[To Become a River of Stars] Dong Xiange - Chapter 26

The dog-headed eel shot straight toward the crying infant with terrifying speed, unstoppable. For a moment, all that could be heard was the heart-rending scream of the mother clutching her child tightly.

Li Xuanci bit his fingertip, smeared the blood onto his blade, and leaped in pursuit.

Just as the mucus-covered monster, baring its fangs, was about to devour the mother and child, his sword arrived even faster.

He didn’t wield it with flourish—instead, he hurled it straight forward. Frosty light glinted like ice as the blood-tipped blade plunged deep into the gills of the eel monster.

Li Xuanci arrived instantly, gripping the deeply embedded hilt. With a sharp twist of the blade, he tore a long, bloody gash across the eel’s body.

His sword was too fast, too sharp. It wasn’t until he withdrew that the tightly sealed wound suddenly gushed thick blood, splattering rapidly and staining the deck in gore.

The dog-headed eel fell, still thrashing. Li Xuanci tapped his toes lightly, springing into the air, and drove his sword straight through its eyeball and into its brain.

The eel’s tail thrashed violently, churning the water and rocking the boat, but under such an assault, it gradually stilled.

Li Xuanci’s youthful face was spattered with droplets of blood. Paired with his eyes, bright as the moon at midday, he seemed less like a mortal and more like something that chilled the heart.

His black boots stepped on the slimy, greyish head of the dog-headed eel. Gripping the hilt, he pressed down with his toe and pulled the blade free from the murky eyeball. Blood sprayed, but he had already withdrawn, untouched by a single drop.

As Li Xuanci stood firm, silence fell for a moment before someone shouted, “Young hero, you are mighty!” and “Thank you for saving us, young hero!”

But he seemed not to hear, his expression icy as he found a clean spot to wipe the mucus from his boots.

Shiliu scurried over, wearing the righteous demeanor of a Taoist upholding justice. In situations like this, the standard procedure was to handle the aftermath, identify the demon, subdue it, and promote the esteemed status of their Zhenyi Sect.

Too bad she didn’t have a horsetail whisk in hand, and she only then remembered she was in casual clothes, not her Taoist robes.

She glanced at Li Xuanci, whose face was as cold as an ice cellar. He was clearly in a foul mood, and if she tried to steal his glory now, she’d likely face punishment. Reluctantly, she gave up this golden opportunity.

The mother, still trembling, came forward to express her thanks. But with one look at Li Xuanci, Shiliu knew he wasn’t the type to accept gratitude. She stepped in front, intercepting the thanks on his behalf.

The woman rambled about wanting to erect a golden statue for the young hero and lamented her decision to return to her mother’s family home that day, knowing the waters had been unsettled. She said if her child had been eaten by the monster, she would have thrown herself into the water and ended it all.

Shiliu cut short her babbling, seizing on one point, “Unsettled? How so?”

Seeing her interest, the woman poured out everything like beans from a bamboo tube. She explained that several recent incidents had occurred on the water—first, an experienced old fisherman went out on his boat and never returned, then a cargo ship sank, costing several lives.

And there were other such cases. However, they had all involved fishing boats or small cargo ships. No one could have predicted that a large passenger vessel like this, carrying so many people, would meet with disaster.

Shiliu pondered silently, careful not to let her thoughts show, afraid of frightening the already terrified woman.

Fishing boats, cargo ships, and now a passenger vessel—the boats were getting larger and the number of people becoming more and more.

She had checked the county records. These waters near Tongzi County had always been calm, and the people living here depended on the river for their livelihood. This aquatic monster must have emerged recently, growing larger and more insatiable.

But dog-headed eels mostly inhabited the sea, and this was only an inland river—how could such a massive one appear here? It was far too strange.

After sending the frightened woman away, Shiliu racked her brain, recalling all the books she had read. None mentioned a dog-headed eel that could be controlled or commanded by humans.

Yet, it was equally hard to believe that this massive water monster, larger than any found in the sea, had naturally emerged in this freshwater river.

Shiliu remembered the fragmented phrases from the letter she had seen in the study and wandered over to Li Xuanci.

Her lips moved several times, but she didn’t dare admit she had peeked at his letter.

Before she could muster the courage, Li Xuanci pinched her lips with two fingers, squeezing them into a shape like a flat-billed duck. Frowning, he no longer seemed as cold as ice but carried a hint of mortal irritability—though it felt more like the annoyance of a scholar splashed with washwater by an early-rising housewife, laced with a bit too much disdain.

The “flat-billed duck” felt somewhat wronged. She widened her eyes in protest but instantly felt the pinch tighten.

“Dare to vomit, and I’ll throw you to the fish,” he said coldly.

Wronged, so wronged! She was just feeling guilty, not nauseous. But he wouldn’t let go, and with no way to speak, Shiliu could only wave her hands vigorously, firmly denying the accusation.

Li Xuanci gave her a scrutinizing look before releasing her, promptly wiping his fingers behind his back as though bothered by the contact.

Shiliu was speechless. Did he despise her that much? If he thought she was dirty, why pinch her in the first place?

Having been teased like this, she abandoned any pretense of politeness, a surge of defiance rising in her. She blurted out bluntly, “You came to investigate this, didn’t you?”

Then she mentally added: And you came in secret, no wonder you’re traveling incognito. So stingy and shady.

Conveniently forgetting that she was the one who had snooped.

“Has that scrambled-egg-yolk brain of yours finally caught on?” Li Xuanci curled his lips into a mocking smile, taunting her.

Even a scrambled-egg-yolk brain would have pieced it together by now.

In a place where life revolved around the water, where livelihoods depended on it, how could the local authorities not notice such strange occurrences? And why would Li Xuanci conceal his identity to investigate quietly?

Naturally, he suspected the local officials.