61: Chapter 61 The Future Dragon Slayer?

By the shores of Dongting Lake, a gentle breeze blew, causing the water to ripple and shimmer with fine, scale-like reflections.

Li Xiuyuan coiled atop a giant rock on the shore. His silvery-white scales gleamed with a cold, metallic luster, and his pale golden vertical pupils were slightly lowered, gazing quietly at the woman standing not far away.

Gu Xiao stood to the side, looking just as surprised as he watched Teacher Lin approach.

She stopped about thirty meters away from them, her light blue dress fluttering gently in the lake breeze. With her long hair draped over her shoulders and a serene expression, she seemed like a solitary orchid by the lakeside.

"Teacher Lin, you've been following us—what exactly do you want?" Gu Xiao spoke first, watching her vigilantly.

Although Lin Xiaoxiang appeared harmless and had even saved Lu Xingyun just moments ago, in this era of spiritual energy recovery, nothing was certain.

What if Teacher Lin suddenly lashed out?

Teacher Lin did not answer immediately. Her gaze passed over Gu Xiao and landed on Li Xiuyuan.

"My name is Lin Xiaoxiang."

She finally spoke, her voice soft like the evening breeze brushing over the lake surface.

"I am also Lu Zhixing's teacher."

"At the same time, I also know that you were the one who killed the Merman that night."

Lin Xiaoxiang's words were shocking.

She paused, then continued, "That night, I was right there by the lake, holding an umbrella, and I saw it very clearly."

Then, Lin Xiaoxiang began to recount a story from the past, a memory sealed away for twenty years.

About twenty years ago, not long after the spiritual energy recovery began, Lin Xiaoxiang was still a high school student. One day, when she woke up, her mind was suddenly filled with many extra memories.

"Those memories were extremely chaotic, fragmented like torn book pages that had been shoved into my brain at random."

"In those memories, there was a bamboo forest with no exit, and I could constantly hear a woman crying within it."

"These memories wouldn't fade from my mind no matter what. I once tried to find the real-world location of that bamboo forest, but without any reference points, it was impossible to find."

"A long time passed like this, and about a year ago, that Merman found me."

Lin Xiaoxiang's voice gradually lowered, as if she were recalling very unpleasant memories.

At that time, she had just finished leading students in evening self-study and was on her way back to the dormitory when the Merman blocked her path.

She was absolutely terrified, but the Merman did not harm her. Instead, it forcibly injected an ancient cultivation method into her mind and urged her to practice it.

That ancient cultivation method was the secret technique that had previously protected Lu Xingyun's heart meridian.

The Merman came to urge Lin Xiaoxiang every day. However, it didn't harm her; in fact, to speed up her cultivation progress, it even captured living people and brought them to her, saying that consuming them would accelerate her cultivation.

How could Lin Xiaoxiang dare to eat them? She resolutely refused. Although the Merman was very angry, it still didn't lay a hand on her.

Just like that, Lin Xiaoxiang lived in extreme suppression and fear, until that rainy night not long ago.

"That rainy night, you killed it, and I was finally liberated. However, those memory images keep surfacing."

"There is even a memory segment regarding Shouyue Mountain."

Shouyue Mountain? Hearing this, Gu Xiao and Li Xiuyuan exchanged glances, both seeing the confusion in each other's eyes.

Gu Xiao asked, "What did you see?"

"I saw the entire process of it battling that Red-clothed Bird."

Lin Xiaoxiang said, pointing at Li Xiuyuan.

She kept that memory in her heart at all times because the scenes within it were truly terrifying. But no matter how she tried to avoid it, she could never escape the future she had already seen.

"Besides that, not long after that, you were slain."

Lin Xiaoxiang said this, still addressing Li Xiuyuan.

Hearing this, Gu Xiao's eyelids twitched violently, and Li Xiuyuan was also taken aback.

"Wait a second, Teacher Lin, you aren't joking, are you?" Gu Xiao asked in astonishment.

Lin Xiaoxiang shook her head, her expression calm. "I am not joking. I only chased after you because I wanted to tell it this personally."

"The person who slew you was a Dragon-man, holding a very long blade in his hand."

"I don't know what it is called; I only know its general appearance and what the blade looked like."

Because Li Xiuyuan had killed the Merman and given Lin Xiaoxiang liberation, she had chased after them to tell Li Xiuyuan what she had foreseen.

After saying this, Lin Xiaoxiang turned and left, feeling a sense of relief. Her steps were light and carefree, as if she had finally set down a heavy burden in her heart.

"She just left like that?" The highly vigilant Gu Xiao was stunned, watching Lin Xiaoxiang's retreating figure.

Li Xiuyuan felt that Lin Xiaoxiang did not seem to be toying with him.

If that was the case, what could this so-called Dragon-man be?

Up until now, Li Xiuyuan had not dealt with any Dragon-men; the only possibility was that so-called Lord River God.

"Do you believe what she said?" Gu Xiao turned his head to ask.

Li Xiuyuan said, "I believe it. Have you forgotten about the Lord River God that the Red-clothed Bird mentioned? Perhaps it is him."

"Is that for real?" Gu Xiao still found it somewhat unbelievable.

Regardless of how much truth there was in Lin Xiaoxiang's words, this matter could not be taken lightly.

Therefore, on the way back to Yunfeng Mountain with Li Xiuyuan, Gu Xiao began to frantically urge the Jiantian Bureau to investigate that so-called Lord River God immediately.

When the man and the flood dragon successfully returned to Yunfeng Mountain, the Jiantian Bureau already had preliminary investigation results.

Thousands of years ago, there was indeed such a Lord River God in the Yangtze River. It was said to be the Dragon God that ruled the Yangtze, also known as the Jiangdu God, the Yangtze Dragon God who was the head of the Four Dushu.

The Four Dushu were the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, the Huai River, and the Ji River.

Many years ago, this Lord River God required the residents of the Yangtze River basin to sacrifice two young girls every year, otherwise, it would trigger floods and allow floodwaters to ravage the land.

Later, during the ancient pre-Qin period, the Prefect Li Bing of Bashu opposed it, and it was eventually assassinated by Prefect Li Bing's retainer.

This Lord River God was mentioned throughout various dynasties. In the early Western Han Dynasty, the Jiangdu Temple was built for it in Bashu, completed during the Great Sui Dynasty, and later conferred the title of Duke of Guangyuan during the Li Tang Dynasty.

During the Zhao Song Dynasty, it was further conferred the title of King of Guangyuan.

Later, during the Zhu Ming Dynasty and the previous dynasty, after being rebuilt many times, the Jiangdu God was incorporated into the orthodox sacrifices of the Five Sacred Mountains, Five Towns, Four Seas, and Four Dushu, and was conferred the title of God of the Southern Dushu Great River.

It could be said that after this former Dragon Lord was assassinated, its divine position remained, and even to this day, it still consumes the incense offerings of the common people.

Upon learning this, Gu Xiao immediately shuddered.

Before the spiritual energy recovery, he had only listened to these as fun stories. But now, with the spiritual energy recovery, if this Lord River God, having consumed a thousand years of incense offerings, were to awaken, it would be catastrophic.

"No wonder Lin Xiaoxiang said you would be slain by a Dragon-man. If this thing awakens, does it even need to cultivate? It would ascend to the heavens in one step!"

Gu Xiao looked at Li Xiuyuan, his voice trembling.

If that Red-clothed Bird wasn't lying, then this dormant Lord River God must be up to something. And since that Red-clothed Bird had extended an invitation to Li Xiuyuan, it meant that the Lord River God might have already recruited quite a few Rising Beingss.

Once those Rising Beingss suddenly attacked, it would definitely become a massive problem!

Realizing this, Gu Xiao immediately broke out in goosebumps.