Chapter 481: Dammit, you kept all the benefits to yourself?

Divine Rain? What Divine Rain?

When Li Ping said that, not only the people of Zhang Family Village but also the other nearby outsiders wore looks of curiosity.

"Divine Rain is naturally Divine Rain; I'm not entirely sure, but according to De Ben, anyone who receives the Divine Rain baptism will have the medicine cure the illness—no, it should be the rain that cures the illness, leaving one disease‑free and disaster‑free, and even granting a lifespan of a hundred years!"

Li Ping hadn't finished speaking when the surrounding crowd's breathing suddenly grew rapid, realizing they were shocked by the effect of the Divine Rain, and pretended it was an accident, saying:

"You didn't know about this?"

"How could we possibly know about this?"

Whether the elders of Zhang Family Village or the prominent people from other villages, all wore looks of regret.

If they had known that attending De Ben's god‑making ceremony would bring such benefits, they wouldn't have come alone; they'd have had to mobilize the whole family.

"Village Chief Zhou, where are you going?"

When the elder of Zhang Family Village saw a white‑haired old man turn and prepare to leave the Mountain God Temple, he couldn't help but ask.

Although.

He could probably guess what Village Chief Zhou intended to do by turning to leave the Mountain God Temple at this moment, but he didn't expose it.

Village Chief Zhou sneered, "I have something to attend to; I'll go home for a moment and be back soon!"

He naturally felt embarrassed to tell the elder of Zhang Family Village that he had heard Li Ping's introduction that De Ben's god‑making ceremony would feature a Divine Rain, and that receiving its baptism would leave one disease‑free, disaster‑free, and grant a hundred‑year lifespan—great news for both an old man like him and his grandchildren.

He naturally had to return quickly, summon his family, and if possible, call all the village's young and old; that wouldn't be a problem!

He couldn't help but suspect that, at this moment, learning from Li Ping that De Ben's god‑making ceremony would bring a Divine Rain, perhaps the people of Zhang Family Village deliberately concealed the information, waiting until the ceremony began—or rather, until the Divine Rain was about to fall—to reveal it.

If Li Ping hadn't been "talkative," he wouldn't have known about such a wonderful benefit.

"Village Chief Zhou, your Zhou Family Village is a hundred and eight thousand li from our Zhang Family Village; a round trip could take an unknown amount of time. The De Ben god‑making ceremony is about to start. If you can't make it back, we won't delay the ceremony; we'll wait for you!"

The elder of Zhang Family Village offered a reminder, seeing Village Chief Zhou's embarrassed expression, and laughed, "You must never let a trivial matter delay your receiving the Divine Rain baptism, or else the disease‑free, disaster‑free, hundred‑year lifespan won't be yours!"

Village Chief Zhou couldn't help but mutter inwardly that this elder of Zhang Family Village was worthless, how could he not detect the bragging tone in his words.

He didn't want to converse with him, lest he hear the bragging over and over, which would make him so angry that he'd fight this dog‑thing on the spot; win or lose, the one who suffers would be him and, indeed, the Zhou Family Village.

The new Mountain God of Shizi Ling, who hails from Zhang Family Village, is blood‑related to this old fellow.

Village Chief Zhou's peripheral glance suddenly noticed an elder of Zhang Family Village also turning and hurrying away from the Mountain God Temple, and he hurriedly shouted:

"Brother, where are you going? The god‑making ceremony for Mountain God Zhang is about to start; you're a key figure and indispensable. If we have to look for you, the ceremony will be delayed! The elder of Zhang Family Village that Zhou had stopped sneered, 'I'm stepping out for a convenience, I'll be back soon!'"

"Convenient?"

Village Chief Zhou silently sneered, "What does this old fellow intend to do? He can't possibly not know. Since his own family gets no benefit, he won't let anyone else's whole family reap the benefit," he said seriously:

"Brother, from the way you speak, does your Mountain God Temple lack even a latrine? You still need to go outside to relieve yourself, but the crowd outside is dense, making it hard to get back in. Just use the latrine inside the Mountain God Temple!"

"This, this, this…"

While this elder of Zhang Family Village was torn, Li Ping stepped forward and said:

"Uncle, Auntie was probably lifted out by the village chief's summons. You know what kind of person the chief is; he's a good chief who thinks of Zhang Family Village's interests. Knowing that De Ben's god‑making will have a Divine Rain baptism, he naturally wouldn't leave anyone behind—not just your family, but even other households, the elderly, the weak, the sick, all were called over!"

"That's good, that's good!"

Hearing that, the Zhang elder subconsciously exhaled in relief, but seeing Village Chief Zhou's odd expression and recalling his earlier words, his face showed embarrassment. Though he was old, his skin wasn't too thick, so he corrected himself, saying:

"I'll go to the latrine inside the Mountain God Temple right now; I'll be back soon!"

In no time.

"Village Chief Zhang, you really have skill!"

One after another, prominent figures from the villages surrounding Shizi Ling watched Zhang Yongde lead a middle‑aged man dressed as a Confucian scholar, accompanied by four armed constables, and could no longer suppress the anger in their hearts.

This novel you...

"Village Chief Zhou, what do you mean by that?"

Zhang Yongde slightly furrowed his brows, looking at the other prominent villagers, all with unfriendly expressions. In his mind swirled countless confusions; not long ago, when he left the Mountain God Temple, they had been warm and without any conflict—how could it suddenly become like this?

"What do I mean?"

Village Chief Zhou snorted coldly, wanting to ask whether Zhang Yongde truly didn't know what he meant or was just pretending, but seeing Zhang's expression, it was clear he was hiding something, and he said angrily:

"You had someone inform us that today is Mountain God Zhang's god‑making ceremony and that we must attend, yet you didn't say that a Divine Rain would accompany it?"

"Divine Rain? What Divine Rain?"

Before Zhang Yongde could speak, the Confucian‑styled middle‑aged man beside him brightened his eyes and asked.

"Everyone, let me first introduce this gentleman as the master of our Qingyang County Magistrate, who has come by the magistrate's order to attend our village's De Ben god‑making ceremony!"

Zhang Yongde respectfully introduced him in a sentence, then began to explain, "Village Chief Zhou, I only just learned about the Divine Rain!"

Village Chief Zhou snorted coldly, clearly not believing Zhang Yongde's words. Just as he was about to say something, Zhang Chengze stepped forward, apologetically saying:

"Village Chief Zhou, sorry, this whole matter is my fault; I only just remembered that my father's god‑making ceremony today will have a Divine Rain, and I forgot to tell our village chief, so he couldn't inform you!"

(End of chapter)