The Great Ming in the Box-Chapter 91: The Dragon King Was Giving the Deity Face
Li Daoxuan had already prepared a basin of water. After letting it sit still for several days in advance, he poured it into the tank of the nebulizer and plugged it in…
Done!
He could test it now.
He dared not spray it directly over Gaojia Fortress. What if the nebulizer was faulty? If spraying wildly occurred as soon as it was turned on, who knows how many people would have been washed away.
The northern hillside wouldn’t do either. During evening, many labor offenders were there taking a break during their outdoor time.
He tapped the “South” and “West” buttons on the box, shifting his perspective to the southwestern part of the village.
There was an official road leading to the county seat here. Since this area was usually deserted, he could use it for the test.
He opened the lid of the scenic box and extended the nozzle of the nebulizer inside, hovering it mid-air. His movements abruptly froze…
This wasn’t appropriate.
The shape of the nozzle was downright ugly. Wouldn’t the villagers be startled to see a gigantic nozzle, with its strange tubular shape, extending from the sky? They might think it wasn’t rain falling, but some kind of poisonous water instead.
Glancing around, he spotted a plastic Chinese dragon on the toy shelf. “Huh, this looks quite good.” He snapped off the dragon’s head, concealed the nozzle inside the dragon’s mouth, securing it firmly with double-sided tape. He looked left and right—it seemed passable. The appearance was acceptable.
Preparations complete!
He extended the nozzle back into the box, stopping just as the dragon head entered. Flipping the switch of the medical nebulizer, a low “hummm” buzzed, and the machine began generating mist.
Water droplets of 2.2 micrometers in diameter sprayed into the box, drifting down towards the land below…
…
A middle-aged permanent worker from Chengcheng County was heading towards Gaojia Village.
Having walked over thirty li, the sky was dark. Tired and hungry, he gazed at Gaojia Village a few li ahead, bathed in the sunset. His heart felt a mix of hope and fear.
“My sincerity is genuine! I’ve braved the dangers and walked this far to come here. Please don’t let me be fooled.”
“Does the Dao Xuan Deity truly exist?”
“Can they save me?”
Doubts filled his mind, yet equally strong was his anticipation.
The middle-aged man wiped the sweat from his forehead and dragged his weary body forward, continuing towards the enormous fortress of Gaojia Village.
As he walked, he suddenly sensed something unusual.
Coolness!
It had abruptly become cool.
Something seemed to be drifting down dozens of meters ahead of him. Ah, it was a fine, misty drizzle.
The man started violently: “It’s raining ahead!”
Being a permanent worker, owning no land—a low-class individual—his feelings about rain weren’t as deeply rooted as those of a farmer. He wouldn’t be ecstatic to the point of ecstasy like Fan Jin passing the imperial examination. Yet, after years without seeing rain, this drizzle still brought him immense joy.
“Huh? That’s not right. Why is the rain only falling in that one patch?”
He suddenly sensed something amiss. Jerking his head up to look at the sky, he saw a mass of strange low cloud hanging in the air, at most seventy meters above the ground. From within this cloud protruded an enormous dragon head, its huge maw gaping directly at the earth below, spraying a curtain of misty rain.
The dragon head even wobbled occasionally, slightly adjusting the direction the rain fell!
The middle-aged man froze completely. After a momentary daze lasting a bare second, he screamed wildly, “Dragon King! Dragon King! Ahhh, it’s the Dragon King bringing rain!”
After his scream, the man flung his legs into motion and charged desperately toward the patch of land where the rain fell.
Three years—three years without a single drop! Who cared if his clothes got soaked? He was going to stand in that rain right now.
“Dragon King, your humble servant is coming! Your humble servant is coming!”
He raced madly toward the area cloaked in rain and mist.
But by then Li Daoxuan had almost finished testing. Good—the mist sprayed from the nebulizer was fine enough; even magnified 200 times, it was just a light drizzle. No harm would come to the world inside the case.
No need to keep spraying an empty spot. Spray toward Gaojia Village instead. Let everyone share the joy.
He reached over and pressed the buttons marked “North” and “East.”
The view inside the case shifted northeastward, and the mist sprayed by the nebulizer naturally drifted northeast as well.
The middle-aged man was sprinting headlong toward the rain, but he hadn’t yet entered the viewable range of the case. Li Daoxuan couldn’t see him, utterly unaware that an ardent little figure was desperately running toward the long-awaited rain.
As the man ran, he suddenly realized the raincloud was moving.
The low cloud drifted northeast across the sky. The dragon head within it naturally moved northeast too—the entire downpour was shifting northeast.
The middle-aged man cried out, “Ai! Wait for your servant! Dragon King, please wait for your servant!”
He pushed with all his might, chasing it! Striving to catch up!
The man pursued like a toad on the ground, while the Dragon King soared like a white swan in the sky. The toad chased for what felt like an eternity, yet never closed the gap on the swan.
At last, the dragon head moved over the fields surrounding Gaojia Village, showering the land with mist. A large crowd of villagers streamed out of the village, cheering, exulting, leaping, and frolicking in the rain.
The middle-aged man summoned every ounce of his strength. Charge!
Run! Brother!
Finally, he burst into Gaojia Village. Around him were ecstatic villagers; even the labor offenders from the hillside came running down, whirling and dancing in the rain.
Some tilted their heads back, mouths wide open, hoping to catch more droplets.
Others rolled wildly on the ground, not caring a whit about dirtying their clothes.
Still others clutched loved ones close, howling with joy.
…
Then, suddenly, these people cried out together: “The Deity is merciful!”
“The Deity blesses us!”
“Thank you, Dao Xuan Deity!”
Swept along in the crowd’s ecstasy, the middle-aged permanent worker stood bewildered. He grabbed a villager at random and asked, “It’s the Dragon King delivering rain—why are you thanking the Dao Xuan Deity? Worship the wrong god, and you’ll anger the Dragon King!”
The villager laughed heartily, “What do you know? The Dragon King came at the Dao Xuan Deity’s request! Out of respect for the Deity! Of course we thank the Deity first, then the Dragon King.”
The middle-aged man: “!!!”
Sure enough, after thanking the Deity, the villagers turned to thanking the Dragon King.
“A few days of this rain will soften the soil. We can finally prepare to sow the autumn wheat.”
“My treasured seeds—they’ll finally be used! Hahahaha!”
“Thanks to the Deity—at last we can grow our own crops!”
“Last time, the Deity promised us a good harvest next year, with favorable weather and abundant grain. The Deity keeps his word! When my autumn wheat ripens, I must offer incense to fulfill my vow.”
“The Deity also promised my fields extra pecks of grain this year.”
The middle-aged man stood stunned amid the crowd. Hearing the villagers’ cheers and talk, tears suddenly streamed down his face.
He had come to the right place!
He truly had!
The senior brother hadn’t lied—coming to Gaojia Village showed him the way forward.
Yes! I must be sincere—above all else, sincere.
He turned toward Gaojia Fortress looming through the rain and mist. Straightening his appearance, he approached the great fortress with reverence and awe. At the gate, he fell to his knees with a thump. “Oh Mighty Deity, have mercy! Save your humble servant!”
Chapter 91: The Dragon King Was Giving the Deity Face
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