Alarm and Suspicion

"Although the Dragon Lord's rain was a power he possessed to summon wind and rain, and he could also activate the Dragon Palace Array to strengthen his connection with Heaven and Earth, it could be done at any time, so long as preparations were made beforehand. But this time, there was clearly something fishy going on."

"To send me here when the Dragon Maiden was undergoing her tribulation—it must be because this prayer for rain was of vital importance."

Presented Scholars had to study history. As the Top Scorer, Su Ziji had certainly learned it at the Imperial Academy. Though the historical records were not detailed, even brief accounts were useful.

"In the twenty-third year of the Long'an Era, Twin Leaves, Eternal Star, Constant Balance, Shared Peak, Mount Heng, and other prefectures went without rain from the fifth month to the seventh. Many wells and springs ran dry; people thirsted and weakened, while those who died of plague and those who starved to death were beyond counting."

"During that historical drought, countless people died. The prayer for rain failed, and afterward, the Dragon Lord's faith seemed to decline. Could the inheritance be telling me that when there was no rain, the people prayed to Heaven, and the Dragon Lord answered Heaven's will and the people's wishes by sending rain? Is that the source of the Dragon Lord's authority?"

Seated in the high chair and pondering these matters, Su Ziji thought once more of that strange girl.

The girl had clearly been a stranger, someone he had met for the first time, yet she gave him an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

"A fox demon from Green Hill?"

Thinking of certain folk tales from the Great Wei era that he had read, Su Ziji did not find it too strange.

"She reminded