As the elder leader gave the order to kneel, the group behind him all followed suit and knelt on the ground.
Shen Muyu instinctively wanted to move aside, but the situation didn't allow it, so she had to hide behind the bride.
As everyone knelt in worship, Shen Muyu could clearly feel the woman's hand on his arm exerting force, as if resisting him. However, she made no move to react, only slightly raising her hand after everyone had bowed three times.
Seeing the elderly man at the head of the group stand up, the others slowly followed. Then they took a few steps to the sides, clearing a path in the middle. The last few people carried two objects covered by red cloth to the old man's side.
"This is a tribute from my Yang Village. Please inspect it." The old man slightly raised his head to look at the woman. Only then did Shen Muyu see the expression on his face, which seemed to be one of sorrow.
Because he lowered his head again so quickly, Shen Muyu wasn't quite sure.
The woman walked toward the offerings, lifted the red cloth, and saw that inside were two slaughtered pigs. They looked enormous, as if they had been fed some kind of growth hormone; such a size is rare even in modern times.
The woman turned her head towards Shen Muyu and nodded slightly. Upon seeing this, Shen Muyu immediately put the two offerings into his backpack. There was no safer place than this.
Seeing that the offerings had been accepted, the villagers dared not linger for a moment longer, and all bowed their heads and carefully walked around to leave.
"What's going on?" Shen Muyu frowned slightly. The people who were "paying their respects" hadn't left yet, but they left first?
However, the woman seemed unconcerned and gently pulled Shen Muyu towards the car.
When I got back into the car, there was no one around, and the whole village was eerily quiet.
"Let's go, Xiao A." Putting aside her doubts, Shen Muyu had Xiao A start the car again. Anyway, she just needed to complete the task in the same way as before. There was no need to know too much about everything, and it would be bad to get involved.
Not long after the car started moving, it came to the side of a river with a dilapidated bridge that looked to be in disrepair. According to the route, they needed to cross this dangerous bridge.
As soon as the car stepped onto the bridge, a creaking sound came from inside. The bridge was made entirely of wood, and perhaps because of the car's weight, the wood was dented when it was pressed down.
Shen Muyu swallowed hard, silently gripping the roof railing tightly to give herself some psychological comfort.
If she really fell, there would be something to hold onto. Just as she was lost in thought, the car screeched to a halt.
Before Shen Muyu could ask Xiao A, a hand reached out from the front of the car, followed by a human head that was so waterlogged that its shape was unrecognizable.
Shen Muyu's stomach churned. She had seen many strange things, but this was the first time she had ever seen one that looked like this. In modern forensic terms, it should be considered gigantic.
Shen Muyu silently took out the Goodnight Flute from her backpack, so that she could blow it out quickly if the candle in her hand didn't work.
However, things did not develop as she had imagined; a slightly distorted voice came through.
"I have come to pay my respects to you. Please get out of your vehicle to accept the offerings."
Shen Muyu saw the mouth of the human head in front of him open and close, the lips seemed to be about to burst open, and the flesh would tremble down with each closure.
Seeing the woman get up, Shen Muyu quickly opened the car door next to him, and as if it were a habit, he simply extended his arm to her when she reached out to him.
When the two got out of the car, Shen Muyu felt that the wooden planks on the bridge had sunk.
The man, who had been soaked in mud, slid off the car, then rummaged around and pulled out a lump of mud.
"I am of lowly status and unworthy to attend the River God's wedding. Please bring my offerings to fulfill my wishes."
"River God? Wedding?" The two words silently took root in Shen Muyu's heart.
The woman nodded slightly as before. Shen Muyu walked up with a complicated expression. This guy really smelled terrible!
Shen Muyu naturally couldn't just take the lump of mud directly, so he took out a bucket from his backpack and handed it over. After seeing the person carefully put the mud in, Shen Muyu closed the lid and put his backpack back in.
Perhaps because they were both tributes, these two completely unrelated items were placed in the same compartment.
After returning to her original spot, Shen Muyu carefully exhaled and wiped away the tears from her eyes.
Even when he held his breath, the smell kept getting into his nose and even stung his eyes. No wonder he couldn't attend the wedding; it would have choked all the guests at the banquet.
Seeing that the offerings had been accepted, the man respectfully slid back into the water. Shen Muyu immediately helped the woman back into the car and sprayed some scented spray around the area.
Scented sprays are designed to mask odors, so this is a good opportunity to deodorize.
After the car drove away from the dangerous bridge, Shen Muyu finally felt relieved. It seemed that the ancient architecture was quite good; even though it was in such a dilapidated state, it was still passable.
The road became much calmer after that, and we passed through several villages again.
However, as time went on, fewer and fewer people remained in the village, the buildings became more and more dilapidated, and even the offerings were of a much lower quality than before.
Logically, the destination should be the place where the so-called river god held his wedding, but something was clearly wrong with the situation. So Shen Muyu did not let his guard down because of the peaceful journey, but instead became more vigilant.
As Shen Muyu was looking around, a figure suddenly appeared in front of the car. The sudden stop almost threw Shen Muyu out, and even the bride couldn't maintain her dignified posture and reached out to hold onto the chair next to her.
"I have come to deliver tribute. Please, bride, alight from your carriage." A sharp voice rang out, and Shen Muyu looked up to find a small yellow animal.
The two got out of the car. They thought this guy would offer tributes respectfully like the others, but instead it went straight to the woman.
Shen Muyu subconsciously pushed the lit candle in her hand forward, and the guy took a few steps back after seeing that.
"The River God's Bride, I have a question that I cannot answer. Could you please help me resolve it?"
The woman remained motionless and did not utter a word, but the man clearly refused to give up and spoke directly.
"River God's Bride, do you think I am qualified to be an adult?"
One sentence completely stunned Shen Muyu. This... seems to be... asking for an official title?
(Thank you everyone for the little gifts! But because there are still quite a few left over, there won't be an extra update today.)
However, I don't want all the little gifts you guys have worked so hard to send to go to waste, so I'll still add an extra chapter once I've collected 521 gifts (powered by love). ❤