PS: Sob, sob, it's about to flop. Everyone, please show your support.
At this moment
Before he knew it, late autumn had arrived.
The weather had turned cool, and the sweltering heat of summer had already faded by three-tenths.
Today, however, the temperature had dropped sharply. Xuan Ye's attendants had already set up a brazier in the guest room. The fiercely burning coals dispelled the chill within, but no matter how hard they tried, they could not drive away the gloom in his heart.
By the emperor's command, three days ago he had joined Fang Wenshan of Chiyang City in visiting the Dragon-Raising Temple.
In fact, this was already his sixth visit to the Dragon-Raising Temple. Unfortunately, during this time, they had tried every method—reasoning with them, appealing to their emotions, and even offering up enormous benefits—yet they still had not obtained any information about the True Dragon from the temple's higher-ups.
Instead, they had learned quite a few secrets from some ordinary monks, including tales of evil demons and secrets of the Dragon-Raising Temple unknown to the outside world.
This visit, however, had been delayed by a sudden downpour, holding up their return to Chiyang City.
The heavy rain had already fallen for three days, as though it intended to make up all at once for the Water Vapor that had failed to descend throughout the entire spring and summer.
The continuous rainfall had wrapped the entire Dragon-Raising Temple in the cold air of late autumn.
With his thoughts unsettled, Xuan Ye sat beside the bed and began flipping through the rare ancient texts he had collected after entering.
Records of Emperor Xuan: In the seventh year of Emperor Xuan, a dragon emerged above Jun Mountain. It rolled up the water and brushed aside the waves as violent winds howled. Some people were sucked up a hundred zhang into the air, then thrown back to the ground.
There was also this: In the thirteenth year of Emperor Xuan, Fulong Mountain in the Great Wasteland collapsed. Massive bones emerged from the earth. The villagers of Fulong Mountain believed dragon bones had appeared. The dragon's head was five dou in size, its teeth were ten cun wide, its claws roughly one chi long, and its body could reach a hundred meters in length.
"Unfortunately, that bunch of savage commoners didn't understand the value of dragon bones and actually split them apart and burned them... Only a small portion was collected afterward. What a waste."
Xuan Ye sighed.
He also knew about the incident recorded in Records of Emperor Xuan. Some of the dragon bones from Fulong Mountain were still kept in the Imperial Court.
However, whether they were truly dragon bones or the bones of a giant serpent was difficult to say.
Emperor Xuan was Xuan Qianqiu, the founding emperor of Zhaoyang Country, while Records of Emperor Xuan was written by people of later generations and recorded some of the rumors and stories concerning Xuan Qianqiu.
Back then, Emperor Xuan had also been deeply concerned with the matter of the True Dragon. After establishing Zhaoyang Country, he had searched extensively for traces of one.
Unfortunately, even on his deathbed, he had never seen what the True Dragon he had sought all his life looked like.
This had also caused the emperors of Zhaoyang Country throughout the generations to become obsessed with searching for the True Dragon in their later years. It had practically become Zhaoyang Country's curse.
At first, Xuan Ye had not believed that any True Dragon existed in this world. Even if one did, it was probably an evil demon transformed into that strange form. But the matter of the Dragon-Raising Temple had caused him to begin wavering as well.
He picked up another book, titled The Legend of the Fire Dragon:
On the seventh day of the fourth month of the twentieth year of Emperor Xuan, a dragon flew into the homes of the common people in Fushan of Huoyuan City, southwest of the Great Wasteland. In an instant, smoke rose and the buildings were burned to the ground, destroying half the city. A Fire Dragon was suspected to have appeared.
On the sixteenth day of the fifth month of the twenty-sixth year of Emperor Xuan, the Fushan Fire Dragon appeared in the world again, seen between the two rivers surrounding Fushan. On the seventh day of the sixth month, the Fire Dragon was seen atop Fushan Mountain, and from far away the common people could see flames surging into the heavens.
In the middle of the sixth month of the fifty-sixth year of Emperor Xuan, a Fire Dragon was seen again in Dragon King Ravine. It was large at first and small later, measuring several hundred meters in length. Wherever it passed—grass, trees, mountain peaks, the sun, moon, rivers, and streams—everything was burned.
This book recorded a Fire Dragon. However, according to a secret report from the Dragon Court afterward, the Fire Dragon was suspected to have been a fire-aligned evil demon. They simply failed to capture the evil demon, and the matter ultimately came to nothing.
"My lord, the weather has turned cold. Put on another layer."
Fang Wenshan took a tiger-skin coat from an attendant and handed it to Xuan Ye.
Hearing this, Xuan Ye withdrew his scattered thoughts, set down the book, and draped the coat over himself before saying, "I was just thinking about the True Dragon and failed to notice that you had already returned, Wenshan. Well? Have you determined the extent of this rain?"
The rain at the Dragon-Raising Temple had fallen for three full days without pause, making people's hearts tremble while inevitably causing their imaginations to run wild.
Had the True Dragon of the Dragon-Raising Temple become enraged?
Or had the True Dragon unleashed an even more powerful Summon Wind and Rain technique?
Could the True Dragon's divine power truly reach such heights?
Previously, the rain had lasted a quarter of an hour at its shortest and half an hour at its longest. Its range had been limited, and its effects had been nothing more than small tricks.
With the strength of the entire Zhaoyang Country, such things could still be accomplished with the use of certain forbidden objects.
But today's rain had continued for three days and three nights. It was a thunderclap from a clear sky, leaving everyone panicked and their thoughts flying in all directions.
Fang Wenshan was stunned.
Xuan Ye was even frightened.
Countless factions had halted because of it, putting a stop to their covert measures.
At this moment
Hearing this, Fang Wenshan cupped his hands, his face solemn. "I have basically figured it out. To avoid any mistakes, I personally headed east and hurried along for three hundred and sixty-seven li. I discovered that the rain line remained around the Luo River."
"From the Luo River, I followed the rain line another two hundred and thirty-five li south. I never stopped along the way and exhausted seven strange beasts, yet I still saw no sign of the rain weakening. With two days already gone, I had no choice but to return."
"However, even according to the range we have determined so far, the rainfall already covers nearly the entirety of the northwestern Great Wasteland."
"The duration is long, and the range is vast—both are beyond imagination."
Hearing this, Xuan Ye drew a deep breath. Although he had long anticipated that the rain might cover a vast area, its range was still far more serious than he had estimated.
"To command the wind and manipulate the rain, to control thunder, to hold ten thousand li of territory in the palm of one's hand with a flick of the fingers—what kind of miraculous power is that?"
"The True Dragon's abilities truly exceed the imagination of us ordinary mortals."
"Wenshan, do you think there is really no problem with Zhaoyang Country trying to scheme against such an existence?"
Xuan Ye smiled bitterly, his heart unbearably heavy at that moment.
He suspected that this heavy rain was a warning from the True Dragon.
Fang Wenshan sighed along with him and said helplessly, "My lord, no matter what, this is a task the emperor has assigned. Regarding the True Dragon, we can only continue investigating until we get to the bottom of it. Even if we know full well that it is a dead end, we can only brace ourselves and press on."
After pausing, Fang Wenshan continued with a bitter smile, "However, from what I have observed, the True Dragon does not seem to be exceptionally vicious. Without this rain, who knows how many more years the drought in the Great Wasteland would have lasted? Now that this rain has fallen, it may not be enough to restore farming, but it has still allowed the people living in the northwest of the Great Wasteland to breathe a great sigh of relief."
"To be honest, my lord, even in my Chiyang City, most of the common people now enshrine statues of the True Dragon in their homes day and night. If they learned that their city lord intended to scheme against the True Dragon, would it not stir up a rebellion throughout Chiyang City?"
To tell the truth, by this point even Fang Wenshan no longer wanted anything to do with the True Dragon.
It was too dangerous!
The danger came not only from the mysterious and unfathomable True Dragon, which had left no trace to this day, but also from the massive faith of its living followers—a hidden bomb.
Once it exploded, all of Zhaoyang Country might fall into turmoil.
But what could he do? When the ruler wanted a subject dead, the subject could not refuse death!
"The situation has actually reached this point... What are we to do? His Majesty has lost his senses."
Xuan Ye sighed repeatedly.
They did not dare offend the True Dragon, nor could they forcibly suppress the Dragon-Raising Temple. But with the imperial edict upon them, what else could they do?
To defy the imperial edict, they would have to replace the emperor!
At this thought, Xuan Ye's expression shifted subtly. He then said, "Someone, go invite Master Yuanhui here. Tell him that today we will not discuss wind and rain, but only study the principles of Buddhist scriptures together!"
Here is a new book by an excellent author.
Before you continue