The Journey of Immortal Cultivation-Chapter 581 - 333: The Reason
They were finally found, and now the village is in trouble. The village chief’s lips quivered, but he didn’t dare to utter a word.
The little girl was laid on the shore by Qi Zai, her eyes tightly shut, her complexion deathly pale, her belly swollen. Her mother let out a wail and was about to rush forward when she was stopped by Ning Xiaoxian.
She expanded her Divine Sense to examine the girl’s condition thoroughly and realized she had indeed fainted from drowning, but fortunately, there wasn’t much water in her lungs, probably because she was very relaxed when she was submerged. If this was in Huaxia, acupressure and artificial respiration would be needed, but thankfully, it was not necessary here.
She propped the little girl up and placed her palm against her back, transferring her own Divine Power to her.
Stimulated by the Divine Power, Raji moved her hands and feet, then suddenly leaned forward and vomited a mouthful of water, which was the accumulation in her trachea and lungs. There was nothing that could be done about the water that had entered her stomach.
But, it was also what saved her. Ning Xiaoxian gently laid her down and ordered the villagers, "Carry her inside and cover her with blankets; she needs nursing care!"
The people around didn’t understand what "nursing care" meant, but no one dared to disobey the order of the immortal. People immediately came forward to lift the injured girl. Raji’s mother then threw herself at her daughter’s side, her eyes brimming with tearful gratitude as she stroked her daughter’s hair over and over again.
Raji knew it was the beautiful immortal in front of her who had saved her, so she weakly expressed her gratitude, "Thank you, immortal, for saving my life."
Ning Xiaoxian shook her head, "It’s a small matter, not worth mentioning, but the wounds on your body have been soaked and need reapplication of the medicine." She turned to the village chief and said, "Where is the medicine I told you to use on her yesterday? Bring it out."
The village chief sheepishly produced the Jade Bottle, which was snatched away by Raji’s mother.
Ning Xiaoxian said to the village chief indifferently, "Why would you use a living person to sacrifice to some Lake God? Tell me everything. If you utter a single lie, I’ll replace her with you as the sacrificial offering to the water."
The village chief shivered and hurriedly divulged the story.
It turns out that the ancestors of Xinghuang Village had made an agreement with the Lake God: as long as the villagers regularly offered sacrifices and did not fish in the lake, the Lake God would ensure the safety of the village. This agreement had remained unchanged for hundreds of years.
Ning Xiaoxian was not surprised when she heard this. The so-called River Gods and Lake Gods were actually demons or spirit monsters. On this continent, not all demons were evil; some were close to humans, and some even became the protective deities of villages and cities. They made contracts with humans for mutual benefits; the villages received protection from the demons, and in turn, the demons regularly received food such as pigs, cows, and sheep to supplement their meals. In the underground river of Rock City that she had visited, Canglong the Dragon had made a pact with the first City Lord to guard the waterway. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚
Xinghuang Village was hundreds of miles away from the nearest city and was practically isolated from the world. In these troubled times, without the protection of the "Lake God," the small village would likely have been trampled by other demons long ago.
However, Raji had recently breached the agreement between the Lake God and Xinghuang Village.
Turns out there were two other villages, one twenty miles away and the other thirty miles away, both of which had unfriendly relations with each other. Especially the villagers from Yibei Village would sneak to Sky Lake to fish during times of famine. This greatly angered the Lake God, who then ordered the villagers of Xinghuang Village not to interact or intermarry with those from Yibei Village.
Yet Raji, a girl from Xinghuang Village, somehow met Kambu, a young man from Yibei Village. The two took a liking to each other and often sneaked out hand in hand. Such matters couldn’t be kept secret for long, and soon the entire village knew. The village chief was furious and had Raji’s mother bring her back home and grounded her for half a month.
It was during this time that strange things started happening.
Wild animals began to wander near the village, and their gazes at the villagers were filled with ill intent. A few days later, leopards brazenly snatched away infants from two families in the village under the cover of night. Such incidents had never happened before with the protection of the Lake God, so Xinghuang Village had never been on high alert against wild animals.
Several days later, the hunting party returned from the wilderness. Most of the men were injured and confessed that the lions, tigers, bears, and leopards in the forests had, for some reason, become especially active and ferocious. The villagers were caught off guard and several were bitten.
Afterward, the most terrifying thing happened.
Someone in the village suddenly fell ill, suffering from headaches and fevers, followed by persistent high fevers. The froth that oozed from the corners of their mouths, if touched by others, would then cause those people to fall ill as well! Naturally, the sick were taken care of by their relatives and friends. Initially, only one person was ill, but this led to more infections, and by the time the village chief realized the seriousness of the situation and quarantined the sick, seven to eight days had passed, and ten people had come down with the disease.
