Great Yan Dynasty, Huaiyang Commandery.
Nearly two years of severe drought had left the lands of Huaiyang Commandery completely barren. Families with some savings had already fled Huaiyang Commandery one after another, heading south. The poor, who owned no property, could only pray daily for heaven’s mercy and occasionally hold ceremonies to beg for rain.
That day, the commandery governor brought in a sorcerer who was said to possess great Taoist powers to set up an altar and perform a ritual.
The crowd beneath the high platform looked up with hopeful faces at the gray-robed Taoist waving a peachwood sword, hoping that this time he could summon sweet rain to nourish the earth.
The Taoist, holding his peachwood sword, raised his sleeves, spun around, and pointed at the sky—a seamless series of movements. Just as he finished his sword gestures, dark clouds came rolling in from the southwest! A bolt of lightning tore across the sky, as if it might split the heavens in two! Seeing this, the crowd below immediately burst into cheers and shouts: “The rain is coming! The rain is coming! He really made it rain! Thank you, Heavenly Master! Thank you, Heavenly Master!” The people below all knelt and bowed, deeply grateful.
No one noticed that just as another flash of lightning streaked across the sky, a small golden object fell from the torn sky. As the golden object descended, a torrential downpour also followed! The earth, parched for nearly two years, greedily sucked in the long-awaited rain. People ignored the pain of raindrops pelting their bodies as they ran and cheered. Some ran home to fetch pots, pans, bowls, and basins to collect the rainwater, while others simply sat down in the rain, crying and laughing at the same time…
The Taoist, having completed his ritual, had already boarded a carriage under an oil-paper umbrella and returned to the commandery governor’s residence, where he was hosted by the governor himself.
“Thank you, Heavenly Master, for performing the ritual and bringing us sweet rain! I, as the commandery governor, thank you again on behalf of the tens of thousands of people of Huaiyang Commandery.”
The Taoist waved his hand. “Governor, there’s no need for such formalities. This is what someone like me should do—pray for blessings, summon rain, benefit the people. The merit we gain also helps us in our cultivation. I cannot accept your thanks.”
This humble speech earned him lavish praise from the other officials seated below, who constantly flattered him. This man truly had genuine abilities—they absolutely must not offend him…
…
No one had expected that this rain would continue for five days and four nights without any sign of stopping. After the initial joy of the long-awaited rain after a drought came even deeper worry.
This is exactly what happens when a great drought is inevitably followed by a great flood! Some also said that the rain-summoning ritual might have been a coincidence—that the Taoist hadn’t actually brought the rain at all. Because every great drought is always followed by a great flood, so this was just the beginning of the flood happening by chance.
Meanwhile, the villagers of Fangjia Village in Liugou Town, Qiyang County, had already begun packing their belongings, preparing to flee.
After days of heavy rain, their small village, surrounded by mountains on three sides, was already flooded with water up to their knees. The mountain lakes had also lost their ability to hold any more water, and it looked like a flash flood was about to break loose!
Everyone dismantled the wood from their homes and nailed it together to form simple rafts that floated on the water. They placed their belongings on top, while the elderly, children, and women sat on the wooden planks. The men walked through the water, pushing the rafts forward.
Just then, Yang Guilan, an elderly woman sitting on one of the rafts, pointed to something in the distance and said to her son, who was pushing the raft, “Youwei, look over there. Isn’t that a child?”
Fang Youwei stopped walking and looked in the direction his mother was pointing. Sure enough, he saw a child floating face-up on the water! Their family was the last to leave, because their house was closest to the mountain, so they were the latest to flee. They had just left the village now.
“I wonder whose child this is, that they just abandoned her and didn’t come back to look for her. I’ll go see if she’s still alive.” Fang Youwei waded through the water over to the child. The little one looked about four or five years old, with closed eyes, as if asleep. He reached out to check the nose—there was still breathing! He quickly scooped the child up into his arms.
The moment he picked up the child, she opened her eyes. Her round eyes were exceptionally bright, and the little one was plump and fair-skinned, with delicate features—so soft and sweet that anyone’s heart would melt at the sight.
“What kind of parent is so careless that they lose their child without even noticing? Little girl, did you get separated from your family? How about Uncle takes you to find them?” Fang Youwei said gently.
The chubby little girl—who was, in fact, the little dragon cub Ao Jiayin—looked at the dark-faced man in front of her, wearing coarse hemp clothes and a bamboo rain hat, and blinked in confusion.
She had been lying in the water quite comfortably when suddenly someone picked her up. And now he wanted to take her to find her family. Did he know the way to the Dragon Palace? Then she remembered that she had apparently traveled to another small world, and there was no way back to the Dragon Palace from here. She wondered if Father and Mother would be angry. When she finally got back, her little bottom was definitely going to be in trouble…