Daily Intelligence: From Water Snake to Jinghe Dragon King

Chapter 180 Spreading Rumors: A Vicious Dragon Eats People; A Great Drought Causes People to Pray for Rain
Compared to the fish and shrimp in the water, the impact of drought is far more severe on humans on land.

The fish and shrimp in the water, with the help of powerful and lesser demons and spirits stationed along the various waterways, maintained order and migrated to deep pools and large lakes, barely managing to survive.
Especially in the Great Bay Lake Water Palace, upon receiving the Lord of the Palace's order to report the water level, the various garrisoned demons performed even better.

Humans on the shore, however, were not so lucky.

Their officials weren't like Liu Qing, only concerned with their own enrichment, trying to make a killing on the sinking Sui Dynasty ships.
Then, with the money they had plundered, they would either lock themselves away to enjoy a life of pleasure with their wives and concubines, or secretly fund a local rebel army, investing in advance so that when they succeeded, they could continue to enjoy high-ranking official positions and generous salaries.

They never considered the plight of the common people who were barely surviving due to the drought; they treated the people under their jurisdiction as crops of leeks to be harvested one after another.

Already struggling to survive due to the chaos of the times, rampant banditry, and the devastation of the common people, they were further struck by a severe drought.
They eventually couldn't survive.

The bolder ones put down their hoes, burned down their houses, picked up kitchen knives, and joined the bandits or became robbers.
The timid ones would carry loads, with their children on one end and their parents on the other, along with the last of their food on their backs, and their wives nestled beside them, fleeing the famine to the south.

I've heard that after crossing the Wei River and then the Yellow River, the Henan region is never drought-stricken; it has abundant rainfall, fertile land, and is a good place to live.

One after another, one household after another, drawn by the rumors, they left their homes and the Qin region, heading south of the Yellow River.

They crossed the Yellow River, but only reached the Wei River, when suddenly a monstrous dragon rose from the turbid water. It was over thirty zhang long, had horns but no claws, and a lion's mane growing on its back. Its wide, red eyes stared at the rumors they had spread.

The tens of thousands of disaster victims who were attracted couldn't help but drool.

Ow—

With a ferocious roar, the evil dragon leaped down from the sky, its gaping maw filled with fangs. In a single gulp, it swallowed several people, chewed them haphazardly for a few moments, and then swallowed them whole.

"Haha, haha, that's great! So this is what the taste of human flesh is like!"

"When my father was alive, he always said that we must do good deeds and accumulate virtue to benefit all people in order to be blessed by the Heavenly Official and enjoy a carefree life. Bah! —"

"When chaos erupts in the mortal realm, the Heavenly Court is blind and deaf. Which of the celestial officials who used to lord it over others dares to descend to the mortal world and provoke the aura of calamity? If the celestial officials will not bestow blessings, then I will take them myself. This way, devouring mortals is not only delicious, but it can also rapidly improve one's cultivation!"

"Haha, once I've cultivated enough, I'll go underwater again and compete with my good brothers for the position of Dragon King of the Wei River!"

The evil dragon of the Wei River laughed loudly as it pounced on the disaster victims, devouring them greedily. In an instant, hundreds of victims perished in its belly.
The remaining refugees, seeing this, cried out and scattered in all directions, but were caught by the evil dragon and swallowed whole.

Wisps of malevolent energy rose from the evil dragon's body, coiling around it. If the heavens were clear-minded, heavenly lightning would have already descended, following the guidance of the malevolent energy, and blasted it into dust.
Unfortunately, the current atmosphere of calamity in the human world is blocking the way, the secrets of heaven are unclear, and the other river gods, mountain gods and local gods also have their own ambitions. Who dares to take care of the dragon king of the Wei River and risk offending the Dragon Palace of the South Sea?
The evil dragon trembled with divine power, manifesting a human form. It was about twenty years old, with narrow eyes, a bulbous nose, and a wide mouth. It was ugly, but it was wearing the robe of a seventh-rank divine official, clearly indicating that it had already attained enlightenment and assumed a divine position.

The evil dragon glanced at the official robes of a deity on its body, scoffed disdainfully, and then channeled its divine power, transforming the robes into the clothes of fleeing civilians, before heading north.

Along the way, whenever they encountered pedestrians, they would spread the rumor that the land south of the Yellow River was abundant with rain and fertile, attracting more disaster victims to flee south.

It likes to lie in wait by the Wei River halfway through the journey, swallowing wave after wave of refugees as they come, and then eating them again. In just half a month, tens of thousands of refugees perished in its mouth.

The aura emanating from it grew increasingly powerful, and its cultivation level broke through from the late stage of the Divine Power Realm to the Dharma Realm Realm, and then surged to the late stage of the Dharma Realm Realm.

Amidst the double hardships of war and drought, some chose to become bandits and robbers, some chose to flee, and some chose to stay at home.

They long for a heavy rain to eventually fall, relieving the drought and restoring life to the land.

They dragged their hungry bodies to the local temple, kneeling and praying fervently for rain, but to no avail.

They came to the River God Temple again and begged the Dragon King for rain. Unfortunately, the Jing River and Wei River had long been devoid of dragons, leaving only a group of wicked dragons. How could they possibly grant their wish and bring down sweet rain?
In despair, they collapsed to the ground, staring at the sun-cracked fields and withered rice seedlings, and slowly closed their eyes.

Li Shimin and Li Xiuning dismounted and quickly helped the disaster victims by the roadside. They then fetched water and dry rations, feeding each victim a little.
Food and water brought the disaster victims back from the brink of death.

They knelt and bowed in gratitude, expressing their thanks, but their eyes held little life. This small amount of water and food could only prolong their lives by a few more days.
But if the drought is not relieved, they will eventually die.

They smiled bitterly, their sun-darkened faces like deep ravines: "Thank you for your kindness, sir, for letting us poor folks live a few more days, haha."

"It's a pity it's no use. The drought continues, the rice seedlings in the fields are withering, there's no food. You can save us for a while, but not forever." "The government doesn't care, the gods don't concern themselves, and even the Dragon King won't send rain. We can only wait to die."

Li Shimin looked up at the sky; the blazing sun hung high, radiating rays of heat that seemed poised to scorch the land and its people.
Looking around, one sees that the summer-planted rice seedlings are almost all withered and dead, the fields are cracked from the sun, and the irrigation canals are almost completely dry, with only a little water left at the bottom. It seems that even people and livestock will have difficulty getting water.

The situation is the same both inside and outside Chang'an. It is likely that a large part of Qin has also been ravaged by this drought. The people suffering from the drought have either fled or become bandits. The remaining people, like the disaster victims before us, have nowhere to turn for help. Are they just waiting to die?

"Sister, come with me to find Brother Liu and ask him for help."

Li Shimin then looked at the disaster victims and said loudly, "There is still a glimmer of hope. Have you forgotten the River God?"

"Let's go and beg him to cast a spell to bring rain and drive away the drought demon!"

When Li Shimin raised his arm and called out, the eyes of the disaster victims, who had been numb and waiting to die, gradually lit up.

"I heard there's a river god temple near Snake Pool that's very effective."

"Yes, back then, my second uncle was tending the crops in the fields when he encountered a monster that ate people. He had to beg the River God to kill the monster and survive."

"The River God is always responsive to prayers. He will appear and resolve the pleas of the people near Snake Pool. I've heard that his incense is very popular."

"Let's go over there and beg the River God to send rain!"

Li Shimin's words completely awakened the disaster victims. Some life returned to their eyes, and they got up, helping each other, and followed behind Li Shimin to the snake pool.

After Liu Qing's incense-burning avatar was promoted to the seventh-rank River God of Dawan Lake, since the original body resided in Dawan Lake, the avatar did not move, and the River God Temple remained in Shetan.

At this moment, Liu Qing himself had already returned from his river patrol.

The drought outside is imminent. For the sake of the local people's livelihood, or for the sake of the fish and shrimp in the various waterways,
Liu Qing must find a way to solve this.

He didn't possess the renowned supernatural powers of summoning clouds and rain, or the ability to control wind and rain; he had only comprehended one aspect of the Cloud and Rain Technique.

The Cloud and Rain spell can also bring rain, but its range is too small, covering an area of ​​less than ten miles at a time. Furthermore, the rain clouds formed during the spell require drawing water from nearby rivers and lakes.
It's called the art of rain and clouds, but it's nothing more than a transporter of river and lake water.

Compared to great supernatural powers like summoning clouds and rain, the power of the Cloud and Rain Technique is negligible.

But the only solution Liu Qing could think of to solve the drought was this cloud and rain technique.

Since the Cloud and Rain Technique has a small casting range, let's have several river gods cast it together. Liu Qing himself can do it, and his incense clones can also count.
I taught the Cloud and Rain Technique to the River God Old Alligator Dragon of the Chaotic Rock Pool a few days ago. The time was too short; Old Alligator Dragon's Cloud and Rain Technique is probably only at the beginner level, barely qualifying as one.
Even if three river gods simultaneously cast their rain spells, they could only cover an area of ​​about twenty miles at most. Faced with a drought that had almost swept across half of Qin, it was a drop in the ocean.
Looking at the four divided spirits within his body, Liu Qing realized that after a period of nourishment, they had grown to the size of their original Yang God form and were now ready to merge with the Dao.
If we could offer incense money to these four divided spirits to unite them in the Dao and assume divine positions, they would have more helpers.
To evolve four new ninth-rank divine positions, each requiring one thousand taels of incense money, a total of four thousand taels would be needed.

Although Liu Qing didn't have enough, it was only four thousand taels of silver for incense offerings, which he could figure out a way to resolve.
Liu Qing took out the water supply token, just about to urge the guards of the various waterways of Dawan Lake to hand over this month's share of the salt ahead of schedule.

Coincidentally, the eight incense burners returned from outside.

The Eight-Faced Incense Messenger, Ze Jing Qing Ji, is often not in the Water Palace, but rather travels throughout the various waters of Da Wan Lake. Wherever there is a wish, he will immediately go there and transform the incense offerings into incense silver.
They returned at this time because they had prayed so much recently that the amount of incense money they had converted was several times more than usual, so they thought of returning to deliver it to the Lord of the Mansion.

Ze Jing and Qing Ji each took out incense money, totaling nearly ten thousand taels, which greatly surprised Liu Qing.

Compared to usual, this is more than double the amount. He sighed inwardly; regarding incense offerings, the more people pray to the gods during times of disaster, the more incense money is produced.
Conversely, the amount of incense money also indicates that the drought outside is already very severe.

After encouraging Ze Jing and Qing Ji, and rewarding each of them with a piece of low-grade river jade, Liu Qing let them leave.

Since Liu Qing took over as the prefect of Dawanhu, the river treasures and water jade produced in Shuiyutan have belonged to Liu Qing.

After Ze Jing and Qing Ji left, Liu Qing opened his mouth and swallowed, quickly absorbing the divine essence of the incense from the more than ten thousand taels of incense silver.
As one's cultivation level increases, the speed at which one absorbs the divine essence of incense also increases.

(End of this chapter)