and have the opportunity to become a dragon in the future.

Compared with Jinling, this saying is more prevalent in Shu and Xiangyang areas, because those places are densely forested and full of snakes and insects. Many big snakes hide in the mountains. If there is a flood, the people there will make preparations in advance.

Snakes that have just shed their skin do not have strong scales and their skin is relatively tender. Before the flood, they would place many soapberry trees around the village. The soapberry trees have densely packed small thorns, which would pierce the skin and flesh of the giant snakes that have just shed their skin, causing them unbearable pain.

So the giant snakes would bypass the soapberry trees and enter the river from other places to avoid destroying the houses.

Some even went so far as to ask Taoist masters to place dragon-slaying swords under the bridge to suppress evil dragons. When floods occur, they use honey locust and prickly ash trees to clear the way and force giant snakes under the bridge, so that they can suppress them when the snakes pass by.

Over time this method became less effective, as every time the dragon walked, floodwaters would flow across the bridge in order to avoid the Dragon Slaying Sword.

Lu Zhan had heard countless of these folk tales, but this was the first time he had encountered a true story.

Xie Chunyan listened with great interest. He had seen many demons committing evil, but rarely saw ghosts helping ordinary people. He couldn't help but ask, "Are you sure it was the female ghost from the ruined temple who saved you?"

The old village chief nodded, a little regretful: "Yes, when I found her in the ruined temple again, I took something to worship her, but she didn't seem to need it and ignored me, as if she was only living in her own world. But she didn't hurt anyone, she just sang and danced there occasionally at night."

"Many of the elderly in the village still remember the incident of the dragon walking away. They also know that I was rescued by that woman, so they are quite tolerant of the ghost girl. Over time, they got used to it."

"Some young people are afraid and always take detours. They dare not go out at night... But I know she has no ill intentions and will protect us."

At this point, the old village chief glared at Xu Zeli and said unhappily, "Zheli, you have completed your studies and have not been back to the village for many years. Now you come back and want to make trouble. Are you doing this for the good of the village, or are you just satisfying your own selfish desires?!"

Xu Zeli's face turned red. "But she is a ghost after all. If she doesn't harm people now, it will be difficult for her to not harm people in the future. I am doing this for your own good."

"You!" The old village chief was so angry that he picked up a bench and smashed it over: "Get out! Get out of here!"

Although Xu Zeli was a cultivator, he could not fight with the old village chief. He hurriedly ran to the door and said, "I... I will wait for you here, my two adults."

Lu Zhan felt deeply moved when watching this scene.

Originally, I thought I just came here to get rid of a demon and to extort some benefits from the Black Water Sect from Xu Zeli, but I didn't expect to encounter such a thing.

There are so many demons to be slain, it's rare to encounter a case like this. Maybe it's impossible to nourish the soul, but it's very wonderful.

Lu Zhan looked at the old village chief and said with a faint smile: "Don't worry, old man. If the female ghost has never harmed anyone, we will naturally not deal with her. The Demon Suppression Bureau also understands right and wrong."

"Thank you, sir. But she is not in a good mental state. She seems to be in a trance. Sometimes when I talk to her, she doesn't say a word..." The old village chief hurriedly thanked him, hunched over, with tears in his eyes: "Please investigate and give her a chance to explain herself."

Lu Zhan held his arms: "We will."

*

PS: Please recommend and vote for me~

Thank you for the 100-point reward from [Holy Light, that enemy is big and white], thank you!! Lu Zhan kowtows! Papa