Seeing that Prefect Wang and Clan Leader Chen weren’t responding,
that Spirit Water Cultivator grinned and said calmly, “No hurry. I’ll stay in Dragon Tiger County for a couple of days. When you two have made up your minds, feel free to contact me. I promise that from now on, I’ll pray for ten heavy rains here every year. The villagers will no longer have to suffer from parched, barren land and dry riverbeds.”
With that, he leaped up, sat on the red-spotted woman’s shoulder, pointed his finger, and said, “Let’s go!”
Before leaving, he特意 gave Lu Chen a long, deep look, with a barely concealed, sinister smile on his face.
“Please don’t go, Cultivator! We beg you to give us some more rain.”
“Yeah, we haven’t had such sweet rainwater in so long. Please, grant us a little more!”
Seeing that Spirit Water was about to leave, the surrounding crowd objected and tried every which way to get him to stay.
Spirit Water laughed and said, “Don’t beg me. Go beg your clan leader. As soon as he agrees to my terms, I’ll use my arts to bring a three-day, three-night downpour over Dragon Tiger County. Then you can drink your fill!”
As soon as he said that,
the crowd that had been gathered around Spirit Water all swarmed over to Prefect Wang and Clan Leader Chen.
“Prefect, Clan Leader, you have to agree to this cultivator’s terms! It’s been three years. Three whole years without a single drop of rain in Dragon Tiger County. What are you waiting for?!”
“Right, stop hesitating! Whatever he wants, just give it to him! This is rain! Who cares if there’s something wrong with it? At least I feel fine after drinking it!”
“Yeah, I feel fine too. In fact, I think it’s a little sweet!”
“Exactly, I also think it tastes a bit sweet!”
Quite a few of these people were even officials from the county government.
After surrounding Prefect Wang and the others, they all started talking at once, with a tone that sounded almost resentful.
Spirit Water let out a loud laugh and left.
Prefect Wang and Clan Leader Chen exchanged a glance. Their faces darkened, and they waved their hands dismissively. “We need to discuss this further. What’s the rush? All of you, disperse!”
After saying that, they turned around and headed back the way they came.
Sun Yourong tugged at Lu Chen’s sleeve. “Come on, let’s follow them.”
The group made their way to Prefect Wang’s office.
As soon as they entered, Prefect Wang started pacing around the office, his brow furrowed into a deep ‘川’ shape.
“Old Chen, what do you think about this?”
“Sigh, this method won’t work. Even if we get this kind of rain, it’s useless. It can’t nourish the Tengyun Wood, and if people drink it for too long, it’ll probably become a disaster sooner or later. Don’t you agree, Prefect Wang?”
“I know that all too well. I never expected this Spirit Water Cultivator to be such a bad character. Before, when I heard he was skilled at rainmaking, I was full of hope and specifically called you here, but now…”
Prefect Wang shook his head. “The real problem is that he’s shown off his ability. I suspect that within a couple of days, the whole county will know. Then public opinion will surge. The common people won’t care about the nature of this rain; they’ll only care whether or not rain falls from the sky. If we stubbornly refuse, it’ll likely become another big headache.”
“What if… we think it over some more? He did say he was staying for two days. There’s no need to rush an answer.”
Clan Leader Chen suggested.
Upon hearing this, Prefect Wang could only nod. Only then did he turn his attention to Sun Yourong and Lu Chen, forcing a smile onto his face. “I’m sorry, niece Sun, for neglecting you two.”
Sun Yourong waved her hand. “It’s no problem, Uncle Wang. The important matter comes first.”
Then, as if by silent agreement, everyone looked over at Lu Chen.
“Young friend, what’s your name?”
“This junior is Lu Chen.”
“Lu Chen?” Prefect Wang nodded. “Let me introduce myself. My name is Wang Zhongmin, the prefect of this county. This is the head of the Chen clan, Chen Tiansheng.”
Lu Chen nodded. “Hello, Uncle Wang. Hello, Uncle Chen.”
The two men nodded and smiled. “Xiao Lu, we noticed you seemed quite confident earlier. Do you have any method to help us bring rain?”
“Well…” Lu Chen scratched his head, smiling sheepishly. “Not at the moment, honestly. To be frank with you both, before I took on this mission, I had no idea there were so many hidden complications. I was being naive.”
Wang Zhongmin glanced at Sun Yourong, understanding that she had probably already explained the background of Dragon Tiger County to her friend.
He said with some embarrassment, “In that case, you two should head back early, while it’s still light out. It’s just a shame, Xiao Lu, that you’ll have wasted your money and military merits. I’d like to apologize for that.”
He then clasped his fists in a salute.
“Uncle Wang, don’t be so polite.” Lu Chen’s expression was calm. “But since I’m here, I have to at least give it a try before I’m willing to leave.”
Lu Chen naturally wasn’t going to go back empty-handed like that.
Four million credits.
Eight hundred military merits!
How could he give up so easily?
He looked at Sun Yourong. “Sister Sun, could I borrow the car this afternoon? I want to drive around and see if I can come up with an idea.”
Sun Yourong promptly took out the car keys and tossed them to Lu Chen. “I’ll wait for you here. Come pick me up when you’re done.”
“No problem.”
Lu Chen nodded, turned around, and left the office.
After the sound of his footsteps faded away,
Wang Zhongmin and Chen Tiansheng almost simultaneously said, “Niece Sun, is this young man… your boyfriend?”
Sun Yourong’s cheeks instantly turned bright red. “Uncle Wang, Uncle Chen, what nonsense are you talking about! We’re just ordinary friends.”
The two men looked at each other and burst into laughter. “Hahaha, alright, alright, just ordinary friends. But this young man is quite handsome. Standing next to you, you two make a fine couple.”
Sun Yourong’s face grew even redder. She quickly changed the subject. “Uncle Chen, Uncle Wang, are you really going to agree to that man’s demands? Those are your clan’s greatest treasures.”
Sure enough, their smiles disappeared.
Chen Tiansheng furrowed his brow again. “If it comes down to absolute necessity, we might have to agree. But does he think a little rain like that is worth two of my clan’s greatest treasures? In his dreams. At most… I’ll give him one.”
Wang Zhongmin suggested, “Then give him the Mystical Text of Communing with Spirits. A technique can be passed on, but there’s only one Unicorn Blade.”
Chen Tiansheng was silent for a long moment, then finally let out a long sigh and nodded.
…
“Whoosh~”
The wind howled outside the car window.
The swirling yellow sand crackled and clattered against the windshield, almost blocking the view ahead.
If he hadn’t known he was still in the Jiangnan water town region, Lu Chen might have thought he had driven into a desolate, barren desert.
It seemed three years without rain had pushed Dragon Tiger County’s ecosystem to the brink of collapse.
As far as the eye could see, the mountains were bare, without a trace of green.
Along the way, the most common vehicles Lu Chen saw were large trucks marked with the words “Water Wagon.”
At this point, all of Dragon Tiger County’s water needed to be brought in from outside.
The price of water was sky-high.
Lu Chen just bought a bottle of water by the roadside. In Jiangdu City, it would cost two credits at most, but here it was twenty.
Exactly ten times more expensive.
And elsewhere, when people greet each other, they ask, “Have you eaten?”
But here in Dragon Tiger County, the greeting is, “Did you store up water at home today?”
All these little details made Lu Chen truly appreciate the weight of an S-Rank mission.
He followed the navigation map and drove to the Great Dragon Pool, where a Sixth-Rank Spirit Cultivator had slain the dragon back in the day.
The once lush dragon pool was now a huge basin.
The riverbed was cracked, with web-like crevices crisscrossing everywhere, unable to support any plant life.
Lu Chen parked the car, walked all the way to the edge of the pool, sat down on a large rock, and pondered how to get out of this situation.
According to Sun Yourong, the Dragon King had set up a rain-prohibition formation over this area.
Even praying to the Rain Master or the River God would be useless.
“Then… what about the Water Virtue Star Lord?”
In terms of divine office, the Water Virtue Star Lord is a principal deity of the Water Ministry, controlling all the water veins of the world. The Four Seas Dragon Kings are all his subordinates.
If he stepped in, the Dragon King would probably not dare to disobey.
But would a dignified principal deity of the Heavenly Court, a Third-Rank immortal official, really deign to come down and intervene for a tiny Dragon Tiger County in the mortal realm?
Lu Chen wasn’t confident.
After all, the East Sea Dragon King’s son had been killed.
Since he had sworn an oath not to let a single drop of rain fall on Dragon Tiger County for thirty years, he probably had the tacit approval of the Heavenly Court.
Otherwise, even if he is one who ‘answers summons but not commands’,
a mere Dragon King wouldn’t dare to defy a direct decree from the Heavenly Court.
After all, that old mud eel is no Erlang Shen, the True Lord Who Displays Sagely Might.
That elder brother is the real ‘answers summons but not commands’ type. Whether he comes out or not is entirely up to his own whim.
“If all else fails, I’ll call for reinforcements.”
“My elder brother said before, if I run into trouble, I can ask him for help. He still has some connections and relationships in the Heavenly Court.”
“Strictly speaking, the God of the Five Roads of Wealth is also a high-ranking official of the Third Rank in the Heavenly Court. He and the Water Virtue Star Lord, also of the Third Rank, might actually be able to get in touch with each other.”
Thinking of this, Lu Chen felt a surge of joy.
But then he reconsidered and shook his head, feeling it wasn’t quite right…
