Chapter 100

"Which eye saw it? If it weren't for Gui Le's keen eyes, he would have pulled you out of the fire, and you would already be a roasted ginseng," Gui Gui glared at Xiao Ren San with hatred and continued, "I'm also puzzled. Clearly, it was you who caused the trouble, so why did Yan Aihou drive both of us out?"

"Because without you, the fire wouldn't have started," Wu Mian, who had been quiet, finally couldn't help but roll his eyes at Gui Gui and said, "You're already a few hundred years old, yet you still have ulterior motives when drinking with a child. Diluting your wine is one thing, but later you directly threw Ren San into the wine vat, making him drink it all before coming out. Well, he did drink it all, and the fire did start..."

"That's right, I did that," Gui Gui looked at Wu Mian with an innocent face, scratched his bald head, and continued, "You see, old age really affects memory. I can't remember anything from last night. My two disciples also just stood there watching when Yan Aihou drove us down the mountain. If they had spoken up, maybe Yan Aihou would have been embarrassed and let it go. These two little rascals..."

"If your ancestors' memorial tablets were set on fire, would you plead for the arsonist?" Wu Mian's face showed a hint of helplessness. He glared at the old man and continued, "Even if the tablets were of your juniors and yourself, they are still the closest relatives of your two disciples. But my senior brother did right by them, taking them in for you. You and Yan Aihou... even a blind man would know who to choose."

As he spoke, Wu Mian was very conflicted. Yan Aihou had already decided to tell him about the treasures hidden in the underground palace, but an unexpected incident occurred. His senior brother's face changed, and he not only refused to talk about the treasures but also insisted on driving them all down the mountain. This had nothing to do with Wu Mian, but because of Yan Aihou's words, "You all came together, so you should leave together."

Seeing Wu Mian suppressing his anger, Gui Gui didn't dare to provoke him further. He tried to change the subject, smiling at Wu Mian and said, "We'll come down eventually. It's better to leave early. We still have the map to follow. Where are we going next?"

Wu Mian looked back at the mountain top and turned around, saying, "Wu River."

Two months later, by the Wu River, a group of villagers, led by several people dressed as fangshi (Taoist priests), were building a high platform with stones and wood. The platform was over ten feet tall, covered with red cloth, and adorned with incense burners, sacrificial animals, and fresh fruits. After everything was set up, the fangshi instructed the villagers to kneel behind the platform. One of the fangshi, the leader, climbed onto the platform, closed his eyes, and began chanting to invoke a spell.

Just as he was deeply engrossed in his incantation, he suddenly heard the sound of someone eating. He was startled and immediately realized that his spell must have worked, and the entity he was trying to summon had appeared...

"Everyone, chant sincerely. He has arrived... Whose child is this... How did you get up here... Are there any adults? Watch your child and don't let him eat the offerings."

The villagers, who were kneeling below the platform, stood up and looked around. They saw a chubby child standing on the altar, holding a fruit in one hand and a plump chicken in the other, eating heartily.

The fangshi tried to carry the child off the altar, but as soon as he touched the child, he let out a loud scream and his arm fell limp, as if it had been instantly broken by a blunt object. Without the fangshi's interference, the child continued to eat and drink, and soon most of the offerings on the altar were in his stomach. When he was almost done, he noticed a jar of sacrificial wine in the corner of the altar.

The child didn't hesitate and stuck his head into the jar to drink. At this point, the other fangshi and the villagers couldn't stand it anymore and shouted, preparing to rush up and grab the child.

Just then, an old man and a young man walked up from below the platform. The old man grinned at the crowd and said, "It's just a bit of food. Is it worth getting upset over a child? Besides, I'll personally perform a rain-summoning ritual for you, and it will definitely rain heavily by nightfall..."

"We didn't come to summon rain. If we were, we could use the Wu River water," a leading villager, realizing that the old and young men were not ordinary, held back the crowd and shouted at Gui Gui, "We are summoning a soul. We've been doing this for sixteen years. The fangshi said that today we could summon the soul of the elder. Your interference has delayed us, and we don't know when we can do it again..."

"Summoning a soul in broad daylight," the old man looked up at the sun and chuckled, "Every place has its own customs. I've heard of and seen people doing yin rituals during yang times, but I've never seen anyone summon a soul without any cover. Who are you summoning?"

When the old man asked who they were summoning, the villagers and the fangshi all fell silent. The leaders exchanged glances, and a middle-aged fangshi stepped forward, looked at the old and young men, and said, "Strangers, we'll take our loss today. Don't ask who we're summoning. Continue on your way. Be careful, or you might lose your lives here by the Wu River."

"Old man, look at what this child is holding..." Before Gui Gui could speak, the child on the platform suddenly threw a wooden tablet, which was caught by the young man with white hair. The young man glanced at it and then looked at the villagers and the fangshi, "I didn't expect you to be summoning the soul of the Overlord of Western Chu."

When the child threw the tablet, the fangshi were worried that the inscriptions on it, which only they could read, would be seen by the outsiders. But when they heard the young man's words, they broke out in cold sweat. It was already the Han Dynasty, and the soul of the leader of the Western Chu rebels had not been summoned, which could cost them their lives.

When the leader of the fangshi came down from the platform, he told the villagers that the soul-summoning ritual had been disrupted, and the soul of Xiang Yu had dissipated. He said that the fault was not theirs and that the deposit would not be refunded. No matter how the villagers pleaded, the fangshi ignored them, packed up their ritual tools, and hurriedly left.

Seeing no hope of summoning the soul, the villagers turned their anger on the three outsiders. As they were about to charge, the young man with white hair laughed lightly and raised his hand. A golden, colorful dragon appeared from his palm, flew into the air, roared, and then turned towards the east, disappearing in an instant.

The villagers, stunned, all knelt before the young man. The leading villager prostrated himself and said, "The gods have descended... The gods have come to save us, the people of Jiangdong... Please, great gods, summon the soul of the Overlord of Western Chu..."

These words touched a nerve, and the villagers began to sob. At first, it was just a few, but soon the entire crowd was wailing loudly.

Seeing this, the old and young men exchanged glances. The old man looked up at the child still on the platform and shouted, "Ren San, look what you've done..."