Chapter 69: Thunder God, Mother of Lightning, Wind Master, and Rain Earl

"What a bunch of interesting fellows. They destroyed one of my external incarnations and are now so elated and carried away! They should know that it didn't even possess one-thousandth of my true strength! Sigh, but then again, no one has ever directly wiped out that incarnation of mine before. On that point alone, the Huangliang Xiancheng God is indeed worthy of praise.

If not for Baie Hou's repeated strict orders, I would really like to go over there personally and play with you all.

Sigh, forget it, let you all be happy. I just hope you can be happy for a little longer, as long as you don't ruin Baie Hou's birthday celebration, otherwise..."

The red-haired man's eyes suddenly turned as cold as thousand-year ice.

Even the surrounding temperature seemed to drop by several degrees suddenly, until the red-haired man's figure gradually faded and finally disappeared...

In Fangtou Cun, Chuyuan Township, Huangliang Zhen, the entrance of the village was bustling with the sound of gongs and drums. Led by the village head, several Yamen Runners headed straight for a simple, fenced-in courtyard.

Before they even entered the gate, they shouted into the courtyard.

"Is Mei Silang home?"

As it happened, Mei Silang's wife was in the courtyard feeding chickens with her child on her back. Hearing this, she couldn't help but be stunned. She tucked back the messy hair by her ear, looked up, and saw the village head and several Yamen Runners. Her heart panicked, thinking Mei Silang had committed some offense, and she asked with trepidation.

"Officers... what do you want with Silang? Did he... did he commit some crime?"

The village head just cupped his hands with a face full of smiles and said.

"Where is your mind, Si Niang? Your family has had a great stroke of luck! I have come to offer my congratulations!"

"Congratulations?" Mei Silang's wife was completely bewildered; she couldn't imagine what kind of happy event could possibly involve their impoverished family.

At this moment, a Yamen Runner carrying a copper gong and wearing a red flower on his chest said with a fawning smile.

"Your Silang has passed the high-level examinations! We have come to offer congratulations. Look here, this is the official notice! He placed first, a successful candidate!"

Hearing this, Mei Silang's wife felt dizzy and was so pleasantly surprised she nearly fainted. The three words "passed the examinations" echoed in her mind. Fortunately, the village head hurriedly supported her so she didn't fall to the ground. Frightened, the baby on her back began to wail, which brought her back to her senses. She ran frantically toward the dilapidated house, shouting with a sobbing voice.

"Mother... Mother, come out quickly... Silang... he passed! He passed the examinations!"

"What? My son passed? My son passed."

Mei Silang's mother walked out of the room tremblingly, so excited she didn't even know how to hold her cane.

"Silang, Silang, quickly find Silang, quickly find Silang..."

Some are happy, some are sad; some elm trees bear seeds, some trees bear autumn.

Amidst the gongs and drums, the Yamen Runners who brought the good news collected their reward money and left happily.

That money had been pooled together by Mei Silang's neighbors; from the moment they learned Mei Silang had passed, almost everyone showed increased enthusiasm toward this impoverished family...

Meanwhile, a distinguished guest arrived at the Dongting Longgong. This guest was Su Yuanshan. Ever since the Great Demon Huo Jun was eliminated, the attitude of the Dongting Longjun and his family had changed completely. The moment he saw Su Yuanshan, the Dongting Longjun could not hide the smile on his face; he walked up to greet him from afar, stroking his beard and laughing.

"Xielian, you have worked hard to eliminate harm for the people! Come, come, please take the seat of honor!"

Su Yuanshan was a bit puzzled, thinking to himself, why is this old dragon so enthusiastic today? Could it be that he needs something from me?

Although his surface identity was that of a City God, internally he was just an ordinary person, and his thoughts were not much different from an ordinary person's; he had his suspicions and his confusion.

Just as he was about to sit down, he heard a 'gurgle' of a bubble, and heard shrimp soldiers reporting from outside the door.

"Reporting to the Longjun, Dingze Longjun has come to see you."

"Dingze Longjun?" The Dongting Longjun was delighted upon hearing this, laughed heartily, and said to Su Yuanshan.

"Wonderful, wonderful! I was just wondering when my nephew Dingze would return; I didn't expect him to arrive so soon!"

Seeing Su Yuanshan looking confused, the Dongting Longjun explained.

"Doesn't Xielian want to solve the problem of the great drought in Tushan Xian? The Heavenly Court has now ordered the Dingze Longjun to take over the position of the Rain-Governing Dragon God for the Tushan Xian region. He has come now, presumably to discuss borrowing water to bring rain. After all, his Dingze water is too far from my Tushan. Why don't you come with me to see him!"

Hearing this, Su Yuanshan felt as if a heavy stone had been lifted from his heart. His brows finally relaxed, and he nodded.

"Very well!"

The Dongting Longjun took Su Yuanshan and went directly out by controlling the water. In the blink of an eye, they reached the surface of the lake. They saw wind rising and clouds gathering above the lake, causing ripples to stir. The fishermen who had come out to fish, seeing the bad weather, had already pulled in their nets and returned home.

The Dongting Longjun took Su Yuanshan and rose into the air, riding the water vapor. They gradually entered the clouds and passed through them to the top. They saw fierce winds blowing above the clouds, almost making it impossible to open one's eyes.

Su Yuanshan focused his magic power to protect his eyes and looked into the distance. He saw three immortals standing above the clouds amidst the fierce winds.

The leader was a middle-aged man with a beautiful beard hanging to his chest, wearing a jade pendant at his waist. His expression was imposing without being angry, and his body was surrounded by the Water Spirit Qi unique to the dragon race.

Standing to his left and right were two people: one was a scholar waving a feather fan, and the other was an old man with a long sword hanging at his waist.

Upon seeing the Dongting Longjun, the middle-aged man cupped his hands in salute.

"Nephew greets Uncle!"

He was the newly appointed Rain-Governing Dragon God, the Dingze Longjun, whom the Dongting Longjun had mentioned, and he was a nephew of the Dongting Longjun.

Hearing this, the Dongting Longjun waved his hand and laughed.

"Nephew, no need for such formalities. Come, come, let me introduce you to a fellow Daoist!"

Glancing at Su Yuanshan, the Dingze Longjun smiled.

"Uncle, don't introduce him yet. Let me guess first and see if I am right!"

Seeing the Dongting Longjun smiling without speaking, the Dingze Longjun cupped his hands toward Su Yuanshan.

"If my guess is correct, this must be the recently famous Huangliang Xian City God, Su Yuanshan, am I right?"

Su Yuanshan smiled slightly.

"Dingze Longjun has a sharp eye; this humble one is indeed Su Yuanshan!"

The Dingze Longjun laughed.

"Truly, hearing of someone's reputation is not as good as meeting them in person. The City God slaying the centipede spirit and destroying the Great Demon Huo Jun is truly gratifying and talked about by all! I hope that in the future, you will have time to visit my humble abode so I can play the host!"

Su Yuanshan cupped his hands and said.

"Dingze Longjun is too kind. If I have the time, I will certainly pay a visit!"

He paused and added.

"Tushan Xian has been in a great drought for several years, and the people are suffering bitterly. I hope the Dingze Longjun..."

The Dingze Longjun waved his hand and said.

"City God, you need not worry. I have come precisely for this matter. Now the Thunder God, Mother of Lightning, Wind Master, Rain Earl, and Cloud Boy have all returned to their positions. We are only waiting for your Uncle to lend me the water of Dongting, and we can bring continuous heavy rain to end the drought in Tushan!

You can use your City God authority to send dreams and warnings to the people under your jurisdiction, telling them that there will be continuous heavy rain soon, that you are relieving their drought, and that they should be prepared, move to higher ground to stay temporarily, stay away from low-lying water areas, and not go out unless necessary to avoid unnecessary danger."

Su Yuanshan nodded slightly.

"Many thanks, Dingze Longjun, for the reminder. If there is nothing else, Su will return to make preparations. Farewell!"

"Safe travels, Xielian!"

"Safe travels, Prefect Lord, we shall meet again another day!"

Amidst the respectful farewells, Su Yuanshan left the eight-hundred-mile Dongting and returned to the small courtyard, taking the little white fox, Zhai Burang, Xia Buqian, and the others back to the Tushan Xian Chenghuang Miao.

Yet, it was a pity that the incense in the temple was far less than before, and even the devout men and women who came to worship the deity and pray for rain had decreased; clearly, a small portion of the commoners had prayed for a long time without seeing a response, and in their despondency, they chose to leave.

Nevertheless, there were still a considerable number of pious commoners who continued to kowtow and pray, hoping to move the City God with their sincerity so that a miracle might occur.

But in the eyes of many, this was nothing more than a pipe dream, merely a wishful thought.