If you can do us a favor and help everyone get through this difficult time, we will definitely remember your kindness for a lifetime."

Shu Ci was clearly not one to be swayed by soft or hard tactics. She sneered coldly and said, "What good is it for you to remember my kindness for a lifetime? Will your memory of my kindness feed me or save me from disasters?"

"Don’t stand here getting in the way, and don’t blame me for not being polite if you keep pestering me!"

Shu Ci, having been accustomed to arrogance in the Demon World, did not consider these words to be excessive toward the Mohe Lord.

Yet when these words fell upon the ears of this group of humans, they were extremely jarring.

This provoked a considerable amount of displeasure among them.

"This woman is so unreasonable, showing such an attitude. If it weren’t for us taking in her and her husband, her half-dead husband would have long stepped into the doors of Yama Palace!"

"Right! Since she’s so ungracious, why should we be polite to her? With so little compassion,

why shouldn’t we just toss her frail husband out of the village and let nature take its course with him?!"

These words were clearly spoken in anger.

But this undeniably touched upon Shu Ci’s Reverse Scale, her eyes seemed to blaze with flame, fierce and threatening: "How dare you!"

"Lady Shu, why do you need to escalate things like this? You just need to cooperate a little, once the ritual is over, we naturally won’t make things difficult for you.

If your ailing husband’s chronic illness relapses due to your stubbornness, that would be regrettable indeed, and this old Taoist would certainly feel quite guilty."

Aged voice echoed as the crowd slowly parted, creating a path.

Old Taoist Huang, wearing an eye-catching new Daoist robe and holding a horsetail whisk, looked earnestly at Shu Ci.

In matters of worldly affairs, Shu Ci was indeed less savvy than a child.

But when it came to schemes and plots, within the Demon World, apart from the Demon Lord, she was unparalleled.

Seeing Old Taoist Huang before her, how could Shu Ci not figure out that he came specifically for her?

A mere mortal dared to scheme against the ruler of Mohe.

Shu Ci was never one to turn the other cheek, and a cold smile spread in her heart.

Since this old Taoist was insistent on proceeding to the riverbank to worship some so-called deity, she had no qualms about sending him on his way.

"Since it has come to this point, I shall not refuse."

Old Taoist Huang was slightly startled, thinking that knowing she was aiming for a personal vendetta, she would definitely put up a fight.

This way, he could use the villagers to give her some trouble.

But unexpectedly, she agreed so readily.

Seeing that she finally relented, the villagers ceased their aggressive behavior, dispersing to their homes to prepare for the ritual.

Led by the five chosen women, Shu Ci followed the crowd toward the riverbank.

Before leaving, she glanced sideways at the old Taoist with an enigmatic and eerie look in her eyes.

Half of her face was cast in shadow, beautiful yet ghostly.

Old Taoist Huang shuddered violently, his expression turning grim.

"Master..." the young Taoist by his side meekly called out, "Isn’t there a chance your plan might go awry? Given the strange happenings in this village, with single women inexplicably disappearing by the river; are we truly going to accompany them on the boat tonight?"

The young Taoist’s voice brought Old Taoist Huang back from his daze, and he frowned and said:

"Don’t make a fuss; you also mentioned it just now, only those alone disappear without reason.

This old Taoist has gathered eight people for a group excursion today; if any demons or chaotic gods are causing trouble, surely no incidents will occur tonight."

Old Taoist Huang squinted: "Moreover, if that guy truly can communicate with birds and beasts as you say, he must possess sorcery and superpowers.

Now, if we can take advantage of his illness and pin these deaths on him, that woman named Shu certainly won’t escape either, resulting in her ultimately being at my mercy!"

The young Taoist looked utterly helpless.

...

...

The crowd soon arrived at the riverside, with Old Taoist Huang leading the way, setting up an altar and performing rituals, theatrically spitting fire to burn the Talisman Sword.

Chanting mysterious phrases that even Shu Ci couldn’t understand.

The old Taoist abruptly widened his eyes: "Clear skies, spiritual earth, burning incense to invite Heavenly Master Zhang, thousand stars Thunder God thousand stars tip, ten thousand stars bright light ten thousand stars illuminate. Hand pressing the treasured sword to cut down evil spirits, if any fierce light is unyielding, stepping on the Evil Ghost to destroy. Divine Weapon, swiftly as the command!"

A great burst of fiery breath erupted from the old Taoist’s mouth, with a terrifying momentum that immediately drew exclamations from those around.

Yet Shu Ci just found it all rather sleepy.

After a ritual chant, the old Taoist shouted: "The time has come."

Then came a nonsensical dance, the legendary shamanistic ritual.

Then he coaxed the ladies onto the hastily constructed boat, which was prepared with sacrificial animals, fruits, and flowers.

The crescent moon gradually covered by dark clouds, the sky turned gloomy.

As the old Taoist used the pole to sail upstream, a loud noise split the thick clouded sky, the world darkened, rain drumming clear waves.

This rain fell fiercely and suddenly, with no warning, catching everyone without umbrellas, soaking them through in an instant.

The old Taoist Huang’s beard was now drooping, his cap wetly askew from the rain, losing all trace of an Immortal’s demeanor.

The cold night, the desolate river, a mournful downpour made the atmosphere inevitably eerie.

The five women brought along for the ritual clasped their arms, shivering in the cold, the lantern hanging on the small boat extinguished by the rain, the surrounding darkness seemed to approach to devour them.

Moonlight hidden in clouds, vision severely limited, darkness shrouded all around, their bodies shivered, frightened, glancing left and right.

At the boarding, they relied on faith in the great magical powers of Huang the Immortal to protect them safe.

But now, in this unknown fear and danger, their hearts chilled with dread.

Shu Ci had the foresight, crouching in a corner, with an iron pot half-covering his head, keeping him from suffering the wind and rain.

These days, the rain has been continuous, clearing only for two days before the nightly downpour resumed, and this rain appeared to be trending toward a torrential one.

On the boat, all began to panic, when a woman timidly spoke:

"Huang... Huang Taoist, has the ritual ended? When can we get ashore, the fruits and animals on the boat are washed into the river, if we don’t get ashore soon, will something unexpected happen?"

Some women began sobbing: "I saw this river during the day, nothing unusual, but tonight it’s terrifying, we sailed for so long, why haven’t we seen the riverbank?"

The frightening part was, looking back, they couldn’t even see the villagers’ lights on the banks they departed from.

All that could be seen was the pitch-black, turbulent river water.

It gave an oppressive sense of despair as if walking on the edge without a path to seek.

Many bizarre black-scaled mysterious fish rushed through the river.

They swore, living in this mountain village for decades, as fishermen on these waters for years.

They had never seen such strange fish full of scale stingers like this night.

Those fish seemed to swim aimlessly, yet under the bamboo boat, they bumped it with loud sounds, loosening the ropes binding the boat.

This unforeseen change heightened everyone’s unease.

The little Taoist clearly was flustered too, shook Huang the old Taoist: "Master, what do we do now?"

Even now, Huang the old Taoist did not forget to maintain his demeanor as an esteemed figure, he pretended to be calm:

"No problem, mundane wind and rain, with my presence, naturally protecting everyone safely."

Though he said so, such heavy rain was indeed not part of his plan.

He had observed the river for a few days, remembering during the night, there’s a turbulent giant whirlpool at a certain spot in the river, if people were caught in it, their lives would surely be in danger.

If this fragile boat were caught in it, everyone on board would inevitably need him to rescue them.

He instructed his disciple to prepare for mechanisms and stakes in the water ahead of time, the old Taoist was skilled with water, using the stakes he could demonstrate his water-walking skills.

Then he would rescue these ladies one by one, except for the Shu mistress.

She alone needed to endure some hardships, beg for mercy, only then would she be obedient and sensible.

But now, with the rain so heavy, the lanterns extinguished, the solitary boat drifted unpredictably with the swift river currents.

No longer knowing its location, unsure if those stakes were washed away by the rain.

The old Taoist felt anxious and uneasy himself, wondering if tonight they really had encountered some unclean thing?