Out of Longhu Mountain, Yu Fei'er and Wen Yiyang took the waterway according to Elder Yuxu's advice. After several turnarounds, the two finally came to the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, which leads directly to Suzhou City. After two days of non-stop sailing, the passenger ship that Yu Fei'er and the two of them were on finally sailed into the boundary of Suzhou.

Hearing that the boatman said that the passenger ship he was taking was about to arrive in Suzhou City, Yu Fei'er and Wen Yiyang, who were in a hurry, finally settled down, and then they had the mood to pay attention to the scenery on the Grand Canal. In the spring, the Grand Canal is like a jasper belt floating in the air, and the ships coming and going on the water are like pearls dotted on this jade belt. The passenger boat they were on was traveling from south to north, and when they looked south through the open window of the passenger boat, the Grand Canal under the boat was rolling and surging towards the endless green fields, and when the two turned their heads to look north, the Grand Canal seemed to be emptied from the depths of the sky and white clouds.

As the passenger boat they were on got closer and closer to the city of Suzhou, more and more boats appeared on the Grand Canal, and finally, all kinds of boats appeared on the river, one after another, never to be broken. And it is the development of waterway transportation that has created the prosperity of Suzhou City.

After the passenger boat on which the two of them sailed away from the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and entered the local river in Suzhou, the river channel below the boat was significantly narrowed, and the willow trees planted on both sides of the bank instantly caught everyone's eye. When the breeze blows slowly, the willows on both sides of the river immediately dance with the wind, just like the opera is waving her water sleeves, and people are fascinated to watch.

Finally, the passenger boat on which Yu Fei'er and Wen Yiyang were boarding arrived at a pier outside Suzhou. By this time, it was slowly getting dark. The boatman told Yu Fei'er and Wen Yiyang that the gate of Suzhou should have been closed at this time, and if you want to enter the city, you must wait until early tomorrow morning.

Now that they have come to the outside of Suzhou City, since it is late and they cannot enter the city, the two of them decided to rest on this passenger ship for another night, and wait until tomorrow morning to enter Suzhou City. After making up their minds, Yu Fei'er and Wen Yiyang rested in the cabin after dinner on the ship.

Speaking of rest, people like Yu Fei'er and Wen Yiyang, who practice every day, their way of resting is completely different from that of ordinary people. Ordinary people need to lie down straight, and after falling asleep, the whole person will completely lose consciousness, but cultivators like Yu Fei'er and Wen Yiyang, they only need to sit cross-legged with their eyes closed when resting, and the whole person is always in a state of sleep, not sleeping, and once there is any movement around them, they can immediately make their own reactions.

As time went on, it was completely dark. When all the boats docked at the dock were lit up in their cabins, the dense lights on the lake were like stars in the sky, twinkling and twinkling, making those in it completely forget that they were in heaven or on earth.

Late at night, the lights lit in the cabin began to go out one after another, and as the last light on the lake also went out, the noisy lake instantly quieted down, as if everything around was frozen by time, only the occasional Hanshan Temple bell in the distance would accidentally break the surrounding tranquility.

It is really a coincidence that the passenger ship that Yu Feier and the two of them took docked at the famous Fengqiao Wharf in Suzhou City, which can't help but remind people of the Tang Dynasty poet Zhang Ji's "Fengqiao Night Park": "The moon falls and the sky is full of frost, and Jiang Feng is sad to sleep." Hanshan Temple outside the city of Gusu, the bell rings in the middle of the night to the passenger ship". Of course, now that it is spring, there will naturally be no autumn frost on the riverbank as described in the poem.

The night passed quickly. The next day, as soon as the sky was bright, Yu Fei'er and Wen Yiyang were woken up by the noise coming from outside the ship. Among the voices coming from outside the cabin were send-offs, greetings, bargaining, and shouting...... The voices are really coming and going. By the time the two of them walked out of the cabin, the Fengqiao Wharf at this time had completely restored the lively scene of yesterday, and the ships coming in and out of the wharf became endless again.

After seeing this lively scene on the pier, Yu Fei'er and Wen Yiyang decided to get off the boat and find a stall near the dock to have breakfast, and then go to the city. So, the two exchanged a few words with the boatman on the passenger ship, paid the boat money, and went ashore.

This Fengqiao Wharf is the most important cargo wharf in Suzhou City, whether it is to Suzhou to do business, or ships passing through here, will come here to rest and replenish food, so the people who set up stalls at this Fengqiao Wharf to do business are no less than those in Suzhou City. Early in the morning, the small traders who live in the city come out of the city to set up their stalls, and in the evening, they pack up their stalls and rush back to the city. If you want to ask why this Fengqiao Wharf will be so busy? This is because in the ancient material transportation, waterway transportation is the fastest and most convenient transportation, with the emergence of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, the prosperity of the north-south transportation line has also made the city along the canal business has been greatly prosperous, especially Suzhou and Hangzhou, the two cities of the most prosperous, otherwise how can there be "heaven above, Suzhou and Hangzhou below" this saying.

After Yu Fei'er and Wen Yiyang went ashore, they quickly found a porridge stall and sat down. The owner of the porridge stall saw two little Taoist priests sitting in his stall, and hurriedly came up to say hello. Yu Fei'er and Wen Yiyang immediately ordered a few things to eat, and then the two sat on their chairs and waited slowly.

At this time, the two heard a pair of old men sitting behind them talking in a whisper: "I said wife, you should eat quickly, today is the day of our annual worship of the river god in Suzhou City, and after breakfast, we will go to Zhenze Lake to worship the river god, and ask the river god to bless us with good weather in Suzhou City, and the crops can have a good harvest." ”

"You dead old man, you are so old, why are you still so anxious, like a child. What are you anxious about? The river god doesn't need your invitation. To be honest, I really don't want to go, old woman. Don't you feel sorry for those two children?"

"Yes! I just pity the two children. I really don't know if such a river god has appeared in Zhenze Lake, is it good or bad for us ordinary people? cough ......" The old man wanted to speak and stopped, and seemed to have some scruples in his heart.

After listening to the conversation between the two old men, Yu Fei'er and Wen Yiyang were very curious. This sacrifice to the river god was nothing, and there were such customs in many places, but after hearing the two old men say, "Pity those two children", the two of them were puzzled in their hearts. Yu Fei'er couldn't help but turn around, saluted the two old men, and asked, "I don't know what the two old men mean by what they just said, 'pity the two children'?"

The old man was angry, and when he saw the two little Taoist priests Yu Fei'er and Wen Yiyang asking about himself, he immediately asked coldly: "Are the two little Taoist leaders asking me about the old man? Isn't this worship to the river god exactly what you Taoist priests do? Why do you still ask me this old man?"

"You dead old man, how can you talk to the two little Taoists like this?" As soon as the old man's answer was finished, the old wife sitting next to him immediately blamed him, and then she faced Yu Fei'er and the two of them again and again: "This old man of mine just can't control his mouth, the two little masters must not take what he said to heart, let alone pass what he said to the ears of the river god." If the river god knows that someone is saying bad things about him behind his back, the river god will definitely be angry, and if the river god runs away, then our entire Suzhou city will suffer again. ”

Listening to the old woman's words, Wen Yiyang and Yu Fei'er were really confused, and hurriedly explained to the old woman: "Old woman, don't panic, the two of us are cultivators from other places, and we only came to the outside of Suzhou last night, and we don't know the river god you talked about. The two of us wanted to go to Tianqingguan in Suzhou City after breakfast, but overheard the conversation between the two old people. What exactly is the worship of the river god that the two old men just talked about? Please give us two more details. ”

After listening to Yu Fei'er's explanation, the old woman looked at Yu Fei'er and Wen Yiyang in disbelief. After some careful consideration, the old woman seemed to understand something, and immediately said to her wife: "Old man, do you see that the costumes of these two little Taoist masters are very different from those of the Taoist priests in the Dragon Cave Mountain?

The old man hurriedly chimed in, "Yes, yes, looking at the outfits of these two little Taoists, they should be from other places." Since the two of them are not Taoist priests in the Dragon Cave Mountain, then I can also rest assured to tell the two of them about what this sacrifice to the river god is all about. ”

"Okay, okay, look at your urgency. But old man, old woman, I have to warn you that you should speak softly, and don't alarm the river god. The old woman reminded cautiously.

Seeing that the two old men were willing to tell themselves about worshiping the river god, Yu Fei'er and Wen Yiyang immediately came to the table of the two old men and sat down, and then the two quietly listened to the old man's story: "Our Suzhou has always been a good place, where the four seasons are distinct, the scenery is beautiful, the wind and rain are smooth, and the products are abundant, so it is also known as the 'granary of the world', and has the reputation of 'Suhu Lake is ripe, and the world is full'. But just five years ago, almost this month, Suzhou City entered the rainy season as in previous years, but this year's rainy season lasted for more than a month, but there is still no sign of the past. As the water level in the lake continued to rise, the farmland and houses outside Suzhou were soon flooded, and some people who had not had time to escape into Suzhou were also drowned. In fact, at that time, the city of Suzhou was not much better, there was not a single street in sight of the huge Suzhou City, and the entire city was almost submerged in water. If this heavy rain continues, the entire city of Suzhou will be completely engulfed by the water, but the rain that continues to fall from the sky does not mean to stop at all, remember that the prefect trapped in Suzhou City is like an ant on the hot pot. At this moment, a Taoist priest suddenly came to the Suzhou prefect's mansion, who claimed to be a Taoist priest who practiced in Longdong Mountain on Xishan Island, and learned that Suzhou City was in trouble and came to the rescue. As soon as the prefect of Suzhou heard that the Taoist chief had a way to stop the rain, he hurriedly knelt down and asked the Taoist chief to come to the rescue quickly, and promised that as long as the Taoist chief could stop the rain and let Suzhou City get through the difficulties, he would do whatever the Taoist chief asked. With this promise from the prefect of Suzhou, the Taoist from Longdong Mountain immediately opened the altar and cast spells. I don't know what kind of spell this Taoist chief cast, he not only stopped this rain, but even let the big water in the city retreat with his spell, it is really a god! After this crisis in Suzhou City was completely lifted, this Taoist chief from Longdong Mountain proposed to hold an activity to worship the river god by Zhenze Lake every year, and the Suzhou prefect naturally agreed. ”

"It seems that this Dao Master who is cultivating in Longdong Mountain does have some ability. Since there is such a powerful immortal on Xishan Island, why didn't you ask him to come out to help earlier? Why did you not think of asking him to come out to help when the flood was about to submerge the entire Suzhou City?" Before the old man could finish speaking, Wen Yiyang couldn't wait to raise his own questions.

Although this Xishan Island is located in the middle of Zhenze Lake, not very far from Suzhou City, few people have ever been there, which is not only related to the fact that Xishan Island has always been a place for Taoist monks to live and practice in seclusion, but also to the water environment around Xishan Island. If you want to enter this Xishan Island, you can only rely on the boat method, but the underwater reefs around the entire Xishan Island are dense, and the undercurrent is surging, even the fishing boats that fish in Zhenze Lake all the year round do not dare to get too close to the Xishan Island, because once the fishing boats are too close to this island, the boat may be destroyed and people will die if they are not careful. Soon, rumors of a spell being cast near Xishan Island spread among the fishermen. Since then, no ship has dared to approach Naxishan Island, and it can be said that the entire Xishan Island is almost isolated from the world. ”

After listening to the old man's words, Wen Yiyang couldn't help but muttered to himself freely: "I can't imagine that this Xishan Island is even more mysterious than our Longhu Mountain, I really don't know what is hidden on that island? ”

"How could no one know? What exactly is on Xishan Island? Many people in the yamen of the Suzhou prefect know that even I, an old man, have been to that island before. Listening to Wen Yiyang's self-talk, the old man seemed a little unconvinced.

"What, old gentleman, have you seen it too?" Yu Fei'er pretended to be unconvinced, "The old gentleman just said that this Xishan Island is almost isolated from the world, why did he say that he had also been to that island after a while? Could it be that the old gentleman is bragging?"

"You ......," the old man's face turned red. Judging by the old man's expression, it didn't seem like he was lying. So, what did this old man see after he went to Xishan Island?