I am a fairy in Journey to the West

Chapter 377 Praying for Rain
After suffering losses in the City God Temple, the Brahman immortals and believers never dared to go there to act wildly again.

Soon the Buddhist community also knew about this. There was nothing much to say, so naturally they were gloating over the incident.

However, it was precisely because of the incident at the City God Temple that the Brahmans were slightly injured, so the city of Nisa has been relatively peaceful in the past two days, and no major conflicts have occurred.

For Indra and others, this situation was not unacceptable. Their mission was to stop Brahmanism in Vimalakirti and prevent it from expanding southwards.

As for Ateli and others, they were beaten with a stick by Zhuang Yan and their vitality was seriously injured, so they could only recuperate in the monastery.

Without the support of these immortals and Buddhas, both King Tianqi and King Jinlun are now staying quietly in their own palaces.

Of course, there are other reasons, that is, it has not been long since the spring plowing season, and now the crops in the fields need irrigation and weeding.

There was originally a river outside the city of Nisuo, but because of the construction of the moat, this river running from west to east was artificially divided into two straight streams, flowing through the north and south of Nisuo respectively.

Since the beginning of spring this year, the weather has been dry with very little rainfall. The rivers in both the north and south cities have now dried up.

Without water, we cannot irrigate the crops, and this year is likely to be a famine year.

So this is the big deal right now. Even though you believe in Brahman and I believe in Buddhism, and we fight for our beliefs on weekdays, if we can't eat, we won't care what we believe in.

Both the South City and the North City are now looking for water. They first searched upstream along the sources of the two rivers, but found that the sources were also dry.

Then they looked outside, but there was no water after searching for dozens of miles.

Only the wells in the city of Nisso still have some water left, but that is only enough for people to drink.

Under such circumstances, King Jinlun of Nancheng, without saying a word, immediately took his ministers to the outskirts of the city to offer sacrifices and pray for rain.

When King Tianqi of the North City learned about it, he immediately took his ministers to set up an altar outside the North City to worship the Brahman gods and pray for rain.

Three days passed in a flash, and there was no progress in the prayers for rain by King Jinlun of Nancheng. The sun was still shining brightly, and not a drop of rain fell.

After learning about this, Indra and others also felt strange after using their Dharma eyes to look at it, so Indra called all the gods together and said, "There are no omissions in the ritual of King Jinlun's prayer for rain, and there are no problems with the ritual of offering sacrifices to the heavens. Why hasn't it rained in three days?"

Miji Vajra said: "There has been no rain, could there be another reason?"

"What's the reason?" asked General Sanzhi.

Miji Vajra thought for a moment and said, "I don't know about this either. I just need to see if the petition for rain has reached the Rain Department and if the Rain Master God has seen it."

The demon mother god said: "Then go directly to the Rain Department to ask."

Hearing this, everyone's eyes lit up, and then Emperor Shitian said: "This is a good idea. Who among you is on good terms with the Rain Master God? Why not go and ask him?"

The Dragon King Suagar immediately stood up and said, "I have some friendship with the Rain God. I will go to heaven to ask him."

After saying this, the Sagara Dragon King immediately stepped on a cloud and went straight up to the heaven. He came to the South Gate of Heaven and met the Four Heavenly Kings.

The Four Heavenly Kings also belong to the sequence of twenty heavenly gods in Buddhism. Previously they guarded the four continents respectively, and later they were incorporated into the Heavenly Court and became the Heavenly Generals of the Heavenly Court.

Although they are still within the sequence of the Twenty Heavenly Gods, they are now basically in name only. They only guard the Heavenly Palace under the command of the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King and are no longer the patron saints of Buddhism.

"Daoyou, long time no see." The Four Heavenly Kings said in surprise.

The Sagara Dragon King has rarely appeared in recent years, so the Four Heavenly Kings were a little surprised to see him.

The Dragon King of Suagar laughed, took out a basket of Solo fruit and handed it to each of the Four Heavenly Kings, saying, "How have the four Taoist friends been doing these years?"

The four heavenly kings took the Solo Fruit, their eyes lit up, and Dhritarashtra said with a smile: "It has been many years since we were late for the Solo Fruit. What else can we do? It is our duty to protect the Heavenly Palace."

The Sagara Dragon King put his hands together and bowed, saying, "The four Taoist friends have protected the Heavenly Palace, and their merits are immeasurable."

Guangmu Tianwang smiled and said, "Indeed, he has some merits, but he has been beaten a lot and often injured."

Vaisravana said: "But fortunately, there is a hospital in Youtian. I was injured on duty and I can get free treatment."

The Dragon King of Sagara smiled and said, "That is very good. The Heaven Court rules over the three realms, and everything here is the best in the three realms."

"Don't tell me, it's true." King Zhangzhang said, "Three hundred years ago, I went to the lower world to defeat a demon, and my left arm was cut off by the demon's magic weapon. When I came back, the Heavenly Hospital rebuilt a new one for me. There is nothing wrong with it, and it even feels better than the original one."

At this point, Virūdhaka looked at Sagaragara and said, "Eh? Daoist friend, is there something important that you are doing in heaven this time?"

The Sagara Dragon King informed the Four Heavenly Kings about their efforts in the lower world to resist the southward expansion of Brahmanism in the country of Viyāna, as well as the recent matter of King Golden Wheel praying for rain.

The Four Heavenly Kings were originally from Buddhism, so they naturally knew about Brahmanism, which was a sect that was at war with Buddhism. Although Taoism and Buddhism had always had conflicts, at least they would not go too far, and there was still some etiquette between the two sects.

But it is different for Brahmanism. They just want Buddhism to die as long as they can achieve this goal. It can be said that Brahmanism has no bottom line at all.

So the four heavenly kings became serious when they heard this, and then Dhritarashtra said, "In that case, fellow Taoist, please go to the Rain Department. We will talk again when we have free time in the future."

"Okay." The Sagara Dragon King nodded, then bid farewell to the Four Heavenly Kings, entered the South Gate of Heaven and went straight to the Rain Department.

Within the Rain Department, the immortal officials coming and going are very busy. One has to convey the rain decree to the Southern Continent, that one has to convey the rain decree to the Northern Continent, one has to contact the Wind Department, and that one has to inform the Thunder Department.

After finally arriving outside the Rain God Temple, they were stopped by heavenly soldiers, who told them that the Rain God was in the temple discussing matters and no outsiders were allowed to enter.

The Dragon King Sāgara could only wait outside the temple. After an unknown amount of time, the door of the Rain God Temple opened, and then a group of dragon gods walked out of the temple.

When the Sagara Dragon King took a look, he found that these dragon gods were all of the fifth rank and above. Of course, immortal officials who were not of the fifth rank could not come here.

"Huh? Isn't that the Sagara Dragon King?" A familiar voice was heard. The Sagara Dragon King looked up and saw the Dragon Kings of the Four Seas walking towards him.

The Dragon King Sagara stepped forward quickly, made eleven bows, and said with a smile, "Are the four elder brothers here too?"

The Dragon King of the East Sea smiled and said, "Ten days ago, the Jade Emperor issued the 'Three Realms Rainfall Determination', so we followed the order and went to the Heaven to discuss the matter of the Three Realms Rainfall."

"I see." The Dragon King Suaga asked, "Is it over now?"

"It's over." The Dragon King of the South China Sea shook the Golden Talisman Rain Edict in his hand, then said with a smile: "We are going to Tian Street to have a few drinks now, do you want to join us, brother?"

The Sagara Dragon King put his palms together and said, "Thank you for the invitation, Brother. However, I have important matters to attend to in the Rain Department and cannot accept your invitation. I will go to the Dragon Palace to pay my respects in person when I have free time in the future."

"Okay." The Four Dragon Kings did not force it. They smiled and nodded, then said goodbye to each other and left.

At this time, the Dragon King Sāgara came to the outside of the Rain God Temple and asked the boy on duty outside the temple to report.

After a while, the guard boy walked out of the hall, bowed to the Dragon King of Sagara and said, "Venerable, the Lord God invites you into the hall to have a chat."

Upon hearing this, the Dragon King Sāgara was delighted and quickly returned the greeting to the boy, saying, "Thank you, fairy boy."

Soon the Dragon King Sāgar entered the Rain God Temple, and saw the Rain God wearing a "five-colored heavenly robe" with a "red ribbon and white jade belt" around his waist, and sitting high in the temple with a dignified crown and clothes.

The Sagara Dragon King quickly stepped forward, clasped his hands together and bowed, saying, "I am Sagara, the poor monk, and I pay my respects to the Lord God."

The Rain Master smiled slightly, extended his hand and said, "You don't have to be so polite, please take a seat."

The Dragon King Sāgara thanked him, then, under the guidance of the boy, he sat down on a sandalwood chair at the side of the hall. Then another boy served him fragrant tea.

At this time, the Rain Master asked, "Daoyou, what is the important matter that brought you here?"

Upon hearing this, the Dragon King Sāgara quickly put down his teacup, then stood up and reported to the Rain Master God about King Jinlun’s prayer for rain.

After hearing this, the Rain Master immediately said to the Bookkeeper beside him, "Go and get the Golden Wheel Kingdom's rain-praying petition."

"Yes." The Bookkeeper replied, then turned and left.

Not long after, the Bookkeeper returned to the palace and presented the rain-praying petition in his hand to the God of Rain.

The Rain Master God opened the petition and glanced at it, then picked up a jade book from his desk and began to read it. After a moment, he put the jade book down and smiled at the Dragon King Suojie, "Daoyou, the Rain Department cannot approve the Golden Wheel Kingdom's petition for rain according to the Heavenly Law."

The Dragon King Sua was startled when he heard this, and then he quickly asked, "Why is this?"

The Rain Master said, "King Jinlun, King Tianqi and the people of Biyan have lost their manners and morals, good and evil are out of order, they have no filial piety, no fraternal love, no courtesy and no righteousness, and have committed great evil. Therefore, the Rain Department will punish them according to the newly promulgated 'Three Realms Rainfall Fixed Number' by the Great Heavenly Venerable and follow the laws of heaven. This year, there will be no rainfall within a hundred miles of Nisha City as a warning.

When the Dragon King Suagar heard this, he was stunned for a moment, then he quickly said, "Lord God, the Golden Wheel King is one of the kindest princes, and his people are also kind. I wonder if you can show some mercy and send some rain to the south of Nisha City?"

The Rain Master shook his head and said in a very firm tone: "The imperial decree of heaven is like this, and we cannot bend the law for personal gain. Even if it is heaven's punishment, it should be fair and just. How can we be biased towards one side?"

Seeing that the Dragon King Suagar was about to say something, the Rain Master God Lord raised his hand to stop him and said, "Daoyou, although you and I have some personal relationship, it is not appropriate to let personal feelings get involved in the public affairs of heaven and earth. There is no room for discussion on this matter. Daoyou should go back first."

The Dragon King Suagar knew the temper of his good friend, so he could only sigh slightly, then put his palms together and said, "In that case, I will take my leave."

The Rain Master God said with a smile, "Take care, fellow Daoist." Then he said to the boy beside him, "Boy, help me see off the Venerable Sakyamuni."

The boy bowed and accepted the order, then the Dragon King Sāgara bid farewell to the Rain God and left the Rain God and went to the lower world.

(End of this chapter)