Li Daoxuan had been preparing for days.
A basin of water sat quietly in the corner, impurities settled. Once it was ready, he poured the clean water into the nebulizer's reservoir, plugged in the machine…
Perfect.
Time for a test run.
Of course he couldn't aim this thing directly over Gaijia Fort on the first try. If the nebulizer malfunctioned and started spraying like a broken hydrant, who knew how many tiny villagers would get blasted into the next dynasty?
The northern hillside was also out—this time of day the convict laborers were resting there.
So he tapped the "South" and "West" buttons on the scenery box, adjusting the view until he saw the official road southwest of the village. Hardly anyone passed by there. Ideal testing ground.
He pried open the box's lid, raised the nebulizer—
Paused.
No good.
The nozzle looked hideous. If the villagers saw a giant metal mouth poking out of the sky, dripping water like some toxic demon, they'd be scared senseless. They might believe the heavens were dumping poison instead of rain.
His eyes swept the room.
Aha—on the toy shelf sat a plastic Chinese dragon.
Perfect.
He snapped off the dragon's head, stuck the nebulizer nozzle inside the open maw, taped it down with double-sided adhesive, then held it up for inspection.
Left… right…
Acceptable. Not majestic, but at least not horrifying.
Preparation complete.
He slipped the dragon-head nozzle into the scenery box, stopping when it hovered over midair. Then he flipped the nebulizer's switch.
A soft mechanical hum answered him.
Faint mist—so fine the droplets existed right on the edge of the visible—flowed downward like the gentlest of rain.
The middle-aged laborer from Chengcheng County was trudging toward Gaijia Village.
Thirty-plus li on foot, stomach empty, bones aching, and fear clinging to his ribs like a cold hand. He stared at the distant village fortress glowing under the sunset, his heart a trembling stew of hope and dread.
"My heart is sincere. I came all the way here… I pray this isn't a trick."
"Dao Xuan Tianzun… you're real, right?"
"You can save me… right?"
He wiped sweat from his brow and pressed on.
Then—
A shiver.
Coolness.
The wind suddenly felt moist and refreshing.
Something drifted ahead of him—
Soft, feathery droplets.
Rain.
Actual rain.
His steps faltered. "Rain…?"
He had no farmland, no crops—he was a lowborn craftsman forced to labor for the county's workshops—so rain wasn't something that would make him scream with farming ecstasy.
But three years.
Three years without seeing rain.
How could he not be moved?
"Wait—why is it raining… only on that one patch of ground?"
A prickling sense of strangeness crawled up his spine. He looked up.
And froze.
There, floating only seventy zhang above the earth, hung a strange low cloud.
From within it protruded—
A colossal dragon head.
Its jaws gaped open, spraying rain downward like a divine sprinkler.
The dragon head even bobbed around, adjusting the angle of the rainfall like a professional artisan.
The man's mind blanked for one second.
Then he exploded.
"Dragon King! Dragon King! Aaaah—Dragon King is sending down rain!"
Tossing caution aside, he sprinted toward the raincloud.
Three years without rain—who cared about his clothes? Who cared about anything? He wanted to feel it, taste it, soak in it.
"Dragon King! I'm coming! I'm coming!"
But just then—
Li Daoxuan finished checking the test.
Perfect.
The droplets were fine enough—not disaster-level, not lethal.
No more need to test over empty roads. Time to bless Gaijia Village properly.
He tapped "North" and "East."
Inside the miniature world, the dragon-nozzle shifted, drifting toward the village.
But the middle-aged man was still outside the camera's range. Li Daoxuan had no idea a frantic mortal was chasing the drifting rain like a desperate frog sprinting after a flying swan.
And the rain…
moved.
The man watched helplessly as the cloud floated away—
"Hey! Wait! Wait for me! Dragon King, please wait for me!"
He sprinted with everything he had.
But the "dragon" glided ahead far faster.
Soon, the rain drifted over Gaijia's farmlands, and the villagers burst out of their homes in a tidal wave—cheering, laughing, leaping. Even the convict laborers on the slopes raced down to join the downpour.
Some villagers tilted their heads back, mouths open, trying to drink every drop.
Some rolled on the muddy ground like happy pigs.
Some hugged their loved ones and sobbed, rain and tears mixing.
Then—
"Blessed be Tianzun!"
"Dao Xuan Tianzun protects us!"
"Thank you, Dao Xuan Tianzun!"
The middle-aged man, soaked and panting, blinked in confusion. He grabbed the nearest villager.
"But… but isn't the Dragon King giving you rain? Why thank Tianzun first? Won't the Dragon King get offended?"
The villager snorted with laughter.
"You really don't understand anything. Dragon King came because Tianzun asked him to. He's here as a favor—to show respect to Tianzun. Naturally, we thank Tianzun first, Dragon King second."
The man: "…"
And sure enough, the villagers finished praising Tianzun before offering thanks to the Dragon King.
"If this rain lasts a few days, the soil will soften—we can finally sow the autumn wheat."
"My precious seeds will finally see daylight! Hahaha!"
"Thank Tianzun. We can farm again!"
"Tianzun told me last time: 'Next year will have good weather and abundant harvests.' Looks like Tianzun truly keeps his word. When the wheat ripens, I must offer incense to repay the blessing!"
"Tianzun even blessed me—said I'd harvest extra this year!"
Standing in the midst of the cheering people, the middle-aged craftsman felt his vision blur.
Tears.
Hot, unstoppable tears.
He had come to the right place.
The right place.
The lady in the temple had not lied.
Come to Gaijia Village, and he would understand what to do next.
Yes.
He must be sincere.
Truly sincere.
He turned to the towering fortress at the heart of the village, rain mist swirling around it like a divine halo. He straightened his ragged clothes, forced his shaking legs forward, knelt at the entrance—
And struck his head to the ground.
"Dao Xuan Tianzun, have mercy… please save this humble one."