Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The Yangtze River Water God’s name was slowly spreading across the city of Hope. In fact, it was spreading like wildfire.
It was said that the Yangtze River Water God had been born 3,000 years ago. He had been a fisherman who was kind and helpful towards others when he was still alive. He would still be a good man even if he was reincarnated ten times. He was bestowed the title of Yangtze River Water God after he drowned in the Yangtze River, entangled in weeds while he was trying to save a child who had fallen into the river accidentally.
There was another saying that Shen Chang had previously been a big demon who had lived in the Yangtze River for more than a thousand years. A temple was built to worship it, and it was finally given the title of god because it constantly saved those who accidentally fell into the river and used its powers to regulate good weather for the common people living on both sides of the river.
Someone found a small temple covered in vines somewhere on a hill. Stone monuments were also dug up from the mud by the river.
All these rumors seemed to be true. Those who believed them became Shen Chang’s followers. Those who didn’t believe the rumors came to partially believe in them after the overwhelming news.
All of this was naturally a result of the actions of the Southern Sky Group and the authorities. Nonetheless, they still respected freedom of religion and wouldn’t force anyone to believe in anything. However, those who did believe in the Yangtze River Water God could claim a small subsidy from the government every month.
After a period of time, the Water God Religion was formed in the city of Hope. It was almost the official religion of the region.
Despite the internal positions within the Water God Religion being too complex and having only a small number of people, they were all considered elite. At the moment, the position of the leader of the Water God Religion was shouldered by Huang Tao.
The Water God Religion didn’t hold a lot of power because it was understood that too much authority could lead to the downfall of man. Thus, the religion had to accept the control and administration of the government.
The primary task of the Water God Religion was to be responsible for conducting the worshipping activities of the Yangtze River Water God. At the same time, if there was anyone that wanted to worship the Water God individually, that person would be able to reach out to the Water God Religion to be taught how to perform the ritual of worship by the relevant people.
With the passing of time, the reputation of the Yangtze River Water God Religion became greater, to the point that many groups would provide offerings to the Water God before going to Earth Star for monster hunts.
Reinforcements were provided from the Water God or its servants sometimes when they were incapable of fighting while faced with monsters. However, these people started to notice that something was wrong.
For example, the frequency of the Water God’s appearances and his servants were connected to their beliefs, as well as frequency and intensity of worship.
Those who prayed internally and only lit a candle from time to time would only receive reinforcements from a few water monsters from the Yangtze River in times of danger. In other instances, they would be able to cross the Yangtze River safely without being attacked by any monsters in the river.
For those who worshiped more frequently or with higher intensity would receive help from stronger water monsters in times of danger. Sometimes, if they were extremely lucky, the Water God would help them personally. Hence, there were those who felt that the Water God was too biased…
However, there were those that argued against that by saying that in contemplation of the length of the Yangtze River and the immense number of followers of the religion, the Water God couldn’t possibly help everyone at every moment in time. Along the same lines, of course, the Water God would first help those who were stronger believers. To blame the Water God for this would only be the follower’s own fault for not being devoted enough in their belief. Of course, the formation of a new influence or religion was accompanied by many ups and downs.
Once the Water God Religion was on the right track, Gao Peng removed his focus on Earth Star temporarily and brought his familiars to the depths of the Black Fog World to hunt monsters and break them down to be trained and bred as familiars.
Gao Peng left Goldie and Flamy behind to take care of Xiao Cao. Xiao Cao was placed behind Grandpa’s new villa after the grafting process. It was a large open space. There were low hills around to block peeping eyes, and there was even a small stream a distance away.
Goldie ate its dinner and patted its round belly as it stepped out for a walk with a swing in its steps. “Flamy, I’ve finished eating. I’m going out for a walk,” Goldie said carefreely while it pushed its sunglasses up the bridge of its nose.
Flamy turned his head around to glance at Goldie and simply huffed before lowering its head and closing its eyes. Flamy waited for Goldie to venture further before getting up sneakily and quickly scraping the dirt to expose a hole in the earth. There was an iron box at the bottom, half-filled with dried fish.
Flamy looked down at its own round belly as hesitation appeared in its eyes. It then quickly became determined as it convinced itself that it would only have the strength to lose weight with a full stomach!
Goldie didn’t bother to hide and walked on the main road as carelessly as if it was a bully inspecting its territory. Looking left and right, it didn’t even let go of the chance to scare a bird pooping by the side of the road.
“Why are you sh*tting here?! Don’t you know that this is my territory? I sure didn’t allow you to sh*t here. Eat sh*t. You better hold it in!” Goldie picked up a stone from the ground and threw it at the bird, then cackled uncontrollably as it watched the bird fly away in panic while still pooping.
“Caw, caw, caw—”
Goldie cackled as its sense of mischievousness was largely fulfilled. Sweeping a hand across its bald head happily, Goldie continued to walk towards Old Ji’s villa.
There was a shoulder-length haired girl in a long red dress walking in the opposite direction alongside a thin white fish with horns on its head. The water particles from the air were absorbed by the fish and condensed constantly to form a small water bubble that enveloped its body.
Goldie took a short glance before turning its eyes back again. Even though Goldie was usually arrogant, it would never bully other monster trainers, especially those living nearby, because there was no telling if they were Master’s friends. These days, even gangsters were cultured beings.
“Oh, Chubby Boy, my allowance has been spent only on buying you fish, and I only get a million Alliance dollars per month … How about I buy you more fish next month?” Karen Chen sighed. Chubby Boy was too picky in eating and refused to eat normal fish. It would only eat fish at the Commander tier or above.
Commander-tier fish were sold by the pound, so they didn’t come cheap. It would still cost at least tens Alliance credits no matter how small the fish was.
“A million?” Goldie stopped in its tracks as its eyes flashed beneath its sunglasses. It couldn’t resist taking a sharp intake of breath. This girl doesn’t even look that old. I can’t believe she’s so rich! Could she be the legendary Kay?
After turning its head to properly look at Karen Chen, it proceeded to walk towards her confidently. “Hey, little lady, are you buying fish?”
“What?! Ah… Ah.” Karen Chen was stunned by the sudden sight of a talking duck in front of her.
As Goldie’s left hand silently moved into its own pocket, feeling the warmth of the cash between its fingers and its personal savings plan, it came up with a plan. “I’ll sell fish to you on the condition that you don’t haggle with me. Five… six… one thousand! One fish for a thousand!” Goldie gave a ridiculous price.
Initially, being as greedy as it was, Goldie wanted to ask for a thousand and five hundred for a fish, but considering that it could scare her off, it settled on a thousand.
“Goldie?” mused Karen as she began to recognise him even though it didn’t recognize her. There was no one who didn’t know of Gao Peng’s famous familiars.
“Did you say a thousand Alliance credits?” asked Karen, her expression conveying consternation. Her monthly allowance was only a million Alliance dollars, equating to a thousand Alliance credits.
Even though she still had some personal savings, she wouldn’t be able to buy much.
“Alliance credits? I meant Alliance dollars! Don’t think that you can use those worthless things to fool me. Gao Peng already told me that Alliance credits are a scam! I may be a duck, but I’ve seen more than a hundred movies and plenty of television series. My life experience is greater than you can imagine!” Goldie flared up.
Karen Chen was suddenly confused. Do you have some sort of misconception towards the market value of Alliance credits?
Karen Chen thought of something suddenly. Is this how my devious cousin has been tricking this silly duck all along?
Nodding her head without revealing her thoughts, she said, “I’m sorry, Goldie, I misspoke. To show you how sorry I am, I’ve decided to give you an extra thousand Alliance dollars for every fish. I’ll buy every fish for 2,000 Alliance dollars. What do you think?”
Only then did Goldie’s anger dim as it laughed internally. This silly girl. I conned her just by pretending to be angry. This is a prime example of the rich being stupid.
“All right then, but I’ve been busy as of late, so I don’t have the time to fish currently. Leave the money with me, and I’ll go to the river to catch a few fish for you later. Trust me. I won’t cheat you out of your money,” Goldie said as it nodded with satisfaction. It then turned around to walk back.
