Chapter 177: Public Monk, Court Mage
The old man slowly told the story of Zhaofu River.
"It is said that during the reign of Taishi of the Western Jin Dynasty, there was a scholar named Liu Boyu who always liked to recite Cao Zhi's "Ode to the Goddess of the Luo River" in front of his wife, Mrs. Duan. Every time he finished reading, he would express his deep emotion and say that he had no regrets in marrying such a woman!"
"Later, Duan couldn't help but ask, why did my husband praise Luoshen and always look down on me? Did he think I wasn't as pretty as Luoshen? If I died, would I become a water god?"
"Liu Boyu thought his wife was just speaking in anger, but he didn't expect that Duan would jump into the river and commit suicide that night. On the seventh day after her death, she appeared in Liu Boyu's dream and said, "Don't you like the water god? Now I am the water god."
Li Daoxuan couldn't help being attracted by this story and asked, "And then?"
The old man smiled and said, "Don't worry, young Taoist priest. Later, Liu Boyu never dared to cross this river for the rest of his life, and this place was called the Jealous Woman's Ferry."
"Then why is it called Zhaofu River now?"
"This is because from then on, this river has had all kinds of magical things. If a young and beautiful woman crosses the river, the river will be turbulent, but if an ugly woman crosses the river, the river will be calm."
"Over time, there was a saying here: If you want a good wife, stand at the mouth of the river. If a woman stands by the water, her beauty and ugliness will be revealed."
"Before getting married, the bride would be taken to the riverside to be scanned to see if there were any waves or winds, so as to judge her beauty. Gradually, the Jealous Wife's River became the Scanning Wife River."
Zhang Qianyang suddenly asked, "Old man, it sounds like the Zhaofu River isn't scary at all, so why are women now strictly prohibited from crossing the river, regardless of their beauty?"
The old man showed a trace of fear in his eyes, and said, "That was in the past. Even if a woman crossed the river and caused a storm, it was not that big. But I don't know since when, whenever a woman crosses the river, there will be raging waves and no one can survive!"
Li Daoxuan glanced at the woman dressed as a man. No wonder she wanted to pretend to be a man. If she was dressed as a woman, the boatman would never let her on the boat.
But since she is a monk , why does she have to take a boat across the river? Is it to draw out the dirty things in the river?
Zhang Qianyang asked again: "Old man, what happened to the thick fog just now?"
"That has only happened in recent years. Sometimes, thick fog would suddenly appear in Zhaofu River. People in the fog could not tell the direction and would fall into the river in a daze, losing their lives. Fortunately, the fog just now came and dissipated quickly. That golden light must be a magic cast by gods!"
Li Daoxuan smiled slightly. The person who cast the spell was clearly standing in front of you.
At this time, the boatman finally came to the shore and shouted, "Come on board. The same rules apply. Five cents per person. Women are not allowed to cross the river."
People boarded the boats one after another, all wanting to cross the river and leave the place quickly.
In fact, if this place was not the shortest way to Liling City, many people would not risk walking along the Zhaofu River.
Many people have even begun to regret their decision. If they had known earlier, they would rather take a detour of dozens of miles than go here. The fog just now was too scary.
Li Daoxuan and his master also boarded the boat. There were quite a lot of people, so it seemed a bit crowded. There were seven or eight people on a fishing boat that was more than two meters long, and the boatman had some difficulty rowing.
The handsome young man dressed as a man sat down next to Li Daoxuan and tried to talk to him several times, but when she saw Li Daoxuan closing his eyes to rest, she could only stop talking.
Zhang Qianyang was very familiar with the people around him. He was already chatting with them enthusiastically. He even earned some dried fruit snacks for free. While eating, he said to the boatman, "Father, is business this good every day?"
The boatman sighed, "Master, you are joking. Normally, not many people dare to come to the Zhaofu River, so I am the only one who runs the ferry. Recently, more people have crossed the river, but most of them are outsiders who come to Liling City to participate in the Xianyue Conference."
"Xianyue Conference?"
"It's actually a porcelain appreciation conference. Liling City is rich in porcelain. Every year in early March, a porcelain appreciation conference is held. In order to attract people, many magicians and extraordinary people are invited to perform various acrobatics and magic. Over time, it got the name of the Xianyue Conference."
Zhang Qianyang smiled at his apprentice and said, "It seems that we have come at the right time. We can go and watch the fun."
In fact, they all know that true monks often disdain to perform on the streets, and those so-called magicians and strange people are mostly quacks.
A person who is unlearned and unskilled is a sorcerer.
But it doesn't matter, we're just here to watch the fun.
Everyone was chatting animatedly but they didn't notice that the sunlight in the sky was getting dimmer and dimmer, and the sun had hidden in the clouds at some point.
The old boatman felt something was not right as he rowed. It was already a quarter of an hour, but why hadn’t he reached the other side yet?
Not only that, the harder he rowed, the farther the boat moved away from the other side. After a while, the old boatman was already panting and sweating profusely.
Others also began to realize that something was wrong.
"What's going on? It seems like we are getting farther and farther away from the other side."
"The water, it seems to be rising!"
"Look behind us, it seems like there's a vortex sucking us backwards!"
…
People were talking about it, and there was fear in their voices.
The water was no longer as calm as before, and whirlpools formed like chains , tightly binding the ferry.
Li Daoxuan was still resting with his eyes closed, meditating and regulating his breathing, seemingly unaware of the outside world.
He did not take action immediately because he wanted to see what this monk disguised as a man would do when faced with this situation.
He had a vague feeling that perhaps the other party's identity was not simple.
As expected, after seeing that Li Daoxuan was indifferent, she gritted her teeth, stood up and said, "Don't panic, everyone. I'm here and will not let this water ghost succeed!"
The voice is clear, it's a woman's voice.
Just like a stone that stirs up a thousand waves, after she said this, the Zhaofu River was completely in turmoil.
Layers of waves rolled, dark clouds gathered in the sky, and the wind howled, making the small boat sway like a small boat in a storm, which might capsize at any time.
"Oh no, she's actually a woman. It's over. The Zhaofu River God is angry!"
"It's all her fault. We're all going to die here!"
"Wow, I don't want to die..."
"Lady River Goddess, please calm down. We are not in the same group with her. If you want to take her, just take her away!"
…
When the female monk heard these words, she was slightly stunned and looked a little lost, but she still forced herself to cheer up and comfort everyone.
"Don't panic, everyone. I'm a government official, and I specialize in dealing with these dirty things..."
But no one listened to her. The old boatman rowed hard, but the oar in his hand suddenly broke. He lost his strength and fell into the river.
The next moment, his body was sucked into the water and swept away by the undercurrent, and he was about to lose his life.
The female monk jumped into the river with a splash without any hesitation.
A moment later, she flew out of the water carrying the old boatman, her long hair disheveled and a bloodstain on her shoulder, looking like she had been through a fight.
Regardless of her own injuries, the female monk immediately fed the old boatman an elixir to help him dissolve the negative energy in his body.
Then she stood up and shouted, "Don't panic, I'm a magician sent by the court!"
After saying this, she took out a handful of copper coins, sprinkled them into the river, made hand seals, and silently chanted a spell.
The next moment, these copper coins seemed to come alive, flashing with clear light, and swimming around in the water like fish, searching for the evil spirits hiding underneath.
A strange light flashed in Li Daoxuan's eyes. These copper coins were quite interesting. They seemed to have a trace of incense power and dragon energy blessing on them, which could do considerable damage to evil spirits.
It was the first time he saw a monk from the imperial court take action, and he was very curious.
I wonder what methods the people in the government use?
