The Sweetness of the Seventies-Chapter 85 River Guardian Beast Statue_1

At the end of the workday, Village Chief Qi shared Director Chen’s praise with everyone. The villagers were delighted, feeling their labor had been recognized. With Director Chen’s commendation from the commune, the villagers’ enthusiasm was once again stirred. They chanted in unison, working together wholeheartedly.

The villagers had also discovered that the stretch of the river they were responsible for contained a lot of fish, whereas other areas did not. The catch from midday was enough for lunch, and everyone enthusiastically caught fish to take home and treat their families to a meaty meal.

The project in Qijia Village was now 1,700 meters complete, with only 300 meters left to finish the task.

This was the eleventh day for Qijia Village. If they finished by tomorrow, and then spent two days checking their work, they estimated it would take only fourteen days in total to complete, six days ahead of schedule.

Finishing early meant not only a reward but also that they could start their winter downtime, free of work for the entire season. Everyone came early in the morning, full of vigor, competing to be the first.

But as everyone was working with great zeal, panic shouts were heard from neighboring Hujia Village, "Someone’s dead, someone’s dead..."

Dredging the river was tiring, but the workforce consisted of strong young and middle-aged people, unlikely to die from exhaustion or the cold water.

The people of Hujia Village hurried to lift the strapping young man, his body covered in dark miasma, to the bank while others, too concerned to continue working, gathered around to see what had happened.

"Quick, get the doctor," Secretary Hu immediately told a young man nearby. "There’s a bicycle over there, ride quickly."

"Yes, Chief," said the young man as he sprinted off to fetch the doctor, as if worried that any delay might lead to his distant cousin’s death.

While everyone was gathered around the unconscious man, another shout rang out, "Someone’s fainted, someone’s fainted..."

After they clumsily carried the second person to shore and placed him beside the first man, it was evident that both were covered with darkness, showing no other injuries, yet they remained unconscious.

One was in his twenties and the other in his forties; both had been in good health before they suddenly passed out. Clearly, this wasn’t a case a barefoot doctor could handle.

Secretary Hu immediately arranged for the two men to be sent to the commune hospital and ordered the area where they had fainted to be cordoned off, warning everyone to keep away from the ominous dark water until the organization could be informed and leadership could provide instructions.

If it had been a simple injury, Secretary Hu could have handled it himself, but with two lives hanging in the balance, he did not dare to make decisions on his own.

After being placed on an oxcart, the two men were rushed to the commune’s hospital.

The other villagers, afraid to enter the water, stood on the bank waiting for someone from the commune to come and deal with the situation.

Village Chief Qi also went over to take a look and upon returning, he urged everyone to be extremely cautious. If dark water appeared, or anything else out of the ordinary was observed, they were to immediately get out and stop working in the water.

He Tiantian was puzzled. In her previous life, she had not heard of any such incident happening during the river dredging in Hujia Village. What on earth was going on?

He Tiantian, who was washing vegetables, muttered a chant in her heart, "Gurulu gurulu mi, I call upon the Snake King for help!"

The Snake King, who was engrossed in his spiritual cultivation within the barrier, opened his small mung bean eyes and asked lazily, "Why are you calling me at this time? Haven’t I already provided you with the fish and shrimp from this part of the river? Isn’t that enough for you to eat?"

He Tiantian, taken aback, asked, "Did you do all this, Snake King?"

He Tiantian couldn’t believe it; she had heard from Director Chen and Secretary Qi that other sections of the river had no fish and shrimp, only theirs did, and she hadn’t believed it. But now that the Snake King had spoken up, He Tiantian believed him.

"What did you think?" Just because it didn’t speak didn’t mean it hadn’t acted. He Tiantian was quite thin, and it hoped she would get a bit fatter, so it could feel a little less guilty after replenishing the Sacred Blood.

"Thank you so much, Snake King, hehe," He Tiantian said gratefully. The Snake King was so good to her; she didn’t know how to repay its kindness. freeweɓnovel.cѳm

"No need for thanks over and over, just tell me, what’s the matter?" the Snake King said, its heart blooming with joy from He Tiantian’s gratitude, but it pretended to be very impatient on the surface, really asking for a beating.

However, He Tiantian was in a good mood and didn’t mind the Snake King’s proud attitude. In fact, the Snake King seemed quite adorable in this light.

"There’s no problem here, but in the neighboring village, while they were working, two people suddenly fainted and turned completely black. I don’t know what happened. There’s a spot in the river where black water is bubbling up, luckily they are downstream. If it had been upstream, our village would’ve been out of luck too. Snake King, with your vast powers, do you know what’s happening?" He Tiantian explained, while subtly flattering the Snake King.

After listening, the Snake King closed its small, chilling green eyes and released its Divine Sense, carefully sensing in the direction that He Tiantian had indicated. After a while, the Snake King opened its eyes again.

"What’s the situation?" He Tiantian asked anxiously, feeling that something strange was going on at the site of the incident, which gave her an uneasy feeling.

"Those two disturbed something that should not have been disturbed, and now they are facing the punishment of the River Guardian Beast Statue. This matter is an act of divine will, and I can’t help," the Snake King said slowly. In the ancient times of this space, there were Divine Beasts as well, but due to the ancient wars, countless battles, and deaths, their numbers drastically reduced. Furthermore, with several changes in the geography, the spiritual energy here became sparse, and many spiritual beasts left this place, leaving behind only unenlightened creatures.

Humans, since that time, driven by environmental changes, gradually gained intelligence, learned to use and create tools, became good at thinking, and slowly became the rulers of this world.

Even though those Divine Beasts and powerful beings left this world, the things they had done still left traces in this place, like the river that hasn’t dried up for tens of thousands of years.

"There are still Divine Beasts here?" He Tiantian asked in surprise. The presence of the Snake King had opened a door to a world of fantasy and the unknown which, beyond her previous understanding, contained much that she had only encountered in mythology novels or TV dramas.

"There are no longer any Divine Beasts here, only a Divine Beast Statue that an ancient power had left to guard the river, inscribed with a spell to ensure that the river stays flowing, doesn’t dry up, and doesn’t flood," the Snake King explained. "From now on, the area within dozens of miles around this spot is likely to be disturbed."

This river, which flows through the entire Taoyuan County, has existed for thousands of years after being repaired by generations, irrigating the fields on both sides of its course and nurturing hundreds of thousands of local residents.

Now that humans have unintentionally disturbed the spell, they must face punishment, and even the Snake King is helpless. What should they do now?

Yet He Tiantian had points of confusion, asking, "Snake King, there have been river repairs here before without any such incidents occurring. What could have caused this?"

He Tiantian suspected that the situation might not be as simple as she thought. Before, she wasn’t privy to these secrets, but now, with the Snake King involved, she hoped to learn more.