The Buddha is actually me

Chapter 81: Qingzhou Dragon Falls, Nine Suns Pray for Rain

The next day.

It was a rare occasion that Zhang Jiuyang did not practice hard, but instead prepared to go out with his new work.

Yes, after a month of hard work and deep thinking, Mr. Liao Zhai finally produced a new work, entitled "The Record of the Spiritual Official Conquering the Demons".

I believe it will definitely set off a trend again.

In the study, he carefully put the book "Records of the Spiritual Official Conquering Demons" into his arms, and then glanced at little Ali who was sleeping soundly beside him.

Last night she cast a spell to summon the Five-horse soldiers and refined the Five-horse altar. She was so tired that she actually slept until now.

Zhang Jiuyang smiled slightly and hid another book on his desk.

This was written out of boredom when he encountered a bottleneck in his creation. However, after writing for a while, his thoughts were opened up, he became more energetic, and inspiration came to him frequently, so much so that he finished "The Record of the Spiritual Official Conquering Demons" ahead of schedule.

This time he learned his lesson and did not break the story, giving Lord Ling a happy ending.

In case Yue Ling uses force to urge for more updates.

After carefully locking the work he had written when he was bored into the cabinet, Zhang Jiuyang stood up and covered her with the Taoist robe that had been kicked off by Ali. Although he knew that she was a ghost and would not be cold, he still couldn't help but tuck in the corner of her clothes.

The little girl smacked her lips, as if she had dreamed of something delicious.

Zhang Jiuyang shook his head and smiled. Without waking her up, he turned around, gently closed the door, and left the room.

Not long after he left, little Ali suddenly opened her eyes. Her pupils were sparkling without a trace of sleepiness. She jumped up and ran straight to the cabinet.

"What on earth did Brother Jiu write? He refused to tell me..."

"Humph, I can recognize quite a few words now. If you don't tell me, I'll read it myself!"

She did not break the lock, but reached into the cabinet, took out the book, opened it, and frowned, "Sex and Zen...what does it mean?"

After reading only a few pages, she frowned and said, "Why is it all ah ah ah? It's boring. I want to see fighting and killing, and rivers of blood!"

Having said this, she closed the book with some boredom, put it back into the cabinet, turned around and continued to sleep.

……

Zhang Jiuyang walked out of the largest Yumo Study in Qingzhou with a smile on his face.

The process went very smoothly. The shopkeeper had been looking forward to it for a long time, and he didn't even have to say anything. The other party directly offered many generous conditions.

Of course, the owner of the study also had great respect for Mr. Liao Zhai, who was able to get through the government and write about banned topics without being wanted.

Walking on the street, Zhang Jiuyang bought a candied haws for Ali. When he was about to go home, he heard the sound of gongs and drums coming from the street.

"Here it comes, look, it's the frog bride!"

"Haha, the groom is also a frog, what a strange story! This looks like quite a big event!"

"I don't know if I can go to the bridal chamber tonight..."

Zhang Jiuyang's heart moved when he heard this. Is this what Ah Li meant by the frog marriage?

I saw a team slowly approaching from a distance. People were beating drums and gongs, blowing suonas, and at the front there were children scattering peanuts or grains. It was very festive.

The bearers were carrying an open-air bamboo sedan with two frogs tied to it with red ropes, looking as if they had lost all hope in life.

The most interesting thing is that one of the frogs is wearing a red headscarf, which sometimes falls off, and there is someone next to it who is responsible for covering it up, which makes passers-by laugh and think it is a spectacle.

Zhang Jiuyang couldn't laugh.

Because he saw many people kneeling down before the two frogs, banging their heads on the ground, appearing so pious amid the laughter of the crowd.

They wore the roughest linen clothes and had the roughest skin. They sweated profusely under the scorching sun, but they dared not even order a bowl of tea for two cents.

They also knew that this matter was ridiculous, but they could only regard the two frogs as their last straw.

They are farmers.

Zhang Jiuyang used to farm with his grandfather when he was a child and he knew how difficult it was for farmers. Now the crops were almost ripe and they had put in too much sweat and hard work. When the harvest was about to begin, a long drought hit.

If it doesn’t rain, the crops will die of drought. How will we survive this winter?
In ancient times, winters were so freezing that people could really freeze to death.

But getting frogs to marry... does it really work?

Zhang Jiuyang couldn't guarantee this. He didn't have the ability to bring rain, otherwise he wouldn't mind helping the people of Qingzhou get through this difficult time.

I don’t know if there is anyone in the Imperial Observatory who can pray for rain. Maybe I can write a letter to ask Yue Ling.

Thinking of Yue Ling, there has been no news from her since she returned to Beijing. Zhang Jiuyang was a little worried, after all, she was trying to help him cover up his lie.

While thinking, he walked forward and unknowingly came to a temple.

This is a very deserted temple. On the spider-webbed door plaque are three large characters written on it - Dragon King Temple.

Zhang Jiuyang was immediately curious. If they were praying for rain, why didn't the people of Qingzhou come to the Dragon King Temple, but instead staged a frog wedding?
Could it be that something had happened in this Dragon King Temple?

Out of curiosity, he slowly walked into the Dragon King Temple.

As you step into the temple, you can smell a distinct smell of moldy wood. Enshrined in the temple is a statue of the Dragon King, who is wearing a yellow robe and a crown. His facial features are calm and he looks majestic without being angry.

Zhang Jiuyang noticed that the temple looked quite old, but the statue seemed relatively new, creating a stark contrast.

At this moment, he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around and saw a thin, white-haired old man holding three incense sticks in his hand, walking towards him tremblingly. When he saw Zhang Jiuyang, his cloudy eyes showed a hint of surprise.

"My dear little brother, you are not from Qingzhou, right?"

He asked without waiting for Zhang Jiuyang to ask.

Zhang Jiuyang nodded and said, "Old man, why do you say that?"

The old man waved his hand and smiled, "Now, the only people who are willing to come and worship the Dragon King are people like me who are about to be buried halfway in the ground, and there are no young people from Qingzhou who are willing to come and worship the Dragon King."

After a pause, he sighed, "Nowadays, few people remember the Dragon King. Why are they getting married to frogs? Isn't that nonsense?"

Zhang Jiuyang's heart moved, and he said, "Old man, can you tell me what happened here? Why are people unwilling to worship the Dragon King?"

The old man seemed to have not spoken to anyone for a long time, and he became more interested, with a hint of reminiscence in his eyes.

"In the past, this place was very lively. Whenever there was a drought, everyone would rush to worship the Dragon King, and then it would rain soon. It was very effective."

He pointed to a corner and laughed, "I was only eight years old at the time. Because I offended the Dragon King, my father beat me with a broom. It was here that he beat me. He said I had to make amends to the Dragon King."

The old man seemed to see again the bustling scene of decades ago. Looking at the desolation now, he couldn't help but sigh softly and told the story of the Dragon King Temple.

It turned out that about seventy or eighty years ago, an extremely legendary event happened in Qingzhou - the falling dragon!
A dragon fell from the clouds and landed next to an ancient town in Qingzhou. Its trunk wrapped around the mountains and was hundreds of feet long. Its head was like a small mountain and its eyes were like the sun and the moon. It was extremely terrifying.

There were obvious charred marks on its golden scales, as if it had been struck by lightning or burned by fire.

At that time, the villagers all speculated that the Dragon King had failed in his tribulation, because some time ago, Qingzhou had indeed experienced a period of lightning and thunder, and heavy rains had fallen for several days, causing many farmlands to be flooded.

However, the simple villagers did not bear grudges. Instead, they spontaneously organized themselves together, built a shed to provide shade for the dying dragon, and kept carrying buckets of water to water it.

This went on for two days. Although the old man was still young at the time, he still used a small bucket to collect water and poured it on the dragon's scales. He saw the dragon with his own eyes.

Later one night, with a thunderclap, heavy rain came suddenly. When the weather cleared up the next day, people found that the dragon had disappeared, leaving only traces of its body crushing the mountains.

Afterwards, the people of Qingzhou pooled their money to build a Dragon King Temple in the city. This temple was very efficacious and almost always granted prayers. Qingzhou had good weather and good times every year, and it almost became the richest place in Daqian.

Therefore, the Dragon King was canonized as a true god by the imperial court.

Everything was developing in a good direction. The incident of the dragon falling in Qingzhou became a legend, and the Dragon King Temple became extremely popular.

Until one day, the statue of Dragon King suddenly shattered.

No one knew the reason, and even the temple keeper went crazy overnight and soon hanged himself.

People pooled their money to rebuild a larger and more imposing statue, but since then, the Dragon King Temple has been ineffective. At the beginning, some people still insisted on burning incense, but as time passed, fewer and fewer people came to burn incense.

When the people who had witnessed the falling dragon died one after another, many people began to doubt the authenticity of the incident, thinking that someone was making up the story to cheat people out of their money.

"Bullshit! I saw it with my own eyes. I even watered the Dragon King. If my father hadn't stopped me, I would have wanted to touch the dragon scales!"

The old man was very emotional and said angrily: "They haven't seen it, why do they say it's fake!"

He started coughing as he spoke, and Zhang Jiuyang quickly patted him on the back.

"Little brother, do you believe me?"

he asked, panting.

Zhang Jiuyang nodded and said, "I believe you. Please stop talking and take a rest."

The old man seemed to have some chest tightness. He sat on the ground tremblingly, leaning against the pillar and looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar statue, his eyes slightly moist.

"Lord Dragon, the people who watered you and provided shade for you are now mostly dead. When I die, who knows what they will say about you..."

"Lord Dragon, you have great magical powers. If you are fine, please send a dream to Gou Wa Zi, so that I can go on my journey with peace of mind..."

Zhang Jiuyang was silent for a moment. He looked at the old man's moist eyes and was suddenly touched.

Incense is not just a tool.

The gods receive incense and protect the area, and are the spiritual sustenance of countless people. This is like a contract that is not recorded in words, but also a kind of friendship that cannot be explained.

The old man thought of the fragrance on his body, but he felt a little chest tightness and weakness. He was too old and was no longer the young man who could run around the mountain carrying a bucket of water.

Even lighting an incense stick is so difficult.

Zhang Jiuyang couldn't bear it, so he stepped forward and said, "Old man, let me help you burn incense. I am a disciple of the Taoist sect, so I won't be disrespectful to the Dragon King."

The old man was a little surprised when he heard this, then nodded and said, "Little brother, thank you very much."

Zhang Jiuyang took the incense, lit it, bowed three times, and then inserted it into the incense burner which had become somewhat hard.

"Lord Dragon, I, the Taoist priest Zhang Jiuyang, am offering incense to pray for rain. Qingzhou has been suffering from drought for many days and the people are going to have nothing to harvest. I beg Lord Dragon to use his magical powers to send down rain to benefit the people!"

The smoke floated upwards and then gradually dissipated.

He helped the old man away and sent him all the way home before leaving.

But what he didn't know was that not long after he finished burning incense, in a swamp hundreds of miles away from Qingzhou, a pair of huge pupils suddenly lit up under the dark water.

……

(End of this chapter)