The Unruly Immortals

"What is... this... thing?"

Seeing those eyes, Li Huowang had a strange feeling; he felt as if his thoughts slowed down, and everything around him became wondrous. At that moment, it was as if he was not lying in the water, but floating in midair.

The silt at the bottom of the lake began to surge, the muddied water quickly rising to the surface along with the seven oddly writhing eyes.

When the silt completely enveloped Li Huowang's body, he saw a massive, ugly, rotting mouth larger than a mountain, and from deep within the throat of that great maw, dense clusters of barbed black tentacles emerged.

"No... can't... like this..." Li Huowang mustered all his strength to draw the Longsword from behind him.

Just as he managed to stand and aimed for his own neck, the tentacles instantly wrapped around him, driving the sharp barbs deep into his body and violently pulling him into that gaping maw.

Watching the churning mud in the distance and the struggling crowd in the water.

Standing on the small rowboat, Yuan Er, with a hint of trepidation, looked towards the elderly man he was supporting by his side.

"Great-grandfather, let's go back. With the River Lord there, they are surely doomed."

The old man gave him a cold glance and forcefully withdrew his hand, "Back to the village!"

Hearing the anger in the old man's voice, Yuan Er panicked.

But right now, he could do nothing else except to put two fingers in his mouth and blow a whistle for retreat.

The small rowboats quickly changed direction, weaving through the dense Reed Marshes.

The Reed Marshes were vast, a natural maze.

But the Yuan Family was born and raised here, intimately familiar with this place.

After navigating the twists and turns for a while, the small fleet of rowboats finally arrived in front of a small island woven from reeds. This was their home.

The entire island, including the small village on it, was made from woven reeds.

The scene looked spectacular to outsiders, but Yuan Er had grown bored of it long ago; he now had other things to worry about.

Watching the great-grandfather walking towards the village using his cane without saying a word, Yuan Er bit his lip and quickly followed.

The other Yuan Family members seeing this, silently followed suit, and the whole atmosphere in the water village became somewhat oppressive.

The village didn't seem big on the outside, but inside, it was quite spacious, even having space to raise pigs and ducks.

Eventually, Yuan Er followed his great-grandfather to a large hall, constructed with a framework of giant fish bones and woven reeds.

Inside, candles and incense were lit, and at the center of the hall, a lifelike ink painting of a carp leaping over the dragon gate hung, with five pairs of spirit tablets placed beneath it. This was the Ancestral Temple of the Yuan Family.

"Kneel down to the River Lord and our ancestors!"

With a solemn expression, Yuan Er's knees buckled, and he immediately knelt down, kowtowing deeply three times towards the spirit tablets.

At this moment, he was no longer the imperious boat captain from the boat, but a junior waiting to be punished for committing a grave mistake.

The elderly man walked back and forth several times before suddenly raising his rattan cane and ferociously striking Yuan Er's back and head.

The blows were delivered with immense force, and in no time, they broke Yuan Er's head open and covered his body with bruises.

But even so, Yuan Er, clenching his teeth, did not dare move at all.

It was only after the old man became tired, leaning on his cane and panting heavily, that Yuan Er turned around and kowtowed deeply to the old man. "Great-grandfather, I was wrong."

"Tell me, where did you go wrong?" the old man demanded, glaring at him.

"I was too reckless. I didn't figure out the details of the seedlings and rashly attacked the nest. I didn't expect the nest to have hard cases. Those dozens of brothers who died, including the two nephews and nieces for the deity sacrifice, it's all my fault."

"Hmph! So you do know!" The anger on the old man's face slightly diminished.

After a while, Yuan Er's expression struggled a few times before he spoke with full reluctance, "But I had a face-off with that Taoist before, and that kid didn't match at all!"

"Puchi." With that sound, the head of the walking stick jabbed straight into Yuan Er's left eye, bursting it violently.

"Ahh!!" Yuan Er, in agony, clutched his blinded eye and rolled around on the ground in pain.

But after a few rolls, he stopped caring about his injury, steadied himself, and knelt again, kowtowing deeply to the old man.

Looking at the younger generation before him, the old man sighed with worry.

"Second lad, don't think that just because you've harvested rice a few times by yourself, you can look down on heaven and earth with such a stifled attitude. Our business may seem like easy money, but it's not easy to last long. You need sharp eyes and quick hands!"

"I had originally planned to pass on the family business to you, but you've done wrong and still blame others. I really can't rest assured with your character."

Hearing this, Yuan Er's expression became panicked, and quickly, ignoring the pain, he said, "Great-grandfather! I was wrong, I truly know my mistake! If I ever blinded by mistake again, you can blind my other eye, and I won't say a word."

"One eyeball to compensate for several dozen lives? Wishful thinking!"

As the old man with a gloomy face waved his hand lightly, two people emerged from the crowd outside that had been watching the scene, carrying plates with various strange white fish bones.

"If you commit a crime, you must be punished. That's the rule everywhere, and the Yuan Family is no exception. If you can endure the 'Leaping Dragon Gate,' this matter will be considered over, and you'll still be the one to take over the family. But if you can't endure it, I'll give you a proper burial."

Seeing the eerie bone spurs approaching his skin, Yuan Er's body shivered uncontrollably, but the old man beside him snuffed out even the slightest thought of fleeing.

The twisted and contorted bone spurs slowly cut open the skin, sliced through the muscles, and eventually stuck to the human bones.

Just as Yuan Er clenched his teeth, preparing to endure the torture that was to come,

A shout from outside saved him. "Great-grandfather! Something terrible has happened, you have to come look! The lake water has turned red!"

When a crowd of people rushed to the shore of the island, they were so frightened they stood there without uttering a word.

They saw the entire Reed Marshes' lake water dyed a dark red, and a strange, fishy smell filled the air.

The other people, at a loss, instinctively looked towards the keystone of the entire village, their great-grandfather.

The old man's expression shifted rapidly before he gestured with his hand, "Open the altar and burn incense!"

Before long, the incense and offerings were ready, and a group of people knelt there, continuously kowtowing to the reddened lake water.

As the old man saw that the lake showed no signs of fading color, he decisively turned around and walked toward several women holding children.

The children had already been changed into brand-new clothes. Their hair was tied into two horn braids with red thread.

The old man solemnly picked up a red pen stained with cinnabar and gently dotted the center of the children's foreheads.

The two children, oblivious to what was happening, giggled merrily.

The old man stroked their heads with his hand and then sighed softly, unable to bear watching, he closed his eyes. "Go on."

Two young men beside him snatched the children, not yet three years old, from the arms of the weeping and screaming women and carried them toward the lakeshore.

Just as they reached the edge of the lake, raising the boys and girls in their hands, they suddenly stopped.

"Hmm?" The old man squinted towards the dark red water, as if something was about to come out.

Before the watchful eyes of everyone, a Taoist, drenched from head to toe and head hanging low, emerged from the water with something stuck around his neck.

Upon closer inspection, the old man realized it was a Longsword entangled with water plants.