374: Chapter 374 Listening to Suzhou storytelling on a painted boat in the misty rain, shadows playing on the waves of the river.

The currents of the Yun River, after traversing countless treacherous canyons, finally slowed down before an open plain basin.

The turbulent undercurrents turned into continuous and steady green waves. The river surface suddenly opened up here, reaching a width of dozens of miles. Several tributaries converged from all directions like a giant water net, supporting a prosperous complex of buildings upon the water.

This was the South Region's famous water city, Luoxing Bay.

The afterglow of the setting sun spilled over the river, creating ripples of broken golden light. Luoxing Bay had no towering city walls; instead, it featured intricate waterways and countless stone arch bridges. Rows of white-walled, black-tiled pavilions were built along the water, with wooden stilt houses hanging over the riverbank and rows of large red lanterns hanging under the eaves.

It was now evening, and the city was already dotted with lights. Various types of wupeng boats, painting boats, and merchant ships shuttled across the water. The sounds of hawking, music, and oars cutting through the water intertwined into a bustling and vivid scroll of the Mortal World.

Zhou Wannian casually threw the bare, broken bamboo pole in his hand onto the boat deck. The bamboo pole made a crisp clattering sound as it rolled into a corner.

He stood up and stretched his somewhat stiff back, his bones letting out a series of faint pops.

"Dock the boat."

Zhou Wannian looked at the brilliantly lit water city ahead, his tone steady.

Shitou wiped the sweat from his forehead. After rowing for a whole day, a Mortal would have collapsed in exhaustion long ago, but with the Origin of Heaven-Opening nourishing him and the dense Spiritual Qi on the river constantly washing over him, he felt as if he had inexhaustible strength.

The youth gripped the rough wooden oars, exerted force with his arms, and controlled the small boat to skillfully avoid several merchant ships laden with goods, slowly sliding into a wide waterway entering the city.

The small boat docked at a pier paved with bluestone. The gaps between the stones were overgrown with slippery moss, and a mellow aroma of wine dregs and the sweet, cloying scent of cosmetics floated in the air.

Zhou Wannian lifted the hem of his faded blue robe and stepped onto the shore. Shitou quickly tied the rope to a bluestone pillar on the bank, then followed closely behind, clutching his precious oilcloth bundle.

The streets were crowded with people. There were peddlers carrying poles selling candied haws, wealthy merchants dressed in silks and satins, and low-level Loose Cultivators carrying long swords and hurrying along. The dramatic changes brought by the revival of Spiritual Qi made this water city even more bustling than usual. Many people felt their bodies become lighter and their illnesses disappear, thinking some immortal had manifested. The city's Daoist temples and shrines were crowded with Mortals burning incense to fulfill their vows.

Zhou Wannian ignored the noise and walked leisurely along the bluestone road.

Before long, the two arrived at a wide river bay.

The river water flowed gently here, and over a dozen large painting boats were moored on the surface. These boats were ornately decorated, three stories high, with bright red lacquer on their hulls and hung with colorful glass lanterns. The melodious sounds of zithers and harps, mixed with the soft, sweet singing of women, drifted over with the river breeze.

"Let's rest here."

Zhou Wannian stepped onto the wooden gangplank connecting the shore to one of the largest painting boats.

The wooden planks creaked slightly underfoot. Several workers in grey short coats stood at the entrance of the painting boat. Seeing guests arrive, they immediately hurried forward with smiles. Although they saw that Zhou Wannian was simply dressed, his relaxed air of strolling as if the world were his own backyard made these experienced workers dare not be the least bit negligent.

"Two guests, please come in. The first floor is the main hall, and the second floor has private seats. Would you like..." The worker bowed, leading the way attentively.

"Second floor, by the window."

Zhou Wannian casually tossed a piece of broken silver. The silver traced an arc in the air and landed steadily in the worker's palm.

The worker beamed with joy, thanked him repeatedly, and led the two up the red-carpeted wooden stairs to the second floor.

The layout of the second floor was quite elegant. The floor was covered with finely woven bamboo mats, and thin, gauze curtains hung all around. The mahogany tables and chairs were polished spotless, and a faint scent of agarwood filled the air.

Zhou Wannian sat down at a table next to a carved wooden window. Outside the window was the vast and misty Yun River, and the river breeze blew in, bringing a refreshing coolness.

Shitou sat opposite him, clutching his cloth bundle restrainedly. He sat with only half his buttocks on the chair, his eyes cautiously looking around. In a place as magnificent as this, back when he was begging in Chunyu City, he would have been beaten out with sticks by guards just for getting close enough to take a look.

"Guest, what tea would you like to drink? What snacks would you like?" The worker used the white towel on his shoulder to wipe the already clean tabletop.

"A pot of jasmine tea, a plate of melon seeds, and a plate of Cloud Slice Cakes." Zhou Wannian looked toward a wooden stage in the center of the painting boat and casually ordered a few of the most common items.

The worker responded and withdrew, returning shortly with a tray.

Clear tea poured from the white porcelain teapot, and white jasmine petals tumbled in the cup. The elegant floral fragrance instantly overpowered the agarwood in the room.

Zhou Wannian picked up the teacup, gently blew away the heat on the surface, and took a sip. The tea was slightly bitter, but the aftertaste was long and sweet.

On the stage, a young songstress in a pale green dress sat on a round stool, holding an old pipa in her arms. Beside her sat a blind old man playing an erhu.

The songstress's fingers lightly plucked the pipa strings, producing sounds as crisp as jade beads falling onto a plate. The erhu's mournful voice rose in accompaniment.

She opened her red lips and began to sing a local Pingtan.

The Soft Wu Dialect was melodious and graceful. The lyrics told a cliché story of a talented scholar and a beautiful lady, and a stranded scholar encountering a Fox Immortal by the river. Her voice wasn't loud, but it possessed a gentle power that soothed the heart, vividly showcasing the prosperity and charm of this water city.

Zhou Wannian leaned back against the wooden chair, his eyes slightly closed, his fingers tapping the table occasionally to the rhythm of the pipa.

He was listening to the music.

This was one of his favorite ways to pass the time in his long years—listening to these Mortals take the joys and sorrows of their short few decades and sing them into songs. This pure atmosphere of the mundane world was much more interesting than the rigid mathematical models of higher-dimensional worlds or the boring Great Dao principles spoken by those old cultivation monsters.

Shitou followed Zhou Wannian's example and took a large gulp of tea, only to be so scalded that he stuck out his tongue. He quickly grabbed a piece of Cloud Slice Cake and stuffed it into his mouth, its sweet and soft texture making him squint his eyes in happiness.

The guests on the painting boat gradually increased, mostly wealthy merchants and literary men, clinking glasses and laughing softly.

The sky outside grew completely dark, a crescent moon hung in the sky, and the lights on the river were like a galaxy reflected in the water.

Everything seemed peaceful and serene.

However, just as the Pingtan reached its poignant climax where the Fox Immortal blocked a Heavenly Tribulation to repay a favor...

Outside the boat, the river water that had been flowing calmly underwent a strange change without any warning.

The wind stopped.

The red lanterns hanging outside the window stopped swaying. The ripples on the river seemed frozen, remaining still for a full breath of time.

Immediately after.

A stench so strong it was nauseating wafted through the open window, overbearingly filling the second-floor private area.

It was a scent mixed with the fermentation and rot of dead fish and shrimp, combined with a thick, sweet smell of blood that was almost tangible.

The finger Zhou Wannian was using to tap the table paused slightly. He opened his eyes and looked calmly out the window with his deep gaze.

The clear river water that had reflected thousands of lights had, at some unknown point, turned into a pure, pitch black.

It was not the black of the night. It was a black that could swallow all light, like thick ink or the stagnant water at the bottom of an abyss.

The shadows of the lights on the river vanished. In their place were giant bubbles surging up from the bottom. The bubbles burst with a dull "gurgle," releasing a sickly green miasma that spread rapidly across the water's surface.

"What's going on? Why has the water turned black?"

"It stinks! What on earth is this smell?"

The guests in the boat who were still drinking and listening to music were all choked by the stench and covered their mouths and noses. Someone leaned out to check, and their face instantly turned pale.

The songstress on the stage was so frightened by this sudden turn of events that she forgot to pluck the strings, and the pipa music came to an abrupt halt.

"Splash—"

The water surface churned violently. A small awning boat not far from the pleasure boat was suddenly lifted from beneath the water by an immense force, snapping in two mid-air. The two fishermen on board didn't even have time to scream before being dragged into the pitch-black river water, without even a splash remaining.

"Monster! There's a monster in the water!"

No one knew who let out that scream of absolute terror, but it completely ignited the panic on the pleasure boat.

Mortals fled in all directions like headless flies, knocking over tables and chairs, scattering tea and snacks everywhere. Cries, curses, and the thunderous stomping on the floorboards instantly replaced the soft, melodic Pingtan music from moments ago.

Shitou stood up abruptly, stuffing the oilcloth bundle into his chest. The power within him—a Fusion of Origin of Heaven-Opening and the dregs of Truth—began to circulate instinctively upon sensing the massive Demonic Qi outside. Within the boy's eyes, faint glimmers of cyan and gray light intertwined.

"Big Brother! Something is coming out of the water!" Shitou pointed at the river surface outside the window, his voice tense.

Zhou Wannian remained in his seat.

He picked up the cup of jasmine tea before him, which had grown somewhat lukewarm, and took a gentle sip.

"Just a loach in a quagmire that ate too much and burst its belly," Zhou Wannian said in a steady tone, as if the impending catastrophe outside was merely a slightly noisy thunderstorm.

The moment he set down his teacup.

"Boom!"

A pillar of water exploded from the pitch-black river surface, soaring into the sky.

The water column reached dozens of zhang high, piercing the clouds. The black spray from the sky turned into a torrential downpour, crashing down onto the pleasure boat's roof and deck with a deafening roar. Before this violent force, the wooden boat rocked and tilted violently, as if it would fall apart at any moment.

Accompanied by the black curtain of water filling the sky.

An incredibly massive, terrifying Vicious Beast emitting a sky-blotting Demonic Qi fully revealed its true form from the riverbed.

It was a Flood Dragon.

A terrifying Flood Dragon that had mutated crazily and forcibly transformed due to the backflow of Spiritual Qi!

Its body was a hundred zhang long and as thick as a city wall. It was entirely covered in dark red scales harder than refined steel, their edges glinting with a cold light like blades. It lacked the majestic, divine horns of a true Dragon; instead, a single, thick, twisted black horn covered in fleshy tumors grew atop its head.

The Flood Dragon's limbs were short and stout, its claws lined with barbs. Its tail, like an iron whip, swept across the water at will, whipping up a violent hurricane that smashed several nearby merchant ships into wood chips.

Most terrifying of all was the aura it emitted.

It was an extremely chaotic and frenzied energy fluctuation. The Spiritual Qi of the Qingping Realm, suppressed for a million years, had suddenly exploded. This low-level Yao Beast, which had originally lurked in the depths of the Yun River, had greedily swallowed an excessive amount of Spiritual Qi. Its fragile Yao Race Meridians simply could not withstand such violent energy, causing its Physical Body to undergo a deformed mutation and its reason to be completely replaced by the instincts of slaughter and consumption.

The strength of this Flood Dragon had been forcibly elevated to the terrifying Realm equivalent to the Early Stage of the human Nascent Soul Stage!

"Roar—"

The Flood Dragon raised its massive head and let out a terrifying, eardrum-shattering roar toward the sky.

The sound waves turned into physical ripples, spreading in all directions. The wooden window panes on the second floor of the pleasure boat shattered instantly. The fleeing Mortals had their ears bloodied by the roar and collapsed to the ground, rolling in agony as they clutched their heads.

Within the Vicious Beast's blood-red eyes, there was no emotion, only endless greed. It lowered its head and looked at the bustling water city below, at the dense crowds of terrified Mortals, as if looking at a lavish banquet.

It wanted to devour!

To devour all living things, using their flesh and blood to calm the frenzied spiritual power within its body that was about to make it burst!

The Flood Dragon opened its bloody maw, exhaling a thick cloud of black poison. Its massive body coiled half a circle on the river surface, bringing up a towering wall of black water. Like Mount Tai pressing down, it lunged fiercely toward the buildings of Luoxing Bay and the pleasure boat.

The water city was in imminent danger.

A wrathful strike from a Nascent Soul Stage Great Yao was enough to level this Mortal city in an instant, turning hundreds of thousands of living beings into food for its belly.

Shitou watched the overwhelming black wave and the hideous Flood Dragon pressing down, his muscles tensed to the limit. His right fist was clenched tight, prepared to release the power within his body at any cost to stop this monster.

But at that moment.

Zhou Wannian's slender, fair palm lightly pressed down on the boy's shoulder.

The movement was gentle, yet it carried an absolute power that was impossible to resist, forcibly pressing Shitou back into his chair.

"Don't be in a hurry to act."

Zhou Wannian's voice pierced through the Flood Dragon's roar and the booming waves, reaching Shitou's ears with perfect stability.

He didn't look at the rampaging Flood Dragon, nor did he look at the towering wave about to destroy the pleasure boat.

Zhou Wannian's eyes, deep as an ancient well, looked through the broken window frame, his gaze accurately bypassing the mist filling the sky.

He stared fixedly at the Flood Dragon's head.

To be precise, he stared at the base of the black, tumor-covered single horn in the center of the Flood Dragon's brow.

Within the gaps of those foul-smelling, slimy scales.

Half of something was stuck there.

That thing had no physical form, reflected no light, and could not even be detected by Divine Sense.

But Zhou Wannian saw it clearly.

It was a thread.

A transparent, extremely fine thread that emitted cold, high-dimensional logical fluctuations.

This thread pierced through the Flood Dragon's brow and was firmly pinned into its Yao Core. The other end of the thread vanished into the Void Realm, connecting to some unknowable high-dimensional dimension.

This thread was identical to the one hidden in the black wooden box at the Chunyu City inn this morning!

They shared the same origin.

However, the thread stuck in this Flood Dragon's brow was only half a segment. The other half that connected to the heavens seemed to have snapped under the pull of some violent force.

Yet this half-thread continued to incessantly inject that high-dimensional, rigid code into the Flood Dragon's body, stimulating its nerves, controlling its instincts, and driving it to go on a killing spree in this Mortal city.

Zhou Wannian sat on the wooden chair.

He watched the Flood Dragon, which was whipping up towering waves in its pain and frenzy.

On his handsome and easygoing face, a mocking sneer slowly appeared, as if he had seen through a crude magic trick.

This wasn't a simple case of a Yao Beast going mad.

This was a carefully designed play.

"Sticking a broken fishing line into the head of a brainless beast."

Zhou Wannian's slender fingers lightly rubbed the rim of the rough teacup.

"Using this mutated beast as a piece of bloody bait, throwing it into this Mortal mud-pit to stir things up."

He raised his eyes, looking at the Flood Dragon that had already reached the top of the pleasure boat and was about to tear the entire vessel apart.

At this moment, the Flood Dragon's world-destroying might was, in Zhou Wannian's eyes, as laughable as a tattered cloth puppet held by a few transparent threads.

Zhou Wannian did not stand up.

He picked up the cup of jasmine tea that was only half-full.

He faced the black wave pressing down like a mountain outside the window with the dregs of the tea.

Plainly.

Casually.

He threw it out.

"Splash."

A few drops of warm tea passed through the broken window frame and fell into the sky-blotting black tide.

A single white jasmine petal from the bottom of the cup spun in the air, lightly sticking to the hard scales the Flood Dragon had extended downward.

In this instant, Zhou Wannian's voice became colder than ice, carrying an absolute will that brooked no defiance.

"You rat hiding in the sky."

"Since you love throwing bloody bait into the water so much."

"Then I will chop this bait up for you and feed it to the turtles."