Chapter 295: The Dragon Lady Queen
Chapter 295: The Dragon Lady Queen
"...It is said that the Jade Water River God was a true dragon descended from the celestial realm, come to purge all evil demons from the world."
"With the thunderous power of storms and the compassionate heart of a Bodhisattva, he sent shivers through the ranks of evil and restored harmony to the human realm!"
"There is a poem in his praise:"
"Sculpted in white jade, his bones are of immortals, the fire of heaven and thunder forge his soul."
"Banishing demons and eradicating evil, he is the everlasting true dragon on the path to the One!"
Along the banks of the Jade Water River, the newly built temple of the river god was adorned with bright lanterns and banners, with a high platform erected in front.
The performance of the opera troupe had just concluded. Amidst the sound of gongs and drums, the host invited the recently popular storyteller Li Bingjun to take the stage.@@@@
This man, once a down-and-out scholar, made a living telling stories in teahouses. Recently, however, his fame spread far and wide by recounting the legendary tales of the river god banishing demons.
The stories of the river god banishing demons he told were full of twists and turns, captivating listeners to the extent that they couldn’t help but praise him.
Now that a new Jade Water River God temple had been built outside the city of Pingyao, the patron had spared no expense to have this man as the final act.
And as Li Bingjun struck the startling wood with a bang and began reciting the legendary tales of the river god conquering demons in a loud voice, a thunderous cheer erupted from the crowd gathered outside the temple.
"Excellent!"
"Excellent!"
The legendary tales of the river god banishing demons were already well known to the villagers of Pingyao City.
But the embellished stories casually shared among the villagers paled in comparison to the thrilling excitement told by a professional storyteller.
Li Bingjun was recounting vigorously on the high platform, and amidst the crowd below, applause and cheers rang out continuously.
On the edge of the crowd by the Jade Water River, a breathtaking figure stood quietly among them.
Adorned in an emerald-green long dress that outlined her slender silhouette, her pale pink tasseled hem fluttered in the breeze, and her flawless white skin seemed almost ethereal.
She stood silently among the crowd, with the Jade Water River not far behind her. Surrounded by many mortals, yet within a yard of her, there was no one to be found.
It was as if all the mortals were subconsciously avoiding her.
Not a single mortal even noticed the presence of this beauty who seemed as if she were a fairy descended from the heavens.
There she stood among the crowd, watching the performance on the distant high platform with great interest, listening intently. Find adventures on novelhall.Côm
"...The story this storyteller tells is indeed very engaging,"
The Flood Dragon, being the subject of the tales, gleefully commented.
Looking from a distance at the storyteller on the distant stage recounting tales, behind him, in the Jade Water River God’s temple, the newly built statue of the river goddess looked immensely sacred in the dim candlelight.
—The day she took human form, all of the statues she had animated also transformed from Flood Dragons into human form.
After such a miracle spread, everyone knew that their Jade Water River was home to a Dragon Maiden Goddess.
In the temples built afterward, the effigies on the shrines were all modeled after her human form.
But no matter how exquisite the mundane craftsmen’s skills were, they couldn’t capture her divine essence.
Now, looking from afar at the statue of the Dragon Goddess in the temple, she shook her head in disappointment.
"It seems tonight’s performance will last a little while longer..."
She couldn’t possibly enter the temple to animate the statue under the watchful eyes of the public, could she?
There were performances at the inauguration of previous temples.
But nothing had been as sensational as this one.
The Dragon Maiden in the crowd turned, ready to leave, unwilling to wait any longer, and planned to come animate the new statue the next night.
There were too many people tonight.
Just as she was about to leave, following the faint moisture in the air, she caught a whiff of a chilly and ominous presence.
This whiff came from a great distance, but the moment she sensed it, it made her scales stand on end.
As the Jiao Dragon Water God, she felt a chill run down her spine.
She abruptly looked up, searching through the crowd with a guarded gaze.
What was this thing?
The presence was even stranger and more peculiar than those demons she hunted.
Benefiting from the moonlight in the night sky, and the torches and candles burning along the riverbank, the Dragon Maiden in the crowd quickly spotted two gaunt figures, one tall and one short, moving through the people outside the Jade Water River God’s temple.
The two figures, pale-faced and emaciated, looked like two moving skeletons.
They wore black robes with their thin hands tucked inside the sleeves, walking shoulder to shoulder with somber expressions, moving through the crowd.
The normally bustling crowd instinctively parted for the two, yet no one seemed to notice these eerie figures.
Following the dampness in the air, she faintly heard the two’s gloomy whisper.
"... With the new temple complete, the Dragon Maiden should come here to reveal her presence and animate it, right?"
FVN