chsdbacks Chapter 3 The Role of the Water Source Book
Chapter 3 The Role of the Water Source Book
The rain is gradually weakening.
Mu Yuan sank to the bottom of the water, sat cross-legged in the silt, surrounded by a faint golden light that kept the turbid sewage out.
He saw it.
On the shore, the pregnant woman struggled to her feet, hastily wiped the dirty water off her face, and looked completely bewildered.
"Mother."
A childish voice rang out.
The little girl, A-Yue, also got up from the ground. The moment she saw the pregnant woman, she staggered over and grabbed her leg.
"Ah Yue? What brings you out here?"
The pregnant woman anxiously squatted down, rainwater streaming down her hair.
"Mom has been gone for too long, I'm afraid something might happen to you..." Ah Yue's voice was choked with sobs, her little hands tightly clutching the hem of the pregnant woman's clothes.
The pregnant woman tenderly patted her daughter's head, about to say something, when she caught a glimpse of her exposed ankles!
The black marks were faintly visible.
Her pupils suddenly contracted.
Not a dream.
The cold touch that wrapped around my ankles, the despair of being dragged toward the dark water—it was all real.
Three years! The lives of more than a dozen people!
A sewage ditch no more than two or three meters wide actually... has water ghosts.
But why is she alright?
"Mom, let's go! There are monsters in here..." Ah Yue seemed to remember something too, and she trembled all over, desperately pulling the pregnant woman's hand back.
"Yueyue, you... saw it too?" The pregnant woman's voice was strained.
A-Yue nodded emphatically, her little face filled with lingering fear: "I saw... a big brother shining with golden light hitting a long-haired ugly sister... he spoke."
The pregnant woman was stunned.
"What did he say?"
A-Yue tilted her head and thought for a moment, then repeated it word by word:
"My waters...and evil spirits...dare to touch them?"
The pregnant woman's legs went completely limp.
Not a dream.
That wasn't a dream.
May the river god protect you.
She knelt down in the rain with a thud, clasped her hands together, and repeatedly kowtowed towards the dark stream, her forehead slamming heavily onto the wet ground.
"River God, you saved my family of three! Thank you, River God! Thank you, River God!"
However, just as she was about to kowtow again, an invisible force gently supported her body, preventing her from kneeling down no matter what.
A majestic voice resounded from all directions, as if the stream itself were speaking:
"go back."
The pregnant woman shuddered.
The next instant, a soft golden light rose from the water's surface, like an invisible umbrella, enveloping her and A-Yue!
The rain was kept out, the bone-chilling cold vanished instantly, and a warm atmosphere enveloped the mother and daughter.
"Please protect my child and me... Thank you, River God..."
The pregnant woman's eyes reddened, and she dared not linger any longer. With one hand supporting her waist and the other holding Ah Yue's hand, she walked step by step toward home.
After walking a dozen meters, she couldn't help but look back!
The stream remained murky and black, unchanged, as if nothing had ever happened.
But she knew that the golden light was real.
Only after the mother and daughter disappeared into the alley did Mu Yuan slowly regain his senses.
He took a deep breath, sank to the bottom of the water, and sat cross-legged in the middle of the stream.
The water is dirty.
Fallen leaves, garbage, rotting organic matter... this sewage ditch is filled with all the filth of an old town.
But at this moment, these dirty streams of water were as clear to Mu Yuan as his own blood vessels.
Every tributary, every inch of silt, was his domain.
His divine realm.
"Let's figure out the situation first."
He closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into the depths of his mind.
The book, shimmering with golden light, floated silently in the space of consciousness.
turn on.
This world is not the world he originally knew.
This is a strangely resurrected world.
Ghosts are not necessarily formed from the death of a person.
Just like the vengeful spirit he just killed—it was the original water spirit of this area, which, together with the vengeful souls of those who drowned accidentally, the yin energy of heaven and earth, and the chaotic feng shui accumulated over decades in the old city, ultimately coalesced into a low-level eeriness.
Yin energy, resentment, death energy, malevolent energy... these things that only existed in legends in the original world are terrifyingly real in this world.
And the duty of the Water Source Secretary is...!
He took charge of all the waterways and re-established the Water Bureau.
It's not just the Yellow River and the Yangtze River.
The legendary Yellow Springs that connect life and death, the Naihe River flowing along the banks of the River of Oblivion, the towering Blood River with its blood sea hanging upside down, and the Black Netherworld Water that has fallen to the mortal world!
Wherever there is water, it falls within the jurisdiction of the Water Source Book.
The current state of this world is: Yin and Yang are out of balance, and all waters are out of order.
The Yellow Springs vanished, the River of Oblivion dried up, and the River of Blood collapsed.
The waterways of various places were almost entirely occupied by strange phenomena, the water gods disappeared, and the underworld vanished.
Order has collapsed, and the bizarre runs rampant.
"So... I'm supposed to clean up this mess?"
Mu Yuan stared at the Water Source Book, his brows furrowed slightly.
The pages of the golden book turned slightly, revealing a line of text!
[Merit: 600]
Incense offerings: 2
[Cleric: Unranked Stream Spirit]
[Advancement to Rank 9 - Blasphemy: Consumes 1000 Merit Points]
[Currently available water area: an artificial tributary in the old town (approximately 100 meters)]
The way to become stronger is simple.
Merit is used for advancement in divine office, unlocking skills, and increasing the depth of control over water areas.
Incense was used to strengthen the divine position itself, recruit water soldiers and generals, confer titles upon the River God and Yakshas, and establish its own underworld water bureau.
In addition, by consuming a certain amount of incense, you can also obtain different magical treasures or talent skills from the Water Source Book!
The Book of Water Sources! An existence from the mythical era that controls the flow of water in the world, containing the talents and magical treasures left behind by countless rivers!
Mu Yuan can draw a random number of incense sticks as long as he consumes a certain amount of incense!
Ways to gain merit: Kill evil monsters and save suffering mortals.
The way to obtain incense offerings: by performing miracles, so that people will worship, believe in, and spread the word.
At this moment, as Mu Yuan gained a deeper understanding of the Water Source Book, a piece of information naturally emerged—
[Severe pollution and water quality deterioration detected in the jurisdictional waters; passive skill: Water Purification has been activated]
A faint white light emanated from his body.
That's Xi Ling's passive ability.
Purify water quality.
As the area of purified water expands, more and more people are affected, and the merits accumulated will naturally increase.
If only this deadly ditch, which once claimed more than a dozen lives, could be made clear again!
The residents along the riverbank naturally hold this ditch in awe, and some of the more superstitious ones even build temples to offer incense and prayers.
Add to that the publicity from the mother and daughter, and you have a miracle legend, right?
That's the real incense offering.
Mu Yuan opened his eyes, looked down at the murky sewage at his feet, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.
"interesting."
A path to godhood was laid out before him.
Merit, incense offerings, water deities, and shrines!
Climb up step by step.
"Then there's no reason not to climb."
He closed his eyes, and golden and white light intertwined, spreading outward from his body and slowly seeping into every inch of water beneath his feet.
Dirty fallen leaves, floating garbage, and accumulated sludge!
Those things are still there, but the "essence" of water is being purified little by little.
That is his power.
The power of the stream spirit.
It was also the starting point for him to become a higher deity.