But I'm a proper river god, you know! - Chapter 67

“Whoa! What is this place?”

The moment they landed, Ye Wenshu immediately ducked behind Yan Ku, warily surveying the unfamiliar surroundings. “Brother Yan, quick, show them your mighty power!”

Yan Ku was far more composed. The instant he landed, his eyes swiftly scanned the environment. After confirming it was safe, he shot a helpless look at Ye Wenshu, curled his lip, and spun the guy around. “Did you forget how we got here?”

Ye Wenshu saw the familiar “glittering gold” that was identical to the River God’s Temple. The sense of familiarity instantly put him at ease. “Oh! Right! Lord River God summoned us!!”

“Where is Lord River God?!”

“Huh, is this an attendant of Lord River God?”

He scratched his cheek and boldly leaned in towards Xiang Yizhi, wanting to ask this person for information. He’d heard something about a child earlier—wondering which one it was?

“You…” But the moment he got close, he was jolted alert by the aura emanating from this person.

His eyes widened abruptly, and he scrambled behind Yan Ku with lightning speed, pointing a trembling finger at Xiang Yizhi. “Brother Yan, there’s… there’s a ghost!”

Yan Ku: …

Xiang Yizhi narrowed his eyes, staring at this group of people who had suddenly appeared. The hand holding the cloth slowly clenched, making it easy to suspect he might leap up and fight them all in the next second.

“Where did you come from?”

Yan Ku pressed down on the fidgety Ye Wenshu and bowed. “Senior, we have all come in response to a summons. May we ask where Lord River God is?”

Xiang Yizhi’s clenched hand relaxed. No wonder they could enter this place. He stuffed the cloth back into his robe, his expression turning kindly. “Lord River God is inside. Let me take you in.”

“Thank you, Senior.” Yan Ku bowed again, then subtly shot a look to the people behind him.

“Finding Lord River God is the most urgent matter right now.”

…..

Meanwhile, Yuan Ji was having a massive headache. Countless balls of white light were emerging from the ground, one after another, and then…

They all started crying. In unison.

Yuan Ji didn’t know why she could hear the cries of these white light orbs. Some were sniffling softly, while others were bawling with rough, hearty sobs. The rising and falling waves of crying gave Yuan Ji her first true taste of feeling overwhelmed.

“System, what did I do wrong?” Yuan Ji stared blankly as she plucked a white light orb that had flung itself onto her face. “Why are they so… capable of crying?”

The System was sprawled on top of one of the white light orbs, swaying as if walking on clouds, occasionally stroking it with a contented expression. “Yuan Ji, even I don’t know what’s happening.”

“But these white light orbs seem to share the same origin as your core power,” The System buried its face in the “cloud” and took a deep breath. “So well-behaved. But they’re nothing like that fierce Little White of yours.”

Yuan Ji: …

Yuan Ji took a deep breath, her face wooden as she raised her hand and released her core power—”Little White.”

“Little White, you…” Yuan Ji carefully examined Little White’s slender, delicate form, then looked at the hundreds of chubby, round white light orbs. She seriously considered the possibility of Little White dealing with them. “Forget it, Little White, go comfort them.”

Little White, poised for action, upon hearing this, zipped around Yuan Ji’s fingertip and then shrank back into her body.

Little White won’t do it. Little White refuses!

Instantly, the fluffy white light orbs before her were stimulated by Little White’s action. They frantically tried to burrow into Yuan Ji’s body, occasionally bumping into or kicking each other, creating a chaotic, noisy mess of whimpers, sobs, and wails.

Great. Yuan Ji pressed her fingers to her temples, closed her eyes with a sense of despair, and thought: It’s even noisier.

If she absorbed all these white lights into her body now, without a doubt, she would immediately revert to the cycle of reincarnation due to excessive power.

Yuan Ji could only manifest a barrier around herself to block the white light orbs’ contact, but she couldn’t block out the incessant crying.

Just then, a few surprised voices managed to pierce through to Yuan Ji’s ears.

“Lord River God!”

“It really is Lord River God!”

“Great! Lord River God, you’re safe!”

Yan Ku led the group rushing in. Upon seeing Yuan Ji’s grave expression, their hearts sank.

Why does Lord River God look like this? Could she be seriously injured!

Ye Wenshu’s thoughts were the most active. He observed Yuan Ji sitting alone under the withered tree, mechanically pressing her temples, the sorrow and loss in her eyes undeniable, as if she had lost all will to live. They had never seen Lord River God look so vulnerable!

A notion slowly rose in his heart.

This… looked exactly like the descriptions in his storybooks of someone who had lost their beloved.

Ye Wenshu looked around. Indeed, Cultivator Qi’s figure was nowhere to be seen.

Oh no, could it be that Cultivator Qi really…

Ye Wenshu’s heart shook, but he didn’t dare speak outright, afraid of touching Yuan Ji’s painful spot.

“You’re here.” Yuan Ji let out a breath and slowly raised her eyes. A flicker in her gaze seemed to indicate she had made some kind of decision. “What’s the current situation?”

Yan Ku hurried forward to inform Yuan Ji about what had happened after she entered the Blooddrinking Glaive.

“Lord River God, the lightning tribulation has dispersed now. The man-eating demon beasts and magical creatures have all been slain. Wu Boshan and the others are currently at the River God’s Temple, treating the injured villagers.”

So much had happened in just a few short days.

The Danxin Sect, Tianji Sect, and other major sects, hearing of the Blooddrinking Glaive’s emergence, had all come to support suppressing the resentful spirits inside. But he knew those hypocrites just wanted to seize the Blooddrinking Glaive for themselves.

Yet, the Blooddrinking Glaive seemed to lose all its support in an instant, dissipating in less than the time it takes an incense stick to burn. Everyone then turned their attention to the River God’s Temple.

Yan Ku still remembered how those people, red-eyed, tried to claim the River God’s Temple for themselves. He curled his lip disdainfully. “Luckily, the array left by Lord River God is exquisite. They didn’t manage to damage a single brick or tile of the River God’s Temple.”

Hearing this, Yuan Ji felt a bit regretful. “What a pity.”

“Right, right, there’s another piece of news,” Ye Wenshu leaned in, mysterious. “I also found out that what Lin Heqing stole was actually a secret treasure from the Tianji Sect. And he didn’t get it by accident—someone from the Tianji Sect deliberately gave it to him.”

“Tianji Sect?” Yuan Ji frowned, finding it somewhat strange.

“Yes, yes, but that sounds like a rumor.” Ye Wenshu shook his head. “Quite a few people believe it, though. It’s chaos out there now. If someone from the Tianji Sect really gave it to him, would that Han Shi have ended up at the River God’s Temple…”

Ye Wenshu abruptly stopped talking, his eyes wide open, shooting a rather regretful glance at Yuan Ji, not daring to continue.

Yuan Ji recalled that particularly “generous” elder and felt curious. “What happened at the River God’s Temple?”

“Uh…” Ye Wenshu scratched his head, racking his brains to change the subject. “He threatened to tear down the River God’s Temple, and then a lightning snake descended from the sky and chased him, biting him. The scene was… quite aromatic with the scent of something charred.”

Recalling the image, Ye Wenshu couldn’t help but shake his head and sigh.

Yuan Ji: …Huh?

“It couldn’t be Little Lightning, could it?” The System clicked its tongue. “Being chased and bitten by a lightning snake is quite an encounter. I’d really like to have seen that.”

Yuan Ji: …

“Didn’t the lightning tribulation disperse? How could there be a lightning snake?”

Yan Ku, seeing Ye Wenshu’s eyes rolling around, knew the guy wasn’t willing to talk. He had no choice but to add on his behalf: “No one knows where this lightning snake came from. It just won’t leave, as if it’s decided the River God’s Temple is its home. It spends its days coiled around the flytrap, electrocuting bugs together for fun.”

“We let it be since it showed no intention of harming anyone. It’s just…” Yan Ku paused, carefully gauging Yuan Ji’s expression. “Everyone outside is saying that Qi Yan, Cultivator Qi… he… he…”

The fingertip Yuan Ji had resting on the edge of the jade table twitched violently. She lowered her eyes, pondering whether she should help him cover up the lie.

Tap. Tap.

Clusters of white light chased after Yuan Ji’s fingertip.

The glossy fingertip tapped on the table surface. Once, twice. It made everyone hold their breath nervously. They could feel a displeased aura, making it hard to breathe.

It was Lord River God’s pressure!

Oh no! We’ve touched a nerve.

Ye Wenshu’s heart sank. He should have reminded Yan Ku to approach it more gently. “Lord River God…”

“Mn.” Yuan Ji acknowledged, raising her eyes to look at everyone, her tone even. “He’s not here anymore.”

“Tss…” The group exchanged glances, each seeing a trace of horror in the other’s eyes. “Cultivator Qi actually really…”

It seemed the world was really about to fall into chaos!

They didn’t continue, only feeling the surrounding pressure drop to an increasingly frightening degree.

Lord River God must be heartbroken. Ye Wenshu felt his vision blur with moisture. Lord River God truly evoked pity.

To suffer the pain of losing a beloved yet still force herself to appear composed.

Just then, Ye Wenshu suddenly remembered something. He quickly rummaged through his robes and soon pulled out several dozen storybooks.

These were the most popular ones, many were rare treasures difficult to obtain even with money, ones he himself usually couldn’t bear to read. But now he couldn’t spare the heartache.

“Lord River God, the villagers prepared many things at the River God’s Temple to thank you for saving them.” Ye Wenshu handed over the storybooks. “I didn’t have time to bring the food over, only some popular storybooks from the mortal world. Perhaps Lord River God would like to look at these mortal trifles to relieve boredom?”

Yan Ku: ??

Since when did he know the villagers had prepared storybooks? Weren’t they all food and ordinary items?

Ye Wenshu stomped hard on his foot and continued smiling as he offered them.

Yan Ku: Tss…

Yuan Ji originally had no intention of accepting them; she wasn’t interested in such things. But the System was clamoring to see them, rolling around on the table, imitating the white orbs’ wailing. Yuan Ji’s temple throbbed.

Her headache intensified.

“Alright.” Yuan Ji accepted them, her entire face frighteningly cold. Her gaze fell on the withered tree in the courtyard; the calm ocean of her eyes hid turbulent waves beneath.

“I need to go out for a while. You can return to the River God’s Temple via the formation in the courtyard. If you have questions, ask him.” Yuan Ji randomly pointed at Xiang Yizhi and walked out.

It was too noisy here. Yuan Ji had no doubt that if she stayed any longer, she would likely lose her hearing within half a day.

“I need to go into seclusion here for a few days.” As her words fell, she suddenly remembered the previous task. “Whoever returns, bring Guan Muping here.”

“After bringing him, do not act rashly.” Yuan Ji shot a deep look at Xiang Yizhi, meaningfully.

With that, Yuan Ji disappeared from the spot.

Seeing this, Ye Wenshu wiped the tears at the corner of his eyes again. “Lord River God truly evokes pity, hiding her sorrow from us.”

“She must be secretly missing Cultivator Qi right now.” Ye Wenshu stated with certainty. The others were silent but nodded in agreement.

Xiang Yizhi also sighed sentimentally. “It’s a good thing that Cultivator Qi you mentioned left behind a child. Lord River God can have something to remember him by.”

“Yes, yes, luckily there’s a child.” The crowd nodded in agreement.

Wait, who?

Cultivator Qi?!

Cultivator Qi really bore a child for Lord River God?!

At that moment,  certain person being mentioned often couldn’t help but sneeze, making his subordinates break out in cold sweat.

Completely unaware of everyone’s shock, Yuan Ji arrived at a tributary of the River of Forgetfulness. Just as she fished a piece of “trash” out of the river, she heard the System say excitedly.

“Yuan Ji, look! There are actually storybooks about the River God now!”

“Mn?” Yuan Ji’s interest was piqued. She turned to look and saw a line of elegant small script.

《The River God Takes a Bride: The Overbearing River God’s Adorable Little Wife He Picked Up》