Chapter 153 Below the Huai River

The water in front of him naturally parted, and Wei Yuan sank continuously. The water currents that could take the lives of living beings obediently wrapped around him, and then, guided by Wei Yuan's thoughts, carried him forward and downward. After traversing a great distance, Wei Yuan arrived at the place where Yu was said to have suppressed Wuzhiqi.

He couldn't help but rise to the surface, looking around.

This place used to be a rolling mountain area, but now the places where the people of the various tribes hid back then were gone. Five thousand years had passed like flowing water, and all traces had disappeared. He returned to the water again, and under the guidance of the water flow, he arrived at the bottom of the Huai River.

He reached out and pressed down on the riverbed.

The rune between his eyebrows lit up, and the seal representing the River God appeared in his hand, pressing down gently.

The originally hard and solid earth suddenly shattered.

Wei Yuan fell into the dark abyss. White currents of water, like water dragons, wrapped around him, causing the hem of Wei Yuan's clothes to sway slightly and his hair tips to rise. His eyes stared intently downward, and in the pitch black, he could hear the sound of chains. Then, two indifferent golden lights lit up, gazing at Wei Yuan.

Then came the Tu Shan characters on the chains: Yuan.

Wei Yuan's eyes turned golden, allowing him to see in the water.

He saw the broken and collapsed palace, Wuzhiqi sealed by chains, and those chains directly disappearing into the void, not knowing what they relied on to seal Him. The chains shook, causing the water currents to fluctuate. Wuzhiqi was suspended at the bottom of the Huai River, beyond the reach of mortals.

He looked at Wei Yuan, who had appeared here, and after a moment of silence, said:

"...You're really not afraid of death."

The chains shook for a while.

Wuzhiqi said, "Aren't you afraid that I'll just kill you here?"

Wei Yuan raised the wine jar in his hand and smiled:

"I came with wine. You wouldn't do that, would you?"

"Wine? That stuff Du Kang made?"

"It should be much stronger than it was back then."

Wei Yuan guided the wine jars, most of which contained pungent, throat-burning liquor. Wuzhiqi's hands and feet were bound, but he manipulated the water currents to shatter the wine jar. The pungent aroma of the wine made him pause for a moment, and then he guided the wine water to drink it in large gulps. In the blink of an eye, he had swallowed the contents of one jar. He took a long breath and said:

"Good!"

Wei Yuan sat cross-legged in the water and also picked up a wine jar, clinking it against Wuzhiqi's.

Naturally, he didn't have the same monstrous alcohol capacity.

But at least at this time, he still had the authority of the water god, easily doing something similar to what Duan Yu did in the Tian Long Ba Bu. Moreover, drinking was more about the atmosphere than competing. Wuzhiqi drank the strong liquor freely, and seeing his enjoyment, Wei Yuan went out again and bought cooked food such as roasted meat and roasted chicken.

Wuzhiqi swallowed these meats in one gulp.

The wine and meat after thousands of years made this ancient great demon and god of calamity extremely happy.

Wei Yuan casually took out the jade dragon he had just obtained. Based on his understanding of ancient history, he could only tell that it was roughly in the style of the Warring States period. As for the specific year and its characteristics, he couldn't see it. He held the jade pendant and handed it in Wuzhiqi's direction, saying, "Do you recognize this thing?"

Wuzhiqi only glanced at it and shook his head, saying, "I don't know."

"Judging by its appearance, it should be jade from Mount Kunlun."

Kunlun had jade.

Wei Yuan made a slight guess, feeling puzzled. Could this really be Yinglong Gengchen's ornament? But Yinglong himself was a dragon, a dragon god. A dragon god wearing dragon jade seemed a bit strange. Moreover, with Yinglong's aesthetics, he should be more inclined towards ancient styles, and he might not like the style of the Warring States period.

He stroked the jade stone, thinking of what Nu Jiao had once told him, that ancient artifacts often contained the thoughts left by different people, allowing one to see the past experiences. This jade stone obviously also had a similar aura wrapped around it. After a moment of pondering, he looked at Wuzhiqi and said, "Let me take a look."

Wuzhiqi waved his hand.

Wei Yuan sat down calmly, his right hand holding the jade artifact. At the same time, the Crouching Tiger waist tag lit up slightly.

The ghost-repelling divine power could be used in this situation.

Wuzhiqi's golden eyes glanced at Wei Yuan, who had closed his eyes, his face full of strangeness.

"You're really not afraid of death."

He chuckled and naturally looked away, simply drinking and eating freely.

……………………

Wei Yuan's consciousness merged with the most intense aura remaining on the jade pendant.

His vision gradually changed, as if looking at picture after picture from the jade's perspective, seeing story after story.

This was an ancient jade, obtained by King Mu of Zhou when he went to Kunlun to meet the Queen Mother of the West. However, the Queen Mother of the West in the legend who had known King Mu of Zhou was not the Queen Mother of the West in Wei Yuan's memory, but there was no doubt that she came from Kunlun Void. This jade stone was obtained by King Mu of Zhou from her.

A celestial maiden from Kunlun fell in love with the king of Shenzhou.

'White clouds in the sky, mountains and hills emerge on their own. The road is long and distant, with mountains and rivers in between. If you do not die, will you ever return?'

King Mu of Zhou never went to Kunlun Void again.

This jade stone always remained in the Central Plains.

Then it was passed down from generation to generation, through generations of emperors. Many figures passed by, but none left a trace on this jade. It was carved into a dragon in the year Goujian became the hegemon, but even that overlord did not leave too much of a mark on this jade.

After all, this was jade stone from Western Kunlun.

Large swaths of emperors, generals, and heroes only left a shallow aura on it. Hundreds of years passed by quietly, sealed in a box, dark and without light. The weak jade spirit did not know how much time had passed. Someone obtained it, and soon it changed to another owner.

Among these owners, there was even a King of Zhou wearing a冕旒 (miǎn liú, imperial crown).

It didn't care about these dignitaries at all.

When it was once again placed in a box for a long time, it was selected as an ornament and had a new owner. He opened the box and placed it on the table with many other solemn jade artifacts. A man faintly walked by. He was wearing ink-colored clothes and a sword at his waist. That sword was longer than other longswords.

An old voice earnestly advised, "Your Majesty, you are going to sacrifice to the Huai River God. This is the god of the Four Rivers. At least at this time, you have to wear these twelve-chapter garments, and this imperial miǎn liú (imperial crown). This is where the majesty of the emperor lies. It is a symbol of the hearts of all the people and what all the people want..."

He had in his hand a set of clothes that were more complex and heavier than the clothes on the man's body, with patterns of the sun, moon, and stars, extremely majestic. There were twelve tassels on the jade miǎn (crown). The jade spirit had an impression of this. It seemed that countless people wanted to obtain these things.

Even its original owner had been surprised to meet King Mu of Zhou who was wearing this outfit, and this outfit represented status and majesty.

However, the man wearing ink-colored clothes didn't care, but said, "I established the country with the sword, and became emperor since the Warring States period. If this thing is what all the people want, how did Zhou perish?"

The old minister was speechless and could only kneel on the ground and kowtow:

"The miǎn liú (imperial crown) was created by the Yellow Emperor. The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, generation after generation, it has been the established rule."

The man held his sword and looked back: "What if the miǎn liú (imperial crown) was created by the Yellow Emperor?"

The old minister was stunned and panicked.

The man said naturally, "Firstly, my Great Qin unified the world from the Warring States period. Zhou has been abolished, and the rites of Zhou should be destroyed. Why is this so-called chapter garment and miǎn liú (imperial crown) still here? What if it was the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors? My achievements far surpass theirs. Secondly..."

The man casually placed the extremely luxurious imperial miǎn liú (imperial crown), which had been passed down from the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, on the head of the kneeling minister.

The minister was shocked and his face turned pale. The jade beads of the miǎn liú (imperial crown) shook for a while.

The man, who still looked young, only laughed loudly:

"If you wear it, you will know that the twelve tassels in front and behind are too heavy on the head."

"I don't like it."

The man stepped out with his sword. He only wore a coronet and a black xuán (dark-colored formal attire), but when his eyes looked straight ahead, one by one, the soldiers wearing black armor knelt on the ground, all with fanatic expressions. The jade spirit knew for the first time that the real emperor didn't need the so-called twelve-chapter garment, nor the miǎn (crown) with twelve tassels...

Clothing became noble and magnificent because of the emperor.

Instead of the emperor becoming great because of this clothing.

He worshiped and sacrificed on the banks of the Huai River, sacrificing to the gods of the Four Rivers.

The man held his sword, holding wine, looking at the turbulent river, and said:

"I wish that the world and the four seas will be peaceful and without waves, and that there will be no more disasters in the Huai River."

"The Huai River God should know of this sacrifice."

After the sacrifice, he threw the jade stone and wine into the Huai River.

Such a sacrifice left the weak jade spirit at a loss. It had never seen such a sacrifice since it came to Shenzhou. Immediately, the man crossed the Huai River and arrived at the land of the Xiang River. Originally, he was going to return to the capital along this place, but when crossing the Xiang River, a huge wave suddenly rose on the Xiang River.

Even a general who had fought hundreds of battles could not suppress this wave, which forcibly blocked the man's footsteps.

The man summoned the old minister and asked, "Who is the Xiang River God?"

The old minister respectfully replied, "It is said that she is the daughter of Emperor Yao, the wife of Emperor Shun, and was buried here, becoming the Xiang River God and receiving sacrifices." The old erudite official hesitated for a moment, but still kowtowed and said:

"Your Majesty, you once claimed to be as meritorious as the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. I'm afraid this has caused trouble, causing the Xiang River God to be unhappy. If you want to remove this difficulty, you can issue an edict of self-reproach, or you can humble yourself to show the world, appease the hearts of the remnants of the various countries, and also quell this disaster."

The man asked, "I have unified the six kingdoms since I destroyed them, standardized writing and cart tracks. Do you know why I sacrifice to the gods when I go on tour?"

The erudite boldly said, "Is it like when the Son of Heaven of Zhou ascends the throne to sacrifice to the gods? Respectfully offering the five livestock of the human world and various sacrifices, using elegant music to please the gods, and to beg the heavenly gods to take care of Shenzhou, to avoid disasters and have good weather?"

The man said with a smile, "You're wrong."

The old minister was surprised. He couldn't sleep at night, not knowing what the king meant, but the next day he finally knew.

The next day, the king pointed his sword forward. Under the wind and rain, the long sword named Tai'a remained motionless, revealing its coldness in the storm. His eyes were calm, just like when he looked at the six kingdoms and the world. On this day, the king ordered three thousand convicts to cut down Xiang Mountain.

Cutting down the mountain left a step of leeway, without destroying the temple.

So the river calmed down, without waves. He calmly returned to the capital and said to the old erudite official:

"There are too many characters in the world, so the various countries cannot communicate, so writing must be standardized. The cart tracks of the various countries are different, which affects postal transmissions, so the cart tracks must be standardized. The various countries all have gods to worship. Now that Shenzhou is unified, if the people of the various countries still worship according to the past, there will be great disasters."

"They are all my Great Qin people and should have the same sacrifices."

The old official suddenly understood something, his face turned pale, and he knelt trembling on the ground.

The king put his hand on his shoulder and pressed down, turned around with a calm expression and left, saying:

"Those who obey Qin are proper sacrifices, and those who oppose Qin are licentious sacrifices. Since they are licentious sacrifices, they should naturally be eliminated. I know what that sentence in your mouths means, but for these so-called gods and deities scattered throughout Shenzhou, I only have this one sentence."

"Those who obey me will prosper."

"Those who oppose me will perish."

The old official kowtowed to the ground and did not raise his head for a long time. The next day, he resigned from his official position.

The true spirit of the jade dragon was completely convinced by this and felt surging emotions.

'Since I was born with the shape of a dragon, I should have the measure of such a person, so be it!'

Although he hadn't been worn by that man for a long time, he never forgot that figure. Even when his true spirit manifested, he subconsciously materialized the dark xuán (dark-colored formal attire) that the man wore back then, but out of guilt, he subconsciously changed it to a more prosperous imperial attire.

Only fourteen years later, Xianyang was broken.

Liu Bang of Pei, who killed the son of the White Emperor, and the overlord who had the strength to lift tripods and roamed the world.

Zongheng Bairuhe, the unparalleled military immortal.

Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, who, though in the folk, had the aura of dragons and snakes.

Zhang Han, the last famous general of Great Qin.

After the Ancestral Dragon returned to heaven, the heroes lurking in Shenzhou appeared one by one, as if they had never existed before, making people dare not believe why these heroes and talents who had stirred up the world in the past decades had been unknown.

And this jade was swept away and eventually fell into the water and into the hands of another man.

The Water God of the Huai River, Yinglong Gengchen. After that, it continued to practice beside this new owner, until one day, the expression of the Yinglong who had always controlled the Huai River to prevent it from rioting changed. A magical message from a distant area was transmitted to him.

"Kunlun is in trouble."

ps: Qin took the throne as the Son of Heaven from the Warring States period, abolishing the rites and studies, and all the sacrificial clothes were made of xuán (dark-colored formal attire). The Han inherited the Qin system.

After Qin Shi Huang unified the world, he never wore the miǎn liú (imperial crown) again.

So he went southwest across the Huai River, to Hengshan and Nanjun. He floated on the river, to the Xiangshan Shrine. He encountered a strong wind, and almost couldn't cross. The emperor asked the erudite, "Who is the Xiang River God?" The erudite replied, "I heard that she is the daughter of Yao, the wife of Shun, and was buried here." Thereupon the First Emperor was furious and sent three thousand convicts to cut down all the trees on Xiang Mountain and redden its mountain. - Records of the Grand Historian