Ma Tianzheng's performance could only be described as thorough.
So thorough that even Li Daoxuan hadn't expected this many steps. He had been waiting impatiently for a while already. Now that Ma Tianzheng had finally knelt properly, it was about time to move.
Click. Click.
Four medical nebulizers were plugged in, filled with water, and switched on.
Action.
By now, the threshing ground of Yang Village was packed beyond measure.
Villagers surrounded the site three layers deep, inside and out. In the middle, County Magistrate Feng Jun, the deputy magistrate, and the registrar had long since lost their patience.
The deputy magistrate muttered aloud, unable to hold it in anymore.
"This charlatan puts on a convincing show, sure—but after all this, rain is really supposed to fall? I don't believe it."
Feng Jun replied quietly, measured as always.
"I don't believe it either. But if he performs, the people have hope. Spread the word later—say rain could come at any moment. As long as they're hoping, they won't rebel."
They had barely finished speaking when the villagers erupted.
"Look! Look up!"
"The clouds— they're splitting!"
"Something's coming out!"
Feng Jun and the others snapped their heads up.
Above them, at a height of roughly seventy zhang, a strange low cloud hovered. The cloud slowly parted—and from within emerged a massive green dragon head, jaws wide open, spraying a dense mist of rain.
Feng Jun sucked in a sharp breath.
"It's real? That's… a Dragon King?"
The deputy magistrate began shouting wildly.
"Look—over there! The sky over there!"
Everyone followed his pointing finger.
Another low cloud appeared in the distance. It split open, revealing a red dragon head.
Then another cloud. A blue dragon head.
Then another. Yellow.
Four dragon heads hung in the skies around Yang Village, mouths gaping, pouring down rain mist in unison.
In an instant, rain blanketed everything within a two-li radius.
Feng Jun stood there, mouth agape, completely at a loss for words.
The deputy magistrate stared at him.
"My lord… you're bleeding."
Feng Jun wiped his nose. Blood smeared across his upper lip, curling upward at the corners like an accidental grin.
"They really summoned the Dragon Kings."
"And not just one."
"All four Sea Dragon Kings came."
The villagers exploded into cheers.
"Thank you, Heaven!"
Ma Tianzheng snapped.
"Wrong. Not Heaven—Dao Xuan Tianzun. Thank the wrong deity again and the rain might stop."
That last line hit hard.
The villagers panicked and immediately corrected themselves.
"Thank you, Dao Xuan Tianzun!"
"Tianzun bless us!"
"The Tianzun's influence is terrifying—he summoned all four Dragon Kings!"
Ma Tianzheng thought to himself:
That wasn't influence. That was manual labor.
They were dragged here by the neck.
You'll understand how terrifying the Tianzun is soon enough.
Yang Village had gone completely mad.
Grain had just arrived in large quantities. Now rain had fallen.
The villagers were already calculating their futures.
Work for wages first. Feed the family.
Plant when the season comes.
Work by day, tend fields by dusk.
In half a year, life would return to normal.
The thought alone sent people dancing, shouting, and splashing in the rain like lunatics.
Elder Zhang of Lower Village, the militia instructor, stared at the sky with his mouth hanging open.
He had offered one chicken as a sacrifice, expecting nothing.
And it actually rained.
This chicken was absurdly worth it.
As he was mentally drafting plans to revive his family's fortunes, a figure in white robes drifted to a stop before him.
Elder Zhang blinked.
"And you are?"
The man smiled gently.
"I am Bai Yuan, militia instructor of Chengcheng County."
Elder Zhang's eyes widened.
"So it's you! Your name has traveled far. I heard you crushed the Supreme Bright King, Bai Shui Wang Er, Wang Zuogua, and Bu Zhan Ni. And just days ago, from hundreds of paces away, you used a firearm to kill Fan Shanyue."
"If not for you, we could never have eliminated that villain—nor summoned the Tianzun's rain."
Bai Yuan felt a flicker of satisfaction, but his expression remained calm. He snapped open his folding fan.
Two characters were written on it: Gentleman.
Half-covering his face, he spoke quietly.
"Elder Zhang—have you heard? The great rebel Wang Jiayin may strike this region at any time."
Elder Zhang's face darkened.
"I have. Word says he commands nearly fifty thousand bandits. Cities across the north have already fallen."
Bai Yuan subtly gestured toward Feng Jun and the cluster of officials nearby.
"Do you think those court officials can stop him?"
Elder Zhang shook his head.
"They couldn't even stop a salt smuggler."
Bai Yuan nodded.
"Exactly. Bandits can only be resisted by the people themselves. I've heard your militia performed well when clearing out Fan Shanyue's remnants."
Elder Zhang waved his hands.
"I did very little. Nothing compared to you—killing Fan Shanyue from hundreds of paces away."
Bai Yuan folded his fan.
"I won't waste words. Chengcheng and Heyang militias must unite. When tens of thousands of bandits arrive, a few hundred men guarding villages one by one will be crushed piecemeal."
Elder Zhang knew this was true.
His militia numbered only four hundred. Against Fan Shanyue alone, they had been helpless until morale collapsed. Only then, joined by neighboring village militias, had they finally won.
He had felt the weakness keenly.
Bai Yuan continued.
"Official troops can't leave their jurisdictions. A Chengcheng patrol cannot fight in Heyang. But militias have no such limits. We fight, then return home."
"If Heyang is attacked, Chengcheng can help. If Chengcheng is attacked, Heyang answers."
"We're freer than the court ever was."
Elder Zhang's eyes lit up.
"As it should be! Let our militias become brother militias, watching each other's backs."
"If Instructor Bai does not disdain me—call me Brother Zhang. I'll call you Brother Bai. From today on, I'll follow your lead."