[To Become a River of Stars] Dong Xiange - Chapter 42

Everyone was stunned by the sudden turn of events, but no one reacted more intensely than the man. After a moment of stunned silence, his eyes widened in horror, and he threw himself forward, crying out, “Mianniang!”

Ignoring the terrifying, bloody hole in his palm from the sword strike, the grey-robed Taoist gritted his teeth, pulled the sword out despite the agony, and disregarding the blood pooling on the ground, also scrambled toward Mianniang.

But he wasn’t checking on her condition—instead, he frantically searched around her waist, muttering like a madman, “The pearl? Where is my pearl?”

The man held Mianniang with one arm and pushed the evil Taoist away with the other, his eyes bloodshot as he roared, “Don’t touch my Mianniang! I only agreed to this because you promised you could save her! If anything happens to my Mianniang, I’ll tear you to pieces!”

Caught off guard, the grey-robed Taoist stumbled backward, landing hard on his injured hand. Yet he seemed oblivious to the pain, scrambling back up like a man possessed, still muttering, “The pearl, my pearl…”

As the two struggled, the water below grew restless. Though there was no wind, dark whirlpools churned beneath the surface. Only faint ripples appeared above, but the withered branches on the island began to tremble.

The ground beneath Shiliu’s feet shook. Losing her balance, she stumbled forward and grabbed Li Xuanci’s sleeve.

When she looked up, she met his gaze—he glanced down briefly, then looked back at her with a faint, mocking smile.

Shiliu immediately let go.

As if she, Little Shiliu, actually wanted to hold his hand! If she hadn’t lost her balance, she wouldn’t have played the part of an attendant holding his sleeve.

But what happened next wiped all such thoughts from her mind. The sound of roaring waves grew louder, though the water’s surface remained eerily calm.

Then, like a waterfall plunging into a deep pool, water sprayed everywhere, a white ribbon dancing in the sky before falling into the river, shrouded in mist and spray, blurring everything in sight.

As the spray slowly cleared, a dragon emerged—with horns on its head, long whiskers, and sharp teeth!

Even Li Xuanci was rendered speechless by the sudden apparition. Shiliu stood gaping, her jaw hanging open.

Only the evil Taoist, who had grown increasingly frantic as the water churned, now panicked at the sight of the dragon and tried to flee.

But the dragon spoke. Its voice was not as deep as one might expect; instead, it was rather clear and bright, almost like a youth’s—strikingly incongruous with its majestic appearance.

“Stop searching. I have reclaimed my pearl, and today will be your last.” As it spoke, columns of water rose into the air, twisting into chains that shot toward the Taoist.

But the man holding Mianniang paid no heed. He kowtowed toward the giant dragon, tears streaming down his face, and cried, “Great Dragon God, I know my crimes are unforgivable. You may tear me to pieces, and I will not complain. But I beg you, I beg you to save my daughter, Mianniang! She’s so young, she knows nothing—she doesn’t deserve to die! I am willing to descend into the eighteen layers of hell, to suffer eternal torment without hope of reincarnation, if only she may draw one more breath!”

The dragon looked at the little girl in his arms, on the verge of death, and for the first time since its appearance, its storm-summoning, wrathful aura softened slightly. Its bell-like eyes gained a touch of humanity, making it seem less terrifying.

Hiding half behind Li Xuanci, Shiliu poked him in the back and whispered, “Go on, say something.”

“Why should I?” Li Xuanci didn’t even bother turning his head, simply reaching back to grab her mischievous hand. With a slight squeeze, he made Shiliu—still behind him—grimace in pain.

Shiliu retracted her sore hand, rubbing it as she said, “Aren’t you a descendant of dragons too? That makes you almost family.”

This time, Li Xuanci couldn’t even be bothered to acknowledge her.

Finding no help from this “dragon descendant,” Shiliu had no choice but to try her luck with the one in the water.

She leaned halfway out and said, “Esteemed…” She hesitated, choosing her words carefully, “Esteemed Dragon Brother, I know you have suffered injustice. Why not explain the whole story? This… great impartial young master will surely punish this evil Taoist.”

The “great impartial young master” showed no cooperation; his expression was as cold as shattered ice.

The giant dragon remained silent, still staring intently at Mianniang. Noticing this, Shiliu quickly shifted her approach. “I’m not like that evil Taoist—I am from the Zhenyi sect. Judging by the girl’s condition, she must have fallen victim to his sinister methods. If you explain the situation clearly, perhaps I can find a way to break the curse?”

Hearing Shiliu expose him, the evil Taoist turned on her with a venomous glare. “How dare you, you brat! Let me tell you, this girl is as good as dead! Even if I die here today, I’ll drag someone down with me. None of you will get what you want!”

As he spoke, his eyes burned with bloodshot fury, shifting to the dragon in the water. Hatred churned in his gaze, but strangely, it was mixed with a twisted sense of triumph and satisfaction—an eerie combination.

Provoked by his words, the dragon finally spoke. “You have committed countless evils, insatiable in your greed. Today, you will face your retribution!”

Through the dragon’s account, Shiliu and the others finally learned the truth.

It all began six years ago.

Back then, the dragon was not yet a dragon. He had a name—Shuisheng—and was just a young boy living with his younger sister, surviving by cutting grass.

One day, while in the mountains, he encountered a rabbit. He chased it but failed to catch it, instead stumbling upon a patch of exceptionally lush, tender grass. He cut it to trade for rice. The next day, when he returned, he found the grass had regrown completely. Sensing something strange, he dug up the roots and unexpectedly discovered a luminous pearl.

He brought it home and found that placing the pearl in the rice jar made the rice never deplete. Overjoyed, the siblings celebrated their newfound fortune.

Later, during a flood, his softhearted sister shared their rice with others. Unfortunately, the Taoist discovered their secret and threatened the siblings. Shuisheng fled with the pearl, and in his panic, he swallowed it. To his astonishment, he transformed into a dragon.

Once a dragon, he could no longer return to the human world. He fled into the river, eventually becoming—almost by accident—the river god guarding the region. For months, he battled the water monster haunting the river—a Huashe—before finally quelling the floods.

When he finally regained human form and returned to shore, he learned that during his struggle with the Huashe, several more floods—large and small—had occurred. His sister, with no one to care for her, had starved to death in one of these disasters, and her body was never found.

Heartbroken, he could only erect a cenotaph for his sister beside their old home. Every year, on the anniversary of his transformation, he would take human form and spend a day in the place they had once lived together, doing nothing but quietly guarding the old house.

And during one of these visits, the Taoist actually dared to appear. Shuisheng longed to transform and tear the evil Taoist apart, but the Taoist produced a sword, claiming it was forged from his sister’s remains and that her soul had been captured by him shortly after her death.

The Taoist boastfully declared that if Shuisheng dared to sever the sword made from his sister or allow her soul to be trapped forever, he was welcome to kill him.

How could Shuisheng bear it? He had already, in the name of his duty as the “river god,” allowed his only family to perish in floods caused by the very river he was meant to protect. How could he now disregard her soul and remains?

So, the evil Taoist used the sword to forcibly extract the pearl from Shuisheng’s abdomen. Stripped of most of his power, Shuisheng was imprisoned in the woodshed of the county magistrate’s residence.