Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Clearwater Divine Lord

The silver carp spirit was clearly not something even Liao Chen could dispose of so easily. As countless divine thunderbolts of the water surged in, it stamped its feet and vanished at once into the lake bottom. It was obvious that this fish spirit was adept in earth burrowing, slipping into the deep sediment in the blink of an eye. The water thunder lost its target and could only blast the area where the silver carp spirit had stood, tearing open a dense scatter of pits in the mud.

Seeing that his thunder technique had failed, Liao Chen was not surprised. His string of copper coins also lost the chance for a fatal strike and swept back again. Liao Chen’s spiritual sense began sweeping the surroundings again and again, waiting for the silver carp spirit to reappear.

He remained on guard, and nearby several water arrows quietly took shape, slowly closing in. This was the advantage of fighting at the bottom of the lake. The water arrows were formed from lake water itself, indistinguishable from the water around them. Who could possibly tell? Even after Liao Chen’s spiritual sense passed over the area several times, he found nothing unusual. Only when they were within about ten meters of him did the arrows suddenly accelerate, dragging long strings of bubbles through the lakebed as they shot toward him.

Liao Chen was greatly startled. Before he even knew where the ambush had come from, it was already too late to dodge. He could only force his power into the copper coins, making the protective shield around him even sturdier. The water arrows slammed head-on into the golden light of the shield, erupting with sharp hissing sounds like fine needles piercing thick oxhide. Astonishingly, two of the water arrows actually pierced through the shield and stabbed toward his flesh.

Fortunately, though the shield failed to stop the attack outright, it had greatly weakened the force of the arrows. Liao Chen hurriedly raised his sword of copper coins in front of his chest. After two crisp clangs, he finally managed to block them.

But before he could even breathe a sigh of relief, the current around him suddenly surged violently, churning up whirlpools on the lake bottom. They swept up shattered stones and rushed at him. Though they could not injure him, they were enough to bind his hands and feet and keep him busy fending them off.

Liao Chen forcibly steadied himself. The golden core within him spun rapidly, and his surging spiritual power began coursing through his entire body. In an instant, the golden light of the shield on the copper coins flared brilliantly. All the swirling currents that came near him were suppressed by force, and Liao Chen once again took out a water-blue talisman.

At its burning, a burst of golden light flared forth, and a towering armored general appeared out of thin air. He did not even glance at Liao Chen. His divine eyes shone as he suddenly roared, "Demon, where do you think you are running!"

With that, he raised the heavenly measure and struck to the left front. A beam of divine light shot out, and the silver carp spirit was forced to reveal itself in utter disarray from a mound of mud.

Seeing Heaven’s Marshal descend, the silver carp spirit said nothing. It immediately manifested its true form, turning into a great silver carp over three meters long, its tail lashing furiously. With a rush of water, it vanished in an instant.

Heaven’s Marshal and Liao Chen naturally would not let it go so easily. Just as they were about to give chase, Heaven’s Marshal suddenly turned into specks of golden light and disappeared without a trace, leaving Liao Chen alone standing there, dumbstruck.

To pursue was not right, but not to pursue was not right either. Liao Chen could only resent that he had prepared too few Heaven’s Marshal talismans, and that they were too low in grade besides. This one had still been a talisman he drew when he had only just entered the Dao. He had never expected to suffer for it today.

He considered silently whether he should retreat to the surface first and make proper preparations before returning next time. Yet the silver carp spirit had actually come swimming back again.

It turned out that at first the silver carp spirit really had been frightened half to death. It might rely on favorable terrain to contend with Liao Chen, who was no adept at water fighting, but meeting the commander of the Heavenly River Navy was tantamount to certain death. Fleeing in panic, it discovered that no one was pursuing it. Looking back, it saw that Heaven’s Marshal had already "finished his work and gone home," leaving that dazed Daoist standing there all alone. Overjoyed, it immediately turned back, intending to kill Liao Chen here and seize his golden core to raise its own cultivation.

By then, however, Liao Chen could no longer leave. He could only steel himself and fight on, with water thunder in one hand and sword control in the other. Yet the silver carp spirit was simply too greatly aided by the waters of Dongting Lake. Its many water-manipulating techniques caused one setback after another for the unskilled Liao Chen. He could only fight while retreating, withdrawing toward the surface.

Unfortunately, the silver carp spirit was not fooled. Every time Liao Chen tried to lure it out onto the surface, it would simply give up the chase, leaving Liao Chen only to gnash his teeth in frustration.

Disheartened, he returned to the boat with the monkey and the fox and hurried to shore. At night, remaining on the lake surface was tantamount to delivering oneself to the door, impossible to guard against.

Bringing the two beasts along, Liao Chen sought lodging at an inn, greatly surprising the proprietor. But seeing that Liao Chen was dressed as a Daoist, the man asked no further questions and very warmly helped him take a room. It was best for mortals not to pry into the affairs of the clergy.

That night, after Liao Chen had early on seen to his two "lords" going to sleep, he began preparing talismans in his room. Then came a knock at the door. He opened it and found the inn boy delivering hot water. Smiling, he stepped aside to let the boy in. The boy hurriedly lifted the kettle and was about to pour in the water when Liao Chen’s expression changed. He flicked out a talisman and slapped it onto the boy’s back.

The boy was alarmed, and then his face changed drastically as he let out a scream. Wisps of blue smoke rose, and a huge frog appeared on the inn room’s floor, croaking a few times.

Liao Chen smiled smugly. "You reek of demonic qi, yet you come in the dead of night to bring hot water. How foolish would this poor Daoist have to be to fall for it?" With that, he grabbed the frog, took a jade bottle from his pouch, and tossed it inside. He then sealed the bottle with a talisman, suppressing the frog spirit.

This frog spirit carried bloodlust and was clearly no benevolent creature. Still, keeping it at the Clear Radiance Temple to eat mosquitoes would be quite useful. If it dared to disobey, Liao Chen would not mind letting the fox have a few more snacks.

Early the next morning, Liao Chen asked the innkeeper whether there were any gods, demons, or the like around Dongting Lake. Who knew that upon hearing this, the innkeeper’s face would change drastically, and he hurriedly made a shushing gesture. Only after a long while did he cautiously say, "In Dongting Lake, the most efficacious is Lord Clear Water. Every time storms and waves rise in the lake, the common folk go to the Clear Water Temple to burn incense and pray for peace. Afterward, they even load live cattle, live sheep, and the like onto boats and cast them into the lake’s center as offerings to the Lord. Otherwise, once you go out on the lake, your boat will surely be wrecked and you’ll lose your life. Most important of all, you won’t even be able to find the bodies."

Listening silently, Liao Chen finally understood where the bones in front of the silver carp spirit’s cave came from. Dongting Lake was vast, and the boatmen and common folk around it made offerings year after year. Add to that all the shipmen who had perished from its demonic winds, and over several hundred years the number must have been anything but small.

After thanking him, Liao Chen entrusted the innkeeper with caring for his two animals and took out a lump of silver as payment. The innkeeper accepted it with a beaming smile and readily agreed. Liao Chen then left the inn, checked the talismans on his person, and once again headed toward the lakeshore.