Daoist Yuanzheng looked extremely embarrassed at the moment. Not only was his whole body soaking wet, but his clothes were tugged at by the dogs, making them loose, slanting and out of shape. He didn't look like a proper person at all.
Chasing after him was, first and foremost, a big yellow dog with an orange - colored coat all over.
The yellow dog was majestic, with a bit of valiance and pride between its eyebrows. It led the other dogs and completely blocked Daoist Yuanzheng's way, forcing him to flee up the mountain.
While dodging the dogs and running up the mountain, he cursed under his breath:
"Get out of the way, you wild dogs. I'm not a bad guy. Why are you chasing me?"
Once on the mountain, Daoist Yuanzheng quickly noticed the villagers of Dongli Town kneeling in the rain and kowtowing towards a certain cave. This sight gave him quite a shock.
The guards noticed a stranger coming and that he was being chased by dogs. Immediately, they stood up, drew their swords from their waists, and shouted sharply, "Who goes there? State your name!"
Daoist Yuanzheng wiped the water off his face and was about to speak when a somewhat familiar female voice sounded around him:
"Daoist Yuanzheng, it's you!"
Jiang Mian was overjoyed to see this familiar face.
She ran out from inside and said to the guard who had drawn his sword in warning, "I know this man. He's not a bad guy."
The guard hesitated. Xiao Wuchen said, "Listen to Miss Jiang."
The guard sheathed his long sword and stepped back again.
Jiang Mian held the umbrella in her hand over Daoist Yuanzheng's head and asked in surprise, "Daoist, why are you here?"
No wonder Huanghuang had disappeared early in the morning. It must have sensed that Daoist Yuanzheng was nearby and went to lead him here. Xiao Jingcheng had fallen into a coma again, and she was just worried about what to do. Then Daoist Yuanzheng showed up. Was this the will of Heaven?
Huanghuang held its head high and walked up to Jiang Mian with a clatter of its four limbs. It squatted down and stared at Daoist Yuanzheng.
Daoist Yuanzheng coughed lightly. He tidied up his messy clothes, clasped his fists and bowed to Jiang Mian, "I wondered why these dogs were so enthusiastic about me. It turns out that Lady Jiang is nearby. Long time no see."
"Indeed, it's been a long time," Jiang Mian sighed.
The last time Daoist Yuanzheng left without saying goodbye and left a vague note, which gave her quite a headache. She didn't know what that sentence meant.
Later, until she learned that Li Zhao was her biological father, did she recall the note left by Daoist Yuanzheng.
It turned out that Daoist Yuanzheng had already known that her relatives had come to her side, so he left such a hint for her.
"Mujin, is this the Daoist you mentioned to me?" Li Zhao came to Jiang Mian's side and showed a smile to Daoist Yuanzheng. "I'm Li Zhao. I've heard Mujin mention the Daoist before. It's a pity that I was ill at that time and couldn't meet the Daoist in person."
Daoist Yuanzheng tucked his sleeves and smiled kindly, "I knew my fate with Lady Jiang was not over. Meeting now is the same."
"Just now Lady Jiang asked me why I'm here. Naturally - it's because of this rain."
Because of this rain?
Yuanzheng put away the smile on his face, and his expression became much more solemn.
"Before this rain came, the weather was extremely hot. So I specifically divined a hexagram. According to the celestial phenomena at that time, there shouldn't be rain in Cangzhou area. It should have maintained high - temperature for many days. However, the celestial phenomena suddenly changed. This rain came too suddenly and violently, and it had been raining for many days without stopping, covering a wide area. As a result, the water level of the Xijiang River system soared, submerging villages, towns and fertile fields. This is not an auspicious omen."
"I originally thought it was because I didn't learn my skills well and divined the hexagram wrong. It was not until I heard a piece of news that I realized that all this was a man - made disaster."
Jiang Mian's heart skipped a beat.
A man - made disaster?!
She exchanged a look with Li Zhao and asked, "Daoist, what do you mean?"
"In the middle reaches of the Xijiang River, upstream of the Caisang River, there is a water canal called Jinning Canal, which was built in the 17th year of Tianyuan in the State of Chu." Daoist Yuanzheng said, "This Jinning Canal was blown up by someone on the second day after the heavy rain started."
Everyone present was shocked. The villagers who had just been kneeling on the ground kowtowing and swearing all stood up and stared at Daoist Yuanzheng.
"Old Taoist, is what you said true? Was the Jinning Canal blown up by someone?"
Daoist Yuanzheng nodded, "Absolutely true. I heard this from a group of guards. By the way, the armor they wore was similar to this young man's."
He pointed to the guard who had drawn his sword in warning to him just now.
The villagers immediately glared at him. He quickly waved his hands, "It's not me, not us. We've been here with His Highness the Prince of Ning, protecting everyone. We didn't have the time to destroy any water canals at all!"
Xiao Wuchen clenched his fists tightly and said, "It's the Prince of Xuan. On the night when the heavy rain came, he led his guards and fled Dongli Town. The armor those guards wore was just like this."
The scene fell into complete silence. Everyone was shocked by this news, especially the villagers from the villages downstream of the Caisang River. They had truly seen their homes turn into a vast expanse of water!
Moreover, His Highness the Crown Prince had been seriously injured and fallen into a coma in order to save them!
But now someone told them that the flood that had turned their homes into a vast expanse of water was a man - made disaster. How could they accept this?!
"Why did the Prince of Xuan do this?" someone shouted out in grief and indignation. "As a prince, shouldn't he love his people like his own children? How could he do such a heartless thing?!"
"This inhumane brute will surely be punished by Heaven sooner or later!"
The scene immediately became chaotic. The crowd was filled with righteous indignation, and the curses of condemnation echoed throughout the mountain forest.
The yellow dog squatted beside Jiang Mian. The news brought by Daoist Yuanzheng also made it unable to restrain its inner anger. It bared its teeth ferociously.
That day when it noticed that the river was rising too rapidly, it had vaguely guessed that something might have happened upstream. But it never imagined that all this was man - made!
The reason why Xiao Yixuan did this was naturally that after the flood rose violently, he could completely cut off his way and let him and the villagers in the Caisang River Basin die together!
Seeing that the situation was about to get out of control, Li Zhao raised his voice and said, "Everyone, don't be in a hurry. The Daoist has only told half of the story. He hasn't told us why he came here. Let's first listen to what the Daoist has to say."
For a moment, everyone looked at Daoist Yuanzheng.
Under everyone's gazes, Daoist Yuanzheng coughed lightly and continued, "I don't know exactly who did it, but blowing up the water canal is really shocking. This is no different from regarding the lives of the villagers downstream of the canal as worthless. I felt extremely sad in my heart, so I divined another hexagram..."
"Unexpectedly, there was a glimmer of hope in the hexagram that originally showed a dead end. I was greatly surprised in my heart, so I followed the flood downstream. From afar, I saw a faint purple aura covering and protecting the top of Qianren Mountain. I was just about to come and take a look, but..."
He spread out his hands and looked at Huanghuang, which was majestic at Jiang Mian's feet, as if a divine dog had descended to the mortal world, with an innocent look on his face.
"But as soon as I got to the foot of the mountain, I was blocked by the dogs and led here."
The purple aura covering the top of Qianren Mountain must be referring to Xiao Jingcheng!
Jiang Mian could hardly contain her excitement. She grabbed Daoist Yuanzheng's sleeve and said, "Daoist, you've come just in time!"
At the moment, the only one who might be able to save Xiao Jingcheng was probably Daoist Yuanzheng!