Chapter 66: Sacrifice to the River God
Qin Mu was puzzled. How could touching a sweat towel bring bad luck and three years of misfortune?
However, this "sweat towel" was soft to the touch, smooth and slippery, naturally carrying a fragrance. It would indeed be excellent for wiping sweat. It should be woven from a rare type of silk, quite valuable. It was hard to find such high-quality fabric in the Great Wasteland.
Qin Mu stuffed the sweat towel into his bosom, then played with the Shaobao Sword and its scabbard, feeling very pleased.
The upper half of the scabbard was gold, adorned with jade and pearls. The mouth of the scabbard was carved into the shape of a fish-dragon swallowing the blade; where the fish-dragon opened its mouth was where the sword emerged.
The lower half of the scabbard was silver-gray, without any decoration or carving. The tip of the scabbard was also carved into a fish-dragon tail, also gold.
*Ding.*
Qin Mu sheathed the sword back into the scabbard. His primal energy surged into the scabbard, and the Shaobao Sword unsheathed again. As it came out, a massive fish-dragon appeared on the scabbard, leaping above his head and opening its mouth to spit out the sword.
Qin Mu raised his hand and drew the sword from the fish's mouth, feeling a surge of delight in his heart.
"This scabbard is truly a fine thing, able to manifest a fish-dragon!"
He sheathed the sword again, and the fish-dragon swallowed the Shaobao Sword, disappearing back into the scabbard.
Qin Mu's heart blossomed with joy. He then sent his primal energy into the scabbard once more. The fish-dragon reappeared, spat out the Shaobao Sword, and he drew the blade before thrusting it back into the fish's mouth. The fish-dragon merged with the scabbard again.
He played this game over and over, until Blind from the side couldn't help but say, "Mu'er, stop playing. Your grandmother has brought in a few more livestock and wants you to take the cattle out to graze. These oxen need to be taken to Xianglong City tomorrow to be sold."
Qin Mu acknowledged with a sound, quickly returned to the village, and led six sturdy oxen out of the village to pasture, wondering to himself: "Not long ago, Grandmother already sold off the village's livestock. Why are there six more oxen now? Where did these cattle come from?"
As he walked out of the village, he saw the Village Chief, the Apothecary, Mute, and the others gathered together, discussing something. Cripple sat to one side, dismantling a black banner. He threw the banner cloth to Horse Ye to use as a curtain for his carpentry shop, and the banner pole to Granny Si to use for shooing chickens.
The next day, Qin Mu harnessed the oxcart. Granny Si smiled and said, "Mu'er, you're coming along to the city this time too."
Qin Mu was both surprised and delighted. He quickly strapped on the Shaobao Sword, grabbed the butcher knife, bamboo staff, iron hammer, and other items, and jumped onto the oxcart. Behind him, Blind unhurriedly walked over and sat on the cart to the left of Granny Si.
The cart was loaded with some iron tools forged by Mute, several stacks of exotic beast pelts from hunting by Horse Ye, Cripple, and Qin Mu, and two sheep with their hooves tied up, placed among the goods.
Three large yellow oxen were harnessed in front of the cart, very strong, and three more were tied behind.
The young man cracked his whip, and the yellow oxen blinked their innocent eyes as they headed out of the village.
This was his first time entering a city, and he couldn't help but feel a bit excited, so excited that his body felt like it might soar. He didn't even notice the innocent looks in the eyes of the yellow oxen and the goats.
Xianglong City was very far from Laocan Village, a thousand li away, so entering the city was a major event. However, the Great Wasteland was desolate, and land travel was not easy. They had to take a water route first, then travel over ten li by land to reach Xianglong City.
Qin Mu drove the cart to the banks of the Yong River, where he saw Cripple had tied together a large bamboo raft by the riverbank. He carefully guided the oxcart onto the raft. Cripple untied the mooring rope, and the bamboo raft drifted downstream, picking up speed.
Even at this speed, it would take four or five days to reach Xianglong City.
After drifting for over forty li, Blind tapped the water surface with his bamboo staff, and the bamboo raft immediately drifted toward the shore.
Qin Mu didn't understand why, but he looked up at the shore and saw it was the direction of the Grandmother Temple. Many people from various villages had already gathered on the bank, most of them also driving oxcarts or horse-drawn carts, waiting by the river.
The Yong River was treacherous, with swift currents and many water monsters and ferocious large fish in the river. Therefore, villagers from different settlements often chose to travel to Xianglong City on the same day, so that with more people, they could look out for each other.
The riverbank was lined with bamboo rafts, and more rafts were arriving from afar. After a while, about a hundred rafts had gathered here.
Blind took out a few sticks of incense, lit them in the wind, and inserted them into the riverbank. Other villagers came forward one after another, planting sticks of incense along the bank. The riverbank was shrouded in fragrant smoke, drifting with the breeze toward the center of the river.
Suddenly, someone shouted a clear, resonant work song, and then more people joined in, singing loudly by the riverbank. It was a river song, a hymn to the River God.
"With the lady I roam the Nine Rivers,
The wind rises, stirring the waves;
Riding a water chariot with a lotus canopy,
Harnessing two dragons and flanking water spirits;
Climbing Kunlun and gazing in all directions,
My heart soars, vast and boundless;
The sun is setting, I linger and forget to return,
Only the distant shore stirs my waking thoughts;
..."
The ancient melody echoed through noses and throats, and the many villagers sang together, their voices melodious and stirring. The scene filled Qin Mu with an inexplicable emotion.
Suddenly, the water ahead parted, and one massive creature after another emerged from the depths.
What surfaced were giant river beasts, with blue backs and four enormous webbed limbs like fins. Their heads resembled those of fish, but they had long snouts like spears.
One by one, the giant river beasts raised their heads, like small hills, and brought their snouts close to the incense on the riverbank. They inhaled deeply, and the sticks of incense on the bank burned rapidly, the smoke entering the beasts' nostrils.
These giant beasts closed their eyes, and after a moment, they opened their mouths to blow out large smoke rings, seeming to enjoy it greatly.
The villagers on the bank took the opportunity to drive their oxcarts onto the long blue backs of the beasts. Seeing this, Qin Mu quickly drove his cart onto the back of one beast. Granny Si took out a large piece of meat she had prepared earlier and threw it into the water. The giant beast ate the meat, let out a long, low bellow, and then swam with its four webbed limbs, carrying the oxcart and its three passengers downstream.
Behind them, one blue-backed giant beast after another let out long calls, their cries echoing across the river, rising and falling. Accompanied by the villagers' singing, which rose and fell in pitch and rhythm, the giant beasts carried them upstream.
"These are unique exotic beasts of the Yong River, called 'Fu Jiang' (River-Bearers)."
Granny Si said, "Fu Jiang are the river gods in the hearts of the villagers living along the river. They like the smoke of incense, enjoy eating beef, and most of all, love listening to songs—songs that praise them. People living by the river only need to light a few sticks of incense to attract them. Offer them beef, and the Fu Jiang will carry us upstream. If they get hungry on the way, you have to throw in more beef, or else they'll stop and dump us into the water."
Qin Mu marveled at this.
The Fu Jiang beasts swam very fast, and with the current, they sped along, breaking through the waves. The strong wind blew in their faces, making them even faster than a galloping horse on land.
Qin Mu calculated that at the Fu Jiang's speed, they could reach Xianglong City, a thousand li away, before nightfall!
On the Yong River, the calls of the Fu Jiang beasts rose and fell. The green mountains on both banks also rose and fell. Sunlight shone directly ahead, and the river surface shimmered with golden waves, golden snakes dancing wildly.
Qin Mu gazed into the distance and suddenly felt his mind and body expand boundlessly, as if the golden river, green mountains, blue sky, and gorge were all contained within his chest.
This was a magical land, with magical people and magical river beasts. Although to people outside the Great Wasteland, this place was full of barren mountains, harsh waters, shrewish women, and unruly men, to Qin Mu, this was his home!
As evening fell and the sun set in the west, Qin Mu saw a small dock appear on the riverbank. One by one, the Fu Jiang beasts gradually slowed down and swam toward the dock.
Granny Si stood up and smiled, "Xianglong City is almost here. Mu'er, drive the cart ashore. Let's get into the city as quickly as possible."
Qin Mu secured the bamboo raft, drove the cart onto the shore, and looked back. He saw the other Fu Jiang beasts also docking, and people from other villages in the Great Wasteland driving their oxcarts and horse-drawn carts, all heading in one direction.
The oxcart traveled two or three li, climbed a small slope, and then faced a downhill path. Qin Mu jumped off the cart to steady the yellow oxen and prevent them from slipping, when suddenly his heart trembled, and he stared blankly ahead.
At the bottom of this slope, a wide road stretched straight ahead. There stood an ancient and majestic city. At the four corners of the city wall were stone pillars, each over thirty zhang thick and about one hundred sixty to one hundred seventy zhang tall. Golden divine dragons coiled around each pillar, clearly carved and adorned with gold leaf, shining brilliantly!
The city gate tower was also shaped like a dragon's head, with the city gate as the dragon's mouth. The flying eaves of the tower resembled dragon horns, both ferocious and majestic!
Xianglong City.
One of the few prosperous places in the Great Wasteland.
Resources were scarce in the Great Wasteland. Oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar were precious goods that had to be purchased from the outside world. Not just anyone could go outside; only prosperous places like Xianglong City had merchants from outside who brought in external goods and also bought the rare items of the Great Wasteland to sell elsewhere.
"These divine dragon pillars are much bigger than the stone statues in our village."
Qin Mu exclaimed in admiration, "If we could steal them, they'd look impressive at our village entrance!"
Granny Si shot him a glare. "If I could steal them, I would have done it long ago. You'd need to get all the old folks in the village to act before there's any chance of taking them! Hurry up, it's getting dark. Let's get into the city quickly!"
The wheels rumbled as Qin Mu drove the oxcart into the city, curiously looking around. Everything in Xianglong City felt new to him.
The city was bustling with traffic and crowded with people. He had never seen so many people since he was born.
There were also many girls, dressed in flashy clothes, standing in various buildings. They were very enthusiastic, opening their windows and waving at him, calling for him to come up and play.
"People in the city are really friendly."
Qin Mu was very excited. He waved back at the girls and shouted loudly, "I'll come find you ladies to play after I sell my goods!"
Blind was caught between laughter and tears. "Mu'er, those girls upstairs are fallen women. They don't really want to play with you. If you go up there, they'll strip you to the bone and suck out your marrow!"
Qin Mu was startled. "Fallen? Grandpa Blind, they're standing perfectly steady; they don't look like they've fallen. Could they all be demons like Wu Nu? Wu Nu said she wanted to play some shameful games with me, but I didn't agree."