“…That’s how everything happened.”
That night, many people could not sleep peacefully.
Wang Yu, within the study from last time, nervously reported to Wang Su: “The people I have stationed at the Prefect’s mansion have secretly sent word. The Prefect has directly approved the verdict: the principal offender is to be executed posthumously, and the two accomplices shall each receive eighty strokes and be exiled for three thousand li!”
“Li Zhen has always been against my family; encountering such a matter, it’s already fortunate he didn’t take further advantage… I understand now. You may leave.”
Wang Su waved his hand, signaling Wang Yu to bow and exit.
Only after stepping outside the door did Wang Yu let out a long breath, murmuring, “Unexpected…”
Indeed, it was unexpected. Previously, it was merely a servant’s unauthorized action, hinting to Zhou’s family in the county to secretly handle the matter. If it failed, it could still be understood.
But this time, it was on Wang Su’s orders, with several senior attendants working together, yet it ended up like this—it truly astonished him.
“Could it be that Wu Qing’s woman possesses such strong auspicious fortune and fate? But as long as the grand scheme remains in my grasp, I have nothing to fear!”
Wang Yu clenched his fists, his eyes burning with ambition.
The earth’s veins and water veins are where spiritual energy gathers, thus possessing dragon qi.
Throughout Chufeng Commandery, Wang Zhong serves as the City God, slightly influencing the earth dragon.
But the Nulong River’s water vein is the water dragon itself!
At this Gate of the Dragon Assembly, if he could seize the top position, he would certainly release the white dragon, settling this century-old karma!
Everything had been planned long ago, reportedly arranged by the ancestral patriarch, Wang Zhong.
The white dragon had committed sins in the past, so it was suppressed, but gradually its transgressions were being cleansed. Releasing it now would both follow the will of heaven and resolve old grudges.
With the Wang family’s assistance, the white dragon naturally could no longer seek revenge against them.
And after reclaiming the fortune that suppressed the white dragon, once the karmic debts were settled, Wang Zhong would surely solidify his position as the City God, subtly controlling the earth’s energy.
Combined with the power of the water vein’s dragon qi, it would achieve the harmony of yin and yang, bringing great fortune! It could even influence the mortal world, determining the fate of Chufeng Commandery and laying the foundation for a regional military governor!
If successful in establishing autonomy, true power and prosperity would be theirs, and a mere Wu Qing would be nothing!
Before that, naturally, no one must be allowed to interfere!
“As for Wu Ming… certainly not!” In Wang Yu’s eyes, ambition burned like fire.
Bang!
At that moment, a dull sound came from behind, interrupting his thoughts and making Wang Yu snap back to reality, quickening his pace and leaving hastily.
“Fool!”
After Wang Yu left, Wang Su’s composed demeanor finally cracked, revealing a trace of ferocity.
A high-quality, jade-white paperweight was hurled to the ground, shattering into pieces.
“And that Shen Hongzhao is a failure too!”
Wang Su gritted his teeth, almost spitting out those words between clenched jaws.
The failure of the plan and the loss of several subordinates were not major setbacks. However, the capture of Shen Hongzhao and the witch-woman was a real blow to his heart.
The witch-woman was skilled in black magic, having cultivated to the point where she could harm people in broad daylight and suppress martial cultivators—truly a rare talent who had done much covert work for the Wang family.
Nurturing her to such a level had cost the Wang family dearly, enough to cause serious pain.
Even more critical was Shen Hongzhao!
A martial grandmaster—there were not many like him in the entire Chufeng Commandery!
In the past, to win him over, the Wang family first secretly framed his elder brother, then publicly rescued him, pulling his brother and several martial companions out of death row, giving them land, people, and generous wealth. It had taken significant effort to gain his unwavering loyalty.
The purpose was to use him as a secret weapon during critical moments, like Jing Ke attempting to assassinate the King of Qin!
With the Wang family’s support and a grandmaster in action, there had been a fifty percent chance of successfully assassinating Prefect Li Zhen!
Who could have imagined that such a minor mission would fail, and not only fail but also result in his death?
Now, with his death, many plans immediately collapsed, and the hassle of reorganizing them was enough to give Wang Su a headache.
“This brat! I must kill him!”
Wang Su’s face twisted with rage as he swore vengefully.
…
As for how the Wang family would react, Wu Ming didn’t even bother to care.
After resting the whole night, the next day he leisurely brought Wu Tiehu to Longmen Gorge.
Upon entering the gorge, towering peaks rose on both sides, their sheer cliffs reaching into the clouds, facing each other in majestic splendor. Green bamboos and hanging vines swayed gracefully.
Climbing gradually up a stone staircase of more than three hundred steps, the view gradually opened up. Accompanied by a thunderous roar in the ears, a grand dam appeared in full view before Wu Ming.
The dam stood along the gorge, eight zhang high, seven zhang wide, and three zhang thick. It resembled a giant standing between heaven and earth, or the mighty Mount Tai, solemnly towering as if it had existed since ancient times, exuding an aura of unshakable strength.
The roaring waters of the Nulong River, which surged through the gorge, became even more turbulent, yet were all calmed before this mighty dam, transforming into gentle streams that nourished hundreds of miles of farmland downstream.
Upstream of the dam, a vast lake had formed. The lake water was crystal clear, green and bright, like jade and crystal. Strange rocks lined the shores, creating a breathtaking spectacle of natural beauty.
Every summer, countless scholars came to visit. There was even a poem describing the magnificent waterfall:
Splitting the azure sky,
Pouring forth a ten-thousand-zhang spring.
Like cutting a strip of silk,
Hanging in the autumn sun.
“Grand indeed! With such an achievement, the Wang family truly deserves its blessings…”
Wu Ming sighed softly, observing the sparse crowd at this quiet moment, slowly walking while deep in thought: “Since ancient times, there have been earth dragons and water dragons. This Nulong River is also a dragon vein…”
Beside the dam stood a shrine, before which a stone stele was erected.
Covered in moss, the stele bore the marks of time, yet the inscriptions were still faintly visible:
“In the spring of the third year of Taiping, Wang Hong’an was demoted to govern Chufeng Commandery. The following year, governance was smooth and the people lived in harmony, with all neglected matters revived… In the eighth month of autumn, the Nulong surged wildly. He ascended Longmen, observing at the gorge entrance for a long time, saying: ‘This is the very point where the wrathful dragon charges, precisely where it can be harnessed. Though it will cost the toil of countless people, for the sake of future generations, I shall do it!’… Thus, he mobilized tens of thousands of laborers and eight hundred craftsmen, used over six hundred dan of sticky rice and stone slurry, and completed the project in over a year. The wrathful dragon was calmed, its waters flowing peacefully through the fields. What a great achievement… The people wished to repay him but found no way, so they built this shrine, offering daily homage and reverence…”
With Wu Ming’s divine sight, wisps of white vapor gathered above the stele, forming five colors like auspicious clouds, gently descending—this was the aura of merit.
“And… this stele is only a secondary one! The true stele of merit lies beneath…”
Following the trail of this merit’s energy, Wu Ming climbed high and gazed afar, seeing beneath the emerald lake, hidden deep within endless waves, a stele several zhang tall, jet-black in color, proudly standing with golden characters glowing on its surface:
“Prefect Wang Zhong, by imperial command, slew the water demon and sealed the dragon here!”
Wu Ming read each word, his heart and spirit deeply shaken:
“What majesty! What might! This Prefect Wang Zhong must have been no ordinary governor… A great cultivator? Unlikely! Otherwise, he wouldn’t have died, nor would his position as City God have been unstable even after death… He must have been a man of great fate, born under the stars, whose entire fortune was used solely to suppress the dragon… Hmph… The emperor and the courtiers of that time truly had skill!”
Gurgle! Gurgle!
As if his divine sight had disturbed something, the lake surface began to bubble slightly. In an instant, waves rose and swirled.
A long, distant dragon’s roar echoed from beneath the stele, sending a tremor through Wu Ming’s body.
“What is this…?”
Wu Ming’s eyes widened, his divine vision fully activated. His sight pierced through the nether, revealing a faint white glow beneath the stele.
Within the white glow, a jade-colored dragon appeared, with a single horn, fish-like whiskers, and a snake-like body, bound in heavy chains, roaring fiercely.
Even more, behind the dragon, there lay a ruined spiritual realm, resembling an underwater palace, in tatters. Faintly visible was a plaque bearing four golden characters: “Hebo Water Palace.”
“Goodness…”
Wu Ming covered his mouth in astonishment: “This… even the palace of the River Earl exists, and its descendant has cultivated into a dragon. Was the creature Wang Zhong suppressed truly a water demon, or the River Earl himself?”
At that moment, the golden characters on the submerged stele blazed with brilliant light.
A golden suppression descended, instantly submerging the dragon and the underwater palace scene.
Even on the lake’s surface, an invisible force seemed to pass over, smoothing the water like a mirror, as if the previous whirlpools and waves had been nothing but a dream.
Wu Ming stood silently for a long while before finally exhaling deeply: “The waters here run truly deep…”
The giant stele beneath the lake was clearly the seal upon the white dragon.
Observing it, he saw that it was founded upon great fortune, layered with spells, to suppress the dragon and control the water vein.
Each time the dragon struggled, the enchanted chains and seals would break, requiring constant reinforcement.
“However… this spellwork seems not only to suppress the dragon but also to create a mutual restraint, binding the fortune as well…”
Reflecting on what he had seen, Wu Ming felt a chill: “This is a battle between two dragons! From now on, neither the white dragon nor Wang Zhong’s dragon energy can rise freely!”
“If the seal is ever broken, not only will the white dragon be freed, but Wang Zhong’s fortune will also be released from its chains… And if the one performing the ritual is a blood descendant of his, the benefits would be even greater…”
Wu Ming’s eyes shimmered with thought.
Dragon veins, dragon energy, dragons, city gods, and fortune…
Piece by piece, clue by clue, a dense web of connections formed, allowing him not only to glimpse the hidden struggles of a century ago beneath historical facts but also to see the Wang family’s ambition today!
“No wonder Wang Yu is determined to seize the top position at the Gate of the Dragon Assembly—it was for this reason all along…”
After a long silence, Wu Ming smiled.
Now that he had discovered this, did the Wang family really think they could still gain any benefit?
“Master, it’s getting late. Shall we return?”
Wu Tiehu approached, seeing his young master gazing at the lake for so long, and asked.
“No. I will stay here tonight. Go prepare for it.”
Wu Ming turned around, as if holding the key to wisdom.
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