Chapter 72: Children died during the grand sacrifice, and the evil dragon was killed in the Dragon Terrace

"Hurry up and leave. Don't miss the grand ceremony."

Liuye Village is bustling with people walking in a hurry.

A man carrying two bamboo baskets hurriedly pushed his way through the crowd, and a woman followed closely behind him, about ten steps away.

The woman's hair was disheveled and her clothes were covered in mud. She said nothing and just followed the man silently.

Xiaoqing River, now should be called Qingxi River, has a stone statue standing on the river bank, with a dragon head and a human body, wearing a royal robe, and looking majestic.

In front of the stone statue stood an altar with three kinds of animals and fruits on it, and there was a person wearing a formal dress with his face painted with colorful ink.

There were crowds of people in front of the altar, but they just formed a big circle and didn't dare to go near the altar.

"Village Chief Liu, the sacrifice has not arrived yet?" Cai Moren asked an old man beside him.

The old man was the head of Liuye Village and also the head of a dozen nearby villages. He said with a flattering look on his face, "Don't worry, Lord Sacrifice Officer. I have already asked my son to get the offerings. They will be here soon."

"That's good. You've missed the time and the Dragon King will blame you. Not only will the river flood, but there will be no rain in your area from now on. A dozen villages will suffer because of you and won't get any harvest." The priest snorted coldly and turned to face the river.

Village chief Liu wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and cursed the widow Liu inwardly for being ungrateful. Your child is his life, and so are other people's children. Others can offer him up, so why can't yours?
Just as I was thinking about it, a loud shout came:
"Make way, make way, the sacrifice is coming!"

The big man was seen carrying a bamboo basket and rushing into the crowd, splitting the crowd into a path like a sea, with a woman following behind him.

"Alas, another two days of innocent children's lives have been lost." Someone muttered.

Gu Qingyuan was hiding in the crowd. Hearing this, he asked in a low voice, "Brother, what do you mean by that?"

The man was stunned. "Sir, you are not from a nearby village, right? This story started three years ago. A dragon came here and expanded the river into a river. It was called the Jinglong King. When it first came here, it was very kind. It controlled the clouds and rain and the weather. Thanks to this, the dozen or so villages along the river had a good harvest and their granaries were full of grain."

"Isn't this a good thing?"

The man shook his head and said, "It's a good thing, but the bad things are still to come. After half a year, a high priest suddenly appeared and said that the Dragon King had done a great job in bringing rain, and he asked for offerings. A small sacrifice was made every three months, a big sacrifice was made every six months, and offerings were also required during festivals. The small sacrifice was easy to make, with three animals and six livestock, but the big sacrifice required boys and girls."

At this time, the big man came forward with a bamboo basket, put the offering table on it, and lifted the red cloth on the basket. Lying under the cloth was the cute little child, who was silent and sleeping soundly.

Gu Qingyuan glanced at the crowd. Some were angry, some were gritting their teeth, but most of them were numb.

The woman following behind the big man suddenly had a look on her face. She rushed forward to snatch one of the bamboo baskets, but was kicked down by the big man.

"The widow Liu has a miserable life. The great sacrifice harmed dozens of children, and this year the fate fell on her family. Her husband was dissatisfied some time ago, and was beaten to death by that big man, the son of Liu Lizheng, and a group of people." The man sighed.

"Dozens of children? How can this village be willing to give up so many children?"

"How could it be possible? Everyone is born by their mother and raised by their parents. At first, they picked a few poor families with no help. Later, they were children that Liu Lizheng asked someone to buy. But somehow, the widow Liu's family offended Liu Lizheng, and that's why they suffered this disaster."

The man said with a cold spit: "That Lizheng Liu is not a good guy either. He wants to sacrifice other people's children for his three grandchildren. He must want to save some money on hiring people, so he took away the widow Liu's own children."

"These dozen or so villages are so obedient and no one escapes?" Gu Qingyuan was puzzled.

"Of course there are none. Those who left have large families and can survive even if they give up their land. Those who stay have weak foundations and cannot bear the pain of migration. They are penniless and will die wherever they go. Under the rule of King Jinglong, at least we have a good harvest and can fill our stomachs." The man had a look of lamentation on his face and his clothes were patched up. He must be one of the people who could not escape.

Not necessarily. When offering children as sacrifice, the village either chooses someone or redeems them. There is a fixed number of children for the whole year, and those who are left behind probably have a plan in mind. No matter who gives away the children, it probably won't be mine this year. As long as I can escape this disaster, I can naturally have a good harvest this year.

Moreover, with power and influence, he can naturally protect his family's health. Otherwise, how could Liu Lizheng's three grandchildren survive? According to probability, it is his family's turn.

After Gu Qingyuan finished thinking, he couldn't help but sigh. This King of Jing Dragon started to look at the art of war. He first showed the actual benefits, such as making clouds and rain, and making the crops bumper, to lure the villages, big and small, to be unwilling to leave. Then he won over a group of people, such as Liu Lizheng, to rule people by people. Moreover, those who stayed were favored, and those who were forced to offer their children wished that others would also taste the pain of losing their children, and would become accomplices and kill the children.

At this point, the people above are in control, and the people below are divided and filled with hatred. Instead of resisting, they offer sacrifice obediently. Although the benefits are small, it is better in the long run.

Gu Qingyuan looked at the people at the scene. They were of all kinds. The widow Liu on the stage looked crazy and was pulling hard. No one in the audience said a word. It seemed that everyone was guilty and everyone was wronged.

He was unwilling to wait any longer, nor did he want to show up at the last minute to save the situation. His only purpose of this trip was to investigate the inside story and identify the main culprits, including Liu Lizheng, the people in the audience, and Jinglong King.

Gu Qingyuan is a normal person. He is conceited and different from the protagonists in novels. He does not want to be like them, who do not care about the reason or reason, and when they see an advantage, they shout, "You are ready to die." It is obvious that greed is at work, but he puts himself on a high moral platform and does evil things in the name of righteousness.

People may call me hypocritical or false, but I just want to have a clear conscience.

Thinking of this, Gu Qingyuan dispersed his thoughts and stared at the person with colorful ink on the stage.

The high priest, the culprit, the Dragon King of Jing!

He circulated the magic power in his hands, selected a few unconventional techniques, and used them silently.

The Jing Dragon King, who played two roles on the stage, was unaware of the impending disaster. He looked at the offerings on the altar with satisfaction and summoned his magic power in his hands.

In a blink of an eye, the sky was covered with dark clouds, thunder rumbled, and light rain fell.

"The King of Jing Dragon is grateful for the sincerity of the worshippers and has granted them the sweet rain. Why don't you thank him quickly?" He shouted. The crowd was noisy, and with smiles on their faces, they knelt down one after another, revealing Gu Qingyuan who was still standing.

King Jinglong was furious and was about to scold, but before he could open his mouth, a strange phenomenon occurred.

A white jade gate with intricate patterns broke through the clouds and stood tall, with two guards holding spears and in golden armor standing on both sides.

The crowd was stunned, and then a louder noise broke out.

"Tianmen, it's Tianmen!"

"The Immortal General has arrived!"

"I pray to the gods to bless my whole family."

For a moment, there were all kinds of talks and people kowtowed frequently, which was much more pious than that of the Jinglong King.

"Who dares to cause trouble!" Jinglong King shouted, but his eyes fell on Gu Qingyuan, the only one standing.

Gu Qingyuan didn't want to say more and was urged to use his magic power.

The golden-armored guard waved his halberd and said, "King Jinglong, you are tyrannical and unjust. You killed a child. Heaven and earth cannot tolerate this. Justice will prevail. Retribution will come. I now receive the order from the law. I will scrape off your dragon scales and cut off your dragon head to serve as a warning to the world."

As soon as the golden-armored guard finished speaking, the sound of rattling chains was heard, and a gate knife slowly fell from the top of the white jade gate. Two chains were connected. This was not the Heavenly Gate, but the execution platform!

The golden-armored guard jumped down from the clouds and flew towards the Jing Dragon King: "Evil dragon, why don't you go up to the Dragon Slashing Platform and die!"

This golden-armored guard was created by Gu Qingyuan based on the principles of paper-cutting to turn into butterflies and scattering seeds to create soldiers. Together with the Dragon-Slaying Platform, they are essentially the application of illusions, supported by Gu Qingyuan's magic power.

However, when the fake becomes real, the real becomes fake. Although he could not reach the realm of turning the fake into the real, the golden armored guard was just a show-off. He looked majestic, but the magic power inside was real. It was no problem for him to deal with a small foundation-building Jing Dragon King.

The Dragon King Jing was unaware of the subtleties of the magic, he only felt that its power was shocking, and he had the idea of ​​retreating. However, the essence of magic is belief, if you believe it, it exists, if you don't believe it, it doesn't exist. The Dragon King Jing's cowardice made the golden-armored guards even more powerful, and before the Dragon King Jing could react, he was captured.

"The guilty dragon bows his head and accepts the punishment!"

As the golden-armored guards shouted, the people around them finally understood.

"The priest...is King Jinglong!"

Seeing the Jinglong King bowing his head, Village Chief Liu became timid and wanted to leave along the edge of the crowd. However, Gu Qingyuan used the Ghost Wall Technique to make him circle around in place.

The captured Jinglong King was not so relaxed. His robe was turned over, his colorful face changed, his dragon head and claws stretched out, and a giant dragon appeared, revealing his true form.

The golden-armored guard remained unmoved, and used his Heavenly and Earthly Powers to grab the dragon's spine, pressing it down under the white jade gate like a small loach.

"Your sins are so severe that you will be stripped of your dragon scales."

As soon as the words fell, countless golden lights flashed and scraped off piece by piece the dragon scales of King Jinglong. For a moment, the blood from the remaining limbs and water dripped with the drizzle, mixing together, as if it was raining blood.

hold head high--

The Jing Dragon King screamed in pain, and the flesh and blood on the forehead of the majestic dragon head opened up, revealing a bloodshot pupil, staring at the white jade door. A beam of blood light rushed up, with the souls of children inside mixed, accompanied by bursts of children's laughter.

Is this the reason for taking the child’s life?

Gu Qingyuan stood with one hand on his back and looked up.

I saw the blood splashing on the white jade door, but the white door did not shake or move, and there was no success at all.

"It is unjust, I will behead you on the Dragon Platform!"

The golden-armored guard shouted, and the gate knife fell with the sound of chains.

puff
A huge dragon head rolled down, and in the bloody rain, the golden-armored guards shot the dragon head:
"Evil deeds will have consequences, and those who rely on evil will not have a good ending. People of the world should remember this and become stronger!"

Following the sound, the golden-armored guards and the white jade gate slowly disappeared into the air.

Everything is settled, the main culprit has been punished, and Village Chief Liu and his people will be handed over to the common people to deal with. If they can't be suppressed, Gu Qingyuan is not someone who specializes in cleaning up other people's messes.

"Brother, brother!" The commentator stood up, his heart excited, as if he had met an immortal. But when he looked up, the immortal was gone.

Only one voice came:
"I have mastered the art of swordsmanship. Go ahead and kill any dragon you see!"

The lingering sound is hard to find.

(End of this chapter)