42: Chapter 42 The white dragon appears

The incense brought by Shen Ruotang was not particularly abundant, but as long as Li Xiuyuan remained the master of this river, and as long as people continued to worship Shen Ruotang, that incense would always be consumed by Li Xiuyuan.

This also gave Li Xiuyuan an idea; it seemed that consuming incense was also a decent channel for improvement.

Thus, he wandered through the waters under his jurisdiction, trying to see if he could encounter any more unexpected situations.

When he arrived at Hong Lake, there was a commotion on the distant shore.

Several anglers were desperately extending their fishing rods toward the lake surface, seemingly trying to hook something, while a woman nearby was sobbing, continuously calling out a child's name.

On the embankment, several elderly women were chanting, endlessly muttering phrases like "May the Bodhisattva protect us."

Looking along the direction of the fishing rods, a drowning child was being carried further and further away by the lake water.

Upon closer inspection, a black shadow beneath the water's surface was dragging the child down by the ankle.

The black shadow had deathly pale skin, a humanoid shape, and a ferocious face, surrounded by heavy malevolent energy and resentment.

It appeared to be a water spirit, or to put it another way, a water ghost.

Generally speaking, water spirits are born because those who drown cannot be reincarnated and are trapped in the water; for these entities to be reincarnated, they must seize a scapegoat, commonly known as a water ghost seeking a substitute.

However, there is another theory that a water ghost is essentially a land-bound spirit, and to break this state and achieve free cultivation, it needs to capture a drowning person to replace it.

That water spirit was likely trying to capture a substitute to break its state as a land-bound spirit.

As the child drifted further from the shore, an angler had already stripped off his jacket and dived into the water, intending to rescue the child, but the child had already submerged.

The angler dove in as well, and soon, there was no movement on the lake surface.

The people on the shore were anxious, "There's no movement?" "He hasn't gotten into danger too, has he?!"

Numerous accident cases have shown that when rescuing a drowning person, jumping into the water in a panic often results in failing to save the person while also losing one's own life.

As time ticked by, the faces of the several anglers turned pale, their expressions growing increasingly grim.

Just then, a column of water suddenly erupted from the lake surface.

Atop the water column were two figures: the angler who had dived in to save the child, and the drowning child.

That force steadily carried them to the shore; the angler was still conscious, and although the child's eyes were closed, their chest was rising and falling—they had merely fainted.

By this time, a crowd had gathered on the shore, and seeing this scene, they immediately rushed over to provide first aid; some performed CPR, while others helped drain the water.

Meanwhile, the angler sat on the ground, gasping for air, his face deathly pale.

"How are you? Are you alright? The ambulance is already on the way and will be here soon." An angler nearby kept patting his back, urging him to cough up the water he had inhaled.

The angler who had come ashore was trembling all over: "There's a monster in the water, a water ghost, a water spirit."

Nowadays, with the resurgence of spiritual energy reaching this point, everyone had become accustomed to monsters; they could be seen not only on television but also in reality.

Therefore, many people had a certain level of tolerance for Rising Beingss and monsters.

However, once it involved life and death, they were still afraid.

The nearby anglers looked at each other; they had originally thought there might be a few fish monsters in this lake at most, but now, as it turned out, there was a water ghost.

Some old films from the last century could still be played, and in them, ghosts were portrayed in an extremely terrifying manner.

"You managed to snatch the child away from the water spirit; that's impressive," an angler nearby comforted him.

The angler sitting on the ground shook his head repeatedly: "No! It wasn't me who snatched the child; it was a flood dragon."

"A white, a white one, a White Flood Dragon! Just when the water spirit was dragging the child and me down, it appeared from the bottom of the lake, bit the water spirit to death in one bite, and sent us to the shore."

A White Flood Dragon? The several anglers and the passersby who had gathered were stunned!

"There's a flood dragon in the lake? When did this happen? The Mysterious Investigation Bureau and the Security Bureau haven't mentioned anything."

"Hey? Are your eyes playing tricks on you? How could there possibly be a flood dragon in this lake?"

"Exactly, exactly. A flood dragon is a Spirit Rank or even a Desolate Rank Rising Beings; if one really existed, the Security Bureau would have warned everyone long ago."

The anglers were unwilling to believe this, but the angler sitting on the ground suddenly looked at the lake surface, his expression a mix of terror and excitement.

"It's it! It's it! Look!"

The anglers and the passersby who had gathered nearby all looked toward the distant surface of the lake.

They saw a massive white figure swimming in the water not far away, heading into the distance; the faintly visible, imposing dragon horns were enough to confirm that the white figure was indeed a flood dragon.

"Whoa!" "Eek!" "What on earth is that?!" "Are you kidding me! Such a huge flood dragon!"

Many people burst out in dialect upon seeing this, and the pedestrians standing by the water were so frightened that they retreated toward the embankment, but soon realized that the White Flood Dragon had no interest in them; instead, it had already moved away and vanished into the thick fog on the lake surface.

People craned their necks, trying to peer through the fog to find that flash of silvery-white, but the mist was too thick, and they couldn't see anything at all.

Before long, personnel from the Security Bureau and an ambulance arrived.

The child was not in life-threatening danger, having only inhaled a lot of water; they just needed to be checked at the hospital and have their stomach pumped.

However, both the child and the angler who had dived in insisted that a White Flood Dragon had saved them, and to thank that flood dragon, both of them and their families brought some offerings and incense to the lakeside to show their gratitude.

The news that there was a flood dragon at the bottom of Hong Lake spread quickly; the authorities did not provide an explanation, but they didn't refute it either, which in the eyes of many was a tacit admission.

As for the party involved, Li Xiuyuan had actually long since left Hong Lake and was patrolling the other waters.

He hadn't eaten that water spirit, only killed it; water spirits could not provide him with any increase in spiritual energy value, and they tasted fishy and foul, not good to eat at all.

Instead, by using this incident, Li Xiuyuan had figured out a few things: although the waters were under his control, some things within the waters were not under his control.

For instance, things like water spirits were not naturally born Rising Beingss, but were formed after a person died; their existence was very subtle, and Li Xiuyuan could not detect them with his unique perception.

However, these things were not particularly strong, and their cultivation was slow.

When he had saved the people earlier, Li Xiuyuan had done so intentionally so that people would see him; only in this way, by letting people see that he was the one who saved them, could he consume the incense.

After patrolling all the waters under his jurisdiction, Li Xiuyuan returned to Yunfeng Mountain to continue his cultivation and prepare for his breakthrough into a Chi Dragon.