But I'm a proper river god, you know! - Chapter 35

The fire in the cave crackled and popped, its soft glow mingling with occasional bursts of laughter, easing the tension in the air.

Song Yingzi eyed the villagers with a strange expression as they scrambled to untie him and Mu Dezhong. He couldn’t understand why these villagers were so different from the ones he’d encountered before.

The villagers he’d met previously had always kept their distance, sneaking glances at him with cautious wariness.

But these villagers…

Song Yingzi studied them again. Every one of them looked as though they had endured hardship and torture after being captured. Yet something felt off. They seemed oddly… excited?

“Thank you,” Song Yingzi said to the person untying the ropes around his wrists.

The villager looked flustered and waved his hands dismissively. “Don’t thank me! Thank the River God! I was just rescued by them too.”

“Aren’t you all going to take this chance to escape?” Song Yingzi asked, testing the waters.

The villager paused, then declared righteously, “How could we abandon the River God to face danger alone?!”

Song Yingzi: “…Huh?”

He glanced blankly at his senior brother.

Was his senior brother not human?

Seeing Song Yingzi’s confusion, the villager sighed and spoke earnestly.

“You don’t understand. The River God is kind, approachable, and unbelievably powerful—they destroyed the danger in an instant! But the people who captured us are cunning and deceitful. What if they ambush the River God when they’re unprepared?”

“We might not be strong, but at least we can help untie ropes!” The villager proudly shook the rope in his hands.

Song Yingzi fell silent.

Ah. So Senior Yuan and Senior Brother are planning to storm this place with reinforcements.

He suddenly felt a surge of admiration.

Noticing Song Yingzi’s inexplicably worshipful gaze, Yuan Ji paused. She listened to Mu Dezhong’s report, her expression growing graver by the second.

The situation was more complicated than she’d thought.

While Yuan Ji and Qi Yan had been chasing Tu Hu, Mu Dezhong and Song Yingzi had been captured.

Their captors were only at the Foundation Establishment stage—normally, the two of them wouldn’t have been taken so easily.

But the enemy had produced a strange artifact. In an instant, Mu Dezhong and Song Yingzi’s spiritual energy had been completely sealed, rendering them powerless.

An eagle soaring through the sky had its wings clipped, crashing to the ground.

When Mu Dezhong came to, he found himself and Song Yingzi imprisoned in this cave.

“River God,” Mu Dezhong said, his face ashen. “That thing is unnatural. Talismans, magic tools, pills—nothing works against it.”

It was as if an impenetrable defensive formation had been layered over it. None of his attacks could breach its core.

Making sure no one was watching, Mu Dezhong carefully rolled up his sleeve, revealing the dormant white lotus mark on his arm.

“Worse… I can’t sense my connection to my symbiotic plant anymore.”

Without the white lotus’s healing abilities, Mu Dezhong was as helpless as a fish on a chopping block.

Yuan Ji’s pupils constricted. A terrifying suspicion rose in her mind. She glanced at Qi Yan and saw the same dark cloud of realization in his eyes.

A foreboding sense of dread grew stronger.

Qi Yan stepped forward, his voice low and grim.

“You’ve noticed it too?”

Yuan Ji gave a slight nod, her gaze sweeping the cave before settling on the fire at its center.

The scorching heat licked at the wood, sparks crackling rhythmically—

Pop. Pop.

A pause.

Then again—

Pop. Pop.

Over and over.

Yuan Ji and Qi Yan’s expressions darkened in unison.

A flash of steel—Qi Yan’s sword, Zhijie, appeared in his hand, its blade gleaming ominously in the firelight. A single glance at its edge was enough to make one’s neck prickle with fear.

At the same time, a small cyan sword, no larger than a palm, materialized beside Yuan Ji. It nuzzled her fingertip playfully before hovering protectively at her side, its serious demeanor almost comically reliable.

Yuan Ji glanced at Qi Yan’s Zhijie, then at her own tiny sword.

She said nothing.

Song Yingzi, however, stared at the two nearly identical blades (aside from their size) with sparkling eyes. He clapped a hand over his mouth to stifle a gasp.

Qi Yan shot him a cold look. A flick of his sword—

Thwack!

Song Yingzi clutched his now-throbbing forehead and promptly stopped daydreaming.

“Senior Brother, Senior Yuan, we should leave while no one’s watching,” he suggested. They’d been chatting with the villagers for a while now, and no guards had come. This was their best chance.

Qi Yan and Yuan Ji turned to him with deadpan stares: “…”

“System,” Yuan Ji called inwardly. “Pull up the map.”

The System, confused, complied—only to gasp in horror.

“Yuan Ji… the map’s malfunctioning.”

The screen was completely black.

I must be the unluckiest System in existence, it lamented.

“It’s fine,” Yuan Ji said, withdrawing her focus. She tried summoning the waters of the Forgotten River as she had before, but there was no response.

Her suspicions were confirmed.

“I see.”

At the same time, Qi Yan motioned for Song Yingzi and Mu Dezhong to protect the villagers. He turned back to Yuan Ji, their eyes meeting in silent understanding.

In the next instant—

Flames coiled around a sword glare as both attacks shot forward.

But the expected sound of shattering stone never came.

Instead, the cave swallowed their assault like a drop of water sinking into cotton—

And that cotton was now siphoning their spiritual energy.

“It’s a formation,” Qi Yan said grimly, feeling his energy drain. “And it’s alive.“

This formation fed on cultivators’ spiritual power to grow.

And what it took from the villagers… was their life force.

Yuan Ji’s brow furrowed.

When had they stepped into this trap?

Song Yingzi and Mu Dezhong paled. They’d witnessed the power behind that strike—yet the cave remained completely unchanged.

The sudden shift in atmosphere made the villagers uneasy. Waves of dizziness washed over them. They clutched each other’s hands, their hopeful gazes turning to the River God.

With the River God here, they had nothing to fear!

“Pingping,” Ai Xiang tugged at Guan Muping’s sleeve, about to say something, but under his disapproving stare, she reluctantly tucked the object in her arms away.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Heavy footsteps splashed through puddles, accompanied by ragged breathing.

Every heart in the cave lurched.

From the darkness emerged dozens of black figures, their movements stiff, like puppets on strings.

“F-found you…”

The leader lifted his head slowly, a grin stretching across his face. His hollow eyes locked onto Yuan Ji.

“Ah—!” A scream was cut short as Wang Dazui clamped a hand over someone’s mouth, his own trembling violently.

In the firelight, they saw the figures clearly.

These were no longer people.

A viscous, ink-like substance writhed over the guards’ bodies, dripping to the ground where it burned through stone like acid.

And it was spreading toward them.

Tu Hu’s eyes—now completely black—fixed on Yuan Ji.

“Eat… you,” he rasped.

“AAAAAH!” The System shrieked and ducked behind Yuan Ji, then sheepishly puffed out its chest. “D-don’t worry, Yuan Ji! I’ll protect you!”

Yuan Ji: “…Just stay behind me.”

The System immediately nestled against her, teary-eyed.

My host is the best!

With the System’s interruption, Yuan Ji refocused on Tu Hu, her nose wrinkling.

So ugly.

But…

Her gaze flicked to the cowering villagers.

“System, check the shop for defensive items.”

“On it!” The System rummaged through the store. “Found one! A defensive formation that blocks all attacks for the price of 60 Divine Power. And we have exactly 60!”

It pulled up the item description. “It lasts for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, but the range is limited.”

Yuan Ji didn’t hesitate. “Buy it. For the villagers.”

The System’s hands stilled. “Yuan Ji?”

“Just do it.” She handed the jade talisman to Mu Dezhong. “Stay inside. Don’t leave.”

A golden barrier flared to life, blocking the black ooze. Mu Dezhong exhaled in relief.

With the River God here, everything would be fine.

Yuan Ji turned back to the encroaching darkness, her aura chilling the air.

Moments later…

Qi Yan’s sword pierced through a guard, but the scattered black ooze simply reformed into a new body—

Now darker, stronger, after absorbing his spiritual energy.

“Senior Brother, behind you!” Song Yingzi shouted.

Qi Yan dodged, but the ooze still grazed his sleeve. In an instant, a hole the size of a fingernail began spreading upward.

A flash of light—

The severed fabric fluttered to the ground, reduced to ashes.

“Don’t let it touch you,” Yuan Ji warned, deflecting another attack.

Qi Yan caught his breath. “It devours our attacks and turns them against us.” The more spiritual energy they used, the stronger the ooze became.

A sudden clang!

Yuan Ji’s tiny cyan sword intercepted Tu Hu’s ambush from below—

Hiss.

The blade corroded, rust spreading like poison.

A flicker of rage passed through Yuan Ji’s eyes.

Gathering every ounce of power she had left, she unleashed it at Tu Hu.

“Then let’s see if they can handle this!“

A blinding white light erupted.

The black ooze recoiled as if scalded. The guards scrambled back, but the light overtook them, reducing them to dust.

Tu Hu staggered, staring dumbly at the gaping hole in his chest.

Why wasn’t it healing?

Thud.

He collapsed, his widened eyes frozen in disbelief.

Why…?

Again… he had failed.

Yuan Ji swayed, but a steadying hand gripped her arm, warmth seeping into her.

She exhaled sharply.

Still too weak.

“The River God won!” The villagers cheered—

But their joy was short-lived.

A sinister wind howled through the cave.

All eyes snapped toward the darkness.

Two figures emerged.

The leader wore a mask, yet his smugness was palpable.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

“My, my. The legendary River God.” His voice dripped with mock admiration. “How impressive.”

“To last this long…”

His gaze swept over the villagers, his grin widening. “And you even kept these mortals alive. How noble of you.”

A pitying shake of his head.

“But you’ve exhausted your spiritual energy, haven’t you?”

His laughter was ice-cold.

“Killing a god… seems all too easy.”

Darkness swallowed the cave whole.